US2556321A - Liner and receptacle - Google Patents

Description

Jqne 12, 1951 I H. R. DENTON LINER AND RECEPTACLE Filed June 24, 1946' INVENMR.

' BY I 7%, mqfiwz ATTORNEYS Patented June 12,1951

2,556,321 LINER AND RE-CEPTACLE Harvey R. Denton, Oakland, Calif assignor to Moist-R-Proof Container 00., San Francisco, Calif., a corporation of California Application June 24, 1946, Serial No. 678,922

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a liner and has for one of its objects the provision of a flexible, paper-like liner foldable or expandable from a flat collapsed position to expanded rectangular position and vice versa, and means secured to said liner for manual manipulation to cause said collapse and expansion automatically upon such manipulation.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a receptacle of semi-rigid material and a liner in combination therewith together with means secured to said liner for expanding and collapsing the latter, and which liner and means cooperate with the receptacle in a manner whereby the receptacle will hold the said means and liner in expanded position within the receptacle.

In the packaging of some materials by the retail storekeeper for delivery to the user, the Storekeeper places a liner in a cardboard box and then fills the liner with the material. This procedure is quite'common with such foods as are moist, the liner being of water or moisture proof material, whereas the receptacle enclosing the liner may be of relatively cheap material.

One of the objections to this procedure is the trouble in positioning the liner in the outer receptacle, inasmuch as the liners are folded flat and must be fitted in the receptacle or are merely fiat sheets of waterproof material having no particular form adapting it to the receptacle.

The present invention overcomes this objection in that the liner is provided with a collar of semi-rigid material that is adapted to fold flat with the liner, but upon expanding the collar the liner will automatically expand with it and will be in a position, either for filling and delivery independently of the receptacle, or for insertion in the receptacle for being held and supported by the latter. Also the liner and collar are adapted to fit into the outer receptacle to cooperate therewith.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the description and in the drawings.

In the drawings, Fig. l is a perspective view of the liner in expanded position ready for insertion in an outer receptacle, or for filling independently of the receptacle if so desired. Part of the liner is broken away.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the liner and collar folded flat.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the liner being expanded by the collar, the liner and collar being partially expanded.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the liner expanded and in an outer receptacle.

Fig. 5 is a reduced side elevational view of a complete receptacle including its cover enclosing a liner of the type shown in Figs. 1, 4 (the liner is not shown).

In detail, the liner is preferably a rectangular sheet of waterproof material, such as regenerated cellulose or chlorinated rubber, which sheet is formed to provide a conventional bag having fiat opposed side walls 4, opposed end walls 2, and a bottom wall 3. This bag is adapted to fold flat with the opposed side walls I together; each of the end walls being formed with a central vertical folding crease 4 in the conventional manner, for infolding of the end walls to positions between the side Walls when the bag is folded fiat (Fig. 2). There is nothing new about this bag in itself, since it is a common construction in making bags of paper and paperlike materials.

When the bag is folded fiat the bottom 3 is in coplanarextension of the sides 5, there being a central folding crease 5 extending across the bottom between end walls 2, said crease being midway between the folding lines 6 that define the junctures between the side walls I and the bottom wall.

In carrying out this invention I provide a rec-- tangular collar '7 that is adapted to enclose thebag. Thus collar i has opposed side strips 8- that are of the same width as that of side walls I and connecting corresponding ends of side strips 8 are end strips 9 that are of the samewidth as the width of end walls 2 where the bag is expanded. Folding creases extending transversely of the strips 8, 9 are at their junctures, and folding creases 10 are in end strips 9 midway between their ends.

The side strips 8 are secured to the outer sides of the side walls l in any suitable manner, such as an adhesive ll so that the ends of the strips terminate at the side edges of said sides, while the bottom edges of said strips are even with the folding creases 6 that define the junctures between the side walls l and the bottom wall 3.

The end strips 9 are not secured to the end walls 2, but are free from securement thereto,

and the folding creases I!) are so formed that the 7 end strips II] will outfold when the bag is 001- lapsed, as best seen in Fig. 2, and the collar will collapse flat with the bag.

In operation, upon the operator drawing the side strips apart, or upon moving the end strips 9 toward each other from the collapsed position (Fig. 3) the collar will open out to rectangular position (Fig. 1), and the bag will automatically open out to its expanded, rectangular position.

When the bag and collar are expanded, it is not difficult to fill the bag, although the end pieces 9 tend to outfold. Material deposited in the bag will counteract this tendency of the bag to outfold and the collar, being of semi-rigid material will reinforce the bottom end of the bag during and after filling of the latter and will keep the lower end of the bag rectangular in shape.

In most instances, after the bag is opened out. to expanded position by expanding the collar, the collar and lower end of the bag are set in a relatively shallow rectangular outer receptacle [5, having side walls E6 and end walls I"! and a bottom on which the bottom of the bag is supported (Fig. 4). This outer receptacle does not necessarily fully enclose the collar, but may extend only about half the width of the latter (Fig. 4). However, adequate support is provided by the receptacle for holding the collar rectangular against its tendency to collapse and thus holding the bag fully expanded. The bottom of the receptacle also forms a support for the bottom of the bag and the side and end walls of the receptacle reinforce the side and end strips of the collar.

When the bag is expanded and in receptacle I5 as seen in Fig. 4, the bag may be easily filled to a depth equal to the width of the collar, after which the top of the bag may be folded over the material therein and a closure 29 that is substantially identical with the receptacle I5 may be fitted over the projecting portion of the collar (Fig. 5) whereby the liner is fully enclosed and a neat strong waterproof package is provided.

While I have referred to the outer receptacle i5 and the closure 29 as combining to provide the receptacle that fully encloses the liner,-it is obvious that receptacle i5 or closure 2% may become the lower or upper half of the receptacle, as desired. In some materials, the pre-sealed bottom wall 3 actually becomes the top wall when the package of Fig. 5 is fully formed, in-

asmuch as the weight of the material on the last folded portion of the bag will keep it closely sealed against ingress of air.

It is to be understood that the detailed derxcription and drawings are not to be considered restrictive of the invention, but are merely illustrative of a preferred form thereof.

I claim:

In combination with a rectangular, four sided receptacle of semi-rigid material, a rectangular four sided collar within said receptacle supported by and against the sides of said receptacle in expanded position against collapse, said collar being formed with folding creases extending transversely thereof for folding to flat collapsed position when out of said receptacle and being unsecured to the latter for removal therefrom, a flexible liner of paper-like material within said collar supported by the latter in expanded position within said receptacle, said liner being unsecured to said receptacle and being secured at two of its opposed sides to two opposed sides of said collar for holding thereof by said collar in said expanded position and for folding flat with said collar when the latter is removed from said receptacle and is folded flat, said collar projecting above the sides of said receptacle and a rectangular cover having lateral side walls depending therefrom enclosing the projecting portion of said collar.

HARVEY R. DENTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,011,179 Krout Aug. 13, 1935 2,130,019 Meier Sept. 13, 1938 2,143,957 Petter Jan. 17, 1939 2,189,841 Vogt Nov. 21, 1939 2,349,088 Guyer May 16, 1944

Images