FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH
None
SEQUENCE LISTING
NONE
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to cigarette containers and more specifically a container that will protect a hard pack of cigarettes and still function just like a cigarette hard pack.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Cigarettes are sold in paper packages from the manufacturer. These cigarette packages are problematic because they do not adequately protect the cigarettes from deformation or breakage during transport. The prior art has attempted in numerous ways to solve the problem of protecting cigarette packs using various types of receptacles and cases. Many of these prior art cases have movable and therefore breakable parts such as hinges. Also, other cigarette cases require a user to unload the cigarettes from their paper packaging into the case which can lead to cigarette damage or breakage. What is needed in the art is a cigarette case that is virtually indestructible and that incorporates and uses the paper hinge located on a cigarette hard paper pack as the hinge device instead of incorporating a hinge or other type of moveable and therefore breakable device on the cigarette pack.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a cigarette pack case for use with paper cigarette hard packs. It is made of metal and is comprised of a bottom portion and a lid portion. Alternatively, it can be comprised of a back portion and a front portion that mate together to form the bottom portion and a lid portion that can easily be assembled to form a protective case around the pack. The lid portion is shaped to conform to the lid of a hard paper pack cigarettes and has a back panel that has an inward bend such that the bottom edge of the back panel is projected toward the front panel such that it allows the bottom edge of the back panel that allows for firm contact and grip with the lid portion of the cigarette pack such that the inward bend causes the bottom edge to indent into the paper pack and maintain a fixed position fully enveloping the lid portion. The bottom portion of the cigarette case has parallel ears protruding out of its top side edge that stabilize the lid portion on the bottom portion and provide rigidity for the case as a whole.
DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a back perspective view of a cigarette case.
FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a an unformed lid portion of a cigarette case.
FIG. 3 is a top plan view of an unformed back portion of a cigarette case
FIG. 4 is a top plan view of an unformed front portion of a cigarette case.
FIG. 5 is a side perspective view of a formed lid portion of a cigarette case.
FIG. 6 is a side perspective view of a formed front portion of a cigarette case bottom portion.
FIG. 7 is a side perspective view of a formed back portion of a cigarette case bottom portion.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The invention is generally depicted in FIGS. 1-7, but may be embodied in various other forms. The principles and teachings of the invention, therefore, can be applied to numerous alternative variations. Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 depicts a hard pack cigarette pack case 10 with a lid portion 12 and a bottom portion 26. The lid portion 12 has a top panel 14, two side panels 16, a front panel 18 and a back panel 20. The back panel 20 has an inward bend 22 such that it causes the back panel 20 bottom edge 24 to project forward toward the front panel 18. The dimensions of the lid portion 12 are such that the lid portion 12 nests onto the top of a cigarette hard pack such that there is a tight frictional connection. This is further achieved by use of an inward bend 22 of the back panel 20 that causes the bottom edge 24 to projects forward to indent into the paper pack and maintain a fixed position fully enveloping the lid portion 12. The lid portion is ideally made of a metal such as steel, copper, silver, tin, aluminum along with other malleable metals. The lid portion 12 in a preferred embodiment would be formed out of a flat sheet of metal and dimensioned appropriately by metal stamping the flat sheet or by cutting the flat sheet with either shears or by cutting torch or other similar means. The lid portion 12 could also be molded and cast using molten metal.
The bottom portion 26 of the cigarette pack case 10 as shown in FIG. 1 has a front panel 28, back panel 30, side panels 32, a bottom panel 34 and protruding ears 36 located in the top of the side panels 32. The bottom portion 26 can be formed of metal such as steel, copper, silver, tin, aluminum along with other malleable metals and could be formed of sheets of metal stamped or cut into appropriate configurations to result in, after welding or soldering, the bottom portion 26 of the cigarette pack case 10. The bottom portion 26 and the lid portion 12 can be customized or personalized by engraving or etching desirable indicia, words, symbols, logo, picture or other such design for purposes of ornamentation and identification of the cigarette pack case 10.
Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown an unformed lid portion 38 having a top panel 14, two side panels 16, a front panel 18, and a back panel 20. These panels are defined by their perimeter and the shown hashed lines in FIG. 2. These panels are bent in the appropriate manner along the hashed lines shown in FIG. 2 to achieve a formed lid portion 12 as shown in FIG. 1.
Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown an unformed back portion 40 of the bottom portion 26 of a cigarette of a cigarette pack case 10. FIG. 4 shows an unformed front portion 48 of the bottom portion 26 of a cigarette pack case 10. In one embodiment, the back portion 40 and the front portion 48 are designed such that the back portion 40 is insertable into the front portion 48 such that they form the bottom portion 26 of the cigarette pack case 10 after the appropriate bending and formation of the front 48 and the back portion 40. This configuration allows for the bottom portion 26 to be formed without having to stamp or cut and join by means of soldering and welding the various panels 28, 30, 32, 34, and 36 as shown in FIG. 1. It allows a user to disengage the front portion 48 from the back portion 40 by pulling them apart. The dimensions of the front portion 48 and the back portion 40 are such that they fit together in tight frictional communication using the bending attributes characteristic in metal and capable of protecting a hard cigarette pack. The unformed back portion 40 has a back panel 42, side panels 44 and protruding ears 46 which are located at the top edge of said side panels 44. The unformed front portion 48 has a front panel 50, a bottom panel 52 and side panels 54.
Referring now to FIG. 5, there is shown a side perspective view of the formed lid portion 56 having a top panel 14, a front panel 18, side panels 16 a back panel 20 and an inward bend 22 of the back panel 20 such that the bottom edge 24 of the back panel 20 projects forward. The inner compartment formed by the lid portion 56 is adapted to receive the lid of a cigarette hard pack in frictional communication such that it firmly grasps the cigarette hard pack lid and the inward bend 22 further enhances this grasping effect by projecting the bottom edge 24 of the back panel 20 into the paper lid such that it indents and anchors the formed lid portion 56 to the cigarette hard pack lid.
Referring now to FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 Both the back portion 40 and the front portion 48 are bent along hashed lines as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 such that they produce the formed front portion 58 as shown in FIG. 7 and the formed back portion 66 as shown in FIG. 6. The formed front portion 58 has a front panel 60, side panels 62 and a bottom panel 64. The formed back portion 66 has a back panel 68, side panels 70 and protruding ears 72 located on the top of the side panels 70. The protruding ears 72 allow for the lid portion 12 to rest on top of the bottom portion 26 such that the cigarette pack case 10 is rigid and does not move from side to side and does not injure the pack of cigarettes should external force be applied. The formed front portion 58 receives the formed back portion 66 such that they form the bottom portion 26 which acts as a compartment for the cigarette pack. The formed front portion 58 and formed back portion 66 are dimensioned such that they provide a tight fitting compartment for a cigarette hard pack.
To further promote adequate nesting between the formed front portion 58 and formed back portion 66, there is located in the side panels 60 of the formed front portion 58 a longitudinal channel 74. The formed back portion 66 has divots 76 formed along its side panels 70 that align with said longitudinal channel 74 of the formed front portion 58 such that it aids in maintaining rigid connection of the formed front portion 58 with said formed back portion 66 by way of the divots 76 maintaining a fixed presence within said longitudinal channels 74. The formed front portion 58 and back portion 66 are formed of various malleable metals.
The principles, embodiments and modes of operation of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing specification. The embodiments disclosed herein should be interpreted as illustrating the present invention and not as restricting it. The foregoing disclosure is not intended to limit the range of equivalent structure available to a person of ordinary skill in the art in any way, but rather to expand the range of equivalent structures in ways not previously contemplated. Numerous variations and changes can be made to the foregoing illustrative embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.
Patent Grant
10786002
