US3366311A

US3366311A - Perforated top reclosable carton

Info

Publication number: US3366311A
Application number: US618082A
Authority: US
Inventors: Warren O Simpson; Charles H Bridges
Original assignee: Kellogg Co
Current assignee: Kellanova
Priority date: 1967-02-23
Filing date: 1967-02-23
Publication date: 1968-01-30
Anticipated expiration: 1985-01-30
Also published as: GB1215855A

Description

Jan. 30, 1968 w. o. SIMPSON ET AL 3,366,311

PERFORTED TOP RECLOSBLE CARTON 2 Sheets-Shee'f, l

Filed Feb. 23, 1967 Jan. 30, 1968 w. o. SIMPSON ET Al- 3,366,311

PERFORATED TOP RECLOSABLE CARTON Filed Feb. 23, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent O 3,366,311 PERFORATED TOP RECLOSABLE CARTON Warren O. Simpson and Charles H. Bridges, Battle Creek, Mich., assiguors to Kellogg Company, Battle Creek, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Filed Feb. 23, 1967, Ser. No. 618,082 4 Claims. (Cl. 229-51) ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A paperboard carton characterized by a top closure fiap formed with a line of perforations defining medially a tongue or tuck tab with further lines of perforation extending obliquely from the root of said tongue, to the side edges of the closure fiap, the tongue being adapted for engagement with a complementary slot in the lower closure ap for reclosing of the carton after it has once been opened. The paperboard in the line of perforations or between the perforations is adapted to rupture very easily at two places indicated for pressure to be applied adacent the root of the tongue, the line of perforations outwardly of said tongue being relatively resistant to rupture. One side of the perforated line is stiffer than the other side on the uppermost closure fiap due to two thicknesses of paperboard adhesively secured together in the a-rea defined by the line of perforations and the free edge of the ap in which the perforations are formed.

The present invention relates to easy opening reclosable carton formed from a paperboard blank cut, scored and perforated to define a rectangular carton having side walls and top and bottom closure flaps hinged thereat. The top closure aps comprise an opposed pair of spaced dust fiaps and an opposed interengageable closure fiaps in partial or overlying relationship to each other which are sequentially folded and secured over the dust aps. The lowermost one of the interengageable closure fiaps is medially formed with a tucking slot adapted to receive a tongue or tuck tab from the uppermost of the interengageable closure flaps for reclosing purposes after the carton has once been opened.

The uppermost closure fiap is formed with a line of perforations or spaced incision lines defining said tongue and further perforation lines extending from the root of the tongue at an incline to the side edges of said top closure flap. The perforations or lines of incision defining the tongue, and particularly at the junction of the tongue with the aforesaid lines of perforation extending therefrom to the side edges of the liap, are constructed and arranged so as to enable the perforated line to be ruptured relatively easy at the area of the tongue, the remaining line of perforations being relatively resistant to rupture. However, the rupturing is facilitated by providing markings or indicated dots on opposed sides of the tongue adacent its root whereat the lines of perforation are relatively easy to rupture and after such rupturing one may insert a finger in the ruptured area and move the fingers outwardly toward the side edges of the flap to completely rupture the line of perforations, whereupon a portion of the upper fiap with the integral tongue may be lifted on its hinge line and the remaining portion of the tab remains adhered to the lower interengageable closure fiap, the latter fiap being formed with a slot adapted to receive the aforesaid tongue for reclosing purposes.

The configuration of the indicated perforations which will be hereinafter more fully described, combines ease of opening of the cartons with sufficient strength to withstand the rigors of packaging, handling and abuse.

Moreover, the present invention permits economy of 3,36 6,31 1 Patented Jan. 30, 1968 ice materials by permitting the use of closure flaps which are lesser in dimension than the carton in a direction normal to the hinge line of the closure fiaps, i.e., which do not extend completely over the carton top, although they are of sufficient length to overlap and to provide a reinforced or double thickness on one side of the described line of perforations. This stiffcned portion of double thickness, due to resultant increased stiffness, distributes applied pressure over a wider area causing a larger rupture with decreased possibility of tearing the closure flaps elsewhere than desired.

The objects and advantages of the present invention` its details of construction, arrangement of parts and economies thereof, will further be apparent from a consideration of the following specification and accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan View of a blank showing the upper portion of the carton of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the upper portion of the carton of the present invention before the top closure fiaps have been laid down.

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but is progressive thereto, showing the dust flaps closed down and one of the top interengageable closure flaps closed down and one remaining open.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary enlarged top plan view of the closed carton top of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the top of the carton of the present invention, illustrating the method of initially rupturing the line of perforations.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the top of the carton progressive to that of FIG. 5, showing in dotted lines the movement of the finger in progressively opening the line of perforations.

FIG. 7 is a view progressive to that of FIG. 6 showr ing in perspective the uppermost closure fiap separated from the immediately adacent lower closure flap.

FIG. 8 is another perspective view of the carton top progressive to that of FIG. 7, showing the carton reclOsed after once having been opened by inserting the tongue of the uppermost closure fiap in the companion slit or slot of the lower adacent closure flap.

Referring to the drawings the panels 10 and 11 define carton side walls, the panel 10 being hinged at 12 to the end panel 13 and at 14- to the opposed end panel 15. The panel 11 is hinged at 16 to the end panel 15 and at 17 to the side tab 18 which is adhesively secured to the panel 13 to form a rectangular carton. To the panel 13 there is secured a dust ap 19 on the scored hinge line 20. An opposed dust fiap 21 is hinged to the panel 15 on the score line 22. To the wall 10, there is hinged on line 23 a fiap 24 which comprises the lower one of a pair of interengageable closure fiaps, this flap 24 being formed medially with a slit or tuck tab slot 25 adapted to receive the tuck tab or tongue 26 formed on the uppermost interengageable closure fiap 27 which is hinged to the wall 11 on the score line 28.

The slit 25 for receiving the tuck tab may actually be formed of interrupted slits, perforations or incisions .which can readily be severed so as to form a depressible tab aided by the continuation of the seal at the inturned lines of

incision

29, 29.

The tongue 26 is likewise defined by interrupted lines of severance, perforations or incisions which can be readily broken by pressure, particularly by reason of their character and formation. Thus, the line of perforations defining the tongue 26 and particularly its root are relatively long with small interrupted areas as at 30 where it will be noted that the angle between the tongue and the line of perforations 31 extending therefrom is formed of a single angular incision. The line of perforations 31 which extend at an incline towards the hinge line 28 are relatively shorter with larger uncut spaces between them,

making this line of perforations or incisions 31 relativelyl less rupturable than the lines of incision defining the tongue 26 per se.

For ease in rupturing the line of perforations 311-31 extending across the top closure flap 27, the flap 27 is provided with

markings

34, 34 adjacent the root of the tongue 26 and with a suitable legend such as Press dots to open for initiating rupture.

Thus, after the blank shown in FIG. 1 is squared up by adhesively sealing the side tab 18 to the carton end wall 13, and the bottom aps, not shown, closed in conventional manner, and after a suitable material is deposited in the carton such as a liner bag containing toasted cereals, the spaced

dust aps

19, 21 are turned down, following which the closure flap 24 is adhered to these dust flaps at adhesive areas such as 35, 35 limited by applying hold-out ink in conventional manner to the remaining portion of the tab. This permits the flap 24 to be lifted from the

dust flaps

19, 21 by placing a linger under the flap 24 and rupturing the small amount of adhesive which holds the dust flaps and the flap 24 together.

Although the tuck tab 26 extends adjacent the free edge 35 of flap 27, the tuck tab slot or slit lies well inwardly of the free edge 37 of closure iiap 24 and is spaced freely from the dust flaps.

Thus, after the flap 24 is sealed down against the

dust aps

19 and 21, the top closure flap 27 is sealed down against the flap 24 in a restricted area, namely in that area between the score line defined by the

portions

30, 31 and the free or outer edge 36 of the tab 27 by means of the adhesive area 38, the adhesive area 38 again being applied to the inner face of the flap 27 in a manner restricted by ink hold-out area which prevents adhesion of undesired portions. Thus, initially as formed the top closure ap 27 remains securely adhesively sealed to the ap 24 by means of adhesive applied between the scoreV line dened by the

portions

30, 31 and the free edge 36 of ilap 27.

For the purpose of initially opening the closed carton, one manually presses the flap 27 at the indicated

dots

34, 34 which causes initial rupture of the lines of perforation defining the tongue 26 and permits insertion of ones linger as shown by the dotted lines 39 in FIG. 5 and then by progressively moving the finger towards the edges 33 of ap 27, the liap 27 becomes separated on the lines of

perforation

30 and 31 from the remaining sealeddown portion 27. As previously indicated, the area of one side of the perforated line defined by the

perforations

30, 31 is stiffer than the other side, this being due to the two thicknesses of paperboard glued together at one side, namely the top closure ap portion 27 which is adhered to the llap 24. Due to this increased stiffness the manual pressure applied is distributed across a wider area, causing a larger rupture with a decreased possibility of tearing the ap elsewhere. For example, if the indicated pressure points 34 were located on the single thickness area of flap 27, the pressure would not be distributed but localized at a point and the possibility of poking a hole through the ap 27 rather than just rupturing the

perforations

30, 31 would be greatly increased.

After separating the flap 27 on its lines of

perforation

30, 31, the flap 24 can be separated from the

dust aps

19 and 21 by breaking the adhesive areas 36 to permit access to the carton contents.

For reclosing the carton, it is merely necessary to fold down the dust aps '19 and 21, fold^the ap 24 thereover, and then insert the tongue or tuck tab 26 in the slot 25, whereupon it forms a serviceable reclosure. By reason of the construction and arrangement of the present invention, the tuck tab 26 is relatively long or desirably so, so that it can be inserted and withdrawn from the slot 25 a reasonable number of times consistent with the use of the contents of the carton, and permits greater box deformation before the reclosure feature becomes inoperative.

Overall, the configuration of the single or continuous line of

perforations

30, 31 combines ease of opening with suicient strength to withstand the rigors of packaging, handling and abuse, and a compact economical construction of desired reclosable character.

We claim:

1. A rectangular paperboard carton comprising side walls and top flaps hinged thereto, said top aps comprising an opposed pair of dust flaps and an opposed pair of interengageable closure flaps in but partial overlying relationship to each other and sequentially folded and secured over said dust aps, the lowermost one of said closure aps being medially formed with a slot parallel to its line of hinge with a side wall and adapted to receive a tongue from the uppermost one of said closure flaps, the latter ap being formed with perforation lines defining a tongue having its terminal edge disposed within the ap on a line parallel to the flap hinge line and its side edges diverging therefrom towards the Hap hinge line and engageable within the aforesaid slot, said uppermost Hap being further formed with opposed perforation lines extending from the root of said tongue and obliquely therefrom in a direction towards but spaced from said hinge line and to the side edges of said uppermost ap wherein the line of perforations adjacent the root of the tongue are adapted to rupture more readily than the perforated portions extending laterally therefrom.

2. The carton of claim 1 wherein the dust aps are spaced from each other and said slit, wherein the lowermost of said closure flaps is adhesively secured to said dust flaps, and said uppermost ap is adhesively secured to said lowermost flap only in an area between its said lines of perforation and its free edge opposed to its hinge line.

3. The carton of claim 2, wherein the uppermost flap is marked with areas adjacent to and outwardly of the root of the tongue adapted to be manually depressed to thereby facilitate rupture of the lines of perforation.

4. The carton of claim 3, wherein the marked areas on the uppermost ap overlie the underrnost ap and are reinforced thereby.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,980,851 11/1934 Crawford 229-51 3,263,899 8/1966 Collura et al. 229-51 3,270,946 9/ 1966 Redpath et al. 229-51 3,281,052 10/1966 Michels 229-51 JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner.

l' R. PESHOCK, Assistant Examiner.