US1488492A

US1488492A - Lunch box

Info

Publication number: US1488492A
Application number: US635667A
Authority: US
Inventors: Edward E Gray
Original assignee: EDWARD E GRAY JR; LINDLEY S GRAY
Current assignee: EDWARD E GRAY JR; LINDLEY S GRAY
Priority date: 1923-04-30
Filing date: 1923-04-30
Publication date: 1924-04-01
Anticipated expiration: 1941-04-01

Description

April 1 1924. 1,488,492

E. E1. GRAY LUNCH BOX Filed April 30. 1923 Patented Apr. 1, 1924 UNITED STATES mam ori nts.

EDWARD E. GRAY, F PLANO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOE TO LINDLEY S. GRAY AND EDWARD E. GRAY, 51%, BOTH OF PLANO, ILLINOIS, COIEARTNER-S DOING BUSINESS AS GRAY BROTHERS.

LUNCH Box.

Application filed April 30, 1923. Serial No. 635,667.

7 T 0 all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, EDWARD E. Ga n, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Plano, in the county of Kendall and State of Illinois, have invented an Improved Lunch Box, of which the following is a specification. I

This invention relates to lunch boxes, and relates particularly to lunch boxes of the type which forms the subject-matter of anapplication for U. S. Letters Patent, heretofore filed by me on or about March 19, 1923, Serial No. 625,982, comprising a body portion adapted to contain articles of food, and a cover which extends above said body portion, in which the end walls of the body portion of the box also extend above said body portion and are constructed and arranged tosupport a thermos bottle in position within the cover of the box, when adjusted to the body portion thereof.

As shown in my said prior'application Serial N 0. 625,982, the thermos bottle is supported in part by the cover of the box, which is shaped and proportioned to closely embrace a thermos bottle resting on lugs formed on said upwardly extending end,

walls, thus confining said bottle in position on said supporting lugs. Objection has been made to this construction for the reason that, when the cover is open, the thermos bottle is liable to fall off from its supporting lugsparticularly if the cover opens accidently while the box is being carried and, falling upon the ground or pavement is liable to be broken.

The object of thepresent invention is to V overcome the foregoing objectionable feature and to this end, the invention consists in providing means for supporting a thermos bottle entirely upon the upwardly extending end walls of the body portion of the box and independently of the box cover. Specifically, what I now consider to be preferable means for supporting said thermos bottle to effect the object of the invent-ion as it relates to this feature, consists of a flanged seat on one end wall of the box adapted to receive and confine one end of the thermos bottle, which may conveniently be formed at very slight cost by-a plurality of lugs on said end walladapted to embrace different sides of the thermos bottle, the distances between which are less than .,the diameter of the end of the bottle which they are designed to support; and saidfsupporting means alsocomprise a spring clip on the other end wall, disposed with its open side upwards and proportioned to closely embrace the end of the bottle which it is intended to receive, said-spring clip being preferably rivetted or otherwise secured toa lug stamped from the end wall to which said spring clip is attached. i 1

With the described construction it is obvious that the thermos bottle will be held securely in position by the supporting means on the upwardly extendingend walls of the body portion of the box regardless of whether the coverv is open or closed.

An advantage due tomy improved construction is that the thermos bottle may be supported so that it will-bespaced from the cover of the boxon all sidesand will thus be protected from blows on said box cover unless sufliciently severe to bend or.

dent the cover of the box inwardly against the thermos bottle with break the same.

A further advantage arising from my improved construction is that the thermos bottle is protected from injury from blows directed endwise thereupon by walls of double thickness which will, of course, be much stronger to resist blows than walls of single thickness only, heretofore universally used, so far as I am aware.

In the accompanying drawing,'in which may invention is fully "illustrated,

Figure 1 isa top plan view of a lunch box embodying my invention and improvements. i

suflicient force to as I Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional Vi6W-.

thereof on the line 2-2 of Fig-1; and

Figures 3 and 4 are sectional elevations Referring now to the drawings, A designates the body portion of the box and B the cover thereof, said cover fitting over the upper edge of the body of the box and its position thereon being defined by shoulders formed parallel with its lateral edges adapted to rest upon the upper edges of the side walls of the body portion of the box, in the usual manner.

Both the body portion and cover of the box are made of metal, usually tin-plate.

The end walls of the body portion A of the box extend above the side walls thereof, as shown at 1, 1', and are shaped to conform substantially to the shape in cross-section of the cover of the box, being proportioned to fit within the same.

My improved lunch box is of the familiar type in which a thermos bottle 2, is adapted to be supported within and enclosed by the cover of the ,box, and in accordance with my present invention, said thermos bottle is supported solely by the upwardly extending

end walls

1, 1 of the box, and entirely independently of the cover of the box.

As shown, the means for supporting said thermos bottle comprises

lugs

3, 3, 3 on the upward extension 1, which define a flanged seat thereon adapted to receive the bottom of the thermos bottle,said lugs being so proportioned and positioned that the distance between adjacent lugs will be less than the diameter of the thermos bottle. Said lugs may conveniently be stamped directly from the upward end wall extension 1, the relation being preferably such that a space 4 will be formed between the upperside of said thermos bottle and the corresponding portion of the cover.

Vith this construction, it is obvious that the cover will to alarge extent, protect the thermos bottle from being broken or injured by blows, which the cover of the box may sustain. as a large part of the force of all blows will be absorbed by the resistance to the bending or denting action of the blow,

, inherent in the material of which the cover is made, which obviously will be increased by making the cover circular in form. The protection afforded the thermos bottle by the space 4 obviously will be proportionate to the distance between said box cover and the wall of the thermos bottle, increasing with the width of said space and vice versa. For usual purposes I consider a space or gap 4 of about one quarter of an inch as desirable and preferable. 7

As shown, also, the end of the thermos bottle other than that supported by the

lugs

3, 3', 3 on the upward end wall extension 1, is adapted to be supported by a spring clip 5 mounted on the upward end wall extension 1 with its free ends extending upwardly. As shown, said spring clip is rivetted or otherwise secured to a lug 6 on said end wall extension 1 which can conveniently be stamped directly from said end wall.

l/Vhile I consider the means shown for supporting said thermos bottle as preferable,

I do not desire to limit myself thereto, as

other means for supporting said thermos bottle to effect the objects of the invention will readily suggest themselves to. persons skilled in the art, but it is my desire and intention to include any and all means for supporting a thermosbottle solely on the upward

end wall extension

1, 1, and en-' fording protection for the thermos bottle from blows delivered on the end walls of V the box which would have any tendency to damage or break said thermos bottle.

Further to safeguard the thermos bottle from being broken or damaged by blows on the end wall of the box which supports the bottom of the thermos bottle, means are provided whereby, when the cover is fastened in closed position, a space will be provided between the bottom of the thermos bottle and the end wall of the box on which the bottom end of the bottle is supported,

as shown at '7. Simple means for this'purpose are provided by the locking means for securing the cover to the body portion of the box, which consists of tongues 8 formed on the downwardly extending portions 9 of bars 10 fitted to hearings on the cover of the box so as to be movable endwise there- 7 1n, said tongues 8 being adapted to engage holes 11 and 12 formed, respectively, in the 7 end walls of the cover B- and in the up ward

end wall extensions

1, 1 otthe body 1 portion ofthe box, the relation being such that the holes 11 and 12 will register with each other when the cover is adjusted to the body of the box, and the endwise movement of the bars 10 in their bearings being 7 sufficient to effect engagement and disengagement of the tongues 8 with and from the holes 11 and 12, thus providing for securing the cover to the body portion of the box and releasing it therefrom when it is desired to remove the cover. To effect the object of the invention as it relates to prothe upward end wall extension 1 of'the body of the box, when in looking position, will form a-stop adapted to define a space '7 of I which the supporting means for'the thermos desire-d width, say one quarter of an inch (1 between the bottom of the thermos bottle and said upward end wall extension 1.

As shown, the bearings for the slide bars are formed by struck up portions 14 of plates 15 secured to opposite ends of the box cover and the said slide bars are adapted to be secured in positions corresponding to locking position of the tongues 8 by shoulders 16 on said slide bars which are adapted to interlock with rigid parts of the bearing r plates 15, as shown, with their inner ends,

engagement of said shoulders 16 with said bearing plates being effected and maintained by means of leaf springs 17 secured to the cover of the box beneath said slide bars, the slide bearings for the bars 10 being proportioned to permit desired play of said bars in their bearings to effect disengagement of said shoulders from the ends of the bearing plates 15.

Means for defining a space between the bottom of the thermos bottle 2 and the upward end wall extension 1 of the body of the box substantially identical with the means herein shown and described are shown in my said prior application Sl. No. 625,982, but are not therein claimed.

I do not, however, desire to limit myself to the particular means shown for spacing the bottom of the thermos bottle from the end wall 1 of the box body, as other means for the purpose will readily suggest themselves to. skilled mechanics.

As regards features of my improved lunch box shown in the drawings but not herein particularly described, the construction of the box is substantially identical with corresponding parts of the lunch box which forms the subject-matter of my said prior application, to which reference is here made for .a full description thereof. I do not, however, desire to limit myself in this respect, as the means shown are merely illustrative, and exemplify any desired or suitable means for eifecting the objects of the present invention.

I claim- 1. A lunch box comprising a body portion and a cover therefor, said cover extending above the body portion of the box and being of sufiicient size to contain a thermos bottle, the end walls of the body portion of the box extending upwardly into the cover of the box, and means for supporting a thermos bottle solely on said upward end wall extensions and entirely independently of the cover of the box, substantially as described.

2. A lunch box as specified in claim 1, in which when the box is closed, the end walls of the portion of the box in which the ther mos bottle is contained are of doubl'e thick ness, substantially as described. V

' 3. Alunchbox as specified in claim 1, in

bottle are positioned to provide a protective metal which bends easily, said cover extend ing above the body portion of the box and being of suflicient size to contain a thermos bottle, the end walls of the body portion of the box extending. upwardly into the cover of the box, means for supporting a thermos bottle on the upward extensions of said end walls, means for securing the cover to the body of the box, and means adapted for spacingthe bottom of a thermos bottle from the end wall of the lunch box on which it is supported, substantially as described.

6. A lunch box as specified in claim 5, in which the means for securing the'cover to the body of the box consists of movably supported tongues adapted to interlock with holes formed in the end walls of the box cover and in the upward end wall extensions of the body of the box, one thereof being proportioned to project inwardly beyond the end wall of the box forming a stop adapted for spacing the bottom of the thermos bottle from the end wall of the box by whichit is supported, substantially as described.

7. A lunch box comprising a body portion and a cover therefor made of light'material which bends easily, said cover extending above the bodyof the box and being of sufiicient size to contain a thermos bottle, means on the end walls of the box for supporting a thermos bottle within the cover of the box constructed and arranged to provide a pro- 'tective space between the sides of the thermos bottle and the cover of the box, substantially as described.

8. A lunch box as specified in claim 7, in which means are also provided for spacing the bottom of the thermos bottle from the for spacing the bottom of a thermos bottle from the end Wallof the box on which it is on which it is supported, substantially as supported, substantially as described. described.

10. A lunch box as specified in claim 9, In Witness that I claim the foregoing as 10 in which the means for securing the cover of my invention, I affix my signature this 24th 5 the box in closed position are constructed day of April, A. D. 1923. i r

and arranged for spacing'the bottom of the a thermos bottle from the end Wall of the box EDWARD E. GRAY.