Abstract:
Cartons are disclosed for packaging articles, wherein the cartons have indicia printed thereon to facilitate adjustment of the dimensions of the blanks used to form the cartons, or of the forming machinery on which such cartons may be erected.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This application claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of provisional application Ser. No. 60/761,651, filed on Jan. 24, 2006. 

   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   This invention relates generally to cartons for packaging articles such as cigarettes, and more particularly to a carton having indicia printed thereon to facilitate adjustment of the dimensions of the blanks used to form the cartons, or of the forming machinery on which such cartons may be erected. 
   Folded paperboard cartons for packaging articles such as cigarettes are well known in the art. An example of a “flip-top” style carton is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,478. Such cartons are typically manufactured in the form of a flat blank that is printed, cut and scored and then shipped in quantities in flat condition to the manufacturing point of the cigarettes. There, the carton blanks are loaded into high-speed carton forming machinery in which each carton blank is folded, loaded with contents and glued, resulting in filled, completed packages. 
   For both functional and aesthetic reasons it is important that the cartons be precisely formed. The cartons are typically printed with advertising, informational or aesthetic graphics that can be misaligned and unattractive on the completed package. Additionally, if the carton blanks are erected in a misaligned manner, they may create difficulty in moving the cartons through the machine, or in handling and stacking the completed packages. For these reasons, the blank must be carefully sized, and the packaging machinery is capable of fine adjustment that can make changes to the extent to which panels are folded or moved as they pass through the machine. 
   Achieving proper panel dimensions or machine adjustment can be a tedious procedure. To this end, it is known to use a test blank having lines or other marks located along the edges of the blank so that when the test blank is formed into a carton, the marks will be aligned if the carton is properly formed. If not, then the blank or machine can be adjusted. However, if determination of the extent of misalignment can be made more efficient and precise, then blank or machine adjustment can be made more quickly and with fewer iterations. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention provides a folding carton blank including first and second panels that may be folded into position to form an erected carton, with the first panel having a panel edge wherein the panel edge is disposed adjacent the second panel in the erected carton. An alignment indicia is defined having a first portion formed along the panel edge and a second portion formed on the second panel adjacent the panel edge. At least one of the first and second indicia portions is comprised of an indicator scale having gradations and gradation values, and the other of the first and second indicia portions comprises an indicator for marking a gradation along the scale. 
   In use, the indicia portions are used to determine the registration position of the panel edge with the second panel, whereupon machine adjustments may be made as necessary. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  shows the outer surface of a carton blank for use with present invention. 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a completed carton erected from the blank of  FIG. 1 , taken from the lower front left corner. 
       FIG. 3  is an expanded view of the carton of  FIG. 2 . 
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a completed carton erected from the blank of  FIG. 1 , taken from the lower rear right corner. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   In  FIG. 1 , there is shown a blank  100  which when constructed, forms a carton  200  shown in  FIG. 2  for packaging a plurality of articles such as cigarettes. The blank is typical of those used in forming cigarette packages, but the specific structure of the blank and the resulting carton is not critical. 
   The blank includes a front main panel  102  connected along fold line  104  to bottom panel  106 , which is in turn connected along fold line  108  to rear main panel  110 . Fold line  112  connects rear main panel to upper rear panel  114 , which is connected by fold line  116  to top panel  118 . Fold line  120  connects upper front panel  122  to top panel  118 , and fold line  124  connects upper front panel  122  to tuck flap  126 . 
   An outer side flap  128  is connected along fold line  130  to main front panel  102 . A bottom dust flap  132  is connected along fold line  134  to an inner side flap  136 , which is in turn connected along fold line  138  to rear main panel  110 . An upper inner side flap  140  is connected along fold line  142  to upper rear panel  114 . Top dust flap  144  is connected along fold line  146  to upper inner side flap  140 . Finally, outer upper side panel  148  is connected to upper front panel  122  along fold line  150 . 
   Corresponding outer side flap  128 ′, bottom dust flap  132 ′, inner side flap  136 ′, upper inner side flap  140 ′, top dust flap  144 ′, and outer upper side panel  148 ′ are connected along fold lines  130 ′,  134 ′,  138 ′,  142 ′,  146 ′, and  150 ′ in a similar manner to the opposite side of blank  100 . 
   The blank  100  is loaded into the supply hopper (not shown) of conventional carton erecting machinery and erected in a well-known manner into the carton  200  shown in  FIG. 2 . It will be noted that at a number of locations on carton  200 , an edge of a carton panel is secured to a position on or adjacent to another carton panel. Proper positioning of these panels is important both for effective mechanical functioning of the carton and for proper matching of graphics which is typically printed on commercially-distributed retail packaging. 
   Carton  200  is a test carton for evaluating the positioning of the carton panels with respect to each other. To this end, the carton  200  includes measurement indicia  300 ,  302  and  304  shown at several locations on carton  200 . 
   An enlarged view of the indicia can be seen in  FIG. 3 . Indicia  300  is a vernier scale, with the primary portion of the scale formed along an edge of panel  122 , while the secondary portion of the scale is formed along the edge of panel  102 . The primary portion may have its increments formed at specific reference intervals, such as for example 1 mm, or some other measurement scale that is convenient for the user. The measurement value is read in a conventional manner. It will be recognized that the primary and secondary portions of the scale may be reversed. 
   A second type of indicia can be seen at  302 . This indicia does not include a printed measurement scale, with the panel positioning being simply measured (e.g. with a ruler) as the distance between the two portions of the indicia on panels  122  and  102 . 
   A third type of indicia can be seen at  304  and, more clearly as indicia  306  in  FIG. 4 . A scale is printed on an angular orientation to extend across two panels connected by a fold line, shown here by panels  110  and  136 . An overlapping panel  128  has an edge that lies along the line, thereby enabling the scale to be read. 
   Additional vernier-type scales  308  and  310  can also be seen in  FIG. 4 . 
   In use, one or a small number of blanks  100  are processed through the erecting machinery and the various indicia are read. Using the measurements so obtained, the blank dimensions may be revised for subsequent blank production, and/or the erecting machinery may be adjusted, as appropriate.