US2729326A - Cigarette carton - Google Patents

Description

M. STADNYK CIGARETTE CARTON Jan. 3, 1956 Filed Aug. 29, 1951 INVENTOR. film /4:4 Sup/ww- Unitfid t tes Patefi CIGARETTE CARTON Michael Stadnyk, Webster, N. Y. Application August 29, 1951, Serial No. 244,153 1 Claim. (Cl. 206-44.12)

The present invention relates to boxes or cartons for containing packages of cigarettes or similar articles.

The conventional cigarette carton is ordinarily made to hold ten packages of cigarettes comprising two horizontal rows of five packages each, superimposed on one another. It is formed with a cover that, when closed, covers the whole of the top row; and to get at the packages of cigarettes or to remove a package from the carton the glued flap of the cover must be broken open to permit opening the cover. This is somewhat of a nuisance to the user; and moreover this construction has other disadvantages as will appear hereinafter.

At the present time, for instance, several States require application of a State tax stamp to each package of cigarettes that is to be sold within that particular State. With the conventional type of cigarette carton, the distributor, jobber, or wholesaler, located in such a State, must unseal the glued flap of each carton, cut a side of the carton loose, affix the tax stamp to each package of cigarettes and then reseal the carton. This entails considerable labor cost. Moreover, the cartons are subjected to considerable han dling and are often damaged thereby. Furthermore, with the conventional cigarette carton, should a tax inspector desire to inspect the packages of cigarettes, the dealer has again to unseal the glued flap of each carton to be inspected and, after such inspection, again reseal the carton flap, thus again subjecting the cartons to considerable handling and possible damage, and, at the same time, in creasing the labor costs and time lost.

One object of the present invention is to provide a carton for packages of cigarettes which is so constructed that tax stamps may be affixed to the packages of cigarettes without the necessity of breaking open and resealing the glued flap of the carton and which is furthermore so constructed that the stamped packages can readily be inspected without repeatedly breaking open and rescaling the carton.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cigarette carton from which individual packages of cigarettes may be removed Without having to lift up any lid or cover.

A further object of the invention is to provide a carton which is suitable for use as a dispensing box and in which the individual packages of cigarettes may be so arranged as to be withdrawn therefrom one at a time.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved type of cigarette carton made from a single blank and which may be hung on a wall or the like in position for dispensing the individual packages of cigarettes therefrom.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a cigarette carton so constructed as to effect a material saving in the amount of cardboard required to form the same as compared with the amount required to make a conventional cigarette carton, capable of holding the same number of packages of cigarettes.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an' improved cigarette carton which is of simple construction and which may be made at comparatively low cost.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent hereinafter from the specification and from the recital of the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a cigarette carton made according to one embodiment of this invention, looking at the carton from the front and one side;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of this carton looking at it from the rear and from the opposite side;

Fig. 3 is a plan view on a somewhat reduced scale showing the blank from which the carton is constructed; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary vertical section through the carton on a somewhat enlarged scale.

Referring first to Fig. 3, it will be seen that the cardboard blank from which the carton is to be formed, is folded or scored to provide four major panels 10, 11, 12 and 13, which form respectively the left side, front, right side, and back walls of the carton. The blank is further formed with a glue flap 14, adjoining panel 10, and with pairs of folding flaps 15 and 16, 17 and 18, 19 and 20, 21 and 22 at opposite ends, respectively, of the panels iii, 11, 12 and 13, respectively.

The carton illustrated is to contain ten packages of cigarettes. The panel 12 has, therefore, ten apertures or windows 25 cut into it. Each of these windows is so located that when the blank has been folded into carton shape and the packages of cigarettes have been assembled into the carton, there is'an apertureor window 25 disposed opposite one end 26 of each package of cigarettes 27 in the carton. The carton is folded into the shape shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4. One end is left open, of course, until the packages of cigarettes have been stacked in the carton, one on top of the other with the packages horizontal as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2 and with one end 26 of each package opposite one of the windows 25 in the panel 12. The apertures 25 are preferably made as small as possible in order to avoid unduly weakening the carton.

With the construction shown it is easy for a dealer to stamp the end of each package, as shown at 28, without requiring the opening and rescaling of the carton. More over, when a tax inspector desires to ascertain whether the packages in a particular carton of cigarettes have had the necessary tax stamps applied thereto, all that is required is for him to pick up the carton; he can see at a glance whether or not the stamps have been attired. instead of having to unseal the flap and open the carton, to stamp the individual packages or to inspect them, as is required with conventional cartons, and instead of having to reseal each. carton, after stamping or inspecting the individual packages, the carton of the present invention may be left intact, just as sealed at the factory, and the packages can be stamped or inspected in a matter of a second or so. Accordingly, if the customer purchases a carton of cigarettes rather than a single package he Will receive a sealed carton exactly as packed at the factory.

The left side panel 10 of the carton is scored or perforated, as indicated at 29, to provide a removable piece 39 a slight amount wider and deeper than the width and depth of a cigarette package. This piece 30 is aligned with the lowermost of the apertures 25 in panel 12. The piece 30 of cardboard can readily be removed; and the carton can then be used as a dispensing package, the opening provided by removal of the piece 30 providing a dispensing opening through which the successively lowermost package 27 of cigarettes in the carton can be pushed out of the carton by pushing on the opposite end of the package through the lowermost aperture 25. When one package is removed fromthe carton the other packages fall down, each being successively positioned by gravity to be subsequently dispensed from the carton. The carton may be hung up on a wall by means of a keyhole slot 31 provided in rear panel 13 and into which may be inserted the head of a thumbtack or suitable hook fastened to the wall. There are, of course, numerous simple and effective means for accomplishing the above, though only one is illustrated. With the carton of the present invention, then, a single package of cigarettes can readily be removed from the carton, after the piece 30 has been torn out of the panel 10, without opening the carton. This is a convenience and another feature of the invention.

If desired the front and rear panels 11 and 13 may be notched alongside piece 30 so that after the piece 30 is removed the lowermost cigarette package can be grasped through these notches so as to permit its removal from the carton. Side flaps may be provided on piece 30 by scoring front and rear panels 11 and 13 simultaneously with the scoring of panel for piece 30, thereby making it possible to form the notches when piece 30 is torn from the carton.

Conventional cigarette cartons are made to contain ten packages of cigarettes positioned in two superimposed rows and for this purpose the cover and bottom panels of the carton have a length equal to approximately five times the width of a cigarette package and these panels have a width equal to approximately the length of a cigarette package. In a carton made according to the present invention, the front and rear panels 11 and 13 have a length (or height) equal to approximately ten times the depth of a cigarette package and a width equal to approximately the length of a cigarette package while the side panels 10 and 12 have a length (or height) equal to approximately ten times the depth of a cigarette package and a width equal to approximately the width of a cigarette package. By making the carton as in the present invention, a material saving in cardboard is effected. It has been calculated that for regular size cigarettes a saving of 7.049 square inches of cardboard can be achieved for a ten package carton of cigarettes as compared with the conventional ten package cigarette carton. For king size cigarettes, the saving effected with the present invention over a conventional carton is 8.27 square inches. Due to the lessening of surface area and to the favorable change in the length and width dimensions, it is possible to obtain twenty blanks such as shown in Fig. 3, from the same standard sheet of cardboard which now yields only sixteen conventional blanks. This is a saving in cardboard. There should be further important savings in printing inks, material handling costs and shipping costs. This is one of the most important features of the invention.

V-fhile in the embodiment disclosed the apertures or windows are provided in panel 12, it will be understood that they might instead be provided in front panel 1.1 or rear panel 13, each package of cigarettes then being stamped on one of its narrow sides. Furthermore, while the invention has been illustrated as embodied in a carton which has no cover, a carton might also be made according to the invention somewhat like conventional g the carton and the width and length 4 cartons with a cover. In the case of the present invention, however, the cover would form the front or rear panel of the carton and have, of course, its closing flap along one side and its end flaps at top and bottom. In this case, the top and bottom flaps 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22 would be eliminated and top and bottom flaps would be formed on the side panels. The cigarette packages would be stacked vertically as in the embodiment of the invention illustrated, not placed in two horizontal rows as in conventional cartons.

Furthermore, while the invention has been disclosed in connection with a cigarette carton, it will be understood that it may be applied to cartons for containing and dispensing various other articles, such as razor blade packages, etc.

While the invention has been described, then, in conuection with a particular embodiment thereof, it will be understood that it is capable of further modification; and this application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention following, in general, the principles of the invention and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which the invention pertains and as may be applied to the essential features hereinbefore set forth and as fall within the scope of the invention or the limits of the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is:

A carton of cigarette packages or like articles, said carton having front, rear, and opposite side walls and top and bottom closing flaps, and in which the packages are stacked on top of one another, the height of said carton being equal to that of the column of packages stacked in of the carton being equal to the width and length of one of said packages, said carton having a plurality of elongate, spaced window apertures in one wall, said window apertures extending each in the direction of the width of said packages and being equal in number to the number of packages containabie in said carton, said window apertures being disposed one above the other in the same order as the packages, and one of said window apertures being opposite each package whereby stamps may be applied to the packages and the packages inspected through said window apertures, and the wall of said carton, which is opposite said apertured wall, having a removable piece adjacent its bottom end which has an area at least as great as the registering side of the lowermost package in the carton, whereby the successively lowermost packages may be dispensed through the opening formed by removal of said piece.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 406,652 Kinney July 9, 1889 1,862,685 Kennet June 14, 1932 2,129,701 Malocsay Sept. 13, 1938 2,385,400 Briggs Sept. 25, 1945

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