Method of making a collapsible plastic container
AssigneeNorth America Packaging Corporation
InventorLarry E. Nitardy
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A reusable and collapsible container having a collapsed configuration for storage and shipment and an assembled configuration for containing a product. The container is formed from a polymeric sheet and has substantially flat panels, hinges connecting adjacent panels, and releasable fasteners on at least some of the panels for holding the panels in an assembled configuration. The sheet has opposing walls separated by longitudinally extending webs. A portion of the hinges cross the longitudinally extending webs and are formed by hot compression of at least one wall of the sheet. Another portion of the hinges are longitudinally extending and are formed by cold compression of at least one wall of the sheet.
Claims10
A method for producing a collapsible container having panels interconnected by hinges, said method comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing a hollow plastic sheet having substantially parallel opposing walls separated by a plurality of longitudinally extending webs communicating between said walls;
- (b) forming transversely arranged hinges in said hollow plastic sheet by hot compressing at least one of the walls of said hollow plastic sheet along a line crossing at least a portion of said longitudinally extending webs;
- (c) forming longitudinally extending hinges in said hollow plastic sheet by cold compressing at least one of the walls of said hollow plastic sheet along a line substantially parallel to said longitudinally extending webs;
- (d) removing a container blank from said hollow plastic sheet corresponding to said transversely arranged hinges and said longitudinally extending hinges;
- and
- (e) finishing said container blank to form said container.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.