US2551974A

US2551974A - Cigarette package holder

Info

Publication number: US2551974A
Application number: US73200A
Authority: US
Inventors: Edward W Schweikert
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1949-01-27
Filing date: 1949-01-27
Publication date: 1951-05-08
Anticipated expiration: 1968-05-08

Description

.M 5 E. w. SCHWEIKERT 2,551,974

CIGARETTE PACKAGE HOLDER I Filed Jan. 27, 1949 .5 FIE-E.

JNVENTOR. .EZ Mfi'C/M E/A f r Patented May 8, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CIGARETTE PACKAGE HOLDER Edward W. Schweikert, New York, N.Y. Application January 27, 1949, Serial No. 73,200 Claims. (01. 206-41) This invention relates to holders or binders for cigarette packages, and is particularly provided for packages carried individually in the pocket or purse after one or more cigaretteshave been removed from the package.

With the use of soft paper packages for cigarettes, as is the custom, the space left in the package after some of the cigarettes have been removed, leaves the package unsightly and the opening is free so that one or more of the remaining cigarettes may easily fall out. Furthermore, the wide opening giving access of air to the remaining cigarettes permits rapid drying out of the latter. The present invention aims to overcome these inconveniences and in addition to provide a cigarette package holder embodying certain new and useful features whereby the operation of releasing the grip of the holder on the package for removal of a cigarette or for replacing an empty package with a full one, is substantially simplified.

The above as well as additional and more specific objects will be clarified in the following description, wherein characters of reference refer to like-numbered parts in the accompanying drawing. It is to be noted that the drawing is intended solely for the purpose of illustration, and that it is neither desired nor intended to limit the invention necessarily to any or all of the exact details of construction shown except'insofar as they may be deemed essential to the invention.

Referring briefly to the drawing, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the cigarette package holder applied to a fresh package of cigarettes.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the same.

Fig. 4 is an end elevational View of the holder per se as it appears when it is free without a cigarette package therein.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the holder per se.

Fig. 6 is a top end or plan view of the holder as it appears when it contains a partly emptied cigarette package, the latter being shown in transverse section.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral 19 indicates a conventional soft cigarette package containing the cigarettes in the usual manner, as illustrated.

The cigarette package holder It! comprises the fiat wall or base it having two opposed parallel walls 12 and 82a extending from the said base at right angles thereto. An end wall I! is provided at one end of the base H, the extremities of which are spaced from the side walls 12 and l 2a thereby giving a certain amount of resiliency to the Walls 12 and l2a.

Spaced arms IQ of springy metal such as, for example, spring steel, in the form of bands or strips, extend from and at right angles to the side wall 12, and they may be secured to the latter inany desired manner, as, for example, by

' means of rivets or the like. The free extremities of the arms [3 are joined by a relatively rigid bar M, and a tab, which may be of leather or any suitable pliable material, shown at it, extends from the bar I4. 7

Normally, when not holding a cigarette package, the resiliency of the arms I3 is such as to urge them to coil into a loop or spiral, as shown at 15 in Fig. 4. In order to insert a fresh package, the arms are uncoiled and the package is inserted into the position shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, that is, with one side of the package registering against the base H between the side Walls I2 and Ma and the end wall I! and the arms 13 grasping the package so that the bar [4 clamps the package by engaging the opposite side wall.

After the package has been opened, as shown in Fig. 1, by tearing on? a corner of the top, and when a cigarette has been extracted, the bar l4 will be urged by the said resiliency of the arms 13, inward. The condition of both the holder and the package after a number of cigarettes have been removed is shown in Fig. 6, with the arms I3 partly coiled and the loose, empty paper of one side of the package compressed. As each successive cigarette is removed, the arms i3 coil further, and the opening into the package is practically sealed at all times.

To facilitate loosening of the package to extract a cigarette, the tab or grip I5 is provided, for by pulling thereon the arms 13 are partly uncoiled to relieve the pressure of the bar l4 upon the package, whence a cigarette may be readily extracted. The end wall I! serves as a limit stop in positioning the full package against the base H.

Obviously, modifications in form or structure may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. In combination with a package having substantially the form of a parallelopiped, a device comprising a member including a base and opposed side walls, said package being positioned between said opposed side walls with one side surface thereof contacting said base, normally coiled spaced parallel spring bands of equal length each having one end secured to one of said side walls of said member and lying in a common plane, the direction of coil of said bands bein out of the plane of said one of said side walls toward the plane of the other of said side walls thereby normally positioning said bands in the quadrant defined by the plane of said base and the plane of said one of said side walls, a substantially rigid bar secured to the other ends of said bands and having the longitudinal axis of the bar parallel with the longitudinal axis of the base, the sum of the length of one of said bands and the depth of said one of said side walls of said member being greater than the Width of the package but less than the sum of the width of the package and the width of said one side surface of the package, said bar when said bands are partly uncoiled contacting the opposite side surface of the package.

2. The device set forth in claim 1, said member having an end wall at one end thereof extending in the same direction as said side walls of the member and substantially at right angles to said base.

3. The device set forth in claim 1, said bar having a grip tab thereon intermediate the length of the bar.

4. The device set forth in claim 1, said member having an end wall at one end thereof extending in the same direction as said side walls of the member and substantially at right angles to said base, said end wall being of lesser width than the distance between said side walls of the member thereby providing spaces between the extremities of said end wall and said side walls of the member.

5. In combination with a collapsible article having substantially the form of a parallelopiped, such as a cigarette package, said package thereby having three pairs of mutually parallel surfaces, a device comprising a base positioned against one of said surfaces, said base having at least one side wall extending substantially at right angles to the base and hence being positioned parallel with one of said pairs of opposed surfaces adjacent said one of said surfaces, said side wall having a normally coiled spring band secured thereto at one end of the band, the direction of coiling of said band being out of the plane of said side wall into the quadrant defined by the planes of said side wall and said base thereby normally positioning said band in said quadrant, the sum of the rectified length of said band and the height of said side wall being less than one-half the periphery of said package measured in a plane through the package at right angles to said side wall and being greater than the length of each of said pair of opposed surfaces adjacent said one of said surfaces measured in said last-named plane thereby positioning the other end of said band against that surface of the package opposite said one of said surfaces, said other end of said band having a bar thereon, said bar having a length substantially greater than the Width of the band and having the longitudinal axis thereof parallel with the longitudinal axis of said base.

EDWARD W. SCHWEIKERT.

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

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 815,391 Weinstock Mar. 20, 1906 2,010,783 Florman Aug. 6, 1935 2,431,752 Hilstrom Dec. 2, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 54,302 Norway Aug. 20, 1934