US3419133A

US3419133A - Shadow box carton having article support

Info

Publication number: US3419133A
Application number: US629656A
Authority: US
Inventors: Orison W Stone
Original assignee: RA Jones and Co Inc
Current assignee: PACK IMAGE Inc ONE CROSS ST MIDDLEBURY VT 05753 A VT CORP; RA Jones and Co Inc
Priority date: 1967-04-10
Filing date: 1967-04-10
Publication date: 1968-12-31
Anticipated expiration: 1985-12-31
Also published as: GB1209075A; FR1584506A; DE1761165A1

Description

Dec. 31, 1%68 Filed April 10, 1967 P Zfl O. W. STONE SHADOW BOX CARTON HAVING ARTICLE SUPPORT Sheet of hi. Z

INVENTOR.

Dec. 31, 1968 O w s oNE 3,419,133

SHADOW BOX CARTON HAVING ARTICLE SUPPORT I Filed April 10, 1967 Sheet 2 Of 5 75 l y My? INVENTOR.

ziM/fzwy Dec. 31, 1968 o. w. STONE SHADOW BOX CARTON HAVING ARTICLE SUPPORT Filed April 10, 1967 v INVEN'I OR. P BY ec. 31, 1968 W, STONE 3,419,133-

SHADOW BOX CARTON HAVING ARTICLE SUPPORT Filed April 10, 1967 INVENTOR.

. 31, 19 o. w. STONE 3,419,133

SHADOW BOX CARTON HAVING ARTICLE SUPPORT Filed April 10, 1967 Sheet 5 of I NVEN TOR.

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United States Patent 3,419,133 SHADOW BOX CARTON HAVING ARTICLE SUPPORT Orison W. Stone, Valley Cottage, N.Y., assignor to R. A.

Jones & Company, Inc., Covington, Ky., a corporation of Kentucky Filed Apr. 10, 1967, Ser. No. 629,656 Claims. (Cl. 206-4514) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A shadow box carton having a front panel from which are formed shadow panels and a flexible article support.

Cross reference to related application Application Ser. No. 583,721 filed Oct. 13, 1966 entitled Shadow Box Having Integral Mitered Corners.

Background of the invention This invention relates a shadow box carton, that is a carton having side walls, end walls, a back wall and a front wall structure formed by shadow panels which provide a frame about an article thereby permitting the packaged article to be displayed and viewed from the front of the carton. The present invention is particularly useful for the packaging of plastic squeeze tubes having a cap at one end and a crimped structure at the other end, although the invention is not necessarily limited to this type of article.

In providing shadow box cartons, it has been the practice to provide longitudinally extending shadow panels which are normally hinged to the side walls of the carton and which extend angularly into the carton to frame the article. Additionally, provision has been made at each end of the carton for support or retention of the ends of the article. This support has taken a variety of forms but usually it has been obtained through specially formed end flaps which are sometimes apertured, these end flaps being adapted to be folded into the carton so as to capture the cap end of the tube to hold it in a fixed position and to provide a lateral and transverse support for the crimped end of the tube.

While these carton forms have been satisfactory from the standpoint of providing a reasonably attractive display for the article, they are subject to two principal disadvantages, First, they require more carton forming board than is necessary for a straight or reverse tuck package, and second, they require modification of automatic and semi automatic carton handling machinery in order to fold the additional article supporting flaps.

Summary of the invention It has been an objective of the invention to provide a shadow box carton which includes means for supporting and retaining both ends of the article, the shadow panels and support structure requiring no more board than is required for a straight or reverse tuck carton.

It has been another objective of the invention to provide a shadow box carton which can be erected and loaded on existing semi-automatic machinery for handling straight or reverse tuck cartons. The machinery requires at the most, only minor modifications to accommodate the shadow box cartons. Through the use of the present invention, it has been possible for a company which has machinery to handle a straight or reverse tuck carton to expand its field to shadow cartons with a minimum or no additional of capital investment.

A straight or reverse tuck carton is one of the most commonly used of cartons and includes a bottom wall, two side walls, a front wall and a glue flap to form a Patented Dec. 31, 1968 generally rectangular tube. At each end of the tube the carton includes a pair of lateral end flaps which are foldable against the end of the carton and a tuck flap having a panel which overlies the end of the carton and a tuck tab which projects into the carton. It is this basic structure which the present invention employs to form the shadow carton and which does not require additional board in the form of panels or flaps.

In accordance with the present invention, the shadow panels are formed by longitudinally slitting the front wall of the carton. Support is provided for the cap end of the article by creasing and aperturing the front wall and a portion of the end flap as disclosed in co-pending application Ser. No. 583,721. Support is provided for the opposite end of the article by cutting a flexible support from the front panel, the flexible support being connected either to the end walls or to the side Walls via the shadow panels. Thus by simply cutting and creasing the existing carton structure for the straight or reverse tuck carton, it is possible to provide a shadow display carton having support for both the cap end and opposite end of the article.

Brief description of the drawings FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a carton formed in acoordance with the invention and showing an article contained within the carton.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the carton with the article removed.

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the carton with a portion of the bottom removed to show the supporting structure.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the structure taken along line 44 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the carton blank from which the carton of FIGS. 1-4 is formed.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of an alternative form of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the blank from which the carton of FIG. 6 is formed.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of still another alternative form of the invention with the article in position.

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIGURE 8 showing the article removed.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 1010 of FIG. 8.

FIG. 11 is a plan view of a blank from which the carton of FIGS. 810 is formed.

FIG. 12 is a plan view of still another alternative form of the invention.

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary perspective view showing one end constructive view.

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 1414 of FIG. 12.

FIG. 15 is a plan view of the carton blank from which the carton in FIGS. 12-14 is formed.

Description of the preferred embodiments As shown in FIG. 1 the carton is a shadow box style carton indicated at 20 which is adapted to hold an article 21 with its cap end 22 at the lower end of the carton and its crimped end 23 at the upper end of the carton. As indicated above, the carton is particularly well adapted for use with crimped plastic tubes although its use is not necessarily restricted to that specific article.

The blank 24 from which the carton is formed is shown in FIG. 5 and includes, serially connected, a side wall 25, a front panel or wall 26, a side wall 27, a back wall 28, and glue flap 29. The walls 25 to 28 and glue flaps 29 are hinged to each other along the longitudinal creases 30. A reverse tuck carton, as contracted to a straight tuck carton is illustrated, the reverse tuck being distinguished from the straight tuck by the positioning of one of the end flaps on the front wall and the other of the end flaps on the back wall. As shown, a lower end flap is hinged along a shallow V crease 36 to the front wall 26 and includes an end panel 37 having tuck l'lap 38. The flap 35 cooperates with two lateral flaps 39 which underlie the end flap 35 to close the lower end of the carton.

At the upper end of the carton a flap 40 is connected along a crease 41 to the back wall 28 and includes an end panel 42 and a tuck flap 43. Lateral flaps 44 cooperate with and underlie the end flap 40 to close the upper end of the carton.

The front wall or panel 26 has a central longitudinally extending slit dividing the front wall into two

shadow panels

51 and 52. The lower ends of the

shadow panels

51, 52 are connected to mitered

corner forming portions

53 and 54 along

creases

55 and 56. The

corner forming portions

53, 54 have free edges 57 which define a cap receiving aperture 58. The slits which form the free edges 57 of the corner forming portions leave a retaining flap 59 hinged to end panel 37. The flap 59 is normally folded against the end wall of the carton and catches a projecting lip on the cap of the article to help retain the article in the carton. The mitered corner construction just described is more fully described in co-pending application Ser. No. 583,721 and is the preferred form of the cap end supporting structure although it would be possible to use another form of the cap supporting structure such as described in my co-pending application Ser. No. 563,285 filed July 6, 1966.

Two longitudinally extending slits 65 are formed in the front panel 26 from a location intermediate its ends and extend substantially parallel to the central slit 50 and terminate at a V-shaped slit 66 to form a tongue 67. The tongue 67 includes two straps 68 which are formed by the slits 50 and 65. The straps 68 being connected at their lower ends 69 along creases 69a to the

shadow panels

51, 52 and are interconnected at their upper ends to form a tab 70 along crease 70a.

The apex of the inverted V slit 66 intersects a transverse slit 71 which defines a display panel 72 as well as relieving the

shadow panels

51, 52 and support straps 68 for inward flexing.

The carton is formed by securing the glue flap 29 to the side wall 25 to form a tube. The lower end of the carton is closed to form an end wall by folding lateral flaps 39 over the lower end of the carton, folding end panel 37 over the flaps 39 and tucking the tuck flap 38 into the carton. The upper end is similarly closed to form an end wall by folding the lateral flaps 44 over the upper end, by folding the end panel 42 over the lateral flaps and by tucking the tuck flap 43 into the carton. The upper end may be closed before or :after insertion of the article.

At this point, the carton is in the form of a closed reverse tuck carton. It is loaded by inserting the crimped end 23 of the article into the upper end of the carton below the display panel 72. In inserting the crirnped end of the article into the carton, the

shadow panels

51, 52 are depressed inwardly and the support straps 68 are depressed inwardly. The cap end of the article is then pressed against the lower end of the front wall which forces the

shadow panels

51, 52 into a final position and forms the mitered corner supporting structure at the lower end of the carton. The cap of the article also forces the retaining flap 59 into position along the end wall of the carton with its free end moving into retaining engagement on the lip of the article.

When the article is in position as shown in FIGURES 1 and 4, the resilience of the straps 68 upon which the article rests tends to thrust the article forward into a prominent and attractive display position in the carton.

Second form of the invention An alternative form of the invention is illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7. The principal difference between the two 4 forms of the invention is that in the form first described the supporting straps, as best illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, are in the form of an inverted V. In the alternative form, the supporting straps are in the form of a regular V and are connected to the shadow panels at the upper ends.

The oarton includes, serially connected, side wall 125, a front wall and panel 126, a side wall 127, a back wall 128 and a glue flap 129. The lower end of the carton is constructed similarly to that of the first embodiment and includes an end flap having an end panel 137 and a tuck flap 138 cooperating with lateral flaps 139 to close the lower end of the carton. At the upper end, an end flap 140 is hinged to the same wall as the lower end flap 135 (illustrating straight tuck) and includes an end panel 142, a tuck flap 143 which cooperates with lateral flaps 144 to close the upper end of the carton.

The cap end support is provided by the integral mitered corner structure which includes the mitered corner forming portions 153 and 154 connected to shadow

panels

151 and 152 along

creases

155 and 156.

The front panel has a central longitudinally extending slit 150 which, in part, forms the

shadow panels

151 and 152. The front wall also includes two longitudinally extending slits which are interconnected at their lower ends by a V-shaped slit 166, the apex of which intersects the central slit 150 to form a tongue 167. The tongue 167 has a central slit which divides it into two support straps 168, the slit 175 intersecting a transverse slit 171 which defines the display panel 172. The support straps 168 are connected at their upper ends 169 to the shadow panels at their upper free ends formed by the transverse slit 171. At the point of connection the upper ends of the slits 165 are flared outwardly to relieve the stress of supporting an article.

The carton is erected and loaded in a manner similar to that described in the first embodiment. As indicated, the principal difference between the two embodiments is that the supporting straps 168 form a regular V with its apex extending downwardly as contrasted to the inverted V of the first embodiment.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 6 and 7 the stress on the supporting straps 168 and particularly their point of connection 169 to the shadow panels is reduced as contrasted to the first embodiment for in the second embodiment there appears to be a greater resistance to tear.

Third form of the invention The third form of the invention is illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 11. The general structure of the carton is substantially the same as that described in connection with the first two embodiments and will not be described in detail here. The carton blank shown in FIG. 11 is a modified reverse tuck carton wherein the upper end flap 240 does not tuck into the carton as in the earlier embodiments, but rather overlies the front wall as will be described below.

The carton includes a front wall or panel 226 which has a discontinuous central longitudinally extending slit 250 dividing the front panel into

shadow panels

251 and 252. The front panel structure at the lower or cap end of the carton is substantially the same as described in the earlier embodiments.

Intermediate the ends of the front wall 226 a group of slits 276 are formed in the front wall to create a first mesh, or network, of supporting straps 277, the mesh being connected to the

shadow panels

251, 252 and supported therefrom by uncut connecting junctures 278. When an article is in position in the carton and the

shadow panels

251, 252 are depressed inwardly, the mesh takes the form illustrated in FIG. 9 which is commonly seen in expanded metal.

Optionally, the shadow panels may be interconnected by a second mesh shown at 280 at the upper ends of the shadow panels. The second mesh is particularly adapted to provide support for the crimp end of a tube and is formed on each side by three angulated slits 281, in each shadow panel the angulated slits defining two mesh forming straps 282 by which the second mesh is connected to and supported by the shadow panels.

Immediately adjacent the second mesh 280 are a pair of slits 284 which are adapted to receive ears 285 formed on a tuck flap 243 of an end flap 240.

As illustrated in FIGS 8 to 10, the carton is erected in a manner similar to that of a reverse tuck carton except that the tuck flap 243 is connected to the shadow panels by inserting the ears 285 in the slits 284 so that the tuck flap overlies the second mesh 280. When an article is inserted in the carton as thus erected, the crimp end 23 of the article is inserted between the

shadow panels

251, 252 and the tuck flap 243 so that the crimp end of the tube rests upon the second mesh 280 as best illustrated in FIG. 10. The act of inserting the tube into the carton causes the shadow panels to be depressed inwardly, thereby flexing the straps 277 of the first mesh to the form shown in FIG. 9. Thereafter, the cap end of the tube is snapped into the lower end of the carton in the manner described in connection with the first two embodiments.

Fourth form the invention A fourth embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIGS. 12-15. It is distinguishable from the earlier embodiments principally in that the article support is connected to the end walls of the carton as contrasted to the connection of the article support to the shadow panels of the carton. The structure has in common with the earlier embodiments the fact that the article support is derived from the front wall or panel of the carton.

The blank from which the carton is formed is illustrated in FIG. 15. Again, the carton is a modified reverse tuck carton having an upper end flap 340 which includes a tuck flap 343 having ears 385 which are insertable into slits 384 formed in

shadow panels

351 and 352. As contrasted to the usual reverse tuck carton, the carton of FIGS. 12-15 includes an additional upper end flap 390 which is hinged to the front wall along a crease 391.

The front wall or panel 326 has two longitudinally extending slits 392 and 393 which define the

shadow panels

351 and 352 and which also define an article support strap 394 which extends the full length of the carton. The strap 394 is connected at its upper end 395 to the flap 390 and is connected at its lower end 396 to a lower end flap 335 hinged to the front wall.

The carton is formed generally as described in connection with the first three embodiments except that the flap 390 is folded over upon the

shadow panels

351, 352 and the end flap 340 is folded across the end of the carton with the tuck flap 343 overlying the flap 390. The ears 385 are inserted into the slits 384 to secure the end flap in position. As shown in FIG. 14, the facing surfaces of the flap 390 and

shadow panels

351, 352 form a cradle for receiving the crimp end 23 of an article. When the carton is erected, the crimp end of the tube is thrust under the flap 390 and the tuck flap 343, as is shown in FIG. 14 thereby depressing the

shadow panels

351, 352 inwardly. The longitudinal support strap engages the body of the article along its length as the cap end 22 of the article is inserted in position in the lower end of the carton. The strap 394, being supported from both ends of the carton, holds the article in an attractive display position toward the front of the carton.

I claim:

1. In a shadow box carton having a back wall, a pair of side walls and a pair of end walls, a front Wall structure comprising;

a front panel,

a pair of longitudinally extending shadow panels formed from said front panel,

a flexible article support spaced from said bottom wall and formed from the material of said front panel between said shadow panels,

said article support deriving its support from one of said pairs of side and end walls.

2. A shadow box carton according to claim 1 in which said article support comprises a longitudinally extending centrally located strap connected to the end walls of said carton.

3. A shadow box carton according to claim 1 in which said article support comprises a mesh of carton material connected integrally to said shadow panels.

4. A shadow box carton according to claim 3 further comprising a second mesh connected integrally with the said shadow panels and spaced therefrom to further provide support for an article.

5. A shadow box carton according to claim 4 in which said second mesh includes two pairs of converging straps connecting a central panel portion to said shadow panel at one end of said carton.

6. A shadow box carton according to claim 4 further comprising, at said one end of said carton;

an end closure flap having an end panel hinged to said back wall and overlying the end of said carton, and a tuck panel hinged to said end panel and overlying said second mesh,

said tuck panel including ears tucked into slits in said shadow panels to secure said end closure flap in position.

7. In a shadow box carton having a back wall, a pair of side walls and a pair of end walls, a front wall structure comprising;

a front panel,

a pair of longitudinally extending shadow panels formed from said front panel,

a flexible article support formed from the material of said front panel between said shadow panel and including a pair of longitudinally extending straps each connected to a respective shadow panel at one end thereof and to each other at the other end thereof.

8. A carton according to claim 7 further comprising a tab forming the connection of said straps to each other.

9. A carton according to claim 8 in which a V-shaped crease is formed in said straps at their interconnected ends, said V-shaped crease converging toward the other ends of said straps.

10. A carton according to claim 9 in which each strap is creased at the location of its connection to a respective shadow panel.

11. A shadow box carton according to claim 7 further comprising a fixed panel portion formed from said front panel extending across one end of said carton and connected to said side walls,

means forming a mitered corner structure at the opposite end of said carton for receiving one end of an article which is supported on said article support.

12. A shadow box carton according to claim 11 in which said straps extend from their connection to said' shadow panels toward said fixed panel portion.

13. A shadow box carton according to claim 11 in which said straps extend from their connection to said shadow panels toward said mitered corner structure.

14. In a shadow box carton having a back wall, a pair of side walls and a pair of end walls, a front wall structure comprising;

a front panel,

said front panel having a central longitudinal slit extending from one end of said carton and terminating short of the other end of said carton,

said front panel having a transverse slit spaced from the terminus of said longitudinal slit,

said front panel having a slit on each side of said longitudinal slit extending from said transverse slit longitudinally toward said one end of said carton to form, with said central slit, a pair of article forming straps.

15. In a shadow box carton having a back wall, a pair of side walls and a pair of end Walls, a front wall structure comprising;

a front panel,

said front panel having a transverse slit extending between said side Walls,

said front panel having a central longitudinal slit extending from said transverse slit and terminating intermediate the ends of the carton,

said front panel having a longitudinal slit on each side of said central slit extending from a location spaced longitudinally from said transverse slit, said side slits intersecting beyond said central slit to form with said central slit a pair of article forming straps,

8 said front panel having a second central longitudinal slit extending from one end of said carton and terminating short of said first mentioned longitudinal slit to form shadow panels from said front panel.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,205,362 11/1916 Lang.

2,203,084 6/ 1940 Evans 229-37 2,654,470 10/1953 Borucki 20645 .14 2,980,242 4/ 1961 Miller 2064531 WILLIAM T. DIXSON, JR., Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 22916