US1222566A - Package for paper drinking-cups. - Google Patents

Description

J. A. an. E. SHERMAN.

PACKAGE FOR PAPER DRINKING CUPS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. l. 1914.

Patented Apr. 10, 1917.

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SETT-S.

PACKAGE FOR PAIPER- DRINKING- 3111 53.

Application filed September 1, 1914.

To all whom it may concern I Be it known that we, Jenn A. lineman: and J can EnwAnn SHERMAN, both of Worcester, in the county of \Vorcester and State of Massachusetts, citizens of the United States, have invented a new, useful, and Improved Package for Paper Drinking- Cups, of which the following is a specification.

In the present demand for sanitary d rinking" cups so-called, the demand has also arisen for containers in which they are deposited and from which they are withdrawn to be used. Such containers, so tar as we know, are fixtures attached to the wall of the building or car which are refilled from time to time as occasion requires. lhc cups come in bulk, so to spealc, from the manufacturer, and when the shipping; box has been opened the cups are taken by hand by the janitor or railway porter or brakeman and are inserted in the container which is then closed. ihis arrangement is hardly sanitary because the cups are thus handled in the natural order of business by men whose usual work is not 'clean and who could not be expected to handle them witli clean hands. Moreover, unless the container is constantly cleaned out, afterdt has been in use for a time it collects dirt and germs which are collected on the cups themselves' The whole scheme, therefore, though in its conception a sanitary measure does not necessarily fulfil its purpose.

Our invention. is a serving, container or package which is filled with cups and sealed at the factory where the cups are made and requires no manipulation except unpacking and hanging onthe wall so that the cups are not touched after they leave the factory until put into actual use. p When emptied the container may be replaced by another and thrown away because of its cheapness. It is preferably made of cheap strawboard and after being filled is covered and sealed with more or less ornamentalpaper which. may carry advertisements if dcsired'so that its cost its infinitesimal.

Our invention will bB lllfllfil'SlZOOd by reference to the drawings, in whi hw Figure 1 is a vertical section of our paclo age attached to a wall, taken on line 1-1 of Fig. 2.-

Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented i "3*.

Eteriai Ii'o. 859,704.

Fi 3 is a vertical section on line :1-o of Pig. 1 of an empty container, and

Fig. 4 is an elevation of a convenient form of attaching,- hook attached to the wall.

Fig. 5 is a detail.

A is the wall or other support to which is attached the hook by which the imcllage is supported. This hook may he of any man vci'iient shape but preferably consists of a plate l8 provided with screw holes for screws 1) by which it is attached to its support and a tongue it which is oti'set about the thickness of the material of which the container is made. This tongue has preferably a lip if out from it and. projecting downward. This lip does not interfere with the hanging; of the container on the hook but renders it ditlicult to remove it.

The container is preferably made of a size in horizontal section to receive the cups l). t'oldcd iiat and is of sullicicnt height to hold say 256 cups. It is shown at {I and is made of a single thickness oi pastebmlrd, strawboard, or the like, in the nature oi a box into which the cups are packed. it is then closed and covered and sealed. with paper so that the contents as a whole cannot be handled and the cups can only he removed one by one as now to be described.

The bottom or door ol the container is provided with a cup support in the term of a strip of wood or other material c, pr crably a little thicker at the rear than at the -Front so that the cups will slant forward somewhat from the rear to the trout. M: the front lower edge of the container we provide a. slot 1." which is the entire width of the container and through which the cups may be withdrawn one by one.

From Fig. 2 it'will be seen that the cups are raised by the strip c above the level of the slot 1; and to enable the lower cup to be withdrawn we provide notches E, F, one for the finger and the other for the thumb so that the lower cup may be grasped and pulled down and out through the slot 0, allowing the next cup above it to take its place.

Divin to the thinness of the paper with which i518 container is covered it cannot be the strawboard and hence no attempt has been made to show it. It will be understood,

however that the entire container is cov- *---"they' cannot slide out.

" 'retaining the cups will suggest themselves td tlgpse spilled in the art.-

ered with paper so that the paper seals the container except at the slot 0 and notches E, F.

To f'suppo'rt the container on the hook B,

B we cut a slit 0 in the rear ofthe container through which the tongue B of the .hook

may enter the containerpthe container rest-' tainer at g the protecting strip G of strawboard or the like which lies between the pile of cups and the slit 0 so that when the tongue B enters through the slit 0 it will, engage the strip G and slide upward thereon until the container rests on the offset. Thus the cups are prevented from injury and the upper cups can never engage the hook and so accidentally be prevented from settling into place as the lower cups are withdrawn. I

For shipping we provide an ordinary cover to c lose the slotted end of the container. Such a cover is indicated by dotted lines at H, Fig. 2, and when the container is put into use the cover is .thrown away. The advantages of our container will be apparent. The sealing of the cups at the factory is practically essential to the sanitary success of the use of individual. cups as above explained and this requires the use of a container strong enough to maintain its shape and position when hung up and yet of sulficiently low cost tobe thrown away when empty, for railroad companies and other buyers will not go to the trouble and expense of returning containers to be refilled. It will be noted that the strip 0 holds the lower cup out of register with the slot so that when the last cups are left in the container Other means of so hat we claim as our invention is:

1. The device above described comprising a container having a slot extending substantially the entire width thereof along. one of its bottom edges and notches in each Wall adjacent said slot, said container being provided with means to support articles out of register ivith said slot and in register with 1. said notches.

V 2. The-device above described comprising a sealed container having vertical sides and a slot along one of its bottom edges, cups located in said container, means for holding said cups out of register with said slot and in slanted relation, comprising a floor extending from the rear edge of said 0011- tainer nearly to its forward edge, said floor belng thicker at its rear edge than at its forward edge whereby the lowermost cups will engage the front vertical wall of said contalner above said slot, and notches in the edges of said slot whereby the lowermost of said cups may be grasped, pulled into register with said slot and withdrawn therethrough. i

3. The device above described comprising a sealed container made of destructible materia1,'having a slot along one of its bottom edges and notches in each wall adjacent to said slot, and a cup support on "the inner side of the bottom thereof located to'deliver cups to said slot, said container being provided with a slit in its rear wall adapted to receive a supporting means, in combination with a protecting strip attached to the rear -1nner wall of said contalner and loosely covering said slit.

JOHN'AMES SHERMAN. JOHN EDl/VARD SHERMAN.

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