US3310163A

US3310163A - Advertising device

Info

Publication number: US3310163A
Application number: US421258A
Authority: US
Inventors: John S Hickman
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1964-12-28
Filing date: 1964-12-28
Publication date: 1967-03-21
Anticipated expiration: 1984-03-21

Description

March 21, 1967 J. s. HICKMAN 3,310,163

ADVERTIS ING DEVICE Filed Dec. 28, 1964 INVENTOR. JOHN s. HICKMAN BY jndrus (f Star/Q Afromlevs United States Patent 3,310,163 ADVERTISING DEVICE John S. Hickman, 4149 N. Stowell Ave.,

Shorewood, Wis. 53211 Filed Dec. 28, 1964, Ser. No. 421,258 3 Claims. (Cl. 206-20) This invention relates to an advertising device and more particularly to a matchbox construction containing programmed advertising.

The conventional paper matchbook contains a series of rows of matches which are stapled or otherwise connected together and contained within an outer, folded book or package. When matches are removed from the conventional folded paper matchbook, the user is required to look at the book in order to remove and strike the match. For this reason the matchbook is a prime means for conveying advertising mes-sages. In most cases the outer surface of the matchbook will bear advertising material, while in other cases the inner surface of the book will also hear advertising or the matches themselves may contain advertising.

The present invention is directed to a matchbox construction which is particularly designed for programmed advertising. According to the invent-ion the cardboard box or book includes a lower section, which contains a series of rows of matches, and a cover or lid is hinged to the lower section and encloses the matches. Perforated tear sheets are located between adjacent rows of matches and extend beyond the match heads. The tear sheets are adapted to bear advertising material and as the matches in a row are removed the advertising on the tear sheet is progressively exposed to the user.

It has been shown that distributed or periodic practice of learning material, as opposed to mass practice, results in better retention of the material. Thus, if instead of massing an advertising message into a few brief minutes of reading, tiny but progressive and interrelated segments of the message are presented over a longer period of time the chances of retention are much greater. The tear sheets in the matchbox of the invention accomplish both objectives of advertising, namely to capture the readers attention and to instill in 'him tiny repeating segments of the advertising message. The tear sheets are ideally suited for this purpose because they put to use the empirical laws of learning.

The box which contains the matches and tear sheets has a unique construction. As it is desired from an advertising point of view to include as many tear sheets as possible in the box, the number of rows of matches in the box is greater than the number of matches in each row. This results in the match assembly having a substantial depth or height, and the lower section of the box has tapered side walls which slope downwardly toward the heads of the matches to provide access to the matches in the lower rows. The cover is hinged to the lower section by a cantilever type of action which permits the cover to be readily opened and closed and yet provides a locking action to retain the cover in the closed position.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the course of the following description.

The drawings illustrate the best mode presently con-- templated of carrying out the invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the matchbox of the invention with the cover in the closed position;

FIG; 2 is a perspective view of the matchbox showing the cover in the open position;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal section taken through the matchbox showing the matches and the tear sheets and 3,310,163 Patented Mar. 21, 1967 The box 1 is preferably formed of a folded, single sheet of cardboard and comprises a lower section 4 which contains the matches 2 and an upper lid or cover 5 which is hinged to the lower section. The lower section 4 includes a bot-tom surface 6, an end wall 7 and a pair of side walls 8. Each of the side walls 8 is cut diagonally so that the side walls taper downwardly toward the heads of the matches to enable the matches in the lower rows to be easily removed. In addition, one of the side walls 8 is shorter than the other side wall and terminates along edge 9. The notch or recess provided by edge 9 also provides additional access to the matches in the lower rows.

The cover or lid 5 includes a top wall 10, a pair of side walls 11, a front end wall 12 and a rear end wall 13. The side walls 11 are cut or tapered to conform generally with the taper 9 of the side walls 8.

To hinge the cover 5 to the lower section 4 a tab 14, formed integrally with the end wall 13, is attached by an adhesive 15 or other fastener to the bottom surface 6 of the lower section. As best shown in FIG. 3, the attachment 15 of the tab 14 to the bottom surface 6 is intermediate the ends of the matches 2 and is spaced from the end of the bottom surface 6. With this type of connection, the cover 5 can be pivoted around the attachment to enable the front end 12 to move beyond the end wall 7 of the lower section 4. The inherent resiliency of the cardboard will then urge the front end wall 12 rearwardly against the end wall 7 of the lower section to provide a locking connection between the members and prevent the cover from moving to the open position.

As best shown in FIG. 3, a series of cardboard spacers 16 are located between the bases of the matches 2 in each of the rows and the matches 2, spacers 16 and the ends of the tear sheets 3 are connected together and secured to the bottom surface 6 of lower section 4 by the staples or other types of fasteners.

In order to facilitate the removal of the tear sheets 3, each tear sheet is provided with a perforation 17 which extends transversely of the sheet along its base portion.

A suitable abrasive striking member 13 is applied to the bottom surface 6, and the matches are struck against the member 18 after their removal from the box.

As previously mentioned, the upper surface of each tear sheet is adapted to contain advertising or other written material. When the user initially opens the box he will remove the tear sheet 3 cove-ring the top row of the matches, and will then individually remove the matches in the uppermost row. As the matches are removed, the advertising material on the tear sheet located beneath the uppermost row of matches will be progressively exposed. Due to the fact that the tear sheets 3 project beyond the heads of the matches, the user will normally remove all of the matches in a row before removing the next tear sheet. In this way he will be progressively exposed to the advertising material on the tear sheet, and this will result in a better retention of the material contained on the tear sheet.

A thin strip of non-drying adhesive 19 can be applied to the under surface of each of the tear sheets 3. The

. adhesive is located about one-quarter of the distance before the matches in the layer can be removed. This assures proper exposure to the written message or advertising material contained on the tear sheet.

It is contemplated that the tear sheets may contain a simple quiz. For example, one of the tear sheets may contain a question and as the user progressively removes the matches from one row, he will repeatedly see the question on the tear sheet. The answer to the question can appear on the matches in the next succeeding row, or on the next succeeding tear sheet. The matchbox will usually be designed for right-handed removal of matches. This being the case, the natural tendency is to initially remove from each row the match 2a located adjacent the side wall having the cut-back edge 9. For this reason, the answer to the quiz or question on each tear sheet is preferably located on the next succeeding tear sheet beneath the match 2a, so that the answer will be revealed when the match 2a is removed from the row. If the user responds with the correct answer to the quiz, his reward consists of knowing he gave the right answer and this aids in better retention of the written message or learning material. The quizzes contained on the tear sheets can be programmed to teach the user the advertisers message and usually the message is broken into small segments which will be more readily retained than a massed advertising message.

While the above description is directed to a matchbox construction containing programmed advertising, it is contemplated that the same principle can be utilized with other items rather than matches. For example, sticks of candy or gum, instead of matches, can be positioned in rows in a box and separated by the tear sheets which contains the advertising or other written message.

Various modes of carrying out the invention are contemplated as being within the scope of the following claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which is regarded as the claims.

I claim:

1. An advertising device, comprising a container, a series of superimposed layers of removable items disposed within the container with each layer including a plurality of items and a first item of each layer being located along the side edge of each layer, means for removably connecting the items to the container, and a plurality of unitary tear sheets located between adjacent layers of said items with said tear sheets being substantially ooextensive with said items, each tear sheet bearing a written question adapted to be progressively exposed as the items in each layer are removed from the container and an edge portion of the next succeeding tear sheet bearing the answer to the question.

2. An advertising device, comprising a container, a series of superimposed layers of removable items disposed within the container with each item having a base and an outer end, means for removably connecting the base of each item to the container, and at least four unitary sheets, the individual sheets being interspersed between adjacent layers and said sheets being substantially coextensive with said items and extending continuously across each layer, at least a plurality of said sheets bearing a written question and a sheet succeeding each of said question bearing sheets bearing a written answer to said question.

3. A matchbox construction comprising a box having a bottom surface, an assembly of matches supported on the bottom surface and including a series of layers of matches with each layer extending parallel to said bottom surface, said matches having a base portion and a head, means for attaching the base portion of the matches to the box, and a plurality of unitary tear sheets located between adjacent layers of matches with one end of each tear sheet being attached to the base portions of the matches and the other end of the tear sheets projecting to a position beyond the heads of the matches, the total number of sheets being greater than the number of matches in any one layer, at least a plurality of said tear sheets bearing a written question and a tear sheet following each of said plurality of tear sheets bearing an answer to said question.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,747,601 2/1930 Reps et al 20657 2,105,842 1/1938 Pindell 206-29 2,246,427 6/ 1941 Wilton 206-29 3,108,734 10/1963 Hewko 22944 FOREIGN PATENTS 970,773 6/ 1950 France.

0 THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner.

J. M. CASKIE, Assistant Examiner.

Claims

1. AN ADVERTISING DEVICE, COMPRISING A CONTAINER, A SERIES OF SUPERIMPOSED LAYER OF REMOVABLE ITEMS DISPOSED WITHIN THE CONTAINER WITH EACH LAYER INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF ITEMS AND A FIRST ITEM OF EACH LAYER BEING LOCATED ALONG THE SIDE EDGE OF EACH LAYER, MEANS FOR REMOVABLY CONNECTING THE ITEMS TO THE CONTAINER, AND A PLURALITY OF UNITARY TEAR SHEETS LOCATED BETWEEN ADJACENT LAYERS OF SAID ITEMS WITH SAID TEAR SHEETS BEING SUBSTANTIALLY COEXTENSIVE WITH SAID ITEMS, EACH TEAR SHEET BEARING A WRITTEN QUESTION ADAPTED TO BE PROGRESSIVELY EXPOSED AS THE ITEMS IN EACH LAYER ARE REMOVED FROM THE CONTAINER AND AN EDGE PORTION OF THE NEXT SUCCEEDING TEAR SHEET BEARING THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION.