US3347366A - Can carrier having retaining tab with gusset - Google Patents

Description

R. E. DE PAUL 3,347,366 CAN CARRIER HAVING RETAIIHENG TAB WITH GUSSET Oct. 17, 1967- 2 $heets-$heet 1 Filed July 21, 1966 frzveri. 07".- J3 6720:7155 DePczuZ 9 R. E. DE PAUL 3,347,366

CAN CARRIER HAVING RETAINING TAB WITH GUSSET Filed July 21, 1966 2 Sheets-$heet fnvenizr's fiz'C/larcigpej aul United States Patent 3,347,366 CAN CARRIER HAVING RETAINING TAB WITH GUSET Richard E. De Paul, Norristown, Pa., assignor to Container Corporation of America, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Filed July 21, 1966, Ser. No. 566,784 4 Claims. (Cl. 206-65) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A wraparound carton, for enclosing a plurality of cylindrical articles with recessed ends, having opposed pairs of top and bottom end walls and side walls hingedly attached to form an open ended tubular structure; and having a plurality of cylindrical articles retaining tabs cut from at least one of said end walls and folded inwardly therefrom for engagement with the recess ends of the cylindrical articles; and having means for maintaining each of said tabs in engagement with a related end which includes a gusset hingedly interconnecting the tab and said one end wall.

This invention relates to a sleeve-type wraparound carrier carton for enclosing a plurality of cylindrical articles having chimed recessed ends, and more particularly, to an improved can retaining tab, with integral gusset, formed in one end wall of the carrier carton and folded inwardly therefrom for engaging the recessed end of the article to prevent movement of the article out of the open end of the carrier carton.

This invention is related to that disclosed in copending application Serial No. 462,944, filed June 10, 1965, entitled Can Carrier.

As is well known to those familiar with the art of packaging, a common way to package cylindrical articles, such as metal cans, is to wrap them in a tubular open-ended carrier cart-on with the cans being arranged in the carton in one or more rows extending longitudinally of the carton. In cartons of this type, it is necessary to provide means for preventing the cans from accidentally moving out of the open ends of the carton. One method of solving this problem is to cut retaining tabs from the top or bottom end wall panels of the carton and to fold the tabs inwardly into the recessed ends of the chimed cans to engage the inside edges thereof and thereby prevent the cans from moving out the ends of the carton.

With the introduction of the pop-top metal cans which have built-in opening devices having raised handle portions above the outer end surface of the can, an additional problem is presented, namely that of insuring relatively tight engagement between the can retaining tab and the recessed end of the packaged article. In the above referred to copending patent application, a wedge-shaped web panel is interposed between the end wall panel of the carton and a portion of the tab structure itself to extend at substantially right angles to both to force the free edge of the tab away from the main wall of the carrier and against the recessed end of the can. This wedge-shaped web panel thus maintains tight engagement of the tab against the can for reliably holding the same.

This invention approaches the problem from a slightly different angle, instead of serving to depress the can tab to force it against the fiat recessed end of the packaged can, the gusset in this invention projects below the plane of the tab and presents a vertical surface which directly engages a vertical surface presented by the recessed end of the can to prevent movement of the can out of the end of the carton.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide in a can carrier carton of the type described, a retaining tab with an integral gusset which projects into the recessed can end and engages a vertical surface thereof to prevent lateral movement of the can relative to the adjacent wall of the car-ton.

A more specific object of invention is the provision of a can retaining tab hinged to a wall of the carton about a first hinge line and having an integral gusset which also connects the tab to the carton wall and which is hinged to the tab and carton wall on hinge lines which lie on opposite sides of said first hinge line.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from an examination of the following description and drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is an end elevational view of a carrier carton embodying features of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the blanks from which the carton of FIGURE 1 is formed;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of the structure illustrated in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a transverse, horizontal section taken on line 44 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a vertical section taken on line 55 of FIGURE 4; and

FIGURES 6 and 7 are views similar to FIGURES 3 and 4, respectively, but illustrating a modified form of the invention.

It will be understood that, for purposes of clarity, certain elements have been intentionally omitted from certain views where they are illustrated to better advantage in others.

Referring now to the drawings for a better understanding of the invention, it will be seen that in FIGURE 1 there is illustrated an open end sleeve-type wraparound carrier carton, illustrated generally at C, which may be formed from the unitary blank, indicated at B (FIG. 2) of suitable sheet material such as foldable paperboard.

The carton holds a plurality of cylindrical objects such as chimed cans, generally indicated at K which are arranged in one or more rows extending longitudinally of the car-ton. In the carton illustrated in FIGURE 1, the cans are arranged in two parallel rows disposed in sideby-side relation.

It will be noted from an examination of FIGURE 5, that the cans illustrated herein are provided with recessed end portions which present a generally fiat, horizontal top surface T and a generally cylindrical vertical inner surface I.

Referring to FIGURES l and 2, it will be seen that the carton includes a pair of parallel, transversely extending, vertically spaced top and bottom walls 10 and 12, respectively, which are interconnected by a pair of opposed parallel, transversely spaced, vertical side walls 14 to form a tubular structure open at the ends. Referring also to FIG. 2 it will be seen that while the top wall 10 is formed from a single panel, bottom wall 12 includes a pair of coplanar bottom wall panels 16 having their outer side edges hingedly attached to the adjacent lower edges of the related side walls 14 and having their inner edges attached to a central can retaining member 18, which extends longitudinally of the carton and projects into the carton between the adjacent rows of cans. This construction is disclosed more fully in United States Letters Patent No. 3,010,573 and my above mentioned copending application. The retaining member 18 is formed from cooperating pairs of first and second strips 20 and 22, respectively. First strips 20 are hinged to the inner edges of the bottom panel 16 and extend into the carton at right angles to the bottom wall in back-to-back relation where they are secured to each other by adhesive means. The second strips 22 are hinged to the inner or upper edges of first strips 20 and extend downwardly and outwardly towards the bottom wall for engagement with the related edges of the can chimes to maintain the cans in firm engagement with the bottom wall of the carton.

It will be understood that the central retaining member previously described is not an essential feature of the invention covered by this application, but can be replaced by other equivalent arrangements.

The one-piece top wall panel of the carton may be provided with a pair of hand grip holes or openings 24 to facilitate grasping and lifting of the package. Also, in order to facilitate opening of the package, one of the side walls 14 can be provided with a series of weakened lines of tear 26, and the top wall can be provided with a cut score punch-in section 28 which affords access to the top of the side wall of the carton adjacent the weakened lines 26, so that the carton can be easily ripped open along the weakened lines of tear.

In order to prevent the cans from accidentally moving out of the open ends of the carton there are provided in the top and/ or bottom walls of the carton, adjacent the ends of the cans, can retaining tabs 30 and 31 disposed over and under, respectively, the end can of each row. The can retaining tabs 31 in the bottom wall of the carton are of the same general type as those disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,980,249.

It will be understood, of course, that where cans having chimes at only one end are packaged, only that end of the carton need be provided with can retaining tabs.

As best seen in FIGURE 3, each tab 30 is generally triangular or pie-shaped in contour, is cut from the tOp wall 10 on a cut line 32, and is hinged to the top wall on a hinge line 34.

Tab 30 is therefore adapted to be folded approximately 180 degrees under the top wall 10 in back-to-back relation as shown in FIGURES 4 and 5.

Each tab 30 also includes an integral gusset 40 which also serves to connect the tab to carton top Wall 10. In the embodiment illustrated in FIGURES 15 gusset 40 is located at one end of tab 30. Gusset 40 is formed partly from material cut from tab 30 and partly from material cut from end wall It). Gusset 40 is defined by a pair of outbound and inbound cuts 42 and 44, respectively, and by a pair of outer and inner or second and third hinge lines 46 and 48 which serve to hinge the gusset to carton end wall 10 and tab 30, respectively. It will be noted that hinge lines 46 and 48 be on opposite sides of hinge line 34 which is the primary connection between the tab and the carton end wall.

Also gusset 40 may be divided by a fourth hinge 49 or fold line into two sections. Fourth hinge line 49 lies between first hinge line 34 and third hinge line 48.

The function of the tab and gusset is best illustrated in FIGURES 4 and where it can be seen that as each tab 30 is folded back about hinge line 34, gusset 40 is deflected to project downwardly into the recessed end of the can whereby the vertical side edge 50 of gusset 40 directly engages vertical inner surface I presented by the recessed end of the can to thereby prevent the can from moving out of the open end of the carrier carton.

' Now turning to FIGURES 6 and 7, it will be seen that the modified form of the invention shown therein is very similar to the previously described embodiment, the primary difference residing in the location of the retaining tab.

As best seen in FIGURE 6, tab 30 has a gusset 40' which is located centrally of the tab instead of at the end of the tab.

Gusset 40 is defined by outbound and inbound cut lines 42 and 44, respectively, and by outer and inner hinge lines 46', and 48, respectively, and may be divided in two by an additional hinge line 49.

Tab 30' and gusset 40' function in basically the same manner as previously described tab 30 and gusset 40 except that tab 30' is located further from the end edge of the carton top wall so that the tab actually rests on top of the top edge of the can while the vertical edge of gusset 40 projects into the recessed end to engage the vertical inner surface presented by the recessed can end.

What is claimed is:

1. In a sleeve-type, wraparound, carrier carton for enclosing a plurality of cylindrical articles each having a recessed end presenting an inner vertical surface, the combination of:

(a) opposed pairs of top and bottom end walls and side walls hingedly attached to form a tubular struc ture open at the ends;

(b) a plurality of can retaining tabs cut from at least one of said end walls and folded inwardly therefrom about a first hinge line into approximately parallel relation with said one end wall;

(c) each of said tabs including a gusset which serves as an additional connection between said one end wall and said tab;

(d) said gusset being formed partly from material cut from said tab and partly from material cut from said one end wall;

(c) said gusset being hingedly attached to said one end wall and said tab by a pair of second and third hinge lines which lie on opposite sides of said first hinge line;

(f) said gusset projecting into the recessed end of an article and presenting a vertical side edge engageable with the inner vertical surface of said recessed end to prevent movement of the article out of the open end of said tubular structure;

(g) said gusset being divided into two adjacent sections by a fourth hinge line lying bet-ween said first and third hinge lines.

2. A carton according to claim 1, wherein said gusset is located adjacent one end of said tab.

3. A carton according to claim 1, wherein said gusset is located approximately centrally of said tab.

4. A carton according to claim 1, wherein said tab is folded into back-to-back relation with said one end wall so as to lie between the outer extremity of the packaged article and said one end wall.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,804,204 8/1957 Collura 206 2,814,385 11/1957 Stone 206-65 3,292,843 12/ 1966 Chidsey et al. 20665 DONALD F. NORTON, Primary Examiner.

LOUIS G. MANCENE, Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. IN A SLEEVE-TYPE, WRAPAROUND, CARRIER CARTON FOR ENCLOSING A PLURALITY OF CYLINDRICAL ARTICLES EACH HAVING A RECESSED END PRESENTING AN INNER VERTICAL SURFACE, THE COMBINATION OF: (A) OPPOSED PAIRS OF TOP AND BOTTOM END WALLS AND SIDE WALLS HINGEDLY ATTACHED TO FORM A TUBULAR STRUCTURE OPEN AT THE ENDS; (B) A PLURALITY OF CAN RETAINING TABS CUT FROM AT LEAST ONE OF SAID END WALLS AND FOLDED INWARDLY THEREFROM ABOUT A FIRST HINGE LINE INTO APPROXIMATELY PARALLEL RELATION WITH SAID ONE END WALL; (C) EACH OF SAID TABS INCLUDING A GUSSET WHICH SERVES AS AN ADDITIONAL CONNECTION BETWEEN SAID ONE END WALL AND SAID TAB; (D) SAID GUSSET BEING FORMED PARTLY FROM MATERIAL CUT FROM SAID TAB AND PARTLY FROM MATERIAL CUT FROM SAID ONE END WALL; (E) SAID GUSSET BEING HINGEDLY ATTACHED TO SAID ONE END WALL AND SAID TAB BY A PAIR OF SECOND AND THIRD HINGE LINES WHICH LIE ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID FIRST HINGE LINE; (F) SAID GUSSET PROJECTING INTO THE RECESSED END OF AN ARTICLE AND PRESENTING A VERTICAL SIDE EDGE ENGAGEABLE WITH THE INNER VERTICAL SURFACE OF SAID RECESSED END TO PREVENT MOVEMENT OF THE ARTICLE OUT OF THE OPEN END OF SAID TUBULAR STRUCTURE; (G) SAID GUSSET BEING DIVIDED INTO TWO ADJACENT SECTIONS BY A FOURTH HINGE LINE LYING BETWEEN SAID FIRST AND THIRD HINGE LINES.

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