US673744A - Vending-box. - Google Patents

Description

No. 673,744. Patented may?, lem.

P. M. WIESTERFIELD (BYMARRIAVGE NOW P. M. CLAUS) &. F. W. CLAUS.,

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A liction lsd Aug. 8. 1900) oooooooo Nn Strnfrns PEARL M.

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FREDERICK \V. CLAUS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

VENDING-BOX.

SPEGFCATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 673,744, dated May 7, 1901.

Application filed August 6, 1900. Serial No. 26,027. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, PEARL M. TESTER- FIELD (by marriage now PEARL M. CLAUS) and FREDERICK W. CLAUS, citizens of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vending-Boxes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in vending-boxes of that class in which the lid is so attached to the box that it may be turned or folded back against the sides or bottom of the box out of the way, so as to expose the contents of the box without detachm ent therefrom.

The primary object of our invention is ,to have the lid'capable of being folded underneath the bottom of the box and there held by a suitable retaining` device while the conlents of the box are exposed, as in the case of cigar-boxes, when placed in a show-case.

Another and important object of theinvention is to not only have the lid so attached to the box thatit can be folded underneath the same without disconnection therefrom, but also to have it so attached that a sealing-band or revenue-stamp, as in the case of a cigar box, need not be broken at more than one and the usual place when the lid is raised and turned or folded back underneath the box.

These and such other objects may hereinafter appear are attained by the devices illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a perspective view of a vendingi box embodying our invention, showing the lid folded underneath the box. Fig. 2 is a similar view, but shows the lid partly turned back; and Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section on dotted line 3 3 of Fig. l.

Similar letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several iigures of the drawings.

Referring by letter to the accompanying drawings, A indicates a box, B the lid, and C the hinging-strip, by means of which the lid is permanently attached to the box. In the drawings and for greater clearness in explaining' the invention we have shown the box as an ordinary cigar-box, our invention being peculiarly adapted for embodiment in such a box. It is necessary in practice to sell the cigars directly from the box in which they are originally packed, a penalty being imposed for either the removal of the cigars from the box prior to their sale or the removal of the revenue-stamp, which is pasted around the outside of the box so as to seal the lid to the box at both the front and rear edge thereof. Vith cigar-boxes as now ordinarily constructed, in which the lid is hinged at one side to the upper edge of the cigar-box, a great deal of space is occupied in show-cases, where the boxes are placed .with the lid raised, so as to expose the cigars to the View of customers, and considerable inconvenience is experienced by the vender in handling the boxes so arranged, while the lids of one row of boxes serve to more or less obscure the cigars contained in the next row .of boxes. 'Ihe lids of such boxes cannot of course be folded underneath the box out of the way, nor can they be detached from the box, because such action would destroy and remove a portion of the revenue-stamp which is pasted across the lid.

The object of our invention is to enable the lid to beiolded underneath the bottom of the box, out of the way, without detachment from the box and without removing any portion of the revenue-stamp from the box or lid and without breaking the revenue-stamp, except at the forward edge of the box, in the usual place. This we accomplish by hinging the lid to the box at a point substantially half-way the height of the box. Such hinging may be done in many different Ways, either by means of the continuous strip C of linen, cotton, or other suitable fabric or by a series of narrow strips, or, if desired, by regular and ordinarily-constructed hinges of metal or other material, so long as the hinging-point is so disposed as to be substantially at the center of height of the box, so that the lid When folded back, as shown in Fig. 2, may drop down so as to be slung up and lie against the bottom of the box, as illustrated in Figs. l and 3.

When the lid is folded underneath the bottom of the box, the hinge will of course serve to hold the hinged edge of the lid close against the bottom of the box, and for convenience in handling the box some retaining device ICO should be provided to hold the free edge of the lidagainst the bottom of the box, an ordinary spring-catch being suitable for this purpose. We prefer, however, and in the drawings have shown a tape loop D, pasted or otherwise secured to the free edge of the lid, on either the inner or outer side thereof, which tape when the lid is folded underneath the bottom of the box is looped upon the box, which it snugly fits, as plainly shown in Figs. l and 3, thus serving to hold the lid against the bottom of the box. When the box is closed, the tape is simply folded inside of the box,underneatli thelid. This tape'also serves as a means for displaying the name indicating the brand of cigars and any other information, such as the name of the manufacturer, which may be stamped, imprinted, or otherwise applied directly to the tape, and the tape may be sufficiently broad to render the lettering plainly legible. Furthermore,

a price-card E, or a card upon which the name of the brand of cigars and other information may be imprinted instead of upon .the tape, maybe pasted or otherwise secured to the tape, so as to lie upon the top of the cigars in the box when the lid is folded back, the card in the drawings being shown as provided with slits through which the tape is threaded. Obviously any other commodity than cigars may be vended from a box embodying our invention, and the box may be of any suitable or desired dimension and configuration,

according to the kind and quantity of the commodity to be vended from each box. A vending-box embodying our invention is practically as cheap to manufacture as the ordinary cigar-box, as the fancy label usually applied to the inside of the lid, carrying the brand and any other information, may be dispensed with and the tape or card, or both, be substituted therefor.

Having described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

l. A vending-box comprising a lid hinged to the box at substantially midway the height thereof and adapted to be folded underneath the bottom of the box, and a retaining device for holding the free edge of the lid against the bottom of the box consisting o f a loop secured to the free edge of the lid and adapted to be looped around the box and lid and also adapted to be Wholly contained within the box when the box is closed, substantially as described.

2. A vending-box comprising a lid hinged to the box, substantially midway the height thereof and adapted to be folded so as to lie underneath the bottom of the box, a loop attached to the free edge of the lid and adapted to be looped around the box, and a card carried by said loop, substantially as described. i

3. A vending-box comprising a lid, a flexible hinging-strip attached to the lid, and to the box substantially midway of the height thereof, and a retaining-loop wholly attached to the under side of the lid for holding the free edge of the lid against the bottom of the box, substantially as described.

PEARL M. WESTERFIELD. FREDERICK w. CLAUS.

Witnesses:

F. H. DRURY, J. E. HALLENBECK.

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