US2873046A

US2873046A - Cigarette cases

Info

Publication number: US2873046A
Application number: US641413A
Authority: US
Inventors: Wing G Cheng
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1956-09-17
Filing date: 1957-02-20
Publication date: 1959-02-10
Anticipated expiration: 1976-02-10

Description

Feb. 10, 1959 WING G. CHENG CIGARETTE CASES Filed Feb. 20, 1957 12 51 y 57 'la' /IZ IN VENTOR h//Iy Gee Ceng United States Patent `O 'CIGARETTE y'CA-SES Wing G. Cheng, Kwloon,'H0ng Kong Application February 20, 1957, Serial No. 641,413

`Claims priority, application Great Britain September 17, 1956 This invention relates to cigarette cases of the kind having a delivery aperture in one end-of the case, means for successivelypressing cigarettes in the case into alignment with the delivery aperture and means operable without opening the case for ejectingthe ,cigarette aligned with the delivery aperture through the said aperture. The object of the invention isto provide a cigarette case of the above kind with simple, compact and reliable means for successively feeding the cigarettes into the delivery position and ejecting thevcigarettes when required through the delivery aperture.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate one construction of cigarette case inadein accordance with the invention V Fig. 1 is a plan view having the case in the open position, the cover part of the casing being broken.

Fig. 2 is an underneathplan view vof an assembly plate tted in the casing.

Fig. 3 is a section through the case when closed.

Fig. 4 is aplanview of the right hand part of Fig. l partly 'broken awayI to show certain constructional details.

The cigarette case shown in the drawings comprises a casing made in two symmetrical substantially rectangular halves 10, 11 of which 10 forms the cover andll the body of the case. The two parts 10, 11 have rounded corners, and are formed around the marginal edges with shallow upstanding'flanges 12, one anged edge 12 of one part being hingeably connected by a hinged connec-l tion 13 to the corresponding hanged edge 12 of the Other part so as to form when closed a relatively thin case capable of containing for example ten cigarettes 14, only -six of which are shown in Fig. l. One flanged edge 12 (referred to hereafter as the top ange) lof each casing half is formed immediately adjacent the side edgedoppo-` site to the hinged connection 13 with a

semi-circular recess

15 or 16, the two

recesses

15, 16 coinciding, when the case is closed, to form a delivery aperture for the cigarettes 14 contained in the case. A second semi-circular recess 17 or 18 is also formed in the same top ange 12 of each casing part adjacent to the hinged connection 13, these two recesses 17, 18 coinciding when the case is closed to form a circular aperture to receive the end of an operating rod 19 described more fully hereafter. The two halves of the casing are secured in the closed position by a hook-shaped catch 20 fixed centrally to the f' 2,873,046 ce H Patented Feb. 10, 1959 of the assembly plate remote from the hinged side of the hinged connection 13 is simply pressed upwards, i. e. it

anged edge 12 of the cover on the side thereof Vremote 23 suitably dimensioned so as to lit snugly into the body.

11 of the casing, the two longitudinal sides and the edge is not outwardly turned. When the operating mechanism now to be described has been mounted on the plate 23 Vthe latter is placed on three supporting

blocks

24, 25, 26 `suitably spaced in and secured, for example, by plastic or gum to the inner surface of the body 11 of the casing. Each supporting block has a tapped aperture to receive a screw 27, 28 or 29, these screws being passed respectively through

corresponding apertures

30, 31, 32 in the plate 23 and screwed into the tapped apertures in the blocks.

The assembly plate is formed substantially centrally of its width with two

slots

33, 34 separated by a narrow strip 35 and extending throughout the greater part of the length of the plate, the slot '33 being utilised to guide the movement of a spring-pressed pusher member 35. This pusher member consists of a metal strip slightly concave in transverse cross section and turned up from a base plate 36 to the lower surface of which and in spaced relationship thereto is riveted or otherwise secured a guide strip 37, the side edges of which slidably engage the lower surface of the plate 23 on opposite sides of the guide slot 33. The edge of the guide stripv37 which faces the hinged connection 13 is connected to one end of a coiled tension spring 38, the opposite end of which is connected to the lower surface of the assembly plate at a corner thereof. adjacent the recess 16 in the case.

The operating rod 19 above referred to is slidably mounted in two

guides

40, 41 consisting of tongues pressed out upwardly from the top surface of the plate 23 and perpendicular thereto, these `two tongues being disposed in spaced relationship one below the other at the side of the plate adjacent to the hinged connection 13 and being suitably apertured to receive the rod 19. One end of the operating rod is of enlarged diameter and projects through the circular aperture in the casing formed by the two recesses 17, 18 in the manner of a press button. The other end of the rod 19 bears against one arm of an L-shaped plate or bracket 42 which projects through `an aperture 43 in the assembly plate, the other arm of the L-shaped plate (see Fig. 2) being slidably mounted onthe lower surface of the assembly plate and connected to the short arm of a pivotally mounted twoarmed lever 44 (referred to hereafter as the ejector lever) ,the longer arm of which extends along the lower surface of the plate 23 so that the other end thereof, which terminates in a tongue 45 pressed out` from the arm so as to be perpendicular thereto is aligned with the delivery aperture in the casing formed when the case is closed by the two

recesses

15, 16, the tongue 45 being disposed (see Fig. l) immediately underneath the end of the cigarette in the case which is aligned with the delivery aperture so as to be movable in a recess 46 formed in the plate 23.

The projecting arm of the L-shaped plate 42 above described constitutes an abutment for one end of a coil spring 47 disposed co-axially with the operating rod and mounted at its other end on a pin 48 riveted to the adjacent anged side of the plate 23 so that this latter endl of the spring bears against the ange of the side referred to.

In Iorder to enable the case to be charged with ciga rettes without this operation being impeded by the pusher member 35 means are provided for temporarily holding this pusher member against the action of its spring 38 in a position in which it does not exert any pressure on the cigarettes as they are placed in the case. These holding means comprise a spring-pressed pawl 50 pivotally mounted lon the plate 23 adjacent the hinged connection 13 and arranged to engage a shoulder 51 on the base plate 36 of the pusher member When the latter is moved against its spring 38 into the inoperative position (shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2) and means operating automatically when-the case is closed to release the pawl 50 from the shoulder 51. These automatically operating release means comprise a second two-armed lever 52 (referred to hereafter as the pawl release lever) pivotally mounted at 49 on the lower surface of the plate 23 and connected at one end to one end of a movable pin 53 passing through an elongated slot 54 in the plate, so as to project from the top surface thereof. The projecting end of this movable pin 53 is connected to one end of a coil spring 54 (referred to hereafter as the release lever return spring) extending from one side of the movablel pin, the other end of this spring 54' being anchored to another pin 55 fixed to the top surface of the plate 23. The movable pin 53 also has connected .to it one end of a second coil spring 56 (referred to hereafter as the pawl release spring) disposed on the opposite side of the movable pin 53 to that from which the release lever return spring 54 extends, the other end of this pawl release spring 56 being connected to the pawl 50 on the side of the pivot pin thereof which is remote from the end of the pawl which engages the shoulder 51.

The free end of the lever 52 is outwardly turned as shown at 52', this outwardly turned end 52 being arranged to bear on the end of a strip 57 formed at its opposite end with the locking tongue 21 above described. This strip 57 is slidably mounted ina guide way formed 'between the upturned edge of the plate 23 at the delivery side thereof and an angle strip 58 (see Fig. 2) riveted to the lower surface of the plate 23 so that one side of this angle strip extends along and parallel with but spaced apart from the upturned side edge referred to of the plate. The locking tongue 21 extends perpendicularly to the strip 57 so as to be slidable over a closed slot 58 formed in the flanged edge 232 of the plate 23, this slot 58 being disposed above and co-extensive with the rectangular recess 22 formed on one flanged side of the |body 11 of the casing. The tongue 21 co-operates with the hooked catch 20 `on the other half of the casing to lock the two parts of the casing in the closed position. The arrangement is such that one end of the pawl release lever 52 is pressed by its spring 54 on to the end of the release strip 57 remote from the tongue 21 and holds-it 1n a position in which the tongue partly obturates the closed slot 58 in the outwardly turned edge 232 of the plate 23. The hooked catch 20 is formed with a curved `side edge and is so disposed relatively to the tongue 21 that when the 4case is being closed the curved edge first enters that part of the slot 58 which is not covered by the tongue. On being pressed into the closed position the catch presses against the tongue and moves it outwards in a direction which causes the strip 57 to slide in its guideway in a direction to act on the end of the lever 52, thereby rotating it around its pivot 49 and moving the movable pin 53 in its slot 54 in a direction to rock the pawl 50 around its pivot and. release the pawl from the shoulder 51 on the base plate 36, whereupon the pusher member 35 moves under the action of its spring so as to press against the cigarettes 14 on the plate 23 in the casing, this spring pressure tending to move the cigarettes to the delivery position. The pawl 5t) is thus actuated automatically when the case is closed `to release the pusher member 35. In order to re-engage the pawl with the pusher member when 11e-loading the case with cigarettes, it is moved manually into the position of engagement.

'The operating rod 19, the pawl 50, the movable pin 53 and the

springs

54, 56 associated therewith are preferably enclosed in a box-like casing 60 screwed at opposite ends respectively into the pin 55 and into a second pin 61 riveted to the plate 23.

When the casing is closed vafter having been recharged .4 with cigarettes, the catch 21 on the part 10 is inserted into the closed slot 5S in the plate 23, after the tongue 21 on the release strip 57 has been moved away from the slot, and pressure on the tongue 21 is then released, whereupon it moves back under the pressure exerted by the spring 54 acting on the pawl release lever 52 to engage the catch 21 and retain it in the locked position.

Cigarettes loaded into the case can now be readily removed without opening the case by simply depressing the projecting end of the operating rod 19, which operates the ejector lever 44 so that the tongue 4S at the end of the latter is pressed against one end of the cigarette aligned with the delivery aperture and pushes this cigarette out through the delivery aperture as shown in dotted lines in Fig. l. When one ycigarette has been thus removed the pusher member 35 pressing on the remaining cigarettes moves them collectively towards the delivery side of the case, so that the next cigarette is in position forI ejection when the operating rod 19 is again depressed, and the operation is repeated until all the cigarettes have been removed, whereupon the case must be recharged.

The invention provides a cigarette case from which cigarettes can be readily and successively removed without opening the case and by simply depressing the end of the operating rod 19 which end, in the embodiment described, projects from the case in the manner of a press button.

In the embodiment described all the parts are made of metal but at least some of the parts may be moulded from plastics.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1 A cigarettecase comprising a casing formed on one side edge with a delivery aperture and made in two substantially symmetrical parts, means for hingeably connecting together saidtwo parts along one pair of adjacently disposed side edges, means located at the pair of side edges oppositerespectively to those hingeably connected together for fastening the two parts of the casing together in the closed position, a plate fitted into one of said casing parts on which plate cigarettes loaded into the case are placed, said fastening means comprising two complementary parts, one of which is xed to one edge of one of said symmetrical parts of said casing, and the other of which is slidably mounted along an edge of said plate so as to be engageable with said xed part when the case pis' closed, means mounted on said plate for successively feeding cigarettes placed thereon into alignment with said delivery aperture, said feeding means comprising a spring pressed pusher member arranged to bear on the cigarettes on the side thereof most remote from the delivery aperture, means for retaining said spring pressed pusher member in an inoperative position on the side of the casing remote from the delivery side thereof in order to enable cigarettes to be readily loaded into the case between the pusher member and the delivery side of the case, said retaining means comprising a spring pressed pawl pivotallymounted on said plate and adapted to engage and hold the pusher member in the inoperative position, and means for releasing said retaining means, said'release means comprising a two armed release lever one end` of which is operatively connected to said spring pressed pawl and the other end of which is disposed in the path of said slidably mounted part of said fastening means so as to be automatically actuated by said slidably mounted part when 'said case is closed to move the pawl against its spring pressure in a direction to release the pawl from the pusher member, and ejector means also mounted on said plate and operable when it is desired to Withdraw a cigarette from the case to project thc cigarette in line with the delivery aperture through this aperture so that it can be readily withdrawn from the case.

2. A cigarette case according to claim l in which said pivotally mounted pawl is carried on the upper side of said plate and said release lever is carried on the lower side of said plate, theconnection between said lever and said pawl comprising a pin connected to said lever, said pin being movably mounted in an aperture in said plate, and a spring connected at one end to said pin and at the other end to said pawl.

3. A cigarette case according to claim 1 in which said pivotally mounted pawl is carried on the upper side of said plate and said release lever is carried on the lower side of said plate the connection between said lever and said pawl comprising a pin connected to said lever, said pin being movably mounted in an aperture in said plate, and a spring connected at one end to said pin and at References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Stone Jan. 18, 1916 Denemark Sept. 17, 1918