Carton With Dispenser Features

Abstract

A carton for holding an article includes a plurality of panels extending at least partially around an interior of the carton, the plurality of panels including a front panel, a back panel, and at least one bottom panel, a plurality of end flaps foldably connected to a respective panel of the plurality of panels, the plurality of end flaps at least partially overlapped to form at least one closed end of the carton, a dispenser having a dispenser opening at least partially defined along the plurality of panels for accessing the article in the interior of the carton, and an article separating member at least partially received in the interior of the carton for at least partially separating a selected portion of the article from a remainder thereof.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A carton for holding an article, the carton comprising:
 a plurality of panels extending at least partially around an interior of the carton, the plurality of panels comprising a front panel, a back panel, and at least one bottom panel;   a plurality of end flaps foldably connected to a respective panel of the plurality of panels, the plurality of end flaps at least partially overlapped to form at least one closed end of the carton;   a dispenser comprising a dispenser opening at least partially defined along the plurality of panels for accessing the article in the interior of the carton; and   an article separating member at least partially received in the interior of the carton for at least partially separating a selected portion of the article from a remainder thereof.   
     
     
         2 . The carton of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of panels and the plurality of end flaps comprise paperboard. 
     
     
         3 . The carton of  claim 2 , wherein the article separating member comprises a body at least partially defining a cutting edge. 
     
     
         4 . The carton of  claim 2 , wherein the plurality of panels further comprises at least one top panel foldably connected to the front panel. 
     
     
         5 . The carton of  claim 3 , wherein the article separating member is attached to the at least one top panel such that the cutting edge protrudes past the at least one top panel. 
     
     
         6 . The carton of  claim 3 , wherein the article separating member is attached to an end flap of the plurality of end flaps such that the cutting edge protrudes past the end flap. 
     
     
         7 . The carton of  claim 4 , wherein the plurality of panels further comprises a handle panel foldably connected to the at least one top panel. 
     
     
         8 . The carton of  claim 7 , wherein the handle panel comprises an upper portion and a lower portion, the lower portion separated from the front panel and the at least one top panel to at least partially define the dispenser opening. 
     
     
         9 . The carton of  claim 8 , wherein the carton comprises package supporting features comprising a hanger opening at least partially defined in the upper portion of the handle panel. 
     
     
         10 . The carton of  claim 3 , wherein the carton further comprises article positioning features, the article positioning features comprising an article positioning flap foldably connected to the back panel and positioned extending into the interior of the carton for at least partially extending through an article. 
     
     
         11 . The carton of  claim 3 , wherein the carton further comprises a compartment forming flap foldably connected to the back panel and positioned extending into the interior of the carton to at least partially define a compartment at least partially receiving the article separating member. 
     
     
         12 . The carton of  claim 3 , wherein the back panel is an outer back panel and the plurality of panels further comprises an inner back panel in at least partial face-to-face contact with the outer back panel, the carton further comprises article positioning features, the article positioning features comprising an article positioning flap foldably connected to the outer back panel and positioned extending into the interior of the carton for at least partially extending through an article, and the carton further comprises a compartment forming flap foldably connected to the inner back panel and positioned extending into the interior of the carton to at least partially define a compartment at least partially receiving the article separating member. 
     
     
         13 . The carton of  claim 3 , wherein the carton comprises package supporting features comprising a hanger opening at least partially defined in each of the outer back panel and the inner back panel. 
     
     
         14 . A blank for forming a carton for holding an article, the blank comprising:
 a plurality of panels extending at least partially around an interior of the carton formed from the blank, the plurality of panels comprising a front panel, a back panel, and at least one bottom panel;   a plurality of end flaps foldably connected to a respective panel of the plurality of panels, the plurality of end flaps for being at least partially overlapped to form at least one closed end of the carton formed from the blank;   dispenser features for at least partially forming a dispenser opening at least partially defined along the plurality of panels for accessing the article in the interior of the carton formed from the blank; and   an article separating member for being at least partially received in the interior of the carton formed from the blank for at least partially separating a selected portion of the article from a remainder thereof.   
     
     
         15 . The blank of  claim 14 , wherein the plurality of panels and the plurality of end flaps comprise paperboard. 
     
     
         16 . The blank of  claim 15 , wherein the article separating member comprises a body at least partially defining a cutting edge. 
     
     
         17 . The blank of  claim 15 , wherein the plurality of panels further comprises at least one top panel foldably connected to the front panel. 
     
     
         18 . The blank of  claim 16 , wherein the article separating member is attached to the at least one top panel such that the cutting edge protrudes past the at least one top panel. 
     
     
         19 . The blank of  claim 16 , wherein the article separating member is attached to an end flap of the plurality of end flaps such that the cutting edge protrudes past the end flap. 
     
     
         20 . The blank of  claim 17 , wherein the plurality of panels further comprises a handle panel foldably connected to the at least one top panel. 
     
     
         21 . The blank of  claim 20 , wherein the handle panel comprises an upper portion and a lower portion, the lower portion separable from the front panel and the at least one top panel for at least partially defining the dispenser opening when the carton is formed from the blank. 
     
     
         22 . The blank of  claim 21 , wherein the blank comprises package supporting features comprising a hanger opening at least partially defined in the upper portion of the handle panel. 
     
     
         23 . The blank of  claim 16 , wherein the blank further comprises article positioning features, the article positioning features comprising an article positioning flap foldably connected to the back panel and for being positioned extending into the interior of the carton formed from the blank for at least partially extending through an article. 
     
     
         24 . The blank of  claim 16 , wherein the blank further comprises a compartment forming flap foldably connected to the back panel and for being positioned extending into the interior of the carton formed from the blank to at least partially define a compartment for at least partially receiving the article separating member. 
     
     
         25 . The blank of  claim 16 , wherein the back panel is an outer back panel and the plurality of panels further comprises an inner back panel for being positioned in at least partial face-to-face contact with the outer back panel when the carton is formed from the blank, the blank further comprises article positioning features, the article positioning features comprising an article positioning flap foldably connected to the outer back panel and for being positioned extending into the interior of the carton formed from the blank for at least partially extending through an article, and the blank further comprises a compartment forming flap foldably connected to the inner back panel and for being positioned extending into the interior of the carton formed from the blank to at least partially define a compartment for at least partially receiving the article separating member. 
     
     
         26 . The blank of  claim 16 , wherein the blank comprises package supporting features comprising a hanger opening at least partially defined in each of the outer back panel and the inner back panel. 
     
     
         27 . A method of forming a carton for holding an article, the method comprising:
 obtaining a blank, the blank comprising a plurality of panels comprising a front panel, a back panel, and at least one bottom panel, a plurality of end flaps foldably connected to a respective panel of the plurality of panels, and dispenser features;   obtaining an article separating member;   positioning the plurality of panels extending at least partially around an interior of the carton formed from the blank;   at least partially overlapping the plurality of end flaps to form at least one closed end of the carton formed from the blank;   positioning the dispenser features at least partially forming a dispenser opening at least partially defined along the plurality of panel for accessing the article in the interior of the carton; and   at least partially positioning the article separating member in the interior of the carton for at least partially separating a selected portion of the article from a remainder thereof.   
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the plurality of panels and the plurality of end flaps comprise paperboard. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein the article separating member comprises a body at least partially defining a cutting edge. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein the plurality of panels further comprises at least one top panel foldably connected to the front panel. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein at least partially positioning the article separating member in the interior of the carton comprises attaching the article separating member to the at least one top panel such that the cutting edge protrudes past the at least one top panel. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein at least partially positioning the article separating member in the interior of the carton comprises attaching the article separating member to an end flap of the plurality of end flaps such that the cutting edge protrudes past the end flap. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein the plurality of panels further comprises a handle panel foldably connected to the at least one top panel. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 33 , wherein the handle panel comprises an upper portion and a lower portion, and positioning the dispenser features comprises at least partially separating the lower portion from the front panel and the at least one top panel to at least partially define the dispenser opening. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the blank comprises package supporting features comprising a hanger opening at least partially defined in the upper portion of the handle panel. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the blank further comprises article positioning features, the article positioning features comprising an article positioning flap foldably connected to the back panel, and the method further comprises positioning the article positioning flap extending into the interior of the carton for at least partially extending through an article. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the blank further comprises a compartment forming flap foldably connected to the back panel, and the method further comprises positioning the compartment forming flap extending into the interior of the carton to at least partially define a compartment for at least partially receiving the article separating member. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 37 , wherein at least partially positioning the article separating member in the interior of the carton comprises at least partially positioning the article separating member in the compartment. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the back panel is an outer back panel and the plurality of panels further comprises an inner back panel, positioning the plurality of panels comprises positioning the inner back panel in at least partial face-to-face contact with the outer back panel, the blank further comprises article positioning features, the article positioning features comprising an article positioning flap foldably connected to the outer back panel, the method further comprises positioning the article positioning flap extending into the interior of the carton for at least partially extending through an article, the blank further comprises a compartment forming flap foldably connected to the inner back panel, and the method further comprises positioning the compartment forming flap extending into the interior of the carton to at least partially define a compartment for at least partially receiving the article separating member. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 39 , wherein at least partially positioning the article separating member in the interior of the carton comprises at least partially positioning the article separating member in the compartment. 
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 29 , wherein the blank comprises package supporting features comprising a hanger opening at least partially defined in each of the outer back panel and the inner back panel.