US3580480A

US3580480A - Lock for egg carton cover

Info

Publication number: US3580480A
Application number: US699086A
Authority: US
Inventors: Richard P French
Original assignee: Continental Can Co Inc
Current assignee: Continental Can Co Inc
Priority date: 1968-01-19
Filing date: 1968-01-19
Publication date: 1971-05-25
Anticipated expiration: 1988-05-25

Abstract

This invention is directed to an egg or similar type carton which includes a carton body and a pair of covers for opening and closing an end of the body opposite a bottom wall thereof. Each of the covers includes a pair of locking panels which are normally disposed in side-by-side relationship along a centerline of the carton body in a closed position of the covers. The locking panels are received in slots of upwardly directed posts, and bosses are formed from the material of the locking panels for engagement beneath associated edges of the slots to interlock the covers therewith in the closed position.

Description

United States Patent [72] Inventor Richard P. French Chicago, Ill. [2]] Appl. No. 699,086 [22] Filed Jan. 19, 1968 [45] Patented May 25, 1971 [73] Assignee Continental Can Company, Inc.

New York, N.Y.

[54] LOCK FOR EGG CARTON COVER 7 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 229/45, 229/44, 229/29, 229/2.5 [51] Int. Cl B65d 45 /00, B65d 1/00, 365d 5/48 [50] Field of Search ..229/15, 2.5, 29 (M), 44, 45

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,116,336 5/1938 Boeye 229/44 2,466,579 4/1949 Cox 229/29(M)X 2,591,471 4/1952 Schwertfeger 229/45 2,634,039 4/1953 Schwertfeger"... 229/15 2,994,468 8/1961 George et al. 229/45 3,330,467 7/1967 Johnson 229/45 3,362,606 1/1968 Trimble 229/2.5 3,215,326 11/1965 Despres 229/2.5 3,289,911 12/1966 Boyd et a1. 229/2.5 2,093,280 9/1937 Koppleman 229/29(M) Primary Examiner-Davis T. Moorhead AttorneyDiller, Brown, Ramik & Holt ABSTRACT: This invention is directed to an egg or similar type carton which includes a canon body and a pair of covers for opening and closing an end of the body opposite a bottom wall thereof. Each of the covers includes a pair of locking panels which are normally disposed in side-by-side relationship along a centerline of the carton body in a closed position of the covers. The locking panels are received in slots of upwardly directed posts, and bosses are formed from the material of the locking panels for engagement beneath associated edges of the slots to interlock the covers therewith in the closed position.

PATENTED was INVENTOR RiCHARD P- FRENCH ATTORNEYS LOCK son EGG CARTON COVER An object of this invention is to provide a novel carton having a carton body defined in part by a bottom wall, a pair of sidewalls and a pair of end walls, cover means for opening and closing an end of the carton body opposite the bottom wall, the cover means including a locking panel disposed generally normal to the bottom wall in a closed position of the cover means, a portion of the locking panel being received in slot means defined by a portion of the carton body, and means for interlockingly securing the locking panel portion within the slot means in the closed position of the cover means.

A further object of this invention is to provide a novel carton of the type heretofore set forth wherein the carton body portion is a post projecting upwardly from the bottom wall, the post has a terminal end wall, the slot means are formed in the terminal end wall of the post, and the interlocking means is a boss formed from the material of the locking panel projecting generally normally out of the plane thereof and being positioned beneath the terminal end wall in the closed position of the cover means.

A further object of this invention is to provide a novel carton of the type heretofore described wherein at least two covers are provided for closing the carton body and each cover includes bosses of the type heretofore set forth for cooperatively interlockingly securing each of the covers in the closed position thereof.

With the above and other objects in view that will hereinafter appear, the nature of the invention will be more clearly understood by reference to the following detailed description, the appended claims and the several views illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of the carton of this invention, and illustrates two covers hinged to a carton body with one of the covers being interlocked in the closed position thereof.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken generally along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1 after the open cover has been closed, and illustrates bosses associated with each of a pair of locking panels of the covers in interlocking engagement with terminal wall portions of one of a plurality of upstanding posts disposed along a centerline of the carton body.

'FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary bottom view of the post of FIG. 2, and more clearly illustrates the interlocking engagement between the bosses and an end wall of the post.

The novel carton of this invention is generally designated by the reference numeral 10, and is an integral one-piece structure of a molded pulp construction. The carton may, of course, be constructed from other material, such as polyethylene, polystyrene, etc. The carton 10 comprises a carton body generally referred to by the numeral 12 and a pair of covers l3, 14.

The carton body 12 includes

opposite end walls

15, 16, a pair of

sidewalls

17, 18 and a bottom wall 20 which is defined by a plurality of individual bottom wall portions 21. The carton body 12 is divided into a plurality of pairs of compartments 22 by longitudinal partition wall means 23 and a plurality of transverse partition wall means 24. One compartment 25 of the plurality of pairs of compartments 22 is disposed to one side of the longitudinal partition wall 23 while another compartment 26 of each of the pairs of compartments 22 is positioned at an opposite side of the longitudinal centerline of the carton body.

Means in the form of three identical upwardly directed hollow posts or

bosses

35, 36 and 37 forming portions of the partition wall 23 function to retain the

covers

13, 14 in the closed position thereof, as will be more readily apparent hereafter. The bosses 35 through 37 each includes identical slot means or slots 31 which open through an associated upper terminal wall 33 of a reduced end portion 34 of each of the bosses 35 through 37. Opposed edges (unnumbered) defining the slots 31 are disposed in generally parallel relationship to each other and to a plane taken along the centerline of the carton substantially normal to the bottom wall 20.

The

covers

13, 14 are generally identical and each includes a top panel 39, a pair of

side panels

40, 41, and

end panels

42, 43. The panel 40 of the cover 14 is joined to the sidewall 17 of the carton body 12 along a fold or hinge line 44 while the other panel 40 is joined to the wall 18 along a similar fold or hinge line 45. In the closed position of the covers 13, 14 (FIG. 2 and 3) the

panels

41, 41 of the covers are in opposed sideby-side generally abutting relationship and are received in the slots 31 of the bosses 35 through 37, as is best illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawing. The slots 31 of the bosses 35 through 37 thereby function to receive the

panels

41, 41 in the closed position thereof. Articles A such as eggs or similar products can be individually packaged in each of the

compartments

25, 26 and are removed therefrom simply by opening the

covers

13, 14 upon the hinging thereof about the

respective fold lines

45, 44.

Interlocking means 50 are associated with each of the opposed side or

locking panels

41, 41 of the

covers

13, 14 to interlock the covers in the closed position thereof. The means 50 are identical and each is a projection or boss formed from the material of its associated

panel

41, 41 and projecting outwardly from the plane thereof in a direction toward the associated panels 40. That is, in the closed position of the

covers

13, 14 the projections are directed away from the longitudinal centerline of the carton body with the projections associated with each of the posts 35 through 37 being in generally transverse alignment and disposed beneath and in interlocking engagement with the terminal walls 33, as is best illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawing. Since the distance D (FIG. 3) between the peaks of adjacent projections 50 is greater than the width W of the slots 31 the introduction of the panels 41 into the slots causes the terminal walls 33 to temporarily deform and widen as the bosses pass through the slots toward the closed position of the covers. After the bosses 50 pass beyond the terminal walls 33 the latter rebound under their natural resilience to the position best illustrated in FIG. 2 at which the terminal end walls are disposed above the bosses and prevent the latter from inadvertently or accidentally moving upwardly out of locking engagement.

However, upon purposeful opening of the covers the terminal end walls readily deform to permit the withdrawal of the

panels

41, 41 and the subsequent complete opening of the carton.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that novel and advantageous provisions have been made for carrying out the desired end. However, attention is directed to the fact that variations may be made in this invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.

Iclaim:

I. A carton comprising a carton body having a bottom wall, a pair of sidewalls and apair of end walls, a pair of covers for opening and closing an end of said carton body opposite said bottom wall, each of said covers including a single ply locking panel disposed along a centerline of said carton body in a closed position of said covers with said locking panels being in generally side-by-side relationship in said closed position, said locking panels each having a free terminal edge, wall means disposed along the centerline of said carton body, slot means formed in said wall means and receiving said locking panel in the closed position, and means for interlockingly securing said locking panels within said slot means of said wall means in the closed position, said interlocking means being in the form of projections inboard of said terminal edges and projecting normally out of the plane of said locking panels in frictional contacting engagement with said wall means in the closed position of said carton, and said projections project toward different ones of said sidewalls.

2. The carton as defined in claim 1 wherein said wall means is a post projecting upwardly from said bottom wall, said post has an upper terminal end wall, and said slot means are formed in said upper terminal end wall.

3. The carton as defined in claim 2 wherein said post is of a hollow construction and said slot means are formed completely through said upper terminal end wall.

posite to the remaining boss of the same pair.

7. The carton as defined in claim 5 wherein said wall means is a post projecting upwardly from'said bottom wall, said post has an upper terminal end wall, means defining a recess beneath said upper terminal end wall, and said hollow bosses being disposed in said recess means beneath said upper terminal end wall.

Claims

1. A carton comprising a carton body having a bottom wall, a pair of sidewalls and a pair of end walls, a pair of covers for opening and closing an end of said carton body opposite said bottom wall, each of said covers including a single ply locking panel disposed along a centerline of said carton body in a closed position of said covers with said locking panels being in generally side-by-side relationship in said closed position, said locking panels each having a free terminal edge, wall means disposed along the centerline of said carton body, slot means formed in said wall means and receiving said locking panel in the closed position, and means for interlockingly securing said locking panels within said slot means of said wall means in the closed position, said interlocking means being in the form of projections inboard of said terminal edges and projecting normally out of the plane of said locking panels in frictional contacting engagement with said wall means in the closed position of said carton, and said projections project toward different ones of said sidewalls.

4. The carton as defined in claim 1 wherein said wall means is of a hollow construction and said slot means are formed completely through said wall means.

5. The carton as defined in claim 1 wherein said projections are hollow bosses.

6. The carton as defined in claim 5 wherein said hollow bosses are positioned in transversely adjacent pairs with a boss of each pair being disposed to one side of said centerline opposite to the remaining boss of the same pair.

7. The carton as defined in claim 5 wherein said wall means is a post projecting upwardly from said bottom wall, said post has an upper terminal end wall, means defining a recess beneath said upper terminal end wall, and said hollow bosses being disposed in said recess means beneath said upper terminal end wall.