US3743136A

US3743136A - Selective closure for attachment to cigarette containers and the like

Info

Publication number: US3743136A
Application number: US00202235A
Authority: US
Inventors: C Chambers
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1971-11-26
Filing date: 1971-11-26
Publication date: 1973-07-03
Anticipated expiration: 1990-07-03

Abstract

A spring-controlled closure attachment with a small wire frame inserted into a cigarette package to close the opening made when the folded upper part of the package is torn away to expose the cigarettes and includes a finger-manipulated latch operated by squeezing the wire frame to release the spring operated closure. On the frame is mounted a cover made from lightweight plastic or the like which has a small, spring operated lid normally latched in place by means of a latch member and which is latched over one side of the small wire frame member and is operated by fingermanipulation by squeezing the frame to cause the lid to flip open to expose the cigarettes for removal and thereafter the lid is readily snapped back into place by hand. The lid may be made to open either longitudinally or transversely of the package and also may include a small barb-like projection which engages the packed tobacco in the end of the cigarette to lift the cigarette a small amount from the opening as the spring operated lid flips open thereby making it easier to grasp the cigarette between the fingers without damaging the end.

Description

United States Patent 1191 Chambers SELECTIVE CLOSURE FOR ATTACHMENT T0 CIGARETTE CONTAINERS AND THE LIKE [76] Inventor: Constantine P. Chambers, 4300 Chamblee Tucker Road, Atlanta, Ga. 30084 [22] Filed: Nov. 26, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 202,235

Related U.S. Application Data [63] Substitute for Ser. No. 609,024, Jan. 13, 1967.

1451 July 3,1973

Primary ExaminerLeonard Summer Attorney-Patrick F. Henry 5 7] ABSTRACT A spring-controlled closure attachment with a small wire frame inserted into a cigarette package to close the opening made when the folded upper part of the package is torn away to expose the cigarettes and includes a finger-manipulated latch operated by squeezing the wire frame to release the spring operated closure. 0n the frame is mounted a cover made from lightweight plastic or the like which has a small, spring operated lid normally latched in place by means of a latch member and which is latched over one side of the small wire frame member and is operated by fingermanipulation by squeezing the frame to cause the lid to flip open to expose the cigarettes for removal and thereafter the lid is readily snapped back into place by 9 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTED JUL 3 I875 v Can/57mm SELECTIVE CLOSURE FOR ATTACHMENT TO CIGARETTE CONTAINERS AND THE LIKE REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION Substitute application for abandoned application Ser. No. 609,024 Filed 1-13-67.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention Closure attachments for cigarette packages to cover the otherwise exposed cigarettes and to facilitate the removal of the cigarettes.

The primary object of this invention is to provide an attractive closure for a cigarette package which includes a manually actuated, spring operated lid.

Another object of this invention is to facilitate the removal of the cigarettes which are packed tightly into the package and to eliminate the probing with the fingernails which ordinarily damages the end of the cigarette.

Another object of this invention is to close the cigarette package after it has been opened in order to preserve some of the freshness of the cigarettes and to reduce the possibility of contamination from outside substances as for example would occur when working around chemicals, vapors, liquids, etc., that might penetrate the ends of the cigarettes if not covered.

Still another advantage of the present invention resides in the lightweight and inexpensive construction which makes it available for low cost or even as a premium give-away cigarette package.

An important feature of this invention is found in the latch arrangement for the spring-operated lid which is operated by manipulating the frame itself and in one form simply by squeezing the package with the frame inside.

An additional advantage of the present invention is found in the means operated with the spring operated lid for engaging the upper end of the cigarette and lifting it slightly from the tightly packaged cigarettes in the package thereby eliminating the fingernail groping.

Another and further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent upon reading the following specifications taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. I is a perspective view of one preferred form of the present invention in place in a cigarette package shown by dotted lines.

FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view of the form of the invention shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along lines 3-3 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a bottom perspective view of another form of present invention wherein the lid opens in a different direction.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along lines 4-4 in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a top perspective view of the modified form shown in FIG. 4.

Referring initially toFIG. l and thence to other figures of the drawings as the specification proceeds, the form shown in FIG. 1 is designated generally by reference numeral 10 in its complete assembled condition and comprises a lightweight, generally open frame 11 made from a wire bent to form a pair of opposed, identical wire cigarette package insertion,

sideframe members

12, 13 each constructed as a loop of bent wire which may be aluminum, stainless steel or the like, preferably of lightweight construction. As appears readily from the drawings, the members 12 are spaced apart approximately slightly less than the width of a normal cigarette package and are intended to be inserted over the sides of the cigarette package down onto the package running substantially co-extensively with the cigarettes and held in place by the spring clamp action between frames l2, 13.

Each member 112, 13 is provided at its upper end with a cover 14 which may be constructed from aluminum plate, stainless steel plate or lightweight plastic or the like having portions 16 bent around the wires in

members

12, 13 and which includes an openable lid portion normally closed by a spring operated lid 18 which is pivotly supported on a pivot pin 20 in a sleeve or hinge 21 having a coil spring 22 wound therearound and having one end of coil spring 22 engageable against the fixed cover 14 and the other end against the lid so that the lid 18 is spring biased into open position in the manner shown in FIG. I but normally remains closed due to a latch arrangement now to be described.

A latch means 26 for lid 18 comprises a friction release latch having latch portions 28, which are bent from the edges of cover 18 to fit around portions of frames 12, I3 at the top wires designated as 30. Latch means 28 is actuated by manipulating the fingers 32 especially the thumbs against the opposed wire members 34 in the loop of wire which forms frame member 13 and squeezing same as seen in FIG. I which causes the lid 18 to flip or snap open exposing the cigarettes therebeneath. Manipulation by the fingers 32 which are shown on the hand 38 causes the wire frame members 34 to dis-engage the top wires 30 from the bent portions 28 causing lid 18 to open or close selectively according to the wishes of the smoker. It is to be noted in the embodiment of FIG. 1, the lid opens longitudinally, that is, along the major dimension of the cigarette package top and therefore the lid 18 opens on a hinge line across the package. The lid 18 could be mounted on the other side and open in the other direction as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 and described later on.

The cigarette package is identified generally and overall by reference numeral 42 and is a conventional three-dimensional cigarette package constructed on ordinary cigarette wrapping machinery which generally takes a piece of foil lined paper and seals it into a boxlike formation around a tight group of cigarettes, usually 20 to the package. The top 44 of the package 42 is normally sealed with flaps 46 which in turn are covered by a revenue stamp. The usual procedure or custom for opening and using the package 42 of this sort is to tear away part of the flap 46 using the edge of the revenue stamp against which to make a tear thereby exposing the cigarettes 50 packed in the end of the package. It is also customary to tap the end of the package against the index finger 32 to loosen some of the cigarettes 50 and this causes at least one to project from the top of the package 42 for easier removal even though this still requires some manipulation by fingers and sometimes the fingernail 52. Also, occasionally when the package is tapped against the index finger 32, more cigarettes will .come out than needed and sometimes they will shoot-out too fast and fall on the ground. Also, unless the entire package is placed inside of some type of cigarette container, case or closure device, the tops of the cigarettes 50 are permanently exposed to the atmosphere and outside conditions including any dirt and debris that might be in the pocket where the package is carried and also the package is soft and flexible and will crush easily if carried in the pocket. The present invention provides strength, stability and reinforced dimension at the top of the package to prevent the crushing of the cigarettes.

As seen in FIG. 1, the lid 18 may be provided with a cigarette engaging means designated generally by reference numeral 50 and comprising in one form a projecting member 58 having barb-like portions 60 thereon which engage inside the tobacco packed in the tubular construction of the cigarette 50 and catch therein sufficiently to lift the cigarette 50, and only one cigarette 50 at a time, a small amount from the top of the package 42 thereby facilitating the grasping of one cigarette and eliminating the finger manipulation and fingernail destruction which sometimes occurs.

In the modified form shown in FIG. 4, the device is essentially the same as that shown in FIG. 1 as to the frame 11 and cover 14 and the only difference is that the lid 60 of the construction represented generally by reference numeral 62 in FIG. 4 is hinged on one of the wire members 30and has the hingeline extending longitudinallly or the long-length of the cigarette package 42 which causes the lid to open transversely rather than longitudinally as shown in FIG. 1. Lid 60 has only one bent latch portion 64 which latches on wire 30 and has two hinge portions 66 with a spring 68. Otherwise, the construction and operation of this form is essentially the same as that shown and described in connection with FIG. 1 and the other figures of the drawings including the option of cigarette engaging arrangement 56 which may be provided on the lid 60. Squeezing or pressing together frame 13 to bring member 34 toward the other side, releases the latch engagement in latch portion 64.

While I have shown and described a particular embodiment of my invention together with an alternative form thereof and have mentioned various advantages and uses, this is by way of illustration and for the purpose of teaching preferred form of the invention, it does not constitute any sort of limitation on the scope thereof since there are various alterations, changes, deviations, eliminations, substitutions, additions, removals, combined combinations, revisions and departures which may be made in the form shown and described herein without departing from the scope of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. In a cigarette closure attachment for at least partly covering the upper end of a conventional cigarette package after the package has been opened to expose cigarettes in the upper part thereof and wherein said package is the generally flexible box-like package having interior sides on which the present invention may be positioned, in combination:

a. attachment means for positioning on a cigarette package,

b. a cover on said attachment means extending along the long dimension of the package top and across and covering substantially all of said cigarette package, said cover being a relatively stiff, thin plate like construction which reinforces the upper end of the cigarette package and tends to reduce the crushing thereof,

c. a portion of said cover being continuous across the portion of the upper end of the exposed part of the cigarette package above the exposed cigarettes and there being a displaceable lid mounted over said part not covered by said lid and over some of said cigarettes,

d. latch means normally retaining said lid and cover in closed position over said cigarette package and said latch means being manually operated to unlatch said lid and to relatch same selectively,

e. means acting on said lid to displace same into open position when released by said latch,

f. and a cigarette engaging means operated by said lid as said lid is opened to engage at least one cigarette and partly to extend same from the openpart of the package thereby facilitating the grasping of the cigarette by the hand and the future removal from the package.

2. The device claimed in claim 1, wherein there is a spring on said lid mounted between the lid and the cover portion to spring by said lid into open position.

3. The device claimed in claim 1, wherein said attachment means on said package comprises a pair of spaced, frame members approximately of a length to insert onto the cigarette package co-extensively with the cigarettes and to position the cover member across the upper end of the package and superposed across the upper end of the package.

4. The device claimed in claim 3, wherein said lid opens by swinging transversely across said package.

5. The device claimed in claim 4, wherein said lid opens by swinging longitudinally across said package.

6. The device claimed in claim 1, wherein said attachment means comprises a wire of lightweight, thin construction, and pressure inserted on said package and wherein said cover member is a thin plate and, and wherein said lid is of similar construction to said cover.

7. The device in claim 6 wherein said cover has a latch portion latched over said attachment wire, and said attachment wire is temporarily bent by hand to release said latch, said wire returning after being bent to substantially initial condition to receive said latch portion and latch said cover.

8. The device in claim 7 wherein said cover opens along a hinge line across the width of the package, and the latch extends along the long dimension of the package.

9. The device in claim 7 wherein said wire is on both sides of and said cover is hinged on one side of the package to the wire and the latch on the cover is over the wire on the other side.

Claims

1. In a cigarette closure attachment for at least partly covering the upper end of a conventional cigarette package after the package has been opened to expose cigarettes in the upper part thereof and wherein said package is the generally flexible box-like package having interior sides on which the present invention may be positioned, in combination: a. attachment means for positioning on a cigarette package, b. a cover on said attachment means extending along the long dimension of the package top and across and covering substantially all of said cigarette package, said cover being a relatively stiff, thin-plate like construction which reinforces the upper end of the cigarette package and tends to reduce the crushing thereof, c. a portion of said cover being continuous across the portion of the upper end of the exposed part of the cigarette package above the exposed cigarettes and there being a displaceable lid mounted over said part not covered by said lid and over some of said cigarettes, d. latch means normally retaining said lid and cover in closed position over said cigarette package and said latCh means being manually operated to unlatch said lid and to relatch same selectively, e. means acting on said lid to displace same into open position when released by said latch, f. and a cigarette engaging means operated by said lid as said lid is opened to engage at least one cigarette and partly to extend same from the open part of the package thereby facilitating the grasping of the cigarette by the hand and the future removal from the package.