Hand formed reinforced polygonal containers and blanks for making the same

A polygonal container formed from a blank of sheet material, said container comprising:

• a bottom wall;
• two opposing side walls, each side wall emanating from a side edge of the bottom wall;
• two opposing end walls, each end wall comprising an end panel and a foldover panel, each end wall emanating from an end edge of the bottom wall, each foldover panel opposite the end edge and configured to lock the container in at least a partially formed position;
• and
• a first reinforcing panel assembly extending between a first end wall of the two end walls and a first side wall of the two side walls, the first reinforcing panel assembly comprising a corner panel and an inner reinforcing corner panel at least partially overlying the corner panel.

A method for forming a polygonal container from a blank of sheet material, the polygonal container including at least five sides, the blank including a bottom panel, two opposing side panels each extending from a side edge of the bottom panel, two opposing end panels each extending from an end edge of the bottom panel, a first foldover panel extending from a top edge of a first end panel of the two end panels, and a reinforcing panel assembly extending from a first side edge of a first side panel of the two side panels, wherein the reinforcing panel assembly includes an outer reinforcing corner panel extending from the first side edge of the first side panel, an outer reinforcing end panel extending from a side edge of the corner panel, an inner reinforcing end panel extending from a side edge of the outer reinforcing end panel, an inner reinforcing corner panel extending from a side edge of the inner reinforcing end panel, and an inner reinforcing side panel extending from a side edge of the inner reinforcing corner panel, said method comprising:

• (a) rotating the inner reinforcing end panel toward an interior surface of the outer reinforcing end panel about a fold line connecting the inner reinforcing end panel and the outer reinforcing end panel, wherein the outer reinforcing end panel includes a first cutout defined along a top edge thereof and the inner reinforcing end panel includes a second cutout defined along a top edge thereof, wherein said rotating positions the outer and inner reinforcing end panels in a substantially face-to-face relationship and aligns the first cutout and the second cutout to form a locking slot;
• (b) rotating the outer and inner reinforcing end panels toward an interior surface of the first side panel about a fold line connecting the inner reinforcing end panel and the inner reinforcing corner panel and about a fold line connecting the outer reinforcing end panel and the outer reinforcing corner panel;
• (c) rotating the outer reinforcing corner panel and the inner reinforcing corner panel toward the interior surface of the first side panel about a fold line connecting the inner reinforcing corner panel and the inner reinforcing side panel and about a fold line connecting the outer reinforcing corner panel and the first side panel;
• and
• (d) rotating the first side panel inwardly into a substantially perpendicular relationship with the bottom panel about a fold line connecting the first side panel and the bottom panel, the first side panel and inner reinforcing side panel forming a first side wall of the polygonal container and the outer reinforcing corner panel and the inner reinforcing corner panel forming a first corner wall of the polygonal container.

A method for forming a polygonal container from a blank of sheet material, the polygonal container including eight walls, the blank including a bottom panel, two opposing side panels each extending from a side edge of the bottom panel, two opposing end panels each extending from an end edge of the bottom panel, a first foldover panel extending from a top edge of a first end panel of the two end panels, a second foldover panel extending from a top edge of a second end panel of the two end panels, and a pair of reinforcing panel assemblies extending from opposing side edges of each of the two opposing side panels for forming reinforced corners, said method comprising:

• (a) forming each of the reinforced corners from the reinforcing panel assemblies, each of the reinforcing corners including a locking slot;
• (b) rotating the side panels inwardly into a substantially perpendicular relationship with the bottom panel for forming the side walls;
• (c) rotating the end panels inwardly into a substantially perpendicular relationship with the bottom panel for forming the end walls;
• (d) positioning the locking slots adjacent to the end walls;
• (e) rotating the first and second foldover panels inwardly in at least a partially overlying relationship with at least one of the reinforcing panel assemblies, wherein each of the foldover panels includes a pair of hinge tabs;
• and
• (f) inserting the hinge tabs of the foldover panels into the locking slots to lock the container in a formed position.