US2782788A - Cigarette packaging arrangement - Google Patents

Description

Feb. 26, 1957 Filed Dec. 22, 1955 G. D. SHQLTY CIGARETTE PACKAGING ARRANGEMENT 5 Sheets-Sheet l IN V EN TOR.

Feb. 26, 1957 G. D. SHOLTY 2,732,738

CIGARETTE PACKAGING ARRANGEMENT Filed Dec. 22, 1955 5 Shee'tsSheet 2 F/GJ IN VEN TOR.

gwng/ QM WM s. m

G. D. SHOLTY CIGARETTE PACKAGING ARRANGEMENT Feb. 26, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 22 1955 I {)NVENTOR.

BY WW1 s. m

United States Patent CIGARETTE PACKAGING ARRANGEMENT George D. Sholty, New York, N. Y. Application December 22, 1955, Serial No. 554,849

12 Claims. (Cl. 131-4) The present invention relates to a cigarette packing arrangement.

At the present time cigarettes without filters are packaged separately from cigarettes with filters. As a result it is necessary for manufacturers to have different sets of equipment for packaging different types of cigarettes as well as for making the different types of cigarettes, and also if a purchaser wishes to try filter cigarettes rather than non-filter cigarettes, it is necessary for the purchaser to purchase an entire package of filter cigarettes for such purpose.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a cigarette packaging arrangement which makes it possible for the user to withdraw from the package at the option of the user either a cigarette without a filter or a cigarette with a filter.

Another object of the present invention is to make it possible to standardize the packaging of cigarettes by providing uniform packages from which either filter or nonfilter cigarettes may be removed.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an exceedingly simple and economical packaging arrangement which will enable the above objects to be reliably produced.

With the above objects in view, the present invention mainly consists of a cigarette packaging arrangement which includes a container having opposite ends each of which is capable of being opened. Within the container are located a plurality of filter ciganrettes with the filters thereof located next to one of the ends of the container. The filters include tubes which surround the cigarettes and are connected thereto only by friction, respectively. Within the container is located a means for preventing the filters from being removed from the container with the cigarettes only when the latter are removed through a given one of the ends of the container.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantagesthereof, will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective elevational view of a cigarette used in the packaging arrangement of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a developed view of the filter tube of the cigarette used in the packaging arrangement of the invention;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view on an enlarged scale of the tubular filter, the cigarette associated with the filter of Fig. 3 being shown fragmentarily in Fig. 3 in dot dash lines;

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of a means for retaining the filters in the package at the option of the user;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view on an enlarged scale illustrating the cooperation between the filter retaining means and the cigarette;

Fig. 6 is a partly broken away perpsective view of the packaging arrangement of the present invention;

Fig. 7 is a partly broken away perspective view illustrating the packaging arrangement of the invention when the cigarettes are removed from the container through the end opposite from that through which a cigarette is shown being withdrawn in Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a sectional plan view of a packaging arrangement according to the present invent-ion;

Fig. 9 is an elevational view of another embodiment of a means for retaining the filters within the container;

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary plan view illustrating the manner in which the structure of Fig. 9 is arranged with respect to the cigarettes;

Fig. 11 is a side elevational view of another embodiment of a means for retaining the filters in the container;

Fig. 12 is a plan view illustrating the manner in which the device of Fig. 11 cooperates with the cigarettes;

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary side elevational view of another form of a means for retaining the filters in the container;

Fig. 14 is a fragmentary perspective View illustrating the manner in which the device of Fig. 13 is associated with the cigarettes, the latter being shown in dot dash lines in Fig. 14; and

Fig. 15 is a sectional plan view illustrating the manner in which the structure of Figs. 13 and 14 is arranged within the container.

Referring now to the drawings, Fig. 1 shows a filter cigarette which includes a cigarette portion 20 and a filter 21 joined thereto. The filter 21 includes a tube 22 which is shown in a developed view in Fig. 2. Before the strip which forms the filter tube 22 is formed into a tube it is provided adjacent one edge with a reinforcing strip 23 joined to the remainder of the strip in any suitable way such as by glue or the like, and the edge of the strip which carries the reinforcement 23 is formed with V- notches 24 as indicated in Fig. 2. When the structure of Fig. 2 is formed into a tube, the overlapping edges of the tube are held together only by the crimping 25 indicated in Figs. 1 and 3. Then the tube 22 is joined to the outer tube of the cigarette 20 by surrounding an end portion of the latter, and the tube of the cigarette 20 is joined to the tube 22 only by the crimping 26, so that the tube of the cigarette 20 and the tube 22 are held together only by friction. The V-n'otches 24 formed in the edge portion of the filter tube 22 which overlaps the cigarette make it easier to insert the cigarette tube into the filter tube and furthermore make it easier to provide a space between the notched portion of the filter tube 22 and the cigarette for a purpose described below.

Fig. 4 shows a strip 27 made of paper or a relatively light flexible cardboard, the strip 27 having teeth 28 formed along one edge thereof and indicated in Fig. 4.

In accordance with the present invention the strips 27 are fixed within the cigarette container with the teeth 28 located between the notched edge portion 29 of the filter tubes 22 and the cigarettes 20, in the manner indicated in Fig. 5 which shows how a pair of the strips 27 are located on opposite sides of each cigarette 20. Thus, with the arrangement shown in Fig. 5 when a cigarette is pulled downwardly by grasping the filter tube 22 thereof, as viewed in Fig. 5, the filter will draw the cigarette out of the container with the filter, and the user will receive a filter cigarette from the container. However, if the cigarette 20 is moved upwardly, as viewed in Fig. 5, the strips 27 will retain the filter tube 22 and the filter therein within the container, and only the cigarette 26) will be removed from the container, so that in this way a cigarette without a filter may be obtained directly from the package.

The manner in which this result is accomplished is further illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7. Thus, Figs. 6 and 7 show a conventional cigarette container 30 having opposite ends 31 and 32 capable of being opened in a conventional manner. It will be noted that the filter cigarettes are located within the container with the filter ends thereof next to the end 32 of the container, and the means for retaining the filters in the container has the form of toothed strips 33 similar to the toothed strips 27 but being narrower than the latter. These strips 33 are fixed within the container between the layers of cigarettes therein in the manner illustrated in Fig. 8. Thus, a pair of strips 33aand 3311 are located between the outer layers of cigarettes 20 and the outer sides 34 of the package container 30, these strips 33a and 3312 being glued, for example, to the inner faces of the sides 34 of the container 30. Furthermore, a pair of toothed strips 330 and 33a are provided at their'ends with flaps 35 which are fixed within the container as by being glued to the inner face thereof. As is evident from Figs. 6 and 7, the teeth of the strips 33 are arranged between the filter tubes 22 and the cigarettes 20, respectively, in the space between the reinforced edge portions ofthe filter tubes and the cigarettes, as was described above. As is indicated in Figs. 6 and 7, one end of the container 30 carries at its outer face the indication open here plain, and the opposite end of the container 30 is provided with the indication open here filtered." The latter indicia is located next to the end 32 of the container 30 where the filters of the cigarettes are located. Thus, if the user opens the end 32 of the container 30, the cigarettes can be withdrawn from the container 30 with the filters thereof first emerging from the container and moving away from the toothed strips 33 so that the latter do not prevent the filters from being removed from the container together with the cigarettes. On the other hand, if the end 31 of the container 30 is opened and a cigarette is withdrawn through the end 31, as indicated in Fig. 7, then the filter of the cigarette being withdrawn will move upwardly with the latter only through a relatively short distance while the teeth of the strips 33 enter to a greater extent between the cigarette and the filter, until the latter can no longer move upwardly with the cigarette 20, so that as the cigarette 20 is further removed from the container the filter is detached therefrom and only the cigarette 20 without a filter is removed from the container.

Instead of fiat strips 27 or 33, as described above, the filter retaining or catch means may be in the form of a wavy strip 40, as indicated in Figs. 9 and 10. This strip 40 has the teeth 41 along one edge thereof, and as is indicated in Fig. 10, the strip 40 passes around one side of one cigarette and then around the opposite side of the next cigarette. In this way the wavy strip 40 passes about the cigarettes in the package, and these strips 40 are joined to the inner face of the container 30 in the same way as the strips shown in Fig. 8. That is, at surface portions of the strip 40 which engage the inner faces of the container 30, the strips 40 are glued, for example, to the container,

so that in this way the filter retaining means 40 is fixed within the container 30. It is evident that with the embodiment of Figs. 9 and 10 the same results will be produced as with the above described embodiments.

Figs. 11 and 12 show a further embodiment according to which corrugated strips 42 are provided. These corrugated strips 42 cooperate with the cigarettes 20 in the manner indicated in Fig. 12. Thus, the cigarettes of a given layer in the container 30 are respectively located in the successive recesses 43 formed by the corrugated strip 42, and the teeth 44 of the strip 42 extend between the filters and the cigarettes to produce the same result as described above. The strips 42 may have end flaps glued to the inner face of the container, in the same way as described above and as shown in Fig. 8, and the curved portions of the strips 42 which engage the inner face of the container may also be glued thereto.

Figs. 13-15 show an embodiment of the invention where the filter retaining or catch means is in the form of a zig-zag strip 45. This zig-zag strip 45 as well as the 4 strips 40 or 42 may be made of a paper or of a relatively light flexible cardboard. With the embodiment of Figs. 13-15, an elongated continuous strip 45 is used in each container. As is indicated in Fig. 14, the strip 45 is arranged so as to have oppositely curved wavy portions interlocked with each other and forming openings through which the cigarettes 20 extend, so that these cigarettes are completely surrounded by the strip 45. The arrangement is indicated in Fig. .15 from which it will be seen that starting with the end 46 of the strip 45 there are provided oppositely curved wavy portions which pass in opposite directions around the successive cigarettes. At the corner 47 of the container 30 shown in Fig. 15, the portions of the strip 45 continue in the manner shown in Fig. 15 in an opposite direction along the next layer of cigarettes, and in this way all of the cigarettes are surrounded by one continuous zig-zag strip. The places where the portions of the strip 45 surrounding two adjacent layers of cigarettes, such as the portions 48, are located are glued to each other, and at the places 49 where the strip 45 engages the inner face of the container, the strip 45 is glued to this inner face, so that in this way the strip 45 is fixed to the container in the interior thereof. As is indicated diagrammatically in Fig. 14, the bottom V-shaped portions of the strip 45, as viewed in Fig. 14, extend between the filters and cigarettes, respectively, so that with this embodiment of the invention the same results can be produced as with the other embodiments of the invention.

The embodiment of the invention described and shown in Figs. 13-15 is of advantage because one continuous strip may'be used, and it is possible to place this strip about the cigarettes while the latter are moving one after the other on a conveyor or the like, after which the cigarettes are arranged in the layers shown in Fig. 15 with the strip 45 previously located on the cigarettes. The portions of the strip 45 which are glued together may be previously provided with a glue which is moistened in order to cause the gluing action to take place. Furthermore, it will be noted that several strips 45 may be cut from a sheet of paper or the like without any waste, so that this embodiment is very economical. It will be noted also, with the other embodiments of the invention that when a toothed strip is cut from a section of sheet material, the latter has a plurality of teeth remaining thereon and, these teeth may form the toothed edge of another strip, so that in this way also an economical process for making the strips is provided, since there is a minimum waste.

With respect to the outer strip portions such as the strips 33a and 33b as shown in Fig. 8, it should s'e noted that it. is possible to omit these latter strips and instead to form in the Sides 34 of the container 30 cutouts having toothed edges which are arranged with the teeth thereof between the filters and cigarettes of the outer layers, so that the teeth which are thus formed in the sides 34 of the container 30 cooperate with the cigarette in the same way as the strips 33a and 33b of Fig. 8. With such an arrangement, the container 30 is surrounded in a conventional manner with cellophane or the like, so that the cigarettes exposed by such cutouts formed in the sides 34 of the container 30 are still kept fresh and are visible but not accessible.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of packaging arrangements dif fering from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a cigarette packaging arrangement, it is not intended tobe limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt-it for various 55 applications without omitting features that, from the stand point of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. A cigarette packaging arrangement comprising, in combination, a container having opposite ends each of which is capable of being opened; a plurality of filter cigarettes located in said container, each of said cigarettes having a removable filter and said cigarettes being arranged in said container with "the filters thereof located next to one of said ends of said container; and means in said container for preventing the filters of said cigarettes from being removed from the container with said cigarettes only when the latter are removed from said container through the end opposite from said one end thereof, whereby when the cigarettes are removed from said opposite end of said container the cigarettes emerge from the container without a filter while when the cigarettes are removed from said one end of said container the cigarettes emerge with the filters.

2. A cigarette packaging arrangement comprising, in combination, a container having opposite ends each of which is capable of being opened; a plurality of filter cigarettes located in said container, each of said cigarettes having a tubular filter joined thereto only by friction, said cigarettes being arranged in said container with the filters located next to one of said ends of said container; and cat-ch means located in said container for catching said filters to prevent the same from being removed from the container with the cigarettes only when the cigarettes are removed from the container through the end thereof opposite from said one end.

3. A cigarette packaging arrangement comprising, in combination, a container; a plurality of filter cigarettes located in said container and each having a detachable filter and means in said container engaging the filters of said cigarettes, respectively, for preventing said filters from being removed from the container with said cigarettes only when the latter are removed through one of the ends of the container.

4. A cigarette pack-aging arrangement comprising, in combination, a container having opposite ends each of which is capable of being opened; a plurality of cigarettes located in said container, each of said cigarettes having frictionally connected thereto a tubular filter surrounding a part of each cigarette; and toothed means located in said container and having teeth respectively located between each cigarette and the filter thereon for preventing the filters from being removed from the container with the cigarettes when the latter are removed through one end of the container while permitting the filters to be removed from the container with the cigarettes when the latter are removed through the opposite end of the container.

5. A cigarette packaging arrangement comprising, in combination, a container having opposite ends each of which is capable of being opened; a plurality of filter cigarettes located in said container with the filters thereof located next to one end of said container, the filters of said cigarettes respectively being in the form of tubular members surrounding the cigarettes, respectively, and being only frictionally connected thereto; and a plurality of toothed strips located in said container, being fixed thereto, and having teeth located between said filters and cigarettes, respectively, so that said cigarettes can be removed from the container with said filters only when the latter are drawn together with the cigarettes through said one end of said container.

6. A cigarette packing arrangement comprising, in combination, a container having opposite ends each of which is capable of being opened; a plurality of layers of filter cigarettes located in said container with the filters thereof located next to one of saidends of said container, said filters being in the form of tubes which surround said cigarettes, respectively, and which are only frictionally connected thereto; and a plurality of toothed strips fixed in said container with each of said layers of cigarettes located between and engaged by a pair of said toothed strips, the latter having along one edge thereof a plurality of teeth extending between the cigarettes and the filters thereon to prevent said filters from being removed from the container with the cigarettes when the latter are removed from the end of the container opposite from said one end thereof.

7. A cigarette packaging arrangement comprising, in combination, a container having opposite ends each of which is capable of being opened; a plurality of filter cigarettes located in said container with the filters thereof located adjacent one end of said container, said filters including tubes respectively surrounding and connected only by friction to said cigarettes; and a toothed strip means located in said container and having teeth located between said cigarettes and the filters thereon, respectively, for preventing said filters from being removed from the container with the cigarettes when the latter are removed through the end of the container opposite from said one end thereof.

8. A cigarette packaging arrangement comprising, in combination, a container having opposite ends each of which is capable of being opened; a plurality of filter cigarettes located in said container with the filters thereof located adjacent one end of said container, said filters including tubes respectively surrounding and connected only by friction to said cigarettes; and a toothed strip means located in said container and having teeth located between said cigarettes and the filters thereon, respectively, for preventing said filters from being removed from the container with the cigarettes when the latter are removed through the end of the container opposite from said one end thereof, said toothed strip means being in the form of elongated strips having teeth along only one edge thereof.

9. A cigarette packaging arrangement comprising, in combination, a container having opposite ends each of which is capable of being opened; a plurality of filter cigarettes located in said container with the filters thereof located adjacent one end of said container, said filters including tubes respectively surrounding and connected .only by friction to said cigarettes; and a toothed strip means located in said container and having teeth located between said cigarettes and the filters thereon, respectively, for preventing said filters from being removed from the container with the cigarettes when the latter are removed through the end of the container opposite from said one end thereof, said toothed strip means being in the form of an elongated curved strip passing partly about one side of one cigarette and then partly about the opposite side of the next cigarette and having teeth respectively located between said filters and cigarettes.

10. A cigarettte packaging arrangement comprising, in combination, a container having opposite ends each of which is capable of being opened; a plurality of filter cigarettes located in said container with the filters thereof located adjacent one end of said container, said filters including tubes respectively surrounding and connected only by friction to said cigarettes; and a toothed strip means located in said container and having teeth located between said cigarettes and the filters thereon, respectively, for preventing said filters from being removed from the container with the cigarettes when the latter are removed through the end of the container opposite from said one end thereof, said toothed strip means being in the form of a corrugated strip partly surrounding a plurality of said cigarettes and having teeth along one edge located between said filters and cigarettes, respectively. 11. A cigarette packaging arrangement comprising, in

combination, a container having opposite ends each of which is capable of being opened; a plurality of filter cigarettes located in said container with the filtersthere'of located adjacent one end of saidcontainer, said filters including tubes respectively surrounding and connected only by friction to said cigarettes; and a toothed strip means located in said container and having teeth located between said cigarettes and the filters thereon, respectively, for preventing said filters from being removed from the container with the cigarettes when the latter are removed through the end of the container opposite from said one end thereof, said toothed strip means being in the form of a zig-zag strip surrounding the cigarettes and having teeth located between said filters and cigarettes, respectively.

12. A cigarette packaging arrangement comprising, in combination, a container having opposite ends each of which is capable of being opened; a plurality of filter cigarettes located in said container with the filters thereof located adjacent one end of said container, said filters including tubes which surround said cigarettes, respectively, and are connected thereto only by friction; and an elongated zi'g-zag strip of flexible material having elongated opposed oppositely curved wavy portions interlocked with each other and respectively surrounding said cigaretttes, parts of said strip forming teeth, and said teeth being located between said filters and cigarettes, respectively, said strip being fixed to said container so that the filters are retained in the latter when the cigarettes are removed through the opposite end of the con- [51111611 References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 931,582 Drucklieb Aug. 17, 1909 1,881,293 Poirier et al. Oct. 4, 1932 2,695,617 I Warnberg Nov. 30, 1954 2,747,579 Gage et al. May 29, 1956

Images