Patent Abstract:
A carton having a lid lock comprising a lip or flap extending from a liner and a debossment, embossment or opening in a panel forming the cover. The debossment, embossment or opening receives and/or limits the motion of the lip to lock closed the cover.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     A decade or so ago, powdered detergent products of increased density began to appear on the market. Accompanying such products were packages which were quite different from those generally used for powdered detergents. The new packages typically included upper closure flaps which together with portions of the front and two side panels formed a recloseable lid for the container once the container was opened, as by separating a line of weakness extending through the first side panel, the front panel and the second side panel. 
     A problem attendant to the new concentrated detergent powder containers was the difficulty in keeping the lid closed once it had been opened. Various locking mechanisms have been proposed in, e.g., Gunn et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,373,960, Stone, U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,996, Stone, U.S. Pat. No. 5,505,374, Ruehl, U.S. Pat. No. 5,161,734, and Roccaforte, U.S. Pat. No. 5,307,987. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed to a new solution to the problem of keeping reclosed detergent cartons locked. In accordance with the present invention, the detergent carton includes a liner having a lip or flap on one or more walls of the liner. Typically, the lip or flap will extend from the top wall. The lip is received within, or held by, an opening, debossment or embossment in one or more of the front or side panels of the carton to relock the cover of the carton after it has been initially opened. Typically, the flap-receiving opening, debossment or embossment will be present either on the front panel or on the first and second side panels. Generally, the lip or flap will be present extending from an upper end of the front wall or from the first and second side wall of a three- or more wall liner. 
     The present invention is more sparing of resources than some of the other proposed solutions to carton relocking. Consequently, it is a lower cost alternative. The ability to keep the lid or cover closed in between uses not only reduces the chance of powder spillage, but also improves moisture barrier effects to thereby retard powder lumping. Since an opening will decrease moisture barrier properties, a debossment or an embossment is preferred herein. 
     The liner is preferably a 3¼ sided liner which is adhered to the inner front, side and/or rear panels of the carton. The flap-receiving opening may be a longitudinally extending slit and the flap or lip may correspondingly extend longitudinally across the upper end, or much of the upper end, of the liner wall. Alternatively, the feature on the carton panel which corresponds to the flap or lip and which locks it into place is a debossment or embossment which may be in the shape of e.g., a ridge, again corresponding to the edge of the flap or lip. 
     The debossed ridge may be provided with a series of horizontal or vertical perforations and provides an interference or stop with the front edge or side edges of the liner lip(s). The liner can be manufactured in a nesting pattern so that the lip material is taken from the bottom of the liner, resulting in no need for additional paperboard. 
     Generally, the lip or flap will be folded downwardly so as best to interfere with the opening or debossment on the carton panel. Preferably the debossment, embossment or opening is positioned so that it is always below the bottom edge of the lip when the lid is closed. If desired, a series of horizontal or vertical perforations may be provided to the debossment or opening to enhance the interference or stoppage and to hold the lip in the closed position. 
     By “embossment” herein is meant a raising of the surface of the relevant structure. It does not refer to extensions, e.g., additional flaps or lips appended to a structure. 
     For a more complete understanding of the above and other features and advantages of the invention, reference should be made to the following description of the preferred embodiments. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an outer plan view of a carton blank according to the invention. 
     FIG. 2 is an outer plan view of an alternative carton blank according to the invention. 
     FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a carton liner according to one aspect of the invention. 
     FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a carton liner according to an alternative aspect of the invention. 
     FIG. 5 is a top plan view of a liner according to a still further alternative aspect of the invention. 
     FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an erected carton according to the invention. 
     FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the erected carton of the invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Carton blank  10  (FIG. 1) includes side panel  18 , front panel  16 , side panel  14 , rear panel  12  and glue flap  30  separated respectively by scorelines  24 ,  26 ,  28  and  50 . Top scoreline  20  separates panels  18 ,  16 ,  14 , and  12  from top flaps  36 ,  40 ,  44  and  50 . Bottom scoreline  22  separates panels  18 ,  16 ,  14  and  12  from the bottom panels  38 ,  42 ,  46  and  48 . 
     Tab  54  extends from one end of carton opener  52 , which comprises parallel lines of weakness  56 ,  58  extending through panels  18 ,  16  and part of panel  14 . At the opposite end of carton opener  52 , diagonal line of weakness  62  extends to scoreline  20 . At the other end of carton former  52 , prior to reaching tab  54 , diagonal line of weakness  60  extends between the upper edge of carton former  52  and upper scoreline  20 . 
     Between upper line of weakness  56  of carton former  52  and upper scoreline  20  are disposed on panel  18  and  14  debossments  60 ,  62 . These debossments are situated so as to lock or at least substantially lock into place lips on a carton liner, as will be seen below. Alternatively, an embossment or an opening may be used. The embossment limits movement of the lip and so similarly tends to lock the carton closed. 
     Carton blank  70  (FIG. 2) is similar to blank  10  except that a single embossment  80  is disposed in the front panel  16 ′ above upper line of weakness  56 ′ of carton opener  52 ′ rather than the previous arrangement wherein separate debossments were disposed on panels  18  and  14 . Debossment  60  is ridge-shaped and is disposed between upper line of weakness  56 ′ and upper scoreline  20 ′. 
     Carton blank  100  (FIG. 3) comprises a center wall  102  and sidewalls  104 ,  106 , in addition to rear flaps  108 ,  110 . Flaps and walls  108 ,  104 ,  102 ,  106  and  110 , respectfully, are separated by vertically extending scorelines  112 ,  114 ,  116  and  118 . 
     Separated from side walls  104 ,  106  by scoreline  120  are lips or flaps  122 ,  124 . Lips  122 ,  124  are formed during construction of the liner from the blank for the liner immediately above. That is, the liners are in this respect nested. Similarly, openings  130 ,  132  appear in liner  100  and these result from the cutting away of the lips for the liner immediately below the liner  100  when the liners are formed from a large piece of paperboard. 
     Liner  200  of FIG. 4 is similar to liner  100  except that it includes a single lip  202  and single opening  204  at the bottom of central wall  102 ′ instead of the lips and openings associated with the side panels. It will be apparent that liner  100  would be used in conjunction with carton blank  10  whereas liner  200  would be used in conjunction with carton blank  70 . 
     Liner  300  is similar to liners  200  and  100 , except that it includes both lips  122 ′,  202 ′ and  124 ′ and openings  130 ′,  132 ′ and  204 ′. It will be apparent that the liner of FIG. 5 may be used in conjunction with a carton which includes debossments or flap receiving openings in all three panels, namely the front panel and the two side panels. 
     The package of the invention is prepared by squaring the carton, adhering the glue flap to the inside of a side panel, folding and adhering the bottom closure flaps, squaring and inserting the liner and adhering the liner wall(s) to one or more inner sides of the panels of the cartons. The top closure panels are then folded and adhered to each other. 
     When it is desired for the consumer to open the container, referring particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, he or she grasps tabs  54  and pulls it through panels  18 ,  16  and  14 . This permits the combined top closure to be opened and then lifted upwardly. When some product has been removed and it is desired to store or transport the package for later use, the combined closure can be turned downwardly over the open container. This causes flaps  122 ,  124  to meet with debossments  60 ,  62 . As a result, the closure is kept on the container, whereby a certain amount of force is required to remove the closure once again. This improves the moisture barrier properties of the container in that evaporation from the product is impeded. Also, product sifting outside of the container is impeded as well. 
     Although the invention is described as including a debossment or embossment for receiving the flap or lip, an opening such as a slot or slit may be used instead. The carton and liner may be made, independently, of paperboard, plastic or other suitable materials. 
     It should be understood of course that the specific forms of the invention herein illustrated and described are intended to be representative only as certain changes may be made therein without departing from the clear teachings of the disclosure. Accordingly, reference should be made to the following appended claims in determining the full scope of the invention.

Technology Classification (CPC): 1