US2583511A

US2583511A - Collapsible tube roller

Info

Publication number: US2583511A
Application number: US105831A
Authority: US
Inventors: Albert H Jung
Original assignee: Victor Industries Corp
Current assignee: Victor Industries Corp
Priority date: 1949-07-20
Filing date: 1949-07-20
Publication date: 1952-01-22
Anticipated expiration: 1969-01-22

Description

Jan. 22, 1952 H, JUNG 2,583,511].

COLLAPSIBLE TUBE ROLLER Filed July 20, 1949 Albert H Jung R By INVENTO ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 22, 1952 2,583,511 COLLAPSIBLE TUBE ROLLER Albert H. Jung, Flushing, N.'Y., assignor to Victor Industries Corporation poration of New York Brooklyn, N. Y., a cor- Application July 20, 1949, Serial No. 105,831

Claims.

1 This invention relates to rollers for flattening and Winding up the emptied end portions of collapsible tubes thereby to eifect the overall shortening of the tube, progressively as its contents are dispensed.

The invention contemplates the provision of a two-part tube roller so designed that the parts may be quickly and easily telescoped into each other and secured together against separation other than deliberate and with the clipped end portion of a collapsible tube adequately secured therein, the tube itself serving to lock the roller parts together against relative rotation.

The invention further contemplates the pro vision of a roller made of two complementary and similar hollow cooperating resilient parts adapted to be assembled with a snap action by merely pressing the parts together in a longi tudinal direction, and each having a slot for the passage of the flattened and clipped end portion of a collapsible tube whereby the roller may be operated as a unit to wind or roll up the tube as the latter is emptied, each roller part being closed at its outer end by a winding head or disc which also prevents accidental detachment of the roller from the tube by movement in a direction transversely of the tube.

The invention further contemplates the provision of separable fastening means in the form of a head on one roller part and a groove in the other roller part to receive the head for firmly but removably holding the roller parts together against longitudinal separation or displacement.

The invention further contemplates the provision of a simple tube winding rollerof pleasing appearance adapted to be inexpensively made. of suitable slightly resilient synthetic plastic resin or the like material and separable into two simi'" lar though complementary parts when removed from the completely emptied tube, the roller parts being easily secured at opposite edges of a full or partly full tube and to each other.

The various objects of the invention will be clear from the description which follows and from the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view taken through the slots thereof, of the roller parts as they appear separated from each other, the clipped end portion of the tube to which the roller parts are attached being shown by dash-dot lines.

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view partly broken away, of the roller as it appears assembled and attached to the flattened and clipped end por tion of a full or fresh tube.

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the grooved roller part and of a partly rolled up collapsible tube holding said roller part, the other or beaded roller part having been removed to expose the grooved roller part.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. l, of the grooved roller part.

Fig. 5 is a similar view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. l of the beaded roller part.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view of. the partly assembled roller parts and tube taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 1 but showing the beaded roller part inserted partway into the grooved roller part and expanding the latter.

As has been indicated, in the practical embodiment of the invention illustrated, the tube roller is made of two similar though complementary slotted and flanged parts as Ill and H each preferably molded in one piece of a suitable synthetic thermosetting or thermoplastic resin having some resilience. Each of the parts is flanged or headed at one end as 13 to provide a suitable fingeroperable winding member adapted to assume a pleasing form and to be provided with surface ornamentation if desired on its outer surface M. A tubular member I 5 having a longitudinal opening i2 therethrough projects axially from the head I3 of each roller part and is provided with a longitudinal slot i6 extending preferably throughout the length thereof for the reception of a flattened part l8 above the usual flattened and clipped part I! of the tube end as shown in Figs. 1-3 and 6, whereby the clipped end I! may be arranged in the longitudinal opening l2 of the tubular members [5.

While the division of the roller into two parts permits it to be quickly and easily attached to the tube It in such a manner that after assembly of the parts the roller remains securely in place and cannot becomedetached or lost, the parts are so shaped that they, may adequately and securely assembled to each other and to the tube by a single movement toward each other and transversely of the collapsible tube, and yet may be detached from each other and from. the tube by a simple movement in the opposite direction or away from each other when the tube is empty or before if desired. For these purposes, the inner end portions of the members l5 of the respective parts in and i! difier somewhat, one being in the form of a female or grooved fastener element and the other in the form of a male or stud fastener element. As best seen in Fig. 1, a relatively wide annular circumferentially arranged groove Zii is recessed intothe inner wall '01" the roller part NJ in longitudinal spaced rethe same diameters and lengths. The male fastener element comprises a bead 23 formed at the extremity of said open end portion 25, the outer diameter of the bead being substantially equal to the diameter of the bottom wall of the groove 20, but the width of the bead being less than the width of said groove. The leading edge of he bead 23 is rounded as best seen in Fig. 1 to produce the desired cam action to permit the parts llland II to be easily telescoped into each other as indicated in Fig, 6. The trailing edge 26 of the bead forms a shoulder thereon engaging the shoulder 22 when the parts are telescoped together.

Since the respective lengths and diameters of the walls 25 and 2| are substantially the same, the shoulder 24 at the end of the-surface 25 will abut against the complementar end edge IQ of the part Ill when the parts are assembled with the bead 23 in the groove 20 as shown in Fig. 2. The outer surface of the part II at 25 will also contact the inner surface 2| and the shoulder 26 of the bead 23 willalso be substantially in contact with the shoulder 22 of the part ltl. Consequently, in said assembled position, the parts cannot easily become separated since the bead shoulder 26 cannot easily pass the cooperating holding shoulder 22. However, since the parts In and l l are sufiiciently resilient and are slotted as well, and the difference in diameters of the bead 23 and the wall 2! is slight, a firm pull on the .membersi3 away from each other causes the bead. to expand or to stretch the open end portion of the part L the slot 15 aiding to permit such expansion, whereby the bead may be pulled out of the-part It and the parts separated for use on a fresh or full tube.

To attach the separated roller parts to the clipped or lower end I! of the full tube, the usual clip at said end I1 is inserted sidewise. that is, by a movement in a direction transversely of the tube into the opening 02 of the part Hi and the corresponding central opening in the part I l, wliilethe flattened part of the collapsible tube above the clip enters the slots as shown in Fig. 1. The bead Z3 is then forced into the open end of the part I U as shown in Fig. 6, thereby expanding said end and the slot of said roller part sufficiently to permit the bead to be forced along the wall 2| until itsnaps into the groove 20 and the; edge 19 engages the shoulder 25 thereby preventing further telescoping movement of the-parts. On release of the pressure put thereon by the head, the tubular portion of the part I U contracts to its initial or normal diameter thereby to hold the roller parts securely together. The tube l8, extending as it does, through the slots of both parts Hi and H, serves as a lock to prevent relative rotation of said parts. Passage of the clipped end ll of said tube upwardly through the slots I5 is prevented because the slots are made of lesser width than thethicknessof the clipped end. It will'therefore be seen that when the roller parts are, a

4 sembled with the tube as above described, they cannot become accidentally detached from each other or from the tube, but can readily be removed by a pull to withdraw the bead from its groove as hereinbefore explained.

It will be understood that the roller may be made in various sizes to fit various standard tubes and in various shapes, that it is adapted to carry surface ornamentation, that it may readily be operated by the fingers of the user after enough of the contents of the tube have been dispensed to flatten the end portion thereof remote from the cap, that the flanges or heads l3 provide effective finger grips for such operation upon the capped tube as to wind up the flattened part of the tube compactly as shown in Fig. 3, that the roller may be quickly and easily attached and assembled by unskilled persons and as easily disassembled for reattachment to another tube, and that I have provided a device adapted to perform its intended purposes effectively.

It will also be seen that each of the roller parts may be readily and inexpensively molded of synthetic plastic in one operation and in one piece, the dimensions of the groove and of thecooperating bead and the resiliency 0f the slotted parts beingsuch as to permit the parts to be removed from the molds by. slight force exerted thereon to expand the grooved part or slightly to compress the beaded part. i

While I have shown and described a certain specific embodiment of the invention, it will be understood that various obvious changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention defined in the appended claims.

1-. A two-part tube roller comprising a pair of telescoping molded members each having a head and a longitudinally slotted tube projecting from the head, and cooperating separable fastening means on the members comprising an enlarged annular bead providing an integral ridge on the outer wall of one of the members removably entering a corresponding annular groove providing a shouldered recess in the inner wall of the other member, the diameter of that part of the inner wall outwardly of the recess being less than the greatest diameter of the enlarged bead whereby the bead expands the inner wall during the passage of the bead longitudinally into the recess.

2. A collapsible tube roller comprising a first slotted tube closed at one end and open at the other and having a circumferential groove in the inner wall thereof and a second slotted tube closed at one end and open at the other and having an outstanding circumferential head on the outer wall thereof adjacent the open end and of the'same outer diameter as that of the ameter of the open end portion' of the'first tube beyond the groove.

4. The tube roller of claim 2, each of the tubeshaving an'outstanding head at the closed end" thereof, the outer wall'of the second tube be yond the beadbeing of'substantially-thesame 5 diameter as the inner wall of the first tube beyond and adjacent to the groove.

5. The tube roller of claim 2, an outstanding head at the closed end of each of the tubes. there being a longitudinal slot in each of the tubes extending from the open end to the head thereof.

6. The tube roller of claim 2, the bead being rounded at its leading edge, the shoulder of the bead engaging the shoulder of the groove when the bead is in the groove, each of the tubes having a longitudinal slot therein extending from the open end thereof up to the closed end thereof.

7. A collapsible tube roller comprising a resilient one piece roller tube closed at one end and having a longitudinal slot through the remainder thereof and open at the other end thereof, there being an annular groove arranged circumferentially around and recessed into the inner wall of the tube, and a second roller tube closed at one end and having a longitudinal slot through the remainder thereof and open at the other end thereof and having an annular projection thereon fitting into and entering and cooperating with the groove to maintain the tubes against separation when the tubes are forcibly telescoped together, the greatest normal diameter of the bead being greater than the normal inner diameter of the open end part of the first roller tube, thereby requiring expansion of the first tube and the widening of the slot thereof to permit the bead to pass into the first tube up to the groove.

8. The collapsible tube roller of claim 7, the slots of the roller tubes being locked in alignment with each other when in use by a collapsible tube having a flattened portion thereof arranged in the slots and having an end'portlon arranged in the interior of the tubes.

9. The collapsible tube roller of claim 7, each of the tubes having an outstanding winding head at the closed end thereof.

10. In a tube roller, a longitudinally slotted tubular member having a circumferential ridge on, its outer surface terminating in an annular shoulder, and a longitudinally slotted sleeve having a circumferential recess in its inner surface adapted to receive the ridge when the member is forced into the sleeve to a position wherein the ridge registers with the recess, the greatest diameter of the ridge being greater than the inner diameter of the sleeve to expand the sleeve as the member and the sleeve are telescoped together, the shoulder of the member engaging the shoulder of the sleeve to detachably lock the member and the sleeve together.

ALBERT H. JUNG.

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

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,038,057 Peters Apr. 21, 1936 2,492,594 Renouf Dec. 27, 1949 2,500,274 Brown Mar. 14, 1950