Hang and display basket

Abstract

A blank is shown that includes a removable portion that can be separated from an enclosed carton to create an opening. The remainder portion of the carton can be bisected by a fold or other tear line to allow the carton to be folded or “cracked” into approximately equal halves. These halves can then be oriented vertically to allow for display either on a retailer's shelf or a hanging display. Reinforcing strips can be provided on either end or in the middle for additional structural support.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to a carton for housing containers, the carton having packaging, displaying, and dispensing features.

BACKGROUND

Retail products generally are packaged in containers, e.g., boxes, cans, cartons, etc., which are then placed on a retailer's shelf for display and sale. In order to reach a retailer's shelf, a manufactured product is packaged for shipping, then shipped, unpackaged, arranged, and maintained on a shelf. Once products have been packaged during manufacture in their respective retail packages, the retail packaged products are then loaded individually in larger shipping containers or cartons and shipped to retailers. The retailers then unpack the packaged products from the shipping containers and place the individual retail packages on the retailer's shelves. After consumers take the first few packaged products from the shelf, the retailer typically must then move the remaining packaged products on the shelf forward to present an organized and evenly distributed display. Additionally, the retailer must timely rotate the packaged products from back to front to ensure that the products do not exceed their expiration date. This unpackaging, fronting, and rotation of most packages products creates waste from the shipping containers and is expensive in terms of time and labor required for such operations. What is needed is a single carton from which individually packaged products can be shipped, displayed, and dispensed.

SUMMARY

The present invention is directed to the formation of cartons having a detachable portion that can be separated from the enclosed carton to create an opening therein. The cartons are formed from blanks that are cut, stamped or otherwise formed from paperboard or other, similar carton material with the detachable portion of each carton defined, at least in some manner about its perimeter, by a demarcation line that is separable from the remainder of the carton to create the opening. The carton further can be hinged, such as along a fold line, such that once the opening has been created by separation of the detachable portion from the enclosed carton, the carton can be “folded” into two approximately equal halves, with a display opening defined in the upper portion of each hinged carton half. When the carton has been separated into halves, packaged products, which were oriented in interspaced, alternating approximately horizontal positions, become oriented in upstanding, approximately vertical positions in each half of the carton in a basket orientation. The packaged products are removable from either carton half through the display openings created therein.

During manufacture and loading, the blanks described herein can be formed into enclosed cartons and products can be loaded in either or both ends. The end user can remove the detachable portions from the enclosed cartons and open the cartons by “cracking” or breaking or otherwise separating the cartons into approximate halves. The cartons then can be placed in an upright orientation, such as by placing the lower portion of each half onto a surface, or hung from a display for dispensing. In an upright orientation, carton halves resting on a surface, such as a retailer's shelf, one half of each carton can be faced outwardly to expose the packaged products for display and/or dispensing.

When the exposed half of each carton has been emptied of product, the carton can be turned around so that the back half of the carton faces outwardly for dispensing of the product therein. Additionally, once the front half is emptied of product, the two halves can be detached from each other to enable discarding of the empty front half, or it can remain attached to the back half of the carton, for example to act as a void filler on the shelf or hanging display.

The present carton optionally can include one or more dividers to provide structural support for each carton half or for separation of the product therein. Additionally, the present blank and formed carton can be provided with reinforced areas at selected portions thereof to provide additional strength for carton integrity, e.g. during stacking, shipping, displaying, or dispensing.

These and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading the following specification in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a top plan view of a blank from which a carton according to the present invention can be formed.

FIG. 1B is an underside plan view of the blank of FIG. 1A provided with reinforcing strips.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a carton formed from the blank of FIG. 1 with a finger flap being engaged to begin detachment of the removable portion.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the carton with the removable portion being engaged and separated along the tear lines to create the opening.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the carton with the removable portion entirely detached from the remainder carton.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the carton separated into two halves.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the carton opened for display.

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of an alternate embodiment of a blank from which a carton according to the invention can be formed.

FIG. 8 is an underside plan view of the blank of FIG. 7 provided with reinforcing strips.

FIG. 9 is a view of a carton formed from the blank of FIG. 7 with the removable portion being detached.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the carton of FIG. 9 with the removable portion detached and showing the reinforcing strips.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the carton of FIG. 9 being separated into two halves.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

To facilitate understanding and explanation of the blank(s) of the present invention, the elements and numerals described herein will utilize the terms “upper,” “lower,” “top,” “bottom,” “front,” and “back” to distinguish portions of the halves of each carton and of each blank. These conventions are included merely for ease of explanation and understanding of the present description, however, and should not be limiting in any manner. The descriptions of the panels as “upper,” “lower,” etc., also can be referred to as “first,” “second,” etc.

The present carton typically is useful as a container of products that are individually dispensed. For example, the present invention can be used in the dispensing of articles that contain products such as food and beverages. These articles can include food containers, including for example, containers being generally rectangular prismatic in shape, liquids and/or foodstuffs packaged in rectangular containers, and/or packaged products in plastic or other pliable materials. As shown in FIG. 1, a blank, which forms the carton, generally is formed from a foldable sheet material, such as paperboard, although it will be understood that other materials such as cardboard and non-fibrous, relatively stiff, foldable material, such as plastic, composite, or metal, also can be used.

The blank can have flaps at each end thereof, with the flaps being foldable into an engaged configuration, and an adhesive can be added to any desired panel to retain the carton in the desired enclosed or folded configuration. An access port or finger hole can be included along a portion of the tear line. The access port enables receipt of a person's finger or other object for opening the carton to begin to convert the carton from a shipping/storage configuration to a display and/or dispensing configuration. Although the access port is shown in a particular orientation and shape, here ecliptic, it could be formed in any other desired configuration that permits disengagement of the tear line to create the opening. Alternatively, the access port could be covered with a flap (not shown) that could be punctured or otherwise detached to provide access for disengagement of the tear line.

FIGS. 1A-1B show an exemplary blank 10 according to the present invention. The blank 10 generally includes side panels 12 and 20, top panel 16, bottom panels 24 and 28, and closure flaps 50 and 53. Side panel 12 is connected by transverse fold lines 31 and 33 to side panel end flaps 40 and 42; top panel 16 is connected by transverse fold lines 31 and 33 to top panel end flaps 38 and 44; side panel 20 is connected by transverse fold lines 31 and 33 to side panel end flaps 36 and 46, bottom panel 24 is connected by transverse fold line 31 to bottom panel flap 48, and bottom panel 28 is connected by transverse fold line 31 to bottom panel flap 34.

The side panel 12 further is connected to top panel 16 by fold line 14, top panel 16 is connected to side panel 20 by fold line 18, side panel 20 is connected to bottom panels 24 and 28 by fold line 22, bottom panel 24 is connected to closure flap 53 by a fold line 25, and bottom panel 28 is separated from closure flap 50 by fold line 25. The bottom panels 24 and 28 additionally are connected to each other by a centrally aligned fold line 26 that extends between fold lines 22 and 25 and is positioned approximately half way between the transverse fold lines 31 and 33. Closure flaps 50 and 53 similarly are separated from each other by a fold line 51, which extends toward a periphery of the blank 10 from fold line 26 across fold line 25 through closure flaps 50 and 53. The panel end flaps can be of any construction or geometry and are shown with cut outs in some portions in FIG. 1A.

As shown in FIG. 1B, reinforcing portions or strips 30 and 32 can be included on the blank 10 and generally are adhered, at least in some parts thereof, to the blank 10. The reinforcing strips 30 and 32 are shown with a predetermined width that can vary as desired. The remaining strips 30 and 32 generally are applied on the underside of blank 10 along and overlying the peripheral edges of the panels along fold lines 31 and 33 that join the panels to the end flaps. The reinforcing strips 30 and 32 are shown to overlap sections of panels 12, 16, 20, and 28 or 24, respectively, however, the reinforcing strips 30 and 32 also can overlie either entire sections of, or substantial portions of, each of the end flaps 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, and 48. Sections of the reinforcing strips 30 and 32 can be removed during the manufacturing or application process at positions therealong as desired to vary the areas of blank 10 that are reinforced.

Typically, once the carton blank has been formed, the reinforcing portions, such as those shown that cover portions of the panels and closure flaps and portions of the end flaps indicated at 30 and 32, can be applied. These reinforcing strips or portions can comprise an additional layer of paperboard, or any other reinforcement strip that provides the desired support, such as those shown and described in U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 09/559,704, 09/818,023, and 09/971,469, all of which are currently pending and which are commonly owned by and assigned to the present assignee and which are incorporated by reference herein as if included in their entirety.

Additionally, a removable portion 75 (FIGS. 1A and 1B) is defined at least along part of a perimeter thereof by a series of fold or tear lines. For example, tear line 54 is shown as extending in an arcuate pattern through a portion of side panel 12 and continues into top panel 16 along tear lines 52 and 58, which extend substantially parallel to transverse fold lines 31 and 33 and are spaced from each other by a predetermined width.

The tear lines can be formed with fold lines, cuts, nicks, tears, perforations, cut scores, scores, creases, or any other inclusions, demarcations, or combinations thereof alone and in differing combinations along and in any panel or flap of the present blank(s). The particular orientations and combinations of the tear line shown in the figures are exemplary and should not be construed as limiting in any manner.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the tear line of the removable portion 75 continues from top panel 16 across fold line 18 into side panel 20 along tear line 60. An opening feature 64 is formed along the tear line 60, which opening feature can be an opening in the formed blank, or can be another access feature that creates a means for removal of the removable portion 75. Tear line 60 extends in a general arcuate pattern in side panel 20 analogous to the arcuate portion 54 in side panel 12, with the tear lines 54 and 60 generally being spaced from fold lines 14 and 18 toward respective fold lines 22 and the peripheral portion adjacent to side panel 12 a distance D, which can be varied in length depending upon carton size and formation.

In order to form the blank into a carton, generally, the blank is folded into a sleeve configuration then the flaps are glued to result in a carton with two closed ends. Once the blank is formed into a carton sleeve, product is loaded into the carton and the various end flaps on both ends are closed. These various end flaps and the panels that form the sleeve generally are held together by glue and/or other adhesive means. The blank shown in the figures is provided with exemplary dimensions for reference and is not restricted to the dimensions or scale provided. Thus, wider panels can be provided to accommodate larger products to be stored, displayed, and dispensed as desired or necessary and smaller dimensions can be provided to accommodate smaller products as desired or necessary.

As shown in FIG. 2, the blank 10 has been formed into a carton ready for shipping or storage, typically with product stored or otherwise encased therein. FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the carton with the access port or opening feature 64 being engaged to begin removal of the removable portion 75 along the tear lines 52, 54, 58, and 60. FIG. 3 shows the user engaging the access port and separating the removable portion 75 along the tear lines of the carton. FIG. 4 shows the removable portion entirely removed from the enclosed carton.

FIG. 5 shows the carton with the opening feature removed and with the two halves being separated to engage the folding feature to form a basket display. FIG. 6 shows the perspective view of the formed basket with product therein disposed generally in a vertical alignment. The perspective view of the halves of the cartons shows that the two halves are substantially similar to one another.

The present blank and carton can be formed in any size or in any configuration. For example, an alternate blank 110, shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, is similar to blank 10 of FIG. 1. FIG. 7 shows the alternate embodiment of a blank 110 having side panels 112 and 120, top panel 116, bottom panels 124 and 128, and closure flap 150 and 153. Side panel 112 is connected by transverse fold lines 131 and 133 to side panel end flaps 140 and 142, top panel 116 is connected by transverse fold lines 131 and 133 to top panel end flaps 138 and 144, side panel 120 is connected by transverse fold lines 131 and 133 to side panel end flaps 136 and 146, bottom panel 124 is connected by transverse fold line 131 to bottom panel flap 148, and bottom panel 128 is connected by transverse fold line 131 to bottom panel flap 134. The panel end flaps can be of any construction or geometry and are shown with cut outs in some portions of blank 110. Side panel 112 further is connected to top panel 116 by fold line 114, while top panel 116 is connected to side panel 120 by fold line 118, which is connected to bottom panels 124 and 128 by fold line 122. Bottom panel 124 is connected to its closure flap 153 by a fold line 125, and bottom panel 128 is separated from its closure flap 150 by fold line 125. The bottom panels 124 and 128 also are connected to each other by a fold line 126 that extends between fold lines 122 and 125 and is positioned approximately half way between transverse fold lines 131 and 133. The closure flaps 150 and 153 similarly are separated by a fold line 151, which extends toward a periphery of the blank 110 from fold line 126 past fold line 125 and through closure flaps 150 and 153.

Also included on blank 110, as shown in FIG. 8, is an additional reinforcing strip 131 applied along a central portion of blank 110. Further, reinforcing portions or strips 130 and 132 are included on blank 110 and generally adhered, at least in some parts thereof to the blank 110. Reinforcing strips 130 and 132 are shown with a predetermined width that can vary as desired, and typically are applied on the underside of blank 110 along and overlying peripheral edges of the panels along fold lines 131 and 133 that join the panels to the end flaps. Reinforcing strips 130 and 132 are shown to overlap sections of panels 112, 116, 120, and 128 or 124, respectively, and also can overlie either entire sections of, or substantial portions of, each of the end flaps. Sections of reinforcing strips 130 and 132 can be removed during the manufacturing process at positions therealong as desired to vary the areas that are reinforced of blank 110.

A removable portion 175 is defined at least along part of a perimeter thereof by a series of fold or tear lines. For example, the tear line 154 extends in an arcuate pattern through a portion of side panel 112 and continues into top panel 116 along tear lines 152 and 158 that are substantially parallel to transverse fold lines 131 and 133 and are spaced from each other a predetermined width. The tear lines can include cuts, creases, cut scores, scores, perforations, nicks, tears, creases, folds, or other inclusions or combinations thereof to allow separation of the opening feature and to allow the halves of the formed carton to be formed into a basket display as detailed herein. As shown in FIG. 7, the tear line of the removable portion 175 continues from top panel 116 across fold line 118 into side panel 120 along tear line 160. Tear line 160 is shown as including an opening feature 164, which can be an opening in the formed blank, or can be another access feature that creates a means for removal of the removable portion 175. The tear line 160 further can extend in a generally arcuate pattern in side panel 120 analogous to the arcuate portion 154 in side panel 112. Generally, the tear lines are spaced from fold lines 114 and 118 toward respective fold lines 122 and the peripheral portion adjacent to side panel 112 a distance D, which can be varied in length depending upon carton size and formation. Once the blank is formed, during the manufacturing process, reinforcing portions, such as those shown that cover portions of the panels and closure flaps and portions of the end flaps indicated at 130 and 132, can be applied.

FIG. 9 is a view of the blank of FIG. 7 formed into an enclosed carton with the opening feature being engaged to separate the tear line therealong. FIG. 10 shows the removable portion of the carton entirely removed from the enclosed carton. FIG. 11 shows the carton of FIG. 9 with the removable portion removed and the folding feature being engaged to form the basket display. The carton halves in FIG. 11 show the formed basket and the bottoms of both halves of the cartons with the reinforcement portions being visible.

Generally, once the carton halves are placed in a vertical position, such as on a display or retail shelf, product can be dispensed therefrom. Once the product has been completely removed from a front half of the carton, the retailer can rotate the carton 180 degrees to place a back half into a dispensing position and/or can separate and remove the front half from the back half as desired. The front half of the carton can remain attached at the hinged part of the tear line to be used as a void-filler on the shelf to maintain a consistent and pleasant looking display. Alternatively, once the product has been completely removed from the front half of the carton, the empty half can be torn away at the hinged part of the line (26 or 126) and can be discarded. Whether the front half of the carton is removed from the back half of the carton or remains attached to the back half of the carton, the back half of the carton can be rotated to face outward on the shelf to allow product to be removed therefrom. Once all of the product has been removed from the entire carton, the back half of the carton, or the entire carton if the front half was not separated therefrom, can be discarded. A new carton can then replace the emptied carton.

According to common practice, the various features of the drawings discussed below are not necessarily drawn to scale. Dimensions of various features and elements in the drawings may be expanded or reduced to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the invention.

In the embodiments shown in the figures, the carton is shown as accommodating packages, however, other types of containers can be accommodated within a carrier according to the present invention. The dimensions of the blank may also be altered, for example, to accommodate various container forms.

The blanks according to the present invention can be, for example, formed from coated paperboard and similar materials. For example, the interior and/or exterior sides of the blanks can be coated with a clay coating. The clay coating may then be printed over with product, advertising, price coding, and other information or images. The blanks may then be coated with a varnish to protect any information printed on the blanks. The blanks may also be coated with, for example, a moisture barrier layer, on either or both sides of the blanks.

In accordance with the exemplary embodiments, the blanks may be constructed of paperboard of a caliper such that it is heavier and more rigid than ordinary paper. For example, the caliper can be in the range of about 16-22 lbs. The blanks can also be constructed of other materials, such as cardboard, hard paper, or any other material having properties suitable for enabling the carrier package to function at least generally as described above. The blanks can also be laminated to, or coated with, one or more sheet-like materials at selected panels or panel sections.

In accordance with the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a fold line can be any substantially linear, although not necessarily straight, form of weakening that facilitates folding therealong. More specifically, but not for the purpose of narrowing the scope of the present invention, fold lines include: a score line, such as lines formed with a blunt scoring knife, or the like, which creates a crushed portion in the material along the desired line of weakness; a cut that extends partially into a material along the desired line of weakness, and/or a series of cuts that extend partially into and/or completely through the material along the desired line of weakness; and various combinations of these features. In situations where cutting is used to create a fold line, typically the cutting will not be overly extensive in a manner that might cause a reasonable user to incorrectly consider the fold line to be a tear line.

The above embodiments may be described as having one or panels adhered together by glue. The term “glue” is intended to encompass all manner of adhesives commonly used to secure carton panels in place.

The invention has been described in terms of preferred configurations and methodologies considered by the inventors to be the best mode of carrying out the invention. These preferred embodiments are presented as examples only and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention. A wide variety of additions, deletions, and modifications to the illustrated and described embodiments might be made by those of skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, which is circumscribed only by the claims.

Claims

1. A method of dispensing articles from a carton, the method comprising: providing a carton comprising a removable portion and a remainder portion; the removable portion being defined at least partially by a tear line; the remainder portion being substantially bisected by a fold line; the carton having reinforcing portions; detaching the removable portion along the tear line; hinging the carton about the fold line to create two approximately equal halves; positioning the halves on a surface to orient the product in each half vertically; and dispensing product from either said half.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the halves can be detached along the fold line.

3. The method of dispensing of claim 1, wherein hinging the carton about the fold line further comprises: orienting the product from a horizontal position to a vertical position.

4. The method of dispensing of claim 3, wherein dispensing the product further comprises: facing the carton forward on a shelf to allow dispensing from a carton half with product disposed therein.

5. The method of dispensing of claim 4, wherein, once the forward facing carton is emptied of product, the method further comprising: facing backward the emptied carton half while, simultaneously, facing the other carton half forward for dispensing.

6. The method of dispensing of claim 4 further comprising: detaching the emptied half from the carton.

7. A package comprising: a carton including a top panel, a bottom panel, two side panels, and at least one end flap, the at least one end flap attached to one of the panels and being capable of closing each end of the carton; a plurality of articles in the carton; a means for attaching the at least one end flap at each said end to close the carton; the carton including a remainder portion and a removable portion, the removable portion being defined at least partially by a first tear line at a perimeter portion; the remainder portion capable of being separated along a second tear line into two substantially equal carton halves to allow each said carton half to orient the carton ends from a vertical position to a horizontal position; and the carton including end reinforcing portions along an interior portion of each said end.

8. The package of claim 7, wherein the removable portion extends from one said side panel, across the top panel, and into the other said side panel.

9. The package of claim 7, further including at least one middle reinforcing portion at a central area of the interior of the carton.

10. The package of claim 7, wherein an access port is included along the perimeter of the first tear line.

11. The package of claim 7, wherein a finger flap is included along the perimeter of the first tear line.

12. The package of claim 7, wherein the plurality of articles are disposed in a horizontal orientation prior to separation of the carton halves.

13. The package of claim 12, wherein, after the carton is separated into halves and the ends are oriented in the horizontal position, the plurality of articles are disposed in a vertical orientation.

14. The package of claim 7, wherein the removable portion creates an opening large enough to remove product from the carton.

15. A carton for a plurality of articles comprising: a top panel, a bottom panel, two side panels, and at least one end flap, the at least one end flap attached to one of the panels and being capable of closing each end of the carton; a means for attaching the at least one end flap at each said end to close the carton; the carton including a remainder portion and a removable portion, the removable portion being defined at least partially by a first tear line at a perimeter portion; the remainder portion being capable of separation along a second tear line into two substantially equal carton halves to allow each said carton half to oriented the carton ends from a vertical position to a horizontal position; and the carton including end reinforcing portions along interior portions of each said end.

16. The carton of claim 15, wherein the removable portion extends from one said side panel, across the top panel, and into the other said side panel.

17. The carton of claim 15, wherein at least one middle reinforcing portion is included at a substantially central area of the interior portion of the carton.

18. The carton of claim 15, wherein an access port is included along the perimeter of the first tear line.

19. The carton of claim 15, wherein a finger flap is included along the perimeter of the first tear line.

20. The carton of claim 15, wherein the plurality of articles are disposed in a horizontal orientation prior to separation of the carton halves.

21. The carton of claim 20, wherein, after the carton into halves and the ends are oriented in the horizontal position, the plurality of articles are disposed in a vertical orientation.

22. The carton of claim 15, wherein the removable portion creates an opening large enough to remove product from the carton.