US3079062A

US3079062A - Tapered collapsible container

Info

Publication number: US3079062A
Application number: US9768A
Authority: US
Inventors: Donald L Craddock; Wasserman Arnold Saul
Original assignee: BF Goodrich Corp
Current assignee: Goodrich Corp
Priority date: 1960-02-19
Filing date: 1960-02-19
Publication date: 1963-02-26
Anticipated expiration: 1980-02-26

Description

Feb. 26, 1963 p. l.. cRADDocK Erm. 3,079,062 TAPERED coLLAPsIBLE CONTAINER Filed Feb-b 19. i960 Fired ree. ra, rase, ser. No. 9,763 a Cranes. (ci. 229-16) This invention relates to collapsible containers, such as cardboard boxes, suita-ble for holding articles having a smaller dimension at one end than at the other.

An object of this invention is to provide a collapsible container occupying a volume only slightly greater than that of an article with one small end contained in it. Another object is to provide a collapsible container differing in shape from one en-d to the other and provided with an absolutely flat end, permitting it to be stood on end for counter or shelf display. Still another o-bject is to provide a collapsible container having a display panel of greater width than any side of the end or base on which the container rests when placed on a counter or shelffor display.

.These objects are accomplished by constructing the container from a blank of cardboard or other suitable folda'ble material so designed that one end will fold into a quadrilateral shape, which end may be provided with a conventional tucked in flap closure, and the other end will come to a more or less sharp edge disposed diagonally of the first end, and with six longitudinally fold lines dividing the sides into six triangular panels. Four of these triangular panels will have bases adjoining the four edges of the bottom end of the finished container and apices at the ends of the diagonal top edge and the other two panels will have bases along the diagonal -top edge of the finished container and apices at two opposite corners of the bottom. The diagonal edge opposite to the quadrilateral or bottom end may be left open if desired, since the edges of the stiff material will normally stay close together, or the diagonal edge may be closed by gluing or folding. When such a blank is properly assembled, with its glue iiap adhered to the opposite edge of the blank in the usual manner, it will lie flat for storage and shipment and can be set up by opening the end described above as the bottom end -to its intended quadrilateral configuration, after which the contents can be inserted and the bottom end can be closed by folding and tueking in the closure liaps. The container so made is a 7-faced polyhedron with a quadrilateral fiat base and six vertical triangular side faces terminating in a single edge at the top.

This invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 shows a cut-out blank for constructing one form of the container. FlG. 2 is a perspective view of the finished container. FIG. 3 shows a blank for making a modified form of the container, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the finished container of FIG. 3.

In FIG. l the cut-out container blank consists of a sheet of cardboard or other suitable foldable material having at one longitudinal edge 11 a glue flap 12 for adhesion to the other longitudinal edge 13. Since the edge 11 will later become a fold, it is suitably scored to facilitate folding. In addition, five other score lines are provided between the edges 11 and 13, as will be explained below. The edges 11 and 13, which will come together to form one folded edge, and the central score line 14 are always straight, so that the container with the glue fiap 12 adhered to the opposing edge 13 will lie flat for storage and shipment. The other four longitudinal score lines may or may not be straight.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. l, the central 3,079,062 Patented Feb. 26, 1953 score line 14 forms the edge between -two

panels

15 and 16 of triangular shape. In the simple form of the invention illustrated, in which the bottom is square and the top edge has a length equal to the diagonal of the square, these

panels

15 and 16 are right triangles with

bases

17 and 18 forming common edges with the square bottom and each having as a hypotenuse score lines 19 and 2t) respectively, extending from

opposite corners

21 and 22 of the square bottom to one end 23 of the diagonal top edge 24 of the container. Adjoining the score lines 19 and 2d are two

more panels

25 and 26 in the shape of isosceles triangles, the bases of which are at the diagonal top edge of the container formed -by the score line 24, which is the base of triangular panel 25, and the mating free edge 27, which is the base of the corresponding opposite triangular panel 26. The remaining sides of these isosceles

triangular panels

25 and 26 are formed by

score lines

28 and 29, respectively, equal in length to lines 19 and 2d. The

score lines

23 and 29 form the hypotenuse of the

remaining panels

30 and 31, respectively, equal in size to

panels

15 and 16.

Panels

30 and 31 will ultimately come together at a folded edge formed Iby junction of the folded edge 11 of the glue flap and free edge 13 of the blank. The bases of

panels

30 and 31 are the remaining two

sides

32 and 33 of the square bottom of the finished container and are equal in length to

sides

17 and 18. For closure of the square end any three of the

sides

17, 18, 32 and 33 are provided with the

usual flaps

34, 3S and 36, one of which, 36 in this case, is of sufficient size to cover the entire square opening and has the usual tuck-in fiap 37. Since the tuck-in flap 37 will lie against the inside of a triangular panel, it is necessary for one corner of the tuck-in flap to be cut away at the same angle as the hypotenuse of the triangular panel, as indicated at 38.

The top or diagonal edge of the container, formed by juxtaposition of fold line 24 at the top of panel 25 and free edge 27 of the panel 26, may be closed by a fiap 39 having a tongue 40, which can be inserted in a slit 41 in the opposing face 26 of the finished container.

The cut-out blank is put together by applying glue in the usual manner to the glue fiap 12 and by folding the blank along score lines 11 and 14, so as to adhere the glue iiap 12 to the blank adjacent to its opposite edge 13. The glued -blank will then be perfectly flat for convenience in storage `and handling with

panels

15, 25 and 30 on one side and

panels

16, 26 and 31 on the other side.

When the box is to be set up, fiap 39 is folded on score line 24 which attaches it to panel 25, and the tongue dil is inserted in the slit 41, which operation closes the top diagonal edge of the final container. The bottom end is then opened by spreading

edges

17 and 32 from

edges

18 and 33 to an approximately square opening, through which the contents of the container may be inserted. The square bottom end is then closed by folding down

flaps

34 and 35, followed by flap 36, which is held in place by the tuck-in ap 37 in the usual manner.

The finished container has a perfectly fia-t square base upon which it can be stood perfectly steady without any rocking. When so stood up it will have the appearance of a square prism with parallel vertical faces, having two of the vertical edges sliced off from

corners

21 and 22 at the Vbottom to a diagonal line 24 at the opposing or top end. This will leave triangular remnants 15, 3i), 16, and 31 of the hypothetical originally rectangular side faces and will produce two

triangular wedge faces

25 and 26 coming together at the diagonal edge just mentioned. This aspect is illustrated in FIG. 2, showing the Completed container so turned that the right-hand edge will be the edge 11 resulting from folding back and gluing of the glue flap 12. The left-hand edge in FIG. 2 is the 3 central straight fold line 14. The two visible bottom edges are

edges

52 and 17 and the visible one of the two wedge faces is panel 25 extending from bottom corner 21 to the diagonal top edge 24.

The new form of container exhibits numerous advantages. As already mentioned, it has an absolutely at steady base for display purposes and has a pair of

display panels

25 and 26 having a width over 46% greater than any of the square edges of the bottom surface, so that it lends itself particularly well to self-serve marketing, in which an extensive display surface is especially desirable. If desired, one of these display panels, or any 'of the other panels, may be provided with a window for inspection of the contents without the necessity of opening the container. Since the top of the container ends in an edge rather than a surface, the volume of the finished container is very much less than that of a conventional completely rectangular container of the size required to contain the kind of article vsmaller at one end than at the other for which this new type of container is intended. Consequently, such articles packaged in these containers can be shipped in cart-ons in double rows with the bases' facing away from one another and with the diagonal top edges intermeshed so" as to reduce very substantially the volume required for shipping and storage of the packaged articles.

In spite of the substantial reduction in volume loccupied by these containers, they are adequate to hold articles ofconsiderable bulk if the bulky portion is near one end. Thus the container of the kind described above will receive a circular disc or cylinder of the same diameter as the` length of the square edges of the base, without any bulging of the walls, if the top edge of the disc 4or cylinder is locatedV not over twenty-nine-hundredths of theheight of the container from the base. Moreover, the container will receive ak sphere ofthe same diameter as the length of the squareY edges of the base, or a spherical end portion of an article smaller at the other end, without any bulging of the walls, if the height of the containerV from the square base to the diagonal top is at least twice of the length of the square edges of the base.

In' the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 some of the score Vlines and the resulting fold edges are curved. The blank Iof FIG; 3 mayrhave the same external dimensions as that of FIG. l, with the same straight fold edges il adjacen-t the glue ap 12 which is to be adhered to the opposite straight edge 13, the same straight central fold line 14, and the same equal edges 17, 1S, 32'and 33 defining the square bottom end closed with folded

liaps

34, 35,- and 36, the latter having the usual tuck-in ap 37. The top closure ap 42, -in this illustration, has been shown as connected to the left hand panel, and its tongue 43 is consequently intended for insertion in slit 44 in the right-hand panel.

The principal difference between this embodiment and that of FIG. 1 is that the intermediate score lines are curved so as to form curved edges when the box is set up. Thus the panels 45 and d6 on either side of the central fold line 14 are not simple triangles but are bounded by

curved score lines

47 and 48 instead of a straight hypotenuse, these lines( in this instance being doubly curved in the form of an ogee curve. The next pair of

panels

49 and 50 are bounded on their opposite edges by symmetrically turned ogee

shaped score lines

51 and 52, leaving

marginal panels

53 and 54 of the same shape as the

central panels

45 and 46.

Since the ogee shaped score lines have their extremities tangential or nearly so to straight fold lines 1l and14, and to the free edge 13 which will be adhered to fold line 11, it is preferred to omit those portions of the ogee score lines which lie close to other fold lines, and to terminate them at short transverseV slits or score lines 5S joining thev closely adjacent branches of the ogee shaped sco-re lines. When the glue flap 12 is adhered to the opposite margin 13, the slits or score lines 5S will appear as transverse interruptions in the folds of the sheet material. When the container is set up, this permits the material to break into clean folds along the entire length of the

ogee score lines

47, 4S, 51 and 52, up to the slits or score lines S5, with the remaining porti-ons of the wide

longitudinal panels

49 and 50 near the top of the container being separated by short straight single folds instead of a plurality of closely adiacent folds.

In Athis embodiment, as in the other, the glued. folded box, before it is set up, lies perfectly flat. When it is set up by folding ldap 42 and tucking tongue 43 in slit 44, opening the square end and folding tucking the closure aps, the box has an absolutely flat bottom on which it can stand without rocking. FG. 4, the diagonal panels, such as panel 49 extending from the diagonal top edge of one of the corners of the bot-tom, maintain a width nearly as great as the length of the diagonal top edge for almost half the length of the container, so as to provide an extensive area for identiiication or other display purposes. lower half of the container has its volume only slightly reduced, because of the narrowness of panel 49 between the lower branches of ogee fold lines d'7 and 51, andthe consequent non-planar, curved shape of the` face of paneles.

It is plain that other proportions maybe used, since it is not essential that the container have a square bottom, or parallel side panels, or a sharp upper diagonal edge, or the exact shape of straight or curved intermediate score lines shown in these embodiments, if the shape of the article to be contained should make it desirable to modify some of these elements. Nevertheless, it appears now to be most advantageous to incorporate square bottoms and parallel sides when the shape of the contained article permits.

We claim:

l. A tapered collapsible container of foldable materialI having 7 faces, one face being a flat quadrlateral base provided with a closure, two pairs of faces being generally triangular vertical sides with each side having a common edge with the base and each pair of sides joined along a straight vertical fold line, a pair of vertically converging wedge facesconnecting the pairs of sides along their entire vertical lengths and extending from opposite corners of the base to a narrow top having a direction diagonal to the base.

2. A container as in claim l in which the base is square and the top has a length equal to the diagonal of the square.

3. A container as -in claim 2 in which all the edges' are Straight.

4. A container as in claim 2 in which the lateral edges of the wedge faces are convexly curved near the top.

5. A container as in claim 2 in which the lateral edges of the wedge faces are concave near the bottom.

6. A container as in claim 2 in which the lateral edges of the wedge faces are convex near the top and concave near the bottom. 7. A tapered collapsible container of foldable material having 7 faces, one face being a ilat quadrilateral base provided with a closure, two pairs of faces being generally triangular vertical sides with each side having a common edge with the base and each pair of sides joined along a straight vertical fold line, a pair of vertically converging wedge faces connecting the pairs of sides along their entire Verti-cal lengths and joined to them by curved fold lines extending from opposite corners of the base and approaching the said straight fold lines approximately tangentially, the said curved fold lines terminating short of the top at shor-t lines each of which extends from one curved fold line across a straight fold line to another curved fold line, the said wedge faces terminating in a narrow top having a direction diagonal to the base.

In this case, as shown in At the same time, theI 5 8. A container `as in claim 7 in which the base is square, and the top is =a folded edge having a length equal to the diagonal of the square and is closed by a flap. References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,025,606 Bayless et a1. May 7, 1912 1,597,757 Berger Aug. 31, 1926 1,833,974 Powell et a1. Dec. 1, 1931 6 Ware Dec. 8, 1936 Williamson Jan. 19, 1937 Chapman Jan. 10, 1939 Butler Feb. 14, 1939 Moore Feb. 8, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Nov. 8, 1943 Nerway July 9, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent Nov 3O79,062 February 26 1963 Donald L Craddock et ale It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered pat-Q ent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

Column l, line 30U for "longitudinally" read lo'nqitud;==

nal column 3v line 57 for "The" read e This column lv line 13I after "folding" insert and line l7 for "of", first occurrence read to Signed and sealed this list day of October 1963.,

(SEAL) Attest:

ERNEST W. SWIDER DAVID L. LADD Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents

Claims

1. A TAPERED COLLAPSIBLE CONTAINER OF FOLDABLE MATERIAL HAVING 7 FACES, ONE FACE BEING A FLAT QUADRILATERAL BASE PROVIDED WITH A CLOSURE, TWO PAIRS OF FACES BEING GENERALLY TRIANGULAR VERTICAL SIDES WITH EACH SIDE HAVING A COMMON EDGE WITH THE BASE AND EACH PAIR OF SIDES JOINED ALONG A STRAIGHT VERTICAL FOLD LINE, A PAIR OF VERTICALLY CONVERGING WEDGE FACES CONNECTING THE PAIRS OF SIDES ALONG THEIR ENTIRE VERTICAL LENGTHS AND EXTENDING FROM OPPOSITE CORNERS OF THE