US3059767A - Pack and coin receptacle - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 23, 1962 M. CHALFIN PACK AND com RECEPTACLE Filed Oct. 15, 1959 INVENTOR.

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Patented Oct. 23, 1962 3,059,767 PACK AND COIN RECEPTACLE Martin Chalfin, 100 Broadway, Newark 4, N J. Filed Oct. 15, 1959, Ser. No. 846,601 1 Claim. (Cl. 206.84)

My invention relates to an improved receptacle having a unique arrangement of spaces for storing various articles and maintaining itself and said articles and al- Ways within easy reach of a person desiring to remove any part of the contents of the receptacle.

The invention is especially useful in automobiles, trucks and other vehicles, and it has a top which permits a person to extract at will any one or more of the articles in the receptacle, without in any way affecting the operators vigilance or causing him even momentarily to remove his hands from the steering wheel of the vehicle or loosen his grasp on the wheel. Often, when an automobile or truck is moving along a highway or through a city street, the driver feels the need for a cigarette or a coin, and ordinarily he has to thrust his hands in his pockets to get what he wants, or even feel all over his seat because he or a companion may even be sitting on a package of smokes or on a purse or bill fold. Thus the steering Wheel is temporarily neglected, and serious accidents can easily occur. The receptacle is thus in effect an adjunct or accessory conducive to safe driving.

A further object of my invention is to provide a recept-acle that is unique in construction and can easily be handled when disposed upon the interior of the car in a very accessible position; and is so designed that no particular additional fastening means is required to hold it in place.

The other objects and the nature and advantages of the invention are clearly described in the following specification, and the novel characteristics are defined in the appended claim. This disclosure however is by way of explanation only and many structural changes in many minor respects can be adapted without departing from the general construction in which the invention resides.

On the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a front View of the receptacle according to this invention.

FIGURE 2 is a section along the line 22 of FIG-- URE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a view of the bottom of the receptacle.

FIGURE 4 is a top view; and

FIGURES 5 and 6 are each an elevation of one side.

The receptacle is indicated as a whole by the numeral 1 with a back 2, a relatively low front 3 and opposite sides 4. The bottom is closed except in the middle which has a transverse open space 5 that is bridged by a partition 6 which has the form of an inverted V and comprises two walls 7 and 8 extending down from the edge of the sides 4 to the opposite edges of the opening 5 and secured thereto and to the sides 4. The wall 7 which is presented to the back 2 is shown as continuous and the opposite wall 6 which is presented to the front has a number of slots 9 therein arranged side by side parallel to one of the walls 4 and a number of shorter slots 10 arranged side by side and extending from the opposite side towards the middle of the receptacle. In the bottom adjacent the rear wall 2 is a transverse channel 11 and another transverse channel 11 is formed in the bottom adjacent the front wall 8 of the partition 6. These channels extend entirely across the bottom of the receptacle and each receives a pair of magnets 12, which are flush with the bottom of the receptacle; so that the receptacle only needs to be placed upon a metal surface in the automobile to hold it against displacement by means of the magnets 12. The receptacle can be set upon either a horizontal or inclined surface and still hold its contents.

The space between the rear wall 2 and partition 7 is a space or compartment adapted to receive and hold a pack of cigarettes indicated at 13 and the slots 9 are big enough to receive edges of some half dollars, for example, and keep such coins in position between the low front wall 3, that is suitably curved, and the rear wall 7 of the partition 6. The other slots 10 are adapted to hold 25 cent pieces which will rest upon one edge of the forward channel 11, and will be held against displacement by an inside rib 1.4 which extends along the front edge of the channel 12 inward as far as the slot 9 which is nearest the middle of the receptacle. The 25 and 50 cent coins together with the cigarettes in the pack 13 are always handy, and the driver of a car or his companion on the front seat can remove a coin or a cigarette at any time without having his attention distracted from the duty of driving and avoiding completely all risk of accidents. Of course money can be inserted into the space for cigarettes if desired; as this space can easily receive bank notes to be kept handy for fuel, oil and other purchases.

On the outer faces of the side walls 4 of the receptacle are fixed retaining means shown at 15 and 16. These retaining means are U-shaped angle members with open tops and open spaces between the two arms of each, but having edges which overlap the coins deposited therein. Hence at any time when a dime or nickel is needed, such a coin can be extracted with a finger simply by moving it out at the upper end of the retaining means in which it is deposited.

The receptacle is preferably made of plastic such as impact styrene, and is molded all in one piece, except for the magnets 12 in the bottom of the receptacle. These magnets are held in position by cement or any other securing means. Whenever the receptacle is set on a horizontal metal surface or an inclined metal surface, it will not be jolted out of position when the car is traveling. Of course the pack of cigarettes indicated at 13 is first opened at the top before it is placed in the rear compartment of the receptacle, so that the cigarettes can be removed one by one whenever an occupant wishes.

The number of slots or recesses for the coins in the wall 8 can of course be varied, and the stop rib will extend along the row of slots 10 for the smaller coins so as to leave room between the end of this stop rib and the opposite side of the receptacle for the larger coins to engage both the slots therefor and the front wall 3. Also other means besides the magnets 121' may be utilized to hold the receptacle in place, if desired.

Having described my invention, what I believe to be new is:

A receptacle of nonmagnetic material, having magnets disposed in exterior transverse channels in its bottom, said receptacle having a partition extending between front and back from side to side therein and comprising a pair of walls joined along the top and separated at their lower ends, the receptacle having a space between said partition and its rear wall for storage use, the forward wall of said partition having slots therein, and an inside stop rib in the lower portion and separated from the front of the receptacle and extending along part of said slots and in front thereof from one side toward the middle of the receptacle and terminating adjacent said middle, one of said magnets being forward of said partition and another adjacent the rear of said partition, said receptacle also having coin retaining means secured to the sides thereof,

said means comprising arms separated at their upper ends and united at their lower ends, said arms having edges bent towards each other.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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