US3438479A

US3438479A - Coin holder

Info

Publication number: US3438479A
Application number: US688471A
Authority: US
Inventors: Robert A Bennett
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1967-12-06
Filing date: 1967-12-06
Publication date: 1969-04-15
Anticipated expiration: 1986-04-15

Description

April 15, 1969 R A. BENNETT 3,438,479

COIN HOLDER Filed Dec. 6, 1967 FIG. 2

I v gigg'migggggnwrmamawqg-ggoj INVENTOR ROBERT A. BENNETT BY W4; mag

ATTO RNEYS United States Patent 3,438,479 COIN HOLDER Robert A. Bennett, 38 Falmouth Drive, Shelton, Conn. 06484 Filed Dec. 6, 1967, Ser. No. 688,471 Int. Cl. A45

US. Cl. 206-.83 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A coin holder of plastic material which can be made by vacuum forming in which coins of different denominations are held tilted at an angle in separate compartments for easy insertion and removal.

The present invention relates to coin holders and more particularly to a coin holder which can be made in an inexpensive manner, for example, by vacuum forming. In accordance with the invention, a one-piece coin holder is provided having a plurality of separate compartments. Each compartment is formed with a plurality of steps and the compartment side walls adjacent the steps are deformable and have projections thereon to hold the coin within the compartment on a respective step. When so held the coins are presented in a manner by which they can be easily removed from the holder. The holder is also provided with an adhesive backing so that the holder can be placed permanently or semi-permanently in a given location.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to pro vide an inexpensive coin holder which can be made in one-piece and of plastic material.

An additional object is to provide an inexpensive plastic coin holder which can be vacuum formed.

Another object is to provide a coin holder formed with a number of separate compartments, each compartment holding a particular coin denomination.

A further object is to provide a plastic coin holder in which the coins are presented to the user at an angle for easy removal.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from reference to the following specification and annexed drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the coin holder of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the coin holder taken in section along lines 1-1 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side view; and

FIG. 4 is a front view of the coin holder.

Refering to the drawings, the coin holder 10 of the present invention is a one-piece member having a peripheral base or pedestal with respective front, rear and

side portions

12, 14, .16 and 18. Extending above the

base

12, 14, 16 and 18 and supported on corresponding connected and slanted front, rear and side walls, 22, 24, 26 and 28 is a platform 20. The raised platform illustratively has three

depressed compartments

30, 32 and 34 formed therein, each compartment having a width generally corresponding to a particular coin denomination to be held. For example, as shown, compartment 30 is sized to hold a United States quarter, compartment 32 a nickel and compartment 34 a dime. As many of these compartments can be provided as desired, and, for example, compartments can be repeated for the same coin denomination, for example, two compartments for quarters, two for dimes, etc. The number of compartments used is not important to the holder of the present invention.

Except for the size of its various parts each

compaitment

30, 32 and 34 is of the same construction and includes a pair of side walls and 41 and a bottom wall formed by a number of partially circular steps 43. Only the compartment 30 is described below, it being understood that the other compartments are of the same construction. The rear step of the bottom wall 43, that is, the step closest to the rear wall 24 terminates in an upwardly extending rear wall 42 which is spaced inwardly fro-m the rear platform support wall 24. The rear step which is in the form of a segment of a circle extends toward the front of the holder for a distance about one third, or slightly more, of the entire surface area of the coin 50 to be held thereon.

The other steps beyond the front of the holder are approximately the same size with the front step 'being substantially larger in the order of somewhat more than one half the size of the coin to be held. A short upstanding wall 43a, which is slightly higher than the thickness of the coin to be held joins the frail edge of one step with the rear edge of the next step nearer the front of the holder. It is also preferred that the

side walls

40 and 41 immediately adjacent the steps 43 be slightly curved to conform to the periphery of the coin to be held. The curved side wall conformation is preferably made slightly thicker than the thickness of the coin.

As seen in FIG. 2 the steps 43 are generally parallel to each other and are tilted upwardly at an angle with respect to the platform 20 and the

peripheral base

12, 14, 16 and 18. The rear step walls 4311 are also parallel to each other. Thus when a coin 50 rests on a step, it is tilted with respect to the platform area 20.

The coin holder 10 of the present invention is preferably produced by a vacuum forming operation and is made of any suitable plastic material, for example, styrene, polyethylene, rubberized plastic, etc. The particular material used is not critical although it has been found that polyethylene with a slight amount of rubber has been particularly satisfactory. The entire holder is vacuum formed from a single sheet of plastic material and can be, for example, .010 inch thick. This gives the side walls and the other parts of the holder some degree of resiliency and enables them to be deformed.

As seen best in FIGS. 1 and 2, each of the

side walls

40 and 41 of a respective compartment has formed thereon a projection 47 which opposes the projection on the other side wall. The space between opposing side walls and the projection 47 is slightly less than the maximum diameter of the coin to be held in a particular compartment. Since the

side walls

40 and 41 and the projections 47 are resilient and thereby slightly deformable, the coins may be forced over the projection to rest on a step and are helped by the gripping action of the

deformable side walls

40 and 41. Each pair of opposing projections47 on the

walls

40 and 41 prevents the coin held on the corresponding step from falling out of the holder. Thus by the action of both the side walls and the projection 47 each coin is held firmly on a step within its compartment.

As shown in FIG. 2 each pair of projections 47 engages and holds a coin located on a step removed one to the rear of the corresponding set of projections. The projection holds the coin at about its center. Thus, for example, the left-most coin at the front of the holder is held by the front pair of projections 47, the second coin from the left is held by the pair of projections over the first step; and so forth. It should be understood that the particular angle of the steps 43 with respect to the

base

12, 14, 16, 18 and the location of the projections determines the angle at which the coins protrude from their respective compartment and that this angle may be selected at will. As indicated previously, the

side walls

40 and 41 above each step are curved slightly to conform to the shape of the coin, to grip the coins and hold them on the steps.

The operation of the device is simple, and is as follows. The coins 50 are loaded into the respective compartment preferably from front to rear, by slipping the coin over a step and then pressing it over the corresponding pair of projections. A slight rocking motion can be used, if desired, by placing one edge of a coin under the projections 47 of one side wall and then snapping the other side over the opposing projection. After the desired number of coins are loaded in the respective compartments, they are removed quite easily by the user sliding or lifting them out one over the projections. Removal preferably proceeds from the rear to the front of the holder.

As shown in FIG. 2, an adhesive backing 15 is placed on the bottom of the peripheral base. The adhesive may be of any suitable type, and is :covered by a paper 17. When it is desired to place the coin holder 10 on any desired surface such as on the back of an auto sun visor, it is only necessary to peel olf the backing 17.

As should be apparent, the coin holder of the present invention is economical to produce since it is made of plastic and it can be made by vacuum or pressure forming. This makes it suitable for premiums of give-aways. The space on the front of the base portion 12 is suitable for an advertising message.

What is claimed is:

1. A one piece coin holder having a platform area and a compartment formed on a level different from said platform area, said compartment having a bottom wall with a plurality of steps each for holding a coin, a pair of opposed, deformable side walls located adjacent said steps, said side walls deforming under the pressure of a coin forced therebetween to grip and hold the edge of said coin as it rests on a respective step.

2. The one piece coin holder of claim 1 further comprising a pair of opposing deformable projections on the side walls for holding each coin.

3. The one piece coin holder of claim 1 wherein said compartment is depressed with respect to said platform area and the pair of opposing side walls adjacent the steps extend upwardly between the compartment bottom wall and the platform.

4. The coin holder of claim 3 wherein said steps are angled upwardly with respect to the platform area.

5. The coin holder of claim 4 wherein said steps are in the shape of a part of a coin to be held thereon.

6. The coin holder of claim '5 wherein the side walls adjacent each step are curved to conform to the shape of a coin to be held thereby.

7. The one piece coin holder of claim 3 further comprising a pair of opposing deformable projections on the side walls for holding each coin.

8. The coin holder of claim 7 wherein said steps are angled upwardly with respect to the platform area.

i9. A coin holder comprising a sheet of thermoformable plastic material formed to have a compartment having a bottom wall and a pair of side walls, said bottom wall also formed with a plurality of steps, each step having the shape of at least a portion of a coin, and deformable means on the side walls for engaging and holding a coin as it rests on a respective step.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,777,575 1/1957 Chamberlin 206-.83

FOREIGN PATENTS 770,443 6/ 1934- France.

JAMES B. MARBERT, Primary Examiner.