Carton with Integrated Handle Assembly

Abstract

A carton for storing a plurality of products includes a main body establishing an enclosure with an interior cavity for storing a plurality of products, with the enclosure being formed from a plurality of interconnected panels. A hingedly connected access flap, enabling access to the interior cavity, is formed from and extends across portions of at least two of the plurality of panels. The carton is provided with a handle assembly established, at least in part, by first and second openings, with the first opening being formed in the access flap and the second opening being formed adjacent the access flap in one of the plurality of panels. The handle assembly enables the carton to be readily grasped with one hand while simultaneously closing an access opening to the carton with the flap.

Claims

1. A carton for storing a plurality of products comprising: a main body establishing an enclosure with an interior cavity for storing a plurality of products, with the enclosure being formed from a plurality of interconnected panels, including a plurality of side panels and first and second end panels which collectively form the main body; an access flap hingedly connected to the main body and enabling access to the interior cavity, with the access flap being formed from and extending across portions of at least two of the plurality of panels; and a handle assembly established, at least in part, by first and second openings, with the first opening being formed in the access flap and the second opening being formed adjacent the access flap in one of the plurality of panels, said first and second openings being spaced by a distance enabling the carton to be grasped through the handle assembly with one hand.

2. The carton of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of individually wrapped edible food products stored in the interior cavity, with the food products being accessible by a consumer due to the flap.

3. The carton of claim 2, wherein the main body is formed of paperboard or corrugated material.

4. The carton of claim 1, wherein the at least two of the plurality of panels includes one of the plurality of side panels and one of the first and second end panels.

5. The carton of claim 4, wherein the access flap is connected to the main body of the carton by a living hinge.

6. The carton of claim 1, wherein the access flap includes a free end portion forming part of one of the at least two of the plurality of panels and another portion hingedly connected to another one of the at least two of the plurality of panels.

7. The carton of claim 6, further comprising perforations formed in the at least two of the plurality of panels and extending about all but one section of the access flap.

8. The carton of claim 7, wherein the access flap is hingedly connected to the main body along the one section in one of the first and second end panels.

9. The carton of claim 7, wherein the first opening is closer than the second opening to where the access flap is hingedly connected to the main body.

10. The carton of claim 1, wherein the first opening is smaller than the second opening and configured to receive a thumb of the one hand.

11. The carton of claim 10, wherein the first opening is generally circular and the second opening is generally elliptical.

12. The carton of claim 10, wherein the access flap includes a free end portion forming part of one of the at least two of the plurality of panels and the second opening is also formed in the one of the at least two of the plurality of panels.

13. The carton of claim 10, wherein the access flap includes a free end portion forming part of one of the at least two of the plurality of panels and the second opening is also formed in a panel adjacent the one of the at least two of the plurality of panels.

14. A method of carrying a carton including a main body establishing an enclosure with an interior cavity for storing a plurality of products, with the enclosure being formed from a plurality of interconnected panels, including a plurality of side panels and first and second end panels, and having an access flap formed from and extending across portions of at least two of the plurality of panels, with the access flap being selectively pivotable between an opened position wherein the access flap is positioned to expose an enlarged access opening through which a product stored in the carton can be readily accessed and a closed position wherein the access flap extends across the enlarged access opening, said method comprising: grasping the carton with the access flap in the closed position by inserting at least one finger of a user's hand into a first opening formed in the access flap and at least one other finger of the user's hand in a second opening formed adjacent the access flap in one of the plurality of panels.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the first and second openings are formed in a common one of the plurality of panels.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the first and second openings are formed in different ones of the plurality of panels.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising: pivoting the access flap to the closed position by means of a hinge connecting the access flap to one of the plurality of panels.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the first opening is formed directly adjacent a free end portion of the access flap and the second opening is formed in the one of the plurality of panels which is spaced or offset from the flap.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein inserting the at least one finger of a user's hand into the first opening formed in the access flap includes inserting the user's thumb into the first opening.

20. The method of claim 14, further comprising: grasping the carton with the user's hand extending around a corner of the carton.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a carton fainted with an access flap and handle assembly in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention.

[0010] FIG. 2 illustrates two cartons constructed in the manner shown in FIG. 1, with one of the cartons being supported in a vertical orientation and the other carton being supported in a horizontal orientation.

[0011] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the carton of FIG. 1 being grasped through use of the handle assembly.

[0012] FIG. 4 is a perspective view similar to that of FIG. 1 but wherein openings of the handle assembly are reverse.

[0013] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another carton handle arrangement in accordance with the invention wherein one of the openings is provided in a carton side panel distinct from the flap.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] Initially, it should be noted that the use of terms, such as upper, lower, front, rear, top, bottom and the like, herein is for reference purposes only in describing exemplary forms of the invention as set forth below and illustrated in the drawings. Therefore, these terms should not be considered limiting as to the overall invention.

[0015] With initial reference to FIG. 1, a carton constructed in accordance with the present invention is generally indicated at 5. In accordance with the invention, carton 5 can be made of various materials, particularly paperboard or corrugated material like cardboard, and used to store a variety of products 10, such as individually wrapped snack food products, which are stored in carton 5 until selectively accessed. As will be detailed more fully below, carton 5 can be supported in various orientations and is specifically designed with a handle assembly which enables carton 5 to be easily repositioned or transported in a manner which assures that the stored products cannot fall out an access opening of the carton.

[0016] In accordance with the preferred embodiment shown, carton 5 is defined by a main body 8 which establishes an enclosure for storing products 10 within an interior cavity 12 thereof. Main body 8 is formed form a plurality of interconnected side panels 17-22, with side panels 21 and 22 being depicted as establishing end panels. Carton 5 also includes an access flap 30 for exposing interior cavity 12. As clearly shown in the figures, access flap 30 extends across portions of at least two of the side panels 17-22. More specifically, referring back to the embodiment of FIG. 1, access flap 30 includes a first portion 34 which is formed from a portion of side panel 17 and a second portion 35 formed from a portion of end panel 21. As will be detailed more fully below, first portion 34 is connected to second portion 35 along a fold line 37 and second portion 35 is hinged to the remainder of end panel 21, preferably through a living hinge indicated at 38. Overall, access flap 30 includes edge portions 42-48, each of which formed part of a respective perforated tear line with other portion of main body 8. In this manner, access flap 30 establishes part of the enclosure encapsulating the various products 10 and then can be readily detached along the perforations associated with edge portions 42-48 and shifted, particularly based on the inclusion of hinge 38, to establish an access opening 50 and enable selective access to products 10 within interior cavity 12. At this point, it should also be noted that the connection defining hinge 38 could also be perforated to enable access flap 30 to be completely removed if desired by a consumer.

[0017] Given its construction, carton 5 can be conveniently supported in multiple positions. FIG. 2 illustrates two particularly convenient support configurations. That is, the left side of this figure shows carton 5 supported in a generally upright position as end panel 22 rests directly on a supporting surface 52, such as a kitchen countertop or pantry shelf, while the right side of the figure shows side panel 19 of carton 5 resting directly on supporting surface 52. In both arrangements, access flap 30 is folded back such that second portion 35 extends along part of side panel 21 and first portion 34 extends along part of side panel 19. Based thereon, it should be clear that hinge 38 has provided for near 180 pivoting of access flap 30 and first portion 34 has been rotated about fold line 37 through 90 relative to hinge 38. However, as indicated above, access flap 30 could also be completely removed, such as by including perforations along the connection defining hinge 38. In addition, given the particularly advantageous sizing for second portion 35 relative to an overall dimension of side panel 21, i.e., second portion 35 being essentially half of the total dimension of side panel 21 between side panels 17 and 19, first portion 34 will extend along side panel 19 such that access flap 30 can be conveniently repositioned to enable unobstructed access to interior cavity 12.

[0018] Also important in connection with the present invention is the inclusion of a handle assembly which is generally indicated at 60 in the figures. As will be detailed more fully below, various different handle arrangements are disclosed, with each handle assembly 60 including an opening in first portion 34 of access flap 30 and another opening in one of side panels 17, 18 or 20, with the two openings being used in tandem to enable both the closing of the access opening 50 established by access flap 30 and the secure grasping of carton 5 by a single hand of a user.

[0019] With initial reference to the arrangement of FIGS. 1-3, handle assembly 60 includes a first opening 63 formed in a terminal end portion 67 of first portion 34 of access flap 30, adjacent but spaced from edge portion 45. In FIG. 1, first opening 63 is formed by punch-out tabs 72 and 73 which create a substantially circular opening. In addition, handle assembly 60 includes a second opening 75 formed by punch-out tabs 76 and 77 formed in side panel 17 at a position adjacent but spaced from access opening 50. In the preferred embodiment shown, second opening 75 is an elongated, generally elliptical opening. As perhaps best shown in FIG. 3, this arrangement enables a user to both retain access flap 30 in a closed position and securely grasp carton 5 for transport or other purposes, all with a single hand 90. More specifically, a user can position access flap 30 at opening 50, place a thumb 92 of hand 90 in first opening 63 and place multiple additional fingers 95 of hand 90 in second opening 75 to securely grasp carton 5. With both first and second openings 63 and 75 being provided along a common side of carton 5 and spaced a distance generally in the order of 4-5 inches (approximately 10-13 cm) center-to-center, carton 5 can be easily repositioned without fear of any products 10 falling out of interior cavity 12.

[0020] Also contemplated in connection with the invention is repositioning and re-arranging of first and second openings 63 and 75. For instance, FIG. 4 illustrates an arrangement wherein first opening 63 and second opening 75 are reversed from that of FIG. 3 where first opening 63 is closer than second opening 75 to hinge 38. Therefore, the first or smaller thumb opening 63 is provided in side panel 17 spaced from access opening 50 and the elongated, multi-finger second opening 75 is formed in access flap 30. Certainly, it should be readily apparent that carton 5 can be grasped and maneuvered in a similar manner with this rearrangement of components. FIG. 5 shows another configuration wherein first opening 63 is again provided in access flap 30, while second opening 75 is formed in side panel 18 and preferably extends partially above and partially below a level of access opening 50 as depicted in this figure. With this arrangement, the user's hand 90 would actually extend around a corner 99 of carton 5 for grasping purposes.

[0021] Based on the above, it should be readily apparent that the invention provides for establishing a repositionable, enlarged access flap which extends across multiple side panels of a carton, can remain attached to the carton through a hinge and defines, in combination with a second opening formed in another portion of the carton, a handle assembly which can be used to conveniently grasp and lift the carton with a single hand of a user. Although disclosed with reference to preferred embodiments of the invention, is should be readily apparent that various changes and modifications can be made to the invention without departing from the spirit thereof. For instance, although the illustrated embodiments depict certain configurations for access flap 30, it should be recognized that access flap 30 can take various forms. By way of example, access opening 50 could be enlarged by having edge portions 44 and 46 extend directly to the corner established by side panels 17, 18, 21 and 17, 20 and 21 respectively. These reconfigured edge portions 44, 46 could extend linearly from edge portion 45, through multiple angled sections or even through curvilinear portions without departing from the invention.