Patent ID: 7516599

Claim:
A method for forming a carton from a unitary blank in a collapsed configuration, the blank having a pair of major side panels and a pair of minor side panels adjacent one another and a pair of major bottom flaps and a pair of minor bottom flaps attached to the side panels at a lower end thereof, and a secondary side panel attached lengthwise to an outer edge of one of the major or minor side panels, the collapsed configuration having each of the major side panels generally coplanar with one of the minor side panels and the bottom flaps each coplanar with the attached major or minor side panel, the method comprising the steps of: shifting the blank from the collapsed configuration to an upright configuration where the major and minor side panels are substantially normal to attached major and minor side panels; folding each of the bottom flaps into configurations substantially normal to the attached side panels; applying a heat source to the bottom flaps to form seals therebetween; and applying a heat source to an opening defined by upper edges of the major and minor side panels opposite the bottom flaps to shape the upper edges into a non-rectangular periphery and to form a curved rim about the upper edges.