Carton With Hand-Receiving Tear Initiation Feature

Abstract

A package includes a plurality of upright bottles arranged in at least one row, and a carton for enclosing the bottles. The carton includes a top wall disposed over tops of the bottles and at least one cushioning flap hingedly connected to the top wall along a fold line. A portion of the cushioning flap is defined at least in part by a tear line such that the cushioning flap is separable from the top wall along the tear line and is inwardly foldable along the fold line so as to provide in the top wall an aperture for receiving fingers of a user's hand and a cushioned edge that can be gripped for engaging the carton. The cushioning flap is concavely contoured along the tear line such that the cushioning flap can be folded inwardly with a portion of the cushioning flap passing over at least one of the bottles without being obstructed by said at least one bottle and with extended distal ends of the cushioning flap passing on either side of said at least one bottle.

1 . A carton for enclosing a plurality of articles disposed in a plurality of rows, the carton comprising: 
 a detachable portion that is at least partially detachable from the carton to define an opening for exposing articles in the carton, the detachable portion being defined by a substantially continuous severance line, wherein the detachable portion is separable along the severance line to define a substantially continuous edge of the carton; and    a tear initiation feature, comprising a cushioning flap that is hingedly connected to the detachable portion along a fold line, a portion of the cushioning flap being defined at least in part by a segment of the severance line such that the cushioning flap is separable from the carton along the segment of the severance line, the cushioning flap being inwardly foldable along the fold line so as to provide a hand-receiving aperture and to provide a cushioned edge that can be gripped for engaging the detachable portion;    wherein the segment of the severance line is contoured so as to define extended distal ends of the cushioning flap for extending between the necks of adjacent articles in one of said rows of articles.    
   
   
       2 . The carton of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one cushioning flap is further defined by at least one severance line.  
   
   
       3 . The carton of  claim 1 , wherein the fold line that defines the cushioning flap is offset from the segment of the severance line.  
   
   
       4 . The carton of  claim 3 , wherein the cushioning flap is further defined by a pair of severance lines each extending between the fold line and the segment of the severance line.  
   
   
       5 . The carton of  claim 3 , wherein the carton includes multiple cushioning flaps that are each defined by a plurality of severance lines each extending between the fold line and the segment of the severance line.  
   
   
       6 . The carton of  claim 1 , wherein the carton includes a plurality of detachable portions that can be separated from the carton along severance lines to provide a strap handle, wherein at least one of the segments of the severance lines are contoured so as to at least partially define a handle flap.  
   
   
       7 . The carton of  claim 6 , wherein the handle flap is further defined by a fold line, the handle flap being foldable along the fold line so as to provide a cushioned edge for the strap handle.  
   
   
       8 . The carton of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one cushioning flap is dimensioned and positioned relative to an arrangement of articles that can be enclosed in the carton such that the at least one cushioning flap can be folded along the fold line so as to be disposed in a space defined by adjacent ones of the arrangement of the articles.  
   
   
       9 . The carton of  claim 1 , wherein the width of the cushioned edge is not substantially less than the width of a user's hand.  
   
   
       10 . A package, comprising: 
 a plurality of articles arranged in at least one row; and    a carton for enclosing the articles, the carton comprising: 
 a detachable portion for being at least partially detachable from the carton to define an opening for exposing articles in the carton;  
 a substantially continuous severance line defining the at least partially detachable portion wherein the detachable portion is separable along the severance line to define a substantially continuous edge of the carton; and  
 a tear initiation feature, comprising at least one cushioning flap hingedly connected to the detachable portion along a fold line, a portion of the cushioning flap being defined at least in part by a segment of the severance line such that the cushioning flap is separable from the carton along the segment of the severance line and is inwardly foldable along the fold line so as to provide an aperture for receiving fingers of a user's hand and a cushioned edge that can be gripped for engaging the detachable portion;  
 wherein the cushioning flap is concavely contoured along the segment such that the cushioning flap can be folded inwardly with a portion of the cushioning flap passing over at least one of the articles without being obstructed by said at least one article and with extended distal ends of the cushioning flap passing on either side of said at least one article.  
   
   
   
       11 . The package of  claim 10 , wherein the concavely contoured portion of the segment of the severance line diverges from a point that is disposed above a space between first and second rows of bottles to points disposed above a space between adjacent bottles in one of the first and second rows of bottles.  
   
   
       12 . A package, comprising: 
 a plurality of bottles disposed upright and arranged in at least one row; and    a carton for enclosing the bottles, the carton comprising: 
 a top wall disposed over tops of the bottles; and  
 at least one cushioning flap hingedly connected to the top wall along a fold line, a portion of the cushioning flap being defined at least in part by a tear line such that the cushioning flap is separable from the top wall along the tear line and is inwardly foldable along the fold line so as to provide in the top wail an aperture for receiving fingers of a user's hand and a cushioned edge that can be gripped for engaging the carton;  
 wherein the cushioning flap is concavely contoured along the tear line such that the cushioning flap can be folded inwardly with a portion of the cushioning flap passing over at least one of the bottles without being obstructed by said at least one bottle and with extended distal ends of the cushioning flap passing on either side of said at least one bottle.  
   
   
   
       13 . The package of  claim 12 , wherein the carton further comprises a strap handle formed at least in part from the top wall, the strap handle being defined by a pair of severance lines disposed in the top wall, wherein the tear line of the cushioning flap is provided at least in part by one of the severance lines.