Granted Patent B2

US 12,729,035 · App. 18/921,447 · Granted Sep 8, 2026

Inventors: Paul Tye (Buckinghamshire, GB); Elliot Hithersay (Derbyshire, GB)

Assignee: Graphic Packaging International, LLC

B65D5/0015B31B50/585B31B50/732B65D5/20B65D5/2038B65D5/4266B65D5/56B65D81/3453B31B2100/002B31B2120/404B65D2581/3472B65D2581/3479B65D2581/3489

Abstract

Claims (25)

1 . A method of forming a container for holding a food product, the method comprising:

obtaining a blank comprising a central panel, an opening extending in the central panel, a panel foldably connected to the central panel, and a denesting feature extending from the panel;

forming the container from at least the blank, the forming the container comprising folding the panel to extend at least downwardly from the central panel so that the central panel at least partially forms a flange of the container and the panel at least partially forms a sidewall of the container, the denesting feature extending outwardly from the sidewall; and

positioning the container relative to a nested container so that the denesting feature engages the nested container and forms a denesting gap between the nested container and the flange of the container.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the denesting feature comprises a shoulder extending from an edge of the panel, the forming the container comprises positioning the shoulder to extend at least downwardly from the flange and along an undersurface of the central panel.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the positioning the container relative to the nested container comprises positioning the container so that a flange engagement edge of the shoulder engages the nested container.

4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the panel is foldably connected to the central panel along a fold line that is spaced apart from the opening, the panel comprises an attachment portion, the forming the container comprising positioning the attachment portion to be in an overlapping relationship with the central panel and positioning the shoulder to extend downwardly from the attachment portion.

5 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the shoulder is a first shoulder, the edge is a first edge, the denesting feature comprises a second shoulder extending from a second edge of the panel along the undersurface of the central panel, and the second edge is opposite to the first edge, the positioning the container relative to the nested container comprises positioning the container so that each of the first shoulder and the second shoulder engages the nested container.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the panel is a first panel, the blank comprises a second panel foldably connected to the central panel opposite to the first panel, and the denesting feature comprises a third shoulder extending from a third edge of the second panel and a fourth shoulder extending from a fourth edge of the second panel, the positioning the container relative to the nested container comprises positioning the container so that each of the third shoulder and the fourth shoulder engages the nested container.

7 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the shoulder comprises a flange engagement edge for engaging the nested container when the container is formed from the blank, and the flange engagement edge extends from the edge of the panel and is spaced apart from the central panel.

8 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the panel is foldably connected to the central panel along a fold line that is spaced apart from the opening, the panel comprises an attachment portion, the central panel and the attachment portion are for being in an overlapping relationship when the container is formed by the blank, and the shoulder is for extending downwardly from the attachment portion when the container is formed by the blank.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the panel is a first panel, and the blank comprises a second panel foldably connected to the central panel along the opening.

10 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the panel is a first panel, the shoulder is a first shoulder, the edge is a first edge, the blank comprises a second panel foldably connected to the central panel opposite to the first panel, and the denesting feature comprises a second shoulder extending from a second edge of the second panel.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the blank further comprises a third panel foldably connected to the central panel along the opening, and at least a portion of the third panel is for extending from the first edge to the second edge so that the first shoulder and the second shoulder are spaced apart by the third panel when the container is formed from the blank.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the panel is foldably connected to the central panel along a fold line extending along the opening, and the central panel comprises an edge extending from an end of the fold line and along the opening, the edge being perpendicular to the fold line.

13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the panel is a first panel, the first panel is foldably connected to the central panel along a first fold line extending along the opening, the blank comprises a second panel foldably connected to the central panel along a second fold line that is spaced apart from the opening, and the second panel is for cooperating with the first panel to at least partially form the sidewall when the container is formed from the blank.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the second panel comprises an attachment portion, and the central panel and the attachment portion are for being in an overlapping relationship when the container is formed from the blank.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the attachment portion of the second panel is at least partially defined by a third fold line extending in the second panel.

16 . The method of claim 13 , the blank further comprises a bottom panel foldably connected to the second panel along a third fold line, and the bottom panel is for at least partially forming a bottom wall when the container is formed from the blank.

17 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the blank further comprises a third panel foldably connected to the central panel along a third fold line extending along the opening and a fourth panel foldably connected to the central panel along a fourth fold line that is spaced apart from the opening, the third panel is opposite to the first panel, the fourth panel is opposite to the second panel, and the third panel and the fourth panel are for cooperating with the first panel and the second panel to at least partially form the sidewall when the container is formed from the blank.

18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the second panel comprises a first attachment portion, the fourth panel comprises a second attachment portion, the central panel is for at least partially overlapping each of the first attachment portion and the second attachment portion when the container is formed from the blank and the liner material, and a portion of each of the second panel and the fourth panel is for extending at least downwardly from the respective first attachment portion and second attachment portion when the container is formed from the blank and the liner material.

19 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the blank further comprises a first bottom panel foldably connected to the second panel and a second bottom panel foldably connected to the fourth panel, and the first bottom panel and the second bottom panel are for being in an at least partially overlapped relationship to at least partially form a bottom wall when the container is formed from the blank.

20 . The method of claim 17 , wherein the blank further comprises a first bottom panel foldably connected to the first panel, a second bottom panel foldably connected to the second panel, a third bottom panel foldably connected to the third panel, and a fourth bottom panel foldably connected to the fourth panel, and the first bottom panel, the second bottom panel, the third bottom panel, and the fourth bottom panel are for being in an at least partially overlapped relationship to at least partially form a bottom wall when the container is formed from the blank.

21 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the panel is a first panel, the first panel is foldably connected to the central panel along a first fold line extending along the opening, the blank further comprises a second panel foldably connected to the central panel along a second fold line extending along the opening.

22 . The method of claim 21 , wherein the central panel comprises a first edge and a second edge, each of the first edge and the second edge extending from a respective end of the first fold line to a respective end of the second fold line.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (6)

References Cited (208)