Carton

Claim 2

A carton comprising; a top wall, side walls, end walls, and a bottom wall, a central longitudinally extending partition, a pair of opening flaps one on each side of the longitudinal centre line of said top wall, line means extending substantially parallel to said longitudinal centre line defining the boundary between each of said opening flaps and a longitudinally extending reinforcing panel, said longitudinally extending reinforcing panel overlying and secured to said partition panel to form with said partition panel a reinforcing beam, each said opening flap extending across said top wall and part-way along its adjacent of said side walls.

Claim 3

A carton as defined in claim 1 wherein each of said opening flaps is defined by a U-shaped line of severance having a pair of leg sections interconnected by a bridging section, said bridging section forming said line means, said leg sections projecting across said top wall toward the adjacent of said side walls and extending part-way down said side walls, each said pair of leg sections terminating at an opposite end of a fold line spaced from the junction of said top and side walls and connecting each of said flaps to said carton.

Claim 4

A carton as defined in claim 2 wherein said leg sections are spaced from said end walls to define at each end of said carton an end reinforcing panel, said longitudinally extending reinforcing panel and said end reinforcing panels combining to form a substantially I-beam shape on said top panel.

Claim 5

A carton as defined in claim 3 wherein there are two of said flaps on each side of said longitudinal centre line and wherein one of the leg sections of the line of severance defining each of said two flaps defines a portion of said end reinforcing panel at each end of said carton.

Claim 6

A carton as defined in claim 4 further comprising; a hand hole in said partition panel and means for forming an access opening in said top panel to permit engagement of said hand hole.

Claim 7

A carton as defined in claim 1 wherein each of said opening flaps is defined by a U-shaped line of severance having a pair of leg sections projecting across the top of said carton one from each end of said line means toward the adjacent of said side walls and extending part-way down said side walls, each said pair of leg sections being interconnected by a bridging portion spaced from the junction of said top and side walls and wherein said line means comprises a fold line connecting said flap to said top panel.

Claim 8

A carton as defined in claim 6 wherein said leg sections are spaced from said end walls to define at each end of said carton an end reinforcing panel, said longitudinally extending reinforcing panel and said end reinforcing panels combining to form a substantially I-beam shape on said top panel.

Claim 9

A carton as defined in claim 6 wherein said bridging portion is spaced from the junction of said top and side walls by a distance equal to or less than the height of the neck of a bottle to be packaged in said carton to permit a portion of each of said flaps between said junction and said bridging portion to be folded into said carton to facilitate opening of each said flap.

Claim 10

A carton as defined in claim 7 further comrising; a hand hole in said partition panel and means for forming an access opening in said top panel to permit engagement of said hand hole, said bridging portion being spaced from the junction of said top and side walls by a distance equal to or less than the height of the neck of a bottle to be packaged in said carton to permit a portion of each of said flaps between said junction and said bridging portion to be folded into said carton to facilitate opening of each said flap, each said fold line and its respective bridging portion defining each of said flaps being separated by a distance sufficient to permit tipping of said bottle so that said bottle may clear the longitudinal reinforcing panel and be withdrawn from the carton when the flaps are in open position.