Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a tamperproof carbon construc-
tion with a locking reclosure feature, formed from a single paper-
board blank. The carton is formed with a receptacle portion and a
cover portion having downwardly extending skirt portions which
telescope over the upper receptacle side and front walls when the
carton is closed. The skirted cover portion is originally adhered
to a break-away extension panel detachably hinged to a receptacle
, wall, thus providing a tamperproof closure to the carton, and the
cover corner glue flaps engage with additional receptacle wall ex-
tension flaps to provide a particularly effective relocking means
once the carton has been opened and reclosed.
It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide
a tamperproof, reclosable carton produced from a single blank and
provided with a positive and unique cover locking reclosure means.
It is a further object, as will be more fully developed
hereinafter, to provide a tamperproof, reclosable carton with a
- unique locking reclosure which can readily be set up, filled and
sealed by automatic machinery.
SU~MARY OF THE INVENTION
The above and other objects are realized in the carton of
this invention wherein tamperproofness is achieved by a sealing tab
attached along a detachable line of weakness to the upper edge of
the front receptacle wall and adhered to the inner front cover panel
and includes a particularly effective cover relocking means wherein
a wedging action occurs between acutely angled side edges of locking
tabs and complementary angled edge portions of the sealing tab and
the cover front corner glue flaps.
- BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
! 30 Further details, advantages and objects will be apparent
in the description of the drawings wherein:
Figure 1 is a plan view of a paperboard carton blank
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comprising a preferred embodiment of this invention,
Figure 2 is a perspective view of the carton partially
set up,
Figure 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the carton
at one stage during the closing and sealing procedure,
Figure 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the sealed
carton, certain unexposed panel elements being shown in phantom line,
` Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view along line 5-5 of
~igure 4,
Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view along line 6-6 of
Figure 4,
Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view along the same line
as Figure 5, but with the carton partly opened,
Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view along the same line
as Figure 6 but with the carton partly opened, and
Figure 9 is a fragmentary perspective view of the carton
in fully open condition.
~ ~ - DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
; ~ The carton of this invention is formed of a blank of
,
paperboar~ or similar material suitably cut and scored as shown in
Figure 1 to provide a pair of opposedend wall panels 12 and 14, a
front wall panel 16, a back wall panel 18 and a manufacturer's
glue panel 20, hlngedly joined in sequence along parallel score
lines 21, 23, 25 and 27. Hingedly depending from the lower edge of
said receptacle end, front and rear wall panels are bottom closure
panels 22, 24, 26 and 28, respectively.
Top cover panel 40 is hingedly connected at its rear edge
along score line 41 to the upper edge of receptacle rear wall panel
18. Top cover panel 40 is also hinged at its front edge along
score line 43 to front cover panel 42 and at its side edges along
score lines 45 and 47 to end cover panels 44 and 46, respectively.
End cover panels 44 and 46 have cover front corner glue flaps 48
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and 50 hingPdly connected to their respective front edges along
score lines 49 and 51.
Finally, locking tabs 52 and 54 and sealing tab 56 are
hingedly connected to the upper edge of receptacle front wall panel
16. The hinge line connecting sealing tab 56 to panel 16 is a
severable line of weakness 55, and the locking tabs 52 and 54,
which flank the sealing tab 56, are attached to front wall panel
16 along hinge lines 55a, which are extensions of weakness lines
55. Since the size, shape and positioning of these locking and
sealing tabs are of importance in the proper functioning of the
carton of this invention in each of the sealing, opening and
reclosing operations relating thereto, these features of the con-
struction will be described in greater detail hereinafter.
In forming the carton of this invention from the blank
hereinbefore described, a suitable adhesive 60 is first applied to
the area adjacent to the free edge of end wall panel 12 or, alter-
natively, to the manufacturer's glue flap panel 20, after which the
blank is folded to bring these areas into superposition, all in
accordance with long established procedures. Similarly, adhesive
is applied in known manner to some or all of the bottom closure
panels 22, 24, 26 and 28 which are then infolded into superposed,
adhered relationship, forming a bottom structure of conventional
construction.
; After folding locking tabs 52 and 54, and sealing tab 56
outward to lie superposed on the upper portion of the outer surface
of front wall panel 16, the partially erected carton appears as
shown in ~igure 2, in which positlon the carton may be filled with
product and prepared for closure and sealing. Adhesive area 62 is
indicated adjacent the remote free edge of front cover panel 42 in
~- 30 Figure 1, 2 and 3. This adhesive may be of the same composition as
t that indicated at 60 and may be applied in the same adhesive-
applying operation, or may be of differing composition and applied
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in a separate operation. A heat-seal adhesive composition is of
particular utility in the area 62.
The final steps in the closure and sealing of the filled
~; carton are illustrated in Figures 3 and 4. The top cover panel 40
is folded about score line 41 to overlie and close the top opening
of the receptacle, end cover panels 44 and 46 are folded about
score lines 45 and 47, respectively, to lie superposed on end wall
; -panels 14 and 12, respectively, and cover front corner glue flaps
48 and 50 are hinged about score lines 49 and 51 to lie superposed
~: 10 on portions of receptacle front wall panel 16 adjacent to the areas
of said front panel on which the locking tabs 52 and 54 lie super-
posed.
Finally, front cover panel 42 is folded about score lines
43 to lie superposed on the surfaces of the locking tabs 52 and 54,
: ~ the cover front corner glue flaps 48 and 50, and the sealing tab 56,
.: which are thereby sandwiched between the inner surface of the front
.~ cover panel 42 and the outer surface of the receptacle front wall
panel 16. The pattern of adhesive 62 is such that the front cover
panel 42 is adhered to both the cover front corner glue flaps 48 and
; 20 50, and the sealing tab 56, but not to the locking tabs 52 and 54.
. As best seen in Figure 3 and in phantom line in Figure 4,
the edges of the cover front corner glue flaps 48 and 50 dovetail
i~ snugly with the side and bottom edges of locking tabs 52 and 54 and
. with a portion of the side edges of sealing tab 56, all of said flaps
and tabs lying in a common plane between the outer surface of recep-
tacle front wall panel 16 and front cover panel 42. r
Since the cover assembly of the carton is adhered to the
sealing tab 56, which is an integral part of the receptacle portion
of the overall carton, the carton cannot be opened without rupturing
the weakness line 55 by which the sealing tab 56 is attached to the
front wall panel 16. This rupturable connection thus constitutes
the tamperproof feature of the carton previously mentioned and, since
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the weakness line 55 is at the point of junction between the upper
edge of the receptacle front wall panel 16 and the sealing tab 56
and there is no other line of weakness in the sealing tab, there is
no tendency for the opening feature to malfunction through folding
or buckling of the sealing tab along any horizontal line between
the area of its adhesive attachement to the inside of the front
cover panel 42 and the desired line of severance 55.
In opening the sealed carton, force applied outward and
upward along the bottom edge of the front cover panel 42 results in
rupture of the weakness line 55 by which the sealing tab 56 is
attached to the receptacle front wall panel 16. Locking tabs 52 and
54, however, remain hingedly attached to the front wall panel 16 and
upon reclosure of the carton, the sealing tab 56 and the corner glue
flaps 48 and 50 resume their co-planar relationship with the locking
tabs 52 and 54 with the free edges of the various flaps and tabs in
locking abutment with each other. In this connection, the shape of
the locking tabs 52 and 54 is of significance in the satisfactory
operation of the relocking feature of this carton. Each locking tab
(52, 54) has a free edge 70 remote from and generally parallel to
the hinge line 55a which connects the tab with front wall panel 16.
Each locking tab (52, 54) also has two angled edges 72 and 74, each
of which forms an acute angle with the hinge line 55a. Each locking
tab thus has the shape of an isosceles trapezoid, or a semi-hexagon.
The angled edge 74, on each locking tab, is formed by the cut line
separating the locking tab from sealing tab 56, which therefore has
an edge 76 complementary to edge 74 on the locking tab. Since
locking tab edge 74 and sealing tab edge 76 lie in the same plane
and are in edge to edge abutment throughout their respective lengths
they serve as locking elements for the cover reclosure, the locking
action effectively preventing upward motion of the cover by virtue
of wedging the sealing tab tightly between the upwardly converging
edges 74 of the two locking tabs. The cover may be lifted only by
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applying force both outwardly and upwardly to move the sealing tab
out of the plane of the locking tabs and so disengage the edges 76
thereof from edge to edge engagement with edges 74 of the locking
tabs. It will be apparent that the locking means hereinbefore
described will be effective only if the angle between the locking
. tab edges 74 and the hinge line 55a is less than 90, so that the
sealing tab is subjected to a wedging action if an attempt is made
` to ralse the cover while edges 74 and 76 are in a common plane.
In addition to the locking means previously described,
further and substantially equally effective cover locking means
involve edge to edge abutment between edges 70 and 72 of the locking
; tabs and edges 80 and 82, respectively, of the front corner glue
flaps 48 and 50. The upper edge portions 80 and 82 of the corner
glue flaps 48 and 50 are shaped to dovetail with edges 7~ and 72 of
the locking tabs to bring about the desired locking abutments.
Edge 72 of each locking tab, and abutting edge 82 of each corner
~ glue flap, are formed at the same acute angle to their respective
; hinge lines. Furthermore, in order that edges 70 and 80 of the
locking tabs and glue flaps, respectively, shall come into a close
20 edge to edge relationship, edges 72 and 82 are of substantially
equal length within the limits of manufacturing tolerances and are
thus complementary to each other. Because the acutely angled edges
72 of the locking tabs 52 and 54 at opposite front corners of the
carton are equal in angIe and oppositely directed, the cover front
corner glue flap edges 82, which are complementary therewith, are
subjected to a wedging action if upwardly directed force is applied
to the cover when the locking tabs and glue flaps are in the same
~-~ plane.
The carton construction of this invention thus incorporates
three sets of cover relocking elements, any one of which sets would
serve adequately to lock the carton cover on reclosure but which,
~ in combination of two or more sets, serve as a very superior locking
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construction. In summary, the three sets of edge to edge locking
elements are (1) the angled edges 74 of locking tabs 52 and 54
which abut the complementary angled edges 76 of the sealing tab
56 in the reclosed carton, (2) angled edges 72 of locking tabs 52
; and 54 which abut the complementary angled edge portions 82 of
corner glue flaps 48 and 50, and finally, free remote edges 70 of
locking tabs 52 and 54 which are, in the reclosed carton, in edge
to edge locking abutment with edge portions 80 of glue flaps 48
and 50.
It will be evident from the above description that the
carton of this invention provides a tamperproof structure with
uniquely effective cover relocking means which include edge to edge
~: abutment of acutely angled-edges of locking tabs with other carton
elements lying in the same plane. It is understood that minor
variations of the preferred embodiment herein disclosed may be made
without departing from the spirit of the invention.
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