Egg carton that is tamper evident

Abstract

The present invention provides an egg carton having a tamper evident locking mechanism, and a process for making a tamper evident carton. The carton provides, in various embodiments, a simplified construction with a tamper evident locking mechanism that both resists inadvertent opening, and once opened, alters the appearance or integrity of the carton itself.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A plastic tamper-evident egg carton comprising:
 a base, a lid and a closure flap;   the closure flap having opposing interior and exterior surfaces and a closure nub projecting from the exterior flap surface;   the base having an interior surface defined by a plurality of egg-receiving cells and an upper base perimeter surrounding the plurality of cells, the upper base perimeter having opposing front and rear base edges;   the lid having an interior surface defined by a top wall, sidewalls extending downwardly from the top wall and a lower lid perimeter, the lower lid perimeter having opposing front and rear lid edges, the rear lid edge and rear base edge being joined by a hinge allowing the lid to be moved from an open carton position exposing the interior of the base, to a closed carton position over the base interior, one of the lid sidewalls being disposed adjacent the front lid edge and having a slot configured for receiving the closure nub on the flap when the lid and base are in the closed carton position;   the closure flap having a perimeter with opposing top and bottom flap edges, the bottom flap edge and the front base edge being joined by a hinge allowing the flap to be moved from a first open flap position exposing the interior of the base to a second closed flap position under an interior surface of the one lid sidewall when the base and lid are in the closed carton position;   a sealing member attached to an exterior surface of the one lid sidewall and covering the slot, wherein in the closed carton position, the sealing member is configured to seal to the nub projecting through the slot thus rendering the carton tamper evident.   
     
     
         2 . The egg carton of  claim 1  wherein the slot has a slot perimeter and the sealing member has an adhesive interior surface that is attached to an area on the exterior surface of the one lid sidewall surrounding at least a portion of the slot perimeter. 
     
     
         3 . The egg carton of  claim 2  wherein the area surrounds the entire slot perimeter. 
     
     
         4 . The egg carton of  claim 2  wherein the adhesive is a single use adhesive such that detaching the sealing member from the exterior surface of the one lid sidewall renders the adhesive no longer able to adhesively reattach to the exterior surface. 
     
     
         5 . The egg carton of  claim 1  wherein the closed carton has a rectilinear perimeter having a length, width and height, and the carton has one nub and one slot centrally located in the length direction. 
     
     
         6 . The egg carton of  claim 1  wherein the egg carton is a bi-fold egg carton. 
     
     
         7 . The egg carton of  claim 6  wherein the cells comprise an array of 2×6, 2×5, 2×4, 2×3 or 2×2 cells. 
     
     
         8 . The egg carton of  claim 1  wherein the nub comprises a front nub face and nub sidewall, and the nub sidewall spacing the front nub face from the outer face of the closure flap. 
     
     
         9 . The egg carton of  claim 1  wherein the slot has a slot perimeter with opposing side edges, and the sealing member has an adhesive outer surface configured to adhere to an area of the sealing surface adjacent the two opposing side edges. 
     
     
         10 . The egg carton of  claim 1 , wherein the sealing strip has one or more areas of perforations, providing a weakened area that tears to provide tamper evidence. 
     
     
         11 . A method of rendering an egg carton tamper proof comprising:
 providing the egg carton and sealing member of  claim 1 ,   adhering the sealing member to the exterior surface of the one lid sidewall and covering the slot,   rotating the lid about the rear hinge to the closed carton position over the base interior, wherein the closure nub on the flap pushes through the slot on the lid when the lid and base are moved to the closed carton position and seals the sealing member to nub thus rendering the carton tamper evident.