US3468317A - Collapsible and stackable paper ash receptacle for cigarettes - Google Patents

Description

p 23, was D. L. ROWLAND 3,468,317

COLLAPSIBLE AND STACKABLE PAPER ASH RECEPTACLE FOR CIGARETTES Filed Feb. 13, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 DAVID L. ROWLAND INVENTOR.

p 23, 1969 D. L. ROWLAND 3,468,317

COLLAPSIBLE AND STACKABLE PAPER ASH RECEPTACLE FOR CIGARETTES Filed Feb. 13, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 DAVID LROWLAND INVENTOR Sept. 23, 1969 o. L. ROWLAND COLLAPSIBLE AND STACKABLE PAPER ASH RECEPTACLE FOR CIGARETTES 3 R A D 0 u N m 4 m m w A n. W m H o m R s E @E L 5 F v D U mm mm w M W 0 6 9 l 5 l w F E d |.|||v+||.| llll|llllll m 3 S Sept. 23, 1969 D. L. ROWLAND 3,468,317

COLLAPSIBLE AND STACKABLE PAPER ASH RECEPTACLE FOR CIGARETTES 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Feb. 13, 1967 DAVID L. QOWLAND FIG. 13

INVENTOR.

02: UM AZMZM P 23, 1959 D. L. riowLANn 3,468,317

COLLAPSIBLE AND STACKABLE PAPER ASH RECEPTACLE FOR CIGARETTES Filed Feb. 13, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet DAWD L. ROWLAND- I N VENTOR FIG. 22

El, a/ mu United States Patent 3,468,317 COLLAPSIBLE AND STACKABLE PAPER ASH RECEPTACLE FOR CIGARETTES David L. Rowland, 49 W. 55th St., New York, N.Y. 10019 Filed Feb. 13, 1967, Ser. No. 615,814 Int. Cl. A24f 13/00 US. Cl. 131-235 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE I The receptacle resembles some paper drinking cups but s made from a paper-metal foil laminate or otherwise s rendered nonflammable. It has a perforated ledge proectmg away from its rear wall inside the receptacle, so that a lighted cigarette can rest on it, with support from the front walls upper edge, and still burn. The ledge extends up and out from the rear wall at between 32 and 64 and from a position below the upper edge of the front wall by between one and two-fifths of the length of the cigarette. The ledge is stiff enough to enable manual snufiing and relatively short so'that a cigarette left lying across it and the upper edge of the front wall ultimately burns to the point where its ash on the ledge fails to support it and then the butt falls down into the bottom of the receptacle and is suffocated.

When stacked, the receptacles are generally removed from the bottom, the ledges fold in fiat, but upon removal of the bottom cup a free flap near the bottom of the next cup thereabove catches the ledge of the bottom cup and pulls it out and up into its correct operative position.

This invention relates to improvements in ash receptacles for cigarettes and the like.

Conventional ashtrays have been little more than a bowl for ashes with a resting edge for a cigarette. Such ashtrays get dirty and involve bothersome cleaning chores; hence, one object of the present invention is to provide an inexpensive disposable ash receptacle.

It has been determined that fire damage in the United States due to careless use of cigarettes, is a serious matter. A sizable proportion of this damage happens in the smokers own house or hotel room when he leaves a cigarette burning in an ashtray. Many people smoke in bed and fall asleep while doing so. The lit cigarette may be placed on the resting edge of a conventional ashtray, the smoker fully expecting it to snuff itself out if he should fall asleep before finishing his cigarette. However, there is a strong tendency for the cigarette to continue to burn until it becomes unbalanced and tips over, falling outside the ashtray onto some inflammable material, and starts a fire.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a disposable ash receptacle with a novel fire-prevention feature which makes it substantially impossible for a cigarette to fall out of the receptacle and which assures that the cigarette, if left, will eventually be snuffed out.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for attaching the ash receptacle of this invention to substantially vertical surfaces, such as the back of chairs, w'alls, and automobile instrument panels, and yet to be readily removable, readily replaceable, and disposable.

Another object of the invention is to provide ash receptacles which are stackable within each other, so that a large number can be carried around in a small space and be removable individually.

Another object of the invention is to provide a partially collapsible ashtray suitable for use on the back of chairs that stack, as well as other furniture that stacks. Conven- 3,468,317 Patented Sept. 23, 1969 tional wall-type ashtrays not being collapsible, they would greatly interfere with the stacking of such chairs and other furniture. An object of the present invention is to provide an ash receptacle which stacks very compactly and is collapsible or compressible so that it can be compressed between chairs in a stack and yet will snap back automatically to a normally open position when the chairs are unstacked.

Briefly summarized, the invention comprises a collapsible'and stackable ash receptacle made from a laminate of paper and foil or other nonfiammable material. The receptacle proper is generally flattened, tapered, and closely stackable, with the foil on its inner surface and the paper on its outer surface, formed from a single flat blank. Its bottom end is closed over by an upwardly extending closure flap folded up from the bottom, and it has an open upper end, a front wall, a rear wall made with an overlap portion securing the cup together, and side walls joining the front and rear walls, being narrower than them, and curving, all the walls diverging and widening from bottom to top. An inwardly projecting noninfiammable, short cigarette-supporting ledge is positioned between the bottom end and the upper end and projects away from the rear wall and upwardly therefrom at an angle between 32 and 64. This ledge is perforated by a plurality of openings to enable a lighted cigarette end supported thereby to continue burning, and it has a bottom supporting portion extending up from the rear wall. It is sufficiently stiff to enable forcing a cigarette lighted end against the ledge to snuff out the cigarette. The ledge is spaced below the upper end of the front wall by an amount between twenty and forty percent of the length of the cigarette with which it is to be used. The ledge stops well short of the front wall so that when a cigarette burns thereon and builds up its ash, it ultimately fails to get support from the ash and the butt then falls down into the bottom of the receptacle and is suffocated.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon consideration of the preferred embodiments thereof described below.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective looking from the top at an ash receptacle, shown in single line thickness, embodying the principles of this invention, a cigarette being shown in phantom lines.

FIG. 2 is a view in front elevation of the receptacle of FIG. 1 with a cigarette again being shown in phantom lines.

FIG. 3 is a view in rear elevation of the receptacle of FIGS. 1 and 2, with a cigarette again shown in phantom lines.

FIG. 4 is a view in side elevation of the receptacle of FIGS. 1-3 with a portion broken away and the cigarette again shown in phantom lines resting on a ledge.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the receptacle of FIGS. 1-4 with the cigarette omitted.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view in front elevation of a portion of the rear wall and ledge of the receptacle of FIGS. 1-5.

FIG. 7 is a view in section taken along the line 77 in FIG. 6.

FIGS. 8, 9, 10, and 11 are somewhat diagrammatic views in side section similar to FIG. 4, showing what happens when a cigarette is left in the ash receptacle of FIGS. 1-7 and continues to burn and then falls into the bottom of the receptacle and is snuffed out.

FIG. 12 is a view of the blank from which the receptacle of FIGS. 1 to 7 is made, shown trimmed to shape and punched and scored.

FIG. 13 is a view in rear elevation of a stack of the ash receptacles of FIGS. 1-7, showing how they are stackable one within another.

FIGS. 14, 15, 16 and 17 are fragmentary somewhat diagrammatic views in section showing the response of two receptacles of FIGS. 17 as the bottom one is withdrawn from the one above it in a stack.

FIG. 18 is a view in perspective looking from the top at a modified form of ash receptacle also embodying the principles of this invention, a cigarette being shown in phantom lines.

FIG. 19 is a view in side elevation of the receptacle of FIG. 18 with a portion broken away and the cigarette again shown in phantom lines therein.

FIG. 20 is an enlarged fragmentary view in front elevation of a portion of the rear wall and ledge of the receptacle of FIGS. 18 and 19.

FIG. 21 is an enlarged view in section, taken along the line 21-21 in FIG. 20.

FIG. 22 is a plan view of the blank from which the receptacle of FIGS. 18 and 19 is made, shown trimmed to shape and punched and scored and looking at it from the foil side, supposing the blank here to be a foil-paper laminate.

The receptacle may be made from various materials. One material presently preferred is aluminum foil-backed paper, which has been found to have an excellent combination of features, including being non-inflammable and low in cost. The paper itself may be fire-supporting but the foil renders the laminate noninfiammable, so that the combination is properly considered as a non-inflammable sheet. Other laminates of foil and paper may be used. Asbestos paper and many coated papers, including plastic film laminates, may be used so long as the plastic film for coating is duly fire-resistant, flameproof, or glowproof. When foil-backed or film-backed paper is used, the foil or film is preferably disposed on the inside surface of the receptacle in order better to protect the paper; however, even if placed outside, the foil prevents the paper from burning, and the paper supplies the support for the foil, whichever is inside.

As shown in FIGS. 1-7, a receptacle embodying the invention may be made from a laminate 11 of metal foil 12 and paper 13 (see FIG. 7 especially) having the inner surface 14 of metal foil 12 and the outside surface 15 of paper 13. The thickness being so thin, many views are shown that do not indicate thicknesses by double lines, which would, in these views, distort the object rather than depict it.

The receptacle 10 has a generally flattened cup-like shape (like a well-known type of stackable, somewhat flat paper drinking cups), with a tapered form. It is adapted to be used generally vertically with a closed bottom end 16, an open upper end 17, a front wall 18, and a rear wall 19 joined to the front wall 18 by narrow side wall portions 20 and 21 so that the front wall 18 and rear wall 19 diverge from bottom to top. The front wall 18 preferably terminates at an upper edge 22, which preferably though not necessarily is lower than the upper edge 23 of the rear wall 19, and the rear wall 19 may be provided with two thicknesses 24 and 25, to provide better support for the receptacle 10. Preferably, the front upper edge 22 is a fold, to give a smoother and blunter edge.

The rear wall 19 is provided with a stiff, inwardly projecting cigarette supporting ledge 26 positioned about halfway between the bottom end 16 and the upper edge 23, so that a cigarette 27 can rest with its lighted end 28 partly on the ledge 26 and partly against the rear wall 19 and a portion of its cylindrical wall on the upper edge 22 of the front wall 18. The ledge 26 is preferably perforated by openings 29 to help the cigarette 27 to burn better so that it will not be snuffed out when resting on the ledge, although the ledge 26 is preferably stiff enough to be used with the rear wall 19 for intentionally snulfing out the cigarette. The ledge 26 is inclined somewhat upwardly or at least generally horizontally when in use. Preferably, the ledge 26 is provided as an integral part of a flat blank 30 (FIG. 12) from which the receptacle 10 is made, being hinged to the rear wall 19 and folded and doubled and reinforced enough to give adequate strength, stiffness, and resiliency (see FIGS. 6 and 7). However, the ledge may comprise a separate member secured to the rear wall as shown in FIGS. 18-22, described later.

Two significant proportions are involved: In order to give an adequate amount of support to the cigarette 27 when it is actively being used and yet to insure that the cigarette 27 will snuff out and fall into a well 31 (see FIGS. 8-11) at the bottom of the receptacle 10 when it is left in the receptacle for any reason whatever, the ledge 26 is spaced down from the upper edge 22 of the front wall 18 by a distance between one-fifth and two-fifths of the length of a cigarette 27 for which the ash receptacle is designed. Moreover, in order to give the proper support features, the ledge 26 is so located that the angle from the vertical which the cigarette 27 makes when supported on the ledge 26 and the upper edge 22 lies between about 32 and about 64 degrees. I have found that generally about 32 degrees is the minimum satisfactory amount and that about 64 degrees is about the maximum, with the optimum about 48 /2 degrees.

The effect of this proportioning is illustrated in FIGS. 8 through 11, which a burning cigarette 27 is shown left alone by the smoker. As shown in FIG. 8, the cigarette 27 is fresh and will continue to burn while supported on the ledge 26. It gradually builds up ash 32 on its lower end, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. When the ash 32 becomes long, it tends to give or bend in as in FIG. 10, because it is weak and incapable of giving much support. Finally, when the cigarette 27 burns a certain amount, the ash gives way, and the remaining stub or butt 33 falls into the well 31, as shown in FIG. 8. When supported in a receptacle 10 having the angles and dimension-proportions given above, the cigarette stub 33 will always fall into the vertically supported receptacle 10 and never fall out of it. In the well 31 it will suffocate or otherwise snuff itself out.

A blank 30 from which the receptacle of FIGS. 1-7 may be made is shown in FIG. 12. This blank 30 has a bottom edge 35 provided with a central tab 36 portion and with two outer portions 37 and 38 and there is a bottom fold line 40 for the tab 36 and a three-segmented main fold line 41, 42, 43 which cooperates with the edges 37 and 38 and the line 40 to define fold portions 44, 45, and 46. Side edges 47 and 48 slope upwardly and outwardly from the bottom to the top of the blank 30, and the top edge is preferably comprised of three curved edges 50, 51, and 52, a central portion 53 being defined by the edge 51 and a score or fold line 54 about which the portion 53 can be folded down to provide the smooth, doubled upper edge 22 of the front wall 18. The shape of the edge 51 is not critical.

The ledge 26 is provided for in the blank 30 by partially punching out two portions 55 and 56, both having two rows of perforations 29. The cuts bounding the lefthand portion 55 are shaped on each side to provide two edges 57, 58 and 59, 60 meeting each other at vertices 61, 62 and a bottom edge 63. A score line 64 is provided at the uncut edge opposite the bottom edge 63, and another fold line 65 is provided halfway in between, connecting the vertices 61, 62. Punched holes 66 may be provided at the ends of some of the cuts to help to prevent tearing during the folding operations. The right-hand portion 56 has side edges 67, 68, and 69, 70 meeting at vertices 71 and 72 and a top edge 73. A fold line 74 connects the vertices 71 and 72, and at the bottom there are four fold lines 75, 76, 77, and 78 forming an isosceles trapezium having a central fold line 79, which is a continuation of a severed slot or cut 80. Punched holes 81 may be provided to minimize tearing during setup. The portions 55 and 56 are to be secured to each other to form the ledge 26 shown in FIG. 9.

Crimp lines 82, 83 go up a short distance only from the junctures of the tab 36 with the edges 37 and 38, and then stop a little above the fold lines 41, 42, 43 to leave the sides 20 and 21 smoothly curved the rest of the way up, when the blank 30 is made into the cup or receptacle 10.

When the cigarette ash receptacle is made from the blank 30, the portion 53 may be folded down on its line 54 and glued in place to provide the edge 2, and the side portions folded over and glued to provide the rear wall 19 with its two rear portions 24 and 25, with the ledge cutout portions 55, 56 opposite each other. The flaps 44 are folded over the line 41 and glued to the rear wall portion 25; then the flap 46 is folded over its line 43 and glued to the rear wall portion 25 over the flap 44. Next, the fiap 45 is folded over its line 42 and glued to the crossing flaps 44 and 46. The tab 36 is not glued, but is left loose for a reason explained below.

The ledge portion 55 is divided by the fold line 65 into two portions 84 and 85, which are folded against each other and folded inwardly of the cup to provide an upper ledge portion 86. They may be, but need not be, glued together. Similarly, in the ledge portion 56, the fold line 74 provides two portions 87 and 88 which are folded along lines 75 and 76 to make a lower ledge portion 90 while at the same time pulling them in and spreading them at the slot 80, thereby pulling the triangular portion 75 and 76 away from the wall 24, to provide a ledge-support or brace 91. The inward leaning of the brace 91 is made possible by the holes 81 and since there is sufiicient curvature in the rear wall to permit the same to take the position shown. This is significant. A ledge 26 having no brace such as the brace 91 could hold the lighted end of a cigarette satisfactorily, but if a smoker were to attempt to snuff out his cigarette on it, it would tend to bend down and his efforts would be frustrated. The brace 91 makes it possible, when the portions 86 and 90 are glued together, to press the cigarette 27 against the ledge 26 and rear wall 19 at their juncture in order to snuff out the cigarette. The four layers 84, 85, 87 and 88 provide stiffness where it is needed while enabling the rest of the receptable 10 to be made from thin material. Notice that the slot 80 makes it possible to hold the ledge brace flap 90 in position under the ledge portion 86 where it keeps the brace 91 in its supporting position, away from the wall 19 and bent on its fold lines 77, 78, and 79. If this brace 91 were flat against the wall 19, it would not be a brace.

A feature of the invention is its adaptability to vertical surfaces, and for this purpose it is provided with a pressure sensitive adhesive 92 (see FIG. 3) near the upper edge 23 of the rear wall 19. This may be done by providing it with a piece of two-sided pressure-sensitive tape, a portion of which is used to adhere to the wall 19 and another portion of which is exposed, or it may be done by applying the pressure-sensitive adhesive directly to the rear paper Wall 19. When the receptacles 10 are stacked, they appear as in FIG. 13 as cups 10a, 10b, 10c, 10d, 10e, 101, 10g, 1%, etc., with pressure-sensitive portions 92 not in the way of each other.

When the receptacles 10 are stacked, the ledges 26 bend downwardly as shown in FIG. 14. When they are unstacked, each is brought upwardly to a position slightly above horizontal as shown best in FIGS. 14, 15, 16, and 17. The key feature here is the free tab 36 of the upper receptacle which, as shown best in FIGS. and 16 catches the ledge 26, and pulls it up. This is the reason for providing the free tab 36 of the upper receptacle. In addition, the free tab 36 and the hinged ledge 26 also cooperate to insure that stacked receptacles remain stacked unless one or more of them is positively displaced from the stack. The tab 36 has the score line 40 so that it projects outwardly along its top to the rear, insuring the desired hooking action for contact with the ledge 26 of the next receptacle.

The ash receptacles 10 are collapsible because the side wall is smoothly curved and offers little resistance to collapse, yet the receptacles snap back into shape, because they are not folded on the side wall except at the very bottom portion where there are the crimps 82 and 83, but are brought around in a loose curve. The bottom folded portion helps to keep the cup in the proper shape for its entire height but does not prevent the collapse and snap-back of the open cup. This feature enables the receptacles 10 to be adhered (singly, or in stacks, if desired) to the backs of stackable chairs, and left there when the chairs are stacked and still be usable when the chairs are unstacked.

FIGS. 18-22 show a modified form of ash receptacle which differs from the receptacle 10 chiefly in that it has a ledge 101 which is not an integral part of the blank 102 from which the receptacle 100 is made but is a separate piece 104 made as a separate blank and adhered thereto, as by adhesive 103. The piece 104 has an upper portion 105 secured to the inside surface of the rear wall 106 of the receptacle 100 by the adhesive 103. The ledge 101, provided with openings 107, extends inwardly of the receptacle and upwardly from a fold or hinge line 108 and terminates in a fold 109 which leads to a supporting brace portion 110 that, in turn, projects up and into the receptacle from a lower portion 111 that is secured by the adhesive 103 to the wall 106. The ledge piece 104 may be made from heavier weight paper (foil backed) or other sheet material than the blank 102. It is also unnecessary to have the whole rear wall 106 be of two thicknesses of the sheet material, and a narrow overlap 112, 113 is satisfactory (FIG. 18). Hence the blank 102 has narrower side portions 114 and 115 on each side of the central portion 116. The upper edge 117 is still provided with a flap 118 and fold line 119 to provide the folded lip edge 22, and the flap 36 is provided as before to help erect the ledge 101 when the bottom receptacle 100 of a stack is removed from the stack.

The receptacles 10 and 100 of this invention are well adapted to catching ashes as they are tapped into them, to the support of a ci arette placed in them, to the reuse of the cigarette so long as the smoker actually desires it, to the capture of the cigarette butt if the cigarette should be permitted to burn along indefinitely, and to the resultant snufling out of the cigarette and its butt after it falls into the bottom portion or well 31, where there is only a limited supply of oxygen, and the cigarette sufiocates itself. The receptacle 10 or 100 of this invention need not be reused and therefore need not be cleaned; because it is inexpensive, it can simply be thrown away.

The invention is usable in autombiles, where it can be attached to the dashboard or car door by the adhesive 92 and removed and thrown away readily. It can be attached to any generally vertical surface, and the variation in angle is sulficient to accommodate for slight tiltings. The device is therefore adapted to encourage smokers to let the cigarette simply fall in rather than to throw the cigarette out of the window. Also, being so readily disposed, it can be taken care of by a service station attendant or by a user at a service station without having to litter the roadside with emptying a cluttered permanent type of ashtray.

The receptacle 10 or 100 may be supported in a rigid cup-like support, if desired, where vertical surfaces are unavailable or for any other reason.

To those skilled in the art to which this invention relates, many changes in construction and widely differing embodiments and applications of the invention will suggest themselves without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The disclosures and the description herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in any sense limiting.

I claim:

1. A collapsible as receptacle made from a non-inflammable flexible sheet comprising a generally flattened drinking-cup-like receptacle adapted to be mounted generally vertically, with a closed bottom end, an open upper end, a front wall, and a rear wall jointed to the front wall by a pair of narrow side wall portions, so that the front wall and rear wall diverge from bottom to top, said rear wall being provided with an inwardly projecting and upwardly extending relatively short cigarette-supporting ledge hinged to said rear wall and positioned between said bottom end and said upper end at a distance such that a cigarette can rest with its lighted end on said ledge and a portion of its cylindrical well can rest on the upper end of said front wall in a cigarette-supporting position, said ledge extending far short of the front wall so that a cigarette left thereon ultimately falls down below it when its ash becomes so long as no longer to give it support, said ledge being so hinged as to fold against said rear wall when the receptacle is collapsed, whereby a plurality of said receptacles may be stacked in each other by virture of the tapered shape of said receptacle and the hinging of said ledge.

2. The ash receptacle of claim 1 wherein said ledge has a series of openings therethough.

3. The ash receptacle of claim 1 wherein the angle between the rear wall and a line joining the juncture of the rear wall and the ledge to the upper end of the front wall lies between 32 and 64.

4. The ash receptacle of claim 1 wherein said ledge is adapted to be folded down about its hinge when the receptacles are stacked and means on each cup for unfolding the ledge of the receptacle therebelow when they are unstacked.

5. The ash receptacle of claim 4 wherein there is a flap projecting from near the bottom of each said receptacle and comprising the said means for unfolding the ledge.

6. The ash receptacle of claim 1 wherein said ledge is heavier and of stiffer material than the remainder of said receptacle.

7. A collapsible and stackable ash receptacle made from a laminate of paper and foil and comprising a generally flattened tapered closely stackable cup-like receptacle with the foil on its inner surface and the paper on its outer surface, formed from a single flat blank and having a bottom end closed by an upwardly extending closure flap folded up from the bottom, an open upper end, a front wall, a rear wall having an overlap portion securing the cup together, and side walls joining said front and rear walls, being narrower than said front and rear walls and curving, all said walls diverging and widening from bottom to top, and

an inwardly projecting non-inflammable, short cigarettesupporting planar ledge positioned between said bottom end and said upper end and hinged to and projecting from said rear wall upwardly therefrom at an angle between 32 and 64 and having a plurality of openings therethrough to enable a lighted cigarette end supported thereby to continue burning and having a bottom supporting portion extending upwardly from said rear wall and of sufficient stiffness to enable forcing a cigarette lighted end against said ledge and rear wall to snuff out the cigarette, said ledge being spaced below the upper end of said front wall by an amount between twenty and forty percent of the length of the cigarette with which it is to be used, said ledge stopping sufficiently short of said front wall so that when a cigarette burns thereon and builds up its ash, it ultimately fails to get support from the ash and the butt then falls down into the bottom of the receptacle and is suffocated.

8. The ash receptacle of claim 7 wherein said ledge unfolds and is substantially flat against said rear wall when said receptacles are stacked, and a free flap projecting away from said rear wall and comprising an extension upwardly of said closure flap, for engaging the ledge of a receptacle below it in a stack and pulling that ledge away from its rear wall when that receptacle is pulled down and away from said stack.

9. A collapsible ash receptacle comprising a first non-inflammable flexible sheet shaped to provide a generally flattened drinking-cup-like receptacle adapted to be generally vertically disposed, said receptacle having a closed bottom end, an open upper end, a convex front wall, and a convex rear wall joined to the front wall, with the front wall and rear wall diverging from bottom to top,

a second non-inflammable flexible sheet secured to said first sheet and shaped to provide a relatively short cigarette-supporting hinged, flat ledge projecting inwardly of the receptacle and positioned along said rear wall between said bottom end and said upper end at a distance such that a cigarette can rest with its lighted end on said ledge and a portion of its cylindrical wall on the upper end of said front wall in a cigarette-supporting position, said ledge extending far short of the front wall so that a cigarette left thereon ultimately falls down below it when its ash becomes so long as no longer to give it support.

10. The ash receptacle of claim 5 wherein said flap has an extending portion at its upper end adapted to engage said ledge of a succeeding receptacle in a stack so as to maintain the receptacle in the stack unless and until one or more receptacles is positively displaced from the stack.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 17,553 1/1930 Dickerson.

1,830,543 11/1931 Heise 131-241 X 2,001,272 5/1935 Visser 131235 X 2,154,003 4/1939 Lane. 2,273,335 2/ 1942 Simpson 131-235 2,418,188 4/ 1947 Nixon. 2,636,532 4/1953 Putt 131-256 X 2,771,886 11/1956 Miller et al 131-256 2,778,365 1/195'7 Silverman et al. 131-241 X 2,796,067 6/ 1957 McCutcheon et a1. 131256 2,812,891 11/1957 Carlson et al. 131M1 X 3,270,752 9/ 1966 Dorrance 131240 FOREIGN PATENTS 510,805 8/ 1939 Great Britain. 535,051 3/ 1941 Great Britain.

JOSEPH S. REICH, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 131-241; 2291.5

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