BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention, in general, relates to a container for a liquid and, more particularly, to a container made of a fibrous web provided with an adhesively sealed and multi-layered substantially straight seam which may be opened by peeling the seam apart over at least part of its length.

2. The Prior Art

Such containers (see FIGS. 1-3) enjoy wide popularity and are well known for packaging beverages such as milk and fruit juices. They are usually made from a unitary blank of a polymer-coated fibrous web such as, for instance, card board folded into an elongate body of rectangular cross-section consisting of first and second pairs of opposite side walls, a bottom wall disposed normal to the two pairs of side walls for sealing one end of the body and a somewhat complex closure section at the other end of the body. The closure section is made up of elongations and extensions of the first and second pairs of side walls with extensions of the first pair being folded towards each other and sealed along their free margins or lips retaining between them folded-over free margins or lips of elongations of the second pair of opposite side walls. The latter lips are folded-over and abut at their centers. The sealed lips of the extensions and elongations of both pairs of side walls extend vertically upwardly and are secured by an adhesive the tear-strength of which ideally is less than that of the web material. The lips of the extensions of the first pair of side walls being wider than those of the second pair, the latter are completely covered by, and recessed between, the former. The container is opened by spreading asunder the folded-over lips of the second pair and the covering lips of the first pair by more than 90Â° and by then separating the lips of the second pair from those of the first pair to form a quadrilateral opening with a pointed pouring spout formed at the junction of the folded-over sections of the second pair of lips.

Such a closure suffers from inherent disadvantages. Frequently, some of the fluid is spilled from the container while the lips of the first and second pairs are separated, and frequently the separation of the second lip from the first lips poses problems because the second lips cannot be grasped and causes them to be at least partially torn or shredded and, therefore, leaving a poorly functioning pouring spout.

It is not unlikely that these disadvantages led to the appearance, more recently, of containers (see FIG. 4) which while retaining the described closure configuration closure are provided in one of the inclined surfaces of the first pair of side walls with a screw cap arrangement the neck of which is provided with a tear-away tamper-proof seal which is discarded after the screw cap has been taken off.

One drawback inherent in the screw cap and tamper-proof seal arrangement that often some liquid is spilled from the container when its seal is torn off. Another drawback is that the position of the screw cap and the configuration of the container's closure section prevent removal of all the liquid from the container. Moreover, the screw cap and seal increase the cost of the container because of the cost of the cap and seal and the steps required to assemble them into the blank of the container. These include cutting an opening into the inclined end section of one of the sidewalls, the flanged neck of the closure to be inserted into the opening, and the flange of the neck to be secured, usually by a heat setting adhesive, to the internal surface of the inclined end section.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a container of the kind referred to above which suffers from none of its disadvantages or drawbacks.

Another object of the invention is to bring about an improvement of such containers, even those made from existing stocks.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a container for liquids which requires no screw cap.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a container of the kind referred to which provides for proper opening, no spilling as a result of the opening action and complete removal of the liquid from the container.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a container of the kind referred to the inner lips of which can be grasped to assure their proper separation from the outre lips and thus form a properly functioning pouring spout.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In the accomplishment of these and other objects, the invention provides for a container of the kind referred to in which the folded-over lips inner lips are higher than the outer lips so that after spreading them apart the then unfolded inner lips can be grasped and cleanly severed from the lower outer lip to form a quadrilateral opening with a properly functioning pouring spout.

Other objects will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL DRAWINGS

The novel features which are considered to be characteristic of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, in respect of its structure, construction and lay-out as well as manufacturing techniques, together with other objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of preferred embodiments when read in connection with the appended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a liquid container in accordance with the prior art, in its open state;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the container of FIG. 1 in a partially open state;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the container of FIG. 1 depicting the fold-lines of its opening structure;

FIG. 4 is an exploded view, in perspective, of another liquid container in accordance with the prior art, provided with a screw cap and an tear-open tamper-proof seal;

FIG. 5 is a perspective sectional view of a container in accordance with the present invention, in its closed state;

FIG. 6 is a perspective sectional view of the container of FIG. 5, in a partially open state;

FIG. 7 is a perspective sectional view of the container of FIG. 5 in its open state;

FIG. 8 is a front elevational view of the container of FIG. 5 in a partially open state;

FIG. 9 is a perspective sectional view of another embodiment of a container in accordance with the invention, in its closed state;

FIG. 10 is a perspective sectional view of the container of FIG. 9, in its open state;

FIG. 11 is a different perspective sectional view of the container of FIG. 9, in its open state;

FIG. 12 is a front elevational view, partially in section, of the container of FIG. 9 in a partially open state;

FIG. 13 is a planar view of a flat blank, partially in section, for making a container in accordance with the prior art; and

FIG. 14 is a planar view of a flat blank, partially in section, for making a container in accordance with the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS.

The prior art container 10 shown in FIG. 1 is made from a flat blank 10a (FIG. 13) of a flexible web material which is either inherently impervious to gases and liquids or has been treated to be so. Usually, containers of this kind are made of polymer-coated card board. The container 10 consists of four side walls 14, 16, 18, 20, a bottom wall (not shown) and, at its end opposite the bottom wall, a selectively openable closure consisting of extensions 24, 26, 28, 30 of the side walls adhesively secured along seams formed by predetermined marginal portions or lips of the extensions and selectively openable by pulling apart at least some of those seams.

As shown in FIG. 13, the blank 10a consists of four sections 14, 16, 18, 20 and a flap 12. The four sections 14, 16, 18, 20 constitute the four side walls of the container 10 in its assembled state, and the flap 12 serves adhesively to connect to the parallel free margin of section 20. The bottom of the container (not shown) may either consist of an extension of one of the sidewall sections provided with appropriate marginal flaps for adhesive connection with the other three side walls, or, as is the case with commercially available containers of the kind, it may consists of a section of each of the side walls folded to form a multi-layered container bottom.

Each one of the flap 12 and side walls 14, 16, 18, 20 is provided by an extension 22, 24, 26, 28, 30. The extensions 22, 24, 26, 28, 30 are offset from the flap 22 and from the side walls 14, 16, 18, 20 by fold-lines 32, 34, 36, 38, 40 and from each other by fold-lines 42, 44, 46, 48. At their free ends the extensions 22, 24, 26, 28, 30 are provided with lips 50, 52, 54, 56, 58 respectively delimited from the extensions by fold-lines 60, 62, 64, 66, 68. For purposes to be described, the lips 52 and 56 are wider than the lips 50, 54, 58.

Within the surface area of the extensions 26 and 30 there are provided fold-lines 70, 72 and 74, 76 which extend from the center of the fold-lines 64 and 68, respectively, and which terminate at the intersections of fold-lines 44 and 36, 36 and 46, and of fold-lines 48 and 40, 40 and 42. It will be appreciated that in the assembled state of the container 10 the intersection of fold-lines 32 and 42 is the same as the intersection of fold-line 40 and the free edge of extension 30. The fold-lines 70, 36, 72 and 74, 40, 76 form triangularly shaped center areas within the end sections 26 and 30 and the fold-lines 44, 64, 70 and 64, 46, 72 as well as 48, 68, 74 and 68, 76, 42 form lateral triangles on each side of the triangularly shaped center areas.

Once the flap 12 and its extension 22 have been adhesively connected to the free margin of section 20 and its extension 30 and a bottom has been fitted, the container may be filled. Thereafter, the closure is formed substantially as follows: The extensions 26 and 30 are pivoted inwardly towards each other about their fold-lines 36, 40. This causes the triangularly shaped center areas to move inwardly and their adjacent lateral triangles to pivot to a position over the triangular center areas. The inward movement causes the lip 54 of the end section 26 and the lip 58 of end section 30 to fold slightly outwardly about their fold-lines 78, 80 in their respective centers, at the apex of the triangular center areas, and ceases once the facing surfaces of the folded-over lip sections 54a, 54b and 58a, 58b fully engage each other in a substantially upright orientation and the apices constituted by the fold-lines 78, 80 abut each other. During inward pivoting of the extensions 26, 30 the extensions 24, 28 of side walls 14, 18 are also pivoted inwardly about their fold-lines 34 and 38 and toward each other in a direction normal to the pivoting direction of the extensions 26 and 30. The extensions 24, 28 thus move over the center and lateral triangles. The movement terminates once the lips 52, 56 engage each other in a vertically upright orientation and retain between them the folded-over lips 46a, 46b and 50a, 50b. A tetrahedral recess constituted by the center triangular area and its two lateral triangles is formed at opposite sides of the container 10.

A heat setting adhesive, for instance, applied to the outer surface of the lips 54, 58 and to the inner surfaces of the lips 52, 56 may then be activated by a suitably heated vice to seal the container 10. The resultant structure of the container 10 and the state of some of the fold-lines in the closed container 10 are shown in FIG. 3. It will be seen that in their vertical orientation the outer lips 52, 56 extend beyond, and fully cover, the folded-over inner lips 54a, 54b; 58a, 58b.

In order to open the container 10, a person inserts his thumbs into one of the two recesses at opposite lateral sides of the container 10 and spreads them apart. Assuming he inserts his thumbs into the recess over extension 26, this would cause the lips sections 54a, 54b and the outer lips 52, 56 to spread and the adhesive seams between the lip sections 54a, 54b to separate up to the fold-line 78 and the lateral triangles to lift off the center triangle. Once the lip sections 54a, 54b and 52, 56 have been pivoted somewhat more than 90Â° (FIG. 2), the person severs the adhesive seams between the now unfolded sections of lip 54 and the lips 52, 56 by pulling the triangular center section and lateral triangles forward and away from the inner surface of extensions 24, 28. Since the inner lip 54 is lower than the outer lips 52, 56, and since there is nothing for the person securely to grasp for pulling the lip 54 away from the lips 52, 56, the separation is often difficult and frequently results in one or both of the lower lip sections 56a, 54b being damaged. Such damage has been found to be particularly prevalent near the apex formed by the fold-line 78 between the folded-over sections 54a, 54b of the lip 54. The damage prevents any liquid in the container from being poured properly. The container is shown in FIG. 1 in its ideal open state, i.e. with the lip 54 not being damaged. It will be understood that if the person had opened the container by way of the recess at the opposite side of the carton, the action would have been substantially similar to the one described.

FIG. 4 depicts another prior art container 10â€² which differs from the one described by the provision of a closure 82 shown in an exploded view and consisting of a neck 84 extending from an aperture in one of the end surfaces provided with a screw-thread 86, a removable tamper-proof seal 88 provided with a pull-tab 90 initially closing the neck 84 and a crew cap 92 provided with a knurled circumferential surface and internal threads (not shown) matching the thread 86 of the neck 84. In order initially to open the container 10â€² a person has to unscrew the cap 92 and remove the tamper-proof seal 88 by pulling its tab 90. Removal of the tamper-proof seal 88 often causes some of the liquid in the container 10â€² to splash out. While the container 10â€² may be repeatedly opened and closed by virtue of its screw cap 92, it substantially prevents removal of residual liquid. Moreover, the screw cap arrangement is wasteful in terms of material used and, given the enormous number of such containers in use, expensive.

FIGS. 5 and 9 are sectional perspective views of alternative embodiments of a container 100â€², 100 in accordance with the invention. A section of a flat fibrous web blank 100aâ€², 100a for making a container 100â€², 100 is schematically shown in FIGS. 15 and 14. The difference between the containers 100â€² and 100 resides in the configuration of their inner lips 154â€² and 154. The former is rounded or. curved, rising at both sides from the height of the adjacent lips 152â€² and 156â€², the latter 154 being, except for its rounded ends, uniform and about twice the height of the adjacent lips 152 and 156. The reference characters used are, but for a primes in the case of container 100â€², identical for identical elements.

The blank 100a consists of a sealing flap 112, and four elongate sections 114, 116, 118, 120 all of which are positioned parallel and delimited by fold-lines 142, 144, 146, 148. At one end, each one of the flap 120 and sections 114, 116, 118, 120 is provided with an extension 122,124, 126, 128, 130, respectively, with a fold-line 132, 134, 136, 138, 140 between each one of them and its associated elongate section. By folding the flap 112 and the sections 114, 116, 118, 120 and their extensions 122, 124, 126, 128, 130 about their fold-lines 142, 144, 146, 148 by 90Â° and by adhesively joining the flap 112 and its extension 122 to the free longitudinal margin of section 120 and its extension 130, a tubular body of substantially square cross-section is formed which at one end may be closed by a bottom (not shown) in the manner described supra in connection with the prior art container 10. It will be understood that by folding the flap and sections and their extensions about fold lines 142, 144, 146, 148, and adhesively joining lip 150, extension 122 and section 112 to the free margin of section 120 and its extension 130, fold line 160 will merge with fold line 168, fold-line 132 with fold-line 140 and fold-line 142 with the free edge of section 120 and its extension 130. The opposite end of the tubular body is closed by a structure to be described.

At their free ends, the extensions 122, 124, 126, 128, 130 are provided with lips 150, 152, 154, 156, 158 with fold-lines 160, 162, 164, 166, 168 delimiting the former from the latter. For reasons of clarity, the extensions 126 and 130 of sections 116 and 120 will hereafter sometimes be called elongations. As shown in FIG. 14, lips 150, 152, 156, 158 are narrower or lower, e.g. about 2/8â€³ to about â…œâ€³ than lip 154 which measure, for instance, between about â… â€³ and about Â¾â€³, or about half as high, although the size of the container may mandate different relative or absolute differences in the dimensions of the lips 152 and 154. The higher lip 154 and the lower lip 158 are each provided with a fold-line 170, 172 which divides each of the lips 154, 158 into symmetrical elongate sectors 154a, 154b and 158a, 158b. Each of the extensions 126 and 130 is seen to have a triangular center section outlined by fold-lines 174, 176 extending from fold-line 170 to the intersection of fold-lines 144 and 146 with fold-line 136 and by fold-lines 178, 180 extending from fold-line 172 to the intersection of fold-lines 148 and 142 with fold-line 140. (The fold-line 142 equals the edge of extension 130 and section 120). On either side of the triangular center sections, there is positioned a triangle defined by fold-lines 144, 164, 174 and 146, 164, 176 in the case of extension 126 and by fold-lines 148, 168, 178 and 142, 168, 180 in the case of extension 130.

As will now have become apparent, it is the position of the triangular sections in extension 126 and its opposite extension 130 in which the container 100 of the invention differs from, and is believed top be superior to, the prior art container. A further difference is, of course, that the container 100 in accordance with the invention may be provided with only one extension provided with a lip higher than the lips of the other three extensions. However, persons skilled in the art will understand that the lip 158 could be as high as lip 154 without departing from the scope of the instant invention.

As mention supra, the higher lip 154 schematically shown in FIG. 14 may either have a straight outer edge or, as shown in FIG. 15, the outer edge of its two elongate sections may be of curved configuration gradually increasing from the level of the adjacent lips 152, 156 towards the fold-line 170. Container 100â€² shown in FIG. 5 incorporates a lip 154â€² the outer edge of which is curved, and FIG. 9 depicts a container 100 with a substantially straight edged lip 154.

The container is closed by pivoting extensions 126 and 130 towards each other which causes their triangular center sections to move inwardly and to pivot their respective lateral triangles by way of the fold-lines 174, 176 and 178, 180 over them. At the same time, the elongate lips sectors 154a, 154b and 158a, 158b pivot towards each other. The movement of the extensions 126 and 130 continues until the lip sectors 154a, 154b and 158a, 158b fully engage each other and their apices formed by the fold-lines 170 and 172 abut each other. Movement of the extensions 126, 130 is transmitted to the extensions 124, 128 by virtue of their connections along fold-lines 142, 144, 146, 148. The extensions 124, 128 pivot in a direction normal to the pivoting of extensions 126, 130, and their movement towards each other continues until their lips 152 and 156 engage opposite sides of the folded-over lips 154 and 158.

An adhesive, preferably of the thermo-setting kind, applied to the outer engaging surfaces of folded-over lip sectors 154a, 154b and 158a, 158b and to the inner surface of lips 152, 156 which engage opposite sides of the lips 154 and 158 may be used to seal the container by means of a heated vice or the like. On opposite sides of the sealed container, a tetrahedral recess is formed by the center triangular area and their associated lateral triangular surfaces.

The container is opened by spreading the inner folded-over lip sectors 154a, 154b and the outer lips 152, 156 asunder by somewhat more than 90Â° each (FIGS. 8 and 12) and by then pulling the lip sectors 154a, 154b off the lips 152, 156 to form a substantially quadrilateral opening 182 (FIGS. 7 and 11) with a pouring spout 184 at the junction or fold-line 170 of lip sectors 154a, 154b. Since the lips sectors 154a, 154b extend beyond the out margin of lips 152 and 152, they may be conveniently grasped for pulling them off the lips 152, 156. Since unlike in prior art containers the outer edge of the lips sectors 154a, 154b are not coated with an adhesive, pulling the lip sectors 154a, 154b off the lips 152, 156 does not result in their being torn or shredded. Accordingly, a straight edge is formed to provide for a clean pouring spout in the quadrilateral opening. Both embodiments offer the distinct advantage of providing a lip 154, 154â€² which can be grasped for severing the adhesive connection between them and lips 152, 156 or 152â€², 156â€² and provide a clean and straight pouring edge and spout.

The container shown in FIG. 5-8, and the blank shown in FIG. 15, being, but for the curved configuration of its lip 154â€² substantially identical to the container shown in FIGS. 9-12 and its blank 14, a detailed description thereof will, for the sake of brevity, not be given.

As has been shown, a container for a liquid or beverage such as, for instance, milk or fruit juice, has been disclosed which substantially overcomes the sanitary problems and nuisance inherent in the opening of prior art containers of this kind.