BACKGROUND ART Gable top containers are widely used for milk, frui juices, and like liquids and have many advantages including light weight, low cost and ease of disposal since the containers are non-returnable and can be easily burnt.

However, such conventional gable top containers suffer from the serious disadvantage that they are difficul to open, especially for young children and elderly people with arthritis or otherwise reduced dexterity.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY It is the object of the present invention to provid an improved gable top container structure in which provisio is made for the structure to include a portion which is easily gripped by the fingers of the person opening the container, thereby greatly increasing the ease with which the container can be opened.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION According to one aspect of the present invention there is disclosed a gable top container structure for a four sided carton in which two, opposite, shorter sides are each bent into a V-shape and inwardly inclined between two, opposite, longer sides which are sealed together along their upper edges to form a gable, the upper edges of said lower sides being sealed together with said longer side upper edges, wherein an elongated gripping means is located adjacent the upper edge of one of said shorter sides at least part of, said gripping means being located between said sealed upper edges prior to opening said carton thereby effectively sealing said carton.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS Embodiments of the present invention will now be

described with reference to the drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the upper portions of a closed, gable top container in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing the container partially opened;

Fig. 3 is a schematic view illustrating how a serie of prior art container blanks are stamped from a strip of sheet material; Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 illustrating how container blanks are stamped from a strip of sheet material in order to make the carton of Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but of a second embodiment; Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but of the embodiment of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but of a third e bodi ent; and

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but of the embodiment of Fig. 7.

BEST MODE OF CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION As seen in Fig. 1, in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the container is generally similar to a conventional gable top container. The container has four sides, two long sides 1 and two shor sides 2. The shorter sides 2 are each bent into a V-shaped fold and inwardly inclined between the two longer sides 1. It is to be understood that the indications inwardly, upwardly, downwardly, outwardly etc. as used herein are taken with reference to the normally upright attitude of a conventional gable top container.

As in a conventional gable top container, the upper edges 3, 4 of the shorter sides 2 are positioned within and below the upper edges 5 of the longer sides 1. Then the longer sides 1 are sealed along a strip having a depth 6 by means either of heat sealing or some other conventional means such a sonic welding. The depth of sealing 6 is indicated in Fig. 1 and is of a sufficient vertical extent

to include the upper edges 3, 4 of the shorter sides 2 thereby effectively sealing the container.

In order to open a conventional container, the corners 7, 8 formed where the longer sides 1 meet the shorter side 2, are folded outwardly into the position illustrated in Fig. 2. Continued movement of the corners and 8 in this direction is sometimes sufficient to cause th upper edge 3 of the shorter side 2 to come away from the longer sides 1 thereby opening the prior art carton. Because of the strength of sealing of the carton, and the lack of manual dexterity amongst both young people and adults with arthritis, the abovementioned prior art opening procedure is not always successful.

In order to overcome this difficulty, as best seen in Fig. 2, a quasi-semicircular extension 9 is provided on the upper edge 3 of one of the shorter sides 2. The extension 9 consists of another portion of the sheet material from which the container is formed and therefore forms a prolongation of the one short side 2. It is only necessary for a single extension 9 to be provided since suc containers are normally intended to be opened from only one side.

As best seen in Fig. 1, prior to sealing of the container, the extension 9 is folded outwardly and downwardly onto the shorter side 2 which is then folded inwardly to form the V-shape apparent in Fig. 2. Then the longer sides 1 are brought together during the sealing process and it will be apparent that the base 10 of the extension 9 is included within the sealing depth 6 whilst the tip 11 of the extension 9 is not included within the depth of sealing 6.

In order to open the gable top container of the preferred embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the corners 7 and 8 are manually pushed apart (as in the initia step of the prior art procedure) in order to reach the configuration illustrated in Fig. 2. This action is not normally very difficult and is easily accomplished by means of an elbow if the fingers of the person wishing to open the

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container are very weak. However, in the configuration illustrated in Fig. 2, the extension 9 and in particular th tip 11 thereof is able to be easily grasped by the fingers of the person opening the container and the upper edge 3 pulled to the right as seen in Fig. 2 and away from the remainer of the container.

This pulling action breaks the seal between the upper edge 3 and the upper edges 5 thereby opening the container. In addition, continued movement of the extensio 9 places the upper edge 3 in the position illustrated by means of a phantom outline in Fig. 2.

As also illustrated in phantom in Fig. 2, the extension 9 can be turned upwardly and folded about its longitudinal axis so as to form a pouring spout 12 which greatly assists in regulating the flow of liquid from the container when it is desired to pour liquid therefrom.

It is to be understood that the term "gable top container" as herein defined includes within its scope containers having varying angles of the ridge or sealing flange formed by the edges 5. Thus the angle of approximately 45° for the inclination of the sides 1, 2 from, the vertical at the top of the container is not critical. In particular, the present invention is entirely applicable to flat topped containers (termed bricks) having a flat rather than pyramidal top, but retaining the vertically extending sealing flange formed by edges 5. In the brick container the inclination of the sides at the top of the container is approximately 90 from the vertical. Turning now to Fig. 3, the arrangement whereby blanks for conventional gable top containers are stamped from a strip of sheet material, is illustrated. Each blank consists of a pair of long sides 1, and a pair of short sides 2. Running along the length of the blank is a side sealing strip 15. In addition, the base of the container i formed by folding the sides 1, 2 and then sealing a base sealing strip 16 in position.

It will be apparent from Fig. 3 that in the prior art arrangement, two blanks are placed head to head to form

- 5 - a pair and that each pair is then placed base to base wit an adjacent pair. Thus the extra length of the longer si 1 is accommodated by the "space" left because of the shor length of the shorter sides 2. However, in the arrangement of the preferred embodiment as illustrated in Fig. 4, each blank is aligne with an identical orientation and placed head to base in queue of blanks. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the otherwise waste material caused by the n to provide base sealing strip 16, is utilized to provide extra material of longer sides 1 and also the extra mater of the extension 9. In this way, the blanks needed to produce the container having the gable top container structure of the preferred embodiment, result in extremel low requirements for additional material.

Where even this small amount of additional materi represents an unacceptable increase in material cost, the extension 9 can be provided as a separate, rather than an integrally formed, item. Thus the extension 9 can be separately formed from fabric tape, for example, and adher to the edge 3.

Turning now to the embodiment illustrated in Figs. and 6, it will be seen that in an alternative form of the invention, the upper edge 3 of one of the shorter sides 2 provided with an elongated strip which, prior to opening, extends downwardly through the zone of sealing 6 so that t tab 19 carried on the free end of the strip 18 is located between the corners 7 and 8. The strip 18 can be formed o any convenient material being either stamped from the same material as the carton blank is stamped or alternatively being formed separately and joined to the upper edge 3 adjacent the centre thereof. For example, the strip 18 ca be formed from tape or even cord.

It will be apparent from Figs. 5 and 6 that in ord to open the carton of this embodiment of the present invention, the corners 7 and 8 are pushed apart as before as to place the upper edge 3 in the configuration illustrated in Fig. 6. Then the tab 19 is manually graspe

with the fingers and pulled in the direction of the arrow o Fig. 6. This pulling action is continued until the upper edge 3 is placed in the configuration illustrated in phanto in Fig. 2. Alternatively, and preferably, the tab 19 can be grapsed and moved first upwardly and then outwardly without attempting to "open" the corners 7, 8. This upward movemen of the strip 18 between the edges 5 "opens" the corners 7 and 8. In either way the container is easily opened and th contents can be easily poured from the container by using the upper edge 3 as a pouring spout. The strip 18 does not hinder this pouring action since the strip 18 will always b directed in a more vertical direction during pouring than the actual stream of liquid.

Turning now to Figs. 7 and 8, a third embodiment of the present invention is illustrated which makes use of a filament 25 which can be formed from cotton, plastics, or any other conventional material from which threads are formed.

It will be apparent from Figs. 7 and 8 that the filament 25 is formed into a long loop 26, the ends 27 of the filament being knotted together at 28. The knot 28 is positioned to the far side of the centre of the upper edge of the short side of the container which is hidden in Figs. 7 and 8. The knot 28 is located within the sealing depth 6 and between the upper edges 5 and thereby forms an anchor. In this way, the filament 25 extends along only the centre portion of the length of the upper edges 5 and a mid-portio 29 protrudes beyond the container. Thereafter, the filamen 25 passes over the upper edge 3 adjacent the corners 7, 8 and passes below the edge 3 and also below the depth of sealing 6. The centre 30 of the filament 25 is located adjacent the centre of the upper edge 3. In order to open the ^* container illustrated in Figs.

7 and 8, the mid-portion 29 of the filament 25 is grasped and lifted vertically upwardly and outwardly so as to simultaneously carry out two operations. The first

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operation is to separate the upper edges 5 along approximately half their length. The second operation is t separate the upper edge 3 from the longer sides 1 thereby opening the container. This operation takes place as the mid-portion 29 is pulled away from the container 1 so as to draw the centre 30 and adjacent portions of the filament 25 from behind the upper edge 3. Thereafter the edge 3 can be easily moved manually into the pouring configuration illustrated in phantom in Fig. 2. In this configuration, the filament 25 is located adjacent the still sealed portions of the edges 5, well away from the pouring lip formed by the centre of edge 3.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that, in the configuration illustrated in Fig. 7, although portion of filament 25 is located within the sealing depth 6, this does not interfere with the sealing of the container.

The foregoing describes only some embodiments of the present invention and modifications, obvious to those skilled in the art, may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the present invention.