US2820462A - Unit-packed cigarette-and-holder of cigarette extensible type - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 21, 1958 E. FLEISCHER 2,820,462

UNIT-PACKED CIGARETTE-AND-HOLDER 0F CIGARETTE EXTENSIBLE TYPE Filed Feb. 1. 1957 INVENTOR. E/Zz'oz FZezSc/zez United States Patent U UNIT-PACKED CllGARETTE-AND-HOLDER OF (IIGARETTE EXTENSIBLE TYPE Elliot Fleischer, Hamden, Conn.

Application February 1, 1957, Serial No. 637,658

7 Claims. (Cl. 131-11) This invention relates to cigarettes with attached holders in general, and to individually unit-packed cigarettes and holders of the cigarette-extensible type in particular.

Unit-packed cigarettes and holders of this type commonly comprise a usually paper-made tubular sleeve or holder in which a cigarette is placed and from which the same is extensible to-its full smokable length, with the holder to be discarded with the cigarette butt after smoking. These unit-packed cigarettes and holders are intended to alford all the well-known benefits of holders to the vast majority of smokers who do not and will not bother with separate cigarette holders. However, prior unit-packed cigarettes and holders of this type have never become popular, either because their cost was prohibitive or their use required almost as much attention as the use of a separate cigarette holder. Thus, some of these prior unit-packed cigarettes and holders have positive stop provisions on the holders or cigarettes, or both, to permit quick extension of the correct lengths of the cigarettes, and prevent full retraction of the latter, from the holders by the mere feel of touch of, and without so much as a glance from, the users. However, these extra stop provisions rendered the cost of these prior unit-packed cigarettes and holders prohibitive. Other prior unit-packed cigarettes and holders of this type are devoid of stop provisions, comprising merely cylindrical holders with readily extensible cigarettes therein of which the latter may or may not be provided with stop lines or other visible marks wherewith to gauge the correct extent of the cigarettes from the holders. However, while these latter unit-packed cigarettes and holders do not entail the prohibitive cost of the aforementioned other prior unit-packed cigarettes and holders due to the absence of positive stop provisions, they are nevertheless objectionable in that they either afiord no gauge for the correct extension of the cigarettes and are liable to be under-extended or completely retracted, or if afiording a gauge, must be carefully extended to their stop lines or marks, thus requiring in either event careful attention of the user. Also, these prior stopless unit-packed cigarettes and holders require a fairly tight fit of the cigarettes in the holders in order securely to hold the former in their extended state in the latter and prevent them from dropping out, especially when lighted.

, It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a unit-packed cigarette and holder of this type the cost of which is approximately as low as that of the aforementioned prior stopless unit-packed cigarettes and holders, and which, despite the lack of any of the aforementioned positive stop provisions, nevertheless permits quick and unfailing extension of the correct length of the cigarette from the holder by the mere feel of touch of, and without so much as a glance or other attention from,

the user. g

It is another object of the present invention to provide a unit-packed cigarette and holder with stop provisions which for their application thereto involve no more than simple and inexpensive marking of the cigarette and holder 2,820,462 Patented Jan. 21, 1958 with coordinated stop lines, yet which act to all practical intents and purposes as positively as the aforementioned positive stop provisions in limiting the extension of the cigarette from the holder to the correct smokable length of the former.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a unit-packed cigarette and holder with the aforementioned coordinated stop lines in the form of adhesive dried films, respectively, which are pressure-active to themselves only, and are so peripherally arranged on the exterior of the cigarette and the interior of the holder that they will align on extension of the correct cigarette length from the holder and, in consequence, become bonded to each other with sufficient force unmistakably to indicate to the user the correct extension of the cigarette from the holder.

Other objects and advantages will appear to those skilled in the art from the following considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the accompanying drawings, in which certain modes of carrying out the present invention are shown for illustrative purposes:

Fig. 1 is a side view of a unit-packed cigarette and holder embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through the holder element of the unit-packed cigarette and holder, with the internal cigarette element shown in side view and partly broken away;

Fig. 3 is a section similar to Fig. 2, with the cigarette element shown extended from the holder element, however;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross section through the unitpacked cigarette and holder as taken on the line 44 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a view, partly in section and partly in elevation, of a unit-packed cigarette and holder of modified form;

Fig. 6 is a view of the modified unit-packed cigarette and holder of Fig. 5, with the cigarette element shown extended from the holder element, however;

Fig. 7 is a view, partly in section and partly in elevation, of a unit-packed cigarette and holder of another modified form;

Fig. 8 is a view, partly in section and partly in elevation, of a unit-packed cigarette and holder of a further modified form; and

Fig. 9 is a View of the modified unit-packed cigarette and holder of Fig. 8, with the cigarette element shown extended from the holder element, however.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to Figs. 1 to 4 thereof, the reference numeral 10 designates a unit-packed cigarette-and-holder or smoking product which comprises a conventional cigarette 12 and a holder 14 therefor. The cigarette 12 is in the usual form of a filler of finely cut tobacco t wrapped more or less tightly in the customary outer paper 16 (Fig. 4), while the holder 14 may conveniently be wound from relatively thin paper, or other suitable stock, in several layers which are suitably bouded to each other, so that the holder may have the desired degree of rigidity.

The cigarette 12 and holder 14, which in the present example are shown to be of equal lengths, may be separately formed or manufactured in accordance with con-' smokable cigarette length projects beyond the holder (Fig. 2), and this may be achieved in the present instance by blowing rather lightly into the mouthpiece 20 of the holder to start the cigarette into plunger-like forward motion whereupon its light end 22 may be grasped "for full extension of the cigarette from the holder.

In accordance with the present invention, the present unit-packed cigarette-and-holder has stop provisions which indicate to the user by mere feel of touch correct extension of the cigarette from the holder, so as to prevent wasteful under-extension or annoying full withdrawal of the former from the latter. To this end, the cigarette 12 and holder 14 are at or near their ends 18 and 24 provided with external and internal peripheral adhesive films 28 and 30, respectively, which are pressures-chive to themselves only. These adhesive films and 33, which arepresently of continuous band or ring extent, are preferably of limited widths lengthwise of the product, their width being limited only by their degree of adhesion to each other under the relatively light pressure from the preferably easily sliding cigarette in the holder and the desired perceptible brake or stop force on the cigarette when these films come in contact with each other. Furthermore, these adhesion films 28 and 34) may be so thin that no consideration need be iven to them in sizing the cigarette and holder in their manufacture for their subsequent convenient assembly (Fig. 2).

Thus, on extending the cigarette from the holder to the extent so perceptibly indicated by the contacting adhesive films 28 and 3%) (Fig. 3) the cigarette may be lighted and then smoked down to somewhere near the holder, whereupon the latter and the cigarette butt therein are discarded the same as a finished cigarette without a holder.

The adhesive films 28 and 38 may be applied to the cigarette and holder after the latter are individually formed or manufactured, whereupon the cigarette and holder may be assembled (Fig. 2) by sliding the cigarette with its light end 22 first into the mouth end 2th of the holder without any interference from the adhesive films 28 or 30, this by virtue of the fact that the latter are pressure-active to themselves only, as described, and will not adhere to the paper of either the cigarette or holder. Any suitable adhesive which, on drying, becomes pressure-- active to itself only, may be used for the films 28 and 36. Thus, any suitable adhesive in non-dried state may be applied to the cigarette and holder in any convenient manner, as by brushing, rolling or spraying, for instance, whereupon the applied adhesive is permitted to dry before the cigarette and holder are assemb ed or unit-packed (Fig. 2). For example, an adhesive found quite satisfactory for this purpose is a commercially available product of the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, known as 3M Adhesive EC-97l.

While the coordination of the adhesive films 28 and 30 with respect to the ends 18 and 24 of the cigarette 12 and holder 14, respectively, may vary as long as they arrest the fully extended cigarette with a substantial mouth length 18 in the adjacent end 24 of the holder (Fig. 3), it is preferable to apply the adhesive film 30 to the very end 24 of the holder, and to apply the adhesive film 28 to the cigarette just beyond an adequate mouth length 1% thereof, substantially as shown, in order to effect the inteiposition of the mouth length or end 13 of the cigarette as an effective seal between the contacting adhesive films 28 and 30 and the smoke passage through the holder (Fig. 3).

While in the foregoing description of the unit-packed cigarette-and-holder the cigarette and holder elements 12 and 14 have been individually formed or manufactured and the adhesive films 28 and 30 applied thereto before the assembly of the former into unit-package style (Fig. 2), it is, of course, possible to form the present unit-packed cigarette-and-holder by wrapping the holder directly on the cigarette on first applying the adhesive film 28 to the latter and applying the adhesive film 30 to the paper of the wrapper before or while the latter is wound on the cigarette. Also, while in the present exemplary unit-packed :cigarette-and-holder 10 the adhesive films 28 and 30 are in endless band or ring form, they may be peripherally interrupted to leave peripheral film sections which are adequate for the purpose as long as those on the cigarette overlap those in the holder in any relative angular disposition of the cigarette and holder, as will be readily understood.

Reference is now had to Figs. 5 and 6 which show a modified unit-packed cigarette-and-holder 10:; that may in all respects be like the described unit-packed cigaretteand-holder Iii of Figs. 1 to 4, except that the holder 14a is shorter than the cigarette 12a so that the latter extends, preferably with its light end 22a, beyond the holder (Fig. 5) for ready finger extension of the cigarette from the holder (Fig. 6) when the former is to be smoked. Hence, the present modified unit-packed cigarette andholder 10a, which has also the featured cigarette stop provisions 28a and 30a, may be used without reliance on blowing into the mouth end Zita of the holder for starting the partial ejection of the cigarette therefrom.

Fig. 7 shows another modified unit-packed cigaretteand-holder 1% which, in contrast to that of Figs. 5 and 6, has a holder l ib which is longer than the cigarette 12b therein. The present unit-packed cigarette-and-holder Nib, which also features the same adhesive film-type cigarette stop provisions as the before described unit-packed cigarettes-and-holders it and 10a, may in its original unitpacked state be as shown in Fig. 7, i. e., the light end 22b of the cigarette may extend beyond the adjacent end 2412 of the holder while the month end 2% of the holder may be exposed for the insertion therein of any suitable filter by the user himself or herself or by the manufacturer (Fig. 8). The filter 4t may conveniently be in the form of a self-contained insertable plug of any suitable or wellknown kind. Thus, on extending the cigarette from the holder (Fig. 9), the smoke passing from the cigarette passes not only through the relatively long passage in the solder, but is ultimately also filtered of its harmful constituents before passing into the smokers mouth.

The invention may be carried out in other specific ways than those herein set forth without departing from the spirit and essential characteristics of the invention, and the present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed is:

l. A unit-packed smoking product, comprising a sleevelike holder having a mouth end; a cigarette having a light end and being received in said holder with a sliding fit; and adhesive films pressure-active to ther .selves only and so peripherally arranged externally and internally at the other ends of said cigarette and holder, respectively, as to bind to each other on extension of a predetermined partial length, including said light end, of said cigarette from said other end of said holder.

2. A unit-packed smoking product as set forth in claim 1, in which said films are arranged in endless ring form on said cigarette and in said holder, respectively.

3. A unit-packed smoking product as set forth in claim 1, in which said films are arranged over a length of said holder extending to said other end thereof and over a length of said cigarette spaced from said other end thereof.

4. A unit-packed smoking product as set forth in claim 1, in which said cigarette and holder are of substantially equal lengths.

5. A unit-packed smoking product as set forth in claim 1, in which said holder is shorter than said cigarette.

6. A unit-packed smoking product as set forth in claim 1, in which said holder is longer than said cigarette.

5 t 7. A unit-packed smoking product as set forth in claim FOREIGN PATENTS 1, further comprising a filter plug in the mouth end of said 12,797 Great Britain 1883 holder, with the remaining free inner length of the latter being smaller than the length of said cigarette.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,862,679 Holsman June 14, 1932

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