US3610513A

US3610513A - Container construction and blank therefor

Info

Publication number: US3610513A
Application number: US873570A
Authority: US
Inventors: Robert Charles Hosek
Original assignee: Packaging Corp of America
Current assignee: Packaging Corp of America
Priority date: 1969-11-03
Filing date: 1969-11-03
Publication date: 1971-10-05
Anticipated expiration: 1988-10-05

Abstract

A container of one-piece construction is provided which includes a tray section and a cover section, the latter having a backwall foldably connected to a peripheral portion of a bottom panel forming a part of the tray section. The cover section backwall is provided with a pair of short elongated axially aligned fold lines which are disposed in spaced parallel relation with respect to the fold line connection between the cover and tray sections. A segment of the backwall disposed to one side of each fold line of the pair of short fold lines is secured to a flap foldably connected to an end wall forming a part of the cover section, thereby permitting distortion of said backwall when said cover section is moved to a closed position with respect to said tray section.

Description

United States Patent 8/1967 Kossoffet al. 3/1969 Persson........................

Robert Charles Hosek Madison, Wis.

[72] lnventor n 0 S r e d n n m A w y m l n ks m m Sma m c TUAVCOH Mm W v Ne w m m 3 mu Er. 06 R O 0 RT... F n 5 r. 9 em.. .l n N mm l m e m xp E 5 l 0 W 9 awn 9 m m Jdun ID-AA m r e m A M n o m w 1 %Mw, m wm h n s a ca 70 av 8N0PE Q 06 N mm L ng Wmmn a AFPA l: 253 2247 [[[l [54] CONTAINER CONSTRUCTON AND BLANK ABSTRACT: A container of one-piece construction is provided which includes a tray section and a cover section, the

THEREFOR latter having a baekwall foldably connected to a peripheral 10 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

portion of a bottom panel forming a part of the tray section.

The cover section backwall is provided with a pair of short elongated axially aligned fold lines which are disposed in spaced parallel relation with respect to the fold line connection between the cover and tray sections. A segment of the backwall disposed to one side of each fold line of the pair of short fold lines is secured to a flap foldably connected to an end wall forming a part of the cover section, thereby permitting distortion of said backwall when said cover section is moved to a closed position with respect to said tray section.

w: w 1 s. z i h a n k a i i 4. Vi wlillm ilfrlhh V 1. u w; a ma |il III .1 M i i. a 6 N t l n n n w a W I 5 u M i r A s v u Z 2 V r a. m. i. i 7 m 4 p w CONTAINER CONSTRUCTION AND BLANK THEREFOR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Various types of containers having foldably connected cover and tray sections have heretofore been produced, however, because of certain design characteristics they were beset with one or more of the following shortcomings: (a) the container was of complex and costly construction, (b) the container was difficult and awkward to set up at the time it was to be used, (c) the container did not provide adequate protection for'its contents, (d) the cover section was not readily manipulated into or out of a closed position, and (e) the container was not suitable to be sent to the customer in blank because of the difi'tculty encountered by the customer in setting up the container.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide a container which avoids the shortcomings aforenoted.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a container blank of sheet material which is formed without any waste of the sheet material.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a container which may be shipped to and stored by the customer in blank and readily set up by the customer when said container is to be loaded.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a container which is of simple yet sturdy construction and is capable of accommodating a variety of products.

Further and additional objects will appear from the description, accompanying drawings, and appended claims.

In accordance with one embodiment of this invention, a container of one-piece construction is provided which comprises a tray section and a cover section foldably connected thereto. The tray section includes a bottom panel which is delimited on three sides by an upright front wall and opposed upright end walls. The cover section, on the other hand, is provided with a top panel which is delimited by depending front and back walls and opposed end walls. The end walls of the cover section are connected to the adjacent end portions of the cover section from and back walls by flaps which engage the interior surfaces of said front and back walls. The lower edge of the depending back wall is foldably connected to the peripheral portion of the bottom panel disposed between the upright end walls. The end portions of the depending back wall, engaged by the end wall flaps, are provided with short, elongated axially aligned fold lines which are spaced from and are substantially parallel to the fold line connection between the cover and tray sections. Only a segment of the back wall disposed to one side of each short fold line is secured to the adjacent flap so that said back wall may be readily distorted to facilitate moving of said cover section to a closed position.

For a more complete understanding of the invention reference should be made to the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a blank for use in setting up one form of the improved container.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the blank shown in a partially setup condition.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the blank fully set up but showing the improved container in an open condition.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side elevational view of the improved container shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is similar to FIG. 4 but showing the cover section in a partially closed condition and the back wall thereof in distorted condition.

FIG. 6 is similar to FIGS. 4 and 5 but showing the improved container with the cover section thereof in a fully closed condition and the back wall thereof in an undistorted condition.

Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to FIG. 3, an improved container 10 is shown which includes a tray section 11 and a cover section 12 hingedly connected thereto.

The tray section 11 is provided with a bottom panel 13, a front wall 14, and two opposed end walls and 16. The walls 14*16 delimit at least three sides of panel 13 and extend upwardly therefrom. Each end wall is provided with an

end flap

15a or 16a which is secured to the interior surface of the adjacent end portion of the front wall 14 and interconnects the end wall to the front wall.

The cover section 12, on the other hand, includes a top panel 17 a front wall 18, a back wall 20, and a pair of

opposed end walls

21 and 22. The walls 18 and 20-22 delimit the top panel 17 and depend therefrom. Each

end wall

21 or 22 is provided with a pair of end flaps 21a and b or 220 and b.

End flaps

21a and 22a are secured to the interior surface of the adjacent end portions of the front wall 18. End flaps 21b and 22b, on the other hand, are secured to the interior surface of the adjacent end portions of the back wall 20. The lower elongated edge of the cover section back wall is hingedly connected by fold line 23 to the rear edge of the tray section bottom panel 13. Thus, when the container is in its fully closed position, as seen in FIG. 6, the back wall 20 of the cover section '12 serves as the back wall for the tray section 11, as well.

It will be noted in FIG. I that the blank B for the container 10 of FIG. 3 has a rectangular configuration with no wasted blank material. The blank material is preferably double-faced corrugated fiberboard. Bottom panel 13 is defined by

fold lines

23, 24, 25 and 26. These fold lines connect respectively back wall 20, end wall 15, front wall 14, and end wall 16 to the periphery of bottom panel 13.

Cuts

27 and 28 which are aligned with

fold lines

24 and 26 separate the end portions of front wall 14 from

flaps

15a and 16a.

The free ends 15b and 16b of

end walls

15 and 16 are separated from end flaps 21b and 22b respectively by angle cuts 30 and 31. The end flaps 21b and 22b are also separated from the adjacent portions of bottom panel 13 and back wall 20 by cuts 32 and 33, respectively. It is to be noted that the length (long dimension) of each

end wall

15 and 16 is foreshortened a small amount by reason of the angular disposition of cuts 30 and 31. The foreshortened dimension of the tray

section end walls

15 and 16 facilitates distortion of the cover section back wall without interference during closing of the cover section.

The top panel 17 of the cover section 12 is defined by

fold lines

34, 35, 36, and 37, which, in turn, join the back wall 20, end wall 21, front wall 18, and end wall 22, respectively to said top panel.

Cuts

38 and 40 separate the end limits of front panel 18 from

end flaps

21a and 22a.

End flaps

15a and 16 a are foldably connected to

end walls

15 and 16, respectively by extensions 25a of fold line 25. In a like manner, end flaps 2l-b-22b, and Zia-22a are connected to

end walls

21 and 22 by

fold line extensions

34a and 36a.

Back wall 20 is provided at opposite ends thereof with a pair of elongated short fold lines 410 and b which are in axially aligned relation. Each short fold line is approximately equidistant from and substantially parallel to the fold lines 23 and 34, the latter connecting, respectively, the bottom panel 13 and top panel 17 to the back wall 20. The short fold lines 41a and b are reverse-scored with respect to the scoring of fold lines 23 and 34. The reason for the reverse-scoring will become apparent hereinafter.

The illustrated blank B is provided with areas A, A, and A of adhesive which enable the blank to be readily set up. Areas A are located on the interior surface of the tray section front wall 14 adjacent the end portions thereof and are adapted to bond the

end flaps

15a and 16a to the front wall 14 and thus maintain front wall 14 and

end walls

15 and 16 in their proper upright positions relative to bottom panel 13.

Adhesive areas A are disposed in corresponding locations on the cover section front wall 18 and serve to bond the

end flaps

21a and 22a to the interior surface of the front wall 18.

Areas A it will be noted, in FIG. 1 are disposed between the fold line 34 and each short fold line 41a and 41b. Thus, when the blank'is set up, only the upper portion of each end flap 21b and 22b will be secured to the back wall 20. By reason of this manner of attaching the end flaps 21b and 22b to the back wall 20, a slight outward distortion of the upper portion of the back wall can be readily obtained during closing of the cover section 12, see FIG. 5, and thereby enable the cover section front wall 18 and

end flaps

21a and 22a attached thereto to be readily positioned in front of the tray section front wall 14. Because of the short lengths of fold lines 41a and 41b, the inherent fight-back (resistance to distortion) of the back wall 20 is not materially weakened and thus, once the cover section 12 is in its fully closed position, the front wall 18 thereof will resiliently engage the front wall 14 and frictionally retain the cover section in its fully closed position.

The areas A, A, and A may be coated with self-sticking adhesive, hot-melt adhesive, or the like. Furthermore, in lieu of adhesive, staples may be utilized in the designated areas to secure the end flaps to adjacent portions of the walls. Whatever securing means is utilized, the setting up of the carton is easily accomplished. Either the cover section 12 or the tray section 11 may be initially set up. As seen in H0. 2, the cover section has been first formed and in such a situation the contents of the container, now shown, may be spotted on the bottom panel 13 of the tray section prior to the two

end walls

15 and 16 and the front wall 14 being folded upright and secured to one another. When the contents are such that they may not be readily spotted on the bottom panel, the tray section 11 may be completely set up before the container is loaded. in the latter case, the container is loaded while it is disposed in the position as shown in FIG. 3.

The end flaps provide added strength to the container at its comers and thus, the improved container is capable of withstanding high bearing loads.

it is to be noted that the size and shape of the improved container may be varied from that shown without departing from the scope of the invention.

lclaim:

l. A container formed from a single blank of foldable sheet material, said container comprising a first section having a first panel, an elongated first front wall, and elongated first end walls, said walls extending angularly from the periphery of said first panel; and a second section having a second panel delimited by angularly extending elongated second front, and end walls and a back wall, said second end walls being provided with end flaps which are disposed in face-to-face relation with and are secure to adjacent end portions of said second front wall and said back wall, an elongated edge of said second section back wall being foldably connected to an elongated peripheral portion of said first panel, the front and end walls of said second section overlying the exterior surfaces of the front and end walls of said first section when said sections are disposed in closed relation; the portions of said back wall engaged by the end wall flaps of said second section, each being provided with an elongated short fold line disposed substantially parallel to the folding connection between said back wall and the periphery of said first panel, said short fold lines being axially aligned and extending toward one another from opposite end edges of said back wall, the inner ends of said short fold lines being spaced a substantial distance from one another, only a segment of each back wall portion disposed to one side of said short fold line being secured to the adjacent end flap of said second end wall.

2. The container of claim 1 including end flaps foldably connected to said first end walls and secured in face-to-face relation to the interior surface of said first front wall.

3. The container of claim 1 wherein said first section forms a tray section, ,and said second section fonns a cover section the interior surface of the container.

6. The container of claim 4 wherein the free elongated edge of each first end wall is of greater extent than the fold line connection between said first panel and said first end wall- 7. The container of claim 4 wherein each short fold line is disposed at substantially midheight of said back wall.

8. The container of claim 4, wherein the end flaps of said second end walls are adhesively secured to the interior surfaces of said back wall and said second front wall.

9. A container blank of foldable sheet material comprising a first set of elongated substantially parallel fold lines defining in succession a tray section front wall, a bottom panel, a cover section back wall, a top panel, and a cover section front wall; a second set of fold lines and cuts angularly disposed with respect to said first set and cooperating therewith to define tray section end walls foldably connected to opposite sides of said bottom panel, first flaps disposed at opposite sides of said tray section front wall and separated therefrom by cuts, each first flap being foldably connected to an adjacent end wall, cover section end walls foldably connected to opposite sides of said top panel, second flaps disposed at opposite sides of said cover section back wall and separated therefrom and from said tray section end walls by cuts, and third flaps disposed at opposite sides of said cover section front wall and separated therefrom by cuts, corresponding second and third flaps being foldably connected to a cover section end wall; and a pair of axially aligned elongated short fold lines formed on said back wall and extending a predetermined distance from opposite ends thereof towards one another, the inner ends of said short fold lines being spaced from one another, said pair of short fold lines being substantially parallel to said first set of fold lines.

10. The blank of claim 9 wherein said pair of short fold lines are disposed substantially equidistant from the fold linesconnecting said bottom panel and said top panel to said cover section back wall.

Claims

1. A container formed from a single blank of foldable sheet material, said container comprising a first section having a first panel, an elongated first front wall, and elongated first end walls, said walls extending angularly from the periphery of said first panel; and a second section having a second panel delimited by angularly extending elongated second front, and end walls and a back wall, said second end walls being provided with end flaps which are disposed in face-to-face relation with and are secure to adjacent end portions of said second front wall and said back wall, an elongated edge of said second section back wall being foldably connected to an elongated peripheral portion of said first panel, the front and end walls of said second section overlying the exterior surfaces of the front and end walls of said first section when said sections are disposed in closed relation; the portions of said back wall engaged by the end wall flaps of said second section, each being provided with an elongated short fold line disposed substantially parallel to the folding connection between said back wall and the periphery of said first panel, said short fold lines being axially aligned and extending toward one another from opposite end edges of said back wall, the inner ends of said short fold lines being spaced a substantial distance from one another, only a segment of each back wall portion disposed to one side of said short fold line being secured to the adjacent end flap of said second end wall.

3. The container of claim 1 wherein said first section forms a tray section, and said second section forms a cover section therefor.

4. The container of claim 1 wherein the segment of each back wall portion disposed between said short fold line and the connection between said back wall and said second panel is secured to the adjacent end flap of said second end wall.

5. The container of claim 4, wherein the scoring for said short fold lines is formed on the exterior surface of the container and the scoring for the fold line connections between said back wall and said first and second panels is formed on the interior surface of the container.

6. The container of claim 4 wherein the free elongated edge of each first end wall is of greater extent than the fold line connection between said first panel and said first end wall.

7. The container of claim 4 wherein each short fold line is disposed at substantially midheight of said back wall.

10. The blank of claim 9 wherein said pair of short fold lines are disposed substantially equidistant from the fold lines connecting said bottom panel and said top panel to said cover section back wall.