US3642192A - Collapsible reuseable carton - Google Patents

Abstract

A one-piece carton differing from the RSC type in that it has a score line medially of each end panel. The bottom-forming panels are defined only by score lines, without slots, and the top closure may be of the RSC type or omitted altogether. The carton is designed particularly for handling the standard lot of 30 dozen eggs.

Description

United States Patent Wilcox, Jr. et al.

[ Feb. 15, 1972 [54] COLLAPSIBLE REUSEABLE CARTON [72] Inventors: Thomas L. Wilcox, Jr.; Ancil A. Jones,

both of Indianapolis, Ind.

[73] Assignee: Anderson Box Company, Inc., Indianapolis, 1nd.

[22] Filed: Apr. 10, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 27,345

[52] US. Cl. ...229/39, 229/41 R [51] Int. Cl "B6511 5/10 [58] Field of Search ..229/39 R, 41 R, 41 B [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,115,291 12/1963 Kotowick ..229/41B 3,104,795 9/1963 Adams ..229/39 R Primary Examiner-Even C. Blunk Assistant Examiner-Alfred N. Goodman Att0rneyBerman, Davidson and Berman ABSIRACT A one-piece carton differing from the RSC type in that it has a score line medially of each end panel. The bottom-forming panels are defined only by score lines, without slots, and the top closure may be of the RSC type or omitted altogether. The carton is designed particularly for handling the standard lot of 30 dozen eggs.

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COLLAPSIBLE REUSEABLE CARTON While the present invention will be described with reference to a SO-dozen egg carton, it has, as a matter of fact, a vastly greater significance. To the end that its true significance may be comprehended, it is necessary at least to outline some of the economic and business background which gave rise to its conception.

Disposal of waste, i.e., garbage, trash, etc., is a problem facing every city and town throughout the more or less civilized world. On analysis, the problem largely resolves itself into one of cubic capacity of the trash gathering medium, i.e., trucks and the men who handle them. In this field, the RSC type of carton presents a most particular difficulty. The problem is not entirely that of the volumetric capacity of the trash-collecting agency, but it also extends to the retail store which acquires most of its merchandise in corrugated cartons of the RSC type. Such cartons are difficult to flatten, and if not flattened, occupy valuable cargo space not only in the trash collecting truck, but in the store which must retain the cartons between trash collections.

The carton of this invention is designed to afford the buyer of goods contained therein to collapse the same, and thereby effect an enormous saving in cubic footage in the requisite storage space for emptied cartons. The present invention accomplishes this by providing a blank which uses very little more board than the RSC type, which can be made on standard equipment, and which may be collapsed to a small fraction of its erected volume either for storage or reuse.

In addition to the feature of collapsibility which, by the way, is accomplished without mutilation of the cotton, there is the feature of reuseability where the nature of the product permits. This is particularly true and customary in shipping standard lots of 30-dozen eggs. Manifestly, reuseability would not enter into liquor cartons through the feature of collapsibility unquestionably is advantageous in the liquor carton market as well as in such fields as canned goods, detergents, etc.

The above and other objects of this invention will be made clear from the following detailed description, taken in connection with the annexed drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the erected carton of this invention, with some parts broken away;

FIG. 2 is a similar perspective view of the carton of this invention, showing the bottom side of the erected carton;

FIG. 3 is a cross section on theline 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the carton ofthisinvention in a halfway condition between either collapse or erection;

FIG. 5 is a cross section on the line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a cross section on theline 66 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is purely illustrative of a stack of collapsed cartons which would exceed the length of the page many times were the cartons not collapsed according to the present invention; and

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the blank from which the carton of this invention is formed.

Refer now to FIG. 8 which shows a blank, generally designated 10. The blank 10 has afront wall 12 defined at its left side by ascore line 14 which also defines a tab 16 which will form part of the manufacturer's joint. Referring again to FIG. 8, a score line 18 defines the right-hand end of thefront panel 12, as well as defining the right-hand end panel 20. Theend panel 20 has amedial score line 22 and its definition is completed by ascore line 24 which also defines the righthand end of therear panel 26. Let it also be understood that the terms "front and rear, top and bottom are used purely for the purpose of clarification of the-disclosure, and

are not at all terms of limitation.

Thetop closure panels 28, 30, 32 and 34, if used at all, are of the RSC type. With due regard to 35 U.S.C. 112, perhaps it would be well to define the .term RSC which the trade defines as "regular slotted carton. The top closure, in this case, is completely immaterial. In the egg business, the top flaps usually are simply folded over into closure position and loaded into a car with the flaps distributing over one carton, the weight of another superimposed carton.

It will be noticed, however, thattop panels 30 and 34 share a prolongation of themedial score lines 22, in the case of theend panel 20, and ascore line 36 which bisects theother end panel 38 at the right hand end of FIG. 8. I

What has been described up to this point is RSC plus, of course, the endpanel score lines 22 and 36. The bottom structure, in conjunction with the above-notedmedial score lines 22 and 36 in the end panels, goes to the heart of the invention.

The bottom closure fiaps are designated 40 adjacent thefront panel 12,end panel 42,adjacent end panel 20,rear panel 44, adjacentrear wall 26, andend panel 46 adjacentvertical end wall 38.

It is to be noted that a tab 48 forms a continuation of the tab 16 defined by a prolongation of thescore line 14, the tabs 16 and 48, which really are but a single tab, enter into the manufacturers joint previously referred to.

The bottom-formingpanel 40 is defined from its adjacent front,vertical panel 12 by ascore line 50 which extends across the entire width of the blank, as seen in FIG. 8, and serves to define thebottom closure flaps 40, 42, 44, and 46 from their adjacent vertical panels. I

The bottom-formingflap 40 has, adjacent its extremity 52, adie cut slot 54 located medially of the length of thepanel 40. At the intersection of thescore lines 14 and 50, thepanel 40 has adiagonal score line 56 angling inwardly from the intersection toward, but not including, theslot 54. Between the intersection of score lines 18 and 50 ascore line 58 runs similarly but in opposition to thescore line 56.

The bottom-formingend panels 42 and 46 are of the utmost simplicity, being defined in the case ofpanel 42, byscore lines 18, 24 and 50, with a bisection by a prolongation of thescore line 22. Thepanel 46 is identical withpanel 42, being defined by a free edge 60, a score line 62, which also definesend panel 38, and by thescore line 50. A prolongation of themedial score line 36 bisects thepanel 46.

Thebottom panel 44 has a diagonal score line 64 rendering inwardly from the intersection ofscore lines 24 and 50, and asimilar score line 66 is provided running inwardly from the intersection ofscore lines 50 and 62. The score line 64 terminates in a cutout portion 68 while thescore line 66 ten minates in a similar cutout portion 70. A slot 72 extends horizontally from the cutout portion 68 and defines an end tab 74 of aflap 76. Asimilar slot 78 extends horizontally from the cutout 70 and defines asimilar end tab 80 of theflap 76. The tab 74 is defined from theflap 76 by a score line 82 while the tab 70 is defined from theflap 76 by a score line 84.End panel 20 is provided with aconventional handhold 86 whileend panel 38 is applied with asimilar handhold 88. 1

At the manufacturers plant the simplest assembly step is to fold blank 10 alongscore line 24 and to fold the flaps l6 and 48 on thescore line 14 so that'optionally they contact either the exterior or interior surface with the free edge ofend panel 38. The flaps l6 and 48, which after all are a single entity, receive .a line of staples securing the flaps throughout their length to the free edge 60 ofend panels 38 and 46. Conceivably, flaps l6 and 48 might be omitted and the then free edge ofpanels l2 and 40 could be taped to the free edge of thepanel 38. Such ajoint, however, would be recommended only for very light work.

The carton is received by the original buyer in the folded condition just described and with a stapled joint between flaps l6 and 48 andflap 38. The first step performed by the recipient is to set the carton up into ordinary rectangular condition, withwall 12 parallel to wall 26 andpanel 20 parallel topanel 38. At this point, both top and bottom closure flaps all project outwardly in the plane of the respective panels. The next step is to thrustbottom closure panels 42 and 46 toward each other which produces flexure of the corner portions ofpanel 40 ondiagonal score lines 56, 58 and a similar effect inpanel 44 ondiagonal score line 64 and 66. Then by proper manipulation folding outwardly alongscore lines 22 and 36, thetongues 76 ofpanel 44 may be brought into juxtaposition with theslot 54 ofpanel 40. Thetabs 74 and 76, respectively,

are folded about score lines 82 and 84 to lie in the plane of theflap 76 which permits the flap to enter theslot 54 inpanel 40. After this,tabs 74 and 80 are flattened out to the condition shown in FIG. 8 and form a lock preventing disengagement of theflap 76 from theslot 54. Theflaps 42 and 46 are then pressed firmly down to the position of FIG. 1 and the box becomes a rigid rectangular structure.

It is to be noted in FIG. 2, as well as in FIG. 1, that theflap 76 withtabs 74 and 80 lies on the interior of the box and presents no exterior disturbance of the bottom surface. It also should be noted that when theflap 76 is engaged in theslot 54, as shown in FIG. 2, it is quite impossible to open the bottom while the carton is in erect and filled condition without mutilation of the locking flaps 74 and 80.

After the box has been filled and shipped and it is desired to collapse the box, it is not necessary to disengage theflap 76 from theslot 54. With the box open and the top flaps in the planes of their respective panels, it is only necessary to bulge, for example,panel 38 on itsscore line 36 andpanel 20 along itsscore line 22. In this case,tab 76, as engaged withslot 54, in effect forms a median hinge, median insofar as the center line of the box is concerned. An intermediate stage is shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 so thatpanels 40 and 44 fold inwardly and upwardly while panels and 38 fold outwardly. As the collapse progresses the box ultimately assumes a completely flattened condition and may be stacked, as shown in FIG. 7.

The steps previously described to collapse the box from fully erected condition, of course, could be performed by the manufacturer at nominal extra cost and the box could be shipped in the condition indicated in FIGS. 47, thus minimizing the cost of erecting the box at the plant of the user. If this were done, however, the collapsed box would have uneven thickness due to multiple plies in the collapsed bottom and thereby would reduce the number of boxes shippable in a given cubic footage. To determine the desirability of erecting and collapsing the box at the plant of the manufacturer, it will usually be desirable to conduct a preliminary cost analysis both at the plant of the manufacturer and the plant of the user in order to secure actual minimum costs.

In a regular slotted carton, all the bottom flaps would terminate on the line coincident with the inner edge ofslot 54 which line would extend entirely across the blank of FIG. 8. The distance betweenslot 54 and free edge 52 presents the additional material required for the present carton as against the material required for a regular slotted carton. The present carton is designed as previously noted to receive the standard 30- dozen pack of eggs. The carton including the closure flaps increases board consumption by only about 6 percent over the equivalent regular slotted carton. Depending upon the particular plant in which they are manufactured, in corrugated boxes of this type, material cost of boards runs between and percent of total cost of the finished container. The regular slotted container would have to be destroyed in order to collapse it so that if the present container makes even two, let alone 10 or more trips, the extra initial cost is trivial and, as previously mentioned, even when the container is not reused, the ease of collapsibility minimizes a very considerable problem of emptycarton storage.

While certain details of construction have been disclosed herein, no doubt various changes in the structure would suggest themselves to one skilled in the art who peruses this specification. Accordingly, the invention is not to be limited to the precise details disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:

1. A one-piece blank for forming a collapsible carton, said blank comprising a sheet of board divided by parallel transverse score lines into a front wall, an end wall, a rear wall and a second end wall, said sheet having a pair of parallel longitudinal score lines perpendicularly intersecting all of the aforesaid score lines to define bottom closure panels corresponding to said front, rear and end panels and integral therewith and with each other, and top closure panels corresponding to said front, rear and end panels and inte ral therewlth; said end panels having medial score lines exten mg throughout said end panels and throughout the top and bottom panels integral therewith; the bottom-forming panels which form extensions of said front and rear wall panels having at their ends diagonal score lines extending inwardly and downwardly from the intersections of said transverse score lines with one of said longitudinal score lines; and combined interlocking and hinge means formed in each of said lastnamed bottom-forming panels to coact one with the other to secure said panels together when said carton is erected and to provide a hinge connection between said bottom-forming panels when erecting or folding the carton; said interlocking and hinge means including a slot formed inwardly of said bottom-forming panel connected to said front wall centrally of the carton and a locking tab formed by cutout portions in the bottom-forming panel connected to said rear wall.

Claims (1)

1. A one-piece blank for forming a collapsible carton, said blank comprising a sheet of board divided by parallel transverse score lines into a front wall, an end wall, a rear wall and a second end wall, said sheet having a pair of parallel longitudinal score lines perpendicularly intersecting all of the aforesaid score lines to define bottom closure panels corresponding to said front, rear and end panels and integral therewith and with each other, and top closure panels corresponding to said front, rear and end panels and integral therewith; said end panels having medial score lines extending throughout said end panels and throughout the top and bottom panels integral therewith; the bottom-forming panels which form extensions of said front and rear wall panels having at their ends diagonal score lines extending inwardly and downwardly from the intersections of said transverse score lines with one of said longitudinal score lines; and combined interlocking and hinge means formed in each of said last-named bottom-forming panels to coact one with the other to secure said panels together when said carton is erected and to provide a hinge connection between said bottom-forming panels when erecting or folding the carton; said interlocking and hinge means including a slot formed inwardly of said bottom-forming panel connected to said front wall centrally of the carton and a locking tab formed by cutout portions in the bottom-forming panel connected to said rear wall.

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