Pocket-size hand-held container for consumer items

[0001] 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.

[0002] 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.

[0003] 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.

[0004] It would also be desirable for such a container to be economical by comprising few parts capable of simple and rapid assembly.

[0005] 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

[0006] Preferably, the bag is formed of a flexible plastic material and includes an openable window situated behind the access opening.

[0023] 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.

[0024] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the three-piece container 10 comprises a two-part frame 12 and a lid 14 slidably attached to the frame. The frame 12 defines front and back portions 12a, 12b, a top portion 12c, a bottom portion 12d, and side portions 12e, 12f interconnecting the top and bottom portions. As can be seen in FIG. 2, the frame 12 is formed by two parts secured together, namely a front part 16 and a back part 18 each molded of a single piece of plastic. The front part defines the front portion 12a, as well as an upper section 12c′ of the front portion 12a, a front section 12d′ of the bottom portion 12d, and front sections 12e′, 12f′ of respective side portions 12e, 12f.

[0025] 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 (FIG. 4) which extends parallel to the side portions 12e, 12f.

[0026] 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.

[0027] 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.

[0028] Each of the side portions 12e, 12f includes top and bottom regions 24, 26, and an intermediate region 28 (see FIG. 4) that is recessed with respect to the top and bottom regions 24, 26 in order to facilitate single-handed operation by a consumer (see FIG. 1). In particular, when the container is held in the palm of a consumer's hand, the recesses 28 provide convenient shoulders that may be grasped by one or two fingers of the consumer's hand, enabling the consumer to slide open the lid with a remaining digit, such as a thumb.

[0029] 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 FIG. 5). The beveled surface is beveled forwardly and outwardly from the respective rib to define a wedge surface which facilitates installation of the lid. That is, by pushing the lid rearwardly onto the frame 12 such that the rails 32 approach respective slots 30, the wedge surfaces cause the back ends of the rails to be displaced laterally inwardly to enter the respective slots 30. Then, the back ends of the rails rebound back laterally outwardly to enable the forwardly facing surfaces 36a to underlie the surface 35 (formed by the rear side of the front part 18 in this embodiment), to prevent the lid from being unintentionally removed from the frame. Such a snap-in installation feature simplifies the assembling of the container.

[0030] Each enlarged head 36 includes a gap, or interruption 36d along its length (see FIG. 8A), whereby a top portion 36c of each head 36 is spaced from the rest of the head, for reasons to be explained hereafter.

[0031] 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.

[0032] The lid 14 is adapted to be slid from a closed position in which it overlies the access opening 40, as shown in FIG. 4, to an open position, shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, in which the lid exposes the access opening, while still being situated within the footprint of the frame, i.e., the lid is still situated between the top, bottom, and side portions of the frame. This facilitates one-handed manipulation of the container because movement of the lid will not be obstructed by the consumer's hand.

[0033] 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 FIG. 8A. The top portions 36c of the enlarged heads 36 of the rails 32 are configured to project slightly laterally outwardly past the respective slots 30 (i.e., laterally to the right in FIG. 8A) and slightly laterally past an inner face 48a of the lug. Thus, there will be created some frictional resistance to travel of the head portion 36c past the lug as the lid is being opened and closed. Since the frame and the lid are formed of plastic, it is possible for the head portions 36c and/or lug 48 to yield sufficiently under manual pressure, to enable the head portion 36c (and thus the lid) to travel past the lug. When the lid has been fully closed each lug 48 will lie in the gap 36d of a respective rail 32.

[0034] Disposed on the rear side of the lid 14 are two downwardly projecting longitudinal ridges 50 (see FIG. 5) arranged adjacent respective rails 32 and slidably bearing against the front surface 29 of the front portion 12a at locations laterally inwardly of the slots 30. The ridges 50 keep the main portion 14a of the lid spaced forwardly of that front surface 29 to minimize sliding friction and prevent the lid from scraping against and abrading any product-identifying label that may be attached to the bottom portion 29a of the front surface 29. Also, the surface portion 29a is slightly concave from adjacent one side portion 12e to adjacent the other side portion 12f. That is, the concavity is visible when viewed in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 4. This further recesses a label from the main portion of the lid. In lieu of being disposed on the lid 14, the ridges 50 could instead be disposed on the front surface 29 for engagement with the rear side of the lid.

[0035] 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 FIG. 4, which planes correspond to the lateral and longitudinal directions of the container, respectively. Such a symmetrical configuration enables the lid to be inserted in either of two positions, i.e., the position shown in FIG. 4, or a position rotated 180° from that position, in order to simplify the assembly of the container.

[0036] 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 FIGS. 6 and 7, respectively.

[0037] The bag 60 shown in FIG. 6 includes a window 62 having a tongue 64 sized to be manually gripped by a consumer and pulled in the direction of arrow D in that figure. The window could be held to the rest of the bag by an adhesive strip disposed around three of its sides, enabling the window to be resealed after use. Alternatively, the window could comprise a tear-away section to be torn off and discarded.

[0038] In FIG. 7, is shown a bag 70 which incorporates a spiral tear-away strip 72 situated behind the access opening. A free end 74 of the strip adapted to be grasped and pulled-on by a consumer.

[0039] 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.

[0040] 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.

[0041] 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.

[0042] 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.

[0043] 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 FIG. 2 in broken lines. Next, the front part 16 is inserted onto the back part 18 whereupon the plates 16a, 16b slide along the ribs 18c of the plates 18a, 18b, respectively, to align the pins 20 with their respective sockets 22 and thus facilitate mating thereof. The pins and sockets can be sized to provide a snug frictional fit, and/or held together by glue. The lid 14 can be installed on the top part 18 either before or after the top and bottom parts are secured together. The lid can be secured in either of two positions, due to the symmetrical configuration thereof as explained earlier. In use, a consumer grips the underside of the frame 12 in the palm of his/her hand, the gripping action being facilitated by the presence of the recesses 28, while another digit of the consumer's hand, preferably the thumb, presses against, and slides the lid 14. Since the lid, when fully opened, remains within the footprint of the container, it can be easily opened without abutting the consumer's palm as could be the case if the lid were so long that the bottom portion thereof traveled outside of the container's footprint.

[0044] 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.

[0045] The container is preferably enclosed in a shrink-wrap enclosure which includes a tear strip along one side for opening the shrink wrap.

[0046] 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.

[0047] A second embodiment of a pocketsize hand-held container 100, depicted in FIGS. 9-15, includes first and second frame sections 122a, 124a that are attached as described in connection with the previous embodiment, or possibly hinged together at their top ends, such as by a living hinge (not shown). The frame sections can be placed together to form the frame configuration shown in FIG. 9. Separate cheek members 125a, 125a formed of a flexible material are inserted at each side of the frame in order to provide a gripping surface, as well as to hold the sections together. There is employed a sliding lid 114 which can be slid along the longitudinal axis L of the container to open and close the access opening 140, as shown in FIGS. 13, 14.

[0048] 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 (FIG. 12). The lid includes a pair of downwardly projecting rails or guide strips 132 that are received in the slots and are slidable longitudinally therein. A front end or mouth of each slot is narrower than a back portion of the slot, and the back ends of the rails 132 have enlargements or beads 132a which enable the rails to enter the slots with a snap action and be retained therein against dislodgement. The front portion of the second section 124a includes an edge which borders a bottom end of the container's access opening, the edge including an upwardly projecting tongue 160 (FIG. 14) extending in a width-wise direction of the container. A bottom portion of the lid includes a downwardly open recess in which the tongue is received, in order to hold the lid in a closed state. By applying a downward force to the lid, the lid can be pushed free of the tongue and moved to an open position in a direction parallel to a plane of the access opening, as shown in FIG. 17. To close the access opening, the lid is pushed in the opposite position until the tongue 60 snaps back into the groove.

[0049] A top edge of an front surface of the lid can be provided with a cut-out 164 (FIG. 10) to facilitate the ability of a user's finger to apply a downward force to open or close the lid. Also, or alternatively, that top edge could be somewhat beveled at 165 as shown in FIG. 13. This embodiment offers the advantages of the earlier described embodiment in being holdable and manipulated by one hand.

[0050] 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.