Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D83/00—Containers or packages with special means for dispensing contents

Definitions

• This invention relates to a dispenser package for stacks of nested tapered cups that serve as a shipping container and also as apparatus for dispensing the cups.
• Cup dispensers are well known in the art and generally require some form of permanent mounting on a wall or other suitable structure. It is not always practicable to mount a dispenser of this type in every desired location, and they frequently are mounted in a single location not convenient to all users.
• This invention provides an improved package structure for nested paper cups that is suited as dispensing apparatus useful in a variety of locations.
• This invention comprises an improved package structure comprising a container having substantially planar, par ⁇ allel, mutually spaced first and second walls; each said wall including a generally circular opening, the opening in said first wall axially aligned with the opening in said second wall; said container being adapted to hold a stack of nested cups each having a tapered side wall, a circular bottom wall, and a circular open top, said bottom wall being smaller than either of said openings, and said open end being greater than at least said opening in said second wall, whereby said stack protrudes through said opening in
• OMPI IPO said second wall at its one end and rests on said second wall in the region of the opening therein, the recited protruding stack of one of said containers extending through said opening in said second wall of the other of said containers so that said last recited second wall is disposed in engagement with the first wall of the recited one container, said cups being dispensible by grasping a protruding cup and removing it through said first opening of a container, either in the recited assembled mode of said units or in the separated mode thereof.
• FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings is a perspective view of a package comprising four containers for nested cups illustrating elements of the invention
• Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the package in Fig. 1, in a partially disassembled mode
• Fig. 3 is a plan view of one of the containers illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, looking in the direction of arrows 3-3 of Fig. 2;
• Fig. 4 is a bottom view of a container, looking in the direction of arrows 4-4 of Fig. 2;
• Fig. 5 is an elevational showing of the composite package of Figs. 1 and 2 , with a portion of one container sectioned generally along the line 5-5 of Fig. 2;
• Fig. 6 is a plan view of a container illustrating a modification of the structure of Fig. 3;
• Fig. 7 is a bottom view of a container illustrating a modification of the structure illustrated in Fig. 4;
• Fig. 8 is a plan view of a container illustrating another embodiment of the container.
• FIG. 1 illustrates a package 10 of two pairs of stacked container units 11 and 11' , each identical to the other and comprising containers or cartons of paperboard capable of serving as dispensing apparatus.
• each carton 11 and 11' is of generally rectangular configuration, in- eluding planar, parallel, mutually spaced first and second walls 12 and 13, respectively, joined by planar side walls 14, 15, 16 and 17.
• first or upper wall 12 includes a generally circular opening 18, and, as is seen in Fig. 4, second or lower wall 13 includes a generally circular opening 19 axially alligned with opening 18.
• Opening 19 preferably is smaller or of lesser diameter than opening 18, and along its periphery there are provided radially inwardly projecting tabs 20 defined by radial knife cuts 21 in lower wall 13.
• Tabs 20 are connected to wall 13, along the periphery of opening 19, and include perfora ⁇ tions 22 extending transversely of the bases of the tabs and outlining a polygon with the perforations substan- tially aligned with the periphery of opening 19.
• the upper opening 18 preferably is larger or of greater diameter than opening 19, and is substantially defined by tabs 23 which, in turn, are defined by relatively short radial knife cuts 24.
• Perforations 22 are arranged so that they do not intersect the slits formed by radial knife cuts 21, i.e. the per ⁇ forations 22 do not join 21.
• Tabs 20 may be pushed inward to form an opening in the bottom 14 of the dispenser package, preferably of somewhat smaller diameter than opening 18 in the top of the package, the tabs 26 bending along lines defined by perforations 22.
• an inverted stack of tapered cups 25 is disposed in each carton 11 and 11', wherein the tapered side wall and bottom wall of the end cup of a cup stack protrudes through the larger opening 18, and the open top of the other end cup of the same cup stack rests on the lower wall 13, in the region of perforations 22.
• Tabs 20 conveniently serve as a dust cover for the lower walls of a lowermost carton 11 of a package.
• opening 18 are sufficiently flexible and resilient, as is the nature of the paperboard of the carton, to accommodate one-at-a-time removal of protrud- ing cups through opening 18.
• the top wall 12 of each dispenser package 11 and 11' is provided with slits or knife cuts 26 extending from the circular opening 18 to each of the sidewalls 14, 15, 16, and 17, at a point on the circular opening 18 adjacent each sidewall.
• the slits or knife cuts 26 are preferably positioned to extend from the center of the top of each side wall to the circular opening 18, the cuts intersecting the circular opening at a point on its periphery nearest the adjacent sidewall. It has been found that provision of the slits or knife cuts 26 permit a stack of cups 25 to be loaded into the package 11 through the top opening 18 without tearing the top wall 12 and without disabling the tabs 23.
• tabs 20 formed by knife cuts 21 on the bottom wall 13 of the dispenser package are joined at their inner ends by webs 20' holding the tabs 20 in place until the webs are ruptured by insertion of the small end of a protruding
• FIG. 8 An alternate preferred embodiment of opening 18 in the upper wall of the container is illustrated in Fig. 8.
• the opening 118 is made up of four arcuate jaws 119, the arcuate segments each subtending an angle of 40° to 45° and each interconnected to four
• an inverted stack of tapered cups 25 is disposed 25 in dispenser package 11, as illustrated in ig. 5 such that the tapered side wall and bottom wall of the end cup of a cup stack protrudes through opening 118, and the open top of the other end cup of the cup stack rests on the lower wall 13.
• Jaws 119 defining the smaller diameter portion 30 of opening 118 are sufficiently flexible and resilient to permit the withdrawal of one cup through opening 118 while retaining the remainder of the stack.
• the top wall 112 of this embodiment of the dispenser 35 package is provided with slits or knife cuts 122 extending
• Knife cuts 122 permit a stack of cups 25 to be loaded into the package through the top opening 118 without tearing the top wall 112 of the package and without damage to arcuate dispensing jaws 119.
• the straight segments 120 are preferably parallel to the side walls and the arcuate jaws 119 are preferably opposite the corners of the top wall.
• four diagonal slits or knife cuts 124 in the top wall 112 of the package may be provided to intersect the opening 118 at the midpoint of the arcuate dispensing jaws 119.
• the diagonal knife cuts 124 cause a slight division of dispensing jaws 119 on each side of slits 124 allowing the segments of the dispensing jaw to snap over the top rim or curl of the first cup onto the rim of the trailing cup thereby separating the cups and allowing a single cup to be dispensed.
• the combination of curved or arcute jaws 119 and interconnecting straight sided segments 120 and ra ⁇ dial slits 124 move with a slight independence of one another to provide an improved cup dispensing package.
• the straight sided segments 120 contact only a very small area of the rim of a cup on either side of knife cuts 122. This arrangement serves to reduce resistance to with ⁇ drawal of a cup from the package.
• the combination of arcuate jaws 119, straight segments 120 and radial slits 122 and 124 cooperate to allow slight separations of the knife cuts with just enough movement for dispensing a
• the pair of i 5 stacked cartons 11 are so positioned that the protruding end cup 25 of a cup stack in one carton 11, i.e. lower carton, extends through the smaller opening 19 of the other carton 11, i.e. upper carton, flexing the radial tabs 20 about perforations 22 and being received in the
• a clear plastic film overwrap 27 (Fig. 1) held in the illustrated rectangular form over the protruding cup stacks by a flat rectangular sheet 26 of stiff plastic material in an inverted U-shape configuration, wherein the flat loop portion rests atop the inverted cup stacks
• leg portions 25 and the leg portions are generally coplanar with the sides of the assembled cartons as shown.
• 30 may be arranged side by side, in a single line, or in a square array, either being overwrapped with a clear plas ⁇ tic sheet or film as shown, and having a form also as shown to present a flat upper package surface facilitating stacking of several packages.
• a clear plas ⁇ tic sheet or film as shown
• assembly of a package may be achieved using conventional shrink- wrapped film without the form 27.
• a plurality of containers may be arranged atop one another in a package, and assembly may be maintained by clear wrapping film.
• the inventive structure achieves both practical and aesthetic qualities desired of a cup dispenser, affording an attractive, compact package capable of ready disassembly by the user into equally attractive, easy to use dispensing units.
• paperboard is the preferred material of the carton, it will be apparent from the foregoing that other mater- ials affording adequate flexibility and resilience for flexure of the tabs, such as polyethylene or like plastic, or laminates including paperboard, plastic, or metal foil, will be suitable for use in achieving objectives and advantages of the invention.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Packages (AREA)
• Control And Other Processes For Unpacking Of Materials (AREA)
• Stackable Containers (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (6)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=27407296

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (7)

Families Citing this family (2)

Citations (2)

Family Cites Families (4)

• 1983
  • 1983-01-10 WO PCT/US1983/000017 patent/WO1983002441A1/fr not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1983-01-10 AU AU10261/83A patent/AU1026183A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1983-01-10 JP JP83500630A patent/JPS58502199A/ja active Pending
  • 1983-01-10 EP EP19830900592 patent/EP0098301A4/fr not_active Withdrawn
  • 1983-08-30 NO NO833117A patent/NO833117L/no unknown
  • 1983-09-01 FI FI833114A patent/FI833114A0/fi not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1983-09-06 DK DK4042/83A patent/DK404283D0/da not_active Application Discontinuation

Patent Citations (2)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events