Basket-style article carrier having handle interlocking elements

Claim 1

An article carrier having a bottom wall, opposed side walls joined to said bottom wall along the side edges thereof, end wall panels joined to the ends of said side walls and extending transversely inward therefrom with the inner edges thereof disposed medially of the carrier at each end thereof, riser panels joined to the inner edges of said end wall panels, the riser panels at each end of the carrier being secured together in flat face contacting relation, a pair of outer handle panels foldably joined to the riser panels at one end of the carrier along fold lines which are substantially coincidental with each other and with the inner edges of the adjacent end wall panels, a handle interlocking and reinforcing panel struck from and defining a first hand gripping aperture in one of said outer handle panels, a first medial reinforcing inner handle panel foldably joined to a riser panel at the other end of the carrier and having a second hand gripping aperture formed therein and disposed in general coincidence with said first hand gripping aperture and with said handle interlocking and reinforcing panel projecting through said second hand gripping aperture and secured in flat face contacting relation with the inner surface of said medial reinforcing inner handle panel.