US3237837A - Dispensing containers - Google Patents

Description

March 1, 1966 R. H. VIZETHANN DISPENSING CONTAINERS Filed Jan. 27, 1964 INVENTOR. RAYMOND E VYZZ'ZHAJVW United States Patent Ofifice 3,2313% Patented Mar. 1, 1966 3,237,837 DISPENSING CONTAINERS Raymond E. Vizethaun, 766 Terhune Road, Ridgewood, NJ. Filed Jan. 27, 1964, Ser. No. 340,294 1 Claim. (Cl. 229-17) This invention relates to a dispensing container and especially to a box or carton for shipping cans and having readily removable portions to facilitate the use of the container as a dispenser on a gravity feed merchandise rack.

In a co-pending application for US. Letters Patent Serial #340,293, filed January 27, 1964, in which I am co-inventor there is shown a method and apparatus for dispensing cans in supermarkets or the like from a merchandise rack by gravity feed through the use of the shipping container as part of the combination with the merchandise rack in order to decrease excess handling of the cans and to facilitate the dispensing of the cans to the customer. The present invention relates only to the arrangement in the dispensing container itself whereby portions are removable to facilitate the gravity dispensing of the cans.

Generally described, without restriction on the scope of my invention as defined in the appended claim, the container may be folded in any suitable manner by hand or by whatever folding machinery is desired and the exact fold of the basic container itself does not per se form any part of or restriction on the present invention. For illustration a carton is folded into rectangular formation through the conventional use of front and back fiaps foldable about fold lines along opposite sides and also front end flaps foldable from opposite ends on both the back and front. The front and rear flaps are respectively folded inwardly toward each other on top of inwardly folded front and rear and the side flaps on the front and back are folded thereover and glued or otherwise fixed in place. Inherently, this construction in any container or carton leaves raw edges inside the box, carton or container which present potential impediment or interference with the gravity feed of cans lying on their sides stacked in the container. Also, as pointed out in the co-pending application referred to previously, in one form of the invention it is important to space the dispensing container a distance from the front of merchandise support or shelf thereby allowing a few cans to flow from the dispenser prior to removal from the shelf for exhibition purposes and to facilitate in some instances the removal by hand. In the present carton construction, weakened lines, as by perforation or slitting, are formed along opposite sides of one end of the container near the bottom thereof intersecting substantially with the foid lines of the side flaps at that end whereby small substantially rectangular pieces of box are readily removed leaving a flap extending from the side upwardly around one end and joining the end by means of a weakened line whereby the flap is readily detached and extended along the mechandise shelf to position the container, carton or box in the proper location. The small rectangular pieces are removed and discarded and to facilitate all of this, notched portions may be provided at various places to facilitate the insertion of a finger and the grasping and the tearing away of the material.

An object of this invention is to provide removable portions on a shipping container to facilitate the gravity feed of cans therefrom.

A further object of this invention resides in the provision of removable pieces from the shipping container leaving a flap which may be disengaged from the container and extended.

Another object of this invention resides in the provision of weakened lines defining portions of a shipping carton which readily may be torn away to create a dispensing opening through which cans will roll by gravity without impediment from carton edges.

Still another advantage of the present invention is found in the arrangement of a flap which includes one corner of the shipping container whereby the flap may be torn away from its connection with the carton to provide a smooth surface over which cans will roll by gravity and also to provide a space in front of the lower end of the carton during dispensing.

Other and further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent upon reading the following specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a shipping container constructed in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the container shown in FIG. 1, with portions removed and the bottom flap extended.

The completed carton shown in FIG. 1, and designated generally by reference numeral 10 may be constructed basically in any number of container or carton forms adapted to be cut on conventional machinery and folded by existing folding-box machinery in present commercial use. Ordinarily, since cartons for temporarily shipping cans are discarded after use, the construction is kept at a minimum and the material is the most economical available that will withstand one shipment. Various types of paperboard such as cardboard, pressed board and other materials are used for this purpose. Container 10 is made from a basic blank which has opposed sides 12, 14 connected by ends 16, 18 about end fold lines 29 on one end and 22 on the other end. Sides 12, 14 are provided with front and rear flaps, respectively 24, 26 at front, and rear, respectively, 28, 3%), which are foldable about respective fold lines 32 on the front and 34 on the rear. Ends 16, 18 are provided with front flaps 36, 38 foldable about fold lines 44 and rear flaps 42, 44 foldable about rear fold lines 46.

As readily seen in FIG. 1, in completed condition the container 10 has the front flaps 24, 26 folded on top of the flaps 36, 38 and glued in place and likewise the rear fiaps 28, 30 are folded in place on top of flaps d2, 44 to complete the three-dimensional container which has cans stacked therein with the length of the can running substantially parallel with the ends 16, 18.

The foregoing arrangement is conventional in container construction and does not form any part per se of the present invention since other folded container arrangements may be readily used herein.

In the construction of container 10, one of the front flaps 26 is provided with weakened lines, line 59 running parallel to fold line 14 and line 52 running parallel to the fold lines 40. These weakened lines extend through the carton including the flap 36. A weakened portion at 54 defines a finger tab which may be punched out with the finger to assist in the removal and tearing away of a rectangular portion 56 removed by pulling from the container 16. An identical portion 58 is formed along weakened lines 5t}, 52 on the exact opposite side of the container.

The weakened lines extend substantially along the edges 49, 46 defining a portion 6th on the end 42 of container 10 which is to be bent out of position and the exact dimension of flap 60 is defined at the top by weakened line 62 having a finger punch portion 64 therein. The weakened lines identified as 66 extend through the edge of the box on end 42 so that the entire fiap 69 may be bent about the fold line 20 on that end and extended substantially co-extensive with the side 14 to form a flat surface on which cans will roll by gravity.

The dotted lines in FIG. 2, designated by reference numeral 70 represent the end of a gravity feed shelf 70 which is lower than the upper edge 22 of container whereby cans within container 10 will roll from the opening created by the removal of pieces 56, 58 and the transposition of flap 60 whereby cans will feed from the container 10 acting in combination with the shelf 70 as a dispenser and the cans may thereafter be removed by hand from the front of the shelf 70. This is in accordance with the operation fully shown and described in my co-pending application identified previously.

While I have shown and described a particular embodiment of my invention together with a suggested use and operation thereof, this is for the purpose of illustration only and does not constitute any sort of limitation on the scope of my invention since various alterations, changes, deviations, ramifications, modifications, eliminations and substitutions may be made in the embodiment shown and described without departing from the scope of my invention as defined in the appended claim.

I claim:

In a can dispensing package:

(a) a folded shipping container having opposed side and end walls, a top and a bottom wall comprising opposed side flaps and end flaps hingedly formed along fold lines to said side and end wall respectively, folded together one over the other and attached in place to form a box wherein the raw edges of the end flaps lie inside and transversely of the side flaps,

(b) said container having cylindrical containers such as cans inside, said cylindrical containers lying in rows parallel With the ends, the longitudinal axis of each parallel to said side and end walls,

(c) a removable portion of said top panel at one corner there of defined by weakened lines extending through said side flap and underlying end flap, said weakened lines extending from the junction of one side and one end wall to spaced points along the fold lines joining the side flap to said one side wall and the end flap to said one end wall, the weakened lines extending from said points to another point spaced inwardly of said fold lines; said removable portion including at least a portion of the raw edge of the end panel which are removed therewith,

(d) a second identical removable portion on the bottom panel located at the directly opposite corner thereof,

(e) a corner flap, formed by weakened lines located on the end wall between said identical removable portion, said corner flap being hingedly attached to said one side wall, and positioned between said removable portions, so that said corner flap becomes an extension of said side wall when said container is positioned on its side wall and located on an inclined support whereby said cans will roll by gravity.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,585,494 5/1926 Harvey 229-17 1,668,171 5/1928 Pratt 206-56 1,959,231 5/1934 Dube 229--17 2,139,021 12/1938 Johnson 22951 2,842,304 7/ 1958 Ringler 22951 2,875,938 3/1959 Brarnhill 22917 2,944,124 7/1960 Arnold W 206-56 3,066,843 12/1962 Johnson 20644.12

JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner.

FRANKLIN T. GARRETT, Examiner.

Images