Paperboard carton

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10683129-B2
Application number	US-201616073151-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 17, 2016
Priority date	Feb 17, 2016
Publication date	Jun 16, 2020
Grant date	Jun 16, 2020

Abstract

A carton is formed from folding a unitary blank, made from paperboard, to establish a front panel, a rear panel, opposing side panels, a bottom wall and a top wall. To strengthen the carton, at least two side inserts, having a caliper which is equal to or greater than the caliper of the unitary blank, are provided within an interior cavity of the carton and against a respective one of the opposing side panels. The unitary blank has a predominate fiber orientation which is directionally different from each of the at least two side inserts. With this arrangement, the cartons have enhanced structural integrity, enabling similarly configured cartons to be effectively, vertically stacked without deformation.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A carton comprising:
a main body piece formed from a unitary blank having a first caliper, said unitary blank establishing a front panel, a rear panel, opposing side panels, a bottom wall and a top wall, with the front and rear panels, as well as the opposing side panels, being spaced by the bottom and top walls to provide the carton with an internal cavity adapted to contain at least one edible product to be sold to a consumer, wherein at least one of the opposing side panels is intermediate the front panel and the rear panel with associated fold lines directly therebetween; and
at least two side inserts having a second caliper which is equal to or greater than the first caliper, each of said at least two side inserts being provided within the interior cavity and against a respective one of the opposing side walls, wherein the carton exhibits a compression strength which enables similarly configured cartons to be directly stacked upon each other for shipping purposes.

2. The carton of claim 1 , wherein the unitary blank has a predominate fiber orientation which is directionally different from each of the at least two side inserts.

3. The carton of claim 2 , wherein the predominate fiber orientation in the unitary blank is horizontal and a predominate fiber orientation in each of the at least two inserts is vertical.

4. The carton of claim 1 , wherein the carton constitutes a cereal carton.

5. The carton of claim 1 , wherein the carton forms one of a plurality of similarly constructed cartons which are stacked in an exposed array on a pallet and wrapped together for shipping purposes.

6. The carton of claim 1 , wherein each of the at least two side inserts includes a main side wall and opposing legs, said main side wall extending directly along a respective one of the opposing side panels and the opposing legs extending directly along the front and rear panels respectively.

7. The carton of claim 1 , wherein each of the at least two side inserts only includes a main side wall extending directly along a respective one of the opposing side panels.

8. The carton of claim 1 , wherein a material composition of each of said at least two side inserts is different than the main body piece.

9. The carton of claim 1 , wherein the carton is formed of paperboard and exhibits a top to bottom compression strength with the at least two side inserts which is increased by at least 76% as compared to a carton formed from the main body piece but without the at least two side inserts.

10. The carton of claim 9 , wherein the top to bottom compression strength is increased by over 150%.

11. A method of forming a carton comprising:
folding a unitary blank having a first caliper to establish a front panel, a rear panel, opposing side panels, a bottom wall and a top wall, with the front and rear panels, as well as the opposing side panels, being spaced by the bottom and top walls to provide the carton with an internal cavity, including folding the unitary blank along fold lines directly between at least one of the opposing side panels, which is intermediate the front panel and the rear panel, and the front and rear panels; and
placing at least two side inserts, having a second caliper which is greater than the first caliper, within the interior cavity and against a respective one of the opposing side walls, wherein the carton exhibits a compression strength which enables similarly configured cartons to be directly stacked upon each other for shipping purposes.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising: filling the interior cavity with cereal food pieces to be sold to a consumer.

13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising: stacking a plurality of the cartons in an exposed array on a pallet and wrapping the plurality of cartons together for shipping purposes.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the unitary blank has a predominate fiber orientation which is directionally different from each of the at least two side inserts.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the predominate fiber orientation in the unitary blank is horizontal and a predominate fiber orientation in each of the at least two inserts is vertical.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein each of the at least two side inserts is formed with a main side wall and opposing legs, and wherein each said main side wall extends directly along a respective one of the opposing side panels, with the opposing legs extending directly along the front and rear panels respectively.

17. The method of claim 11 , wherein each of the at least two side inserts only includes a main side wall extending directly along a respective one of the opposing side panels.

18. The method of claim 11 , further comprising: forming the carton such that a material composition of each of said at least two side inserts is different than the main body piece.

19. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
forming the carton of paperboard; and
increasing a top to bottom compression strength of the carton by at least 76% with the at least two side inserts as compared to a carton formed from the unitary blank but without the at least two side inserts.

20. The carton of claim 19 , wherein the top to bottom compression strength is increased by over 150%.

21. The method of claim 11 , further comprising: gluing the at least two side inserts in place.

Assignees

• Gen Mills Inc

Inventors

• Tuszkiewicz George A
• Novotny Peter L
• Ronquillo Jenna M

Classifications

• B65D5/00

  Rigid or semi-rigid containers of polygonal cross-section, e.g. boxes, cartons or trays, formed by folding or erecting one or more blanks made of paper (rigid pallets with side walls B65D19/02) · CPC title

• B65D71/0088

  Palletisable loads, i.e. loads intended to be transported by means of a fork-lift truck · CPC title

• B65D5/445 Primary

  Reinforcements formed separately from the container · CPC title

• B65D19/0004

  Rigid pallets without side walls · CPC title

• B65B1/02

  Machines characterised by the incorporation of means for making the containers or receptacles (from flat, folded, or tubular webs of flexible sheet material B65B9/00) · CPC title