Patent ID: 8573472

Claim:
A carton blank adapted to be erected into a carton, the carton blank comprising: a foldable sheet of material; a plurality of sides serially connected to one another on the foldable sheet of material, each of the sides having a top end spaced from a bottom end; a plurality of top flaps each of which is foldably connected to the top end of one of the sides; wherein selected ones of the top flaps overlap one another to form a top end of the carton; a plurality of bottom flaps each of which is foldably connected to the bottom end of one of the sides; wherein selected ones of the bottom flaps overlap one another to form a bottom end of the carton; and a plurality of struts each extending beyond the selected ones of the top and bottom flaps, each strut being adapted to be folded into face to face juxtaposition and secured onto the side associated with the selected ones of the top and bottom flaps to thereby reinforce the side to which the strut is secured and inhibit deformation of the erected carton, wherein the combination of struts secured to each side do not cover substantially all of the side to which they are secured and the struts in combination extend substantially around all of the plurality of sides proximate at least one of the top and bottom ends of the carton.