US3512823A - Collapsible container - Google Patents

Description

May 19, 1Q70 J. pfg'eosn'nrr AL j 3,512,823 cOLLAPIBLE conm'mnn Filed May 6, 1968 so 3012 20 40 I8 -50 INVENTORS. JULIAN c. D'ESPOSITO, RICHARD e. TAUS Q60. ATTORNEY.

3,512,823 COLLAPSIBLE CONTAINER Julian C. DEsposito, Wilmette, and Richard G. Taus,

Berwyn, Ill., assignor to Container Corporation of America, Chicago, 11]., a corporation of Delaware Filed May 6, 1968, Ser. No. 726,876 Int. Cl. B65d /02 US. Cl. 22937 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A collapsible container is formed from a blank of paperboard and has opposed pairs of hingedly interconnected first and second sidewalls which have first and second closure flaps hinged respectively thereto. The container is erected in the usual manner to form a tubular structure. The inner surface of each of the first closure flaps and the outer surface of each of the second closure flaps is covered with adhesive coating, the adhesive being of the self-sticking type so that a surface coated therewith will adhere only to another similarly coated surface. When the container is collapsed, in order to prevent adherence of adhesively coated surfaces to one another, each of the flaps is folded against the sidewall to which it is hinged so that the adhesively coated surfaces will contact only the uncoated surfaces.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates to a collapsible container formed from a unitary blank of paperboard and, more particularly, to a collapsible, self-sealing container having adhesively coated closure flaps, the flaps being folded in such a manner as to prevent undesirable adhering of coated surfaces to one another when the container is in collapsed condition.

The prior art Heretofore, various attempts have been made to form a container from a blank of paperboard, or the like, with adhesive applied by the manufacturer of the container to the closure flaps thereof so that the container could be readily sealed by the user without necessitating any further application of adhesive and, at the same time, preventing adherence of various surfaces of the container to one another when the container is in a collapsed condition. The problem of applying self-sticking adhesive to the closure flaps of a container so that an erected and closed container be provided with readily scalable surfaces in contact with one another, yet the surfaces be free from one another when the container is in a collapsed form, has been somewhat reduced by a patent to Kelsall, No. 2,874,891 and a patent to Greene, No. 3,322,323. Both patents teach application of the adhesive to specified controlled areas of the closure flaps.

However, the application of adhesive to controlled areas of the flaps is time-consuming and requires precise identification of the flap areas where the adhesive is tobe applied so that the teachings of the above patents are not suitable for todays mass production techniques. Further, when the shape of the container is varied, the areas to which adhesive is applied, must likewise be varied.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art and provides a paperboard container having the necessary interior or exterior surfaces of the closure flaps coated with self-sticking adhesive so that an erected container can be readily sealed, but, at the same time,

United States Patent 0 M Patented May 19, 1970 preventing sticking of the surfaces of the container when the container is collapsed. This invention utilizes the adhesive of the self-sticking type the characteristic of which being that a surface coated therewith will adhere only to another similarly coated surface. The prevention of sticking of the container surfaces when the container is collapsed is accomplished by folding the closure flaps of the container against the walls to which the flaps are hinged so that, when the container is collapsed, the surfaces of the flaps having adhesive applied thereto, will engage only those surfaces which are free of adhesive.

DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the container of the present invention representing the first embodiment thereof;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the container of FIG. 1 when the container is in a collapsed condition;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the container representing the second embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view showing portions of the flaps of container illustrated in FIG. 3 when the flaps are being folded.

SPECIFICATION While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there are shown in the drawing and will herein be described in detail, embodiments of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiments illustrated.

Referring now to the drawing, more specifically to FIG. 1, there is shown a container, generally designated 10, formed from a unitary, suitably cut and scored blank of foldable paperboard, or the like. The container is shown in the erected position and has opposed pairs of first sidewalls 12 and 14 and second sidewalls 16 and 18. A narrow panel 20 is hinged to the free edge of the first sidewall 12 along a hinge line 22 and is placed in an overlying relationship to the marginal area along the free edge of the second sidewall 18. The panel 20 is secured by any suitable means to the marginal area of the wall 18 to provide a manufacturers joint, as the same is known in the art of container manufacturing the first sidewall .12 is hinged to the second sidewall 16 along a hinge line 24, while the second sidewall 16 is hinged to the first sidewall 14 along a hinge line 26. Similarly, the wall 14 is hinged to the wall 18 along a hinge line 28.

First closure fiaps and 32 are hinged to the top end edges of first side walls 12 and 14, respectively, along the respective hinge lines 34 and 36. Second closure flaps 38 and 40 are hinged to the top end edges of second sidewalls 16 and 18, respectively, along the respective hinge lines 42 and 44.

While the bottom closure flaps are not shown on the containers illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3, it is to be understood that flaps similar to those heretofore described are also hinged to the bottom end edges of the first and second sidewalls of the containers.

An adhesive of the self-sticking type, is applied to the inner surfaces of the first closure flaps 30 and 32 and to the outer surfaces of the second closure flaps 38 and 40.

In collapsing the container 10, all closure flaps may be folded inwardly against the interior surfaces of the respective walls to which the flaps are hinged. As best seen in FIG. 2, the surfaces of the flaps coated with the adhesive 50 will engage those surfaces of the flaps which are not coated with adhesive.

The container shown in FIG. 3 is identical to the container of FIG. 1, same numerals being used to designate various individual elements of both containers. In collapsing the container of FIG. 3, first closure flaps 30 and 32 may be folded inwardly against the interior surfaces of first sidewalls 12 and 14, respectively. The second closure flaps 38 and 40, having adhesive 50 applied to the outer surfaces thereof, may be folded outwardly against the exterior surfaces of second sidewalls 16 and 18. The orientation of the folded closure flaps is best illustrated in FIG. 4.

It can be seen that by folding the first closure flaps inwardly and the second closure flaps outwardly each of the adhesively coated surfaces of the flaps will engage an uncoated surface of the respective wall of the container. Since the adhesive 50 has a characteristic whereby it can adhere only to a similarly coated surface, by folding the closure flaps in the manner indicated in FIG. 4, adherence of coated surfaces will be prevented.

The containers illustrated herein, when collapsed, can be stacked on top of one another without any danger that adhesively coated surfaces of two or more containers will come into contact with one another causing the containers to adhere to one another.

While in the exemplary embodiments illustrated the closure flaps of the container were folded after the container had been erected and after the manufacturers joint, formed by securing panel 20 to the sidewall 18,

has been made, folding of the flaps could be accom- I plished before the manufacturers joint is made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

Further, it may not be necessary to coat the substantially entire inner or outer surfaces of respective flaps. Thus, it may be sufficient to coat at least half of the outer surface of each of the second closure flaps 38 and 40' and to coat only those portions of the inner surfaces of first closure flaps and 32 which will engage the coated outer surfaces of flaps 38 and 40 when the container is closed.

What is claimed is:

1. In a collapsible container, formed from a unitary blank of foldable paperboard, having opposed pairs of first and second sidewalls hingedly interconnected to form a tubular structure open at the ends, self-sealing means for closing each of said open ends, comprising:

(a) a pair of first closure flaps hinged to the corresponding end edges of said first sidewalls and having adhesive coatings on substantially entire inner surfaces thereof;

(b) a pair of second closure flaps hinged to the corresponding end edges of said second sidewalls and having adhesive coatings on substantially entire outer surfaces thereof;

(0) said adhesive coatings being of the self-adhering type which will adhere only to other similarly coated surfaces;

((1) each closure flap being folded against a side wall to which said closure flap is hinged thereby preventing engagement between coated surfaces of any two closure flaps when the container is collapsed.

2. A collapsible container as defined in claim 1, wherein each of said first side walls is longer than each of said second side walls.

3. A collapsible container as defined in claim 1, wherein each of said first closure flaps is folded inwardly against a first sidewall to which said first closure flap is hinged, and each of said second closure flaps is folded outwardly against a second sidewall to which said second closure flap is hinged, thereby preventing engagement between coated surfaces of any two closure flaps when the container is collapsed.

4. A collapsible container as defined in claim 1, wherein each of said closure flaps is folded inwardly against a sidewall to which said flap is hinged thereby preventing engagement between coated surfaces of any two closure flaps when the container is collapsed.

5. In a collapsible container, formed from a unitary blank of foldable paperboard, having opposed pairs of first and second side walls hingedly interconnected to form a tubular structure open at the ends, self-sealing means for closing each of said open ends, comprising:

(a) a pair of first closure flaps hinged to the corresponding end edges of said first sidewalls;

(b) a pair of second closure flaps hinged to the corresponding end edges of said second sidewalls and having adhesive coatings on at least half of the outer surfaces thereof;

(c) portions of said first closure flaps overlapping said second closure flaps when the end of the container is closed;

(d) said portions having adhesive coatings on the inner surfaces thereof so arranged as to engage with and adhere to the substantially entire coated outer surfaces of said second closure flaps when the end of the container is closed;

(e) said adhesive coatings being of the self-adhering type which will adhere only to other similarly coated surfaces;

(f) each closure flap being folded against a wall to which said flap is hinged thereby preventing engagement between coated surfaces of any two closure flaps when the container is collapsed.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,874,891 2/1959 Kelsall 22937 3,184,144 5/1965 Greene et al. 22937 3,248,039 4/1966 Locke 22937 3,291,368 12/1966 Hess 22937 3,301,462 1/1967 Starr 22937 3,394,637 7/1968 Franklin 93-56 DAVIS T. MOORHEAD, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

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