초록 ▼

A method of packaging and transporting pizza for improved efficiency and crush-resistance, this method involving the steps of (a) providing a box blank erectable into a non-wall-engaged carton comprising a substantially rectangular bottom panel, a rear wall, a pair of left and right side wall struct

A method of packaging and transporting pizza for improved efficiency and crush-resistance, this method involving the steps of (a) providing a box blank erectable into a non-wall-engaged carton comprising a substantially rectangular bottom panel, a rear wall, a pair of left and right side wall structures each comprising a side wall having a free top edge and opposing front and rear free-swinging corner flaps, a front wall structure comprising a front wall and an ancillary panel, and a cover comprising a cover panel, left and right interior-disposed support-bearing cover side flaps, and a cover front flap; (b) erecting the blank into the carton by a unique folding method; (c) opening the carton and, thereby, providing a particular pre-folded opened rectangular carton in non-wall-engaged mode; (d) placing a pizza into the opened carton; (e) closing the carton by a unique closing method; and (f) transporting the loaded carton.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A method of packaging pizza, said method comprising the steps of:providing a pizza box blank cut and scored into a set of components erectable into a non-wall-engaged rectangular pizza carton having interior-disposed support-bearing cover side flaps and comprising: a substantially rectangular bot

1. A method of packaging pizza, said method comprising the steps of:providing a pizza box blank cut and scored into a set of components erectable into a non-wall-engaged rectangular pizza carton having interior-disposed support-bearing cover side flaps and comprising: a substantially rectangular bottom panel having a predetermined front-to-rear length, a rear wall, opposing left and right side wall structures comprising (i) respective left and right side walls each having a bottom edge length approximately equal to the predetermined front-to-rear length of said bottom panel and having a free top edge and (ii) free-swinging front and rear corner flaps attached to respective front and rear ends of the side walls, each of the corner flaps being free of locking engagement, a front wall structure opposing said rear wall and comprising (i) a front wall, (ii) an ancillary panel hingedly linked to a top edge of said front wall, and (iii) a cover front flap engagement structure, and a cover comprising (i) a cover panel hingedly attached to said rear wall and (ii) a plurality of cover flaps comprising support-bearing left and right cover side flaps hingedly attached to respective left and right sides of said cover panel and a hingedly movable cover front flap attached at a fold line to a front edge of said cover panel; folding said pizza box blank into a partially-erected non-wall-engaged carton using the following sub-steps (a) through (e): (a) folding the left and right rear corner flaps to a position non-coplanar to the left and right side walls, (b) folding the left and right side walls to a position non-coplanar to the bottom panel, (c) folding the rear wall to a position non-coplanar to the bottom panel, (d) folding the cover panel to a position non-coplanar to the rear wall, and (e) folding the left and right cover side flaps to a position non-coplanar to the cover panel and with at least a portion of each of the cover side flaps disposed interior to the left and right side walls; folding said partially-erected non-wall-engaged carton into said non-wall-engaged rectangular pizza carton using the following sub-steps (f) through (h): (f) folding the front wall to a position non-coplanar to the bottom panel, (g) folding the ancillary panel to a position substantially parallel to the bottom panel and so that it overlies the front corner flaps; and (h) folding the cover panel to a substantially closed disposition; opening said non-wall-engaged rectangular pizza carton into an opened non-wall-engaged rectangular pizza carton and placing a pizza therein; and folding said opened non-wall-engaged rectangular pizza carton into a fully-erected rectangular pizza carton loaded with pizza, said fully-erected rectangular pizza carton having (a) said left and right cover side flaps disposed interior to said left and right side walls, respectively, (b) said hingedly movable cover front flap disposed within said cover front flap engagement structure and disposed substantially parallel to said front wall, and (c) said front and rear corner flaps disposed substantially parallel to said front and rear walls, respectively. 2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of:transporting said fully-erected rectangular pizza carton loaded with pizza, whereby said method of packaging and transporting pizza for improved efficiency and crush-resistance solves the problem of incurring one or more of the following four drawbacks commonly associated with packaging and transporting methods involving rectangular pizza cartons: (a) the box blank for the rectangular pizza carton is awkward and time-consuming to fold into the carton, (b) the ready-to-load format of the carton does not allow for unencumbered in-box pizza-cutting with a rocker knife and a pizza wheel due to the wall-engaged mode of the carton, (c) the ready-to-load format of the carton does not allow for unencumbered transfer of a pre-cut pizza into the carton due to the wall-engaged mode of the carton, and (d) the carton lacks left and right interior-disposed support-bearing cover side flaps and also front and rear corner flaps and, thereby, the carton fails to provide a level of folding efficiency and crush-resistance closely comparable to the level of folding efficiency and crush-resistance of a wall-engaged rectangular pizza box. 3. The method of claim 1 wherein:said fully-erected rectangular pizza carton loaded with pizza is disposed in a non-wall-engaged mode whereby each of said rear wall, said left side wall structure, said right side wall structure, and said front wall structure is non-engaged to any wall structure of the carton. 4. The method of claim 1 wherein:during the second folding step involving sub-steps (f), (g), and (h) said partially-erected non-wall-engaged carton is erectable into a first configuration and also into a second configuration, said first configuration having said cover front flap disposed outside of a holding cavity of said carton and free of engagement with said cover front flap engagement structure, said second configuration having said cover front flap disposed substantially parallel to said front wall and engaged within said cover front flap engagement structure; wherein said carton maintains a closed erected disposition both after being formed into said first configuration and also after being formed into said second configuration. 5. A method of transporting a pizza, said method comprising the step of:transporting said pizza in a non-wall-engaged rectangular pizza carton having interior-disposed support-bearing cover side flaps and comprising: a substantially rectangular bottom panel having a predetermined front-to-rear length, a rear wall hingedly attached to said bottom panel, opposing left and right side wall structures comprising (i) respective left and right side walls hingedly attached to said bottom panel, (ii) respective left and right free-swinging front corner flaps hingedly attached to a front end of the side walls, and (iii) respective left and right free-swinging rear corner flaps hingedly attached to a rear end of the side walls, each of the side walls having a free top edge and a bottom edge length approximately equal to the predetermined front-to-rear length of said bottom panel, each of the corner flaps being free of locking engagement, a front wall structure comprising (i) a front wall hingedly attached to said bottom panel, (ii) an ancillary panel hingedly linked to a top edge of said front wall and having left and right free end edges, and (iii) a cover front flap engagement structure, and a cover structure comprising (i) a cover panel hingedly attached to said rear wall and (ii) a plurality of cover flaps comprising support-bearing left and right cover side flaps hingedly attached to respective left and right sides of said cover panel and a hingedly movable cover front flap attached at a fold line to a front edge of said cover panel; wherein said carton is disposed in a non-wall-engaged mode, said support-bearing left and right cover side flaps are disposed interior to said left and right side walls, and said hingedly movable cover front flap is disposed within said cover front flap engagement structure and substantially parallel to said front wall, and wherein said fully-erected rectangular pizza carton further comprises at least one of the following structural enhancements: (a) said left and right front corner flaps have a top edge disposed lower than the free top edge of said left and right side walls, respectively, (b) said ancillary panel is disposed substantially parallel to said bottom panel and said left and right free end edges are disposed in frictional contact with said left and right cover side flaps, respectively, (c) each of said left and right cover side flaps has a front-to-rear length approximately equal to the predetermined front-to-rear length of said bottom panel and has a recessed portion along an outer edge, said recessed portion extending all the way to a front edge of the cover side flap, (d) each of said left and right side walls is disposed at an obtuse angle to said bottom panel, and (e) at least one of the corner flaps has a bottom edge having an obtuse-angle-stabilizing tab projecting therefrom. 6. A method of packaging and transporting pizza, said method comprising the steps of:providing a pre-folded non-wall-engaged rectangular pizza carton in opened disposition and comprising a set of components including: a substantially rectangular bottom panel having a predetermined front-to-rear length, a rear wall, opposing left and right side wall structures comprising (i) respective left and right side walls each having a bottom edge length approximately equal to the predetermined front-to-rear length of said bottom panel and having a free top edge and (ii) free-swinging front and rear corner flaps attached to respective front and rear ends of the side wall, each of the corner flaps being free of locking engagement, a front wall structure opposing said rear wall and comprising (i) a front wall, (ii) an ancillary panel hingedly linked to a top edge of said front wall and having left and right free end edges, and (iii) a cover front flap engagement slot, and a cover comprising (i) a cover panel hingedly attached to said rear wall and (ii) a plurality of cover flaps comprising support-bearing left and right cover side flaps hingedly attached to respective left and right sides of said cover panel and a hingedly movable cover front flap attached at a fold line to a front edge of said cover panel, wherein each component of the set of components of said non-wall-engaged rectangular pizza carton is disposed in a non-erected position; placing a pizza into said pre-folded non-wall-engaged rectangular pizza carton in opened disposition; folding said pre-folded non-wall-engaged rectangular pizza carton in opened disposition into a partially-erected non-wall-engaged carton using the following sub-steps (a) through (c): (a) folding the left and right side walls to a substantially upright position, (b) folding the rear wall to a substantially upright position, and (c) folding the cover panel to overlie the left and right rear corner flaps and folding the left and right cover side flaps to a position wherein at least a portion of the flaps is disposed interior to the left and right side walls; folding said partially-erected non-wall-engaged carton into a fully-erected loaded non-wall-engaged carton using the following sub-steps (d) through (f): (d) folding the front wall to a position non-coplanar to the bottom panel, (e) folding the ancillary panel to a position substantially parallel to the bottom panel and so that it overlies the front corner flaps; and (f) inserting the cover front flap into the cover front flap engagement structure, wherein in said fully-erected loaded non-wall-engaged carton (i) the left and right cover side flaps are disposed interior to the left and right side walls, respectively, (ii) the hingedly movable cover front flap is disposed within the cover front flap engagement structure and disposed substantially parallel to the front wall, (iii) the front and rear corner flaps are disposed substantially parallel to the front and rear walls, respectively, and (iv) the carton is in non-wall-engaged mode; and transporting said fully-erected loaded non-wall-engaged carton. 7. A method of erecting a box blank into a carton, said box blank being cut and scored into a set of components comprising:a substantially rectangular bottom panel having a predetermined front-to-rear length, a rear wall attached to said bottom panel, opposing left and right side wall structures comprising (i) respective left and right side walls attached to said bottom panel and each having a bottom edge length approximately equal to the predetermined front-to-rear length of said bottom panel and having a free top edge and (ii) free-swinging front and rear corner flaps attached to respective front and rear ends of the side wall, a front wall structure opposing said rear wall and comprising (i) a front wall attached to said bottom panel and (ii) an ancillary panel hingedly linked to a top edge of said front wall, and a cover comprising (i) a cover panel attached to said rear wall and (ii) a plurality of cover flaps comprising left and right cover side flaps hingedly attached to respective left and right sides of said cover panel and a hingedly movable cover front flap attached to a front edge of said cover panel; said method comprising the steps of:folding said box blank into a partially-erected non-wall-engaged carton using the following sub-steps (a) through (e): (a) folding the left and right rear corner flaps to a position non-coplanar to the left and right side walls, (b) folding the left and right side walls to a position non-coplanar to the bottom panel, (c) folding the rear wall to a position non-coplanar to the bottom panel, (d) folding the cover panel to a position non-coplanar to the rear wall, and (e) folding the left and right cover side flaps to a position non-coplanar to the cover panel and with at least a portion of each of the cover side flaps disposed interior to the left and right side walls; and folding said partially-erected non-wall-engaged carton into a fully-erected carton using the following sub-steps (f) through (h): (f) folding the front wall to a position non-coplanar to the bottom panel, (g) folding the ancillary panel to a position substantially parallel to the bottom panel and so that it overlies the front corner flaps; and (h) folding the cover panel to a substantially closed disposition.