Tri-fold egg carton with lid sidewall protrusions
AssigneeTekni-Plex, Inc.
InventorsRichard L. Ramirez, Mark A. Bergeron, Babu Kuruvilla, Roger P. Lichtle
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Improvements have been made to one or more of a lid, cover, and base of a tri-fold egg carton, the improvements allowing the secure and easy loading and protection of jumbo sized eggs, in cartons that can be processed and packaged with standard equipment and in standard case sizes. Further, in one or more embodiments the improvements provide improved processability with automated labeling equipment. In one or more embodiments, the improvements allow for improved de-nesting of multiple empty cartons, prior to filling.
Claims25
A tri-fold plastic egg carton for accommodating jumbo eggs, in both oriented and non-oriented positions, in individual cell pockets comprising:
- a cell base, a cell cover and lid, wherein the egg carton can be assembled in a closed position having a length, a width and a height with the cell cover closed over the base and the lid closed over the cell cover;
- the cell base having opposing elongated edges aligned along the length of the carton;
- the cell cover having a hinged connection to one of the elongated edges of the cell base for pivoting between open and closed positions with respect to the cell base, the base and cover each having a complementary matrix of cells that together form a matrix of cell pockets for holding individual eggs when the cover is closed over the base, each cell pocket having a largest diameter portion transverse to the carton height to accommodate a jumbo egg in the cell pocket when the cell cover is closed over the cell base;
- the lid having a hinged connection to the other elongated edge of the base for pivoting between open and closed positions, wherein when the cover and base are in the closed position the lid can be closed over the cover to form the carton in the closed position;
- the lid having a top wall, depending front and rear sidewalls aligned along the length of the carton, and depending end walls aligned along the width at opposite ends of the carton;
- lid sidewall protrusions spaced apart along the front and rear sidewalls of the lid, each lid sidewall protrusion extending over the largest diameter portion of the cell pocket when the lid is closed over the cover and base.
A tri-fold plastic egg carton for accommodating jumbo eggs, in both oriented and non-oriented positions, in individual cell pockets comprising:
- a cell base, a cell cover and lid, wherein the egg carton can be assembled in a closed position having a length, a width and a height with the cell cover closed over the cell base and the lid closed over the cell cover;
- the cell base having opposing elongated edges aligned along the length of the carton;
- the cell cover having a hinged connection to one of the elongated edges of the cell base for pivoting between open and closed positions with respect to the cell base, the base and cover each having a complementary matrix of cells that together form a matrix of cell pockets for holding individual eggs when the cover is closed over the base, each cell pocket having a largest diameter portion transverse to the carton height to accommodate a jumbo egg in the cell pocket when the cell cover is closed over the cell base;
- the lid having a hinged connection to the other elongated edge of the base for pivoting between open and closed positions, wherein when the cover and base are in the closed position the lid can be closed over the cover to form the assembled carton in the closed position;
- the lid having a top wall, depending front and rear sidewalls aligned along the length of the carton, and depending end walls aligned along the width at opposite ends of the carton;
- the lid having rounded corners between the lid sidewalls and end walls,
- the base and cover having flat peripheral mating surfaces that engage in planar relation when the cover is closed over the base,
- the lid having a flat peripheral mating surface that lies over and engages in planar relation the flat peripheral mating surfaces of the closed cover and base, and
- wherein the lid corners between the front sidewall and the two end walls each have a lip tab extending from the flat peripheral mating surface of the lip, each lip tab having a first wall that extends generally transverse to the flat peripheral mating surface to restrain movement of the base with respect to the cover in the closed position, and a second wall that extends from the first wall to form a finger tab for moving the lid to an open position away from the closed cover and base.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.