Divided and tapered food carton

Claim 1

A divided food carton for packaging a plurality of individually wrapped servings of a food product such that the servings have a minimum contact with the top, bottom and side walls of the carton, said carton being prepared from a single blank of foldable sheet material into a configuration of trapezoidal cross section with angularly disposed side walls, comprising: (a) a centrally located bottom panel; (b) a pair of side walls foldably attached to opposite sides of said bottom panel; (c) a pair of top closure flaps foldably attached to the ends of said side walls opposite said bottom panel; (d) an integral divider element having a width substantially equal to the height of the carton foldably attached to the end of one of said top closure flaps, said one top closure flap having a width equal to one-half the width of said carton in the plane between the top of said angularly disposed side walls, and said remaining top closure flap having a width which permits it to overlap and be adhered to said one top closure flap when the carton is closed, and further including a single, substantially straight perforated tear line located prior to the point where the top closure flaps are adhered to one another, said tear line commencing at one edge of said remaining top closure flap and extending to the other edge thereof where there is located at least one unsecured carton opening tab; (e) a pair of end walls foldably attached to opposite ends of said bottom panel; (f) a top closure supporting flap foldably attached to each end closure flap at the end opposite said bottom panel, and further including a notch located substantially at the midpoint thereof for accepting and capturing the integral carton divider element when it is folded into position to divide the carton; (g) a plurality of end closure flaps foldably attached to the ends of said side walls for securing the end walls of said carton to the adjacent side walls; and, (h) a plurality of ventilation openings in the side and end walls, and divider element of said carton for the purpose of preserving the freshness of the packaged food products.