Patent Application
20200369430
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The disclosure and prior art relate to storage containers and more particularly pertains to a new storage container having a backup element for spout formation.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a carton that is gable top type. The carton is configured to be opened by first pushing a pair of gables from a front toward a back of the carton so that the gables separate a first seam of a top of the carton and, secondly, by pushing the gables toward the front of the carton with concurrent squeezing to separate a second seam to form a spout. A tab that is coupled to an inner face of a respective gable proximate to an upper edge and a midpoint of the pair of gables is configured to be grasped in digits of a hand of a user. The user can pull the tab to separate the second seam in event the pushing of the gables toward the front of the carton with concurrent squeezing does not separate the second seam.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
A tab 28 that is coupled to an inner face 30 of a respective gable 14, proximate to an upper edge 32 and a midpoint 34 of the pair of gables 14, is configured to be grasped in digits of a hand of a user. The user can pull the tab 28 to separate the second seam 24, as shown in
The tab 28 has a first end 36 and a second end 38. The first end 36 is coupled to the respective gable 14. The second end 38 defines corners 40 of the tab 28, which are arcuate. A line of perforations 42 is positioned in the tab 28 adjacent to the first end 36. The line of perforations 42 is configured to facilitate bending of the tab 28 from a stowed configuration to an extended configuration. In the stowed configuration, the tab 28 is flush to the respective gable 14 and thus is not visible until the gables 14 are used to separate the first seam 20. In the extended configuration, the tab 28 extends from the respective gable 14 so that the tab 28 is configured to be grasped in the digits of the hand of the user and pulled to form the spout 26. The tab 28 is configured to be selectively twisted relative to the respective gable 14 so that the tab 28 is separable from the respective gable 14 along the line of perforations 42, as shown in
Directive indicia 44 that are coupled to the carton 12 are configured to indicate the pair of gables 14 that is to be used to form the spout 26. The directive indicia 44 may comprise an arrow 46 and OPEN 48, as shown in
In use, the carton 12 is opened by first pushing the pair of gables 14 from the front 16 toward the back 18 of the carton 12 so that the gables 14 separate the first seam 20 and, secondly, by pushing the gables 14 toward the front 16 of the carton 12 with concurrent squeezing to separate the second seam 24 to form the spout 26. In the event the pushing of the gables 14 toward the front 16 of the carton 12 with concurrent squeezing does not separate the second seam 24, the user can pull the tab 28 to separate the second seam 24.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
