US918601A - Egg carton or carrier. - Google Patents

Description

W. A. SCHURMANN. EGG CARTON 0R CARRIER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 16. 1908.

Patented Apr. 20, 1909.

2 sums-sum 1.

W Mm HH U w. A. SGHURMANN.

EGG CARTON 0R CARRIER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 16. 1908- 91 501 Patented Apr. 20, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET rigid and durable when in se, capable of be UNITED STATES PATENT cation.

7 WILLIAM A. SCHURMANN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

EGG CARTON OR CARRIER;

Application filed July 15, 1908. Serial n). 443,575.

useful Improvements in Egg Cartons or Carriers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

This invention relates to that class of egg carriers designed to be used for delivering a small number of eggs, a dozen or so, at a time, as' contradistinguished from egg car.- riers in which large quantities are shi ped, and the invention has for its rimary 0 ject to provide an improved, simp e and efficient egg carrier of this general class which will be ing readily knocked down in compact form other objects which W when not n use, and as readily setup for use when desired.

Another object of the invention is to ro- Vlde a box-like e g carrier or. caiton in WlllGlI 'thebbx portions all be capable of having its varlous members secured together to constitute the perfected box, and atthe same time be capable of folding into. a, compact form without necessarily detaching said members, whereby the device will be com pact for shipment, but will be susceptible of eing eadily set up or unfolded to receive the eggs or other contents.

A further object of thein'vention is to pro vide a crush box capable of having its sides held in position for use by the fillingor partitions which constitute the cells fdr the eggs or other contents.

With a view to the attainment' of these ends and the accom lishment of certain hereinafter appear, the invention consists in the features of novelty which willriow be described with reference to the accompanying drawin s, and

more particularly pointed. out in the c a1m-.

In said drawings, Figure 1 is a blank from which the carton is made. Fi .52 is a fragmentaryerspective viewof t e blank partiall fol ed to make thecarton. Fig. 3 isa simi ar perspective view showing the members of the blank secured at one end, and

thecompleted carton partially crushed.

combined, ready for use.

In carrying out the invention, "the or outside portion of the carrier is preferably Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April a0, 1 09.

composed of some thin material, such as paste board or stout paper, capable of being folded into the form of a box or receptacle,

and afterward being crushed to a fiat form so that it may be again set up readyfor res oeiving the contents without necessarilyde; taching the members of the blank, thus' providing .for the complete manufacture of the box at the box factory, where of course it can be made and secured together with much greater facility than is possible for the user.

After the carton or box portion is set up for use, the filler constituting the cells for the eggs or other contents is put within it, and serves the tVVOr'fQld purpose of holding the sides of the box in position while forming the partitions for holdi'ng the eggs apart;

' The box or carton is preferably formed from a single piece of material in the form of blank. In the exemplilicationof the invention shown in the drawings, the blank, whose outline is. better illustrated in Fig. 1 comises a bottom vortion 1, bounded by the our-crease or fol lines 2, 3, 4 and 5; a front wall or, portion 6, bounded at the inner side by the three fold'lines 5, 7 and '8; a back wall 9, bounded by the fold line 2 and the three fold lineslfl, 11 and 12; a top orlid member 13, having a locking lip 14 adapted to be folded downwardly at an angle to the lid along the fold line 15; end walls 16 and 17 walls 16, 17 aresimilarly turned .11 wardl'y alon the fold lines 3, 4 respectivey, after whic the stay members 18, 19 at each end are turned toward each other against the outer sides of the end walls 16, 17, the stay members 18', 19 being folded or bent along the fold lines 11, 12 and 7, 8 respectively,

and. after they are thus folded, they are secured in place in any desired way, such, for example, as by means of a staple 2Q assmg through the reinforced ends formed y the three members 16, 18 and 19. at one end and 17, 18 and 19 at the' other end of'the box. This constitutes the body of the box andit only remains to fold or crease the lid 13 along the line 16, when the lip 14 may be turne downwardly into the boxbetween the inner face of the wall 6 and the ends of the mem hers 16, 17 The box or'carton thus eonstructed may be crushed into the fiat form shown in Fig. 4, without'destroying the continuity of the walls or detaching the end members which hold the blank together, in the form of a box. There are, of course, various methods of thus collapsing the box, which will now suggest themselves to those familiar with the invention, but one which is most effective and results not only in a neat and compl ct package but which prevents the front we from bulging outwardly when the box is unfolded for use consists in forcing the front wall 6 inwardly-so that it will lie directly in contact with the bottom 1, then folding the front corners inwardly on top of the front wall, and finally folding the rear corners downwardly and forwardly on top of the ends,and over the bottom of the box, that is, so thatthey will lie directly in contact withthe outer faces of the members 18, these members in fact being folded directly upon themselves, while the top or lid lies fiat across the front corners and the front wall in the same plane as the folded back, assuming that the box is to be thus crushed with the lid uppermost. n Fig. 4, however, it is shown with the lid underneath for'the sake of better illustration. In order that the box may be thus crushed neatly and with readiness, the completely constructed box is provided with certain creases that are conducive to the structure being thus crushed always in the. same form and along the same crease lines.

which permit the wall to be forced inwardly,

I and the ends of -thebox are formed with upwardlyand inwardly extending creases 22. \Vhen the front corners are folded downwardly against the face of the front wall, the

upper ed es thereof cross the front wall at right ang es or substantially right angles to :the upper edge of said wall, and-these crease lines 21 extend from the point where the up- I form, but in practice it is preferable to clip these corners off, as indicated'at 19", and for the same reason the upper corners of the stay members 18 are clipped off as shown at 18 thus avoiding the necessity of folding these corners when the box is crushed, which would result in leaving them protruding from the end of the box when it is again set u for use.

This would not only make the en s of the box unsightly, but would somewhat interfere with the box being neatly crushed. After the box has been once crushedin the manner described, it possesses a tendency to again assume its crushed form after it has been The front wall is formed withupwardly and inwardly extending creases 21 The end with as usual.

straightened out thereby preventing the front 6 from bulging outwardly away from the filler which would weaken the box, but by placing the lock-lip 14 between the inner face of the front wall 6 and the ends of the end walls 17, it may be held inshape for use.

even without any other internal support, but when the carton thus constructed is employed as an egg carrier, the cellular filling which holds the eggs separated is made to perform the further function ofpreventing the walls of the box from collapsing.

In Fig. 5 of the drawings I have shown the filling in place ready to receive the eggs or other contents.- This filling may be of the usual or any suitable form. Of course it is desirable to employ a form capable of being collapsed, so as to lie flat like the carton itself, when not in use, but when in place in 1 the box will combine with the box in the joint duty of holding the box-and the filling against collapse, it being seen that so long as the marginal members of the filling are retained in their rectangular relation to one another, the filling will be held against collapse, and as long as the end and front walls of the box are supported by the direct thrust of the longitudinal and cross members of the filling, the box cannot collapse. The filling which is preferably employed for this purpose is composed of straight strips'or mem-' bers oppositely slitted and mortised together in the usual way, but the side and end members are preferably composed of asingle instead of separate strips. This single strip has its two ends brought to ether, as shown at 23, and after being over apped, they are locked together by being mortlsed with the middle longitudinal member 24, thus making the one strip serve for forming both as ends Well as the sides of the filling. The other end of the middle member 24 is interlocked with the opposite end portions 25 of the said continuous strip, in the same manner, or inany other suitable way, and the three longitudinal members thus constituted are secured together and spaced by the cross members 26 which are interlocked or mortised there- The cross members 26 and the longitudinal member 24 project slightly beyond the walls of the cells, as shown at 27, 28 respectively, and hold the cell walls away from the box walls.

ith' an egg carrier thus constructed it will be seen that after the box or outside portion is completely manufactured ready for-use, it may be crushed into a comparatively flat thin form and packed together with the cellular filling for shipment in a comparatively small s ace and when ready for use ma beinstant y unfolded for receiving the cel ular filling and the contents without the necessity of lockin the members of the blank (should the box e composed of a blank) before it can be got ready for use.

stood by those skilled in the art, the details of an exemplification thereof have been thus specifically described, but

What I claim is:

The herein described flexible box comprisin a bottom having end flaps provided with iagonalfold creases extendlngfrom the rear corners at the points of junction with the bottom and outwardly toward the top edges of the flaps to points remote from the front edges thereof, a front rovided with diagonal fold creases exten in from the lower corners inwardly toward t e top edge thereof, said front having flaps beyond the diagonal fold creases separate from the flaps on the bottom, a back-wall having end flaps separate from the flaps on the bottom and front and rear walls rovi'ded with diagonal fold creases extendmg from the lower corners toward the outer corners, the outer corners of the flaps on the flaps on the front and rear walls being folded over the end flaps on the bottom and over each other, a single fastening device passing being cut away, the end through all of the flaps for permanently securing the latter together to form reinforced end walls, and a top having a flap on its front edge adapted to be inserted within the box contiguous to the front wall for holding all of the walls from collapsing, the box being adapted to be crushed or fol ed fiat without destroying the continuity of the walls by bending the front wall inwardly on the diagonal fold creases between the end walls and upon the bottom, then folding the end walls inwardly toward each other on the diagonal fold creases and over the front wall, and then the rear wall inwardl toward the front wall and over the end wa Without detaching the-end flaps.

n testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, on this 13th day of July A. D. 1908.

WILLIAM A. SCHURMANN Witnesses; I

FRANCIS A. HOPKINS,

Elms. H. SEEM.

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