Information
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Patent Grant
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6736260
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Patent Number
6,736,260
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Date Filed
Wednesday, August 14, 200222 years ago
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Date Issued
Tuesday, May 18, 200420 years ago
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Inventors
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Original Assignees
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Examiners
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CPC
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US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 206 140
- 206 141
- 206 142
- 206 143
- 206 147
- 206 157
- 206 162
- 206 167
- 206 168
- 206 169
- 206 170
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- 206 193
- 206 194
- 206 196
- 206 199
- 206 200
- 206 427
- 206 429
- 206 431
- 206 434
- 229 11712
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International Classifications
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Abstract
The neck-through the top carton blank for forming a carton with a four-ply handle and two-ply top panels with apertures through which the necks of bottles can be extended. The apertures in the top panel have an arcuate extended opening projecting towards the handle panel to minimize damage to the labels of the necks of bottles extending through the apertures. The fold lines for gluing this blank into a car-on are parallel to each other.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to bottle cartons that have apertures in a top panel for the necks of bottles and provide full protection for glass bottles. These cartons have been constructed so that they have a four-ply handle and two-ply top panels with apertures. In addition, it has a two-ply median panel that is foldably attached to one end of the carton. These cartons have been constructed so that they are easy to fold and glue on an in-line gluer. All of the fold lines for folding various panels and flaps of the carton are parallel to the longitudinal line of the gluer.
2. Background of the Invention
Right-angle gluers for folding and gluing cartons are timed and consequently make it relatively easy to fold and glue cartons. In-line gluers are not so timed, so it is more difficult to fold and glue a carton on an in-line gluer. It would be desirable to develop a neck-through the top carton that easily could be folded and glued on an in-line gluer. It would be necessary to have the various flaps and panels that are folded and glued arranged so that they simply can be flipped over 180° and then glued to the appropriate panel or flap without undesirable bunching of the paperboard.
Glass bottles need protection around all sides of the bottles to minimize breakage. Glass bottles also need a carton with a strong handle to support the heavy weight of the filled bottles. All beverage bottlers like to have labels on the necks of bottles to promote their brand to consumers. There is a tendency for these labels to be damaged during loading or shipment by the apertures into which they extend in neck-through the top cartons. It would be desirable to find the way to minimize this from occurring.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is the object of this invention to develop a neck-through the top carton to provide full protection for bottles that can be folded and glued on in-line gluers. It is a further object of this invention to develop a neck-through the top carton that has a handle that is strong enough to support filled glass bottles. It is another object of this invention to develop a neck-through the top carton which has apertures through which the necks of bottles extend which do not damage the labels on the necks of the bottles.
The objects of this invention have been obtained by providing a carton where all the fold lines for folding panels of the carton are parallel to the longitudinal line of the gluer. The neck through the top carton has a four-ply handle and two-ply top panels with apertures through which the necks of the bottles extend. The carton has cell dividers to separate each bottle from adjoining bottles and two-ply partition panels, each panel being foldably attached to one end of the carton. The partition panels, top median panels and a bottom keels face each other and are glued together provide additional support for the carton. In addition, partition panels may have end strips that are glued together.
The apertures in the top panels through which the necks of the bottles extend and have an arcuate extended opening projecting towards the handle panels to prevent damage to any labels on the necks of the bottles. The strength of this carton is enhanced by having two-ply top panels through which the necks of the bottles extend and a four-ply handle panel that is glued together to form an integrated structure.
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
FIGS. 1A and 1B
are a plan view connected by match lines of a blank for forming an embodiment of the carton of this invention.
FIG. 2
is a plan view of the blank of
FIG. 1
in which the partition panels are folded onto the side panels and the handle flaps have been folded onto the handle panels.
FIG. 3
is a plan view of the blank of
FIG. 2
which has been folded further about a center line and glued together.
FIG. 4
is a bottom view of the carton of
FIG. 3
that has been opened up to show the interior structure of the carton.
FIG. 5
is a perspective view of the carton of
FIG. 3
that has been opened to show two-ply partition panel and cell dividers.
FIG. 6
is a perspective view of the carton of
FIG. 3
that has been filled with bottles and the bottom glued together.
FIG. 7
is a perspective view of the carton of
FIG. 4
which is being loaded with bottles to show the apertures through which the necks of the bottles extend.
FIG. 8
is a perspective view of the bottles extending through apertures in a fully loaded carton.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFEERED EMBODIMENTS
The present invention are neck-through the top cartons that provide full protection for the bottles being carried. The cartons can be formed from a single piece of foldable material, such as a blank cut out of paperboard. The layout of the blank is basically rectangular, which results in economizing the amount of paperboard used. These cartons can be used for carrying from four to twelve bottles. They are especially designed to carry six bottles. Because the cartons are designed to carry glass bottles, they provide full protection for the glass. These cartons are designed for folding and gluing on an in-line gluer.
The composite figures of
1
A and
1
B form a plan view of the blank panel carton of one embodiment of this invention. The blank is represented by the numeral
10
. Bottom flap
12
is attached by fold line
14
to bottom panel
16
and in turn is attached to side panel
18
by fold line
20
. Side panel
18
is attached to top panel
22
by fold line
24
and in turn, attached to handle panel
26
by fold line
28
.
Side panel
18
is attached to end panel
30
, which is attached to partition panel
31
by fold line
36
. Partition panel
31
is composed of a keel
34
, median panel
38
and end strip
40
. Top flap
42
is foldably attached to top panel
22
by fold line
32
and in turn is attached to handle flap
44
by fold line
46
. End panel
48
is attached to side panel
18
by fold line
50
and in turn attached to corresponding end panel
52
by fold line
54
,
10
which in turn is foldably connected to side panel
56
by fold line
58
. Side panel
56
is attached to bottom flap
60
by fold line
62
and foldably attached to top panel
64
by fold line
66
and in turn is attached to handle panel
68
by fold line
70
. Side panel
56
is foldably attached to end panel
72
by fold line
74
. End panel
72
is foldably attached to partition panel
75
by fold lines
78
and
82
. Partition panel
75
Us composed of a keel
76
, median panel
80
and end strip
81
. Top panel
64
and handle panel
68
are foldably attached to top flap
84
and handle flaps
86
, respectively, by fold line
74
.
This carton is designed for being carried by handle apertures
90
A-D in handle panels
26
and
68
and handle flaps
44
and
86
. It is noted that two of these apertures
90
B and
90
C are provided with finger flaps
92
A and
92
B which are joined to the handle panels
26
and
68
by fold lines
94
A-B. These are designed to provide a cushion for the fingers during the carrying of the carton loaded with heavy bottles. As this is a neck-through the top carton, neck apertures
96
A-L are provided in top panels
22
and
64
and top flaps
42
and
84
. The neck apertures
96
A-L are round and accommodate the necks of bottles. A label saving opening is provided on these apertures by arcuate extended openings
98
A-L projecting toward the adjacent handle panel or handle flap.
Fold line
100
may be provided in top panels
22
and
64
to facilitate the loading of the bottles and extension of the necks of the bottles through the apertures
96
A-L.
Partition panels
31
and
75
are provided with cell dividers
102
A-D, which are attached to the partition panels by fold lines
104
A-D. Each of the cell dividers
102
A-D is attached to the respective side panels
18
or
56
by glue tabs
106
A-D which are attached by fold lines
108
A-D to the respective cell divider
102
A-D. Partition panel
75
is provided by glue tabs
110
for gluing to end panel
52
.
The carton of this invention is designed to be folded and glued on an in-line gluer. Consequently, all the fold lines that need to be folded in the process of constructing this carton are parallel to each o her. Thus, line
74
is parallel to lines
58
,
54
,
50
and
32
. In the first step on the in-line gluer, end panel
30
and partition panel
31
and corresponding end panel
72
and partition panel
75
are folded onto side panels
18
and
56
, respectively. Glue tabs
106
A-D are folded and glued to their respective side walls
18
and
56
. Glue tabs
110
are glued to end panel
52
adjacent to fold line
54
. At the same time, top flap
42
and handle flap
44
are folded onto top panel
22
and handle panel
26
. Handle flap
44
is glued to handle panel
26
. Similarly, top flap
84
and handle flap
86
are folded onto top panel
64
and handle panel
68
with handle flap
86
being glued to handle panel
68
. This step is illustrated in FIG.
2
.
The next step is illustrated in FIG.
3
. The two sides of the carton are folded one up on the other and glued. Handle flap
44
is folded onto handle flap
86
and glued to make a four-ply handle structure. While the four pay handle is preferred, it is possible to make an acceptable carton with a two ply or three ply handle, depending on the factors of paperboard strength and the weight of the product carried. As part of that process, top flap
42
is folded onto top of top flap
84
to form a two-ply panel. Partition panel
31
is folded onto the top of partition panel
75
, with keel
34
being glued to keel
76
, median panel
38
being glued to median panel
80
. End strip
40
is glued to end strip
81
. Note that while keel
34
is shown as somewhat smaller than keel
76
, the two keel members may be the same size if desired. In this case, the finished carton will be somewhat more rigid.
The interior structure of the carton of this embodiment is illustrated in
FIG. 4
, and shows the two-ply median panel cell dividers.
FIG. 5
is a top view of the interior of the carton showing the median panel, the two-ply partition panel and cell dividers, with glue tabs attached to the end wall. At this point, the carton is ready to be shipped to a bottling plant to be loaded with bottles. A carton of this embodiment that is loaded with bottles B is illustrated in FIG.
6
.
FIG. 7
illustrates the bottle necks partially inserted through the neck apertures and also illustrates the arcuate extended openings
98
A-B.
FIG. 8
shows the necks of the bottles that have been fully inserted into the neck apertures with the label L being visible. The bottles have been inserted through the neck aperture so that flap
60
can be glued to bottom flap
12
to finish the process.
While the invention has been disclosed in its preferred forms, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many modifications, additions, and deletions can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and its equivalents as set forth in the following claims.
UNIQUE FEATURES OF THIS INVENTION
The carton of this invention has several unique features. In first place all of the fold lines for forming this carton are parallel to each other. This carton provides full protection for the bottles in that it has a two-ply top panel with neck apertures and a four-ply handle and a two-ply partition panel between the rows of bottles.
The arcuate extended opening projects toward the handle minimizing damage to labels on the necks of bottles.
Claims
- 1. A neck-through the top blank which may be folded and glued on an in-line gluer into a folded carton with fold lines ready for opening and loading with bottles, said carton having bottom, side and end walls, with one end wall divided into two parts with a partition panel foldable attached to each part, with each partition panel having a plurality of cell dividers, a top panel attached to each side wall, and a handle panel attached to each top panel, each top panel and handle panel being foldably attached respectively to a corresponding top flap and handle flap, so that when all the top and handle panels and flaps are folded upon each other, a pair of two-ply top panels and a four-ply handle panel are formed, said top panels and flaps having corresponding apertures for the necks of bottles.
- 2. The blank of claim 1 in which each partition panel has a top and bottom and two ends, with a median panel extending across the top and a keel extending across the bottom and an end strip extending across one end, said median panel and keel panel being disposed so that when the carton is folded the median panel and keel on each partition panel can respectively be glued together to form a two-ply median panel and two-ply keel.
- 3. The blank of claim 2 in which the end strips on each partition panel are disposed so that they can be glued together to form a two-ply end strip when the carton is folded.
- 4. The blank of claim 3 in which the apertures in the top panels and top flaps are round in shape with an arcuate extended opening in each aperture projecting towards the handle panel and handle flaps respectively.
- 5. The blank of claim 2 in which the apertures in the top panels and top flaps are round in shape with an arcuate extended opening in each aperture projecting towards the handle panel and handle flaps respectively.
- 6. The blank of claim 1 in which the apertures in the top panels and top flaps are round in shape with an arcuate extended opening in each aperture projecting towards the handle panel and handle flaps respectively.
- 7. The blank of claim 1 in which all of the fold lines that are folded in gluing the blank into a carton are parallel to each other.
- 8. A neck-through the top carton for carrying bottles with necks, said carton having bottom, side and end walls, with one end wall divided into two parts with a partition panel attached to each part, said partition panels being glued to each other with each partition panel having a plurality of cell dividers, each with a tab glued to an adjacent side wall, with a top panel attached to each side wall with each top panel attached to a top flap in an overlapping position and a handle panel attached to each top panel and top flap, with a handle flap attached to each handle panel, with all handle panels and flaps being glued together in an overlapping position to form a four-ply handle, said top panels and top flaps having apertures for receiving the necks of bottles.
- 9. The carton of claim 8 in which each partition panel has a top and bottom and two ends, with a median panel extending across the top and a keel extending across the bottom, said median panels and keels of each partition panel being glued together respectively in an overlapping position to hold the respective median panels and keels together.
- 10. The carton of claim 9 in which each partition panel also has an end strip with the end strips of the partition panels being glued together.
- 11. The carton of claim 9 in which the apertures in the top panels and top flaps are round in shape with an arcuate extended opening in each aperture projecting towards the handle panel and handle flap respectively.
- 12. The carton of claim 10 in which the apertures in the top panels and top flaps are round in shape with an arcuate extended opening in each aperture projecting towards the handle panel and handle flap respectively.
- 13. The carton of claim 8 in which the apertures in the top panels and top flaps are round in shape with an arcuate extended opening in each aperture projecting towards the handle panel and handle flap respectively.
US Referenced Citations (13)