Carton with reclosable pouring opening

A seal end carton, formed from a unitary blank of foldable sheet material and having pairs of major and minor side walls with closure flaps and also having a hinge flap with top and side sections foldably joined to each other with the top section interposed between adjacent top closure flaps and the side section secured to a pouring opening plug cut and in minor side wall of the carton.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates generally to folding cartons, and more particularly 
to a seal end folding carton having a reclosable pouring opening formed in 
a side wall thereof. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
A prior art search directed to the subject matter of this application in 
the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office revealed the following U.S. Pat. 
Nos.: 4,308,956; 4,223,789; 4,113,103; 4,019,673; 4,015,768; 3,768,719; 
3,563,447; 2,925,948. 
None of the prior art patents uncovered in the search discloses a seal end 
carton having a reclosable pouring opening formed in a minor side panel 
thereof which is reclosable by means of a side section of hinge flap which 
is foldably joined to an adjacent side wall of the carton initially, but 
is thereafter separated therefrom and foldably joined to another section 
secured to the upper wall of the carton. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is an object of the present invention to provide an economical, 
practical, seal-end type carton having a reclosable pouring opening formed 
in a side wall thereof. 
A more specific object of the invention is the provision, in a carton of 
the type described, of a unique two-section hinge flap foldably joined 
initially to a major side wall of the carton and comprising a pair of 
upper and lower sections one of which is secured to the upper wall of the 
carton and the other of which is secured to a plug cut in the side wall of 
the carton which forms the opening, so that the side section can be used 
to remove the plug from and reinsert the plug into the pouring opening. 
These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from an 
examination of the following description and drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now to the drawings for a better understanding of the invention, 
it will be seen that the novel carton indicated generally at C in FIGS. 
2-5 of the drawings may be formed from a unitary blank B of foldable sheet 
material illustrated in FIG. 1 of the drawings. 
Still referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings it will be seen that the body of 
the carton includes a first major side wall panel 10, a first minor side 
wall panel 12, a second major side wall panel 14, a second minor side wall 
panel 16, and a glue panel 18, which are foldably joined to each other 
along fold lines 13, 15, 17 and 19, respectively, to form a tubular 
structure open at the ends. 
Closure of the ends of the carton is accomplished by conventional upper and 
lower closure flaps 20, 22, 24, and 26, which are foldably joined to the 
ends of the side wall panels 10, 12, 14, and 16, by fold lines 21, 23, 25, 
and 27, respectively. 
The novelty in the present invention resides in the provision of a pouring 
opening 37 formed in an upper portion of second minor side wall panel 16 
together with the unique means of providing a reclosure for the pouring 
opening. 
Still referring to FIG. 1 it will be seen that pouring opening 37 is 
initially closed by means of a plug 30 which is cut from material of the 
second minor side wall panel 16 and which is defined by a pair of side cut 
lines 31 spaced from each other and connected at the bottom and top by 
laterally extending lower and upper cut lines 33 and 35, respectively. 
Actually the cut lines may contain some nicks so that the plug 30 is only 
attached to the minor side wall panel on a temporary basis and may be 
readily detached therefrom. 
Still referring to FIG. 1 it will be seen that there is provided at the 
opposite end of the blank B an auxiliary or hinge flap, indicated 
generally at 40 which includes a pair of side and top sections 42 and 44, 
respectively, which are foldably joined to each other along a laterally 
extending fold 45 which is in alignment with the previously mentioned fold 
line 21. 
Hinge flap 40 may also be provided with an additional thumb tab section 46 
which is foldably joined to the lower edge of side section 42 along a 
laterally extending fold line 47. Side section 42 is initially joined to 
adjacent major side wall panel 10 along a portion of one side edge by a 
preferably wavy cut line 43 which is also slightly nicked, so that side 
section 42 of hinge flap can be readily detached from the adjacent major 
side wall panel 10. 
In forming the carton, side section 42 of hinge flap 40 has a glue 
application as seen at 49. Side section 42 is folded to overlie the upper 
portion of minor side wall panel 16 so that the central portion of its 
inner surface is adhesively secured to the outer surface of the pouring 
opening plug 30 by means of the adhesive 49. It will be noted, as best 
seen in FIG. 2, that the area of the upper portion of minor side wall 
panel 16 surrounding pouring opening plug 30 may be provided with a smooth 
coating, such as a varnish 29, to prevent it from adhering to certain 
portions of side section 42 of hinge flap 40 when the side section is 
folded over the minor side wall panel. 
At the same time the side section is secured to the plug, the top section 
44 is folded over the outer surface of minor closure flap 26. 
At the same time the remaining closure flaps may be folded into overlapped 
relation and secured to each other in any desired conventional order. 
Thus, once the carton is formed, filled, and secured in closed position, as 
seen in FIG. 4, to open the carton and dispense material therefrom, hinge 
flap side section 42 is pulled away from the side wall panel, as shown in 
FIG. 5. This serves to pull the plug 30, which is attached to the side 
section 42, out of the minor side wall panel 16 to provide the opening 37. 
When it is desired to reclose the carton, the side section 42 of the hinge 
flap is folded downwardly to reinsert the plug 30 into the pouring opening 
32. 
Thus, it will be appreciated that the invention provides a unique carton of 
relatively simple design and construction and which is relatively 
economical to manufacture, but at the same time serves as an excellent 
reclosable dispensing carton.