US2285341A - Ash tray - Google Patents

Description

Patented June 2, 1.942

#UNITED STATES PATENT O FFICE 'I v t 2,285,341 -v E Y Asn my v Y y, Margaret n. Lyon, New York, N. Y. Appliation August 1o, 193s,V serial No. 289,360

' acume (c1. zoe-v2) This invention relates to shallow receptacles adapted for use as ash trays, as coasters and for otherpurposes where it is desired to support an article out of contact with 'asupporting surface, such as a table or other piece of furniture.

It is an object of the invention to provide a receptacle of the type described which may be easily and cheaply manufactured and thrown away after having been used only once or a few times.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a receptacle suitable for the purpses intended which is reversible and usable in either of two positions with equal advantage, and which is adapted tocarry advertising, pictorial or other ornamental printed matter or decoration on both sides of the bottom member.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a receptacleor support of the type described whichvis made up of a separable bottom and side wall members which are respectively adapted to be interchanged with other members of similar form.v j

The use: of ash trays, coasters and similar receptacles and supports as a means of carrying advertising for display in hotels, restaurants and other public places is Well known, and there is a demand for articles of this type which are cheap enough 'to permit oftheir use for only a limited period and then discarded;

However, Vas heretofore available, ash trays bearing printed advertising matter have been too expensive to encourage wide distribution for advertising purposes, due in part to the expense of printing or stamping the advertising matter onV the individual trays. Simple flat disc coasters have not presented such a problem because their form has made them susceptible of automatic feeding and manipulation in printing and other decorating operations. However, it has not been of advantage to print or decorate such coasters on both sides because it is impractical to reverse them once they "have been used to support a beverage glass andhave become wet or stained by the beverage.

According to my invention, the ash tray or other receptacle is made. of separable parts, the bottom usually being made of a'ilat disc, printed and decorated onl both sides, and the side walls being formed ofV an ,open-ended tubular member provided intermediate its ends with a recess or ledge Vadapted to supportV the bottom disc in either of the two possible positions. 'This construction insures that the bottom disc is spaced is desirable as creating an air space, preventing overheating and damage. to the finish .ofthe supporting surface in case the receptacle is used as an ash tray. When it is to be used as a coaster the spaced relation of the bottom to the sup- 1 porting surface is an advantagein that it prevents marring or soiling of the appearance of the side of the disc that is beneath, thus preserving its appearance and usefulness for later use in the top or exposed position. At the same time, when the bottom disc has beenreversed, bringing the,

` previously used and probably soiled surface beneath, this surface is kept out of contact with the table or other piece of furniture upon which it is disposed. It will be seen that irrespective of the use to which the receptacle is to be put, it serves to present twice the area for advertising display that is afforded `by the present trays and, moreover, permits a given receptacle to be the medium for carrying two entirely different, or differing but related, forms of advertising.

The construction of the ash tray,`coaster or other shallow receptacle in separable parts has, among others, the advantage that it permits interchangeability of the bottom discs or holders f with others made of dilerent material or which are differently printed or decorated. Thus, it is within my invention to provide a holden-the open-ended tubular member,-of a relatively permanent type and material and to associate therewith a disc of a relatively inexpensive material.

For example, the holder may be made of metal,

lthe holder may be made very advantageously from various types of paper, asbestos and other sheet materials, usually but not necessarily impregnated, and I describe my construction with more particular reference to the use of various combinations of asbestos and paper.

When the receptacle is intended to serve as an ash tray, the open-ended tubular holder and the bottom disc should be made, in their surface portions at least, of a fire resistant material. In the case of coasters, it is'desirable that the bottom disc be somewhat water absorbent but, at

from the table or other supporting surface. This the same time, suflicientlyimpervious to water and other liquids to insure that liquids spilled thereon will not pass through.

In making ash trays according to the invention, various forms of ilre resistant sheet material may be used for the holder and the bottom disc, such as impregnated Paper. I have found, however, that my construction makes it possible to use asbestos to better advantage than heretofore. It is recognized that it is dimcult to print or decorate asbestos. By providing a separable bottom member in the form of a flat disc I have overcome the difnculty that has heretofore been met with of handling and manipulating asbestos ash trays to produce a printed or other decoration thereon. In the form of discs, asbestos lends itself readily to printing and decorating processes. I have also'found that when asbestos is laminated with a more water resistant material to form the bottom disc, the resulting disc is particularly suitable for use in coasters, the asbestos providing the desired water absorbent qualities while the supporting water resistant material prevents the water from passing through.

Other objects and advantages of the inven- I tion will appear as the description proceeds.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is a perspective view of one form of the invention with the bottom and side walls in assembled relation and usable as an ash tray, a coaster, or for other purposes;

Fig. 2 is a part perspective, part section view of the bottom disc;

Fig. 3 shows a part side elevation and part section on the line 3-3 of Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section through part of the side wall of the tubular member showing a somewhat different form ofl retaining recess for the bottom disc;

Fig. 5 is a vertical section of part of a further modified construction of the tubular member;

Fig. 6 is a vertical section of part of a still further modified construction of the holder or tubular member;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of an open ended tubular member differing from that shown in Fig. 1 in that it has doubly flared sides;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a still further modification of the tubular member which is ilared continuously from one end to the other; and

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of still another form of the open-ended tubular section.

As shown in Fig. l, the receptacle is made of a straight sided tubular member or ring I0 and a at circular bottom disc I2. The ring I0 is provided with an internal groove or recess I4 which may be advantageously rolled into the ring while it is held in a die or form. As shown, the ring comprises a wall I6 made of sulphite tag stock faced with long ber asbestos paper I6a and an outer layer of smooth paper I8, which may be colored and printed or otherwise decorated to impart a pleasing appearance or to display advertising.

The bottom disc I2 may be made of asbestos mill board and .is intended to have suitable advertising matter or a decoration printed or otherwise impressed on both sides. In place of mill board, I may use, and have shown in Figs. 2 and 3, a laminated sheet material, which may, for example, comprise long ber asbestos paper I2a laminated on both sides of a relatively stii and water impervious paper layer I2b, such as chipboard or sulphite tag stock. Other materials having fire resistant properties may be used provided they also combine therewith sufilcient stiffness or strength to serve as a. support for the uses intended and, at the same time, are capable of being flexed sufficiently to enable them to be sprung into place and removed from the holder as desired.

In the process of manufacture, the asbestos ring or holder may be formed in various ways, one advantageous method being to form a tubular member of the length conforming to the width of the asbestos sheetl laminated or otherwise, as it comes from the manufacturer. This tube is then severed into rings of the desired length and thereafter a layer of paper is applied to the outer wall of the ring and crimped over the ends, as shown at 20. The beading or rolling of the inner wall of the ring to provide the bottom supporting recess or ledge may be effected either after the ring has been severed from the original tube section or while the tube section is intact and before severing of the rings.

The disc retaining recess I4 may be formed in various -other ways. Examples are shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6. In Fig. 4 the ring I0 is shown as made up of a wall I6 of sulphite tag stock faced on its inner side with long ber asbestos paper I6a and an outer layer of paper I8 crimped over the ends of the ring as at 20. However, in this form the bottom disc retaining groove is shown as produced by forming two parallel annular beads I5 on the inner periphery of the ring, these beads being so spaced as to dene therebetween a groove Illb adapted to receive the peripheral edges of the disc and retain the disc in spaced position with respect to the ends of the ring. As shown, the bead is produced by running a suitable' beading instrument around the outside of the ring after'the paper layer I8 has been applied and while holding the ring on a mandrel or other suitable means designed to prevent inward displacement of the walls except along the lines desired. The use of a single bead defining a ledge upon which the bottom disc will rest in either position of the holder is also within thescope of my invention.

In Fig. 5 still another form of wall construction is shown. In this modification the ring I0 is made up of a sulphite tag board ring section 22, an outer'smooth paper layer I8 and a pair of shorter asbestos rings ISc associated with the section 22 respectively adjacent its ends and leaving between them a recess or shoulder I4c. The rings I6 c are secured to the section 22 by a suitable adhesive and the edges 2i) of the outer paper layer I8 are curled over the ends of the section 22 and the rings IEc and secured to the rings Ic by an adhesive.

In Fig. 6 the open-ended tubular section or h older I0 is shown as formed of an inner ring section 22 which may be, for example, made of sulphite tag board and an outside smooth paper layer I8 which is curled over the ends of the section 22 and extends down the inner wall of 22 from both ends but not quite meeting, thereby defining between them a recess or groove Md adapted to receive the edges of the circular bottom disc I2 and hold this disc against accidental displacement. When the ring is to be used ln forming an ash tray, the paper layer I8 is selected from those having fire resistance.

In Fig. 7 the open-ended tubular section I0 is shown as ared outwardly toward both ends from a middle point adjacent the circular groove I4. The opposite edges of the ring are also shown ends of v.said tubular member and dividing the i as cut away .at 26 to provide cigarette rests. Otherwise the construction is the same as that of Fig. 1 and is subject to modification-according to the constructions of any of Figs. 3, 4, 5

and 6.

f Fig. 8 shows still another modification differ-` ing from the preceding in being flared outwardly from the one end, at 28, toward the other end, at 30.

Fig. 9 shows still another modification in which the open-ended tubular member I0 is made rectangular; in cross section but is otherwise of the same general construction as shown in the preceding gures. f

Where the term ash tray is used in the claims, it is-to be understood as including other shallow receptacles adapted for similar uses, such as coasters and the like.

member into halves of similar shape and size, said groove operating to support and hold said bottom member in spaced relation to a supporting surface, and said bottom member being brought into pressure engagement with said supporting means and flexed into and out of pressure engagement throughout the periphery of the groove with said supporting means without dismantling said tubular member.

2. A reversible ash tray comprising a one-piece open-ended shallow tubular member defining the side walls and a one-piece bottom disk, said tubular member including an inner shallow tubular section of relatively stiff self-supporting paper stock and an outer tubular section of relatively It is to be understood that the forms of the l invention shown in the drawing are intended to be illustrative and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention exceptas set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An ash tray comprising a one-piece openended shallow tubular member and a separable one-piece bottom member cooperating to produce a reversible tray, said tubular member being provided intermediate its top and bottom with an inner peripheral groove equally spaced from the MARGARET H. LYON.

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