US2984402A - Carton construction - Google Patents

Description

May 16, 1961 H. w. P. PUTNAM CARTON CONSTRUCTION Filed June 6, 1958 United States Patent CARTON CONSTRUCTION Harvey W. P. Putnam, 457 Nipissing St., North Bay, Ontario, Canada Filed June 6, 1958, Ser. No. 740,222

3 Claims. (Cl. 229-52) This invention relates to a carton construction having a novel means for carrying such carton and is particularly concerned with cartons of the type having four side walls of which one or more are unitary and from the top and bottom edges of which flaps extend for the construction of top and bottom Walls. A large number of constructions have in the past been constructed wherein the carrying handle may be extended through an aperture in or related to the top flaps for carrying the carton. Such carrying means generally utilizes the fact that the top flaps in an unopened carton are glued or otherwise fixed together. Carrying means of this type therefore cannot be used to carry the carton after it has been opened. On the other hand carrying means utilizing the top part of the case which are constructed to be used with either an opened or an unopened carton have been found to be unduly complex and expensive.

The present invention therefore provides a carton wherein a slot is provided in a unitary side wall of the carton through which a carrying handle may be pulled. The carrying handle is connected with shoulder forming means which are adapted to bear indirectly against the side wall material at each end of the slot. Such an arrangement by itself has been found to place a considerable strain on the shoulders of the handle member which must bear the weight of the carton. Therefore to supply strength and rigidity to these members there is provided a piece of cardboard folded along a crease line and slotted along the crease line to receive the handle. The piece of cardboard is sufficiently longer than the slot in the carton side wall to bear upward on the side wall and since the piece of cardboard is folded about the shoulders, the shoulders bear on the cardboard which bears on the side wall and the sheath of cardboard has been found to supply strength and rigidity to the shoulders. In a preferred construction the strength of the arrangement outlined above is further reinforced by extending the folded back portions of the reinforcing piece of cardboard so that they go across the carton to the side wall opposite the slotted side wall and each wing of this extending portion is extended away from the other along the opposite side wall and at the corner of the carton turned again to run along the end side wall for a certain distance. The materials in the carton thus bear downwardly on the portions of the cardboard running along the opposite side wall and tend to anchor the reinforcing member into position. Therefore when the shoulders of the handle forming member bear upwardly on the reinforcing member, the reinforcing member is placed in tensile stress and tends to maintain the handle forming shoulders rigidly.

The drawing illustrates a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawing is shown a carton having four unitary side walls 12, each side wall having a fiap 18 extending from the top and bottom edges 14 and 16 thereof whereby the flaps 18 will provide top and bottom walls. A slot 20 in one of the side walls 128 runs in the direction from 2,984,402 Patented May 16, 1961 "ice top to bottom of the carton while the inside of the carton is provided with partition forming members 22 and in the construction shown the partitions form spaces for twentyfour bottles. It should be noted, however, that in the preferred construction there is no centre partition running perpendicular to the slotted side wall 128 and that the partitions 22 running parallel to the slotted side walls are designed to provide a gap 24 running centrally across the carton perpendicular to such side wall.

In such gap is located a first piece of cardboard 26 folded upon itself about a crease line 28 of greater length than the length of the side wall slot 20 and the first piece is located in the carton so that the crease line 28 is parallel to the slot 20 and is locatable adjacent thereto. 1n the preferred construction this piece of cardboard forms a central partition for the carton and each folded back portion thereof 30 extends across the carton to the side wall opposite the slotted side wall 128 and is bent to run along the opposite side wall away from the other folded back portion 30 to the respective corners 32 of the carton remote from slotted wall and is then bent to run along the side wall 12 of the carton which forms with such opposite side wall such corner.

Such first piece of cardboard is provided with a slot 34 along the crease line which is located to align with the slot 20 in the side wall 128.

Between the folded back portions 26 of the first piece of cardboard is provided a second piece of cardboard 36 having a handle forming member 38 projecting therefrom in the direction of the aligned slots. The dimensions of the second piece of cardboard 36 are, however, sufficiently short in the direction perpendicular to the slotted side wall that the second piece and handle may be contained within the carton without projection through the slots 34 and 20 but sufficiently long that the handle 38 in such position is very close to such slots. The handle forming member 36 widens adjacent the projecting handle to provide shoulders 40 which bear upwardly on the first piece of cardboard 26 on the inside of the crease line 28.

The handle portion 36 is provided with a cut 42 forming a U-shape, open outwardly in the direction of projection of handle 38 whereby the handle material 44 defined by the cut may be bent outwardly to form an aperture 46 for insertion of the fingers and Where the material 44 folded out may form a more comfortable support for the fingers. A cut 48 is provided in slotted side 12S extending thereinto from slot 20. The cut allows the portions of side 12S adjacent thereto to be bent inwardly to allow withdrawal of the handle. It will be noted that the support may provide (not shown) that the handle is of double material folded over at the top. It will also be noted that the shoulders of the handle forming member may be reinforced to provide more rigidity in this member.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A carton having four side walls and flaps extending therefrom and forming top and bottom walls, a first vertical slot in the centre of one of said side walls; a first piece of cardboard within the carton and having a width substantially equal to the height of said side walls, said first piece of cardboard being folded along a first crease line as to define an upright partition of double thickness extending across the centre of the carton and along secondary crease lines to define a pair of side reinforcing flaps extending from the partition along and flush with the side wall opposite said slotted side wall and bent at the corners of the carton to partly run along the other two side walls, a second slot in said first piece of cardboard along said first crease line and aligned with said first slot, a second piece of cardboard of a width substantially equal to the height of said side walls and located within said partition,

a handle forming member projecting from said second piece of cardboard of a width to pass through said side wall slot and said first cardboard piece slot, shoulders on said second piece of cardboard adapted to bear on said first cardboard piece on each end of said slot when said handle member is so projecting.

2. A carton as claimed in claim 1 wherein said side wall defining said side wall slot is provided with a cut extending for a short distance into the side wall material from said slot at an angle to said slot direction.

3. A carton as claimed in claim 1, wherein said shoulders are reinforced to at least double thickness.

UNITED STATES PATENTS

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