US2937741A - Ash tray attachable to cigarette package - Google Patents

Description

y 4 1960 E. w. OLLE 2,937,741

ASH TRAY ATTACHABLE TO CIGARETTE PACKAGE Filed June 10, 1959 "'"l 'w 'llllu 29 m F c. 3

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INVENTOR- EA R L. W. O L L E United States Patent ASH TRAY ATTACHABLE T0 CIGARETTE PACKAGE Earl W. Olle, 1500 Flett Ave., Racine, Wis.

Filed June 10, 1959, Ser. No. 819,495

4 Claims. (Cl. 206-38) 2,937,741 Patented May 24, 1960 The same reference numerals refer to the same parts,

cigarette package indicated 11, and shown in dot-dash lines, and it will of course be understood that the package 11 is of a conventional type of cigarette package, either the present day, soft package-type, or the present day hard package-type, and also it can be of the regular size or the long size package. The tray 10 can be made of metal or other rigid material so that it will fit snugly with the lower end of the package 11 throughout the upper portion 12 of the tray, which is alsoshown to be of a rectangular shape in plan view. Thus, it will be understood that the package 11 extends to its bottom 13, as shown in Figs. 3 and 5, and in this relation between tray and package, the tray is securely attachedto, but

cigarette package for the purpose of carrying the package and the tray, and which can also be readily separated from the package for the purpose of using the tray in its function of receiving ashes and cigarettes.

Another object of this invention is to provide an ash tray which is attachable to a cigarette package, and when 1 so attached, can retain the ashes and cigarette butts and can thus be carried in the users pocket, purse, or the like.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an ash tray of the type attachable to a cigarette package 1,;

and wherein the tray can be used on furniture with delicate finishes and on like resting places without damaging them by the heat of the cigarette placed into the ash tray.

Still a further object is to provide an ash tray which can be attached to and removed from a cigarette package and which will retain the ashes and cigarette butts without dirtying the package when attached thereto. In accomplishing this particular object, it will be seen hereinafter that special provision is made for keeping the 5 cigarette package spaced away from the portion of the ash tray which contains the ashes and cigarette butts and the like, and thus the cigarette package is not in direct contact with the deposit in the ash tray, and is therefore kept clean, so that it can be placed into the pocket or purse without getting themdirty Still another object is toprovide an ash tray which can be attached to and-removed from a conventional cigarette package and, when attached thereto it will fit air-tight with the package to snuff out any lit cigarettes that are in the tray, and to prevent the escape of ashes from the tray.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent upon reading the following description in conjunction .With the accompanying drawings, wherein:

:the ash tray; with the view being similar to the vsection Fig. 4 is a view showing still a further embodiment of the ash tray and with the view being similar to the section 2-2.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a fragment of the ash tray shown and taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

removable from the package 11, and further, for a reason mentioned later, the tray upper portion 12 fits snugly and airtight with the lower end of the package 11 The tray upper portion 12 extends from the top edge 14' down to the shoulder 16, which in the Fig. 1 embodiment, is an offset on the four sides of the tray 10, and which extends entirely around the tray 10. It is the shoulder or offset 16 which, in the Fig. 1 embodiment, actually provides the bottom rest or limit position for the bottom 13 of the cigarette package. The tray lower portion 17 is thus below the package bottom 13, and it consists of an upper section 18 and a lower section 19, both of which extend throughout a horizontal segment of the tray 10. That is, a screen or grill 21 is disposed in the bottom of the tray 10 to be spaced from the bottom or base 22 throughout the length of the tray 10, and thus the tray ash-receiving section 19 is defined by the tray bottom or base 22, and the upper horizontal extent23 of the grill or screen 21. As shown in Fig. 5, it will of course be understood that the opposite ends of the grill or screen 21 extend downwardly from the portion 23 along the ends of the tray and to the tray bottom or base 22, so that the grill or screen 21 is snug and supported in the tray 10. These two ends of the screen or grill are indicated 24. I

Fig. 2 shows the remaining and intermediate tray section 18 to be disposed and defined between the screen section 23 and the shoulder 16. Thus,the section 18 serves to retain cigarette butts indicated 26, and this section 18continues to serve this purpose when the tray 10is attached to the bottom of the package 11, and

tains the cigarette butts 26 along with the cigarette. ashes,

even when the package 11 is assembled with the tray 10,

and the entire assembly can be placed into ones pocket or purse without spilling ashes or the like;

Further by way of description of the construction,,tas well as mention of the function thereof, it will also be understood that the screen serves to catch the ashes which pass through its upper horizontal section 23, so that these ashes can fall to the tray bottom 22, and thus be somewhat confined therein. until it vis desired to empty the tray after, perhaps, several times using the tray and reassembling it with the package, and then ultimately finding a convenient place. for emptying the contents of the tray. One real and important advantage and reason for the screen 21 is that it permits the support of a cigarette, as indicated 27 in Fig. 2, in a .position so that the lower, lighted end of the cigarette screen 21 so that the latter cannot fall out of the tray 10 when the tray is inverted for emptying the butts and ashes and matches or the like therefrom. The indents 28 also assure that the screen 21 will be held downwardly in the tray 10, so that the butts and the like will not contact the bottom 13 of the package when the tray and package are assembled and in the upright position, and thus the bottom of the package will not become contaminated with ashes so that when it is removed from the tray 10, it can be placed into the pocket or purse of the user without getting ashes therein.

Fig. 3 shows a modification of the structure of Figs. 1 and 2 in that another set of indentations 28 is provided, and in this instance are designated 29, and it will be understood that they can extend along the opposite sides of the tray 10 in the manner shown, in connection with the indentation 28 of Fig. 1, and the two indentations 28 of Fig. 2. Thus the indentations 29 are stops or shoulders, which limit the lowering position of the package bottom 13, and thus serve the function of stopping the package in its lowered position, just as the encircling shoulder or stop 16 limits the lowering of the package 11.

Figs. 4 and 5 show another modification of the tray 10, and in this instance, the tray sides are planular except for the indentation 28 on the opposite sides. Thus, the modification shows the tray upper section 12 and the intermediate section 18 and the lower section with, of course, the lower section extending from the indentation 28, down to the tray bottom or base 31, and the intermediate section then extends from the horizontal section 32 of the screen or grill or wire 33, up to the top 34 of the wire 33. The particular formation of the screen 33 is best shown in Fig. 5, where a pedestal or upright section 36 is formed in the screen 33 to extend above horizontal section 32, and the figure also then shows that the tray intermediate portion 18 extends from the wire or screen portion 32 to the top of the pedestal 36, which is coincident with the bottom 13 of the cigarette package.

It will thus be understood that all shown modifications of the tray and the original or preferred embodiment thereof, consist of these sections, namely, the package-attaching section 12, the butt-retaining section 18, and the spaced or ash-retaining section 19. With these fundamentals, the tray 10 has a great usefulness, not only as an ash tray when the package 11 is removed therefrom, as indicated in Fig. 2, but it also has useful ness in retaining the butts and ashes within the tray, when the package 11 is assembled with the tray, and the two are merely being carried or stored until it is desired to use them. It will also he understood that in all instances, a lighted cigarette or match cannot heat the tray bottom to where the latter will in turn mar furniture on which it is standing, and, further the package 11 fits snugly with the tray upper section 12 so that ashes cannot escape therefrom and oxygen cannot enter so that any lighted butts in the section 18 will be automatically extinguished.

While specific embodiments of this invention have been shown and described, it will be obvious that certain changes can be made therein, and the invention should, therefore, be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An ash tray attachable to and enclosable with the bottom end of a cigarette package, comprising a top portion having a rectangular opening of the size of the cross-sectional area of said bottom end and being endlessly disposed around said bottom end and snugly attached thereto in an air-tight manner and being removable therefrom, a bottom portion including a base for standing said tray on a support, an ash grill disposed in said bottom portion and being spaced from the base thereof for supporting a cigarette away from said base to avoid heating the latter and for forming an ash compartment in said bottom portion between said base and said grill, an intermediate portion integral with and disposed between said top portion and said bottom portion, and stop means on said intermediate portion and contiguous with said top portion and spaced above said ash grill and projecting into the interior of said tray to be disposed in the plane of the sides of said package to abut the latter for limiting movement of said package toward said bottom portion, when said tray and package are being assembled, to space the base of said package above said ash grill a distance sufficient to retain cigarette butts between said grill and said base of said package.

2. An ash tray attachable to and enclosable with the bottom end of a cigarette package, comprising a top portion having a rectangular opening of the size of said bottom end for endlessly snugly encircling the latter to attach to said package in an air-tight manner, a bottom portion including a base for standing said tray on a sup port, an ash grill disposed in said bottom portion and being spaced from the base thereof for supporting a cigarette above said base to avoid heating the latter and for forming an ash compartment in the space between said base and said ash grill, an intermediate portion integral with and disposed between said top portion and said bottom portion, and stop means disposed in said tray in the enclosed volume of said intermediate portion and being spaced above said ash compartment for abutting said package and thereby limiting movement of said package toward said bottom portion so that the base of said package is spaced above said ash grill a distance suflicient to retain cigarette butts between said ash grill and said base of said package.

3. A combined ash tray and cigarette package, com prising a tray including an upper end encircling the bottom of said package to be air-tight therewith and removable therefrom, an ash grill disposed in said tray spaced from the base thereof and from the base of said package, and stop means in said tray on the plane of said base of said package and in abutment with the latter for limiting movement of said package toward said base of said tray.

4. An ash tray attachable to and enclosable with the bottom end of a cigarette package, comprising an upper end having an opening of the size of the cross-section of said package for endlessly encircling and snugly receiving said bottom end of said package, and an ash grill disposed in said tray and spaced from the base thereof in one portion thereof and extending way from said one portion and toward said upper end in a second portion thereof and providing a stop for the limit of insertion of said package into said tray and for forming a cigarette butt retaining compartment between the base of said package and said one portion of said ash grill.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 947,785 Bjork et al. Feb. 1, 1910 967,149 Herbst Aug. 9, 1910 1,666,215 Miller Apr. 17, 1928 1,829,844 Altmayer Nov. 3, 1931 1,902,388 Welch Mar. 21, 1933

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