Paperboard carton with gusset lock

• US 4,951,865 A
• Filed: 12/07/1989
• Issued: 08/28/1990
• Est. Priority Date: 12/07/1989
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Dopaco Incorporated (Graeme Richard Hart, MBA)
• Original Assignee: Dopaco Incorporated (Graeme Richard Hart, MBA)
• Inventors: Eisman, Larry
• Primary Examiner(s): Elkins, Gary E.
• Application Number:
  US07/447,076
• Time in Patent Office: 264 Days
• Field of Search: 229/114, 229/146, 229/149, 229/902, 229/906, 229/145
• US Class Current: 229/146
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 5/667 Lids in the form of an inverted tray

Abstract

A carton with an integrally hinged tray and cover assembled as a preform and including a lock flange on the front wall of the cover with projecting lock tabs engageable through corresponding slots in the front wall of the tray. The lock flange is gusset-engaged at the opposed ends thereof to the side walls of the cover, and seats on support shoulders on the opposed side walls of the tray to stabilize the flange, and hence the lock tabs thereon, in an extended position for engagement of the tabs within the corresponding slots when the cover is closed.

Claims

1. A carton for foodstuffs and the like comprising a tray and a cover for said tray;

said tray comprising a bottom panel with upstanding peripheral walls thereabout, said walls including a front wall, and a pair of opposed side walls joined to and extending from said tray front wall;

said cover comprising a top panel with depending peripheral walls including a front wall and a pair of opposed side walls jointed to and extending from said cover front wall;

said cover front wall including rearwardly directed flange means remote from said top panel, said flange means being joined to said opposed cover side walls, locking tab means integral with said flange means and extending forwardly of said cover front wall;

said cover being selectively closable over said tray with the cover front wall received inward of and adjacent to said tray front wall, and with said cover side walls received outward of and adjacent to said tray side walls;

said tray front wall including slot means defined therethrough and aligned with said tab means, said slot means receiving said tab means outwardly therethrough upon a closing of said cover over said tray, each said tray side wall including an upwardly directed shoulder adjacent said tray front wall, said cover flange means seating on said shoulders upon a closing of said cover over said tray and upon reception of said tab means through said slot means for stabilization of said flange means and said tab means.

2. The carton of claim 1 wherein said tray front wall includes an upper edge, said slot means being within the upper portion of the tray front wall below the upper edge thereof, each said tray side wall including an upper edge, a notch defined in each tray side wall through the side wall upper edge and immediately adjacent the tray front wall, said notch forming said shoulder in downwardly spaced relation to the tray side wall upper edge.

3. The carton of claim 2 including hinge means joining said cover to said tray for pivotal movement of the cover between an open position remote from said tray and a closed position over and engaged with said tray.

4. A carton formed from a unitary folded blank, said carton comprising a tray and a cover;

said tray comprising a bottom panel, opposed front and rear walls integral with said bottom panel, opposed side walls integral with said bottom panel and extending between and joined to said front and rear walls, said front wall having at least one locking aperture means defined therethrough in upwardly spaced relation to said bottom panel, said side walls, adjacent said front wall, each having an upwardly directed notch defined therein, said notches forming a pair of upwardly directed shoulders at approximately equal height with said at least one locking aperture means;

said cover comprising a top panel, opposed front and rear walls integral with said top panel, and opposed side walls integral with said top panel and joined to and extending between said cover front and rear walls, said cover front wall including an outer flange coextensive therewith and defined by a flange fold line paralleling said top panel in outwardly spaced relation thereto for a selective inward folding of the flange relative the cover front wall, said flange including at least one integral locking tab depending below said flange fold line whereby upon an inward folding of said flange, said at least one locking tab folds upward and outward coplanar with the inwardly folded flange, said at least one locking tab being in substantial alignment with said at least one locking aperture means for selective reception therein upon a closing of said cover over said tray;

said flange, adjacent the cover side walls, aligning with the notches in the tray side wall and engaging against the shoulders therein when the cover is closed over said tray, said flange engagement with said notch shoulders defining the closed position of said cover.

5. The carton of claim 4 wherein each of said tray side wall notches includes a substantially vertical inner edge, said flange, in the closed position of the cover, being confined between each notch inner edge and the tray front wall whereby front-to-rear shifting of the flange and the cover is restricted.

6. The carton of claim 5 wherein the rear walls of the tray and cover include upper edges integrally joined along a fold line to define a hinge for movement of the cover between open and closed positions.

7. The carton of claim 6 including a generally triangular folding gusset formed in each cover side wall adjacent the corresponding end of the flange, each gusset being formed by a first gusset fold line extending outward of said flange fold line between the corresponding end of the flange and the cover side wall, said gusset fold line being of equal height with said flange, and a second gusset fold line extending from the flange fold line rearwardly and outwardly at an angle across the corresponding cover side wall, said gussets folding inwardly in response to inward folding of the flange and defining a stabilizing support for the inwardly folded flange.

8. The carton of claim 7 wherein the opposed cover side walls include glue flaps integral with the opposed ends of the cover front wall, said gussets being defined in said glue flaps.

9. The carton of claim 4 including a generally triangular folding gusset formed in each cover side wall adjacent the corresponding end of the flange, each gusset being formed by a first gusset fold line extending outward of said flange fold line between the corresponding end of the flange and the cover side wall, said gusset fold line being of equal height with the flange, and a second gusset fold line extending from the flange fold line rearwardly and outwardly at an angle across the corresponding cover side wall, said gussets folding inwardly in response to inward folding of the flange and defining a stabilizing support for the inwardly folded flange.

10. The carton of claim 9 wherein the opposed cover side walls include glue flaps integral with the opposed ends of the cover front wall, said gussets being defined in said glue flaps.