Carton and carton blank

An article carrier for holding articles having tapered sides, comprising a top wall, opposed side walls, a base wall hingedly connected together to form a tubular structure, and an article retention structure hingedly connected to one of said side walls and said base wall, said article retention structure comprising a side end flap disposed in an article-retaining position where said side end flap is twisted to substantially conform to the shape of an adjacent article, and a base end flap connected to said side end flap by a gusset panel, said base end flap being hingedly connected to said base wall and folded into an anchoring position where said base end flap is in face contacting relationship with said base wall so that said side end flap is retained in said article-retaining position, wherein said side end flap is hingedly connected to said one of said side walls along a fold line, said fold line being curved convexly toward said one of said side walls to impart inward bowing to said side end flap.

An article retention structure for retaining articles within a tubular carton, comprising a side end flap hingedly connected to a side wall by an arcuate fold line, a base end flap hingedly connected to a base wall and a gusset panel hingedly connecting said side end flap to said base end flap, wherein a gusset fold line connecting said base end flap to said gusset panel is co-linear with an imaginary line tangent to said arcuate fold line.

An elongate blank for forming an article carrier for holding articles, comprising a first base panel, a first side wall panel, a top panel, a second side wall panel, a second base panel disposed along the length of said blank and hingedly connected together in series, and an article retention portion hingedly connected to at least one of said side wall panels and an adjacent one of said base panels, wherein said article retention portion comprises a plurality of panels including a side end flap so constructed and arranged to taper inwardly towards said adjacent base panel to substantially conform to the shape of an adjacent article held in a set up carrier, and a base end flap connected to said side end flap by a gusset panel, wherein said base end flap is hingedly connected to said adjacent base panel and adapted to be folded into face contacting relationship with said adjacent base panel when the carrier is set up so as to retain said side end flap in a set up condition, and wherein a width of said blank at said top panel is no less than a width of said blank at any other part of said blank.

An elongate blank for forming an article carrier for holding articles, comprising a first base panel, a first side wall panel, a top panel, a second side wall panel, a second base panel disposed in sequence along the length of said blank and hingedly connected together in series, and an article retention portion connected to said first side wall panel and to said first base panel, wherein said article retention portion comprises a side end flap hingedly connected to said first side wall panel by a first fold line and a base end flap connected to said side end flap by a gusset panel, wherein said base end flap is hingedly connected to said first base panel and adapted to be folded into face contacting relationship with said first base panel when the carrier is set up so as to retain said side end flap in a set up condition, and wherein said side end flap is hingedly connected to said gusset panel along a second fold line, said first base panel being hingedly connected to said first side wall panel along a third fold line, said second fold line being angled with respect to said third fold line such that said second fold line extends from said third fold line obliquely away from said top panel toward an adjacent one of opposed longitudinal edges of said blank.