US2786612A - Dispensing device - Google Patents

Description

March 26, 1957 N. o. GALLO DISPENSING DEVICE Filed April 26,1956 j- INVENTORQ NICK GALLO ATTORNEY United States Patent DISPENSING DEVICE Nick D. Gallo, Bentleyville, Pa., assignor of fifty percent to Eugene P. Hook, Alexandria, Va.

Application April 26, 1956, Serial No. 580,771

7 Claims. (Cl. 222531) This invention relates to dispensing devices and more particularly to devices which can be snugly fitted over the top of a disposable box of particulate material, e. g., soap powder, that has been opened by removal of the corner of the box so the device will act as av closure for the box, except during the time when it is used to pour the particulate material from the box in a confined stream.

With the modern way of living, innumerable items of ordinary day-to-day use are packaged in individual disposable paper or cardboard boxes. From most aspects, this manner of merchandising and handling powdered or granular material such as soap powder or flakes, breakfast cereals and the like, is very satisfactory, but it does present some annoying problems to the housewife or other people handling the packages. For example, once a. box of this type has been opened, there is the problem of satisfactorily closing it to protect its contents from picking up moisture from the surrounding air which may cause the box contents to cake, to become sogg or otherwise be adversely affected. Furthermore, particularly with boxes of soap powder or flakes, it is desirable to have a box which has been opened fixed so that thereafter the box can be properly closed to prevent the annoying spilling of material from the box in the event that it is upset. Furthermore, frequently when a soap box or the like is opened, a dispensing opening is formed, which instead of helping to confine the contents being poured from the box in a satisfactorily directed stream, actually tends to spread the material being poured over a wide area so that the soap powder or the like, instead of all going where the housewife wants it to, often ends up spread around where it should not be, requiring the irritated housewife to spend time cleaning up the spilled material.

Various attempts have been made by designers of boxes and packages and also by manufacturers of various particulate products to devise ways to overcome the dispensing annoyances and problems indicated above. For example, specially construced boxes with pull-out spouts have been designed and iirom time to time have appeared on the market. General success for this type of package has been obtained in the merchandising of table salt, the well-known pouring spout package for table salt being now a rather standard item of commerce. On the other hand, attempts of this type at solving the dispensing problem have been made in the merchandising of other products without much success.

Packages which are perforated to open in this special fiashion and pouring spouts made of plastic or metal in various forms for attachment to an opened disposable box have been tried from time to time. However, although real problems in this field are known to exist and numerous attempts have been made at solving them, as has been indicated, there still exists a need for some device by which the problems of closing on open box of soap powder or similar particulate material and of pouring the contents from an open box in a suitably confined stream can be satisfactorily solved.

A principal object of the present invention is the provision of new improvements in devices for dispensing particulate material from a box.

Further objects include:

1. The provision of a new form of box cover which can be fitted snugly over the top of a disposable box of particulate material which has been opened by the re moval or perforation of a corner of the box so that the cover serves as a closure for the box when not in use, and as a dispensing spout or pouring aid to direct the dispensed material into a confined stream when it is poured from the box.

2. The provision of a box cover and dispensing device of simple but effective construction which may be inexpensively molded or fiabricated from plastic material, enabling the device to be produced at such low cost \as to oiler a practical commercially attractive solution to existing problems on the handling and storage of opened boxes of soap powder or other particulate material.

3. The provision of a combination box closure and pouring spout of simple construction which is so easy to install on an opened soap box or the like and so easy to use in dispensing material from the box that even the most unskilled person is able to use the device.

4. A dispensing device of the subject type which is so effective for its intended purpose, and yet so inexpensive to produce that soap manufacturers or sellers of other products can give the devices away as advertising items or premiums.

Other objects and further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. It should be understood, however, that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

These objects are accomplished according to the present invention by the provision of new forms of dispensing devices whose construction and operation may be fully understood by reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a. new dispensing device in accordance with this invention, showing the device fitted over the end of a box Whose contents are to be dispensed and showing the pouring spout of the device in an opened position;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged side view of the device of Fig. 1 partially broken away to show the pouring spout portion thereof in cross-section;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged elevational end view of the device of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional side view of the pouring spout portion of the device of Fig. 1, showing the spout in an opened or pouring position;

And Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the pouring spout of. the dispensing device of Fig. 1.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the dispensing device consists of an open-ended box-like cover unit 2 and a spout unit 4.

The cover unit 2 comprises a flat top portion 6 which has two end walls 8 and two side walls 10 depending therefrom. Preferably, the abutting edges l2 of the ends and side walls 3 and 1d are either formed integral with one another, such as by a molding operation, or are cemented together, so that a unitary box end cover 2 is formed thereby.

The lower portions 14 of the end walls 8 and lower portions 16 of the side Walls 10 are turned slightly ou wardly (see Figs. 2 and 3) creating an outwardly fiaired end portion 18 on the cover unit 2.

tion 6 and slightly beyond the adjacent end wall 8 forming tabs 26.

The pouring spout 4 comprises a flat rectangular top A member 28 having two dependent right angle triangular side members 3%. The sides 39 may be formed integral with member 23 by stamping a combination of the sides 30 and the top member 28 from a sheet of material and then bending the side members 3% down at about right angles to the top 28. Alternatively, triangular side members 30 may be formed independently of the top 2?; and then cemented or otherwise joined to the top member.

One axis of the rectangular top 28, i. e., the width, is substantially equal to the perpendicular distance between the two side walls 10, so that the top 28 fits, when in a closed position, snugly between these two side walls (see Fig. 3). The other axis of the rectangular top 28, i. e., the length, is slightly longer than the corresponding axis of the rectangular opening 20, so that the top 28 has a small area 32 which projects beyond the adjacent end wall 8 when the top 28 is in a position covering the opening with the inner end 34 of the top 28 substantially abutting the edge 24 of the top element 6.

As can be seen in Fig. 2, the triangular members are positioned upon the spout top 23 so that the catheti 36 abut the inner surface of the adjacent end wall 8 when the spout is in a closed position, and in this fashion hold the spout top 23 substantially in the same plane as the top 6. A small notched out portion 33 may be formed, if desired, in the upper side of the triangular spout members 30 to prevent possible binding between the end wall. 8 and the pouring spout 4 when the spout is moved between the open and closed positions.

Spout 4 has a pair of pins 4% which project laterally' from the extended portion 32 of the spout top 28-. These pins can be made integral with the spout top 28, such as by molding the pins and the top in a single operation from an organic plastic material. Alternatively, separate pins embedded in the spout top may be employed, such as where the top is made of molded plastic in which metal pins are embedded either during or after the formation of the top.

Suitable holes or indentations 42 are formed in the tabs 26 to receive the pivot pins 40 of the spout 4. As shown in Fig. 2, these journals for the pivot pins 40 are positioned on the tabs 26 so that they are beyond the plane of the outer surface of the adjacent side wall 8. Furthermore, positioning of the journals 42 is arranged so that the lower surface of the spout top 28 will rest upon or be practically in contact with the top end 22 of the adjacent end wall 8.

This arrangement of pivot pins 40 and extended area 32 upon the spout top 23, as can be seen in Figs. 2 and 4, causes the extended area 32 in a closed position to extend over the end wall 8. Then, when the cover 4 is moved into an open position, as shown in Fig. 4, the projecting area 32 of the top 28 overlaps the top end 22 of the side wall 8. This combination of overlapping and triangular side members 3%) creates an arrangement which prevents particulate material which is being dispensed from an opened box 44 from being spilled out around the pivoted end of the spout 4, so that the material as it is dispensed is confined in a stream which may be properly directed to a receiver or the like as desired.

In order to limit the extent of movement of the spout 4 when it is opened, lugs 46 are formed as an integral part of the triangular side members 30 as an extension of the end of members 30, which is not attached to the top 28. As can be seen in Fig. 4, these lugs 46 stop the outward swing of the spout 4 when it is moved into an open position, and bring the top 28 so that it lies in a plane which is at a very slight angle, i. e., which is substantially parallel, to the plane of the adjacent end wall 8.

As an alternative manner of limiting the outer swing of the spout 4, lugs 46 may be omitted and instead the triangular side members 30 of the spout may be made of such size that the hypotenuse side 48 of the side members 3% come in contact with the under surface of top element 6 when the spout is fully opened.

it is desirable to have the pouring spout of the device arranged so that it does not flop easily back and forth between an open and closed position, but instead can be moved to any position intermediate of full closed or full open, and still remain at such location. This can be accomplished by making the side members 3t) depend from the spout top 23 at a slight outward angle so that the distance between them is greater at their unattached ends than at the ends attached to the top 28. This slight outward flair of the members 30 will cause them to have frictional engagement with the inside surfaces of side walls 19, and will help to hold the spot in any position to which the spout can be moved.

The device is held upon a box from which particulate material is to be dispensed by frictional engagement between the sides of the box 44 and the inner surfaces of the cover unit 2. Accordingly, a separate size of dispensing device will be required for substantially each separate size of disposable box, but since modern merchandising practice has created a limited number of standard package sizes, this does not detract from the utility of the new dispensers. As will be apparent, the flaircd out portion 18 of the cover unit 2 serves as an aid in putting the device upon the end of a box, since the flaired out portion 18 will enable the cover unit 2 to be dimensioned very slightly smaller than the outside of the box 44, so that the cover unit 2 will have to be forced over the box, creating a slight compression upon the box when the dispensing device is positioned thereon. Although this is the preferred construct-ion for the new products of this invention, it is possible to form the bottom ends 14 of the end walls 8 and the bottom ends 16 of the side walls 10 so that instead of bending outwardly, they bend inwardly. Using this type of construction, the junctions 12 between the end walls 8 and side walls 10 at the points where the ends 14 and 16 bend inwardly will be slotted so that small finger or lever elements are formed on the cover unit 2. In this fashion, a binding effect upon the sides of boxes which may be slightly smaller than the cover units 2, can be obtained, although, as will be apparent, such an arrangement will make it more difficult to position the dispensing device upon the end of a box which is more accurately dimensioned to the inside of the cover unit 2.

Because of the leverage which can be obtained from the projecting portion 32 of the top 28, it is possible to open the spout when in a closed position, such as shown in Fig. 2, by pressing down on the cover 28 at the projecting end 32. This would cause the inner end 34 of the spout top 23 to move up sufliciently so that a fingernail or the like could be engaged with the under surface of the top 28 and the spout then moved into a full open position. Although this enables the dispensing device to be formed in a streamlined manner with no projections which may prevent boxes from being properly stacked upon one another, it may not satisfactorily enable some users of the device to move the spout into an open position. Accordingly, if desired, a small lug or handle 48 may be fixed upon the top 28 of the spout, such as by cementing or by molding the handle 48 integral with the top 28.

The parts of the new dispensing device may be made from a variety of materials, and one part can be made from one material and another part from diflferent material. For example, cover unit 2 and spout 4 may be stamped or pressed from sheet metal. However, because sharp edges which may cut the fingers of a housewife may occur when the devices are made from metal, it is preferable to form the new structures from organic plastic materials, such as by compression or extrusion molding operations.

The operation of the new dispensing devices is very simple, and this enables them to be used by even the most unskilled person. A package or box of particulate material 44 is opened, either by cutting or tearing an opening 50 in one of the top corners of the box. Cover unit 2 is then forced down around the sides of the box, forming a closure about the opening 50 and the box 44. Accordingly, any material within the box will not spill or pour therefrom when the spout is in the closed position as shown in Fig. 2, and if the box is accidentally upset, soap powder or the like contained therein cannot pour out as would be the case where a box 44 having an opening such as 50 therein without any covering thereon is u set.

When it is desired to dispense material from the box, the pouring spout 4 is lifted into an open position, such as shown in Fig. 4, and the box 44 is tilted on side, such as shown in Fig. 1, so that the contents may pour out in a confined stream which can be directed to the spot desired. When the required amount of particulate material has been dispensed, the box is returned to an upright position and the spout 4 is folded back into the closed position shown in Fig. 2.

There has been described above a new form of dispensing device, which, although it is not of any fundamentally new type of structure, nevertheless involves new structural arrangements and a new combination of box cover and dispensing spout which enables a box of particulate material that has an end opening therein to be stored in a substantially closed position. In this fashion, an open box with the new dispensing device in place thereon can be handled or stored upon a shelf in a kitchen or the like in much the same fashion as an unopened box.

The new devices, although highly effective for this intended purpose, are simple in construction so that they can be made in very substantial numbers at extremely low cost. As a matter of fact, the cost of fabrication of the new units can be made so small that they can be given away as advertising items, or sold as low-cost premiums with the purchase of the package of particulate material with which they are to be used.

I claim:

1. A device for use in dispensing particulate material from a box comprising a rectangular top portion, two short end walls and two long side walls depending therefrom forming a rectangular box-end cover, a rectangular opening in said top portion starting at one end wall and extending inwardly, a tab projecting from each side wall outwardly a short distance beyond said end wall adjacent said opening, and a spout mounted on said cover by pivots which are journaled in said tabs, said spout comprising a rectangular top member and two depending right angle triangular side members, said top member being of such size that it covers said opening when said spout is in the closed position and extends slightly beyond the adjacent end wall, said pivots projecting laterally from such extended part of'said top member whereby when the spout is in an open position said extended part overlaps the top part of said adjacent end wall to prevent spillage of particulate material about the pivot end of said spout.

2. In a device for use in pouring granular or powdered material from a box, a cover having a flat top with two side walls and two end walls depending therefrom so that the cover may be snugly fitted over the opened end of a box and held in place thereon by frictional engagement with the sides of the box, a dispensing opening in the cover, a pouring spout comprising a flat top pivoted at one side upon said cover to swing from a closed position which covers said opening to an open position in which the spout top lies in a plane which is nearly parallel to the plane of the end wall which is adjacent the pivoted end of said spout member, said top member extending slightly beyond the edge of said adjacent end wall when the spout is in the closed position, whereby the extending portion of the spout top overlaps the top end of said adjacent end wall when the spout is in an open position to prevent spillage of the material being dispensed about the pivot end of said spout top.

3. A device which can be snugly fitted over the top of a disposable box of particulate material which has been opened by removal of a corner of the box to serve as a closure for the box except during the time when the device is used to pour material from the box in a confined stream comprising a rectangular flat top portion with two short rectangular end walls and two long rectangular side walls depending therefrom forming a box-like cover, the lower ends of all said walls being turned slightly outwardly creating an outwardly fiaired open end on said cover to aid in positioning the device on a box, a rectangular shaped opening in said top portion, said opening beginning at the adjacent short end wall and extending inwardly, the portions of the side walls adjacent said opening being extended slightly above said top portion and slightly beyond said adjacent end wall forming tabs at either side of said adjacent end wall, and a pouring spout pivotally mounted upon said cover comprising a fiat rectangular top member having one axis substantially equal to the perpendicular distance between said side walls and the other axis slightly longer than the corresponding axis of said rectangular opening whereby said top member has a small area which projects beyond said adjacent end wall, a pivot pin projecting laterally from each side of said area, said pins being journaled in bearing holes made in said tabs outwardly of said adjacent end wall whereby when said spout is opened to a pouring position, a portion of said spout top member overlaps said adjacent end wall to prevent material being dispensed through said opening from spilling at the junction between said spout and said adjacent end wall.

4. A device as claimed in claim 3 wherein said triangular members which comprise part of said spout, each has an integral lug thereon formed as an extension of the end of the member which is not attached to said top member, said lugs serving to abut the under side of said cover top portion when the spout is moved to the open position and thereby limit the extent of movement of the spout.

' 5. A device as claimed in claim 3, wherein said triangular members depend from said spout top member at a slight outward angle so that the distance between them is greater at their unattached ends than at the top member attached ends whereby said members serve to hold the spout in any position to which the spout can be moved by frictional engagement with the inside surfaces of said side walls.

6. A device as claimed in claim 3 wherein said spout top member and its associated triangular members and pins constitute one unitary element made of molded organic plastic material.

7. A device as claimed in claim 3 wherein said pins are made of metal embedded in the spout top member made of organic plastic material.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,079,388 Blanke Nov. 25, 1913

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