The present carton has a tear strip that is fully removed from the carton when the carton is opened. This is the case since the tear strip and associated adhesive is only across the front panel and the two pendant side flaps. It is not across the rear panel to which the lid remains hingedly attached after opening. In addition the side flaps attached to the front and rear panels are of a size of essentially that of the side of the carton which provides the carton with additional stacking strength.

A carton having a lid lock comprising a lip or flap extending from a liner and a debossment, embossment or opening in a panel forming the cover. The debossment, embossment or opening receives and/or limits the motion of the lip to lock closed the cover.

A re-closable parallelepiped carton formed from a unitary sheet of creased and folded laminar material comprises a front panel, opposed side panels and a rear panel all equal in height, a bottom panel, and a lid formed by a top panel hingedly attached to an upper edge of the rear panel. The lid has integral front and side skirt members depending from front and side edges, respectively, of the top panel to extend outside the respective front and side panels for a relatively short part of said height. A front web member extends between an upper edge of the front panel and a lower edge portion of the front skirt member. The front web member comprises a longitudinal linear frangible zone, and upper and lower web portions above and below, respectively, the frangible zone. The upper web portion is formed from an outwardly and downwardly folded extension of the front panel. The lower web portion is formed from an extension of the front skirt member folded upwardly and inwardly and adhered to the inner surface of the front skirt member. Lifting of the lid a first time severs the web member along the frangible zone separating the upper and lower web portions. Upon subsequent re-closure of the lid, the lower web portion engages beneath the upper web portion to lock the lid in the closed position. Preferably, the upper web portion is urged outwardly from the panel by resilience of the material of the fold between the upper web portion and the front panel. Similar web members may be provided along the sides of the carton, improving the reliability of the locking action and assisting in sealing the carton on all sides to inhibit ingress of moisture. The invention also encompasses a laminar blank for forming such a re-closable folded carton.

In accordance with the present invention, products are contained within a continuous cylindrical sleeve in a low- or no-tension condition. Products are captured within the sleeve during its formation. The sleeve forms a continuous path encircling the product(s) in at least one plane through the products and package, defining an axial direction normal to the plane and a circumferential direction around the product(s) within the plane. One or more axially-extending pleats are unitarily formed from the material comprising the cylindrical wall of the sleeve, such that the circumference of the cylindrical sleeve is reduced. By reducing the circumference of the cylinder the interior volume of the sleeve, and thus the finished package, is reduced, thus subjecting the products within the package to a compressive force. The compressive force is imparted by a uniform reduction in circumference resulting in a uniform inwardly-directed product compression. Where a single pleat is formed so as to uniformly reduce the circumference of the sleeve, the reduction in circumference is approximately equal to the finished width of the pleat. Multiple pleats multiply the reduction in circumference.

A reclosable container (10) is disclosed comprising a box (12) having an opening and comprising a base panel (20), end panels (22, 24), a back panel (26), a front panel (28) and a lid (14) which is hingedly connected to the box. The lid comprises a top panel (30) and a skirt (16) which incorporates a tamper evident seal, preferably formed as a tear strip (18). When the seal has been broken the lid can pivot between a position in which it closes the box and an open position. The container may be formed from a single sheet and a back folded locking arrangement (60) is incorporated in the container.