US2409692A - Container - Google Patents

Description

0d. 22, 1946. g, NYBERG 2,409,692

CONTAINER Filed March 25, 1944 Patented Oct. 22 1946 UNITED, STATES PATENT OFFICE CONTAINER Curt E. Nyberg, Chicago, 111., assignor to James F. Barnes, as trustee Application March 25, 1944, Serial No. 528,099

6 Claims.

This invention relates to a package or container, and more particularly to a package adapted to contain servings of liquid foods such as cream, beverages, or the like.

An object of the invention is to provide a container which may be conveniently opened for emptying by deforming the top of the container.

Another object is to provide a container which is regular in outline and which may be stacked in compact arrangement, but which may be easily opened for emptying.

Another object is to provide such a container which may be stacked in compact arrangement and when so stacked will be strong and highly resistant to rupture, but which when pressed across corners at the top of the container will easily rupture to permit emptying of the container.

Yet another object is to provide a container having a weakened line across its top wall, which line will rupture to open the container. More specifically, it is desired to provide a package having such a weakened line whichwhen ruptured will form a dipped edge surface which will enable easy pouring.

Still another object is to provide from a Single sheet of paper material the top and sides of a container, the construction being simple andv involving a minimum of operations.

Other objects and advantagesof the invention will be apparent as the following detailed description proceeds.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which-:-

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the improved container; Fig. 2 is a perspective view similar to Fig. 1 but showing the container in open condition ready for pouring; Fig. 3 is an elevational sectional View through the center of the container and showing the assembly of the bottom and side walls; Fig. 4 is a plan View of a sheet of material ready for assembly to construct the top and side walls of the container; and Fig. 5 is a plan view of a sheet of material employed in the formation of the bottom wall of the container.

As illustrated, the improved container may be formed at its top and sides from a single sheet of material A, which may be of paper or the like, and the bottom may be formed of a single sheet B, of like material.

As seen particularly in Fig. 4, the sheet A includes a central rectangular portion which is preferably square, having the edges ll, l2, l3 and I4.- which form the corners I5, l6, l1 and t8. The sideportion; 19 of the'sheet adjacent the edgeffl is, in the construction of the container, turned downwardly at right angles with the top wall I0 to form a side of the container. Likewise, the rectangular portion 20 adjacent the edge [3 is turned downwardly at right angles with the top wall Ill to form a second side, and side portions 2| and 22 are similarly turned to form the other two sides of the container.

The portion of the sheet which is intermediate of the sides l9 and 20 is folded along the lines 23, 24 and 25. The part which is between the edge 26 of the side 20 and the corner line 23 is folded inwardly, and also the part between the edge 21 of the side l9 and the corner line 23 is folded inwardly. Thus when the sheet is folded, the corner line 23 lies just adjacent the edges 26 and 21 at the corner formed by the two adjacent sides. One fold (including the material between lines 23 and 26) will lie inside and adjacent the side wall 20, and another fold (including the material between the lines 23 and 21) will lie inside and adjacent the side wall l9.

As seen in Fig. 4, the sheet A is preferably octagonal in shape, with the corner edge 28 extending at right angles to the corner line of fold 23 and between the ends of the lines of fold 24 and 25. The corner line of fold 23 bisects the angle between the side edges 26 and 21, and the lines 24 and 25 bisect the angle between the corner line 23 and the respective side edges. With this construction, the bottom edges of the folds will, when the container is formed, lie straight and flush with the bottom edges of the side portions.

The sheet portions which are between sides 19 and 22, between sides 22 and 2|, and between sides 2| and 2!] are formed similarly to the portions between sides [9 and 20 just described.

An important feature of the construction is the preparation of the sheet A to include a weakened line 30 (shown dotted in th drawing) which extends from the corner l6 of the top wall to the corner [8. This line may be formed by perforating the sheet, or preferably by cutting the wall part way through its thickness, or in any other.

across the corners of. the top wall It, except for thecentral. portion it which may beadipped to- I ward the corner I! in the form of a curve or semi-circle. This dipped portion of the weakened line serves, when the line is ruptured, to provide a pouring lip which causes liquids or the like being poured from the container to issue in the form of a stream from the middle of the top instead of spreading over the whole edge of the opening. This operation will later be explained in more detail.

If desired, an adhesive may be placed within the folds of the intermediate portions so that when the structure is pressed into form, the adhesive will secure the folds tightly and tend to prevent any opening of the folds to allow deformation of the corners.

With the sheets formed as described to form the top and sides of the container, the structure may be inverted and filled from the bottom. If the folds have not been secured as by adhesive, it is desirable to confine the folded structure in a form of suitable character to hold it in shape during filling. The containers may be filled with any desired fluids and are particularly useful for containing individual servings of coffee cream, beverage, or the like. The fluids with which the containers are to be filled may be placed in the containers while thus inverted.

The filled containers may be capped by assembling the bottom wall structure. This structure may be formed from a single rectangular sheet B, as shown in Fig. of the drawing. The sheet B has a central rectangular portion 40 which corresponds, in the embodiment illustrated, with the size and shape of the top wall lll. The edge portions 4| of the sheet B are foldable along the lines 42 so as to form depending portions. The corner or intermediate portions 43 may be folded inwardly along the corner fold lines 44. As shown in Fig. 3, the bottom Wall 40 fits within the container and the depending portions 4| engage the inner surface of the walls of the container. The extreme edge portions 52 of the bottom wall B are folded outwardly across the bottom edge of the container and then upwardly along the outer surface of the wall of the container. There is thus provided an outwardly-extending portion 5| which is disposed beneath the lower edge of the container.

Preferably, as seen in Fig. 5, the bottom wall B is cut away at the corners so as to provide edge portions 52 of a length substantially coextensive with the sides of the container. The bottom wall may be placed in position by pressing it into the container, thereby forming the depending portions 41 along the inner surface of the walls of the container. The extreme edge portions 52 may then be turned outwardly and upwardly and, if desired, may be sealed in position by means of adhesive.

So filled and sealed, th containers may be stacked in rows and on top of each other. When so stacked, the containers are particularly strong and will not rupture, even when subjected to quite severe shock. The individual containers are exceptionally strong and have no tendency to open in any ordinary handling. Most shocks received by such a container subject the structure to pressure between opposite faces and such a pressure places no stress on the weakened line 30 and does not cause any rupture of the material along this line- When it is desired to empty the container, it is necessary only to grasp the container in the hand .and with the thumb and forefinger; press the corners l6 and I8 of the top wall towards each other. The pressure tending to bring the corners l6 and I8 closer together also tends to spread the corners l5 and I! farther apart. The result is that the top wall I0 is ruptured along the weakened line 30 to form a slit which widens as the operator presses against the corners I 6 and I8. This opening is illustrated by Fig. 2 of the drawing.

The opening of the slit permits the contents of the package to be poured therefrom by merely tilting the package. Where the weakened line is dipped, as shown in the embodiment illustrated,

- the liquid may be poured from the depressed lip ll thereby provided so that the liquid contents of the container will issue forth in a central stream instead of pouring across the whole edge from corner to corner. Also, this lip presents an eflicient edge for cutting oif the flow sharply when the container is righted so as to prevent dribbling and dropping of further amounts of liquid along the sides of the container.

When the operator releases the pressure against corners I6 and I8, the resiliency of the material causes the container to spring back to its original form, practically closing the opening.

It is understood that, if desired, the weakened line 30 need not contain the depressed portion 3| and may extend across the top wall of the container in any desired way from one corner to an opposite corner. Also while the container shown in the illustrated embodiment has four sides with top and bottom walls, the container may also be formed of six or other number of sides. The top wall may thus be outlined as a polygon having a desired number of sides. In any case, the weakened line, which upon rupture provides the opening, should extend from one corner of the top wall to an opposite corner. The term "opposite corners is intended to designate corners having at least two sides between them as distinguished from corners joined by a single side.

The material from which the improved container is formed may preferably be paper which is of suitable thickness and strength. If the containers are to hold liquids, the paper material may be treated to prevent its being weakened or penetrated by the liquids.

While only a single embodiment of the invention has been described in detail, it is expected that many changes may be made and that the improvements may be practiced in vastly difierent forms, all within the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A container comprising a sheet of paper material having a central portion which forms a rectangular top wall, side portions of said sheet adjacent the edges of said central portion being disposed at an angle with said top wall to form the sides of said container, the portions of said sheet intermediate of said side portions being folded within the container, and a bottom wall secured to the bottom edges of said sides, said top wall containing a weakened line extending between opposite corners thereof and adapted to rupture so as to open the container for emptying the same when said opposite corners are pressed toward each other.

2. A container comprising a sheet of paper material having a central portion which forms a square top wall, side portions of said sheet adjacent the edges of said central portion bein disposed at right angles with said top wall to form the sides of the container, each of the portions of the sheet intermediate of said side portions being formed in two folds each extending from a corner of the container and disposed inside and adjacent to a side of the container, and a bottom Wall secured to the bottom edges of said sides, said top wall containing a weakened line extending between opposite corners thereof and adapted to rupture so as to open the container for emptying when said opposite corners are pressed toward each other.

3. A container as set forth in claim 2 wherein said sheet of material is octagonal in shape and the bottom edges of said folds are parallel with the bottom edges of said sides.

4. A container comprising a sheet of material having a central portion which forms a rectangular top wall, side portions of said sheet adjacent the edges of said central portion being disposed at right angles with said top wall to form the sides of said container, the portions of said sheet intermediate of said side portions being folded within the container, and a bottom wall of rectangular shape having depending edge portions and secured to said side walls, said top wall containing a weakened line extending between opposite corners thereof and adapted to rupture so as to open the container for emptying the same when said opposite corners are pressed toward each other.

5. A container comprising a sheet of paper material having a central portion which forms a non-circular top wall having at least one pair of opposite corners, side portions of said sheet adjacent the edges of said central portion being disposed at an an'gle with said top wall to form the sides of said container, the portions of said sheet intermediate said side portions being folded, and a bottom wall secured to the bottom edges of said sides, said top wall containing a weakened line extending between said opposite corners and adapted to rupture so as to open the container for emptying the same when said opposite corners are pressed toward each other.

6. A container comprising a sheet of paper material having a central portion which forms a non-circular top wall with at least two oppositely disposed corners, side portions of said sheet adjacent the edges of said central portion being disposed at an angle with said top wall to form the sides of said container, and a bottom wall secured to the bottom edges of said sides, said top wall containing a weakened line extending between opposite corners thereon and said weakened line being straight except for a portion near the center where it dips in a direction at right angles to said corners, said weakened line being adapted to rupture and form edges in said top wall which spread apart when said corners of said top wall are pressed toward each other, the dipped portion of said top line when ruptured serving to provide a lowered pouring edge.

CURT E. NYBERG.

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