Food carton having cylindrical lower portion

• US 6,719,190 B2
• Filed: 12/13/2001
• Issued: 04/13/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/13/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pactiv Packaging Incorporated (Pactiv)
• Original Assignee: Dopaco Incorporated (Graeme Richard Hart, MBA)
• Inventors: Yocum, James A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Elkins, Gary E.
• Application Number:
  US10/013,959
• Publication Number:
  US 20020084319A1
• Time in Patent Office: 852 Days
• Field of Search: 229/4.5, 229/104, 229/117, 229/117.03, 229/117.06, 229/400, 229/405, 229/902, 229/906
• US Class Current: 229/104
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 5/3685 by folding the blank to U-shape to form the base and opposite sides, the remaining sides being formed by extensions of these opposite sides
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 229/906 Baked goods

Abstract

A finger food container formed as a flat carton expandable into a truncated conical configuration with a substantially cylindrical lower portion extending upward to a scoop-forming upper portion. Front and rear walls of the folded carton have lower edges interconnected by a bottom wall which, upon an outward bowing of the front and rear walls, expands therebetween in close conformance thereto for a locking of the front and rear walls in the outwardly bowed positions thereof.

Claims

1. A food carton of an inverted truncated generally conical configuration comprising front and rear walls, each wall having a bottom edge, a top edge and opposed side edges diverging upward from said bottom edge to said top edge, the side edges of each of said front and rear walls being foldably joined to the corresponding side edges on the other of said front and rear walls, said front and rear walls, in a first folded configuration of the carton, being in flat parallel overlying relation to each other, said front and rear walls, in a second erected use configuration, each having an outward bow relative to the other and between the opposed side edges thereof, and a bottom wall extending between and having opposed ends edges foldably joined to the front and rear walls in closely spaced relation above the lower edges thereof, said bottom wall, in the second use configuration, forcibly retaining said outwardly bowed front and rear walls in a slightly tapering substantially cylindrical configuration along at least a lower extent of said carton upward from the lower edges of said front and rear walls,

wherein said outward bow of said front and rear walls in said use configuration gradually decreases upward between said substantially cylindrical lower extent to the upper edges of said front and rear walls,

wherein said bottom wall comprises the sole means retaining said front and rear walls in said second use configuration, and

wherein said bottom wall includes opposed side edges extending between the end edges thereof and between the lower edges of said front and rear walls, said bottom wall side edges each being generally convex, and a pair of arcuate fold lines defined in said bottom wall, one fold line in inwardly spaced generally parallel relation to each bottom wall side edge to define therewith an arcuate foldable segment along each side edge of the bottom wall.

2. The food carton of claim 1 wherein the opposed end edges of said bottom wall are convex.

3. The food carton of claim 2 wherein the opposed side edges of said bottom wall are each defined by two linear extents diverging at an angle from each other at a midpoint between said bottom wall end edge.

4. The food carton of claim 3 including a central fold line in said bottom wall and extending between the midpoints of the bottom wall side edges.

5. The carton of claim 4 including a second central fold line defined in said bottom wall perpendicular to the first central fold line and extending between said end edges of said bottom wall.

6. The carton of claim 5 wherein said bottom wall includes two partially overlapped sections, one integrally joined to each of said front and rear walls along a corresponding one of said bottom wall end edges.

7. The carton of claim 4 wherein a first bottom wall section corresponds to said bottom wall to one side of the first central fold line, and a second bottom wall section includes a portion corresponding to said bottom wall to the other side of the first central fold line, and an extension on said portion underlying and bonded to said first bottom wall section with said first section and said portion of said section meeting at said first central fold line.

8. The carton of claim 1 wherein said bottom wall includes opposed side edges extending between the end edges thereof and between the lower edges of said front and rear walls, said bottom wall side edges each being generally convex, and a pair of arcuate fold lines defined in said bottom wall, one fold line in inwardly spaced generally parallel relation to each bottom wall side edge to define therewith an arcuate foldable segment along each side edge of the bottom wall, said segments being folded to conform the bottom wall side edges to said front and rear wall inner surfaces in the second erected use configuration of said front and rear walls.

9. The carton of claim 8 wherein the opposed side edges of said bottom wall are each defined by two linear extents diverging at an angle from each other at a midpoint between said bottom wall end edge.

10. The carton of claim 9 including a central fold line in said bottom wall and extending between the midpoints of the bottom wall side edges to define a pair of generally trapezoidal sections, one to each side of said central fold line.

11. The carton of claim 8 wherein said bottom wall includes two partially overlapped sections, one integrally joined to each of said front and rear walls along a corresponding one of said bottom wall end edges.

12. For use in the formation of a food carton of an inverted, truncated conical configuration;

a unitary blank, said blank comprising opposed front and rear wall panels aligned along a longitudinal axis of said blank, said panels having spaced facing base edges, a bottom wall panel integral with each of said front and rear wall panels at said base edges and extending therebetween, said bottom panel having a first opposed pair of longitudinally spaced arcuate end edges and a second pair of laterally spaced side edges, said arcuate end edges being defined in said opposed wall panels in inwardly spaced relation to the corresponding base edges thereof, the base edge of each panel extending laterally beyond said bottom panel to form a pair of opposed base edge end portions, said front and rear wall panels each having an outer edge in spaced opposed relation to the corresponding base edge, said front and rear walls each having opposed side edges extending between the corresponding base edge and outer edge, said outer edge of said front panel being concave, said outer edge of said rear panel being convex, a central fold defined in said bottom panel centrally between said base edges and extending between said bottom panel side edges, and a pair of opposed side fold lines defined in said bottom panel respectively in inwardly spaced generally parallel relation to the spaced side edges of the bottom panel and forming a pair of foldable side segments on said bottom panel, and adjacent each side edge.

13. The carton blank of claim 12 wherein each bottom panel side edge and the corresponding fold line are of generally arcuate configurations.

14. The carton blank of claim 13 wherein each bottom panel side edge is generally convex and defined by two generally equal length linear extents meeting at an angle at said central fold line.

15. The carton blank of claim 14 including a pair of glue flaps integral with and extending along the length of the opposed side edges of one of said front and rear wall panels.

16. The carton blank of claim 15 wherein said opposed side edges of each of said front and rear wall panels diverge outwardly from each other from the corresponding base edge to the corresponding outer edge to define a generally truncated triangular configuration for each wall panel.

17. The carton blank of claim 16 wherein said base edges of said front and rear panels are of equal length.