EP0957034A1 - Carton with an object fitted to the lid - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a carton (1) containing a three dimensional object(2), the carton (1) having a top side (10), the top side (10) forming a lid (3)for the carton (1).

The top side (10) comprises a cut out (4) and the three dimensional object(2) fits with the cut out (4).

Description

Technical field
• The invention relates to carton board containers, in particular for granularmaterials, the container containing a three dimensional object.
Background of the invention
• Various types of containers are formed from carton board. Typicalcontainers made from carton board, also simply called cartons, are widelyused for packing granular materials such as detergent powder for laundry, for example.When used for containing such granular materials, such cartons often alsocontain a three dimensional object, such as a scooping device forexample. Access to the content of the cartons, i.e. to the three dimensionalobject and to the granular materials, is normally provided through the topside of the carton, the top side serving as a lid for the carton.
• In order to facilitate access to the three dimensional object contained inthe carton, the three dimensional object can be attached within the carton.Different ways of attaching the three dimensional object within the cartonhave been described in the prior art. For example, in JP 08301287-A filedby Kao Corp. on the 28th of April 1995, a spoon is fixed to a fixation part inthe main body of the carton. In JP 08301288-A filed by Kao Corp. on the1^st of May 1995, a measuring spoon is also fixed to the main body of thecontainer by means of a fixation part. Yet another possibility is presentedin JP 08301285-A filed by Kao Corp. on the 28^th of April 1995, whereby aspoon is provided with a handle part having a fixed member attached to it,the fixed member attaching the spoon in the main body of the carton.
• Other means of providing a scooping device together with a carton and inparticular with a carton containing granular detergents are known. Forexample, in JP 09278029-A or in JP 09278030-A, both filed by Lion Corp.on the 12^th of April 1996, a scooping device is provided in a two dimensional structure which can be integrated to the blank of the carton,whereby folding and mounting of this two dimensional structure allows theuser to form a three dimensional object.
• A further attempt to facilitate delivery of a three dimensional object in acarton containing granular materials is presented in US-A-5,647,413, filedby The Procter and Gamble Company on the 13^th of February 1996,whereby the delivery of a three dimensional object is facilitated by use ofthe difference of density between the three dimensional object and thegranular material to make the three dimensional object progress to the toppart of the carton by shaking the upright carton.
• The present invention concerns a carton containing a three dimensionalobject, the carton having a top side, the top side forming a lid for thecarton.
• Among the advantages of such cartons is that a three dimensional objectsuch as a scoop can be provided, which is particularly suited whensupplied together with granular materials. Further, such cartons comprisea lid, so that such cartons can be re-closed for appropriate protection oftheir content.
• While having these and other advantages, cartons containing a threedimensional object, particularly when also containing granular materials,have disadvantages. For example, access to the three dimensional objectmay be difficult if the object is partially buried in the granular material, ascould be the case when using a carton as in JP 08301287-A, JP08301288-A or JP 08301285-A, whereby the scoop is provided on the sideof the carton, or as could happen if the carton described in US-A-5,647,413is not being shaken sufficiently. In addition, providing a scooprequires a complex process, in particular in US-A-5,647,413, but also in JP09278029-A or in JP 09278030-A, whereby the scoop has to be mountedby the user. Furthermore, on line placement of a scoop as in JP08301287-A, JP 08301288-A or JP 08301285-A is also quite complex asthe scoop has to be put in place deep within the carton, which is difficult toachieve at high speed during production.
• The invention seeks to provide a carton containing a three dimensionalobject of the above-mentioned kind whereby the three dimensional objectis effectively delivered without requiring efforts from the user, the insertionof the object in the carton on line during manufacture being simplified.
Summary of the invention
• In accordance with the invention, this object is accomplished in a carton ofthe above kind in that the top side comprises a cut out, and the threedimensional object fits with the cut out.
• A carton formed in accordance with the invention has a number ofadvantages. Since the three dimensional object is fitting with a cut out onthe top side forming the lid, the object is directly accessible when the lid isopened. Furthermore, as it is fixed to or inside the lid, the object is keptseparated from the content of the carton, as the content will be kept awayfrom the top side of the carton by gravity. Furthermore, the object is simplyfitted with a cut out, without requiring addition of extra elements for fixingsuch as a hook, for example, thus making the production process moresimple and more cost effective. Additionally, the object can simply beinserted on line in the cut out during production, without having to place itdeep inside the carton.
Brief description of the drawings
• The invention will now be described by way of example and with referenceto the accompanying drawings in which:
• Figure 1 is a partial perspective view illustrating a carton according to theinvention, whereby the three dimensional object is ready to be inserted inthe cut out.
• Figure 2 is a partial perspective view of the carton of Figure 1, whereby thethree dimensional object is inserted in the cut out.
• Figure 3 is a partial perspective view of the carton of Figure 2, whereby alayer of material is glued to cover partially the cut out and the object on thetop side of the carton.
• Figure 4 is a partial perspective view of the carton of Figure 3, wherebyanother layer of material has been glued to cover completely the cut outand the object on the top side of the carton, and whereby the lid of thecarton is opened, giving access to the three dimensional object.
• Figure 5 is a partial perspective view illustrating another embodiment of acarton according to the invention, whereby the cut out is an indentation inone flap.
• Figure 6 is a partial perspective view illustrating yet another embodiment ofa carton according to the invention, whereby the cut out is a full cut out inone flap.
• Figure 7 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view illustrating a cartonaccording to the invention, whereby the three dimensional object isretained on two sides by a layer of material, the object being covered bytwo layers of material.
• Figure 8 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view illustrating a cartonaccording to the invention, whereby the three dimensional object isretained on two sides by a layer of material, the layer retaining the objectbeing maintained by extra flaps, the object being covered by one layer ofmaterial.
Description of the preferred embodiments
• The invention relates to a carton. Typically, cartons have a substantiallyparallelepipedal shape with six sides and twelve edges, namely the top,bottom, back, front, left and right sides, the edges being defined by the twosides of which they are the intersection, for example the edge between thetop and the back sides. For definition purposes, it will be considered in thefollowing that when the carton is upright the top and bottom sides are inthe horizontal plane, the four other sides being vertical. We will considerthat if the front side of the upright carton is facing an observer, the left side is on to the left of the observer and the right side on to the right of theobserver, the back side being invisible for the observer.
• Cartons are usually folded and glued from a die cut. A die cut, or blank, isa flat structure which has not been folded or glued. At least three mainsteps appear in the folding-gluing-filling process. In a first main step, thedie cut is folded and glued to form a sleeve. A sleeve is substantially a foursided structure structured like a six sided carton of which two oppositesides are not folded or glued. In the sleeve structure, four of the twelveedges of the carton have been folded, these four edges being in a paralleldirection to each other. It should be noted that usually the remaining eightedges all have their direction in a plane perpendicular to the direction ofthe four folded ones. The sleeve structure has the advantage that it can beflattened. As a consequence, sleeves can be stored or shipped easily. In asecond main step, the carton is erected from the sleeve, which means thatone of the two opposite sides which were not folded and glued during thesleeve step is now folded, four more edges being consequently formed. Atthis stage, the carton cannot be flattened anymore. However, it can befilled through the last non folded side. In the last step, the last non foldedside is folded and glued, so forming the four last edges. In summary, whenpreparing a carton, the structure goes through successive stages, namelythe die cut, followed by the sleeve, which subsequently is formed into an erected carton, before the closed carton stage. Each of these stages isseparated by one main folding-gluing step.
• There are two alternative ways of forming the sleeve from the die cut,because a choice can be made of the two opposite sides which will be leftunfolded and unglued. In a first way, these two sides may be the top andbottom sides. In a second way the right and left sides or the back and frontsides will be left open. In theory, it is considered equivalent to chooseback/front or left/right because these sides are differentiated only as aconvention. However, the top/bottom sides are normally perpendicular togravity when the carton is in its upright position.
• In the first way of forming the sleeve, the sleeve will be formed of the front,left, back and right sides, or of any circular permutation of these, while thetop and bottom sides will be left opened. In this case, the carton is usuallyerected by folding the bottom, and then by folding the top after filling. Thisway avoids having to turn the carton upright after the filling process whenthe filling is made by means of gravity, because the carton is alreadyupright when filled.
• In the second way of forming the sleeve, the sleeve will be formed, forexample, of the front, top, back and bottom sides, or of any circularpermutation of these, while the left and right sides will be left opened. In this case, the carton is erected by folding indifferently the left or the rightside, the left for example, the erected carton being filled through the rightside, which should consequently be at the top of the carton during filling.Finally, the carton will be closed. After closing, the carton may have to beturned around in upright position, with the top side on the top.
• As explained above, the eight edges which are not being folded to formthe sleeve have their direction in a plane perpendicular to the direction ofthe four edges folded to form the sleeve. This means that in the die cutform, the four sleeve folded edges are in one direction and the eight othersin the substantially perpendicular direction. By definition, the direction ofthe eight edges is called the main folding direction or axial directionbecause most of the folding is made along this direction. The otherdirection is the transverse direction. Normally, the four edges of thetransverse direction should be the sleeve forming edges. As an example,in the first way for folding a sleeve, the front/left, left/back, back/right andright/front edges would be along the transverse direction, while in thesecond way of folding a sleeve, the front/top, top/back, back/bottom andbottom/front edges would be along the transverse direction.
• A die cut is preferably made from a single piece. A die cut normally has aspecific grain direction. This means that the material forming the die cut isnot isotropic but has a preferred direction along which the die cut can be folded more easily. This direction is the grain direction. For easy folding, itis preferred that the main folding direction be in the grain direction.
• For stiffness reasons, it is important that the grain direction is nothorizontal, and preferably vertical, when the carton in its upright position.This means that the direction of gravity should be the grain direction for thefront, back, left and right sides of the carton when the carton is upright, orthat the edges front/left, left/back, back/right and right/front should followthe grain direction. Consequently, the edges front/left, left/back, back/rightand right/front should not be in the transverse direction on the die cut. Thisleads to choosing the second way of folding for stiffness reasons. Cartonsfolded in such a manner are usually called side fill cartons. It should benoted that this denomination is due to the folding method, and is notdirectly linked to the grain direction. Examples of side fill cartons aredisclosed in the pending applications JP-09066927 published on the 11thof March 1997, or JP-09278029-A published on the 38th of October 1997,or in applicant pending applications EP-97202128.1 filed on the 10th ofJuly 1997 or EP-98200031.7 filed on the 8th of January 1998.
• The first way of folding can also be chosen. Indeed, production is mademore straightforward due to the fact that such a carton can be filled fromthe top. Indeed, such a carton is called a top fill carton. If stiffness of sucha carton is not sufficient, a further layer or liner can be added to the carton to reinforce the structure, particularly to render the carton able to sustainstacking. It should be mentioned that a die cut usually has a graindirection. The folding or cutting directions may be chosen so as to takeaccount of the grain direction, considering that the cardboard is morefoldable along the grain direction. Care should be taken while designingthe die cuts that the grain direction is suitable, so that it ensuresrobustness and easy folding of the carton.
• The carton of the present invention is preferably made of cardboard orcorrugated board, but other materials could also be used. Such cartonsare usually used for housing granular materials. The cartons normally havea parallelepipedal shape with six sides. The sides can be defined as a top,bottom, left, right, back and front sides. The top side is on the top of thecarton when the carton is in its upright position, the bottom side beingopposite to the top side. For the purpose of the description, the front andback sides are opposing sides and the left and right side are oppositesides as well. Each of these sides can be made of several layers ofmaterial. Each of the sides is usually of a substantially rectangular shape,each side being limited at its borders by four edges. The structure of thecarton is due to links which can exist between different layers of differentsides through the edges. For example, if the front side is made of a singlelayer, this layer may be linked to the left side through the edge betweenthe two sides, the link and the edge being provided by a folded line or/and by glue. The layers which compose the sides of the carton may be ofdifferent sorts. If such a layer is covering a complete side, it is called apanel, and is said as corresponding to the side it covers. When a layercovers a side only partially, it is called a flap, and it is said that itcorresponds to the side it covers. However, a flap may be extended up tothe panel size, in which case it is a long flap. Long flaps are particularlyused for contributing to the rigidity of the structure. Flaps and panels canalso comprise cut outs allowing use of a minimum amount of materials.Panels or flaps can be said as associated to another layer, which meansthat they have a side in common with this layer through a folded line, scoreline, line of weakness or by means of gluing, in doing so describing anedge of the carton. Each side may comprise one or more panels, one ormore flaps, or a combination of these. In the present application, thepanels may have in their denomination the name of the side of which theycover the surface, for example the bottom panel corresponds to the bottomside. In the present application the flaps may have in their denominationthe name of the side with which they correspond once the carton is folded,followed of the name of the flap or panel with which they are associated.For example, the first left flap associated with an edge to the first front flapis forming part of the left side in the folded carton and is physicallyattached the front flap. It should be noted that the side denomination,namely left, right, top, bottom, back and front, are conventionaldenominations which are introduced for ease of explanation, and should not be limiting. Adhesive can be used for gluing flaps or panels to eachother. For example, cold, water or solvent based glue can be used, appliedwith rollers or glue guns, but also hot melt glue, whether applied with glueguns or other glue applicators.
• The carton structure of the present invention is such that the carton can beeasily made sift proof, or even air tight if a special glue pattern is applied,so as to prevent air from passing through the structure. In order to be siftproof through the sides, and if the side comprises a panel, it has to beensured that the panel does not accidentally burst. This is particularlyimportant on the sides which usually are more exposed to externalintervention which can lead to bursting. For this reason, the sides couldcomprises several layers, for example by using a die cut made of a flutebetween two liners, or simply by using a supplementary liner, being forexample a plain-board or a corrugated liner. If the side is composed offlaps, it is important that the flaps co-operate with each other as expectedto obtain a sift proof structure. Usually, it is obtained by gluing the flaps toeach other.
• The carton may also comprise a snap lock mechanism in the lid area, ofany kind known of the man skilled in the art, for example composed of asnap flap and of a snap tab. Preferred here are audible snap lockmechanisms. The lid may also be lifted at opening by means of a delaminated area combined with perforations or with extra glue spats. Thecarton may also comprise a tear strip for facilitating opening of the lid.
• In a general manner, the carton of the invention may comprise featuresand variations of the existing cartons, such as for example the cartonsdisclosed in EP 0 588 789 B1 or in WO 92/20583.
• In Figure 1, atop fill carton 1 according to the invention is illustrated.Indeed, the invention preferably relates to a top fill carton. As evidencedon the drawing, two flaps (100, 101) are already folded, these flaps (100,101) being part of thetop side 10, one being linked to theleft side 11 andone being linked to theright side 12, the link being formed by associatingeach flap along an edge with a folding line. In this Figure 1, each flap (100,101) comprises a cut out 4. If thiscarton 1 further containsgranularmaterials 5, as in a preferred embodiment of the invention, thegranularmaterials 5 normally have been introduced in thecarton 1 prior to thefolding of these two flaps (100, 101). Indeed, in an aspect of the invention,the invention relates to a process for filling acarton 1 according toclaim 1comprising the first step of filling the carton withgranular materials 5through thetop side 10, the second step of partially closing thetop side 10with a first layer (100, 101) of material comprising the cut out 4, the thirdstep of fitting the three dimensional object 2 with the cut out 4 and a fourthstep consisting in gluing a further layer (102, 103) of material above the first layer (100, 101). It should be noted that the first step above could besuppressed and replaced by a step following the fourth step above,whereby the carton is filled withgranular material 5 through the bottomside (not shown). In this case, the invention relates to a process for filling acarton 1 according to the invention comprising the first step of partiallyclosing thetop side 10 with a first layer (100, 101) of material comprisingthe cut out 4, the second step of fitting the three dimensional object 2 withthe cut out 4, a third step consisting in gluing a further layer (102, 103) ofmaterial above the first layer (100, 101), and a fourth step of filling thecarton 1 withgranular materials 5 through the bottom side (not shown).
• Typically, one 102 or two (102, 103) layers are glued above the first layer(100, 101). In Figure 1, indeed, the second step is illustrated. It should benoted that in this example, the three dimensional object 2 is a scoopingdevice forgranular materials 5, as in a preferred embodiment according tothe invention. More particularly, the scooping device comprises aflange20. Other means may also be used for fitting the three dimensional object2 to the cut out 4, such as matching shapes between the threedimensional object 2 and the profile of the cut out 4. Indeed, it is preferredthat the cut out 4 has a profile corresponding to a part of the object 2. Thisis for example evidenced on Figure 1, whereby the cut out 4 is in twoparts, each part of the cut out 4 matching a part of the object 2. In thisexample, the cut out 4 is on each of the two flaps (100, 101) comprising it in the form of an indentation, whereby a piece of each flap (100, 101) issimply cut away, without defining a closed contour for the cut out 4. Thecut out 4 could also comprise an extra indentation allowing insertion of afinger for example to remove the three dimensional object 2 more easilyfrom the cut out 4. Preferably, if the cut out 4 has a closedcontour 40 andif the object 2 has aflange 20, thecontour 40 of the cut out 4 should besmaller than the perimeter of theflange 20. This also applies to part of thecontour 41 and thecorresponding part 21 of the object 2 if thecontour 41is not closed. Indeed, the cut out 4 should support the object 2.
• By a three dimensional object 2, it should be understood that it is an objectwhich has a total width, a total length and a total height which all aresubstantially larger than the thickness of the layer of material of which thedie-cut of the carton is made.
• In Figure 2, thecarton 1 of Figure 1 is such that the scoop has beeninserted on both sides of the cut out 4. The scoop is inserted directly onthe top of thecarton 1, so that insertion can be made at high speed online. Indeed, when produced on line, the line usually is displacing thecarton in a direction perpendicular to the direction of insertion of the threedimensional object 2. Therefore, the less deep the three dimensionalobject 2 is placed, the faster the line can be run. Indeed, it is an object ofthe invention to have an simple production of cartons containing a three dimensional object. In other words, when the object 2 is inserted, it followsa path, whereby the speed of the line has to be lowered if this path is longor/and if this path is along a direction perpendicular to the displacement ofthe line. In our case, the object 2 is inserted on thetop side 10, not onlyabove the rest of thecontent 5 of thecarton 1 but also so as to reduce thepath of the object 2 in a direction perpendicular to the line displacement toa minimum. A further advantage is that the three dimensional object 2 isfitted to thecarton 1 by means of a cut out 4 in existing flaps, and not byadding an extra piece to thecarton 1. Indeed, a further objective of acarton 1 according to the invention is to reduce the quantity of waste frompackaging materials released in the environment. It should also be notedthatglue 6 is applied to the two flaps (102, 103) which do not comprise thecut out 4 for fitting the three dimensional object 2.
• In Figure 3, aflap 103 is folded and glued over the three dimensionalobject 2 which is fitted in a cut out 4 provided in two other flaps (100, 101).In this example, theflap 103 glued over the three dimensional object 2 iscovering the object only partially, but the object 2 could be completelycovered by using alonger flap 104. An aim of such acover 104 is toprotect thecontent 5 of thecarton 1, and to prevent egress of thecontent5 when thecarton 1 is closed.
• In figure 4, afurther flap 102 has been glued on top of thecarton 1, thuscovering completely the cut out 4 and the three dimensional object 2.Once closed and glued in such a manner, thecarton 1 can be opened asshown on Figure 4, by lifting up the lid 3. According to the invention, thetop side 10 of thecarton 1 is forming the lid 3, but the lid 3 may alsocomprisesides 30 for covering the front 14, left 11 and right 12 sides ofthecarton 1. In the example, the lid 3 is a hinged lid 3, so that it does nothave a side covering theback side 13 as thehinge 31 is at the corner ofthe top 10 and of the back 13 side. However, the lid 3 may be completelyremovable, in which case theback side 13 may also be covered partly bya side of the lid 3. The lid 3 may be opened or formed in various mannersas known from the man skilled in the art. As can be seen on Figure 4, thethree dimensional object 2 may be removed from the cut out 4 by pulling itaway from thetop side 10 of thecarton 1. The advantage when thecarton1 containsgranular materials 5 such as washing powder, is that the userdoes not have to dig into thegranular materials 5 to gain access to theobject 2, which is a further advantage of the invention. It should also benoted that removing the object 2 can be facilitated if the cut out 4 isdesigned as in Figure 4, whereby the object 2 may be translated in theplane of thetop side 10 so as to disengage afirst side 41 of the cut out 4,then translating it on the other side to disengage the last side of the cut out4, so that the object 2 may be removed without effort, even if the materialused for the flaps (100, 101) is not flexible. Furthermore, such acarton 1 allows replacing the object 2 after use, thus allowing to prevent the object2 to be soiled during use by being simply left in thecarton 1 together withthe rest of thecontent 5. Indeed, the invention more specifically relates toa process for filling acarton 1 as mentioned above, whereby it furthercomprises the fifth step of opening thecarton 1 for use, the sixth step ofremoving the three dimensional object 2 from the cut out 4, and the furtherstep of placing the three dimensional object 2 back on thetop side 10 sothat it fits with the cut out 4.
• As illustrated in Figures 1 to 4, the invention preferably relates to acarton1, whereby the lid 3 comprises on the top side 10 a firsttop flap 100associated with an edge to theleft side 11 of thecarton 1, a secondtopflap 101 associated with an edge to the right 12 side of thecarton 1, a thirdtop flap 103 associated with an edge to theback side 13 of thecarton 1and a fourthtop flap 102 associated with an edge to the front side 14 ofthecarton 1, whereby at least one of these four top flaps (100, 101, 102,103) comprises the cut out 4 to fit the three dimensional object 2, the cutout 4 being completely covered by at least one of the three other flaps.
• Figure 5 illustrates another embodiment of acarton 1 according to theinvention. In this embodiment, the cut out 4 is provided on oneflap 107only of thetop side 10. Furthermore, thisflap 107 is supported by twoother flaps (108, 109) which where folded under thisflap 107 comprising the cut out 4. In this case, the cut out 4 and the object 2 are completelycovered by afurther flap 106 on whichglue 6 is applied. It should be notedthat in this embodiment, removal of the object 2 is facilitated in that it cansimply be translated once in the plane of thetop side 10 away from the cutout 4 to be taken away from the cut out 4. When in place and fitting withthe cut out 4, the pressure exerted by theflap 106 covering the cut out 4and the object 2 may participate in retaining the object 2 fitting in the cutout 4.
• In Figure 6, a further embodiment of acarton 1 according to the inventionis presented, whereby the cut out 4 has a closedcontour 40 and isprovided on only oneflap 105. Providing the cut out 4 on only oneflap 105allows simpler manufacture, while having a cut out 4 with aclosed contour40 allows better control of the fitting of the object 2, so that the object 2 isbetter maintained in place when fitting in the cut out 4.
• A cross sectional view is illustrated in Figure 7, whereby thetop side 10comprises three layers, the object being inserted in a cut out 4 in the innerlayer (100, 101). Insertion and fitting with the cut out 4 is provided by aflange 20. Indeed, in a preferred embodiment the invention, the lid 3comprises on thetop side 10 anouter layer 102 and an inner layer (100,101), the inner layer (100, 101) comprising the cut out 4, theflange 20 being inserted between the inner (100, 101) and the outer 102 layer. In theparticular example of Figure 7, there are two outer layers (102, 103).
• A further cross sectional view is presented on Figure 8, whereby there isonly oneouter layer 104, but whereby theinner layer 105 is pressed ontosupporting flaps (70, 71) as in the structures of Figures 5 or 6. It should bementioned that in order to further hold the object 2 in place particularlyduring handling prior to opening, a glue spot could be used in combinationwith the object 2 fitting the cut out 4. In a further preferred embodiment,lines of weakness, embossed areas, cut or fold lines may be provided inthe region of the cut out 4 to facilitate fitting and removing of the object 2.

Claims (10)

1. A carton (1) containing a three dimensional object (2), the carton (1)having a top side (10), the top side (10) forming a lid (3) for the carton(1), characterised in that the top side (10) comprises a cut out (4), andthe three dimensional object (2) fits with the cut out (4).
2. The carton (1) according to claim 1, whereby the carton (1) furthercontains granular materials (5).
3. The carton (1) according to claim 2, whereby the three dimensionalobject (2) is a scooping device for the granular material (5).
4. The carton (1) according to claim 3, whereby the scooping devicecomprises a flange (20).
5. The carton (1) according to claim 4, whereby the lid (3) comprises onthe top side (10) an outer layer (102) and an inner layer (101), the innerlayer (101) comprising the cut out (4), the flange (20) being insertedbetween the inner (101) and the outer (102) layer.
6. The carton (1) according to claim 1, whereby the lid (3) comprises onthe top side (10) a first top flap (100) associated with an edge to the leftside (11) of the carton (1), a second top flap (101) associated with anedge to the right side (12) of the carton, a third top flap (103)associated with an edge to the back side (13) of the carton (1) and afourth top flap (102) associated with an edge to the front side (14) ofthe carton (1), whereby at least one of these four top flaps (100, 101,102, 103) comprises the cut out (4) to fit the three dimensional object(2), the cut out (4) being completely covered by at least one of thethree other flaps.
7. A carton (1) according to any of the above claims, whereby the carton(1) is a top fill carton.
8. A process for filling a carton (1) according to claim 1 comprising the firststep of filling the carton with granular materials (5) through the top side(10), the second step of partially closing the top side (10) with a firstlayer (101) of material comprising the cut out (4), the third step of fittingthe three dimensional object (2) with the cut out (4) and a fourth stepconsisting in gluing a further layer (102) of material above the first layer(101).
9. A process for filling a carton (1) according to claim 1 comprising the firststep of partially closing the top side (10) with a first layer (101) ofmaterial comprising the cut out (4), the second step of fitting the threedimensional object (2) with the cut out (4), a third step consisting ingluing a further layer (102) of material above the first layer (101), and afourth step of filling the carton with granular materials (5) through thebottom side.
10. A process according to claims 8 or 9 comprising the fifth step ofopening the carton (1) for use, the sixth step of removing the threedimensional object (2) from the cut out (4), and the further step ofplacing the three dimensional object (2) back on the top side (10) sothat it fits with the cut out.

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