US2162644A - Protective display wrapping - Google Patents

Description

J. SCHUCHAT I PROTECTIVE DISPLAY WRAPPING Filed Aug. 9, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 13, 1939.

June 13, 1939.v J. SCHUCHAT PROTECTIVE DISPLAY WRAPPING 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 9, 1937 allow D00 (fond/.5 SW6,

Patented June 1 3, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,162,644 PROTECTIVE DISPLAY WRAPPING Jonas Schuchat, Chicago, Ill.

Application August 9,

2 Claims.

This invention relates to protector packages; for pies, cakes, confections and other commodities, its general object being the: provision of an improved display package construction for receiving and enclosing a commodity on a suitable plate or tray, whereby the commodity may be handled and stacked without resultant injury.

One of the objects of the invention is the provision of an improved display wrapper with means for quickly and easily applying and holding a cover of Cellophane or other transparent material over the commodity enclosed by the wrapper.

A further object of the invention is to provide 151 a package including a protecting collar or band provided with a central longitudinally extending deformable portion for resiliently and frictionally engagingthe periphery of carriers and articles whereby said carriers and articles are supported 20. in a suspended manner so as-to protect the commodities in handling, stacking and shipment.

A further object is to provide a pastry wrapping for pics and the like which can beeconomically produced and which can be easily associated 25. by frictional engagement with the commodity to-be packaged allowing ventilation for the commodity and consequent protection from rancidity.

Other and further objectsof the invention .will be pointed out or indicated hereinafter, or will be apparent to one skilled in. the .art and upon an understanding of the invention as hereinafter described.

Commercial wrapping or perishable commodities-has presented difiicultiesfor such wrappings, to be successful, must be of a protective character so as to minimize the chance of injury in handling, stacking, shipping and displaying the commodity. In packaging pies, other pastries, and food products, there have been developed several protective packages utilizing'surrounding collars or bands designed to prevent contact of the commodity with foreign agencies in the-general handling necessary inthe course of distribution.

The present invention contemplates'asimplified food package andv wrapper which can be combined with relatively standard paper plates and: trays and which employs a protecting element. providedwith an annular weakened portion defined by scoring and spaced vertical slits so that it is capable of outward bending. in bellows form to receive frictionally therewithin the commodity and carrier, or. in some cases the commodity itself.

1937, Serial No. 158,248

cation there are illustrated certain examples and modifications which will serve to explain the practice of the invention, but it is to be understood that these are' presented for purposes of illustration merely and are not to be construed in any fashion calculated to limit the appended claims short of the true and most comprehensive scope of the invention in the art.

Referring in particular to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals represent like parts throughout the several figures,-

Fig. 1 is a top view of a package in accordance with the invention with a pie enclosed'therein.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view on the lines 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective View of the outer supporting band or collar of the package.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the supporting band of- Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is avertical section showing a modification of the supporting band and carrier.

Fig. 6 is a top View partly in section of a modified form of package.

Fig. 7 is a detail sectional view on the lines 1-! of Fig. 6.

Having particular reference to Figs. 1 to 4 of the drawings, l indicates a commodity supporting plate of conventional form having thereon a pie 2 covered by a Cellophane or other transparent sheet 3, which overlies the edge portions of the commodity and carrier. These elements are enclosed and suspended within a polygonal band or collar 4, which receives the plate, pie and cover therewithin with the peripheral flange of the carrier and the overlying commodity and cover engaging in an angular deformed portion of the band intermediate its upper and lower edges. The supporting commodity carriers may be ofpaper stock or the like and their peripheral flanges or edge portions have a yielding char acteristic adapting them for cooperation with the supporting band in assembling the parts.

The band or collar 4 may be formed of a strip of relatively heavy distortable paper stock having its ends connected by stapling or gluing to form the joint 5. The band is of greater height than the overall height of the plate and commodity to be enclosed therein. At regularintervals throughout its length the band is vertically scored, as at 6, to facilitate folding on the lines of scoring to provide an octagonal structure having straight side wallsintermediate the vertical scoring. Vertical slits I are provided through intermediate portions of the band at the lines of vertical scoring and the 'band isprovided-throughout its length in a substantially central portion with spaced parallel score lines 8 to provide in cooperation with the central slits extending between the outer score lines a deformable horizontal central portion 9 in the band which may be caused to bend under pressure applied to the band edges outwardly of the band in a bellows fold to define inner recesses III for cooperation with the outwardly extending flange ll of the pie plate, the overlying pie portions and the transparent cover. The band member is collapsible into double strip form to facilitate transportation and handling, and due to its octagonal shape when applied to a commodity and holder in package form it will readily permit stacking of the packages without damage to commodities therein. The height of the band being substantially greater than that of the enclosed holder, the shipment and handling of commodities in these packages either in stacked condition or otherwise is made possible without injury to the contents because the plate and the commodity carried thereby is in suspended position within the deformable part of the collar in such a way as to be out of contact with adjacent and surrounding agencies.

The Cellophane sheet 3 may be plain or it may be provided with suitable printing or decoration. The sheet is somewhat larger than the pie and plate support so that the edges of the sheet can extend downwardly over the laterally extending plate flange and edges of the pie overlying the flange.

In using the invention for packaging pies, the transparent sheet is made to overlie the pie and plate support. The improved collar member is held in open position centrally above the plate and covered contents and then from this position it is forced downwardly around the edges of the pie and supporting plate, thus causing the edge portions of the transparent cover sheet to extend downwardly and about the peripheral flange of the carrier plates. The collar is forced downwardly with relation to the plate to a position wherein the outwardly directed flange of the plate and the overlying portion of pie crust thereon with its covering registers with the central weakened deformable portion of the band, whereat the band portion will spring into its normal octagonal shape with peripheral portions of the plate, pie and covering housed within the inner recesses formed by the outwardly extending bellows fold provided by the horizontal scoring and vertical slits. In the packaging operation, the octagonal shape of the collar and the natural resiliency of the paper stock allows the same to be distorted into a more circular form to provide passage over the pie and carrier plate until these elements engage within the bellows fold intermediate the top and bottom of the collar by a snap action caused by the tendency of the band to return to its polygonal form. 1

The longitudinal or horizontal parallel scorings and the spaced slits at the corners between outer score lines provide for the annular bellows fold. Vertical thrust on the edges of the collar produces the outward bending in the form of straight bellows folds between slits in the band at the corners. These folds follow the score lines and define inner recesses having yielding walls for frictional supporting engagement with plates or other carriers to be suspended within the collar. In producing the spaced bellows folds the height of band is slightly decreased but its'overall height is sufiicient to provide supporting suspension.

It is to be noted that the circular carrier or plate contacts the supporting band or carrier in the recesses formed by the bellows fold in the straight side portions of the band. This arrangement provides for the use of standard paper plates and receptacles and allows ventilation at the corners formed between adjacent side portions of the band support. The commodity may be removed from the wrapper by merely reversing the operation of applying the band, after which the contents may be taken from the supporting member for use.

While the foregoing description relates particu larly to packaging pies, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the octagonal collar with its horizontal bellows fold may be employed for protective wrappers of many other articles. It is only necessary that the collar be designed so that it will telescopically engage the particular article to be suspended therein.

In Fig. 5, there is shown a modified form of package which is substantially similar to that illustrated in Fig. 4, with the exception that the score lines extending lengthwise of the paper strip forming the collar and the slits between said score lines are located nearer to one edge of the strip to thus define a deeper or more shallow receptacle, dependent upon which is utilized as the upper or holding side. In this modified form of wrapper or package, the commodity support is in the form of a flat disk M in lieu of the pie plate or receptacle illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2. In other respects the package of this modification corresponds to that hereinabove described. The plate support 14 may be utilized for supporting cakes, small articles or in some cases when the commodity is of such character as to replace the plate the commodity or article itself may be substituted for the plate, thus utilizing the collar for its protective suspending support.

In Figs. 6 and 7, there is illustrated a further modified form of package arranged to receive substantially rectangular objects. The surrounding collar or band 4, in this instance, is provided with longitudinal scorings and vertical slits adjacent the upper edge of the collar, and the vertical scorings of the collar are spaced in such manner as to provide narrow panels H5 at the corners and end and side panels l6 and l! of diiferent length. The commodity receptacle l8 comprises a substantially rectangular paper dish of conventional form provided with an outwardly-extending peripheral flange at its upper portion. The supporting collar, as above described, is of greater height than the commodity carrier to be enclosed therein. With a commodity carried by the dish, it may be covered with a protective sheet of Cellophane or the like and the rectangular collar in open condition may be forced downwardly over the dish, contents and cover until the upwardly-extending peripheral flange of the dish engages within the bellows fold of the collar in the manner hereinabove described. In this position, the carrier and its contents will be in suspended relationship to the protecting band so that in handling, the contents of the package will be protected as in the manner hereinabove set forth.

In the structures which have been described, it will be noted that the surrounding band or collar member comprises merely a cardboard strip having scoringsand short vertical slits which contributes to the art an extremely simple and effective structure for the purpose described. The improved wrapper is sanitary in every detail and effectively protects the enclosed commodity against contact with fingers and insures delivery of products in uninjured or undamaged condition. The structure does not depend upon special receptacles, plates or supports, nor does it depend upon interlocking supported members. In consequence, standard receptacles may be employed. The octagonal shape and the relatively large clearances afforded .at the angular portions of the wrapper insure ventilation and protect against rancidity. Assembly of the elements forming the composite package is more easily affected and the various forms of packages aflford an economical and commercially successful package arrangement.

The commodity carriers in the form of discs, plates and dishes which are normally employed are conventional paper stock structures having yieldable perpiheral portions which cooperate with the yieldable and deformable band to produce an easily assembled package. The yielding folded walls of the bellows portion of the band aifords a self-adjusting feature conducive to close association with peripheral portions of the carriers and the like.

The structures hereinabove described have been selected as illustrating certain forms of the invention. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the improved bellows type protective Wrapper can serve as protective enclosures for many articles. The annular or horizontal weakened area between the edges of the bands providing the bellows fold constitutes an important contribution to the art, for it will be noted that when the folds are made on the'score lines and the walls forming the inner recesses are allowed to incline outwardly by reason of the vertical slits, there is presented a housing means for portions of the peripheries of carried articles and commodities which yieldingly engage such agencies in a uniformly firm manner. In consequence, the structures hereinabove described constitute a marked improvement over structures having straight walled bands which are slotted and thosewhich have inturned edges. The bellows folds in the packaging of pies, in particular, allows the inclusion within the. inner recesses of the peripheral flange of the plate and the conventional overlying crust with the walls forming the recesses yieldingly engaging above and below the peripheral portions of the carrier and commodity. The result is a firm packing and a uniform cooperation of the interengaging parts of the wrapper.

I claim:

1. In a protective wrapping for commodities, a plate-like member for the commodity having a peripheral flange, an endless yieldable band p0- ,lygonal in form and of a size to frictionally engage the peripheral flange of said member, said band being deformable from its normal polygonal state to pass telescopically over the peripheral flange of the plate member to surround and sup port the same without deforming the peripheral flange, said band having in spaced relation to its marginal edges at least three spaced parallel longitudinally extending hinge score lines throughout its length and a plurality of spaced transverse slits therethrough between the outer score lines and transverse scorings extending from the ends of the slits to the edges of the band, wh reby per-- tions of the band between the slits and the outer longitudinal score lines are outwardly deformable along outer and intermediate score lines to define a series of substantially angular inner recesses with substantially straight yielding walls for receiving and engaging spaced portions of the peripheral flange of the plate member with a snap action in the passage of the band thereover,

said band being collapsible to form the recessesv when telescopically applied to said member by downward pressure, the engagement of the peripheral flange of the plate member with the cutwardly deformed walls of the recesses allowing the band to return to substantially its normal polygonal formwith the member yieldingly supported at spaced points between walls forming the recesses.

2. In a protective wrapping for commodities, an endless yieldable band polygonal in form and adapted to frictionally engage a peripheral flange of a platelike member, said band being deformable from its normal polygonal state to pass telescopicaly over the peripheral flange of the plate-like member to surround and support the same without deforming the peripheral flange, said band having in spaced relation to its marginal edges at least three spaced parallel longitudinally extending hinge score lines throughout its length and a plurality of spaced transverse slits therethrough between the outer score lines and transverse scorings extending.

from the ends of the slits to the edges of the band, whereby portions of the hand between the slits and the outer longitudinal score lines are outwardly deformable along outer and intermediate score lines to define a series of substantially angular inner recesses with substantially straight yielding walls for receiving and engaging spaced portions of the peripheral flange of the platelike member with a snap action in passage of the band thereover, said band being collapsible to form the recesses when telescopically applied to the platelike member by downward pressure, the engagement of the peripheral flange of the plate member with the outwardly deformed walls of the recesses allowing the band to return to substantially its normal polygonal form with the platelike member yieldingly supported at spaced points between walls forming the recesses.

JONAS SCHUCHAT.

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