US2427318A - Packaging for jigsaw puzzles and the like - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 9, 1947. WARREN' 2,427,318

PACKAGING FOR JIG SAW'PUZZLES AND THE LIKE Filed April 27; 1944 Patented Sept. 9, 1947 UNITED STATES PATEN OFFICE;

PACKAINGi-FOR J IGSA W LP-UZZIJESM AND THE LIKE- Donald M. Warren, La Fayette, Trfd.

Application April 27, 1944,,SerialNo. 532,936

2 Claims. (Cl. 206 46') This invention relatesto the packaging of sheet-like items, such as typified by jig saw puz- 'zles in their properly assembled condition, pictures or like flat sheet members.

The main objects of the invention are to provide an inexpensive but nevertheless efficient and attractive packaging for articles of the character indicated, and other objects and advantages of the invention will be understood by reference to the following specification and accompanying drawing, wherein there is illustrated. a package embodying a selected form of the invention.

In the drawing,

Fig. l is a perspective illustrating the improved package;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of 'Fig. 1, but on an enlarged scale, and wherein the thickness of the various parts is exaggerated for purposes of illustration; Fig. 3 is a plan of from which the body of the improved package is formed, and I Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are fragmentary sectional views illustrating various modifications of certain details of construction.

In the drawing, the improved package illustrated consists of a main paper board body In comprising a back or bottom wall II, and inwardly turned-over margins I2, l3, l4 and. 15. lhe turned-over margins are preferably adhesively united to the inside or upper surface of the bottom ll, adhesive being preferably applied between the meeting faces of downwardly and outwardly refolded edge portions, such asindicated at I6,of the margins l2, l3, M and I5, and the bottom H. The refolded edge portions IB serve, in effect, to thicken the inner edges of the inwardly folded margins 12, I 3, M and 15 so as to provide a pocket or receptacle H of sufficient depth to accommodate the thickness of a jig saw a corner portion of a blank l picture puzzle l8, or the like, which is to be packaged. As shown, the margins l2, l3, l4 and I5 assume a slightly inclined position from their inner to their outer edges so that the said margins present a more or less beveled frame effect around'the packaged picture or other product.

A wrapper '19, preferably of Cellophane or other transparent sheet material is applied over the 'top surface of the package, portions of the wrapper being carried around the edges of the package and secured on the back thereof. 'The wrapper l9 may be of such size that portions may be folded into mutually overlapping relation, as indicated at 20 in Fig.2, to th'erebyalso compltely-cover'theiback o'f thepackage, as well as V the front thereof. Economy. respect of the covering; may, however, be attained. by providing relatively narrow marginal portions of thewrapper sheet to. be foldedunder the. margins of the package and. adhesively united to. the back thereof.

In some cases, one ofthe-inwardly folded margins of the package .may be made somewhat wider than the other,fto facilitate the application of titles, instructions, trade-marks or otherv matter to the package. In. Fig. 1,,the margin I2 is shown as being of .considerably greater width than the other margins. However, such printed matter may be applied to thepackage by. imprinting directly on the Cellophane wrapper, by enclosing a printed sheet placed. on the top of the packaged item 18 was toflbe. visible through the wrapper l9,. and by other means of that character.

The body of the packagacomprising the back H, the inturned margins I2, 1-3, 14 and I5, and theoutwardly refolded edge. portions l6 may be formed from a suitable grade. of paper board. The blank employed for. forming the structure illustrated in Fig. 1 will embody details. such as representedin Fig. 3,,wherein broken lines 21 represent suitable cut, score or other fold lines on which the marginal. portions may be folded inwardly, and wherein broken lines 22 represent similar fold line-s about which the edge portions It may be downwardly and outwardlyrefolded. In instances whereinthe marginal portions are tobe of uniform width around the entire package, the margin 12 would, of course, be appropriately reduced in width.

The paper board blank from which the package body is made may have either or both of its surfaces suitably finished to provide the package with the desired finish and attractive appearance. Suitably colored board may, of course, be emplayed, or thin paper or other covering material may be applied. One method of covering the package body to provide an attractive finish is represented in l. In that arrangement, a sheet 23 of suitably finished paper is pasted, or otherwise secured, to the bottomsurfa-ce of the blank which will form the package body. The blank is then subjected to the operation by which scoring, such as that-indicated at 24 and '22 in Fig. 3, is effected. When the finishing sheet thus applied, the marginal portion-such as 14, is covered on its front surface but the inner :and outer edges -24 and -25 of the marginal portions will -i-eveal the naturalcolor of the paper board smoothe -scoring operation willrsever the covering sheet 23, and permit separation thereof along the score lines when the parts are folded. This separation of the finished sheet at the fold lines may be made advantageous in the preparation of the package, if properly selected colored stock is employed so that a desirable and distinctive colored edge will be presented at the places indicated.

Another method of covering the body of the package is illustrated in Fig. 5. In that arrangement, the paper board blank which forms the body is preliminarily scored and folded, and a covering sheet 26 thereafter applied. The covering sheet 26 preferably extends over the entire bottom surface of the package and is folded upwardly around and extended over the marginal portions and then downwardly over the inside edges thereof, as indicated at 21, and inwardly over the inside or upper surface of the bottom wall ii. The inwardly extending covering portion 28 need not cover the entire inside surface of the body member or tray since the packaged article itself covers that surface. The marginal portion 28 should, of course, be extended inwardly a distance sufficient to extend under the margins of the packaged article so as to present a finished appearance. At the corners of the package, the covering sheets will, of course, be cut to conform to the meeting ends of the respectively adjacent margins, and it is preferable, although not essential, that the covering sheet be securely pasted to the paper board member throughout their interengaging areas.

For positioning a picture or other sheet-like article within the tray structure, the bottom member of the device may be diagonally slitted near the corners of its receiving area, to permit corners of the picture to be inserted in the slots substantially as in'conventional picture albums. Another method of fastening the packaged article in place is to restrict the adhesive attachment of the outwardly refolded edge portions, such as indicated at l6a in Fig. 6, to an outer portion only of the width of such outwardly refolded edge portion. As shown in Fig. 6, the outwardly refolded portion l6a is adhesively attached, as indicated at 29, for only about one-half its width so that picture receiving space, as indicated at 38, may be provided between the bottom ll of the package and the innermost portion of the refolded edge part I6a. The marginal portion of the article to be packaged, ma be inserted in the space 30, and more or less clamped between the bottom of the package and said marginal portion, and thereby held in fixed position in the package.

The described packaging structure is especially adapted to the packaging of fairly large pictures, for example, pictures which measure in the neighborhood of ten inches (10") by fifteen inches The inwardly folded margins and the outwardly refolded'edge portions serve to effectively reinforce and stiffen the package body or tray so that the finished package may conveniently be handled like any stiff sheet of material. It will be observed that the reinforcing effect thus obtained adapts the package especially to the packaging of so-called jig saw puzzle pictures wherein the packaged picture is cut into a large number of small pieces, which will readily separate from each other so that the packaged product itself has no substantial capacity for maintaining itself in sheet form.

In some instances, the depth of the receptacle may be made substantially equal to the thickness of the article to be'packaged. However, this is not essential. In'the cutting of paper board jig saw puzzles, cutting is usually made to extend almost completely, but not quite through the picture, so that a very slight bond remains. The bond is usually sufficient to prevent the various parts of the puzzle from being jarred out of place merely as an incident to handling, so long as the picture is held substantially fiatwise against a supporting sheet, as occurs in the described package. The transparent cover sheet serves to prevent movement of the packaged picture in the receptacle sufficient to cause separation of the parts thereof; hence, the package described is effective to maintain the picture puzzle in its fully assembled condition, so that the prospective purchaser may examine the picture he is about to purchase, in its full size.

The described arrangement eliminates the requirement of a small size reproduction of the picture to be applied to the cover of the conventional box in which puzzles have heretofore been packaged in broken-up condition. If desired, the picture puzzle may be assembled in the tray, which afiords aconvenient means whereb the puzzle, even in partially assembled condition, may be moved from place to place as required. In some instances, a copy of the picture may be applied to the bottom of the tray, if desired, to provide a guide or check means for the person solving the puzzle.

Other advantages of the described arrangement will be apparent to those conversant with the production and packaging of devices of the character referred to, and to those conversant with the art or pastime of assembling jig saw picture puzzles.

Puzzles packaged in the described manner may be stacked one upon another, the weight of the superposed puzzles being transmitted primarily through the marginal portions of the package, the thickness of which will usually be somewhat greater than the combined thickness of the bottom member and the packaged article. Thus, the packaged article itself will not be subjected to any material pressure which might tend to cause abrasion of the wrapper and the packaged article; hence, the packaged article is adequately protected against damage, while, at the same time, being effectively displayed in the package.

Various modifications of the described structure may be made without departing from the principles of the invention.

I claim: 7

l. A jig saw picture puzzle or sheet-like article package, comprising a paper board member having a bottom portion and border portions integral with and foldably connected to said bottom portion, said border portions being respectively folded directly inwardly into substantially fiatwise position over adjacent margins or said bottom portion so as to form a marginal frame cooperating with said bottom portion to form a shallow tray, one or more sheet-like articles disposed flatwise on said bottom portion and of such size as to fit within the confines of said frame so as to be thereby held against shifting edgewise on said bottom portion, the depth of said one or more sheet-like articles approximating the depth of said frame, and transparent, cover means secured to said tray and extending between the opposed frame portions in such relation to said bottom portion as to hold said. one or more articles seated on said bottom portion, V

2. A jigsaw picture puzzle or sheet like article package, comprising apaper board member. having a bottom portion and border portions integral 5 with and foldably connected to said bottom por tion, said border portions being respectively folded directly inwardly into substantially flatwise position over adjacent margins of said bottom portion so as to form a marginal frame cooperating with said bottom portion to form a shallow tray, said frame having an integrally connected inner portion refolded outwardly between said frame and bottom portion and disposed in face to face engagement with said frame and bottom portion, whereby said frame is provided with an inner portion having a thickness of approximately twice the thickness of the paper board employed for making the tray one or more sheet-like articles disposed fiatwise on said bottom portion and of such size as to fit within the confines of said frame so as to be thereby held against shifting edgewise on said bottom portion, the depth of said one or more sheet-like articles approximating the depth of said frame, and transparent cover means secured to said tray and extending between the opposed frame portions in such relation to said 6 bottom portion as to hold said one or more articles seated on said bottom portion.

DONALD M. WARREN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,942,673 Weiner Jan, 9, 1934 1,450,190 Sonn Apr. 3, 1923 1,939,642 Barnes Dec. 19, 1933 1,492,951 Auerb-ach Ma 6, 1924 1,441,437 Lee Jan, 9, 1923 676,373 Simpson June 11, 1901 1,077,622 McLellan Nov, 4, 1913 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 6,148 Great Britain Dec. 16, 1909

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