Closable carton with improved snap action lock

• US 5,037,026 A
• Filed: 12/10/1990
• Issued: 08/06/1991
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/1990
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Rock-Tenn Shared Services, LLC (WestRock Company)
• Original Assignee: Gulf States Paper Corporation
• Inventors: Hanko, Jimmy J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Elkins, Gary E.
• Application Number:
  US07/625,161
• Time in Patent Office: 239 Days
• Field of Search: 229/108, 229/114, 229/115, 229/125.27, 229/125.28, 229/125.29, 229/148, 229/150
• US Class Current: 229/125.29
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 5/667 Lids in the form of an inverted tray

Abstract

A carton erected from carton material in cut and scored blank form, the carton comprising a lower tray structure comprising a bottom wall having flap connected tray side walls folded upwardly from the bottom wall, and an easy-open easy-close cover structure having a top wall having flap connected cover side walls folded from the bottom wall including a corner wall extending from the top wall between two adjacent spaced apart end edges of two adjacent cover side walls within a plane extending at an angle with respect to the angularly related planes of the two adjacent cover side walls. The cover structure is retained in closed relation by an opening formed in the corner wall and tabs formed from a portion of carton material defining the tray structure at the interconnection of the two adjacent tray side walls. The corner wall includes a portion of carton material extending downwardly and outwardly from the opening in a position to be interengaged during the closing movement with the tabs such that a relative one carton material deflection takes place by virtue of the interengagement and is freed with a snap action when the cover structure reaches its closed position enabling the tabs to extend upwardly and outwardly through the opening.

Claims

1. A carton erected from carton material in cut and scored blank form, said carton comprising

a lower tray structure comprising a bottom wall having a periphery including a plurality of straight edges,

tray side walls folded upwardly from the straight edges of said bottom wall,

means interconnecting adjacent tray side walls so that upper edges thereof define an open top for said tray structure,

a cover structure for covering the open top of said tray structure when in a closed position with respect thereto, said cover structure in said closed position comprising

a top wall having a periphery including straight edges corresponding to the straight edges of said bottom wall,

cover side walls folded downwardly from the straight edges of said top wall,

each of two adjacent cover side walls having a periphery including an upper edge folded from and common with an associated top wall edge, a lower free edge spaced from the upper edge thereof and opposite end edges extending between the upper and lower edges thereof,

said two adjacent cover side walls extending downwardly and outwardly from said top wall within angularly related planes with adjacent end edges thereof in spaced apart relation, and

means interconnecting said cover side walls including a corner wall extending downwardly and outwardly from said top wall between the two adjacent spaced apart end edges of the two adjacent cover side walls within a plane extending at an angle with respect to the angularly related planes of said two adjacent cover side walls,

said corner wall and said two adjacent cover side walls extending downwardly and outwardly beyond the upper edges of two adjacent interconnected tray side walls, and

means acting between said tray side walls and said cover side walls for (1) retaining said cover structure in said closed position with respect to the open top of said tray structure and (2) enabling said cover structure to be moved out of said closed position to provide access to said tray structure through the open top thereof,

said cover structure retaining means including opening means formed in said corner wall and tab means formed from a portion of carton material defining the tray structure at the interconnection of said two adjacent tray side walls,

said corner wall including a portion of carton material extending downwardly and outwardly from said opening means in a position to be interengaged during the movement of the cover structure into said closed position with the portion of carton material defining the tab means such that at least one carton material portion of the two interengaging carton material portions deflects by virtue of the interengagement and is freed with a snap action when said cover structure reaches its closed position enabling said tab means to extend upwardly and outwardly through said opening means to thereby yieldingly retain said two adjacent cover side walls against general upward movement with respect to the associated two adjacent tray side walls.

2. A carton as defined in claim 1 wherein said tray structure and said cover structure are erected from a single cut and scored blank of carton material and said cover structure retaining means includes an integral fold of carton material along (1) a lower edge of a cover side wall other than said two adjacent cover side walls and (2) an upper edge of an tray side wall other than said two adjacent cover side walls.

3. A carton as defined in claim 2 wherein said tray structure and said cover structure are operable to be positioned in an opened position wherein said top wall is disposed in a common plane with said bottom wall, the angular inclinations of said side walls being such that the interconnected tray and cover structures are operable to be disposed in a nested stacked relation with a plurality of similar interconnected tray and cover structures.

4. A carton as defined in claim 3 wherein said means interconnecting said cover side walls includes flaps connecting ends of said other cover side wall with opposite end edges of said two adjacent cover side walls other than the two adjacent end edges thereof.

5. A carton as defined in claim 3 wherein said cover side walls include a pair of cover side walls between said two adjacent cover side walls and said other cover side wall, said means interconnecting said cover side walls includes flaps connecting ends of said pair of cover side walls with (1) opposite end edges of said two adjacent cover side walls other than the two adjacent end edges thereof and (2) ends of said other cover side wall.

6. A carton as defined in claim 3 wherein said cover side walls include a fourth cover side wall between one of said two adjacent cover side walls and said other cover side wall extending in a plane angularly related to the plane of said one cover side wall, said means interconnecting said cover side walls including (1) a second corner wall extending downwardly and outwardly from said top wall between (A) an end edge of one of said two adjacent cover side walls other than the adjacent end edge thereof and (B) an end of said fourth cover side wall and (2) flaps between the ends of said other cover side wall and (A) an end edge of the other of said two adjacent cover side walls other than the adjacent end edge thereof and (B) an opposite end of said fourth cover side wall, said second corner wall extending in a plane related angularly with respect to the angularly related planes of said fourth cover side wall and said one cover side wall.

7. A carton as defined in claim 1 wherein said opening means is defined by a generally U-shaped cut in said corner wall and means defining a straight fold line between the ends of the U-shaped cut, the portion of the carton material within the U-shaped cut and fold line forming an opening in said corner wall when folded out of the plane of the corner wall.

8. A carton as defined in claim 1 wherein said opening means is defined by removing a portion of the carton material forming said corner wall.

9. A carton as defined in claim 1 wherein the portion of carton material defining said tab means includes adjacent corner sections along the upper edges of said two adjacent tray side walls.

10. A carton as defined in claim 9 wherein each of said corner sections is rounded downwardly from the upper edge of the associated tray side wall.

11. A carton as defined in claim 10 wherein said corner sections are interconnected and an opening is formed therebelow to define the lower edges of the tab means.

12. A carton as defined in claim 10 wherein said corner sections bulge outwardly along the ends of said two adjacent tray side walls to form a pair of spaced tabs shaped to enter said opening means.

13. A carton as defined in claim 10 wherein said means interconnecting said tray side walls includes a connecting flap folded from an adjacent end of one of said two adjacent tray side walls and fixed to the other of said two adjacent tray side walls along the adjacent end thereof so as to define a triangular corner wall between the ends of said two tray side walls below the corner sections thereof.

14. A carton as defined in claim 1 wherein said tray structure and said cover structure are separate and formed from two separate blanks of sheet material.

15. A carton erected from carton material in cut and scored blank form, said carton comprising

a lower tray structure comprising a bottom wall having a periphery including a plurality of straight edges,

tray side walls folded upwardly from the straight edges of said bottom wall,

means interconnecting adjacent tray side walls so that upper edges thereof define an open top for said tray structure,

a separate cover structure for covering the open top of said tray structure when in a closed position with respect thereto, said cover structure in said closed position comprising

a top wall having a periphery including straight edges corresponding to the straight edges of said bottom wall,

cover side walls folded downwardly from the straight edges of said top wall,

each of said cover side walls having a periphery including an upper edge folded from and common with an associated top wall edge, a lower free edge spaced from the upper edge thereof and opposite end edges extending between the upper and lower edges thereof,

each pair of adjacent cover side walls extending downwardly and outwardly from said top wall within angularly related planes with adjacent end edges thereof in spaced apart relation, and

means interconnecting said cover side walls including a corner wall extending downwardly and outwardly from said top wall between the adjacent spaced apart end edges of each pair of adjacent cover side walls within a plane extending at an angle to the angularly related planes of the associated pair of adjacent cover side walls,

said corner walls and said cover side walls extending downwardly and outwardly beyond the upper edges of associated interconnected tray side walls, and

means acting between said tray side walls and said cover side walls for (1) retaining said cover structure in said closed position with respect to the open top of said tray structure and (2) enabling said cover structure to be moved out of said closed position to provide access to said tray structure through the open top thereof,

said cover structure retaining means including opening means formed in each of said corner walls and tab means associated with each opening means formed from a portion of carton material defining the tray structure at the interconnection of an associated pair of adjacent tray side walls,

each of said corner walls including a portion of carton material extending downwardly and outwardly from the opening means formed therein in a position to be interengaged during the movement of the cover structure into said closed position with the portion of carton material defining the associated tab means such that at least one carton material portion of each two interengaging carton material portions deflects by virtue of the interengagement and is freed with a snap action when said cover structure reaches its closed position enabling each tab means to extend upwardly and outwardly through an associated opening means to thereby yieldingly retain said cover side walls against general upward movement with respect to the tray side walls.

16. A flat blank of carton material cut and scored to be erected into a carton, said flat blank comprising

a tray blank section comprising

a bottom wall having a periphery defined by a plurality of straight edges,

a plurality of tray side walls hinged along the straight edges of said bottom wall so as to be folded in upstanding relation with respect to said bottom wall when erected,

each of said tray side walls having a periphery including an inner edge hingedly connected with an associated bottom wall edge, an outer edge spaced from the inner edge thereof and opposite end edges extending between the inner and outer edges thereof, and

tray flaps hinged to the end edges of said tray side walls for interconnecting by adhesive adjacent upstanding tray side walls so that the outer edges thereof define an open top for the tray structure erected by folding the tray side walls from said bottom wall,

a cover blank section comprising

a top wall having a periphery defined by straight edges corresponding to the straight edges of said bottom wall,

a plurality of cover side walls hinged along the straight edges of said top wall,

each of said cover side walls having a periphery including an inner edge hingedly connected with the associated top wall edge, a outer edge spaced from the inner edge thereof and opposite end edges extending between the inner and outer edges thereof,

two adjacent cover side walls being foldable along the inner edges thereof to extend outwardly from said top wall within angularly related planes with adjacent end edges thereof in spaced apart relation when erected,

cover flaps hinged to the end edges of said cover side walls for interconnecting by adhesive said cover side walls to form an erected cover structure,

said cover flaps providing a corner wall hingedly connected with one of the two adjacent spaced apart end edges of the two adjacent cover side walls so as to be folded into a plane extending at an angle with respect to the angularly related planes of said two adjacent cover side walls when erected,

an outer edge of one of said cover side walls other than said two adjacent cover side walls being hingedly connected with a corresponding outer edge of a corresponding tray side wall so as to enable the erected cover structure to pivot with respect to the erected tray structure between (1) an open position wherein the tray structure is open to access through the open top thereof, and (2) a closed position wherein said cover structure closes the open top of the erected tray structure,

said corner wall having means defining an opening therein,

a portion of carton material defining the tray structure at the interconnection of two adjacent tray side walls associated with said two adjacent cover side walls forming tab means for cooperating with the opening in said corner wall,

said corner wall when said cover structure is moved towards said closed position including a portion of carton material extending downwardly and outwardly from said opening in a position to be interengaged during the movement of the cover structure into said closed position with the portion of carton material defining the tab means such that at least one carton material portion of the two interengaging carton material portions deflects by virtue of the interengagement and is freed with a snap action when said cover structure reaches its closed position enabling said tab means to extend upwardly and outwardly through said opening to thereby yieldingly retain said two adjacent cover side walls against general upward movement with respect to the associated two adjacent tray side walls.

17. A flat blank as defined in claim 16 wherein said means interconnecting said cover side walls includes flaps for connecting ends of said other cover side wall with opposite end edges of said two adjacent cover side walls other than the two adjacent end edges thereof.

18. A flat blank as defined in claim 16 wherein said cover side walls include a pair of cover side walls between said two adjacent cover side walls and said other cover side wall, said means interconnecting said cover side walls includes flaps for connecting ends of said pair of cover side walls with (1) opposite end edges of said two adjacent cover side walls other than the two adjacent end edges thereof and (2) ends of said other cover side wall.

19. A flat blank as defined in claim 16 wherein said cover side walls include a fourth cover side wall between one of said two adjacent cover side walls and said other cover side wall extending in a plane angularly related to the plane of said one cover side wall, said means interconnecting said cover side walls including (1) a second corner wall which when erected extends downwardly and outwardly from said top wall between (A) an end edge of one of said two adjacent cover side walls other than the adjacent end edge thereof and (B) an end of said fourth cover side wall and (2) flaps between the ends of said other cover side wall and (A) an end edge of the other of said two adjacent cover side walls other than the adjacent end edge thereof and (B) an opposite end of said fourth cover side wall, said second corner wall extending in a plane related angularly with respect to the angularly related planes of said fourth cover side wall and said one cover side wall.

20. A flat blank as defined in claim 16 wherein said opening means is defined by a generally U-shaped cut in said corner wall and means defining a straight fold line between the ends of the U-shaped cut, the portion of the carton material within the U-shaped cut and fold line forming an opening in said corner wall when folded out of the plane of the corner wall.

21. A flat blank as defined in claim 16 wherein said opening means is defined by removing a portion of the carton material forming said corner wall.

22. A flat blank as defined in claim 16 wherein the portion of carton material defining said tab means includes adjacent corner sections along the upper edges of said two adjacent tray side walls.

23. A flat blank as defined in claim 22 wherein each of said corner sections is rounded downwardly from the upper edge of the associated tray side wall.

24. A flap blank as defined in claim 23 wherein said corner sections are interconnected and an opening is formed therebelow to define the lower edges of the tab means.

25. A carton as defined in claim 23 wherein said corner sections bulge outwardly along the ends of said two adjacent tray side walls to form a pair of spaced tabs shaped to enter said opening means.

26. A pair of separate flat blanks of carton material cut and scored to be separately erected and cooperatively interengaged to form a carton, said flat blanks comprising

a tray blank comprising

a bottom wall having a periphery defined by a plurality of straight edges,

a plurality of tray side walls hinged along the straight edges of said bottom wall so as to be folded in upstanding relation with respect to said bottom wall when erected,

each of said tray side walls having a periphery including an inner edge hingedly connected with an associated bottom wall edge, an outer edge spaced from the inner edge thereof and opposite end edges extending between the inner and outer edges thereof, and

flaps hinged to the end edges of said tray side walls for interconnecting by adhesive adjacent upstanding tray side walls so that the outer edges thereof define an open top for the tray structure erected by folding the tray side walls from said bottom wall,

a cover blank comprising

a top wall having a periphery defined by straight edges corresponding to the straight edges of said bottom wall,

a plurality of cover side walls hinged along the straight edges of said top wall,

each of said cover side walls having a periphery including an inner edge hingedly connected with the associated top wall edge, a outer edge spaced from the inner edge thereof and opposite end edges extending between the inner and outer edges thereof,

each pair of adjacent cover side walls being foldable along the inner edges thereof to extend outwardly from said top wall within angularly related planes with adjacent end edges thereof in spaced apart relation when erected,

wall sections hinged to the end edges of said cover side walls for interconnecting by adhesive said cover side walls to form an erected cover structure,

said wall sections providing a corner wall hingedly connected with one of the two adjacent spaced apart end edges of each pair of adjacent cover side walls so as to be folded into a plane extending at an angle with respect to the angularly related planes of the associated pair of adjacent cover side walls when erected,

each of said corner walls having means defining an opening therein,

a portion of carton material defining the tray structure at the interconnection of each pair of adjacent tray side walls forming tab means for cooperating with an opening in an associated corner wall,

each corner wall when said cover structure is moved towards a closed position with respect to said tray structure including a portion of carton material extending downwardly and outwardly from said opening in a position to be interengaged during the movement of the cover structure into said closed position with the associated portion of carton material defining the tab means such that at least one carton material portion of each two associated interengaging carton material portions deflects by virtue of the interengagement and is freed with a snap action when said cover structure reaches its closed position enabling each said tab means to extend upwardly and outwardly through the associated opening to thereby yieldingly retain the associated pairs of adjacent cover side walls against general upward movement with respect to the associated pairs of adjacent tray side walls.