US2183681A - Folding container - Google Patents

Description

fin/v6 ATTORN EY INVENTOR Kay 14/. lfrouf a. K? I 1 m.

Dec. 19, 1939. R. w. KROUT FOLDING CONTAINER Filed NOV. 29, 1938 Patented Dec. 19, 1939 v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Charms Company, ration of Delaware Bloomfield, N. J., a. corpo- Application November 29, 1938, Serial No. 242,988

2 Claims. This invention relates to improvements in containers; particularly containers for packaging merchandise to be stored, shipped, or displayed for sale.

5 An object of the invention is to provide a container such as a box or receptacle, which is so constructed that it can, before or after the contents are removed, be set up as an ornamental toy. Hence it gives the owner an inducement to keep it for a long time after the contents are used up, instead of throwing away or destroying the container.

Preferably, the container is made of cardboard or other suitable sheet material, from which a'blank is cut and then bent into the desired configuration. The container is closed at the sides and bottom but open at the top; where it is provided with a special means which can close the container and cover the contents, and 20 at the same time readily permit the container to be opened. Said means when properly disposed contrib-ute directly to the toy design and shape.

Another object of the invention is to provide a container with closing members adapted to enable the container to be shipped in the form. of a compact unit; but capable, with proper manipulation, of being secured in position to give the outside of the container a totally different 30 and more pleasing eifect.

The container is primarily intended for assorted candies, but obviously it may be used for any other article. As herein disclosed it is approximately square in shape and it is given such an appearance as to make it resemble an attractive toy house. The closing members are such that when the container has been filled said members can be laid down flat upon the candy to cover same; thus making a very neat, regular package for shipment. However, when the container is to be exhibited for sale, or after sale, said members are set up so that the entire package is converted into a toy house or cottage with a gabled roof. The closing members give the structure of the roof; and they are hinged to the body of the container, and can be quickly interengaged to remain in set-up position, closing the box as before but nevertheless allowing easy access to the inside thereof.

Further, along with the candy inside the box a number of knockdown cardboard additions or appurtenances can be included to elaborate and complete the appeal thereof. Such additions make an outside porch or veranda, doorsills, chimney, bay windows, attic windows and the like; all of cardboard or other material to be bent into appropriate form and having tongues or projections which enter slots in the container to hold them in place.

The invention thus in practice is well calculated to increase sales; and it serves not only as a storage receptacle for carrying the candies from the manufacturer to the distributor and buyer but it also has great advertising value. When candies are sold in a box, the latter is usually thrown away as soon as it is emptied, but a, box or container accordingto this invention can be transformed as above into a possession dear to children, and will therefore be kept for a long;

time, during which it is a constant reminder of the candies that were bought in it and the manufacturer who produced them. The bottom of the box or any other part can be printed with the name and address of the maker or other advertising matter; and the exterior can be finished off in various bright colors and markings tosuit the season or the class of buyers to whom it is offered. The box can be shipped as Well as any other box, because the additions will be merely fiat pieces of special outline: inside of it;

and the top will consist of members which, as before stated, will lie down flat against the contents until the box is put on sale or sold. There is thus no likelihood of damage in transit, and when the buyer once gets it he can moment.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be more fully described hereinafter and the novel features will be pointed out in the appended claims.

On the drawing:

Figure 1 is an end view of the box showing the top parts folded down as when the box is to be stored or shipped;

Figure 2 is a top view partly in section showing the parts in similar position, indicating the shape of the hinged members at the top of the box to close it and to be set up in imitation of the roof of a house;

Figure 3 is a perspective View showing in detail 5 the means by which the closing members are engaged to be maintained in set-up position; part of the container being included;

Figure 4 shows the bottom construction;

Figure 5 is a side view of set up to give full resemblance to a house with the additions attached;

Figure 6 is an end view with the partsin the same position; and

Figure 7 is a detail showing a blank which can v set it up in a 30 the container when be bent to form one of the tenances, such as a sill for the house.

The same numerals identify the same parts throughout.

The container has four sides; a front I, rear 2, and ends 3 and 4. As stated above, it is made of a fiat blank of cardboard or other suitable material provided on one face with transverse creases or score lines, so that when the cardboard is bent along the score lines it can be given form. The ends of the blank are secured together by an adhesive or any other suitable means, preferably at one of the corners of the container. At the bottom, hinged to the front and rear walls, are sections 5 and 6, one of which has projections or tabs '1 and the other cuts or slits 8 into which the tabs can be inserted. The flaps or sections 5 and 6 thus engage each other as indicated in Figure 4, showing in elevation a portion of the bottom, and close the bottom; and the contents are introduced through the top when the container is filled. Inside bottom flaps (not shown) attached to ends 3 and 4 may lie under the flaps additions or appurone of the doors of 5 and (i.

Hinged to the upper edges of the front and back are closing members 9 and It, and the ends 3 and 4 have hinged extensions H. These extensions are triangular to cooperate with the members 9 and E8 to afford a gable top; and the entire container will thus resemble in appearance a house or cottage with a double-sloping roof. The members 9 and ID are of course in one piece with the blank and so are the extensions l I (and the flaps 5 and 5) and the blank is further provided with score lines or creases along the inner surfaces to enable these members, flaps and extensions to be turned over as required. This construction affords the advantage that when the container is i filled with candy or any other commodity the extensions H and members 9 and it can be laid down flat on top of the contents, as in Figures 1 and 2. The container can now be tied with cord, if necessary, to keep it shut. After the container is sold, or when it is exposed for sale, the top members 9 and i9 and the extensions H can be set up as in Figures i and 5.

To hold the members 9 and It in set-up position, each side of the triangular extensions I i has a hinged wing l2, united to the extensions along creases or score lines l3. Each wing H is substantially triangular and when the extensions and wings are in the same plane, the extensions with the wings are aproximately square in shape. See Figure 2. The outer or free ends of the members 8 and ill have similar score lines marking off flanges 14, so that the flanges can be bent over, as in Figures 3 and 6. When a dealer or buyer, who receives the container with the parts 9, H) and l l folded down, wishes to put up the roof, he lifts the extensions ll till they are upright and bends inward the wings 12. See Figure 3. The members 9 and i0 also are lifted, and the flanges M are forced down and inserted between the wings 2 at each end of the container. The upper edges of the wings l2 lie close together but separated to form narrow slots or notches for the end portions of the flanges i l. When the flanges M are inserted into these slots the flanges I l brace the extensions ll against falling downward and inward and the Wings engage the roof members and maintain them in correct location.

Windows at various points are represented on the house, as indicated at l5 and a large one in the end 4, indicated at I5a.

The container is rendered still more attractive by small pieces of cardboard or the like, which are provided with creases or score lines for bending, and projections to be inserted into slits in the walls and roof. As illustrated the container has additions to create the appearance of a chimney E5 on one of the roof members and a roofed attic window l? on the other, with projections 25 which enter slits 28 to mount them. Likewise, there will be a veranda floor 2i with roof 22 and columns 3 at one end of the house over the window 55a, a door sill l8 and a projecting vestibule roof is over it for a door represented at the other, a similar sill and roof for the main entrance 2i) pictured on the front wall l, and additions 26 forming bay windows for the front and back walls of the house. One of these appurtenances, such as the sill I8, is illustrated in Figure 7. It has score lines l3 to enable the cardboard to be turned down in front, extensions 2'5 for the sides with wings 28 to go under the top, and tongues 25 for the slits 26. The others will be similarly made, each according to the selected outline and purpose in a manner well known to those skilled in the art.

From the foregoing description themerits of the invention will be quite apparent. The container is effectively closed when the parts 9, l0 and ll are laid flat on the top, and it is also closed when the members 9 and it are set up, 2'.

because their free ends are maintained in adjacent relation by the Wings 12. In this condition the container can be opened merely by lifting one of the members 9 or ID.

The exterior of the container can be suitably finished in lines and colors that present an outline of roof tiles, stones, bricks, timber, and trim, with the doors and windows and the various outside appurtenances in any position chosen for them. It always makes an acceptable gift because when the candy has all been eaten, the container can be turned over to the children in the family, or otherwise used for display in the owners house.

Of course the appurtenances shown can be varied in number and character to any desired extent. They may include a cardboard Santa Claus in a sleigh with reindeer for insertion between the flanges M to make a box of candy suitable for the Christmas holidays.

While I have described the container as having certain specific structural features, I of course do not wish to be strictly limited thereto but desire 1e invention to be construed as broadly as is consistent with the broad terms in which the appended claims are expressed.

Having described my invention, what I believe to be new and wish to protect by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. A container having four sides, a hinged triangular extension at the top edges of each of two opposite sides of the container, a flexible wing extending from each of said extensions, a hinged cover member attached to the top edge of each of the remaining two opposite sides and each having a flexible portion along its free edge, said extensions and said members being capable of taking overlapped positions to close the top or being set up with said wings projecting inward and said portions inserted between the wings of each extension to cause said members to provide a gable roof for said container.

2. A container having four sides, a hinged cover member attached to the top edge of each of two opposite sides and a triangular extension attached to the top edge of each of the other two oppositesides,- the extensions and the hinged members being adapted to be folded down in flat overlapping relation, the outer ends of each of said members having a flexible portion, and each of the extensions having wings which can be bent to extend inward from said extensions when the latter are set up,

said then wings having their upper edges substantially parallel but spaced apart forming slots to receive the flexible portions along the free ends of the hinged members, so that the said members are engaged with said Wings and thereby held in set-up position to form a gable roof on said container.

RAY W. KROUT.

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