This invention relates to a container adapted to hold a number of consumer items, and in particular to a pocket-size container that can be held and opened by one hand of a consumer to expose the items therein.
It would be desirable to provide a small, pocket-size container adapted to be easily held by a consumer in one hand and opened by a finger or thumb of that hand, while leaving the other hand free. In that way, the consumer can retrieve items from the container while leaving the other hand free to perform other functions. By being pocket-size, the container can be easily carried by the consumer and always available.
It would also be desirable for such a container to be economical by comprising few parts capable of simple and rapid assembly.
There is provided a pocket-size hand-held container for containing a supply of consumer items. The container comprises a frame, a lid, and preferably contains a bag for holding the items being stored. The frame includes front and back portions, top and bottom portions, and side portions, the frame forming an internal storage compartment that stores the items. The front portion forms an access opening for the storage compartment, the access opening being situated closer to the top end portion than to the bottom end portion. The lid is attached to the front portion to be slid linearly between fully closed and fully open positions. In its fully closed position, the lid overlies the access opening, and in its open position, the lid
Preferably, the bag is formed of a flexible plastic material and includes an openable window situated behind the access opening.
Shown in the accompanying drawings is a pocket-size container capable of being held in one hand of a consumer and opened by a finger or thumb of that hand. The container, which is preferably formed of only three pieces, preferably contains a hermetically sealed bag which contains items to be dispensed. An openable window on the bag situated behind an access opening of the container facilitates access to the contained items.
As shown in
The back part 18 forms the back portion 12b, as well as a back section 12c″ of the top portion 12c, a back section 12d″ of the bottom portion 12d, and back sections 12e″, 12f″ of respective side portions 12e, 12f. The top and bottom portions 12c, 12d are intersected by a longitudinal axis L (
The front part 16 includes rearwardly projecting pins 20 that are receivable in respective sockets 22 disposed in the back part 18, thereby securing the front and back parts together. The pins 20 and sockets 22 are located so that the front part 16 can be attached to the back part 18 in only one position, i.e., with the portions 12c′, 12d′ mating with the portions 12c″ and 12d″ respectively.
Projecting rearwardly from the underside of the front part 16 are top and bottom narrow plates 16a, 16b which are adapted to engage the longitudinally outward sides of ribs 18c formed on the plates 18b when the parts 16, 18 are attached together, in order to position the parts such that the posts 20 and sockets 22 become mutually aligned as they approach one another. When attached together, the front and back parts form an internal storage compartment 21 for receiving items to be dispensed, the items preferably disposed within a holder, such as a bag, as will be discussed.
Each of the side portions 12e, 12f includes top and bottom regions 24, 26, and an intermediate region 28 (see
The front portion 12a includes a front surface 29 in which is formed a pair of slots or channels 30 extending parallel to one another and longitudinally, i.e., parallel to respective side portions 12e, 12f, which is slidable longitudinally. The lid 14 includes a pair of rails or guide strips 32, each rail comprising a rearwardly projecting rib 34 and an enlarged head (or claw) 36 at a back end of each rib. Each head 36 includes a forwardly facing surface 36a underlying a rearwardly facing surface 35 of the front frame portion 16, and also includes a rearwardly facing beveled surface 36 (see
Each enlarged head 36 includes a gap, or interruption 36d along its length (see
The front surface 29 includes an access opening 40 which provides access to the inner compartment formed by the frame. The access opening 40 is disposed closer to the top portion 12c of the frame than to the bottom portion 12d thereof, whereby the access opening is spaced from the frame's bottom portion by a bottom portion 29a of the front surface.
The lid 14 is adapted to be slid from a closed position in which it overlies the access opening 40, as shown in
In the closed position, the lid 14 is secured by a securement mechanism which is yieldable to manual pressure. For example, a lug 48 is disposed on the frame 12 adjacent each slot 30, as shown in
Disposed on the rear side of the lid 14 are two downwardly projecting longitudinal ridges 50 (see
Preferably, the lid 14 is configured so as to be symmetrical about two perpendicular planes corresponding to the lines 5-5 and L, respectively, shown in
Preferably, the compartment 21 contains an item holder, preferably a bag formed of flexible plastic or web or a laminate in which the consumer items are disposed. The bag is preferably hermetically sealed and includes a window arranged behind the access opening 40. The window, which could be integral with, or separate from, the rest of the bag, can be pulled open by the consumer. The window could be resealable, if desired, or completely removable to be discarded. Although the window can comprise any convenient configuration, two examples 60, 70 thereof are shown in
The bag 60 shown in
In
The particular dimensions and proportions of the container are not critical. The proportions are preferably selected to provide a container which is suitably sized to accommodate the particular items to be packaged therein. Thus, the actual container could be more elongated than shown in the drawings, or the container could be more nearly square, i.e., shorter than shown in the drawings. Preferably, however, the container is sized so it can be conveniently carried in a pocket, and held and opened by one hand of a consumer.
The items can be arranged in various ways. For example, the products could be arranged with the items overlapped or staggered relative to one another. Of course, if the products are small enough, they could be randomly placed in the bag.
The container could, of course, be used for a variety of products. One specific product for which the container can be used is commercially available smokeless pouched tobacco. Such tobacco is provided in packets, sometimes known as “snus” and comprise individual packets of tobacco material.
It will be appreciated from the foregoing that there is provided an inexpensive pocket-size container capable of holding multiple items, and capable of being held and opened in one hand of a consumer.
Assembly of a container is very simple. The item-containing bag 60 or 70 is inserted into the back part 18 of the frame, and is preferably held by glue spots 80 disposed at suitable places on the frame, e.g., on front and/or back surfaces of the compartment, on mutually facing inner surfaces of the plates 18a, 18b, respectively, and on the recessed portions 28. Two of such glue spots 80 are depicted in
The hermetically sealed bag 60, 70 keeps the items in a fresh state until ready for use, and can be conveniently opened, and optionally resealed.
The container is preferably enclosed in a shrink-wrap enclosure which includes a tear strip along one side for opening the shrink wrap.
It will thus be appreciated that the container can be made inexpensively, i.e., from molded plastic pieces, and easily assembled. The container can be easily manipulated in one hand and provides a friction securement for the closed lid. The main part of the lid is constrained to travel above the front surface 29a therebeneath in order to prevent abrading of any indicia-containing labels disposed on that surface.
A second embodiment of a pocketsize hand-held container 100, depicted in
The second frame section 124b includes a pair of parallel, forwardly open slots or channels 130 extending along respective sides of the container which extend only partially through the first frame section (
A top edge of an front surface of the lid can be provided with a cut-out 164 (
Although the present invention has been described in connection with preferred embodiments thereof, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that additions, deletions, modifications, and substitutions not specifically described may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. For example, the shape and appearance of the container may vary significantly from those of the preferred embodiments. In lieu of a bag, the items could simply be placed directly into the compartment formed by the container, in a tray seated in the compartment and covered by removable film such as foil.
This application claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/700,014 filed Jul. 18, 2005, the subject matter of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
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