US2544751A

US2544751A - Holder for collapsible tubes

Info

Publication number: US2544751A
Application number: US84366A
Authority: US
Inventors: Elterman Daniel; Leonard E Elterman; Elterman Walter
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1949-03-30
Filing date: 1949-03-30
Publication date: 1951-03-13
Anticipated expiration: 1968-03-13

Description

March 13, 1951 D. ELTERMAN ETAL HOLDER FOR coLLAPsIBLE TUBES Filed March 50, 1949 Patented Mar. 13, 1951 HOLD-ER.. FOR GOLLAPSIBLE TUBES,

Daniel Elterman, Northport, Leonard E. Elterman, East Northport, and WalterY Elterman,

Brooklyn, Y.

Application March. so, 194.9., serial No..v 84,366

obvious and in part willv be pointed out. hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction,A combinations of elements, and arrangements. of. partsV which will; be exemplified in the construction hereinafter described and illustrated andoi which the scope i. application willbe indicated, in. the appended claims...

In the accompanying drawings in which isshown one of the yarious possible embodiments of the invention,

Fig., 1 is a central vertical' section. through. a l;

tube holder. constructed in accordance with the invention, a. tube being positioned therein;

Fig. 2 is a. front view. of said tube holder;

Fig.. 3 is a top view of the. tube holder withits cap partly broken away to show certain details of construction.;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line, 4--4 of 11;.

Fig. 5. is a fragmentary enlarged sectional View taken substantially along the. lineA 5,-5 of Eig. 1;

. Fig. 6 isan exploded side.- view of the tube holder.

Referring now in. detail' to. the drawings, the

reference numeral [0. denotes. a tube holder embodying the invention and' constituting a base l2, a pedestal I4 and a top I6, the pedestal serving as an off-center support to. hold the top in elevated condition relative to the base,4 All these parts of the holder can. be fabricated trom anysuitable self-form-maintaining materiali. Hewever., the same preferably are. made from a plasi, tic, inasmuch as several otherwise necessary machine operations thereby are eliminatedx and f since the use of plastic permits the. elimination of a spring, as later will be apparent` To enable the holder to accommodate tubes of diierent sizes, the pedestal is so constructed that its length can be adjusted.. To this end. the pedestal is made, in two halves, tri-wit, an upper- 4 Claims. (CL. 248-109).

half |'8 and a lower half 0, the upper half being molded in onepiece with the top I 6 and-the lower halfA being molded in one piece with the base I2, Such arrangement has the further advantage of simplifying molding procedure. The upper pedestal half has a cross-sectional configuration which, roughly, is of U-shape. More specically, the cross-sectional' configuration of said upper half isY arcuate, being in the form offa thin-walled semi-circle, as best: seen in Fig. 4:. The lower half 2-0 of the pedestal has a matching thin-walled cross-sectional conguration (likewise seen in Fig. 4'), so that.' it is'adapted to; telescopicallyreceive the upper half.

In order to guide the upper half vertically in its movement relative to the lowerI half and to prevent relative rotation of these two circularly f shaped halves, one of said halves is formed with at least one vertically extending projection and the other halfA with a mating irregularity; As shown herein, the verticallyv extending projection is in the form of a pair of

Vertical ribs4

22, 24 projecting outwardlvfrom adjacent the vertical side edges of the upper pedestal half I8. These ribs slidably enga-ge mating slots'l 26', 28 molded in. an inwardly directedflange 3i at the top edgeI of the lower pedestal half' 20. In addition, the forward faces of the ribs ride on the rear faces of a pair of inwardly extendingfvertical rails; 32, 34 fashioned on the verticalside edges of the lower pedestal half. Thus, the; upper half is held captive in the lower half.

The pedestal alsoA includes means to hold the twohalves in any adjusted position. Such means comprises a vertically extending series of nulos or teeth 36 projecting rearwardly from the outer back surfaceof the.y upper pedestal half. The top e-nd of the series of teeth isI located adiacent the top of the-upper pedestal half and the bottom end of the series of teeth is spaced from the-bottom edge of said pedestal half. From the lower- Aiange is not notched to pass thev teeth 3E. However, due to the inherent resilience of thin sections of plastic material, the dan-ge 30 will flex outwardly and the, upper half will flex inwardly in the region oi the. teeth when the upperpedestal half is lifted. or depressed with sufcient force. 'This action permits passage of the. teeth in either direction. Only a few pounds of eEort ls required thus to move the upper pedestal half relative to the lower half, this being suiliciently great to prevent accidental displacement, but not enough to render adjustment difficult. Further to facilitate this adjustment, the edges of the teeth are rounded as shown in Fig. l, whereby the teeth exert a camming action on the flange 30.

Extension of the upper half is limited by abutment of the ledge 38 against the flange. Due to the breadth of the ledge, neither half can flex suciently to pass the ledge beneath the rim of the flange.

The base l2 is fashioned with a narrow horizontally elongated well 4I] which is designed to receive the folded metal strip 42 conventionally present on the bottom of a standard collapsible dispensing tube 44. The rear end of the well opens into the hollow portion` of the pedestal thereby to permit tubes having overly long strips 42 to be accommodated by the holder.

The top I6, which is substantially parallel to the base I2, is fashioned to provide a cup-shaped interior in which there is adapted to be located and concealed the frusto-conical top 45 of the standard tube 44. It is desirable to have the holder top I6 taper upwardly somewhat, for example by having the top provided with steps d,

as indicated, to roughly match in its over-all taper, the taper of the top of the conventional tube 44.

The flat upper surface of said top is provided with a through opening 5B designed to pass the male threaded neck 52 of the conventional tube 44. Optionally, the opening 5G may include two or more overlapping circular openings, as shown, which are of different diameters in order to enable the holder to receive tubes having different sized necks. These openings are designed to receive the neck of the tube after the tube cap has been removed.

` The top i6 also includes a cap 54 having a hollow interior and a cork ply 5B covering the inside surface of its crown. The rear edge of the cap has a pair of outwardly extending registered trunnions 58. These trunnions are located be- Y* tween a pair of fingers 6D projecting upwardly from the top I6 and having inwardly directed flanges 62, 64 along its upper and side edges. Saidl flanges define a space wherein the trunnions are captively held. The rear edge 56 of the cap is rounded, as indicated in Fig. 1, and is adapted to rest on a matching concave seat 68 in the top I. Such mounting of the cap permits the same to rotate freely and also to shift vertically through short distances. In this fashion the cap better is able to adjust itself to different lengths of necks after the holder top I6 has been pushed down to engage the top 45 of the tube around the base of the neck. The cork ply 56 is employed better to vclose the open mouth of the dispensing tube when the same is left in the holder without its normal screw top.

It thus will be seen that there is provided a holder for collapsible tubes which achieves the several objects of the invention and is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein described, or shown in the accompanying drawings, is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described the invention, we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A plastic holder for collapsible dispensing tubes, said holder comprising a base, a top and a thin-walled offset pedestal interconnecting said base and top, said pedestal being of U-shaped configuration with the inside of the U facing toward the space between the base and top, said pedestal constituting two halves which are nestably interengaged, means to guide said halves for vertical movement relative to one another, a vertically extending series of symmetrical horizontal teeth carried by the upper pedestal half, the upper andlower edges of the tips of said teeth converging toward one another, the lower pedestal half having an inwardly directed flange in one piece therewith at its top edge, said flange slidably engaging the rear external surface of the Ving a broad low ledge below the teeth which slidably engages the forward inner surface of the lower half and is adapted to abut the flange and act as an upper limit stop, the top being provided with a through opening to pass the neck of the tube, a cap provided with trunnions, and a pair of erect fingers on the top with inwardly extending flanges defining spaces higher than the trunnions and within which'said trunnions are received. said capv having a rounded rear edge and said top having a concave seat below said rear edge whereby the cap is pivotally mounted on the top in such fashion as to permit limited vertical movement.

2. A plastic holder for collapsible dispensing tubes, said holder comprising a base, a top and a thin-walled offset pedestal interconnecting said base and top, said pedestal being of U-shaped configuration with the inside of the U facing toward the space between the base and top, said pedestal constituting two halves which are nestably interengaged, means to guide said halves for vertical 'movement relative to one another, a vertically 44'extending series of symmetrical horizontal teeth carried by the upper pedestal half, the upper and lower edges ofthe tinsof said teeth converging toward one another, the lower pedestal half having an inwardly directed flange in one niece therewith at its top edge, said flange slidably engaging the rear external surface of the upper half whereby said halves will flex to permit forced movement of the teeth past the flange and thereby hold the pedestal halves in any adjusted position of the same, the upper pedestal .half having a broad low ledge below the'teeth which slidably engages the Aforward inner surface of the lower half and is adapted to abut the flange and act as an upper limit stop, the top being provided with a through opening to pass the neck of the tube, and a cap pivotally mounted on the top.

, vertical movement relative to one another, and a vertically extending series of symmetrical horizontal teeth carried by the upper pedestal half, the Upper and lower edges of the tips of said teeth Yconverging toward one another, the lower pedestal half having an inwardly directed ange in one piece therewith at its top edge, said flange slidably engaging the rear external surface of the upper half whereby said halves will flex to permit forced movement of the teeth past the ange and thereby hold the pedestal halves in any adjusted position of the same, the upper pedestal half having a broad low ledge below the teeth which slidably engages the forward inner surface of the lower half and is adapted to abut the ange and act as an upper limit stop, the top being provided with a through opening to pass the neck of the tube.

4. A plastic holder for collapsible dispensing tubes, said holder comprising a base, a top and a l thin-walled offset pedestal interconnecting said base and top, said pedestal being of U-shaped conguration with the inside of the U facing toward the space between the base and top, said pedestal constituting two halves which are nestably interengaged, the lower half having a pair of inwardly extending rails along its Vertical side edges, the upper half riding on the rear face of said rails and being captively held thereby in the lower half, and means to maintain said two halves in any adjusted position, said last-named means comprising a vertically extending series of symmetrical horizontal teeth carried by the upper pedestal half, the upper and lower edges of the tips of said teeth converging toward one another, the lower pedestal half having an inwardly directed flange in one piece therewith at its top edge, said ange slidably engaging the rear external surface of the upper half whereby said halves will ilex to permit forced movement of the teeth past the llange and thereby hold the pedestal halves in any adjusted position of the same.

DANIEL EL'IERMAN.

LEONARD E. ELTERMAN.

WALTER ELTERMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS