Container

BACKGROUND

This application relates to a container, and more particularly to one having a hinged front cover and 5 adapted to contain a gift item, such as a piece of jewelry, a quantity of candy, or the like.

Packages or cartons for containing gift items should be as attractive as possible, while at the same time maintaining the high degree of compactness desirable in all cartons. Gift merchandise, when transmitted to a donee, is conventionally accompanied by a greeting card, by which the donor may identify himself and send an appropriate message along with the gift.

It has been found convenient to combine the greeting ' $ card and gift in a common package, but such packages have in the past been limited in size and have correspondingly limited the size of the gift.

It is therefore desirable to provide a combination greeting card and container which can accommodate ²relatively large sized gift articles in a neat and attractive fashion. It is also desirable to arrange the combination so that the gift is fully wrapped until the card is opened, and becomes visible to the donee upon opening the 75 card to read the message inside.

Where damage can occur to the contents of the container when loosely held therein, means should be provided to firmly retain the contents in place to avoid movement. A further important requirement of most ₃θ carton containers is that they each be formed from a compact partially set-up structure which can readily be stored and transported to the packager. This partially set-up structure should be capable of being easily formed, filled, and sealed by the packager. The carton 35 also should be adapted for tight closure to prevent loss of contents or contamination during shipment and delivery to the retailer or other distributor, and while the product is being displayed for sale.

Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present in- 40 vention to provide a container which has the aforementioned advantages.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such a container having a greeting card attached to the carton 45

Another object of the present invention is to provide a container having a greeting card attached to the carton in such a way as to conceal the contents of the carton until the greeting card has been opened and to display the contents after the greeting card has been 50 opened.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved container which may be partially setup at the time the blanks therefor are formed.

Still another object of the present invention is to pro- 55 vide an improved container which may be easily and economically formed, filled, and sealed by the packager.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become manifest upon an ex- ⁶⁰amination of the accompanying specification and drawings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with one embodiment of this inven- ⁶⁵tion a carton of foldable material is provided for holding a gift article or articles. The carton has a generally ,084 rectangular shape and is formed from a collapsed tubular sleeve structure which in turn is formed from a blank, and a collapsed tray structure insertable into the sleeve. The sleeve has a pair of side panels, a rear panel connected to the side panels, a face panel connected to the side panels, and a cover panel connected to one of the side panels. The face panel has a cut-out portion forming a window through which the contents of the carton may be viewed. The cover panel is hinged to the side panel and adapted to overlie the face in face-toface contact thereby covering the opening therein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, illustrating an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a carton made in accordance with the present invention, with its hinged cover in closed position;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the carton of FIG. 1, with its hinged cover in open position;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the carton, with its cover opened, and with the interior tray of the carton partly withdrawn from its outer sleeve;

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-section of the carton, taken along the section line 4—4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a blank from which the outer sleeve and cover of the carton are formed;

FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view of the blank of FIG. 5, at an intermediate stage of erection to form the outer sleeve and cover of the carton;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a blank from which the inner tray of the carton is formed;

FIG. 8 is a partial perspective view of the blank of FIG. 7 at an intermediate stage of erection;

FIG. 9 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a portion of the inner tray of the carton, taken along the section line 9—9 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of another carton forming a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the carton of FIG. 10, taken along the section line 11—11 in FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a plan view of a blank from which the inner tray of the carton of FIG. 10 is formed;

FIG. 13 is a partial perspective view showing an intermediate stage of erection of the blank of FIG. 12; and

FIG. 14 is a partial perspective view, partly in section, of the fully erected inner tray of the carton of FIG. 10, the section being taken along section line 14—14 in FIG. 10.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to FIGS. 1-3, a carton 9 for holding a gift article is shown. The carton has a hollow interior to accommodate the gift article, and the upper surface of the carton forms a greeting card integral with the carton.

The carton is made up of two portions comprising an inner tray portion 10 and an outer sleeve portion 11. The tray 10 is adapted to be slidable into and out of the sleeve 11. The top surface of the sleeve 11 is adapted to

3,684,084 be covered by a cover 12, hinged to a panel of the sleeve 11 along a fold line 13. When the cover 12 is in its closed position, as illustrated in FIG. 1, its outer surface presents an appearance similar to the outside of a greeting card, with appropriate words and symbols pertaining to the nature of the greeting.

When the cover 12 is in its open position, as illustrated in FIG. 2, words and symbols on its inner surface are brought into view, as well as words and symbols on the face panel 14 of the tubular sleeve 11. A portion of the face panel 14 is removed or cut out, to form an opening 15, through which the contents of the carton may be observed. In the embodiment of FIGS. 1-9, an ornamental object 16 is housed within the carton with the end of the object 16 which has the more distinctive shape and appearance visible below the opening 15. Preferably, the object 16 is firmly secured to a bottom panel 17 of the tubular member 11 by means of strips 48 which rigidly secure the object 16 in the position illustrated, but permit ready removal of the object 16 from the carton when desired.

The tubular sleeve 11 is formed in a cylindrical form with parallel face and rear panels 14 and 17, interconnected at their longer edges by side panels 18 and 19. The cover 12 is formed of two layers 12α and 12έ>, which are secured together preferably by gluing or the like. The panel 12α is hingably secured to the upper edge of the side wall 18 and the fold line 13 separating the panels 12α and 18 forms a hinge, whereby the cover 12 may be readily moved into closed position as illustrated in FIG. 1 or into opened position as illustrated in FIG. 2.

The sleeve 11 is open at both ends to permit ready insertion and removal of the tray 10. In FIG. 3 the tray 10 is illustrated in a position in which it has been partially withdrawn from the interior of the tubular sleeve 11. Continued withdrawal of the tray 10 results in separation of the tray 10 from the sleeve 11, so that the object 16 within the carton may be removed more easily.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 through 9, the manner of formation and erection of the tray 10 and the sleeve 11 are illustrated. The tubular sleeve 11, with its cover 12, is formed of the blank 20 illustrated in plan view in FIG. 5. The four wall panels of the sleeve 11, viz., the face and rear panels 14 and 17, and the side panels 18 and 19, are all formed of a single sheet of foldable sheet material such as fiberboard or the like, and the various panels are integral, but separated from each other by fold lines. The panels 12α and 12i> of the cover 12 are also formed integrally with the other panels, and are separated from each other and from the other panels by fold lines. Fold line 21 separates the face panel 14 from the side panel 19 and a fold line 22 separates the side panel 19 from the bottom panel 17. A fold line 23 separates the bottom panel 17 from the side panel 18 and the fold line 13 separates the side panel 18 from the cover panel 12α. A fold line 25 separates the two cover panels 12α and 12ά. A glue flap 26 adjoins the long edge of the face panel 14, opposite the fold line 21, and is separated from the panel 14 by means of a fold line 27. The opening 15 is cut-out from the face panel 14 to form a rectangular opening offset from the center of the panel 14 toward one end thereof.

In FIG. 6, the manner in which the blank 20 is folded along the various fold lines during erection is illus4 trated. The cover panels 12α and 12fe are folded into face-to-face contact about the fold line 25, and glued together. The glue flap 26 is placed adjacent the side panel 18, to which it is glued.

Preferably, the tubular portion is partially erected merely by folding the fold lines 21, 23 and 25 and gluing the glue flap 26 to the side panel 18, so that the sleeve 11 is maintained in a flat condition to facilitate storage and transportation to the packager, where it may be fully erected immediately prior to filling.

The blank from which the tray 10 is formed is illustrated in FIG. 7. The blank 28 includes bottom panel 29 to form the bottom of the tray, side panels 30 and 31 and end panels 32 and 33. The panels are integrally formed, being separated from each other by appropriate fold lines. The side panels 30 and 31 are separated from the bottom panel 29 by fold lines 34 and 35, respectively, and the end panels 32 and 33 are separated from the bottom panel 29 by fold lines 36 and 37, respectively. A flap 38, integral with the end panel 32, is separated therefrom by means of fold line 39. Another flap 40, integral with the end panel 33, is separated therefrom by means of a fold line 41. The upper corners of the side panels 30 and 31 are provided with notches 42 each having a depth approximately equal to the thickness of the blank 28, and a length slightly longer than the width of the flaps 38 and 40.

During the erection of the tray 10, the side panels 30 and 31 and folded upwardly into perpendicular relationship with respect to the bottom panel 29, and the end panels 32 and 33 are folded upwardly about fold lines 36 and 37 until they, too, are perpendicular to the plane of the bottom panel 29. The flaps 38 and 40 are then folded about fold lines 31 and 49, respectively, until they are perpendicular to their respective end panels and parallel to the bottom panel 29.

The length of the end panels 32 and 33, as well as the flaps 38 and 40, is equal to the width of the bottom panel 29 plus a distance equal to twice the thickness of the blank, so that the interior vertical surface of the end panels 32 and 33 abut the end edges 43 of the side panels 30 and 31. The inside lower surface of the flaps 38 and 40 abut the upper edges of the notches 42, and the upper surface of the flaps 38 and 40 lie in a plane defined by the upper edges 44 of the side panels 30 and 31. Accordingly, the assembled tray 10 forms a generally rectangular assembly, its bottom surface defined by the bottom panel 29 and its upper extremity located in a plane defined by the upper edges 44 of the side panels 30 and 31 and the upper surface of the flaps 38 and 40. When the tray 10 is inserted into the sleeve 11, friction between the face panel 14 of the sleeve 11 and the flaps 38 and 40 hold the tray 10 in assembled condition and prevent the disassembly of the end walls 33 and 34 with their associated flaps.

The article 16 is positioned in place in the tray part 10 by means of strips 48 which are preferably formed of short lengths of coated wire encircling the lower portion of the article 16 with ends brought out through apertures 46 in the bottom panel 29 of the tray 10 (FIG. 4). The ends are twisted to maintain the article 16 in position. The article may be readily removed from the tray member by first sliding the tray 10 out of association with the sleeve 11 and then untwisting the ends of the wire 18. The twisted ends of the wire mem15 ,084 about fold line 74, until it is in face-to-face relation with the inner surfaces of the closure panels 66 and 69. The bottom flap 77 is at the same time brought into relation elation with the bottom panel 52, folding about the fold line 78. The top flaps 62 are folded inwardly about fold lines 63, and then the top flap 72, formed of upper portion 72α and lower portion 72b, is folded, along fold lines 73 and 76, over the ends of the top flaps 62. The other end of the tray 50 is erected in identical fashion.

When the tray 50 is erected, a generally rectangular tray is formed, fully closed at its bottom, ends and sides and partially closed, via top flaps 62 and 72; at its top. After the tray 50 is filled with candy or the like, the entire tray and its contents is wrapped and sealed in cellophance or other transparent wrapping 80 (FIG. 10). The manner in which the tray 50 is constructed insures that the transparent wrapping material 80 lies only against the face of the foldable material of which the tray is constructed, and does not abut any of the end edges of the panels or flaps, where rubbing or pressure might pierce the wrapping. The freshness and purity of the contents are thus assured.

Although the exemplary embodiments which have been described are illustrated in connection with the packaging of a gift merchandise, cartons or containers constructed in accordance with the present invention may be employed for the packaging of other commodities or consumer items. Furthermore, while fiberboard construction has been described, other packaging materials may be employed where feasible and desirable. Other modifications may be made in the embodiments which have been described and illustrated, and it is contemplated, by the appended claims, to cover any such modifications that fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.