The carton is designed to give protection to the fragile article, such as glass container, and at the same time allows ready access to the container so that it can be removed from the carton for use.

When seeking to protect items of high value, it is common to protect the items by paperboard packaging. Such packaging usually requires an outer carton with advertising indicia and may sometimes include an inner support structure to reduce the likelihood of the item being damaged in transit. The article is usually engaged by the support structure which makes it difficult to remove the article from the package.

Thus a problem associated with the prior art is how to provide a positive feed to improve the removal of the article without damaging the integrity of the carton.

The present invention and its preferred embodiments seek to overcome or at least mitigate the problems of the prior art.

Summary of the Invention One aspect of the invention provides a carton comprising an open-topped body and at least one lid hinged to the body to close its open top, said lid being hinged to an upper edge of one of the walls of the body and the lid comprising a hollow box construction provided by inner and outer lid panels and an edge face connecting those panels together and wherein the lid is hinged to the body wall such that the box section is brought into its full cross-sectional form

as the lid is closed and such that the box section is collapsed as the lid is brought into its open position.

According to an optional feature of this aspect of the invention, arresting means may be provided by the lid and the body to restrain the lid from opening unless urged from its closed position unless urged from its closed position. Preferably, the arresting means comprise a tongue protruding from at least one end edge of the lid and a co-operating lip in an adjacent end wall of the body.

According to another feature of the invention, the inner panel of the lid may be hinged to the body wall within the body along a fold line which is offset the fold line by which the outer panel is hinged to the wall of the body to allow collapse of the box section as the lid is opened.

According to yet another feature of the invention, the open top of the body may be closed by a pair of complementary such lids, the edge face of each of said lids meeting in face to face relationship intermediate the side walls of the body when the lids are closed.

In constructions where a pair of complementary lids are provided, at least one of the lids may include a tongue extending from said edge face and which overlies the outer surface of the complementary lid to provide an aid in opening the or each lid from its closed position.

Preferably, a secondary body is disposed within said body and comprises a base, opposed side walls and opposed end walls which overlie corresponding walls of said body thereby to provide the body with a multi-ply construction.

A second aspect of the invention provides a blank for forming a carton comprising a plurality of panels hinged together in series including first and second side walls and first and second end walls for forming an open topped body and one or more lids hinged to one of said body panels, the lid comprising an inner and outer wall panels and an edge panel for forming a hollow box in a set up condition.

Preferably, the arresting means comprises a tongue protruding from at least one end edge of the lid and a co-operating lip in an adjacent end wall of the body.

According to an optional feature of this aspect of the invention at least one of the lids includes a tongue extending from said edge face and which overlies the outer surface of the complementary lid to provide an aid in opening the or each lid from its closed position.

Brief Description of the Drawings Exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:- FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a blank from which the main carton is constructed according to one embodiment; FIGURE 2 is a plan view of a blank for an insert providing a two-ply body of material for the main panels of the carton shown in Figure 1; FIGURES 3 to 5 are a series of views showing how the blank of Figure 1 successively is formed into the carton; FIGURE 6 is a perspective view from above and one end of the completed carton with its hinged lids open; FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of the insert formed from the blank of Figure 2 shown from above and one end; FIGURE 8 is a perspective view of the carton containing the inserted Figure 7 shown from above and one end;

FIGURE 9 is a further perspective view of the carton together with its insert showing detail of the carton lids in partially opened condition; and FIGURE 10 shows a perspective view of the completed carton with the lids closed.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments Referring to the drawings and, in particular, to Figure 1, there is shown an elongate blank 10 formed from paperboard or functionally similar sheet material which comprises, in series, a first lid assembly 12 which comprises a securing panel 14, an inner lid panel 16, an edge panel 18, and an outer lid panel 20 hinged one to the next along transverse fold lines 22,24 and 26 respectively. In one class of embodiments, the lid assembly 12 also includes a tongue 28 which facilitates opening and closing the lid assembly in use.

Lid assembly 12 is hinged to first side wall panel 30 along transverse fold line 32, the side wall panel 30 itself being hinged to a base panel 34 of the main body of the carton along a transverse hinge line 36. Preferably, the side wall panel 30 is provided with a pair of end closure flaps 38 and 40 hinged to the panel 30 along longitudinal fold lines 42 and 44 respectively.

The base has at each of its opposite ends, end panels 46 and 48 which are foldably joined to the main base panel 34 along longitudinal fold lines 50 and 52 respectively. End panel 46 provides a locking panel 54 which is secured to the panel 46 along longitudinal fold line 56.

The locking panel 54 includes a rectangular recess 58 to provide part of an arresting means for the lids, described in more detail below. Similarly, at the opposite end of the base panel, the end panel 48 is provided with a locking panel 60 which is hinged to the panel 48 along longitudinal fold line 62. The locking panel 60 is also provided with a rectangular recess 64 to provide part of the arresting means for the lids.

The construction of the blank on the opposite side of the base panel 34 is similar to that adjacent the fold line 36 in that there is provided a second side wall 30'which is hinged to the

base panel 34 along transverse fold line 36'. Preferably, the side wall 30'is provided at each of its opposite ends with an end closure panel 38'and 40'hinged to the side wall panel 30' along longitudinal fold lines 42'and 44'respectively.

In this embodiment, the remainder of the blank comprises a second lid construction 121 which includes a securing panel 141, an inner lid panel 16l, an edge panel 181 and an outer lid panel 20'. The securing flap 141 is hinged to the inner lid panel 161 along fold line 22', edge panel 18 is secured to the inner lid panel 161 along fold line 24'and is hinged to the outer lid panel 20'along transverse fold line 26'. The outer lid panel is attached to the side wall panel 30' along transverse fold line 32'.

The assembly of the blank into the body shown in Figure 6 is relatively straight forward as is illustrated by Figures 3 to 5 respectively.

From Figure 3 it will be seen that strips of adhesive G (shown in hatched shading) are applied to each of the side wall panels 30 and 30'and thereafter, as shown in Figure 4, the lid panels are folded about transverse fold lines 24 and 24'into overlapping relationship towards the base panel 34 of the blank so that the securing flaps 14 and 141 are adhesively fixed to the side wall panels 30 and 30'respectively as shown in Figure 4.

The blank can now be erected into the three-dimensional form by folding the end panels 46 and 48 and the side wall panels 30 and 30'upwardly from the base panel whereafter the end securing flaps 40, 40'are folded inwardly towards one another as are the end closure flaps 38, 38'across the ends of the body. The locking panels 54 and 60 are then folded about fold lines 56 and 62 respectively into overlapping relationship with the end wall panels internally of the blank as shown at the left hand end of Figure 5 (the right hand end of Figure 5 shows the open end of the body immediately prior to being closed) and may be secured by suitable securing means known in the art.

The completed carton body with its closure lids shown in an open position is shown in Figure 6.

Referring to Figure 2, the insert 64 is a simple paperboard or corrugated board structure comprising a base panel 66 having side wall panels 68 and 70 secured thereto along longitudinal fold lines 72 and 74 respectively. End panels 76 and 78 are secured to the opposite end edges of the base panel 66 along transverse fold lines 80 and 82. The insert is formed simply by folding the side and end panels in the same direction out of the plane of the base panel 66 to provide an open topped box. The open topped insert is then simply fitted into place so that the base, side walls and end walls of the insert are disposed in face to face overlapping relationship with the base, side and end walls of the main body thereby providing a multi-ply structure to accommodate a fragile article such as a glass container. In some embodiments, the end wall panels 54,60 are held in place by the insert whereby panels 54,60 are positioned intermediate end wall panels 46,48 and panels 76,78 respectively.

The open topped body as shown in Figure 8 can be closed by hinging the two lid closures towards each other across the open top of the body.

When the lids are fully open, the inner and outer wall panels are virtually in flat face contacting relationship so that the contents of the body can be readily withdrawn for use.

However, when the lids are hinged towards their closing position, the inner and outer lid panels move away from one another to form, for each of the lids, a hollow box section structure B (Figure 9). This arrangement is possible because of the off-set relationship between the fold line 22, 22'by which the inner lid panel 16, 161 is hinged to the securing panel 14, 141 and the fold line 32, 32'by which the outer lid panel 20, 201 is hinged to its respective side wall 30, 30'. Thus, when the lids are fully opened, the edge panels 18, 181 are virtually in the same plane as their adjoining inner lid panels 16, 161, but as the lid panels are moved into a closing position, the edge panels 18, 181 become separated from outer panel 20, 20 by which they space apart the inner and outer lid panels 16,16 ; 18,18 to the extent that when the doors are fully closed, the inner and outer lid panels are spaced apart by their maximum extent, i. e. , by the width of the edge panels 18, 181 themselves whereby the box sections are fully formed.

In the closed position, of course, the edge panels of the respective doors are brought into proximate face to face relationship centrally of the body.

In order to ensure that the doors are assisted in remaining in their closed positions, each of the inner lid panels 16, 161 are provided with locking projections'p' (Figure 1) which engage under the locking edge provided by the recesses 58 and 64 of the locking panels 54 and 60 respectively.

The tongue 28 provided by the outer lid panel of the lid arrangement 12 is brought into overlapping relationship with the other lid assembly 121 when the lids are in their closed position.

Thus, when the carton is closed, the doors form a protective barrier for the glass container in conjunction with the multi-ply body in which it is received. Nevertheless, the carton can be easily opened for ready access to remove its contents without the additional removal of packaging material and thus provides a convenient but breakage resistant consumer package.

The present invention and its preferred embodiment relate to an arrangement for providing a reclosable access structure in a fully enclosed carton. However, it is anticipated that the invention can be applied to a variety of carriers and is not limited to those of the fully enclosed type hereinbefore described and could be used for numerous applications for example a wraparound carton.

It will be recognised that as used herein, directional references such as"top","base","end", "side","inner","outer","upper"and"lower"do not limit the respective panels to such orientation, but merely serve to distinguish these panels from one another. Any reference to hinged connection should not be construed as necessarily referring to a single fold line only: indeed it is envisaged that hinged connection can be formed from one or more of one of the following, a score line, a frangible line or a fold line, without departing from the scope of invention.

It should be understood that various changes may be made within the scope of the present invention, for example, the size and shape of the panels and apertures may be adjusted to accommodate articles of differing size or shape, alternative top and base closure structures may be used. The carton may accommodate more than one article in different arrays.