Carton Assembly

Abstract

A carton assembly has a carton having an interior that has inner walls defining a tray portion and an insert disposed within the tray portion for retaining an article within the interior of the carton. Either the tray portion or the insert, or both, include a receiving structure for supporting the insert. The insert may have a substantially hollow beam structure. The hollow beam structure of the insert has an open end that is engaged by a tab or tabs extending from an inner wall or walls of the carton. A center panel extends between each tab and the bottom wall of the carton and engages the open end of the hollow beam.

1 . A carton assembly, comprising: 
 a carton having a plurality of foldable panels erected to define at least a pair of opposing double wall structures spaced apart by an interior tray portion, wherein at least one of said double wall structures includes a receiving structure for supporting an insert;    an insert comprising at least one substantially hollow beam structure configured to at least partially retain at least one item; and,    wherein said insert is received by said tray portion and supported by said receiving structure.    
   
   
       2 . The carton assembly of  claim 1 , wherein said receiving structure comprises at least one tab extending from at least one double wall structure so as to be received by an open end of said hollow beam structure.  
   
   
       3 . The carton assembly of  claim 2 , wherein said receiving structure further includes a center panel extending between said tab and a bottom wall of said carton, said center panel being received in said open end of said hollow beam structure.  
   
   
       4 . The carton assembly of  claim 2 , wherein said receiving structure further includes a protrusion extending from at least one end of said hollow beam and a slot disposed in at least one inner wall of said carton, said protrusion being received in said slot.  
   
   
       5 . The carton assembly of  claim 1 , wherein said insert partitions said tray portion of said carton to define recessed areas.  
   
   
       6 . The carton assembly of  claim 5 , wherein said recessed areas are accessible through an at least partially detachable end closure region of said carton.  
   
   
       7 . The carton assembly of  claim 6 , wherein said detachable end closure region is defined at least in part by a frangible line.  
   
   
       8 . A blank for forming a carton assembly insert, comprising: 
 at least one panel erectable into at least one set of opposing, substantially-erect, spaced apart walls, each wall having at least one aperture disposed for alignment with an opposite wall aperture so as to form a passageway for receiving and retaining an article in the erected insert.    
   
   
       9 . The blank of  claim 8 , wherein said substantially-erect, spaced apart walls form at least part of a beam structure in the erected insert.  
   
   
       10 . The blank of  claim 8 , wherein said substantially-erect, spaced apart walls cooperate with interior walls of a carton to define an extended passageway.  
   
   
       11 . The blank of  claim 9 , wherein said beam structure has at least one open end in the erected insert.  
   
   
       12 . The blank of  claim 8 , wherein said at least one aperture is a cutout disposed to lie along an edge of said substantially-erect, spaced apart walls in the erected insert.  
   
   
       13 . A method for forming a carton assembly, comprising: 
 erecting a carton blank to form a carton, including at least a pair of opposing double wall structures having at least one receiving structure;    erecting an insert blank to form an insert, the insert having a hollow beam structure;    inserting said insert into said carton such that said hollow beam structure extends between said double wall structures; and    supporting said insert with said receiving structure.