Patent Abstract:
A box for enclosing a flexible, collapsible bag having a closed spout. The box has a first panel, a second panel intersecting the first panel, and a plurality of other panels intersecting with the first panel and the second panel to form an enclosure. A spout access flap is formed at the intersection of the first panel and the second panel and extends substantially radially along these panels. The spout access flap is positioned directly over the closed spout of the flexible, collapsible bag such that the closed spout is accessible when the spout access flap is opened.

Full Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     This invention relates generally to a corrugated board box, and more particularly relates to a corrugated board box for use with a flexible, collapsible bag and also to means for providing access to the spout of the bag. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Corrugated board boxes have long been used for packing and shipping almost any type of product or material. These corrugated board boxes are relatively inexpensive, lightweight, and have sufficient strength and rigidness. One example of the use of a corrugated board box is the delivery of fluids contained in an impermeable plastic pouch. These fluids include beverages such as soft drink syrup, milk, and water. This arrangement of the fluid pouch in the corrugated board box is known in the soft drink industry as a “bag-in-box.” 
     FIG. 1 shows a prior art blank for a corrugated board box  10  for use with a soft drink syrup “bag-in-box.” The soft drink syrup is placed in the impermeable plastic bag  20 . The bag  20  is generally a pillow shaped bag with a spout  30  on one end as shown in FIG.  2 . The box  10  is constructed by bending the corrugated board  40  along the score lines  50  (the dashed lines) and gluing the respective flaps  60  in place until an open-ended box is formed. The bag  20  is placed within the box  10  and the open flaps  60  are glued together such that the box  10  is sealed. The box  10  is then shipped to the customer. 
     To access the syrup bag  20 , the customer opens a spout flap  70  on the box  10  and reaches in to find the spout  30 . The spout flap  70  is defined by a series of perforations  80  in one or more layers of the corrugated board  40 . The customer grasps the spout  30  and attaches a line from the customer&#39;s dispensing machine (not shown) or otherwise empties the syrup bag  20 . The corrugated board box  10  thus provides for ease of shipment and also provides a support container for the syrup bag  20  while the syrup bag  20  is attached to the dispensing machine. 
     The drawbacks with this known box design are several. First, many customers find the known perforated spout flap  70  difficult to open. Because the spout flap  70  is on the top of the box  10 , there is little structure or rigidness at that location for the customer to push down and open the perforations  80 . Further, some customers find it difficult to push through the two (2) layers of the corrugated board  40  on the top of the box  10 . Customers therefore have used various types of blunt objects to force the perforations  80  open. The use of such blunt objects, however, sometimes results in the perforation of the syrup bag  20 . 
     Second, customers often find it difficult to locate the spout  30  after the spout flap  70  is opened and removed. Due to the nature and design of the typical syrup bag  20 , the spout  30  tends to be located near the top corner of the box  10  rather than under the spout flap  70  on the top of the box  10 . The customer therefore would search into the box  10  in attempting to find the spout  30 . This searching also occasionally resulted in the perforation of the syrup bag  20 . 
     What is needed therefore is a corrugated board box for use with a fluid pouch that is both easy for the customer to open and easy for the customer to use. The box must provide sufficient rigidness to ensure the safe delivery and use of the enclosed pouch while being easy to open without undue force or perforation of the pouch. Further, the box must provide easy access to the pouch and the spout. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a box for enclosing a flexible, collapsible bag having a closed spout. The box has a first panel, a second panel intersecting the first panel, and a plurality of other panels intersecting with the first panel and the second panel to form an enclosure. A spout access flap is formed at the intersection of the first panel and the second panel and extends substantially radially along these panels. The spout access flap is positioned directly over the closed spout of the flexible, collapsible bag such the closed spout is accessible when the spout access flap is opened. 
     Specific embodiments of the present invention include making the box out of corrugated board. The spout access flap is defined by a series of perforations in the corrugated board. The spout access flap is substantially larger than the closed spout of the flexible, collapsible bag. The spout access flap further includes a thumb opening positioned on the second panel. The first panel of the spout access flap is a top lid having an outer flap overlapping an inner flap. The second panel of the box and the outer flap of the spout access flap are formed from a single sheet of the corrugated material. The bag has a first and a second side and a first and a second end. The spout is positioned on the first side of the bag adjacent to the first end. The spout access flap is positioned over the first side and the first end of the fluid bag. 
     The method of the present invention provides for the transport and use of a bag with a spout in a bag-in-box package. The method includes the steps of enclosing the bag within the corrugated box. The corrugated box has a first panel intersecting with a second panel at a corner and further includes a spout access flap extending along the first panel and the second panel from the corner. The spout access flap has a thumb opening on the second panel. The method further includes the steps of transporting the bag within the corrugated box, grasping the corrugated box along the corner, inserting a finger within the thumb opening, lifting the spout access flap along the second panel, lifting the spout access flap along the first panel to form a spout opening, reaching within the spout opening, and grasping the spout. The method may further include the steps of removing the spout access flap, filling the bag with a soft drink syrup, and hooking the spout up to a line of a soft drink dispensing machine. 
     It is thus an object of the present invention to provide an improved bag-in-box. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a corrugated board box that is easy to open. 
     It is a further object of the present invention to provide a corrugated board box for the transport and use of a bag for a bag-in-box. 
     It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a corrugated board box that provides easy access to the spout of a bag. 
     Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reviewing the following description of preferred embodiments of the present invention, when taken in conjunction with the drawings and the appended claims. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a blank used for making a prior art box. 
     FIG. 2 is a plan view of a bag for use with the box of the present invention. 
     FIG. 3 is a plan view of the blank used for making the box of the present invention. 
     FIG. 4 is a plan view of the blank used for making a second embodiment box of the present invention. 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the opening of the spout access flap. 
     FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the spout in the spout opening. 
     FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the bag-in-box of the present invention taken along line  7 — 7  of FIG.  6 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring now in more detail to the drawings in which like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views, FIGS. 3-7 show a box  100  embodying the present invention. The box  100  is cut from one or more pieces of corrugated board  115 . FIG. 3 shows a blank  110  for a one (1) piece box  100 . FIG. 4 shows a blank  120  for a three (3) piece box  100 . The blanks  110 ,  120  are the unfolded pieces of the corrugated board  115  used to make the boxes  100 . The differences in construction between the one (1) piece box and the three (3) piece box are immaterial for the purposes of this disclosure. The different boxes  100  are used with different types of manufacturing equipment. 
     The blanks  110 ,  120  shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 both have cut lines (solid lines)  130  and score lines (dashed lines)  140 . The cut lines  130  indicate how the blanks  110 ,  120  are to be cut from the corrugated board  115  and where sections of the blanks  110 ,  120  are to be perforated or otherwise specially cut as described below. The score lines  140  indicate where the blanks  110 ,  120  are to be bent. The cut lines  130  and the score lines  140  form a plurality of panels  144  and flaps  146 . These panels  144  and flaps  146  form the completely enclosed box  100  when folded and glued together. 
     In both the blanks  110 ,  120 , a perforated spout access flap  150  extends along several of the panels  144  and the flaps  146 . Specifically, the spout access flap  150  extends along a top panel  160 , a major outer flap  170 , and a major inner flap  180 . The top panel  160  and the major outer flap  170  are separated by a score line  140 . When the blanks  110 ,  120  are folded according to the score lines  140  to form a corner  145 , the major outer flap  170  overlays the major inner flap  180 . The flaps  170 ,  180  are then glued together. Because both the blanks  110 ,  120  use the same spout access flap  150  design, only the piece of corrugated board  115  showing the spout access flap  150  on the blank  120  is shown in FIG.  4 . 
     The spout access flap  150  is defined by a series of perforations  190  along the top panel  160 , the major outer flap  170 , and the major inner flap  180 . The perforated spout access flap  150  forms a seven (7) or eight (8) sided enclosed shape that is roughly divided equally on the top panel  160  and the overlapping major outer flap  170  and the major inner flap  180  along the corner  145 . The perforated spout access flap  150  extends substantially radially from the corner  145 . The perforations  190  are preferably about ⅛ inch by about ⅛ inch in length and extend substantially through the thickness of the corrugated board  115 . In other words, the corrugated board  115  is cut through the width of the corrugated board  115  for a distance of about ⅛ inch followed by a no cut range for a distance of about ⅛ inch. The major inner flap  180  of the spout access flap  150  also may be defined by the perforations  190  or, alternatively, a similar type of cut. One example of an alternative type of cut is a “M-Press” line  200 . It is understood that “M-Press” is an industry term used by Container Graphics Corporation of Stone Mountain, Ga., to describe a cut in which the first several layers of the corrugated board  115  are completely cut while the bottom layers of the corrugated board  115  remain uncut. 
     The spout access flap  150  also may define a thumb opening  210  positioned at one end of the perforated spout access flap  150  on the top panel  160 . The thumb opening  210  is “slit-scored”, or has a larger perforation  190  for easy opening by the customer. For example, about a ¼ inch by about a ⅛ inch perforation  190  in the corrugated board  115  is used, with the ¼ inch distance indicating the cut length. 
     Each blank  110 ,  120  also may have a handle opening  220  positioned on a back panel  230  of the blank  120  of FIG. 4 or in both a outer side panel  240  and a inner side panel  250  of the blank  110  of FIG.  3 . The handle opening  220  also is defined by a series of the perforations  260  in the corrugated board  115 . These perforations  260  are preferably about ⅛ inch by about ⅛ inch as described above. 
     In use, the blanks  110 ,  120  are cut from the corrugated board  115  along the cut lines  130 . The blanks  110 ,  120  are folded along the score lines  140  and the respective panels  144  and flaps  146  are generally glued together other than the major flaps  170 ,  180  or the panels  230 ,  240 ,  250 . The flexible, collapsible bag  20  is then inserted into the box  100  with the spout  30  facing the perforated spout access flap  150 . The bag  20  is a conventional flexible, substantially impervious plastic material approved for use with consumable products. Any conventional type of bag-in-box bag  20  may be used. The bag  20  may be glued or otherwise affixed within the box  100 . After the bag  20  is inserted in the box  100 , the open flaps  170 ,  180  or panels  230 ,  240 ,  250  are glued shut. The box  100  is then delivered to the customer. 
     As is shown in FIG. 6, once the customer obtains the box  100 , the customer can open the perforated spout access flap  150  by grabbing the top panel  160  and the major outer flap  170  along the corner  145  and placing his or her thumb or other finger in the thumb opening  210 . Due to the nature of the large perforations  215  around the thumb opening  210 , the thumb opening  210  is easily penetrated. Once the customer&#39;s thumb is inserted in the thumb opening, the customer can easily lift a portion  154  of the perforated spout access flap  150  on the top panel  160 . This portion  154  of the perforated spout access flap  150  is easily opened due to the fact that there is only one (1) layer of corrugated board  115  to be removed. Once the portion  154  of the perforated spout access flap  150  on the top panel  160  is open, the customer can grasp that portion  154  of corrugated board  115  and open a remaining portion  156  of the perforated spout access flap  150  on the outer flaps  170 ,  180 . The perforated spout access flap  150  can either remain attached to the box  100  by the last several perforations  190  or removed entirely. After the perforated spout access flap  150  is opened, a spout opening  158  is formed on the box  100 . 
     As is shown in FIG. 7, due to the positioning of the perforated spout access flap  150  with respect to the spout  30  of the bag  20 , the spout  30  is directly accessible once the perforated spout access flap  150  is opened or removed. The customer grabs the spout  30  through the spout opening  158  and attaches a line from a dispensing machine (not shown) or otherwise empties the bag  20 . The customer no longer needs to reach within the box  100  to find the spout  30 . 
     It should be understood that the foregoing relates only to the preferred embodiments of the present invention and that numerous changes may be made herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

Technology Classification (CPC): 1