CA2417142C - Versatile gift box - Google Patents

Abstract

A carton which may be ideally used as a gift box comprises a folded carton contained within the lid which ultimately closes the carton. The carton is formed from a blank having four panels which form the sides of the carton. Four end panels connected to the side panels may be folded together to form a bottom for the carton when in its assembled condition. The entire carton blank is folded to fit inside the lid. A transparent wrap, preferably a shrink wrap encloses the carton and any other wrapping paraphernalia within the lid.

Description

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i~ . T~.,'wi.;' ~~ . r EHO oz~6z VERSATILE GIFT B()X
BACKGRC~UNI) ~F THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a carton which when shipped from the manufacturer to its ultimate destination, is in a folded arrangement such that the box or containment vessel is folded so that it may be entirely embraced within the "lid" of the ultimate package. Such boxes are convenient for use as "gift" boxes.
Many "folded cartons" are available in present day commercial establishments. Most folded boxes are shipped in their folded condition and displayed in the folded condjtmn. making it difficult for the consumer ~o to gauge the ultimate size and capacity of the box. Since the dimensions of the box appear on the "knocked down" box it often requires that a consumer have a ruler or tape measure handy to determine the capacity of the assembled carton.
The entire carton will be contained in a transparent or semi-is transparent wrap so that the customer may easily determine the size, shape and color of the unassembled gift carton through the transparent wrap. Because the carton itself is stored within the confines of the lid, the informed customer may easily determine (from the size of the lid enclosing the folded carton) the dimensions of the unassembled carton.

The customer has merely to hold the gift carton (in its folded condition) up to the article which is to be ultimately housed within the gift carton to gauge whether the folded gift carton will have sufficient capacity to contain the article once the folded box is assembled.
Many prior art gift cartons are manufactured and shipped in their final assembled condition. These prior art gift cartons are usually manufactured from rigid board with the lid in place on the carton.
Usually the complete gift box is enclosed in a shrink-wrap plastic enclosure. Additional paraphernalia, such as ribbons, gift tags, decorative to stickers, etc. are placed inside the box before the shrink-wrap is applied to the gift carton. The advantage of presenting the ultimate customer with a completely erected rigid gift carton (in a shrink wrap) is that the customer may determine immediately upon seeing the gift carton in its erected form is that it is easy to determine whether the intended gift will fit into l s the assembled gift carton. The disadvantage is that the shipping and packaging costs associated with the assembled carton can drive the ultimate selling price of the pre-assembled carton out of the range of most consumers.
Thus this type of gift carton will be available only in upscale gift Zo shops where price is not a prime consideration.

_ 3 EFIO 02162 PERTINENT PRIOR AItT
Canadian Patent 289,528 May 7, 1929 This patent relates to a collapsible metallic box in which the top and bottom components of the box fold around the side walls of the ballot s box. The side walls have an accordion like pleat in the middle to permit the side walls to collapse inwardly so that the front and rear walls may be moved into a juxtaposed relationship with only the side walls (being previously folded) being nested therebetween. The top and bottom components may then be folded about the front and rear wall nested io package.
The box described herein is metallic in nature and requires metal flanges on some of the wall components in order to deliver its promise of being truly collapsible.
i s Canadian Patent 1,118 734 Februa _r~23, 1982 This is a box manufactured from paperboard and is foldable for shipping and storage in a compact planar configuration. This carton requires considerable manual dexterity to assemble it, and in addition, ' requires adhesive strips to successfully assemble the box. A strip of Zo adhesive tape is applied across the top of the box, provides additional security for the box.

This box which is paperboard and has a folding capability, has no capability to be ornamented, has no separate lid and lacks the user friendliness of applicant's container wherein the ultimate size of the container is revealed by the lid.
Canadian Patent, 1,245,309 April 26, 1983 (Very similar to 1,118,734 above) Canadian Patent 1,226,563 September 8, 1987 to This is a cardboard box which may be folded to form a ballot box.
This container is simple in construction and is relatively easy to assemble, but requires a preglued panel to provide a handle and the enclosure requires tabs to engage slots in order to lock the device together. Sealing tape is used to secure the assembled container.
U.S. Patents, 4,699,312, 4,981 259 5,610383 5 681 113 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention thus relates to a method of packaging a folded Zo container entirely within its lid so that the consumer can immediately see the carton, lid, ribbon, bow, gift tags and ot?ner wrapping paraphernalia ,. .., ... .. ; .. , . . , ;. . ,, ,~p :.. ,: . . . , .: : . : ": ., ; . .. ._ EHO 021b2 which are displayed within the carton lid in a plastic shrink-wrap. The lid and the contained box assembly are shipped from the manufacturer to a retail purveyor in the compact "knocked-down" condition. Because of this method of packaging and storing, the entire folded carton within the s rigid lid, the customer may easily ascertain the length, width and height of the assembled carton without having to open the shrink-wrap covering.
The customer only has to hold the package of the lid containing the folded carton up to the intended gift to determine whether the gift will fit into the assembled carton.
to BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRA"UVINGS
Figure 1 is a drawing of the blank used to form the box of this invention.
is Figure 2 is shows the blank of Figure 1 in a partially folded condition.
Figure 3 shows the partially folded box blank of Figure 1.
Figure 4 shows the box of Figure 1 completely folded.
Figure 5 shows the folded box of Figure 4 inserted into the box lid.
ao Figure b shows box 10 oriented for construction of the bottom Figure 7 shows the box having the lid placed thereon.

Figure 8 shows the complete box having a ribbon applied.
Figure 9 shows the completely assembled box with a decorative ribbon in place.
s DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED ElYIBODIMEN°T
The carton of the invention described in this application is well known in the packaging industry as the Houghla~ld or snap lock bottom carton. It is frequently known as the 1-2-3 closure because of the swift and speedy manner in which the bottom panels rnay be erected. The io other outstanding feature of this closure is that once the bottom of the carton has been assembled, the carton and bottom are quite stable and not subject to collapse.
Referring now to Figure I a blank 10 is shown having four panels 12, 14, 16, 18 (which become the sidewalls of the container 10) separated is by score lines 20, 22, 24, 26. Score line 26 separates glue flap 28 from panel 18.
A second score line 30 is provided between panels 12, 14, 16, 18 and end panel components 32, 34, 36 and 38 respectively. The end panel components 32 and 36 are bent inwardly of the sides 12 and 16 before or Zo after glue flap 28 is glued to side 12. End flaps 34 and 38 are bent outwardly of panels 14 and 18 so as to overlie the exterior surface of panels 14 and 18 as shown in Figure 2.
Flap 28 is next glued to the side 12. With the glue flap 28 secured to side 12 and the end panels 32 and 36 tucked inside the carton and end s panels 34 and 36 folded over the outside of panels 14 and 18, the folded blank 10 takes on the appearance of a flat folded structure of Figure 3.
The box may be folded again at scorelines 20 and 22 to produce the folded box as shown in Figure 4.
The folded box of Figure 4 may now be inserted in lid 40 as shown ~o in Figure 5. Lid 40 is a rigid lid having shallow sides 42, 44, 46 and 48 to embrace and overlap box 10 when assembled. The box 10 and lid 14 require only as much space as the lid represents; in this condition the box and lid present a very compact unit for shipping and storage. A ribbon 52 and any other decorative paraphernalia such as gift tag 50 may be i s included in the box lid under the protection of a shrink-wrap.
It will be noted that the ribbon 52 shown in Figure 8 is preglued at 54 to provide a complete seal for box 10. The ribbon 52 shown in Figure 9 is securely fastened to the box 10 by means of preglued portion 54 to hold the lid closed and to secure the gift tag 50 in its praper place.

ElEiO 02168 The gift box described above may be conveniently stored and assembled in a jiffy. It may be attractively appointed and used for a variety of occasions.
The enclosing wrap which secures the unassembled carton within s . the carton lid may be a transparent shrink wrap or it may be a plastic bag which surrounds the lid and unassembled carton. These materials may be transparent or semi transparent. It is envisioned that plastic or nylon enclosures may perform equally well.
The material comprising the box may be Kraft board, wood, plastic i o sheeting or sheet metal, such as aluminum or steel.
Is

Claims (4)

1. A gift carton and a separate rigid lid, wherein:

the carton has four sides and a bottom and an open top; and the lid is for said open top comprising a flat panel having four shallow sides which overlap the sides of the carton when placed on said open top;

said carton being unassembled and folded in such a manner that the carton and wrapping paraphernalia are completely stored and displayed within the confines of the rigid lid in a transparent plastic shrink wrap or plastic bag for shipping and display purposes.

2. A carton and lid as claimed in claim 1 wherein panels forming the four sides of the assembled carton have attached thereto four bottom panels which when assembled interlock to form a bottom for said carton.

3. A carton and lid as claimed in claim 2, wherein said four bottom panels form a snap lock bottom for said carton.

4. A method of packing a gift carton comprising:

providing a separate rigid lid having four shallow sides for overlapping the top of the assembled gift carton;

providing a suitable glued carton blank which can be knocked down into an unassembled configuration to fit within said rigid lid; folding said carton into a compacted configuration;

placing said folded carton completely within the confines of said rigid lid;
enclosing wrapping paraphernalia completely within the confines of said rigid lid; and enclosing said rigid lid, folded carton and wrapping paraphernalia within a transparent shrink wrap or plastic bag such that the wrapping paraphernalia are displayed within the rigid lid.