Patent Abstract:
A carton for containing a plurality of articles such as cans, the carton comprises a pair of side walls, a bottom wall, a top wall and end closure panels for at least partially closing the ends of the carton, wherein the top wall is of multi-ply construction and the carton further comprises an access means defined by a series of weakened lines in the top, side and end walls, the access means including at least one initiating means formed in the top wall, each initiating means including a pair of weakened lines which form a displaceable tab and each initiating means being of single-ply construction to facilitate easy opening of the carton access means.

Full Description:
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/651,156, filed Feb. 9, 2005, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to cartons, and more particularly, to a carton for multiple articles having a dispenser having an easy opening feature. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Cartons for encasing multiple articles are useful for enabling consumers to obtain and transport a desired quantity of individual articles such as soft drinks or other beverages. When such a multiple-pack of articles is obtained, a consumer frequently desires to remove one article from the carton at a time and store the remaining articles in the carton. Thus, it can be appreciated that it would be desirable to have a carton with a dispenser that enables the removal of articles from the carton. 
     When the articles in the carton are cylindrical, and are disposed in the carton upon their sides so that they can roll, it is important that the articles be constrained such that the remaining articles do not roll out of the dispenser when one article is removed. It is also important that the dispenser provides an arrangement in which the articles are easily accessed. It is further often desirable when removing individual articles from a carton to be able to determine how many articles remain in the carton. Thus, it can be further appreciated that it would be desirable to have a carton with a dispenser that constrains remaining articles so that they do not undesirably roll from or otherwise exit the carton when one article is removed. It can also be appreciated that it would be desirable to have a carton with a dispenser that facilitates access to the articles. It can be still further appreciated that it would be desirable to be able to determine how many articles remain in a carton from which individual articles are removed. Since the cartons are used for containing a plurality of articles it is often desirable for a carrying handle to be provided. Such a handle is required to be sufficiently strong to lift the carton which may contain many cans or bottles. 
     A carton having a dispenser is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,484,903. The carton has a detachable trough defined by an endless weakened line formed in the top, end and side walls of the carton. The weakened line in the top wall extends across an overlap of two top panels. The dispenser can therefore be difficult to open since the user has to break through two plies of material to break the weakened line defining the dispenser. Such cartons can therefore be difficult to open and may also not be readily adaptable for containing more than two tiers or articles. 
     A carton comprising a dispenser and containing three tiers of articles is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,416,719, the opening disclosed by the carton extends up from a bottom wall and retaining tabs at the front of the carton prevent the articles from being undesirably dislodged. This causes the carton to be inefficient because it requires the consumer to lift the article up over the retaining tabs against downward force of the articles resting on top of it. 
     It is therefore an objective of the present invention to provide a carton and blank for forming the carton, that overcomes or at least reduces the problems of the abovementioned prior art. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A carton of the invention has a reinforced top wall and a dispenser for articles. The dispenser can be substantially detached or torn away from the upper corner of the carton to expose an endmost article for removal. 
     The invention provides a carton for cylindrical articles, such as cans, comprising a generally tubular structure formed from a top wall, a bottom wall, and a pair of side walls connecting together the top and bottom wall, the carton further comprising an end wall at each end of the carton which at least partially closes the ends of the tubular structure to secure the articles therein, the articles being arranged in at least two rows with one row of articles being in rolling contact with the bottom wall of the carton and the ends of all the articles being in abutment with respective ones of the side walls of the carton, at least one end of the carton having access means to allow removal of the carton contents, the access means being defined by a series of weakened lines in the top, side and end wall characterized in that the access means comprises initiating means to disrupt the top wall to deploy the access means, the top wall having both multi-ply and single ply areas and the initiating means being disposed in a single-ply area of the top wall thereby facilitating deployment of the access means. Preferably, each initiating means is defined by a pair of cooperative weakened lines which together form a displaceable tab. 
     According to a feature of the invention, the multi-ply top wall may be formed from two partially overlapping top wall panels, an initiating means being formed in each of the top panels and in regions where the top panels do not overlap. Preferably, the multi-ply top wall further comprises a reinforcing flap secured to one of said overlapping top wall panels and shaped correspondingly to the contour of the initiating means. It is also preferred that the multi-ply top wall further comprising a pair of hand apertures struck from each ply, each pair of hand apertures being aligned such that a reinforced carrying means is formed in the carton top wall. 
     According to another feature of the invention, the end wall may comprise at least one top end flap, the top end flap being hinged to a top wall panel adjacent a portion of the top wall panel in which an initiating means is defined. Preferably, the weakened lines defining the access means are disposed in the side walls and extend between said top wall and said end wall, said lines being curved concavely toward said end wall to partially expose opposite ends of the end most cans when said displaceable portion is detached from the carton. Preferably, the end wall comprises a pair of overlapping side end flaps and wherein weakened lines of the access means extend between the side walls of the carton entirely across the side end flaps thereby defining a retaining portion of the end wall. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a plan view of a blank for forming a carton for containing cans; 
         FIG. 2  is an isometric illustration of the carton having a dispenser or access means in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, formed from the blank of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view from one end, looking into the carton of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is an isometric illustration of the carton of  FIG. 2  with the access means engaged by a user&#39;s hand to initiate opening of the carton; 
         FIG. 5  is an isometric illustration of the carton of  FIG. 4  with the access means pivoted away from the end of the carton; 
         FIG. 6  is an isometric illustration of the carton of  FIG. 5  with the access means completely detached from the carton; 
         FIG. 7  is a plan view of a blank for forming a carton of the second embodiment according to the invention; and 
         FIG. 8  is an isometric illustration of a carton formed from the blank of  FIG. 7 , with the access means completely detached from the carton. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       FIGS. 1 to 6  illustrate a first embodiment of the present invention. Throughout these drawings, the same reference numerals are used to denote the same or like features of the invention. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a blank  12  from which the carton of  FIGS. 2-6  is formed. The blank  12  is vertically elongate as viewed in  FIG. 1  and is formed, in this embodiment, of paperboard. However the blank maybe formed of other foldable material such as a plastic sheet or the like. Cans “C” arranged in a 6×3 array are shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6  as an aid in understanding the invention. More specifically, the cans “C” are arranged in a group consisting of three vertically disposed tiers each including six cans. The cans “C” in each tier are disposed on their sides in a side-by-side parallel fashion and in rolling contact with a bottom wall panel  68  of the carton  10 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the blank  12  includes four primary panels for forming the carton walls, i.e., a first side wall panel  64 , a first top wall panel  62 , the bottom wall panel  68 , a second side wall panel  66  and a second top wall panel  70 . The primary panels are hinged one to the next along fold lines  82 ,  84 ,  86  and  88 . A reinforcing flap  60  is hinged to the first top panel  62  along a weakened fold line  90 . The first and second top wall panels  62 ,  70  are each provided with hand apertures  50  which can be employed by a user to lift the carton  10 . The reinforcing flap  60  is shaped in a complementary manner so that upon construction of the carton  10 , edges of the reinforcing flap  60  align with the hand apertures  50  formed in each of the two top wall panels  62  and  70 . 
     Reference numerals  72 ,  72   a ,  74 ,  74   a ,  78 ,  78   a ,  76 ,  76   a ,  80 ,  80   a  designate end flaps hinged to the ends of the primary panels  62 ,  64 ,  68 ,  66 . More particularly, the end flaps  72 ,  72   a  are hingedly connected to the top wall panel  62  along fold lines  100 ,  100   a  respectively. The end flaps  74 ,  74   a  are hingedly connected to the side wall panel  64  along fold lines  102 ,  102   a  respectively. The end flaps  78 ,  78   a  are hingedly connected to the bottom wall panel  68  along fold lines  104 ,  104   a  respectively. The end flaps  76 ,  76   a  are hingedly connected to the side wall panel  66  along fold lines  106 ,  106   a  respectively. The end flaps  80 ,  80   a  are hingedly connected to the top wall panel  70  along fold lines  108 ,  108   a  respectively. The end flaps  72 ,  74 ,  78 ,  76  and  80  arranged along one ( 100 ,  102 ,  104 ,  106 ,  108 ) of the opposed longitudinal edges of the blank  12  form a composite end wall as shown at  91  in  FIG. 2 , when the blank  12  is erected into a carton  10 . In like manner, the end flaps  72   a ,  74   a ,  78   a ,  76   a  and  80   a  arranged along the other longitudinal edge ( 100   a ,  102   a ,  104   a ,  106   a ,  108   a ) of the blank  12  form another composite end wall at the other end of the carton, when the blank  12  is erected into a carton  10 . The end flaps  72  and  80  are hingedly connected respectively to the first and second top wall panels  62  and  70  along the fold lines  100 ,  108  each of which is formed in part of a tear line  40 ,  42  as best shown in  FIG. 1 . The tear lines  40 ,  42  are disposed in alignment, and extend coincidentally, with each other when the blank  12  is erected into the carton  10 . 
     A series of weakened lines of severance  24 ,  26 ,  30 ,  32  are provided in the first and second top wall panels  62 ,  70 , the first and second side wall panels  64 ,  66  and the side end flaps  74 ,  76  respectively. The weakened lines of severance  24 ,  26 ,  30 ,  32  together with the tear lines  40 ,  42  define an access means  20 . The weakened lines of severance  24 ,  26  provided in the first and second top wall panels  62 ,  70  also define finger tabs  55 . The finger tabs  55  are shaped and structured to yield upon the application of pressure, thereby assisting a user of the carton with engaging the access means  20  thereby enabling the end of the carton  10  to be opened and thus enabling access to be gained to the cans ‘C’ contained within the carton  10 . 
     Turning to the construction of the carton  10 , a series of folding and gluing steps are required, which preferably can be performed in a straight line machine, so that the carton  10  and/or blank  12  are not required to be rotated or inverted to complete the construction. The folding process is not limited to that described below and can be altered according to particular manufacturing requirements. 
     To form an erected carton from the blank  12 , glue or other adhesive is first applied to an inside face of the reinforcing flap  60  which is then folded along the weakened fold line  90  to lie in flat face contact with an inside face of to the first top wall panel  62 . The blank  12  is folded about fold line  86 , so that the inside face of the first side panel  64  contacts both the inside face of the bottom wall panel  68  and in part the second side wall panel  66 . Glue is applied to the inside face of the second top wall panel  70  which is then folded about the fold line  88  to lie flat on the first top wall panel  62  and secured therewith. The outside face of the first top wall panel  62  may in part be varnish free so that the second top wall panel  70  can be secured by means of glue to the first top wall panel  62 . In this way a three ply composite top wall is formed and a flat tubular carton can be provided to a manufacturing plant for further processing. 
     The flat tubular carton is then expanded into an open-ended tubular form. After cans are loaded through one or both of the open ends of the carton  10 , the end flaps  72 ,  72   a ,  74 ,  74   a ,  76 ,  76   a ,  78 ,  78   a ,  80 ,  80   a  are folded to form the respective end walls to thereby close the ends of the carton. To form the end wall  90 , the top and bottom end flaps  72 / 80  and  78  are folded to their respective vertical positions. Glue is applied to the outside faces of the end flaps  72 / 80  and  78 , and then the side end flaps  74  and  76  are folded in the described sequence onto the top and bottom end flaps  72 / 80  and  74 . This causes the side end flaps  74  and  76  to be glued to the top and bottom end flaps  72 / 80  and  74 . This causes the side end flaps  74  and  76  to be glued to the top and bottom end flaps  72 / 80  and  74 . In the closed position shown in  FIG. 2 , the side end flaps  76  and  78  overlap each other and are secured together also by means of glue. The other end wall of the carton is formed in like manner by end flaps  72   a ,  74   a ,  76   a ,  78   a  and  80   a  and is illustrated, from the inside of the carton in  FIG. 3 . 
     Also shown in  FIG. 3  is an underside view of the composite top wall, with the reinforcing flap  60  secured to the first top wall panel  62 , which is in turn secured to the second top wall panel  70 . The complementary shape of the reinforcing flap  60  can also be seen in  FIG. 3 . One end of the reinforcing flap  60  is contoured to match the path of the weakened lines of severance  24  which are formed in each of the first and second top wall panels  62  and  70 . In other embodiments it is envisaged that the shape of the reinforcing flap  60  may differ in accordance with the contour marked by the weakened lines of severance  24 . The shape and arrangement of the reinforcing flap  60  and first and second top wall panels  62 ,  70  provides a strong reinforced composite top wall from which the access means  20  can be easily detached or displaced. 
     An erected carton is shown in  FIG. 2  wherein the access means  20  is integrally formed to be displaceable and/or fully detachable to allow access to the cans ‘C’ held within the carton  10 .  FIG. 4  illustrates how the finger tabs  55  provide a means of easily initiating the tearing of the weakened lines of severance  30 , which extend from the first and second top wall panels  62 ,  70  into each of the first and second side wall panels  66 ,  64 . By applying pressure to the finger tabs  55 , one or each of the weakened lines of severance  24 ,  26 , which define the finger tabs  55 , may become separated from the carton  12 , thereby creating a void or gap in which a user&#39;s fingers may be inserted. The user can then readily engage the access means  20  to displace or fully detach the access means  20  from the carton  12 , as shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 . 
     The arrangement and shape of the reinforcing flap, finger tabs  55  and tear lines  40 ,  42  provides an access means  20  being separable from the composite top wall of the carton  12  by tearing through only one or two plies of material, despite the top wall comprising three layers of paper board. The arrangement of the present invention therefore provides an access means  20  which requires considerably less pressure and work to employ than if the weakened lines of severance extended fully across the composite top wall and therefore were necessarily provided in each layer or ply. The rigidity of the composite top wall also assists when the pressure is applied to the finger tabs  55  and the weakened lines of severance  24 ,  26  are broken, the rigid composite top wall does not give or flex inward as downward pressure is applied to the finger tabs, this contributes to the easy deployment of the access means  20 . 
     In the preferred embodiment illustrated, the tear lines  30  are of arcuate configuration. They are curved or arched concavely toward the end wall  90 . The tear lines  30  intersect a frangible or otherwise weakened line  32  that is formed in the side end flaps  76  and  78  to extend between the side walls  64  and  66  entirely across the end wall  90 , thereby defining a retaining portion  95  of the end wall  90 . 
     The tight packing of the carton  12  and/or the rigidity of the composite top wall provides tension in the carton walls which may restrain the cans ‘C’ of the uppermost row from rolling free from the carton  12  when the access means  20  is first displaced or detached from the carton  12 . The protruding part of the composite top wall may also assist in retaining the end most can of the uppermost row within the carton  12  as the access means  20  is deployed. Furthermore, the configuration of the weakened lines  32  provides an opening which is shaped such that cans ‘C’ of the lowermost rows are restrained from rolling free from the carton  12  by the remaining portion  95  of the end wall  90 . Access to the end most cans ‘C’ of the lower most rows is however readily accommodated by the shape of the weakened lines  30  in the side wall panels  64 ,  66 , which partially exposes the ends of said cans ‘C’ as shown in  FIG. 6 , so that a user can easily grasp an endmost can ‘C’ between a first finger and thumb for removal from the carton  12 . The curvature of the tear lines  30  helps to increase the exposed areas of the can ends. After the top, end-most can is removed from the upper tier, the remaining cans ‘C’ in the upper tier will nest in the spaces between the cans of the lower tier. Nesting of cans in this manner is well known in the art and is not illustrated. The invention serves as a useful dispensing carton that can be placed upon a surface or within a compartment such as a refrigerator or pantry. 
       FIGS. 7 and 8  illustrate a second embodiment of the present invention. The blank  212  and the carton  210  of the second embodiment are similar to the first embodiment and therefore like portions are designated by the same reference numeral but are prefixed with the numeral “2”. Therefore only the differences are described in any greater detail. 
     A series of weakened lines of severance  224 ,  226 ,  230 ,  232  are provided in the first and second top wall panels  262 ,  270 , the first and second side wall panels  264 ,  266  and the side end flaps  274 ,  276  respectively. These weakened lines of severance  224 ,  226 ,  230 ,  232  together with the tear lines  240  together form a severable connection that defines an access means  220 . The weakened lines of severance  224 ,  226  provided in the first and second top wall panels  262 ,  270  also define finger tabs  255 . The finger tabs  255  are shaped and structured to yield upon the application of pressure. 
     A folding process similar to that for the first embodiment is used to assemble the carton  210  of the second embodiment. When the carton  210  is erected, the weakened lines  224 ,  224  of severance in the top wall panels  262 ,  270  are aligned, and extend partially coincidentally, with each other to allow the part of the severance connection in the top wall to extend entirely across the two ply area of the top wall. The handle reinforcing strip or flap  260  is free of weakened line. However, the tear line  240  that is aligned, and extends coincidentally, with the fold line  290  is disposed continuous with the weakened line  224  of severance in the top wall panel  262  to assist easy separation of the access means  220  from the remainder of the carton  210 . 
     To open the carton  210 , the initiating means in the form of finger tabs  255 ,  255  are pressed by fingers to break the weakened lines  226 ,  226 . Then, the access means  220  is pulled forwardly away from the remainder of the carton  210 . By this means, the weakened lines  224 ,  224 ,  230 ,  230  are broken and the access means  220  is pivoted forwardly and downwardly about the weakened lines  232 ,  232 . Further pivoting the access means  220  allows the tear line  240  to break as well as the top wall panel  262  to be peeled and detached from the reinforcing flap  260 . Finally, the access means  220  are severed from the carton  210  along the weakened lines  232 ,  232 . A fully opened carton  210  is illustrated in  FIG. 8  along with the completely separated access means  220 . As apparent from  FIG. 8 , the forward end portion of the reinforcing flap  260  protrudes from the severed forward edge of the top wall  262 ,  270  and serves to hold down the cans C to prevent undesired exit of the cans from the carton. The reinforcing flap  260 , however, is flexible and easily yieldable when one or more cans are pulled out by a user through the gap between the end wall  295  and the reinforcing flap  260 . 
     Modifications may be made in the foregoing without departing from the scope of the claimed invention. For example, the access means may be formed at each end of the carton according to the invention and in other embodiments it is envisaged that the tear lines  40 ,  42  may be perforated lines, slits or cuts. It should be also appreciated that as used herein, directional references such as “top”, “bottom”, “end”, “side”, “upper” and “lower” do not limit the respective panels to such orientation, but merely serve to distinguish these panels from one another. 
     It should be further appreciated that any reference to hinged or foldable connection should not be construed as necessarily referring to a single fold line only: indeed, it is envisaged that hinged connection can be formed from one or more of one of the following, a score line, a frangible line or a fold line, without departing from the scope of invention. It should be further appreciated that each of the weakened lines of severance and the tear lines as referred to in this application may comprise a cut line or frangible line that includes, but is not limited to, a line of perforations, a line of short slits, a line of half cuts, a single half cut, any combination of slits, score lines, and half cuts, or the equivalent, as will be understood by those skilled in the art. It should be further appreciated that each of the fold lines as referred to in this application may comprise a frangible line that includes, but is not limited to, a score line, a line of perforations, a line of short slits, a line of half cuts, any combination of slits, score lines, and half cuts, or the equivalent, as will be understood by those skilled in the art.

Technology Classification (CPC): 1