Tamper-evident paperboard food container

Abstract

A paperboard food container includes a paperboard receptacle and a paperboard closure. The paperboard receptacle encloses, in an assembled state, a three-dimensional space in which a food product may be disposed and has an opening through which the food product enters the space. The paperboard closure is disposed across the opening, and includes first and second surfaces, one of the first and second surfaces, one of which has a tamper-evident region of weakness that may be irreversibly split to open the closure.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A paperboard container comprising:
 a paperboard receptacle enclosing in an assembled state a three-dimensional space in which a food product may be disposed and having an opening through which the food product enters the space; and   a paperboard closure disposed across the opening,   the closure comprising first and second surfaces,   one of the first and second surfaces having a region adjacent a distalmost edge thereof with an adhesive disposed in the region and a barrier having a release coating disposed over the region,   another of the first and second surfaces having a region with a tamper-evident region of weakness that may be irreversibly split to open the closure disposed along a border of the region,   the regions of the first and second surfaces overlapping to secure the closure.   
     
     
         2 . The paperboard container of  claim 1 , wherein the region of weakness comprises at least one set of perforations. 
     
     
         3 . The paperboard container of  claim 1 , wherein the region of weakness comprises a tear strip including at least two sets of perforations and a reinforcement strip disposed therebetween. 
     
     
         4 . The paperboard container of  claim 1 , wherein the paperboard receptacle comprises a rectangular floor with four side walls, each side wall joined to the floor along a fold line. 
     
     
         5 . The paperboard container of  claim 4 , wherein the first surface is joined to one of the side walls along a fold line and the second surface is joined to an opposite one of the side walls along a fold line. 
     
     
         6 . The paperboard container of  claim 4 , wherein first and second adjacent side walls are joined by a corner, the corner having a first corner section joined to the first side wall by a fold line, a second corner section joined to the second side wall by a fold line, and the first and second corner sections joined along a common fold line between the first and second corner sections. 
     
     
         7 . The paperboard container of  claim 6 , wherein the first and second corner sections each have an inner surface, and the inner surfaces of the first and second corner sections face each other when the corner is assembled. 
     
     
         8 . The paperboard container of  claim 6 , wherein one of the first and second corner sections has a tab, the tab configured to be attached to an outer surface of one of the first and second side walls when the corner is assembled. 
     
     
         9 . The paperboard container of  claim 1 , wherein the paperboard container comprises a rectangularly-shaped box. 
     
     
         10 . The paperboard container of  claim 1 , wherein the paperboard container has a closure that lies flat when secured.