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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
First Claim
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1. A carton erected from carton material in cut and scored blank form, said carton comprisinga 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 comprisinga 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, andmeans 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, andmeans 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.

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