Carton with dispenser

Abstract

A carton for containing a plurality of articles such as cans includes a pair of side walls, a bottom wall, a top wall and end closure panels for at least partially closing the ends of the carton. The top wall is of multi-ply construction and the carton further comprises an opening provider defined by a series of weakened lines in the top, side and end walls. The opening provider includes at least one weakened line coincident at least in part with a stress relieving fold line to facilitate easy opening of the carton.

1 . A package comprising a carton and at least two rows of generally cylindrical articles accommodated in the carton, said carton comprising top and bottom panels interconnected by a pair of opposed side walls to form a generally tubular structure, and an end wall at each end of the tubular structure to at least partially close said each end, wherein one of said rows of said cylindrical articles is arranged to be in rolling contact with the bottom panel, ends of each of the articles being in abutment with the side walls of the carton respectively, the top panel comprises at least one stress relieving fold line, said carton further comprises an opening provider defined by a substantially continuous frangible connection comprising a series of weakened lines in the top panel, the side walls and one of the end walls, and the frangible connection is at least in part coincident with the at least one stress relieving fold line.  
   
   
       2 . The package according to  claim 1  wherein the weakened line in the top panel is coincident with the at least one stress relieving fold line.  
   
   
       3 . The package according to  claim 2  wherein the weakened line in the top panel is arched concavely toward an adjacent one of the end walls.  
   
   
       4 . The package according to  claim 3  wherein the weakened line in the top panel extends between a pair of corners of the top panel adjacent to said one end wall.  
   
   
       5 . The package according to  claim 1  wherein each of the weakened lines in the side walls extends between said top panel and said one end wall, said weakened lines in the side walls being curved concavely toward said one end wall to partially expose opposite ends of an end most one of the articles in said one of said rows when the opening provider is detached from the carton.  
   
   
       6 . A carton for cylindrical articles comprising a generally tubular structure formed from a top panel, a bottom panel, and a pair of side walls connecting together the top and bottom panels, the carton further comprising an end wall at each end of the carton which at least partially closes the each end of the tubular structure and a handle provided by the top panel, wherein at least one end of the carton has an opening provider to allow removal of the articles, the opening provider being defined by a substantially continuous frangible connection comprising a series of weakened lines in the top panel, the side walls and one of the end walls at said one end, the substantially continuous frangible connection being coincident at least in part with a stress relieving fold line provided for facilitating defining displacement of the top panel when the carton is lifted by the handle.  
   
   
       7 . The carton according to  claim 6  wherein the weakened line in the top panel is coincident with the stress relieving fold line.  
   
   
       8 . The carton according to  claim 7  wherein the weakened line in the top panel is arched concavely toward an adjacent one of the end walls.  
   
   
       9 . The carton according to  claim 8  wherein the weakened line in the top panel emanates from one of corners of the top panel adjacent to said one end wall and extends to the other of the corners of the top panel adjacent to said one end wall.  
   
   
       10 . The carton according to  claim 7  wherein the top panel is of multi-ply construction and is formed from two partially overlapping panels, the weakened line in the top panel being formed in part in each of the overlapping panels and configured such that the parts of the weakened line in the top panel are continuous when the two overlapping panels are overlapped.  
   
   
       11 . The carton according to  claim 7  wherein the top panel further comprises a pair of hand apertures struck from the two overlapping panels respectively, the hand apertures being aligned with each other across an overlapping area of the top panel such that a reinforced carrying means is defined between the hand apertures.  
   
   
       12 . The carton according to  claim 6  wherein said one end wall comprises a pair of overlapping side end flaps and wherein weakened line in said one end wall extend between the side walls of the carton entirely across the side end flaps thereby defining a retaining portion of the end wall.