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US 4,059,221 AGranted
Shipping container and blank therefor
AssigneePackaging Corporation of America
InventorsGregory J. Olson, Wayne A. Chapman
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AssigneePackaging Corporation of America
InventorsGregory J. Olson, Wayne A. Chapman
Estimating the term…
A shipping container is provided which is formed from a blank of foldable sheet material. The container includes a top closure flap which is foldably connected to the upper edge of one of four side panels. The closure flap has a shape which corresponds substantially to the area delimited by the upper edges of the side panels. Foldably connected to a peripheral segment of the closure flap is a finger pull tab which is disposed a substantial distance from the connection of the flap to the side panel. The finger pull tab facilitates initially moving the closure flap from a closed position to an open position. A first pair of alternate bottom closure flaps is foldably connected to corresponding side panels. Each of the first pair of bottom closure flaps is provided with a locking tab which is interlockingly accommodated within an elongated slot formed in a bottom closure flap which is one of a second pair of alternate bottom closure flaps.
A blank of foldable sheet material for a shipping container, comprising at least four side panels arranged in side by side relation, first foldlines interconnecting adjacent panels;
A blank of foldable sheet material for a shipping container, comprising at least four side panels arranged in side by side relation, first foldlines interconnecting adjacent panels;
A blank of foldable sheet material for a shipping container, comprising at least four side panels arranged in side by side relation, first foldlines interconnecting adjacent panels;
A shipping container formed from a blank of foldable sheet material comprising four side panels foldably interconnected and having alternate side panels arranged in spaced opposed relation;
A shipping container formed from a blank of foldable sheet material comprising four side panels foldably interconnected and having alternate side panels arranged in spaced opposed relation;
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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By folding or erecting a single blank to form a tubular body with or without subsequent folding operations, or the addition of separate…
Box for prepared or processed food: frozen food
Containers for storage or transport of articles or materials
Technical subjects covered by former uspc cross-reference art collections [xracs] and digests
Term ended 22 Nov 1994 (estimated)
USPTO file history isn’t available for this patent, so only indexed dates are shown.
Heretofore in the bulk packing of ice cream of the like it has been customary to utilize cylindrical containers. Such containers were performed by the manufacturer and either stored and/or shipped in such a condition thereby requiring an inordinate amount of space. Normally such cylindrical containers required separate top and bottom closures thereby significantly increasing the cost and complexity of manufacture of the container. Furthermore, removal of the top closure by the customer, once the contents of the container had solidified, oftentimes became a difficult, awkward and time-consuming operation and caused mutilation of the container.
Thus, it is an object of the invention to provide a shipping container which is of simple, sturdy and inexpensive construction and is capable of accommodating a variety of products.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a shipping container which is formed from a single blank of foldable sheet material.
For a more complete understanding of the invention reference should be made to the drawings wherein:
FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a blank for one form of the improved shipping container.
FIGS. 2 and 3 are front and back views, respectively, of the blank of FIG. 1 after the initial step of setting up the blank has been performed.
Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to FIG. 11, one form of an improved shipping container 20 is shown which is particularly suitable for the bulk packing of a variety of products (e.g., ice cream). The container 20, when loaded with ice cream, is normally shipped in a refrigerated condition directly to the customer, such as a restaurateur, where small individual servings of the product are dispensed directly from the container through its open top.
Heretofore, the bulk packing of such a product usually involved the use of a cylindrical container formed of a sleeve of metal or convoluted fiberboard having separate top and bottom closures. With such a container it was necessary that the entire cylindrical container, or at least the sleeve therefor, be formed at the time of its manufacture with the result that storing and/or shipping of the empty, as well as loaded, cylindrical containers or sleeves required an inordinate amount of space. Furthermore, the cylindrical containers were costly to manufacture and difficulty was oftentimes encountered in initially removing the top closure once the contents of the container had solidified to form ice cream. To remove the top closure frequently required prying of the closure with a suitable tool to break the bond which develops between the underside of the closure and the upper end portion of the frozen contents with the result that the container became mutilated or defaced. The improved container 20, as will hereinafter be described, readily avoids the aforenoted shortcomings which beset the prior cylindrical containers.
Container 20 is formed from a single blank 21 of foldable sheet material, such as double-faced corrugated fiberboard. As seen in FIG. 1, blank 21 comprises four side panels 22, 23, 24 and 25 arranged in side by side relation. THe adjacent side panels are connected by a first set of foldines 26 disposed in spaced parallel relation. Connected by a foldline 27 to the outer edge of the endmost side panel 25 is a glue flap 28. Foldlines 26 and 27 are in spaced parallel relation.