Wraparound Packaging Sleeve with Stand-Up Feature

Abstract

A wraparound sleeve having a stand-up feature or tab is disclosed. The sleeve can be wrapped around a container and can cooperate with a front flange portion of the container to provide the container in an upright display position. The tab of the sleeve extends from an exposed edge of the sleeve transverse to a wrapping direction of the sleeve when assembled to support the package in a vertical or inclined viewing position.

1 . A sleeve having a stand-up feature, the sleeve comprising:
 four panel portions;   corners extending between adjacent panel portions, so that the panel portions are interconnected;   a pair of exposed edge portions of each panel portion extending transverse to and between the corners at either side of each of the panel portions; and   a tab extending transversely from at least one of the exposed edge portions.   
     
     
         2 . The sleeve according to  claim 1 , wherein the tab is spaced from the adjacent corners. 
     
     
         3 . The sleeve according to  claim 2 , wherein the tab is centrally located along the one of the exposed edge portions. 
     
     
         4 . The sleeve according to  claim 1 , including a frangible portion along one or more of the panel portions for separating the interconnected panel portions. 
     
     
         5 . The sleeve according to  claim 4 , wherein the frangible portion is a tear strip. 
     
     
         6 . The sleeve according to  claim 4 , wherein the frangible portion extends from one exposed edge portion to an opposite exposed edge portion. 
     
     
         7 . The sleeve according to  claim 6 , wherein the frangible portion is spaced from an adjacent one of the corners. 
     
     
         8 . The sleeve according to  claim 1 , wherein one of the panel portions overlaps and is secured to another panel portion to provide the interconnected panel portions. 
     
     
         9 . A food package comprising:
 a container having a bottom wall, a pair of upstanding side walls, and a pair of upstanding end walls;   
       an opening in the container opposite the bottom wall through which foodstuffs are received therein; 
       an upper flange of the side and end walls extending about the opening;
 an elongate sleeve that is wrapped around the container in a predetermined wrapping direction extending transversely across the flange, opposing pair of side walls, and the bottom wall; and 
 an extension member of the sleeve extending transverse to the predetermined wrapping direction, the extension member sized to support the container on a support surface in an upright position wherein the pair of side walls extend generally normal to the support surface. 
 
     
     
         10 . The food package according to  claim 9 , wherein the wrapped sleeve does not extend across or along the end walls so that the pair of end walls of the container are completely exposed from the sleeve. 
     
     
         11 . (canceled) 
     
     
         12 . (canceled) 
     
     
         13 . The food package according to  claim 9 , wherein the sleeve includes a front panel portion that extends across the opening, a back panel portion that extends across the bottom wall of the container and a pair of side panel portions that substantially extend across the side walls of the container. 
     
     
         14 . The food package according to  claim 13 , wherein the extension extends from the back panel portion of the sleeve. 
     
     
         15 . The food package according to  claim 9 , including a frangible portion along the sleeve for unwrapping the sleeve from the container. 
     
     
         16 . The food package according to  claim 15 , wherein the frangible portion is a tear strip that extends along the sleeve transverse to the predetermined wrapping direction. 
     
     
         17 . The food package according to  claim 9 , wherein the upstanding side and end walls have a height to which the walls extend up from the bottom wall, the elongate sleeve has edge portions generally extending in the predetermined wrapping direction, and the extension extends from one of the sleeve edge portions by a predetermined distance that is less than the height of the adjacent one of the end walls. 
     
     
         18 . The food package according to  claim 17 , wherein the predetermined distance of the extension is less than half of the height of the adjacent end wall. 
     
     
         19 . The food package according to  claim 9 , wherein the elongate sleeve is adhesively secured to the container. 
     
     
         20 . (canceled)