Cigarette dispensing package

• US 3,881,599 A
• Filed: 01/24/1974
• Issued: 05/06/1975
• Est. Priority Date: 01/24/1974
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Kenneth Allen Flaherty
• Original Assignee: Kenneth Allen Flaherty
• Inventors: Flaherty, Kenneth Allen
• Primary Examiner(s): Moorhead, Davis T.
• Application Number:
  US05/436,024
• Time in Patent Office: 467 Days
• Field of Search: 206/236,267,273,242,268,38C 229/44R,44CB,17,7
• US Class Current: 206/273
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 85/1036 Containers formed by erecting a rigid or semi-rigid blank

Abstract

A package for cigarettes or other like articles comprising an outer shell with an inner shell mounted therein for swinging movement relative to the outer shell. The inner shell housing cigarettes or other articles and being movable from a position completely enclosed within the outer shell to an angular position relative to the outer shell whereby a portion of the top of the inner shell is exposed laterally of the outer shell to permit cigarettes or other articles to be extracted therefrom.

Claims

1. A package for cigarettes or other articles comprising:

a. an outer shell having opposed front and rear wall panels and top and bottom panels connecting said wall panels, said panels defining a pair of opposed open sides, said bottom panel having first and second portions;

b. an inner shell containing said cigarettes or other articleS, said inner shell being positioned within said outer shell, said inner shell having oppposed front and rear wall panels and side panels connecting said wall panels, at least a portion of at least one of said panels extending substantially between the second portion of said bottom panel and said top panel and having an edge engageable in sliding contect with the under surface of the top panel of said outer shell upon rotation of said inner shell relative to the outer shell, said inner shell being connected to the first portion of the bottom panel of said outer shell;

c. hinge means on the bottom panel of said outer shell connecting said first and second portions of the bottom panel of said outer shell to permit swinging movement of said first portion relative to the second portion whereby the inner shell is rotatable to and from a first position within said outer shell, and a second position angularly disposed relative to said outer shell wherein a portion of the top of the inner shell is exposed lateraly of said outer shell so that articles may be removed therefrom;

d. abutment means on the under surface of said top panel for engagement with the portion of the inner shell which extends between the second portion of the bottom panel and the top panel of said outer shell to limit the rotation of the inner shell.

2. A package as recited in claim 1 wherein said inner shell has first and second side panels and said first side panel extends substantially between said second portion of the bottom panel of said outer shell and the top panel of said outer shell and upon swinging movement of said inner shell is in sliding engagement with the under surface of the top panel and engages said abutment means to limit rotation of the inner shell.

3. A package as recited in claim 1 wherein the panels comprising the inner shell extend substantially between the top and bottom panels of said outer shell whereby the full length of the cigarettes are housed within said inner shell.

4. A package as recited in claim 1 wherein said abutment means for limiting the rotational movement of said inner shell includes an abutment surface on the under surface of the top panel of the outer shell engageable with a portion of said inner shell upon rotation of said inner shell.

5. A package as recited in claim 4 wherein said abutment surface is formed by a member integral with said top panel and connected to said top panel by a fold line.

6. A package as recited in claim 5 wherein said top panel is comprised of a pair of layers adhered together and said member is integral with the lower of said layers having been cut therefrom and folded out of the plane of said lower layer into an adjacent lower plane and adhered to the under surface of said lower layer.

7. A package as recited in claim 1 wherein said inner shell includes a bottom panel a portion of which directly overlies the first portion of the bottom panel of said shell and is adhered thereto.

8. A package as recited in claim 1 wherein one side panel of the inner shell is integral with the first portion of the bottom panel of said outer shell and is connected thereto by a fold line extending in a direction between said front and rear wall panels of the outer shell.

9. A package as recited in claim 1 wherein said second portion of said bottom panel of the outer shell is formed integrally with said front and rear walls of said outer shell and said first portion is separate from said front and rear walls of said outer shell and said first portion is separate from said front and rear wall panels being connected to said outer shell only by said hinge means.

10. A package as recited in claim 1 wherein said hinge means is comprised of a score line extending across said bottom panel of the outer shell said score line separating said first and second portions of said bottom panel.

11. A package as recited in claim 1 wherein said first portion of the bottom panel of said outer shell extends over a range of about 55 perCent to about 60 percent of the length of said bottom panel.

12. A package as recited in claim 1 wherein said first portion of the bottom panel of said outer shell extends over a range of about 50 percent to about 75 percent of the length of said bottom panel.

13. A package as recited in claim 1 further includes a liner for enclosing cigarettes and like articles and a closure member, said liner having front, back and side wall panels and top and bottom panels and being received within the inner shell, said closure member being comprised of a sheet having opposed end portions secured to the front and back wall panels of said liner, said sheet extending across a portion of said top panel and having an edge defining a tearing guide whereby a portion of the top panel may be neatly torn away to obtain access to the cigarettes or other housed articles.

14. A blank for forming the outer shell of a package for cigarettes or other articles comprising:

a. a front wall panel;

b. a rear wall panel;

c. a bottom panel having a first portion and a second portion, said second portion being integral with said front and rear wall panels and connected thereto by a pair of fold lines, said first portion being separate from said front and rear wall panels but connected to said second portion by a score line extending in a direction transversely of said fold lines;

d. a pair of top panels integral with said front and rear wall panels respectively at the opposite side of said wall panels from said bottom panel, one of said top panels having means thereon for defining an abutment surface.

15. A blank as recited in claim 14 wherein said means for defining an abutment surface is comprised of a tab integral with said top panel and connected by a fold line whereby said tab may be folded across the under surface of the panel to form an abutment surface.

16. A blank as recited in claim 15 wherein said tab forming said abutment surface is cut from said top panel said tab being connected to said panel by a fold line whereby said tab can be folded into a plane adjacent the plane of said top panel and adhered thereto.

17. A one piece blank for forming a package for cigarettes or other articles said blank comprising:

a. an outer shell front wall panel;

b. an outer shell rear wall panel;

c. a bottom panel between said front and rear wall panel, said bottom panel being comprised of first and second portions, said secod portion being connected to said wall panels by fold lines, said first and second portions being connected by a score line extending across said panel transversely of said fold lines;

d. a pair of top panels connected to the respective edges of said front and rear wall panels opposite said bottom panel by respective fold lines, at least one of said panels having means thereon defining an abutment surface;

e. a first inner shell side panel connected to the edge of the first portion of said bottom panel opposite said score line;

f. inner shell front and rear wall panels said front and rear wall panels disposed on opposite sides of said first inner shell side panel, said inner shell wall panels being connected to said first inner shell side panel by respective fold lines;

g. a pair of second inner shell side panels connected by respective fold lines to the sides of said shell front and rear panels opposite said first side panel.

18. A blank as recited in claim 17 wherein said means for defining an abutment surface is comprised of a tab integral with said top panel and connected thereto by a fold line whereby said tab may be folded across the under surface of the top panel to form an abutment surface.

19. A blank as recited in claim 18 wherein the tab forming said abutment surface is cut from the top panel, said tab being connected to said panel by a fold line and being foldable into a plane adjacent the plane of said panel.