AU686211B2 - Reclosable pouring carton - Google Patents

Description

r 1 1

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECI T F T TON FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

r r o o Name of Applicant: LEIGH-MARDON PTY LIMITED, A.C.N. 004 432 633 Actual Inventor: Address for Service: ee o Jerzy WIRASZKA SHELSTON WATERS 55 Clarence Street SYDNEY NSW 2000 Invention Title: "RECLOSABLE POURING CARTON" Details of Associated Provisional Application No: PM1623 dated 1st October, 1993 The following statement is a full descrip.tion of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us:- I I 2 The present invention relates to cartons for storing and dispensing pourable substances and more particularly to cartons of this kind that are formed from a carton blank of sheet material such as cardboard.

The invention has been developed primarily as a reclosable carton for soap powders and the like and will be described hereinafter with reference to this use.

However, it will be appreciated that cartons of this type can be employed for numerous other applications.

A wide variety of different carton structures with differing dispensing means have been proposed for the packaging of soap powders and the like.

One commonly used low-cost structure comprises a conventional generally rectangular carton formed from a 15 folded blank into which the contents are sealed. The carton has a pour opening defined by a generally U-shaped pattern of perforations which are usually formed in a side panel adjacent an upper portion of the carton. In order to access the contents of the carton, 20 the tab is pressed inwards such that the carton material in between each of the perforations is severed. This action simultaneously forms a hinged closure tab and an associated pour aperture, which aperture can be opened or closed by moving the hinged tab respectively away from or toward the opening.

Whilst a variety of modifications have been proposed to this generally simple frictional closure system, it has not been possible to provide such a

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closure that can be used repeatedly to obtain a satisfactorily complete closing that reduces the risk of spillage of the carton contents and reduces exposure to ambient moisture vapour.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a reclosable carton for storing and dispensing pourable substances that overcomes or at least ameliorates one or more of the above discussed disadvantages of the prior art.

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a carton for storing and dispensing pourable substances, the carton being formed from a carton blank formed from sheet material, said carton including: a wall defining a pour opening; a closure adapted for rotating movement within a gene ally circular boundary between a first position occluding the openinL and a second position in which the opening is at least partly clear; retaining means for retaining the closure operatively adjacent the opening; 15 wherein the closure is integrally formed from the sheet material of the carton blank at a location overlying the pour opening so as to be selectively severable therefrom in situ to permit rotating operation between the first and second position.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a carton for storing and dispensing pourable substances, the carton being formed from a carton blank formed from sheet material according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said carton includes an end portion formed by three sealingly adhered adjacent overlying i flaps that extend from three adjacent contiguous side panels, said end portion forming said wall including an integrally formed resealable dispensing opening, wherein: the pour opening is formed in the innermost underlying flap; the closure is substantially circular and formed in and supported for rotation in the next adjacent overlying flap, the closure being sized such that upon rotation it alternately occludes or exposes the underlying pour opening; and the retaining means are formed in the underlying and overlying flaps to retain the intermediate closure therebetween.

Preferably, the retaining means are also formed integrally in the carton blank, more preferably from portions of the blank that underlie and overlie the closure.

Desirably, the carton also comprises tab means connected with the closure to effect movement thereof, the tab also preferably being formed in the carton blank so as to be severable therefrom to permit operation of the closure between the first and second positions.

In a preferred embodiment, the rotatable closure comprises a generally circular cover, the cover including a hinged tab portion set in from the periphery of the cover that defines a through opening which can be rotably aligned with the pour opening Preferably, the pour opening, rotatable closure and tab means are integrally formed in each respective flap solely by means of a combination of through cut lines and selectively severable areas of weakness formed in the sheet material.

Desirably, the closure is sized to be peripherally larger than the underlying pour opening and overlying tab means such that the material adjacent the pour opening and 15 tab means form the retaining means.

g o o d~P lsbl~a~aaru~aan~n~a~--~- 5 The circular cover is preferably formed by means of a series of severable perforations in the sheet material, the cover being supported for rotation by the boundary formed some or all of the material immediately surrounding the periphery of the cover.

It is also preferred that the tab means include a generally circular end portion adapted for rotation in a correspondingly generally circular aperture formed in the flap in which the tab means is provided.

The generally circular portion of the tab means is desirably adhered to the flat portion of the circular cover such that the total bearing surface of the carton that supports rotation of the tab and rotatable closure is increased to improve the structural rigidity of the 15 dispensing means.

Desirably, the tab means includes a hinged portion connected to the generally circular end portion, S" which hinged portion is adhered to the hinged tab of the cover portion. It is further preferred that the 20 hinged portion of the tab means extends beyond the hinged tab of the cover portion and, more preferably, beyond a peripheral edge of the carton end portion to facilitate easy digital lifting of the tab to operate the rotatable closure.

In a preferred form the pour opening is pierced out prior to assembly of the carton, but the tab means and rotatable closure are each defined but retained in the plane of the flaps by a combination of complete and -6incomplete cuts, which incomplete cuts are designed to be readily severable upon initial opening of the sealed carton to form the dispensing means described above.

Preferably, the carton blank includes: a first section divided by a series of generally transversely extending score lines to define three adjacent contiguous side panels, each panel having at least one flap that co-extends with the flap of the adjacent panel; a first of said flaps having an aperture therein defining a pour opening; a second of said flaps having a closure formed therein by a generally circular configuration of perforations, the closure being sized and located such that on assembly 1o of the carton and severance of the perforations rotation of the closure alternately covers or exposes the underlying pour opening; and the third flap having tab means formed therein by a series of perforations, the tab means being located such that upon assembly of the carton the tab is securable to the rotatable closure to effect operation thereof; a portion of both the first and third flaps being adapted upon assembly to retain the closure V s •o

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-I L L -I Bl$~aasasseaP~iPsraaararars~ rsrr~sl--l- -7therebetween, and wherein the rotatable closure is integrally formed in the respective flap solely by means of a combination of through cut lines and severable lines of weakness formed in the sheet material.

One effective solution to the problem of providing a resealable opening has been provided with plastic salt dispensers and the like. These packages include a separately formed closure device, usually also made of plastic, which is inserted into the completed package. Whilst such devices may operate as an effective resealable closure, their use in cardboard cartons would generally represent prohibitive increases in the overall packaging costs due to both the added cost of the closure mechanism itself and the extra step of attaching the device to the carton.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: 20 Figure 1 is a schematic plan view of a carton blank for a first embodiment carton according to the .00.00 S"invention; 000000 Figure 2 is a schematic perspective view of a partly assembled carton formed from the carton blank of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a schematic perspective part view of fully assembled, sealed and unused carton made from the blank shown in Figure 1; -a -LsrM Figure 4 is a schematic perspective part view of the carton shown in Figure 2 illustrated with the closure in the fully open position; Figure 5 is a schematic perspective part view of the carton shown in Figures 2 and 3 illustrated with the closure in the half closed position; and Figure 6 is a schemat;c perspective part view of the carton shown in Figures 3 to illustrated in the fully resealed position.

Referring to the drawings, the carton 1 can be seen to be formed from a carton blank 2 made firom a sheet material such as cardboard 3.

The assembled carton 1 includes dispensing means shown generally at 4 formed in an end portion 5 of a carton wall 6, the end portion 5 being formed by three sealingly adhered adjacent overlying flaps 7, 8 and 9. The flaps extend from three adjacent respective contiguous side panels 10, 11 and 12.

The innermost underlying flap 7 includes a pour opening 13 pierced in the cardboard 3 forming that flap.

15 The next overlying flap 8 has a rotatable closure 14 formed therein by a series of cut lines 15 interconnected by a number of severable areas of weakness 16. These areas of weakness may be formed by cuts that do not extend fully through the thickness of the sheet material 3.

*The closure 14 of the illustrated embodiment takes the form of a generally circular cover 17 which V. S e.i -9seats within a correspondingly circular aperture 18.

When the closure has been severed from flap a aperture 18 defines a generally circular boundary within which the closure rotates. Aperture 18 may include a cut out portion 19 to reduce the overall area of the mating bearing surfaces. This is to reduce friction in use and make it easier to initially sever the areas of weakness to disconnect the cover from the surrounding flap material.

A generally semi-circular hinged tab portion is formed in the circular cover 17 to define a resealable through opening 21. The hinged tab portion and circular cover 17 are positioned on flap 8 such that upon assembly of the carton 1 the cover can be 15 rotated to alternately occlude completely or align "'directly with the pour opening 13 in the underlying flap 7. The hinged tab portion 20 is also disposed peripherally inwardly from the edge of the circular S""cover 17 to thereby define a generally annular flange 22.

Finally, the uppermost flap 9 includes an I integrally formed generally teardrop shaped tab 23.

•Again, this tab is formed in the sheet material 3 of the e flap 9 by a series of through cut lines 15 and a number of intermediate severable areas of weakness 16.

The tab 23 includes a first generally semi-circular portion 24 integrally formed with a second partially elongated portion that forms a lever 25 that I I 10 desirably extends beyond the peripheral edg 26 of flap 9. The portion of the flap 9 surrounding the tab 23 also includes a generally semi-circular portion that corresponds to the generally semi-circular portion 24 of the tab 23. Additionally, the lever portion of the tab is sized and shaped such that the semi-circular portion 24 can rotate freeiy in the aperture thus formed when the tab is raised.

The carton I is formed by first cutting with a knife or die-cutting a carton blank 2 as shown in Figure 1. In this respect, the carton blank 2 will include a series of generally transversely extending crease lines 27 that define four side panels 28 including those three previously identified as panels 10, 11 and 12.

A set of four base flaps 29 and top flaps 30 are formed at opposing edges of panels 28 as shown. The flaps 7, 8 and 9 extend respectively from side panels 10, 11 and 12 and are each formed with a series of die-cuts such that the subsequently moveable closu,,e 14 20 and tab 23 are retained integrally with the material of the flaps by the severable areas of weakness 16 as shown.

Typically, the cartons are first partly AsserLbled to form an open container having four connected side panels and a base 28 formed by the four sealingly adhered overlapping base flaps 29. The partly assembled carton is then presented to a filling station where the flaps that form the top 30 are splayed open and a charge ~II~ IBRnL- 11 of soap powder or the like is dispensed into the container.

Glue is then applied to the splayed top panels which are then folded with the end flaps including flap 7 first, then the side flaps 8 and 9 to form the sealed container as shown in Figure 2. The adhesive must be applied in a carefully controlled pattern such that the tab 23 adheres only to the centre portion of the closure 14 and not the flange 22. Similarly, the intermediate flap 8 must only be adhered to the innermost flap 7 at locations spaced from the periphery of the closure 14.

To open the sealed carton the protruding lever of the tab 23 is gripped and pulled back away from the carton and over the rear tab portion 24, thereby breaking the severable connections securing the lever with the outermost flap 9. This action simultaneously raises the hinged tab portion 20 of the adhered *a underlying closure 14 also severing it from its surrounding flap material.

The tab lever 25 is then gripped adjacent the carton surface and partially rotated in the plane of the a o a a flaps to sever the areas of weakness 16 connecting both the peripheral edge of closure 14 to flap 8 and the tab base 24 to surrounding flap 9. A closure is thus formed which is retained between flaps 7 and 9 by the flange 22 and rotates within the boundary formed by aperture 18.

This closure can then be rotated fully to alternately open the carton as shown in Figure 3 and fully reseal 12 the carton as shown in Figure The carton of the invention has many advantages over the prior art in that it provides a very inexpensive integrally formed closure that can be operated repeatedly without substantially impaired performance. Also, standard cartons are generally formed from a substantially rectangular blank. A carton according to the invention can be produced in this standard format as its closure is produced by perforating existing flaps. Thus, the carton according to the invention can be produced on conventional machinery and does not suffer from wastage between adjacent blanks as has been experienced in producing more complicated closures of a similar nature.

15 Furthermore, the closure can be used to vary the size of 0**S pour opening to control the dispensing rate.

Although the invention has been described with reference to a specific example, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that modification can be 20 made thereto without departing from the scope of the i t invention.

a a a 9 a a OWN M M

Claims (16)

1. A carton for storing and dispensing pourable substances, the carton being formed from a carton blank formed from sheet material, said carton inclnding: a wall defining a pour opening; a closure adapted for rotating movement within a generally circular boundary between a first position occluding the opening and a second position in which the opening is at least partly clear; retaining means for retaining the closure operatively adjacent the opening; wherein the closure is integrally formed from the sheet material of the carton blank at a location overlying the pour opening so as to be selectively severable therefrom in situ to permit rotating operation between the first and second position.

2. A carton as claimed in claim 1 whcrein said retaining means are also formed integrally in the blank and from portions of the blank configured to underlie and overlie the closure.

3. A carton as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the carton also :..comprises tab means connected with the closure to effect movement thereof

4. A carton as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein said tab being formed integrally in the carton blank so as to be severable therefrom to permit operation of the closure between the first and second positions. S. 20 5. A carton for storing and dispensing pourable substances, the carton being formed from a carton blank formed from sheet material according to any one of the preceding V claims, wherein said carton includes an end portion formed by three sealingly adhered adjacent overlying flaps that extend from three adjacent contiguous side panels, said end portion forming said wall including an integrally formed resealable dispensing opening, wherein: the pour opening is formed in the innermost underlying flap; the closure is substantially circular and formed in and supported for rotation in the next adjacent overlying flap, the closure being sized such that upon rotation it alternately occludes or exposes the underlying pour opening; and the retaining means are formed in the underlying and overlying flaps to retain the intermediate closure therebetween. -14-

6. A carton as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the closure comprises a generally circular cover, the cover including a hinged tab portion set in from the periphery of the cover that defines a through opening which can be rotatably aligned with the pour opening.

7. A carton as claimed in claim 5 or claim 6, further comprising tab means formn, in the uppermost flap that are secured to the closure to effect movement of the closure.

8. A carton as claimed in claim 7 wherein the pour opening, closure and tab means are integrally formed in each respective flap solely by means of a combination of through cut lines and selectively severable areas of weakness formed in the sheet material.

9. A carton as claimed in claim 7 or claim 8 wherein the closure is sized to be peripherally larger than the underlying pour opening and overlying tab means such that the sheet material adjacent the pour opening and tab means form the retaining means. A carton as claimed in any one of claims 6 to 9 wherein the circular cover is formed by means of a series of severable perforations in the sheet material, the cover being supported for rotation by the boundary formed by some or all of the material immediately surrounding the periphery of the cover.

11. A carton as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 10 wherein the tab means include a generally circular end portion adapted for rotation in a correspondingly generally circular 20 aperture formed in the overlying flap in which the tab means is provided.

12. A carton as claimed in claim 11 wherein the generally circular portion of the tab means is desirably adhered to the flat portion of the circular cover such that the total bearing surface of the carton that supports rotation of the tab and rotatable closure is increased to improve the structural rigidity of the dispensing means.

13. A carton as claimed in claim 11 or claim 12 wherein the tab means includes a hinged portion connected to the generally circular end portion, which hinged portion is adhered to the hinged tab portion of the cover.

14. A carton as claimed in claim 13 wherein the hinged portion of the tab means extends beyond the hinged tab portion of the cover. l-lra A carton as claimed in claim 14 wherein the hinge portion extends beyond a peripheral edge of the ,-rton end portion to facilitate easy digital lifting of the tab to operate the rotatable closure.

16. A carton as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 15 wherein the pour opening is pierced out prior to assembly of the carton, but the tab means and rotatable closure are each defined but retained in the plane of the flaps by a combination of complete and incomplete cuts, which incomplete cuts are designed to be readily severable upon initial opening of the sealed carton to form said dispensing means.

17. A carton blank formed of sheet material for assembly into a carton according to any one of the preceding claims.

18. A carton blank as claimed in claim 17 wherein the carton blank includes: a first section divided by a series of generally transversely extending score lines to define three adjacent contiguous side panels, each panel having at least one flap that co-extends with the flap of the adjacent panel; a first of said flaps having an aperture therein defining a pour opening; *a second of said flaps having a closure formed therein by a substantially circular i configuration of perforations, the closure being sized and located such that on assembly of the carton and severance of the perforations, axial rotation of the closure alternately covers or exposes the underlying pour opening; and 20 the third flap having tab means formed therein by a series of perforations, the tab means being located such that upon assembly of the carton the tab is securable to the rotatable closure to effect operation thereof, a portion of both the first and third flaps being adapted upon assembly to retain the closure therebetween, and o 25 wherein the closure is integrally formed in the second flap solely by means of a combination of through cut lines and severable lines of weakness formed in the sheet material.

19. A carton substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. -II 16- A carton blankl, substantially as hercinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED this 5th Day of November, 1. 997 LEIGH-MARDON PTY LIMITED Attorney: CAROLINE M. BOMMER Fellow Institute of Patent Attorneys of Australia of SHELSTON WATERS ABSTRACT A carton for storing and dispensing pourable substances, the carton being formed from a carton blank formed from sheet material said carton including: a wall defining a pour opening (13); a closure (14) adapted for rotating movement within a generally circular boundary between a first position occluding the opening and a second position in which the opening is at least partly clear; retaining means (22) for retaining the closure (14) operatively adjacent the opening; wherein the closure (14) is integrally formed from the sheet material of the carton blank at a location overlying the pour opening (13) so as to be selectively severable therefrom in situ to permit operation between the first and second position, thus obviating the need for manufacture and assembly of a separate closing device. A A oe *ee S i I