US2129701A

US2129701A - Cigarette package

Info

Publication number: US2129701A
Application number: US105853A
Authority: US
Inventors: Francis X Malocsay
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1936-10-16
Filing date: 1936-10-16
Publication date: 1938-09-13
Anticipated expiration: 1955-09-13

Description

'Sept. 13, 1938. F. x. M ALOCSAY CIGARETTE PACKAGE Filed Oct. 16, 1956 INVENITOR fiancw .IJYZalo ORNEY Patented Sept. 13, 1938 UNITED STATES ore 3 filai ms.

This'invention relates to an improvement in boxes or cartons for containing packages of cig arettes or similar articles. It has for its objects the provision of a box or carton for the purpose mentioned, which facilitates the aflixation of tax stamps to the packages while the same are located in the carton; which permits of ready inspection'of the stamped packages without requiring the opening of the carton, and which i consequently reduces the amount of handling of the packages and the cost of the application of the tax stamps thereto. I

At the present time, various States require the applicationof a tax stamp to a package of cigarettes when the same is sold within that particular State. not to his distributor, jobber or wholesaler and if that person is located in a State wherein the tax stamp requirement prevails, he is required to affix a tax stamp to each package of cigarettes. This entails considerable laboricost since the packages are packed in cartons, each of which contains ten or more packages. Accordingly,- the distributor must open each carton, take each .3 package of cigarettes therefrom, apply a stamp to each package and then replace, the packages in the carton. The cartons are thus subjected to considerable handling and are often damaged thereby. Ofttimes on one or more packages in a carton a stamp is inadvertently omitted, sometimes resulting in subsequent trouble for the retailer. Moreover, after the packages have been stamped and have been returned to their cartons they are not easily subject to inspection by tax inspectors. Therefore, should an inspector desire to inspect the packages of cigarettes in a large number of cartons, he can require the dealer to remove each package therefrom for inspection. Thereafter the dealer has the laborious job of returning the inspected packages to the cartons, again subjecting the cartons, which are generally of an inexpensive grade of cardboard, to considerable handling and often damage, at the same time creating a tedious job for himself.

The primary object of the present invention is 'to provide a carton for packages of cigarettes in which the packages originally placed in it at the factory need not be removed until sold to the consumer. If the consumer should purchase a carton of cigarettes rather than a single package, he will receive a sealed carton exactly as packed at the factory, being thereby assured that the cigarettes which he purchases have not been handled a number of times and possibly The manufacturer sells his proddamaged. The improved carton is so arranged that a tax stamp may be applied to each package contained within it without removing the package from the carton;- without disturbing the relationship of any one package to the next; and without opening the carton and without requiring the removal of 'any package from the carton after the stamp has been applied, for inspection of the stamp.

More particularly, the invention contemplates the provision of a carton so apertured that the portion of each package in the carton where a stamp is most appropriately affixed, such as an edge or end of the package is exposed through the aperture and is thereby available for the ap plication of the tax stamp and remains exposed thereafter so that a quick glance at the carton is all that is required to enable an inspector toat once ascertain whether or not all of the packages in the carton have had stamps applied to them.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein an embodiment of the invention is shown, Fig, 1 is a perspective view of a cigarette carton constructed in accordance with the invention; Fig.2 is a transverse sectional view through the same; and Fig. 3 is a front elevation of a modified structure with the cover of the carton partly raised to disclose the recessed retaining flap.

In Fig. 1 of the drawing is shown a cigarette carton of conventional shape intended to contain a number of packages II of cigarettes. These cartons usually contain ten or more packages positioned in superimposed rows. The carton is provided with the conventional end walls 5, one of which is shown in Fig. 1, a front wall 8, a back wall 9, a bottom H and a hinged cover 6 formed with a downwardly extending retaining flap I which, when the cover is closed, fits into the box in the conventional manner indicated in Fig. 2.

The upstanding back wall 9 of the box is formed with a plurality of spaced apertures or windows ill so proportioned and located that each of them exposes at least a part of the end portion l2 of two packages of cigarettes. In other words, the several apertures l0 located in the rear' wall of the box co-operate in disclosing at least a portion of the end 'of each of the cigarette packages in the carton. It has been found convenient by dealers to apply the tax stamps shown at 13, to the ends of the packages of cigarettes and it will be seen through the arrangement herein shown, that these tax stamps may be easily adhesively applied to the ends of all of the packill) ages of cigarettes in a carton while the packages are in the sealed carton and without requiring the opening of the carton, or the removal of any package therefrom. The apertures ID are preferably made as small as they possibly can be made in order to avoid unduly weakening the carton and are preferably spaced apart as indicated to provide panels of substantial width between them. It has been found desirable, although not absolutely necessary, to provide these apertures 10 in the rear wall of the box rather than at any other location, so that when a cartoner cigarettes is placed in display position on a counter or in a showcase, the apertures are at the back and are consequently not visible. When a tax inspector desires to ascertain whether any one or all of the packages in any particular carton of cigaretteshave had the tax stamp applied to them, it is merely necessary for him to pick up the carton and glance through the apertures at the exposed end portions of the packages of cigarettes and he can bya quick glance determine whether or not the stamps have been affixed.

Instead of forming the apertures It] in the rear Wall of the box it will be understood that they can be produced in the frontwall 8 as shown in Fig. 3, in which-event it may be found necessary to recess the flap l of the cover as indicated at M to prevent said flap from extending over and partly closing a portion of the apertures l2 when the cover is in its closed position.

The formation of openings or apertures in the body of the box for the purpose mentioned does not materially 'weaken the carton and cannot cause dust and dirt to enter and injure the cigarettes, since the cigarettes are usually contained in wrappers of Cellophane or similar material, and are fully protected by such covering. Cigarette packages are usually packed in cartons merely for ease in handling and shipping rather than for any great protection. formation of apertures in the carton does not in any way endanger the contents.

As herein stated, it is the present custom for the dealer to remove the packages from the carton to apply the stamps to the packages and then return the packages to the carton. When so applying the stamps, it is not possible to immediately replace the packages in the cartons because unless the adhesive of the stamp has securely afiixed it in place, it will be injured or damaged by contact with a part of the carton in the act of replacing the packages in the car- -ton. Therefore, there is also considerable delay in replacing the packages in the carton, in addition to the tedious job of removing them and'applying the stamps to them. With the herein described structure, the application of the stamps to the ends of the packages through the openings I2 is extremely simple and can be done by hand or machinery, and since the protective layer of cardboard comprising the back wall 9, or other wall in which the apertures may be formed, surrounds the openings IZ, it acts as protection for the newly-afiixed wet stamps (which are usually decalcomanias, although sometimes applied by printing methods) and prevents them from being damaged not only while they are drying but also subsequently when cartons are stacked one upon stamps are applied to the ends or edge portions of the packages of cigarettes thereby governing Therefore, the 4 the location of the aperture or apertures through which the stamps are applied to the packages and which thereafter permit the inspection of the applied stamps. It is therefore obvious that in referring to the formation of one or more apertures in a wall ofthe carton, the particular wall meant will be any portion of the carton wherein such aperture or apertures must be formed to enable the stamps to be applied to the position on a package either most desirable or possibly required in the future by law.

Regardless of which wall portion of the carton the'aper-ture or apertures are formed in, it is desirous that all of the apertures be produced in the same Wall. This is important since speed in the application of the stamps to the packages is highly desirable and if the carton has to be turned over one or more times to present theopenings for the placement of the stamps, inconvenience and delay in the stamp-aflixing operation occurs. Additionally, the stamps usually applied to cigarette packages at the present time are decalcomanias which are applied in a moistened condition to the packages and require a short time after their application to dry before they can be handled without the possibility of damaging or destroying them. Therefore, when the window openings or apertures in the carton are all located in the same wall thereof, the cartons can be immediately stacked in such a position that the applied decalcomanias are not likely to be brought into contact with any article or surface likely to damage the applied stamps. Moreover, it is contemplated that the stamps will be applied by automatic machines, and in such case, the shifting of the carton on a support, to present the Window openings located in different sides of the carton to the stamp applying means. would not only require a great deal of additional mechanism in the machine but might materially slow up the application of the stamps.

With the construction disclosed, the labor re quired in the aflixation of tax stamps and the possibility of omitting a stamp from any package is greatly reduced; the handling of the cigarette packages and the cartons is greatly minimized; the carton as originally packed at the factory is delivered to a purchaser of a carton of cigarettes in a sealed and untampered condition. The retailer is spared the necessity of unpacking all of his cartons'at the demand of a tax inspector, and the tax inspector is saved a great deal of time since he can at a single glance, and in the time it now takes to inspect a single package, inspect a whole carton of packages and this Without removing the packages from the carton.

What I claim is:

'1. A closed box or carton for containing several layers of packages of cigarettes or like articles, one of the walls of said carton being formed with a plurality of spaced window openings, each of said openings overlying a portion of an edge of more than one package of cigarettes whereby tax stamps may be afiixed to the edge portions ol more than one package of cigarettes through each opening, each of said openings being smaller than the size of a cigarette package, the wall in the carton opposite the openings being so re lated to the packages visible through the openings as to hold said packages against saidwalhprovided with said openings with said opposite wall constituting an abutment for the packages while the tax stamps are being applied thereto, and all of said openings being insubstantial alinement (ill so that the stainps may be applied therethrough onto the packages.

2. A closed box or carton of the character set forth in claim 1, characterized by said carton being of elongated rectangular form and said window openings being of elongated formation and extending transversely of the wall in which they are formed, said cigarette package being arranged in stacked relation in the carton and having their abutting faces substantially intersecting the transverse median lines of the elongated openings.

3. A closed box or carton of the character set forth in claim 1, characterized by said carton being of elongated rectangular form and said window openings being of elongated formation and extending transversely of the wall in which they are formed, said cigarette packages being arranged in stacked relation in the-carton and having their abutting faces substantially intersecting the transverse median lines of the elongated openings, said openings being formed in the front wall of the carton, a hinged cover for the carton and a retaining flap carried by the free edge of the cover to lie within the front wall of the carton, said flap having edge notches providing clearances for the window openings.

FRANCIS K. MALOCSAY.