Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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The invention relates to a carton for accommodating a
number of discrete articles, in particular beverage con-
tainers such as bottles or cans.
U. S. Patent No. 3,904,036 issued September 9, 1975 and
owned by the assignee of this invention discloses an enclosed
bottle container in which the top panel is provided with hand
gripping apertures to facilitate carrying the package.
The current trend toward packaging large numbers of primary
packages such as one or two dozen items in a secondary con-
tainer has resulted in a need for an improved carrying devicefor such packages. One example of a package having a carry-
ing strap is disclosed in French Patent Application No.
7825707 filed on September 1, 1978 and publ.ished on March
28, 1980 under Serial No. 2,434,763~ In this French patent
application a carrying strap is disposed about the exterior
of a package such as a carton Eormed of paperboard and the
carrying strap is anchorea in slits formed at the carton
corners. In a modification o:E the invention oE this French
patent application, a carrying strap is inserted through
opposed ~ide walls and between two rows of packaged articles
-- 2
and is looped about the outer surEaces of these opposed
walls and an interconnecting wall to form a carrying strap.
Obviously the carrying straps o~ this French patent appli-
cation are not securely related with the associated con
tainer and are very difficult to apply to the carton
particularly in the case of the strap that must be inserted
throuyh opposed side walls and het~een adjacent rows of
packaged items.
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided
a carton comprising top, bottom, side and end walls foldably
joined to form a generally cubical structure, one of said
end walls including top and bottom wall end panels foldably
joined to one end of said top and bottom walls respectively,
and side wall flaps foldably joined to corresponding ends
of said side walls, one of said end panels being formed with
an elongate slot and each of said side wall flaps being
formed with an aperture sized and positioned so as to regis-
ter with said elongate slot when the carton is set up in
completed condition.
According to a further aspect of the invention there is
provided a carton blank comprising a bottom wall, end wall
panels foldably joined to the ends of said bottom wall, an
elongate aperture formed in an end wall panel at one end of
said bottom wall, a side wall foldably joined to a side
edge of said bottom wall, end flaps foldably joined to the
ends of said side wall, a registerable aperture formed in
an end flap at the end of said side wall corresponding to
said one end of said bottom wall, and a tearable strip ex-
tending from said registerable aperture to the outer edge
of the associated end flap.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a packaye formed according
to this invention;
~L~5~ 7
~ 3 --
Figure 2 is a plan view of a blank for forming a carton
according to the invention;
Figure 3 is a collapsed carton formed from the blank of
Figure 2 as supplied by the manufacturer to the packager;
Figure 4 is an end view of the filled and completed carton
incorporating a carrying strap;
Figure 5 is a s¢rap section taken along the line 5-5 in
Figure 4; and
Figure 6 is a scrap section taken along the line 6-6 in
Figure 4.
BEST MODE OF CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Referring to the drawings, a carton 1 is formed from a
paperboard blank 2 or other similar foldable sheet material~
As i~ best shown in Figure 2, top wall 3 is foldably joined
along fold line Fl to side wall 5 and is foldably joined
along fold line F2 to side wall 6. Bottom wall 4 is fold-
ably joined to the bottom edge of side wall 6 along fold
line F7 and glue flap L is foldably joined to a side edge
of bottom wall 4 along fold line F8.
While the invention is not limited for use in packaging
bottles having tapered neck portions, the carton shown in
the drawings is especially adapted for use in conjunction
with bottles. Thus side walls 5 and 6 are provided with fold
lines F3 and F4 respectively so as to allow the upper por-
tion of these side walls to tilt inwardly and thereby toaccommodate the difference in width of the top wall 3 and
the bottom wall 4.
In order to form a sleeve from the blank shown in Figure 2 r
the blank is folded along the fold lines F5 and F6 and into
the condition represented by Figure 3. The carton is
secured in this condition by means of glue applied to glue
~:lap L which causes that flap to become adhered to the
portion of side wall 5 which is disposed at the right hand
S end of the blank as the blank i5 viewed in Figure 2. The
carton is in this condition when completed by the manufac-
turer and shipped to the packager.
The packager sets up the collapsed blank as shown in Figure
3 into an open ended sleeve as is well known. Groups of
containers such as bottles B are loaded into the open ends
of the set up sleeve following the application of a carry-
ing strap to one group o bottles prior to loading through
one end of the sleeve.
As best seen in Figure 6 of the drawing the bottles B are
arranged within the carton in a number of rows of which
rows Rl, R2 are bounded by carrying strap 7 which is applied
immediately prior to loading ~hose rows into one end of the
carton sleeve. The carrying strap 7 is preformed and
applied by a suitable machine as described and claimed in
co-pending Canadian Patent Application Serial No. 377,246
filed on May 8, 1981 in the name of The Mead Corporation.
Strap 7 comprises a strip of plastic material which is
ultrasonically welded or otherwise formed into an endless
band and subsequently looped around two rows Rl, R2 of
bottles prior to loading.
The end closure structure S of the carton adjacent bott~e
rows Rl, R2 comprises a top wall end panel 8 foldably joined
to the top wall 3 about a longitudinal fold line 9. The end
panel 8 has its free edge shaped to provide a tongue 10.
The end closure structure S further includes bottom wall
end panel 11 foldably ~oined to the bottom wall 4 along a
longitudinal fold line 12 and side wall flaps 13, 14 fold-
ably joined t~ side walls 5, 6 along longitudinal fold lines
15, 16 respectively.
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The end panel 11 has formed th~rein adjacent its longitudinal
free edge 17 an elongate slot 18 through which a handle part
of the strap 7 is exposed. Each of the side wall flaps 13,
14 is formed with a generally rectan~ular aperture 19, 20
respectively which is isolated from the free longitudinal
edge 21, 22 of the flap by a breakable strip 23, 24 respec-
tively. Each is formed by per:Eorating the area of paper-
board located between the aperture and the ree longitudinal
edge of the end flap.
After the carton has been loaded so that the bottle rows
Rll R2 are positioned with their tops and bases in abutment
with top and bottom walls 3, 4 respecti~ely and adjacent the
end closure structure S, a handle part 25 of the looped
carrying strap is located at the open end of the sleeve. In
order to close the end structure S an application of ~lue
is applied across the bottom wall end panel 11 on either side
of the elongate slot 18 in the areas indicated at G in
~'igure 2. The side wall flaps 13, 14 are then folded in-
wardl~ towards one another about fold lines 15, 16 respec~
tively so that breakable strips 23, 24 overlie the handle
part 25 of strap 7 and top wall end panel 8 is folded down-
wardly about fold line 9 into overlapping relationship with
the sid~ wall flaps 13, 14~ Thus, the end panel 8 is posi-
tioned in cooperation with the carrying strap such that the
tongue 10 is located between the central bottles of row Rl
and the handle part 25 of carrying strap 7 to provide a
backing panel for the handle part 25. It is apparent from
Figure 2 that the top wall end panel 8 is connected to each
of side wall flaps 13, 14 by means of gusset panels 26, 27
respectively. Such gusset panels are of known construction
and have the effect of coordinating downward closing move-
ment oE the top wall end panel 8 automatically during inward
folding of side wall flaps 13, 14.
The bottom wall end paneI 11 is-then folded upwardly about
3S fold line 12 into overlapping relationship with top wall
~:~5~ 7
end panel 8 and adhered thereto to complete the end closure
S. Referring to Figure 4 it is apparent that the handle
part 25 of the carrying strap 7 is positioned such that
when the end closure S is completed, the handle part 25 is
exposed to view and extends across the slot 18 in bottom
wall end panel 11. Moreover, the apertures 19, 20 are
sized and positioned so as to register with the slot 18 at
the extremities thereof so that the breakable strips 23,
24 extend across slot 18 adjacent the extremities and in
overlapping relationship with the handle part 25 of the
carrying strap 7. This feature permits the handle part to
be moved outwardly away rom close proximity with bottle
row Rl which it normally occupies. This outward movement
is achieved in use when the handle part 25 is grasped to
lift the carton which causes breakable strips 23, 24 to
break thus allowing the handle part to move towards the
extremities of slot 18 and outwardly from the end closure
to a carrying position as indicated in dotted lines in
Figure 6. In order to provide a satisfactory length for
carrying purposes and to enhance the outward movement, the
handle part 25 includes a folded portion 28 doubled back
on itself and overlapped outwardly of the breakable strip
24. The folded portion normally is stowed within the car-
ton behind end flap 13 as best seen in Figure 6 of the
drawings. Hence, when the handle part 25 is grasped, the
folded portion ~8 unfolds to provide an increased length of
the strip at the handle part 25 after which breakage of the
breakable strips occurs as described above so that the
handle adopts the extended position shown in phantom lines
in Figure ~.
The opposite end closure of the carton is closed in a simi-
lar manner to complete the carton except in that structure
no provision is made for a carrying handle and parts which
correspond generally with the elements of closure S are
designated with corresponding numerals to which the letter
"a" is added.
7 _
The carrying handle 7 thus includes an internally looped
anchored part 29 located entirely within the carton and a
carrying part 25 located adjacent one end closure structure
S of the carton. It will be seen from Figures 5 and 6
that the anchored part 29 extends transversely of the car~
tOII and passes alony the inner surface of carton side walls
5, 6 towards the carton end S to provide the handle part.
The bottles in rows Rl, R2 therefore are bounded between
the internal looped portion 29 of the carrying strap and
the end closure structure S of the carton. In this way
some of the bottles within the carton represented by those
constituting rows Rl and R2 are used to secure the carrying
strap of the carton so that the carton weight is transfer-
red to the end closure structures through bottle rows Rl,
R2 when the carton is lifted by the carrying strap. Thus
the bottles B are carried on their sides.
The internally looped part 29 of the carrying strap 2~ may
be passed around a group of bottles having more or less
bottles than those illustrated and moreover the construction
also is applicable to a carton having only one article accom-
modated therein. It is contemplated that the end closur~
structure could be modified and the overlapping relationship
of the various panels altered. For example, the slot 18
could be formed in the top wall end panel 8.
It is also contemplated that the carrying strap could be
arranged to have its handle part located adjacent one of
the other walls of the carton, e.g. a side wall by suitably
modifying the construction.
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY
The invention is particularly well adapted for use in con-
junction with secondary packages for packaging large numbers
of primary packages of consumer items.
