Patent Publication Number: US-2006006215-A1

Title: Paper meal box

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates generally to paper meal boxes, and more particularly to a paper meal box, which structural strength is reinforced.  
      2. Description of the Related Art  
      A conventional paper meal box is usually formed of a boxboard made of a paper material, which complies with the regulations of U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the boxboard is folded along predetermined creases. The boxboard is coated with a water-resistant material, such as polyethylene (PE) or polypropylene (PP), respectively on a top side thereof and a bottom side thereof, such that the folded portions of the boxboard can be adhesively bonded to each other by, usually, hot-pressing adhesion and keep water from penetrating and further softening the boxboard.  
      In fact, merely the inner side of the paper meal box, i.e. the top side of the boxboard, can contain objects, like food or meal, such that the top side the boxboard must be coated with the water-resistant material. The bottom side of the boxboard is coated with the water-resistant material for the purpose of the hot-pressing adhesion to define a predetermined tridimensional shape of the paper meal box. However, the top and bottom sides of the boxboard that are coated with the water-resistant material to cause high production cost and low popularity for the paper meal box.  
      Thus, many manufacturers make the paper meal box which top side other than the bottom side is coated the water-resistant material to reduce the production cost and to enhance the popularity. However, the bottom side of the paper meal box is not coated with any of the water-resistant material to cause limited scope where the hot-pressing adhesion is applied and to further incur understrength structure of the paper meal box.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a paper meal box, which production cost is low.  
      The secondary objective of the present invention is to provide a paper meal box, which structural strength is reinforced.  
      The foregoing objectives of the present invention are attained by the paper meal box, which is comprised of a box body. The box body is formed of a boxboard, which has a plurality of predetermined creases and is folded along the creases and is partially adhesively overlapped, defining a box bottom member, four box wall members abutting a periphery of the box bottom member, four box top members each abutting an edge of the box wall member, and four connecting corners located at four corners of the box body. The four connecting corners each has a supporting wall member, two conjunctive wall members, a top corner member, and two corner supporting members. The supporting wall member has a bottom edge abutting the bottom wall member. The two conjunctive wall members each abut one of bilateral sides of the supporting wall member and the box wall member. The top corner member abuts a top edge of the box wall member. The two corner supporting members respectively abut top edges of the two conjunctive wall members. The two conjunctive wall members are respectively adhesively connected to the supporting wall member and located at an external side of the box body. The top corner member has bilateral sides adhesively connected to the box top member. The two corner supporting members are adhesively connected to a bottom side of the top corner member.  
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a developed view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is a sectional view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 4  is a partial enlarged view of  FIG. 1 , showing that a box top member is folded and adhesively overlapped;  
       FIG. 5  is a partial enlarged view of  FIG. 1 , showing that a connecting corner is being folded and adhesively overlapped;  
       FIG. 6  is a converse partial enlarged view of  FIG. 5 , showing that a top corner member is being adhesively bonded to two corner supporting members of the connecting corner; and  
       FIG. 7  is similar to  FIG. 5 , showing that the top corner member is adhesively bonded to the two corner supporting members of the connecting corner. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a paper meal box  100  constructed according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is comprised of a box body  10 , which is formed of a boxboard  1  cut properly and folded along its creases of predetermined design and then pressed to be partially adhesively overlapped.  
      Referring to  FIG. 2  again, the boxboard  1  includes a paper layer  2  and a water-resistant layer  3 . The paper layer  2  is made of fiber intermixed with adequate additives, which comply with the regulations of the FDA. The water-resistant layer  3  is made of PE or PP and is coated or accumulated on a top side of the paper layer  2  to prevent water from penetrating the paper layer  2 , being gluey by heating. The box body  10  defines a box bottom member  11 , four box wall members  12  located at a periphery of the box bottom member  11 , four box top members  13  located at a top edge of the box wall member  12 , a receiving space  14  located between the box bottom member  11  and the box wall member  12  and having an opening facing upwards, and four connecting corners  15  respectively located at four corners of the box body  10  and connected respectively with the four box wall members  12 .  
      The box bottom member  11  is rectangular or of other shape according to requirement, having four corners , each of which is cutaway not to have a right angle.  
      Each of the box wall members  12  has a side abutting a side of the box bottom member  11 .  
      Each of the box top members  13  includes a coupling piece  131  and a reinforced piece  132 . The coupling piece  131  has a side abutting a top edge of the box wall member  12 . The reinforced piece  132  has a side abutting the other side of the coupling piece  131 , as shown in  FIG. 1 .  
      Each of the connecting corners  15  includes a supporting wall member  151 , two triangular conjunctive wall members  152  and  153 , a top corner member  154 , and two corner supporting members  155 .  
      The supporting wall member  151  is rectangular, having a bottom end connected with one cutaway corner of the box bottom member  11 .  
      The two conjunctive wall members  152  and  153  each abut a side of the supporting wall member  151  and the box wall member  12 , respectively defining a first conjunctive piece  156 , a second conjunctive piece  157 , a third conjunctive piece  158 , and a fourth conjunctive piece  159 . Each of the first and third conjunctive pieces  156  and  158  is triangular, having a tip end abutting the box bottom member  11  and a side abutting one side of the supporting wall member  151 . Each of the second and fourth conjunctive pieces  157  and  159  is triangular, having a tip end abutting the box bottom member  11 , a side abutting the other side of the first conjunctive piece  156  or the third conjunctive pieces  158 , and the other side abutting the box wall member  12 .  
      The top corner member  154  abuts a top end of the supporting wall member  151 .  
      The two corner supporting members  155  respectively abut top ends of the second and fourth conjunctive pieces  157  and  159 .  
      The formation of the box body is recited as follows. Firstly, referring to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the reinforced piece  132  of the box top member  13  is folded and adhesively bonded to the coupling piece  131  to enable the box top member  13  to have the thickness of two-layers boxboard to further enhance the structural strength. Secondly, referring to  FIGS. 5 and 6 , the first and second conjunctive pieces  156  and  157  are folded at a crease formed therebetween and pressed to be adhesively overlapped to define the overlapped conjunctive wall member  152 , and the third and fourth conjunctive pieces  158  and  159  are folded at a crease formed therebetween and pressed to be adhesively overlapped to define the overlapped conjunctive wall member  153 , such that two sides of the supporting wall member  151  abutting the connecting corner  15  contact respectively against the two sides of the two adjacent box wall members  12 , and the two overlapped conjunctive wall members  152  and  153  are located outside the box body  10 . Thirdly, referring to  FIG. 7 , inner sides of the two overlapped conjunctive wall members  152  and  153  are adhesively bonded to an outer side of the supporting member  151 , and the top corner member  154  is adhesively bonded to edges of the two adjacent box wall members  13 . Finally, the two corner supporting members  155  are adhesively bonded to a bottom side of the top corner member  154 . It is to be noted that  FIGS. 6 and 7  are viewed at a tilting angle from the bottom side of the box body  10  facing upwards to clearly show the two conjunctive wall members  152  and  153  and the two corner supporting members  155  after they are adhesively bonded.  
      The present invention includes advantages as follows. The four corners of the box body are connected by the four connecting corners to enhance the structurally conjunctive strength of the four corners of the box body. In other words, the four connecting corners enable the four corners of the box body not to be connected at right angle to further disperse stress exerted on the four corners , i.e. when the box body contains objects, centralization of the stress on the corners can be avoided. The conjunctive wall members of the connecting corners are adhesively bonded to the outer sides of the supporting wall members to enhance supporting strength of each corner of the box body. In addition, when each of the top corner members is adhesively bonded to the two adjacent box top members, a tension is generated and held between the connecting corner and the box wall member to enhance the structural strength of the box body.  
      Further, each of the top corner members extends from the conjunctive wall member and is adhesively bonded to the supporting corner member to be supported by the supporting corner member to further hold the structural strength of the top corner member.  
      Furthermore, the present invention merely needs only one water-resistant layer coated on the top side of the box board for the purpose of the pressing adhesion rather than two resistant layers coated on the top and bottom sides of the box board, thereby reducing the production cost and shortening the process of the pressing adhesion to further increase the production.