Carton carrying handle

Claim 1

A carton with carrying handle, said carton having a top wall panel having opposed side edges and a longitudinal axis, a side wall panel being connected on a fold line to each of said side edges, said handle comprising a first breakaway cut line disposed substantially transverse to said top wall panel's longitudinal axis, and a hinge line also disposed substantially transverse to said top wall panel's longitudinal axis, second and third breakaway cut lines that connect said transverse cut line and said hinge line at the ends thereof, all of said cut lines and said hinge lines cooperating to define a handle flap foldable beneath said top wall panel, and cooperating to define a handle hole that permits a user's fingers to be received therethrough when said carton is being carried by a user, a fourth breakaway cut line that extends between said first cut line and said hinge line, said fourth cut line permitting said handle flap to be sub-divided into two sub-flaps as said handle flap is broken away from said top wall panel, each of said sub-flaps having an outer end adjacent a side edge of said top wall panel and an inner end located between said top wall panel's side edges, said sub-flaps' inner ends being adjacent to one another and said sub flaps' outer ends constituting the ends of said handle flap, and an inner ear hinged at said inner end of at least one sub-flap, said inner ear being adapted to deflect downwardly when a user's finger begins pushing toward the interior of the carton in that general area defined by that inner hinged ear as said handle flap is broken away from said top wall panel.