Compressed tissue product

Abstract

Tissue products comprising an expandable dispensing carton and a compressed stack of folded tissues, such as facial tissues, can significantly reduce costs associated with shipping such low density products. Expansion of the expandable dispensing carton can be activated by the user or the retailer, thereby releasing the compression of the tissue stack and allowing the tissues to be dispensed normally.

1 . A tissue product comprising a compressed stack of folded tissue sheets constrained within an expandable dispensing carton, said expandable dispensing carton comprising: (a) a rigid lower portion having a bottom and four sidewalls; (b) a rigid upper portion having four sidewalls and a top with a dispensing opening through which the tissue sheets are dispensed, said upper portion and said lower portions slidably fitting past each other; and (c) a releasable constraining device which maintains the upper and lower portions of the carton in a contracted position until released by a user, whereupon the compressed stack of tissue sheets decompresses and raises the upper portion relative to the lower portion. 
     
     
         2 . The tissue product of  claim 1  wherein the releasable constraining device is a sticker or adhesive tape. 
     
     
         3 . The tissue product of  claim 1  wherein the releasable constraining device is a plastic overwrap or plastic sleeve. 
     
     
         4  The tissue product of  claim 1  wherein the expandable dispensing carton has a height in a contracted position and a different height in an expanded position, wherein the height of the expandable dispensing carton in the contracted position is from about 20 to about 80 percent of the height of the expandable dispensing carton in the expanded position. 
     
     
         5 . The tissue product of  claim 1  wherein the expandable dispensing carton has a height in a contracted position and a different height in an expanded position, wherein the height of the expandable dispensing carton in the contracted position is from about 30 to about 70 percent of the height of the expandable dispensing carton in the expanded position. 
     
     
         6 . The tissue product of  claim 1  wherein the expandable dispensing carton has a height in a contracted position and a different height in an expanded position, wherein the height of the expandable dispensing carton in the contracted position is from about 40 to about 60 percent of the height of the expandable dispensing carton in the expanded position. 
     
     
         7 . The tissue product of  claim 1  wherein height of expandable dispensing carton, after all of the tissue sheets have been dispensed, is less than the height of the expandable dispensing carton in the expanded position. 
     
     
         8 . The tissue product of  claim 1  wherein the top portion slidably fits over the bottom portion. 
     
     
         9 . The tissue product of  claim 1  wherein the bottom portion slidably fits over the top portion. 
     
     
         10 . A shipping container containing an assembly of expandable dispensing cartons containing a compressed stack of folded tissue sheets, said expandable dispensing cartons being constrained in a contracted position by the shipping container. 
     
     
         11 . A method of making a tissue product comprising:
 (a) providing an expandable dispensing carton having an expanded position and a contracted position, said expandable dispensing carton comprising a rigid lower portion having a bottom and four sidewalls and a rigid upper portion having four sidewalls and a top with a dispensing opening through which the tissue sheets are dispensed, said upper portion sized to slidably fit over said lower portion;   (b) inserting a stack of tissue sheets into the bottom portion of the carton;   (c) vertically compressing the stack of tissue sheets within the carton by lowering the upper portion over the lower portion; and   (d) sealing the carton in a contracted position, whereby the stack of tissue sheets is constrained within the carton in a compressed condition.   
     
     
         12 . A method of making a tissue product comprising:
 (a) providing an expandable dispensing carton having an expanded position and a contracted position;   (b) inserting a compressed stack of tissue sheets into the expandable dispensing carton while the expandable dispensing carton is in a contracted position; and   (c) closing and sealing the expandable dispensing carton in the contracted position with a releasable constraining device, whereby the stack of tissue sheets is constrained within the expandable dispensing carton in a compressed condition.   
     
     
         13 . A method of providing plurality of expandable dispensing cartons to a retailer comprising:
 (a) loading a plurality of expandable dispensing cartons into a shipping container, each expandable dispensing carton containing an uncompressed stack of folded tissues;   (b) compressing the plurality of expandable dispensing cartons within the shipping container, whereby the stack of folded tissues within each of the expandable dispensing cartons is compressed;   (c) closing and sealing the shipping container, whereby the plurality of expandable dispensing cartons are maintained in a compressed position by the closed shipping container;   (d) shipping the shipping container to the retailer; and   (e) opening the shipping container, whereby the plurality of expandable dispensing cartons expand to their expanded position and the stack of folded tissues within the expandable dispensing cartons is decompressed.   
     
     
         14 . A method of providing plurality of expandable dispensing cartons to a retailer comprising:
 (a) compressing a plurality of expandable dispensing cartons, each expandable dispensing carton containing a stack of folded tissues and having an expanded position and a compressed position;   (b) loading the plurality of expandable dispensing cartons into a shipping container and closing the shipping container, whereby the plurality of expandable dispensing cartons are maintained in the compressed position by the shipping container;   (c) shipping the shipping container to the retailer; and   (d) opening the shipping container, whereby the plurality of expandable dispensing cartons expand to their expanded position and the stack of folded tissues within the expandable dispensing cartons is decompressed.