Packing box, in particular for pastries or cakes, prepared from a cut-out and grooved blank

A box for holding and carrying a product such as pastries, cakes or other products requiring an opened up display, the box being formed from a blank having a prefolded configuration and a folded configuration to form said box, said blank comprising:

• a. a base having a plurality of peripheral edge portions, where said base is a regular polygon other than a square;
• b. a plurality of flaps, each comprising:
• i. a lower flap portion having a lower hinge portion connected to a related peripheral edge portion at a related hinge line, and arranged so that each of said lower flap portions can be moved upwardly about said hinge line to form a related one of side portions of said box, each lower flap portion also having an upper edge portion and two side edge portions;
• ii. an upper tab portion having a connecting edge portion having a hinge connection to the upper edge portion of a related lower flap portion along a tab hinge line, with the tab portions being arranged to be folded about said tab hinge lines to form a top portion of said box;
• c. a plurality of pairs of first and second adjacent strengthening strips having first and second hinge connections, respectively, to adjacent side edge portions of adjacent lower flap portions, first and second juncture portions which extend inwardly to lower ends of said adjacent side edge portions, with said first and second inner juncture portions connecting to one another along a juncture fold line;
• d. said blank being arranged so that in being moved from said prefolded configuration to said folded configuration, as said lower flap portions are moved upwardly toward one another, each pair of first and second strengthening strips rotate about respective first and second hinge connections inwardly, and also rotate relative to one another about their related juncture fold line so that in the folded configuration, the first and second strips of each pair are positioned against one another and project inwardly toward an interior of said box;
• e. at least one of said tab portions having a slot to receive a tongue portion of another tab portion with the slot being aligned toward a center of said base when the blank is in the prefolded configuration, and said tongue portion is joined to its related tab portion along a hinge line which is slanted relative to an alignment axis which extends radially from a center of said base in the prefold condition outwardly through said flap, whereby with the box in the folded configuration, said tongue portion can be aligned at a desired position relative to lower flap portions which form the side portions of the box in the folded configuration.