Carton with integral carrying handle

Claim 1

A carton comprising: opposed front and back walls joined by opposed side walls; a bottom and top wall between said front and back walls, said top wall including at least two overlapping flaps, one of said flaps being hingedly connected to said front wall and the other of said flaps being hingedly connected to said back wall; a handle element cut in each of said flaps, each of said handle elements including: outer edges formed by spaced lines cut in each of said flaps extending inwardly from a top edge thereof; a score line hinge extending towards each other from an end of each of said outer edges generally parallel to the top edge of the flap; a central portion cut from the flap between said score line hinges, defining a lower edge on said handle element generally parallel to the top edge of said flap, said central portion of each of said handle elements being substantially rectangular in plan and cut along three edges, the intact edge of said central portion being between said score line hinges, said central portion of each handle element being overlapped and secured together, said central portion of each of said handle elements including: a first tab substantially rectangular in plan and cut along three edges, the intact edge of said first tab being between said score line hinges, a second tab substantially rectangular in plan and cut along three edges, the intact edge of said second tab being hingedly connected to the lower edge of said handle element, such that upon securing said handle elements, together said second tab can be bent about its intact edge and the lower edge of the other handle element; said carton further comprising: a strip of reinforcing tape adhered to each of said flaps parallel to and just below the score line hinges of each handle element, said tape extending across the entire width of said flaps; whereby one of said handle elements can be bent substantially 180° about its score line hinges when said flaps are overlapped, and the other of said handle elements complementally seated thereon; and said complementally seated surfaces of said handle elements being secured together to form an integral handle on said top wall pivotable about said score line hinges from a substantially flat position on said top wall to a substantially upright position relative thereto so that said carton may be supported by said handle.