US2316384A - Container - Google Patents

Description

April 1943- A. A. ABRAMSON CONTAINER Filed Nov. 25, 1940 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. ALVIN A. ABRAM'SON ATTORNEY.

April 13, 1943' A. A. ABRAMSON 2,316,384

CONTAINER Filed Nov. 25, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 gum... I I 0 INVENTOR. ALVIN A" ABRAMSON Aprifl 13, 1943. A. A.IABRAMSON CONTAINER Filed Nov. 25, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. ALVIN A, ABRAM SON ATTORNEY.

aiented Apr. 13, 1943 corrr Application November 25, 1940, Serial No. 367,003

1 filaim. (01. 229-35),

This invention relates generally to containers and, more particularly, to transparent containers and to the method of making the same.

There has been a persistent demand in the container industry for low-cost transparent containers for protecting the packaged merchandise and, at the same time, permitting visualinspection of the package contents. By reason of the physical characteristics of available transparent materials, such as Vue-Pack, Cellophane, and similar synthetic transparent materials, it has been considered virtually impossible to satisfy this need. So far as I am also aware, however, all efforts to supply containers of this type failed for the reason that it has been necessary to utilize materials which are exorbitantly expensive and, further, the various methods of construction necessary in fabricating such containers involve so much hand labor that the production cost is also excessive.

In the container industry, as is well known, the problem of storing any type of rigid box or container from the time it is finished until the time it is used by the packager has always been troublesome. Rigid containers, such as shoe boxes, shirt boxes, and the like, if permitted to accumulate in large quantities, require a tremendous amount of storage space. On the other hand, the normal daily output of most modern manufacturing plants. is such that a large volume of containers for packaging the products of such plants becomes a daily necessity. The most economical solution for this problem is to integrate the production schedule of the container manufacturer to the production schedule of the container user, so that the containers will flow in a steady stream directly and immediately after completion to the point at which they will be packed and shipped to the retailer or ultimate consumer. Hence, in addition to providing rigid transparent containers at low cost, it is also necessary to provide a method or process of manufacture which can be economically and reliable integrated with the production schedules of the manufactuding plants requiring such containers for the packaging of manufactured products.

My invention hence has for its primary objects the provision of a substantially rigid self-supporting container from medium or relatively thin gauge transparent material initially in flexible sheet form without rigidity.

My invention has for further objects the provision of a container which is transparent, durable,

and serviceable, afiording adequate protection to the packaged merchandise, and which is con nomical in cost or materials and construction and may be cheaply produced in large numbers at relatively high speed.

My invention has for a further object the provision of a method for producing containers of the type stated'which is simple, economical, and emcient, in which labor and material costs are reduced to a minimum, in which there is no substantial wastage or loss resulting from the rejection of containers by reason of improper fabrication, and in which high-speed production schedules can be reliably maintained for supplying containers at any desired rate.

And with the above and other objects in view, my invention resides in the novel features oi form, construction, arrangement, and combina= tion of parts presently described and pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings (three sheets),

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an oblong rectangular container constructed in accordance with and embodying my present invention;

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view of the container taken approximately along the line 22, Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the transparent blank or strip from which the side walls of the container of Figures 1 and 2 are constructed;

Figures 4 and 5 are perspective views of polygonal containers constructed in accordance with and embodying my present invention;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a flap-closure type of transparent container constructed in accordance with and embodying my present invention;

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the transparent sheet or blank employed in forming the container of Figure 6;

Figure 8 is an end elevational view of the selfclosing type of container of Figure 6;

Figures 9 and 10 are vertical sectional views of the self-closing container taken approximately along the lines 9-9 and Ill-l0, respectivelyv Figure 6;

Figure 11 is a perspective view of a dispenser type of transparent container constructed in accordance with and embodying my present invention;

Figure 12 is an end elevational view, partly broken away and in section, of the dispensing container of Figure 11; and

Figures 13 and 14 are vertical sectional views of the dispensing container taken, respectively,

along the lines -|a and 14-, respectively, Figure 11.

Referring now in more detail and by reference characters to the drawings, which illustrate practical embodiments of my invention, the container A of Figures 1 and 2 includes an open-top rectangular shell comprising spaced parallel side walls I, I, and spaced parallel end walls 2, 2, all formed from a single initially flat transparent strip or ribbon B having a. width substantially equivalent to the desired height and a length substantially equivalent to the desired perimeter of th particular container, curled inwardly, as shown, along its opposite longitudinal margins and thereby provided with marginal beads b having suitably longitudinally spaced and transversely aligned creases or indentations d, the strip B being preferably formed or constructed in the manner more fully described in co-pending application, Serial No. 367,004, filed contemporaneously herewith, and at and adjacent one end of the strip B, the beads 12 being preferably trimmed or cut away in the provision of. a lapping-tab t, all as best seen in Figure 3.

, The strip or ribbon B, so formed, is folded upon itself at respective pairs of transversely aligned indentations to thus include connected side and end wall panels i and 2 and the tab t lapped over upon, and preferably adhesively secured to, a face portion of the strip' adjacent its opposite end and the beads I) brought snugly into, and preferably also adhesively secured in, endwise abutment.

A bottom-forming member 3, die cut orotherwise suitably formed from cardboard, transparent plastic sheet material, or the like, and peripherally sized for snug-fitting disposition within the container-shell, is disposed within the shell to rest upon the upwardly presented surface of and preferably, though not necessarily, secured by a filament 4 of suitable adhesive to, the lower bead b, all as best seen in Figure 2.

It will be noted that the container side and end walls I, 2, are self-reinforced to non-collapsibly upstand by their marginal beads b and the comerforming bends, as well as by the snug-fitting peripheral engagement of the bottom member 3. Thus a substantially strong, rigid, and serviceable container A is built up from initially pliable and flexible sheet material.

It will, of course,beobvious that the length of the several wall panels I, 2, of the completed container A will depend upon the selected spacing between the several pairs of bead indentations d. Hence, by varying the spacing between the indentations d, containers A of selected size and shape may be readily constructed.

Similarly, by providing a greater or lesser number of bead indentations d than the four pairs of bead indentations 11 shown in Figure 3 and employing an appropriately shaped bottom member, polygonal containers having any desired number of side wall panels may be easily built-up and constructed. For example, by providing an upstanding wall-forming strip having eight equally spaced pairs of bead indentations d. an octagonal container A having an eight-sided or paneled side wall 5 and a correspondingly sized octagonal bottom member 6, as shown in Figure 4, may be constructed with facility; or by providing a side wall strip having only three pairs of equally spaced bead indentations, a triangular container A" having merely three upstanding wall panels 1 and a correspondingly sized triangular bottom wall member 8, as shown in Figure 5, may be constructed with equal facility.

The container C of Figures 6 to 10 may be designated as of end-flap-closure type and is likewise formed from a transparent ribbon or strip B substantially similar in form and structure to the strip B and also having marginal beads b' along two of its parallel margins. The beads b are cut away at and adjacent both the other margins of the strip, as at c, in the provision of oppositely extending tab sections t, the outer corners of which are preferably cut off or chamfered. as at e, and the beads b being provided with two sultably spaced pairs of indentations d. In such connection, it should be noted that the strip 13' is substantially longer in the direction of the tabs it than it is in the direction of the beads b. This, of course, is preferably accomplished by setting the side wall making machinery described in said co-pending application, Serial No. 367,004, to produce a strip or ribbon of the desired width and then cutting the same off lengthwise of the bead to the desired dimension.

The strip B is folded upon itself along lines extending between the pairs of head indentations d to provide and include parallel panels or walls 9, 9, spaced and joined by a larger wall or panel l0. The tabs t are then folded inwardly and downwardly upon, and adhesively secured to, the outwardly presented longitudinal marginal portions of a fiat member ll of cardboard or the like and of substantially the same transverse width as the wall panel l0, and disposed in snug-fitting edgewise engagement along its longitudinal margins with the inner faces of the opposed walls or panels 9. Thus the member H is secured in spaced parallel relation to the panel ID, the latter forming the top, and the former providing the base or bottom, wall of the finished or completed container C. In length, the bottom wall II is somewhat shorter than the top wall [0 and is disposed with its end margins in substantial registration with the inner or curled-under edge of the respective beads bf, and along its said ends the bottom wall member II is preferably integrally provided with upwardly folded end wall forming flaps l2. I2, of substantially the same height as the panels or side walls 9 and adapted for marginal engagement with the inner faces of the walls 9 and I0 and for facewise engagement against the inwardly presented rolled surfaces of the beads b, all as best seen in Figures 6 and 10.

Preferably, though not necessarily, the end wall flap I 2 is provided centrally of its upper or transverse margin with a so-called thumb-cut l3 for enabling convenient fingernail engagement for pulling the flap l2 outwardly for permitting convenient access to the interior of the container. It may be remarked that, by reason of the inherent flexibility of the plastic sheet material from which the strip B has been made, the beads b will have sufficent resilience to permit the end wall flap l2 to be so pulled outwardly. Similarly, when it is desired to again close the container, the end wall flap I 2 is pushed upwardly and snapped past the bead 1) into closure-forming position. If desired, the opposite end wall flap l2 may be permanently secured in place by suitable adhesive or left free, so that such flap too may be opened and closed in the same manner as the opposite end wall flap l2, should the type of merchandise to be housed within the container, or the packaging methods to be employed, require or demand.

C designates a further modified form of container of the so-called dispensing type, as shown in Figures 11 to 14, inclusive. The container C is constructed substantially in the same manner as the container C; except that the transparent side wall forming strip or ribbon is of somewhat different dimensions in order to provide a finished container of more or less cubical shape. In addition, the container C is provided with a bottom wall l4, substantially similar to the bottom wall ll of the container 0, except that the wall id is provided with only one end flap having a thumb-cut l5. Along its other transverse margin, the bottom wall It is provided with a thumb-cut l1, and adhesively secured to the adjacent marginal bead portion b", is a rectangular transparent end wall sheet l8 terminating at its lower margin IS in spaced relation to the bottom wall It in the provision of an elongated opening or dispensing slot 20.

The container C may be packed from the rear, so to speak, by pulling out the end flap l5 and inserting merchandise units. In this connection, it will, of course, be evident that the container C must be shaped and sized for accommodating the package units of merchandise to be housed therein and the dispensing slot 20 should likewise be sized to permit removal of the merchandise units successively one at a time.

Since the various side wall forming strips may be fabricated at a constant and substantially high rate of speed in the manner more fully described in said copending application, Serial No. 367,004, and since the assembling of the thus formed strips into finished containers is a simple and speedy operation, it will be evident that containers constructed in accordance with my present invention will be relatively inexpensive and the production schedules of such containers may be conventionally and readily integrated with production schedules of manufacturing plants utilizing the containers in the packaging of finished products. It will further be evident that strong, rigid containers may be constructed of medium or light gauge transparent sheets, which, in initial fiat or sheet form, are non-rigid, thereby enabling substantial econthose herein shown and described without de-.

- parting from the nature and principle of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,

A straight walled polygonal container body comprising, in combination, a shell constructed of a single elongated substantially oblong-rectangular strip of transparent material curled inwardly upon tiself along its opposite elongated parallel margins and thereby marginally provided lengthwise with cylindrical beads, said beads being provided at longitudinally spaced in tervals with transversely aligned fold indenta- I tions, said indentations being positioned and spaced inwardly from the two ends of the elongated strip whereby the length of the two end portions combined constitutes more than the legnth of one side wall of the container and-said strip having the bead portions thereof cut away at one end of the strip in the provision of a lapping and connecting tab, the strip being folded upon itself in registration with said transversely aligned indentations to constitute connected side wall panels and said tab being lapped over upon and being adhesively secured to the opposite end of the strip with the cutaway ends of the bead formations of the lapping end in substantial alignment and end-abutting relation with respect to the corresponding beads of the opposite end of the strip whereby said connected ends are disposed in substantially flatwise relation to form one side of the container and without angular bending of the material closely adjacent to either end of the elongated strip, and a bottom-forming member disposed within the confines of the folded strip contoured to conform substantially to the walled outline of the container supported upon and adhesively fixed to the inner side of one of said beads.

ALVIN A. ABRAMSON.

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