Method of forming paperboard blanks for liquid container with straw opening means

A method of forming paperboard blanks suitable for liquid carrying containers, said method including the following steps:

• (a) scoring a sheet of paperboard with a network of score lines so as to form a plurality of panels suitable for forming the sides, top and bottom of said containers,
• (b) cutting off individual blanks from the scored sheet such that each blank includes serially aligned first side, front, second side and rear container panels, and a side seam flap adjacent the edge of said first side panel,
• (c) forming a tear strip in said first side panel by cutting at least halfway through but not all the way through said first side panel along a pair of spaced apart lines beginning at a predetermined location along said first side panel and extending across said first side panel a distance a predetermined amount greater than the overall width of said side seam flap for providing a clean, weakened area in said first side panel beyond said side seam flap when said tear strip is peeled away from said first side panel, and
• (d) forming a pair of crossed lines by cuts through the inner thermoplastic material and at least halfway through said first side panel and crossing at a point substantially at the center of said pair of spaced apart lines in the area beyond the free edge of said panel extension, to thereby provide easy access for the insertion of a straw once said tear strip is peeled back to the end of said tear strip.