In a carton of rectangular cross-section having first and second side wall panels, first and second end wall panels and top and bottom closure panels, an improved top closure panel comprising a hang tab extending upwardly from the top of one of said side wall panels, said tab being integrally formed with and pivotally attached to the top edge of said one of said side wall panels, a top cover panel integrally formed with and hingedly attached to the top edge of the other one of said side walls and extending across the top of said carton, said top cover panel including an extension thereon, means attaching said extension to said tab, and a tear strip integrally formed in, removably attached along all its sides but one to, and hingedly attached along said one side thereof to said top edge of said one of said side wall panels for opening the top of said carton to remove the contents thereof, said tear strip, when detached from said carton along said removably attached sides, being folded under said tab about said hinge whereby said tab may be folded downwardly and tucked in said open carton top to close said carton.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a carton of substantially rectangular 
cross-section and in particular to such a carton which can be hung on a 
protrusion such as a hook of a peg board display and yet which can be 
shipped in substantially rectangular form with product therein and which 
can be stacked and shipped in their fully loaded condition without 
interference from the hang tab. Further, the novel carton is of one piece 
contruction and is so formed that a generally V-shaped tear strip is 
contructed in one of the sides thereof such that once the carton is opened 
and some of the contents are removed, the tear strip is folded under the 
hang tab and the hang tab becomes the reclosable top flap. 
It is desirable to construct paperboard packages of the rectangular box 
form from one piece blanks which are appropriately scored, folded and 
glued into the shape of the desired box. It is also desirable to provide 
such one piece blanks with hang tabs or elements by which the box may be 
hung from a protrusion such as a peg extending from a pegboard rack. 
Finally, it is desirable to construct a one piece paperboard blank from 
which may be formed a desired carton and which has a convenient means for 
opening the carton when it is folded and glued to its proper shape and 
filled with the desired contents. 
The prior art cartons constructed of one piece paperboard with hang tabs 
integrally formed as a part thereof do not make provisions for placing the 
hang tab out of the way during storage and shipping thereby creating 
storage and stacking problems. Further, those prior art cartons formed 
from a single blank and having a hang tab as an integral part thereof make 
no provisions for reclosing the carton once it has been opened. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by 
constructing a carton of paperboard from a one piece blank which can be 
appropriately scored, folded and glued into the shape of a desired box and 
which has a hang tab as an integral part thereof which may be folded down 
over the side of the carton and detachably attached to the carton side for 
shipping and storage purposes and which may be detached from the carton 
side and pivoted upwardly to a vertical position for hanging the carton on 
a peg or other protrusion for display purposes. The carton also has formed 
therein an opening means which is so integrally formed with the hang tab 
and a side wall of said carton that once the carton has been opened, the 
hang tab may be folded and tucked inside the carton to reclose it if 
desired. 
Thus, the invention relates to a carton of rectangular cross-section 
comprising a hang tab extending upwardly from one edge of the top of said 
carton and having an orifice therein for supporting said carton on a 
projection extending through said orifice, a fold line attaching said hang 
tab to said one edge of said top of said carton, and means for removably 
attaching said hang tab to the side of said carton when said tab is folded 
downwardly about said fold line whereby a carton of substantially 
rectangular cross-section is maintained for shipping and storage purposes. 
The invention also relates to a carton of rectangular cross-section having 
first and second side wall panels, first and second end wall panels and 
top and bottom closure panels, a hang tab extending upwardly from the top 
of one of said side wall panels, said tab being integrally formed with and 
pivotally attached to the top edge of said one of said side wall panels 
and a tear strip integrally formed in, removably attached along all its 
sides but one to, and hingedly attached along said one side thereof to 
said top edge of said one of said side wall panels for opening the top of 
said carton to remove the contents thereof, said tear strip, when detached 
from said carton along said removably attached sides, being folded under 
said tab about said hinge whereby said tab may be folded downwardly and 
tucked in said open carton top to reclose said carton. 
The invention also relates to a one piece paperboard blank for forming a 
carton having an improved top closure for hanging, opening and reclosing 
said carton comprising first and second side wall panels hingedly 
connected along one side by a first end wall panel, and a second end wall 
panel hingedly connected to the remaining side of said first side wall 
panel for forming a carton of substantially rectangular cross-section when 
erected, bottom closure panels hingedly attached to the bottom edges of 
said first and second side wall panels and said first and second end wall 
panels for closing the bottom of said carton, a first flap integrally 
formed with and pivotally attached to the top of said first side wall 
panel and having a detachable tab for forming an orifice therein for use 
in hanging said carton on a protrusion, and extended panel integrally 
formed with and pivotally attached to the top of said second side wall 
panel, said extended panel comprising a second flap having dimensions 
substantially equal to the cross-section of said rectangular carton for 
closing the top thereof, and a third flap pivotally attached to said 
second flap by a score line and having a detachable tab corresponding to 
said detachable tab in first flap, said third flap being congruent with 
and fastened to said first flap in an overlapping relationship to form a 
unitary hang tab pivotally attached to said carton at the junction of said 
first flap and said first side wall panel whereby said detachable tab may 
be removed and said carton hung on a protrusion extending through the 
orifice formed by said removed tab, and a generally V-shaped tear strip 
integrally formed in said first side wall panel and being pivotally 
attached along the upper portion of said V to said carton at the junction 
of said first flap and said first side wall panel and removably attached 
to said first side wall panel along the remaining edges thereof whereby 
when said tear strip is torn from said first side wall panel along said 
remaining edges and pivoted about said upper edge it not only opens the 
top of said carton and allows access to said carton interior but also is 
smaller than and fits under said second flap thereby allowing said hang 
tab to be inserted into said open carton top thereby reclosing said carton 
.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
FIG. 1 is a plan view of the unitary blank which is properly cut and scored 
so that it can be folded and glued into the shape of the desired carton. 
The unitary blank comprises first side wall panel 10 and second side wall 
panel 12 integrally formed with and hingedly connected to each other by 
end wall panel 14. A second end wall panel 16 is hingedly connected to the 
remaining edge of first side wall panel 10. When the carton is folded 
about score lines 18, 20, 22, and 24, glue flap 26 lies under and is 
attached to end wall panel 16 thereby forming a carton of generally 
rectangular cross-section. Bottom closure flaps 28, 30, 32 and 34 are 
folded about their respective score lines 36, 38, 40 and 42 and properly 
glued to form the bottom of the carton. Top closure flaps 44 and 46 are 
hingedly attached along hinge lines 48 and 50 to the top edges of the 
respective end wall panels 14 and 16. 
A first flap 52 is hingedly attached to the top of first side wall panel 10 
along score line 54. A detachable tab 56 is formed in said first flap 52 
and is held in place by perforations 58 which may be easily dislodged or 
torn loose to remove tab 56. Also formed in the top of said first side 
wall panel 10 is a generally V-shaped tear strip 60 which is held in place 
by perforated tear lines 62 and 64. The lower part of V-shaped tear strip 
60 is truncated to form an opening 66 so that a pointed object such as the 
thumb may be inserted therein to removed tear strip 60 when desired. 
Detachable glue panels 68 and 70 are held in place by perforations 72 
which are torn and the panels removed if pressure is applied thereto. 
An extended panel 74 is integrally formed with and attached along score 
line 76 to the top of second side wall panel 12 and includes a second flap 
78 and a third flap 80 which is attached to second flap 78 by means of 
score line 82. A second detachable tab 84 is formed in third flap 80 and 
held in place by perforations 86. Detachable tab 84 is of identical shape 
and congruent with detachable tab 56 in first flap 52. Glue strips 88 are 
formed across third flap 80 in order to attach third flap 80 in an 
overlapping and congruent relationship with first flap 52 as will be 
disclosed hereafter. 
FIG. 2 is a partial isometric view of the erected carton with the various 
panels of the top of said carton illustrated in their relationship to each 
other. Thus, attached to the top of front or first side panel 10 along 
score line 54 is first flap 52 having therein detachable tab 56. Also 
formed in the top of front or first side wall panel 10 is V-shaped tear 
strip 60 detachably held in place by perforations 62 and 64. Inasmuch as 
the lower edge of V-shaped tear strip 60 is in the form of a truncated 
cone, an orifice 66 is formed for the purpose of inserting a pointed 
object such as the finger to be able to remove tear strip 60 from the 
front or first side wall panel 10. Obviously, the size of orifice 66 can 
be adjusted so that the desired result can be achieved without losing the 
carton contents. Also formed in the front or first side wall panel 10 of 
the carton are glue panels 68 and 70 detachably held in place by 
perforations 72. Extended panel 74 is hingedly attached along score line 
76 to the back or second side wall panel 12 of the carton and comprises a 
second flap 78 attached to a third flap 80 by means of score line 82. 
Third flap 80 has a detachable tab 84 formed therein and has glue strips 
88 thereon for the purpose of attaching third flap 80 to first flap 52 in 
overlapping and congruent relationship as shown in FIG. 3. 
FIG. 3 is partial isometric view of the folded carton with panels 80 and 52 
glued together to form the hang tab 90. Thus, as can be seen in FIG. 3, 
extended panel 74 has been folded about score line 76 such that second 
flap 78 is lying across the top of and closes the carton. Third flap 80 is 
folded about score line 82 and is glued to first flap 52 in an overlapping 
and congruent relationship. In the position shown in FIG. 3, the 
detachable tabs 56 and 84 which are in an overlapping relationship may be 
removed and the carton hung on a peg or other projection which extends 
through the orifice formed by removing detachable tabs 56 and 84. Thus, 
the carton as shown in FIG. 3 is ready for display purposes when hung from 
a peg or projection extending from a display unit. 
However, the carton as shown in FIG. 3 is not in a practical configuration 
for shipping whenever the carton has been filled with its desired 
contents. The hang tab 90 as shown in FIG. 3 poses a problem in stacking 
and storing the filled cartons inasmuch as there is an overlapping 
relationship between the hang tab 90 and adjacent cartons. This problem is 
overcome with the carton of the present invention by utilizing glue panels 
68 and 70 shown in FIG. 3 to detachably fasten hang tab 90 out of the way 
for shipping and storage purposes. Thus, as shown in FIG. 4, hang tab 90 
is folded downwardly about score line 82 and attached to glue panels 68 
and 70 which have glue applied thereto. As can be seen in FIG. 4, with 
hang tab 90 in the position shown, the carton forms a generally 
rectangular shape with the hang tab out of the way so that adjacent 
cartons can abut each other without overlapping or hindering the movement 
of each other. As can be seen in FIG. 4, orifice 66 extends partially from 
under hang tab 90 so that a projection such as the finger or thumb can be 
placed under hang tab 90 and apply pressure thereto to remove it from the 
side of the carton where it is detachably fastened. The carton would then 
appear as it is shown in FIG. 3 except that glue panels 68 and 70 would 
have been removed with the force applied to hang tab 90 as shown in FIG. 
5. 
FIG. 5 is a partial isometric view of the carton in its opened condition. 
By placing the thumb or other projection in orifice 66 and lifting up on 
V-shaped tear strip 60, the tear strip is removed along perforated lines 
62 and 64 thus opening the top of the carton. Tear strip 60 is left, 
however, attached at score line 54 which joins second flap 78 and combined 
first and third flaps 52 and 80 respectively. Further, the pressure 
applied to hang tab 90 causes the glue panels 68 and 70 to be removed from 
front or first side wall panel 10 thus leaving orifices 92 and 94 with the 
removable tabs 68 and 70 joined to first flap 52. In the state shown in 
FIG. 5, the contents of the carton may be removed. In this state, the 
carton could be rehung on a peg or projection by placing orifice 84 over 
the projection with the carton in its open state as shown. 
However, if it is desired to reclose the carton rather than hang the carton 
on a projection, tear strip 60 and flaps 52 and 78 must be so folded as to 
enable the carton top to be closed. 
FIG. 6 illustrates how the carton can be reclosed. Generally V-shaped tear 
strip 60 is folded under second flap 78 and combined, glued, first and 
third flaps 52 and 80 are folded about score line 82. Combined first flap 
52 and third flap 80 can then be tucked inside the carton to form a top 
panel for reclosing the carton. 
FIG. 7 illustrates the carton in its reclosed condition with glued, 
combined first and third flaps 52 and 80 tucked down inside the carton to 
completely close the opening left by the removal of tear strip 60 along 
perforations 62 and 64. In this state of course the carton may be stacked 
or shipped in the form of a rectangular carton without the interference of 
any projecting parts thereof. 
Thus, there has been disclosed a novel carton and a unitary blank for 
forming said novel carton in which the carton has a hang tab which can be 
used by the dealers desiring to display the cartons in a rack by 
suspending them from a projection or peg or may be displayed or shipped 
and stored in a rectangular configuration without the hang tab projecting 
from the carton so as to cause difficulties in stacking or storing. In 
this condition the hand tab is folded down and removably attached to the 
side of the carton to keep it out of the way. The novel carton also has an 
opening device in the front or one of the side panels which is so 
constructed with the hang tab that when the carton is opened, it can still 
be displayed by being hung on a projection by the hang tab or the hang tab 
and the associated tear strip used for opening the carton may be folded in 
such a way as to be inserted in the carton to close the top thereof. 
While the invention has been described in connection with a preferred 
embodiment, it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to the 
particular form setforth, but, on the contrary it is intended to cover 
such alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be included 
within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended 
claims.