US1478354A - Special package or container - Google Patents

Description

J. PETERSON SPECIAL PACKAGE OR CONTAINER Dec. 18, 1923.

Filed March 11, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Patented Dec. 1 1%23.

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,JONATHAN PETERSON, 0F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T0 COMBINATION MACHINE COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.,-A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

srEcrA PACKAGE on CONTAINER.

Application filed March 11, 1922. Serial No. 543,016.

1 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JONATHAN PETER- SON, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented cer- ..tain new and useful Improvements in Special Packages or Containers, of which the following is a specification.

The invention provides a new and improved container or package especially adapted for ordinary pipe cleaners, which retains the cleaners securely, but permits them to be easily withdrawn one at a time for use; preserves them from soiling, prevents bending, is very thin and flat andtherefore adapted to be easily carried inthe pocket without inconvenience, is very inexpensivein itself, and is moreover capable of being produced by rapid and economical methods. v t

, The-ordinary pipe cleaner consists of two fine wires twisted together, with. fabric or short fibrous threads secured between them,

the fabric or fiber making ineffect a small cylindrical brush surface extending the full length of thecleaner: These pipe cleaners have a certain amount of stifi'nes'sabut they are. purposely made fiexible or bendable so that they'may follow the curvatureofsmoke passages in pipes. h v

The cleaners are usually packed in small bunches with a paper band passedabout the bunch near the middle and adhesively' secured, leaving long portions'of the 1 ends of the cleaners exposed. These round bundles are of such thickness that they are rather bulky and uncomfortable to carry in the pocket. The projecting ends, moreover, are easily soiled and bent, and while it isdesir able, asabove stated, that the cleaners shall readily bend in'use, it is equally undesirable that they should be bent before use, since these preliminary bends make it very difficult for the cleaners to be inserted in the pipe passages and moved back and forth to clean them.

It is also difficult to withdraw the-cleaners from such round packages, since the paper torn' or broken, whereupon all of the cleaners are loosened and the package is entirely destroyedi In other cases the cleaners are bent at the middle and are bundled in this condition.

This method of packing is objectionable for many of thereasons above stated in connection with the long cylindrical packages, and 1s 7 especially objectionable because each cleaner has an initial bend nearer the middle which renders it difficult to use it in the proper manner, for reasons above stated.

To avoidthe' disadvantages of customary methodsof packaging, my invention in one embodimentconsists of a relatively long and narrow and very thin and" fiat container coinpo's'edof two normally flat side members of resilient sheet material, such as cardboard o'f su'itable grade andstilfness, joined together along their longitudinal edges and with one or usually both ends unconnected or open, a plurality of the described pipe cleaners being inserted in a flat row arrange ment, and being retained firmlyagainst displacement b'yf the inherent resiliency of the container sides; The package consisting of the container and the enclosed cleaners is very'thin andflat, and canbe carried in the pocket without inconvenience; The length ofthe container is made usually substantially-equal to the length of the cleaners,-so

that the latter are entirely enclosed and protected from soiling, and are also eflectively prevented from bending. .The cleaners are, moreover, retained in a flat row so that they are easily separated and Withdrawn one at a time for use.

To facilitate withdrawal of the cleaners one by one, as required for use, the container may be provided on one side, at one end, with a short tongue or flap, which may be produced by slitting the side material inward a short distance from the end edge, and this flap may be bent back to expose the ends of the cleaners and permit them to be readily grasped and withdrawn, one or more at a time. Otherwise, whether the described flap is provided or not, the container is easily sprung open by pressing on its side edges, whereupon one or both ends of the container assumes an approximately oval form, and a single cleaner may be withdrawn without disturbing the rest of them.

Other important features are described hereafter.

The accompanying drawings show certain exemplifying embodiments of the invention. After considering these, it will be evident that many variations may be made within the principles of the invention; and I contemplate the employment of any structures which are properly within the scope of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspectiveview of a package embodying the invention in oneform.

Fig. 2 is a similar'view, showing'the end flap bent open.

Fig. 8 is a transverse section.

Fig. 4t shows a modified form of container.

Fig. 5 shows the same sprung open for removal of cleaners.

Fig. 6 is a transverse section.

The holder or container 1 in one preferred form (Figs. 1, 2 and 3), is of cardboard of moderate thickness. Desirably it consists of a single sheet of material folded along the line 2, and with a narrow longitudinal margin 3 of the sheet overlapped and secured upon the other longitudinal sheet margin, producing an open-ended container having normally flat sides l and 5. The overlapped marginal arrangement produces, as best seen in the section, Fig. 3, a narrow 3-ply joint in which the longitudinal margin of side member 5 is located between a longi tudinal margin of side member 4: and the over-folded longitudinal lap 3. This joint may be secured in different ways, for example by adhesive, applied along any of the engaging margins; but adhesive connection is found to be insufficiently secure in some cases, since although the glue may hold, surface layers of certain kinds of cardboard may strip away, weakening or entirely destroying the connection.

The joint is completed, therefore, in one preferred form of the invention, by placing a row of stitching 6 through the overlapped margins; and since this oint or connection is located near one edge of the container, the stitching may be done after the container is filled, as later described, as well as before filling. The stitching is usually sufiicientto form a durable and thoroughly satisfactory joint without adhesive, but if necessary or desirable for any reason, adhesive may be used also, and in that case will usually be applied before the lap 3 is turned over.

Desirably the folds along the lines 2 are of such a character that the side strips of material 4 and 5 may lie very flat and close together prior to filling the container, and when it is necessary or desirable the container may be pressed in flat condition after A fiat row of pipe cleaners T of well known type is placed in the container and thepackage is then complete and ready for sale or use. The natural resiliency of the side members 4 and 5 and their tendency I to come together in the absence of any obstruction, causes them to firmly press and grip the individual cleaners in the row and to hold them securely in position against accidental displacement.

To remove the cleaners for use, it is only necessary to bend or fold back the tongue 8, as shown in Fig. 2, whereupon one or more of the cleaners may be easily selected and removed without disturbing the others. Whether the tongue or flap 8 is provided or not, the container can also be sprung open in the manner described later in connection with a modified form of container.

In addition to its principal purpose, the described package affords a very desirable medium for advertising, since it is so inexpensive that it can be sold at a very small price, or given away. Therefore, the surface of the container may be imprinted with suitable advertising matter 10. In order to enhance the appearance of the article the cardboard body may be covered with a sheet of covering paper of suitable quality and finish, which maybe applied to the cardboard before the containers are formed, or in some cases afterward; and when the card board bodies are so covered the advertising or other indicia will, of course,,be imprinted upon the cover paper.

Figs. 4, 5 and 6, show a modified container 11, which is desirable in some cases. In this embodiment of the invention, the longitudi nal edges of the cardboard sheet are joined by adhesively secured overlapped margins 13, and stitching is omitted. The flap or tongue of the previously-described container is also omitted, although it can be incorporated ifdesired, and would then usually be located on the side member 4:.

In the absence of such atongue or flap, the container may be opened by pressing the side edges of the container convergently, as indicated by arrows in Fig. 2, and this pressure may be exerted near only one end of the container. The described action causes the end to spread laterally or assume an approximately oval form, and an individual cleaner may then be easily grasped and removed. Or, when the container is opened or spread in the described manner, by pressure near one end or near the middle, the

entire bunch of cleaners may be shaken out a slight distance so that the ends of all of them are exposed, and one may then be very readily grasped and removed and the others pushed back.

I claim 1. A holder for pipe cleaners or similar articles, comprising an open-ended receptacle formed of two flat side members of resilient sheet material of substantial thick ness approximately in facial contact and joined together along their longitudinal edges and normally acting by their inherent resiliency to clamp and retain pipe cleaners or similar articles located between them, and a bendable tongue extending longitudinally in one of the side member-s at one end and terminating substantially flush with the end of said side member, to give ready access to the holder contents.

2. A package of laterally-compressible pipe cleaners or similar articles, comprising a flat row of said cleaners, and a container enclosing the row, comprising two substantially flat resilient side pieces of substantial thickness and of length and width substantially equal to the dimensions of the contained row of articles, the side pieces being connected along their side edges and retaining the cleaners by their inherent resiliency, at least one end of the container being open, and the entire package being very thin and flat and sufiioiently stiff to protect the cleaners from bending.

3. A package of pipe cleaners or similar articles of the character described, comprising a flat row of said cleaners in straight parallel arrangement, and a container enclosing the row, comprising two substantially flat resilient side pieces of cardboard of substantial thickness and of length and Width substantially equal to the dimensions of the contained row of articles, the side pieces forming integral parts of a single sheet of material and being connected by folds along their side edges and retaining the cleaners by their inherent resiliency, the longitudinal edges of said sheet being joined by an overfolded lap and a row of stitching, at least one end of the container being open, and the entire package being very thin and flat and sufficiently stiff to protect the cleaners from bending.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 10th day of March, A. D. 1922.

JONATHAN PETERSON.

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