US2670990A - Humidifier for detachable connection with cigarette packages - Google Patents

Description

March 2, 1954 R ADAlR 2,670,990

HUMIDIFIER FOR DETACHABLE CONNECTION WITH CIGARETTE PACKAGES Filed May 18, 1955 FIG. 2 F/G.

' INVENTOR. fizerizfldgiz;

Patented Mar. 2, 1954 HUMIDIFIER EDRKDETACHABLEY GONNEU TION'EWITH?GIGARETTETPACKAGES mammals, Highlands, N; J.

AppHatiOn-MayIS, 1953; sci-mm.- 355,445

aciaims'. (crass-24 Thisinventionrelatesi to aihumidifyingdevice Fig. 4"isa bottom planview of the; humidifier adapted for detachable connection with a cigardevicegl ligz 5 is"a-central longitudinalsectional ette pa'ckage, wherebytom'aintain and even inview thereof; andFiga dis a transverse vertical crease the moisture content of cigarettes enclosed sectional View of the same, taken online B -G withinithe'package, and'thus toprevent unde-. 5 inFig; -1. sirable drying out of theecigarettespending re- Similar characters of reference are employed moval thereoffrom the package forconsumption. initheabove describedviews, to indicatecorre- Owing to thezfinely divided or shredded form' spo'mzlirigv parts; 7 r of tobaccoiusedin paper-wrapped cigarettes-5 the In an illustrative embodiment of this invention initial moisture content o'f' the' tobacco;- When the 10 as sho'wn, the humidi-fying-device comprisesa flat; cigarettes are: exposed' to influence of"a'ir after relatively thin, rigid hollow body A closed at its the package is openedg tends tobe rapidly dissi forward-endand open-atitsrearward end; and pated; so that'th'e tobacconot only losesfl avor; having suitableopeningsinits-underside or b0t= blltithe temperature of. the-fumes;- when the e to tom wall; through which moisture; emanating" bacco is smoked, rises-to an-unpleasant degree; from containedmoisture charged absorbent Furthermore; in drying out the shreds of tobody; can be'emitted- Thebody-A; thUS= gEl1'- bacco' become brittle and tendto .break- 1119i 01' erally characterized, can be made-of any suitable crumble into'fine-particles likely to be undesirably moisture= impervio'us material, but is" desirably drawn :into the mouth; when-the cigarettes are molded from a plastic'material or fabricated from smoked to the-annoyance of the-srnokerr sheet plastic-material; v g A Having-the above =iir view; it is" anobject o'f Thebodyof='the-humidifying device" is formed this invention to provide a;simplehumidifierde by'a top wall; It; a" bottom wallll, sidewalls viceswhichcan be easily and quicklyapplied lz and a -forward'endwall lt which are unitary tothe opened end of a:cigarette=1'Jackag'e; con one with' an'otherc The spacing of thetop wall tiguous't'o ends-of cigarettescontaineditherein; l o relativeto-the' bottom wall II is limited'to subject to removal fromwhe pa'ckageewhen the provide the--body-withan internal chamber I 4' latter: is empty, so as=to be available for reuse which' is open-at its rearward end, andfwhich is in anotherpack'age; H I n v Another object of this invention is to ercviaethickness of moisture absorbent pad. l5. This of 'siifiieientheight to accommodate adesireda humidifier d-vicefor the stated purposes which 'pad' -I 5 may= bemade offany suitable absorbent is capable of insertion beneath, an end walLof material, such as blotting'paperorthe like; The

the-package, after-a'portion o'f"said"endwallis top wau; lU-is'imperforate; but theibottonr wall torn away to'provideFaniopeningzthrd'iigh which is-perf oratee The'fo'rm and arrangement of pelw cigarettes can be withdrawnifrom the package .7 foratione"oropenings;Withwhichthe'bottom walli interior;,the device being so shaped and dimenl is-providedfissubjectjto wide-variation, hutfja sionedjas notto obstruct thelatteriopenin gand satisfactory'formand? arrangement thereof; 0 as;

th'eidevic'e being providedwithlarretainin clip shown; comprisesa pluralitypflaterally spaced means; to grip the package .e qywan, whereby apar longitudinallyextending'slots It: ragga to prevent accidntaldis'placement of the device t'e'rior surface-of theforwardend'walll3 isdowm' from its inserted and assembled relation to the 40 wardly and outwardly inclined from the exterior package. surface of the top wall [0 to the exterior surface The above and other objects will be underof the bottom wall Ii, and is also of transversely stood from a reading of the following detailed curved conformation from side to side of the description of the invention in connection with body, thus providing the forward end of the body the accompanying drawings, in which: with a rounded external chamfered nosing l1.

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the humidifier de- Affixed by its offsetting butt end [8 to the exvice of this invention. ternal surface of the top wall ID, at a point ad- Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of an jacent to the rearward open end of the body A, opened cigarette package showing the humidifier isa forwardly and longitudinally extending redevice of thisinventioninserted thereinin operasilient clip arm I9, the free end portion 2!) of tive assembled relation thereto. which is yieldably biased toward and in engage- Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side elevational View ment with the external surface of the body top of an opened cigarette package, with parts in wall. The body A is made of a width somewhat longitudinal section, showing the humidifier deless than the distance between the face walls of vice operatively assembled therewith. 1;; a cigarette package with which it is to be used,

3 and of a length substantially less than the distance between the side walls of said package.

Preparatory to use of the humidifying device, the pad 15 is removed and charged with moisture and then returned into the chamber M of the body A for enclosure within the latter.

In the use of the humidifying device, after a portion of an end wall of a cigarette package 2! has been torn away to provide an opening 22 in the end of the package, adjacent to one side thereof, through which cigarettes contained therein can be withdrawn for use, the body A is inserted bottom face downward, through the opening 22, to pass beneath the remaining portion 24 of said end wall, whereby to lie between the latter and the ends of the cigarettes 23. Such inserting movement of the body A into the package interior is facilitated by the chamfered nosing IT, the included and rounded contours of which will distend the package wall, so that the latter will readily yield to the ingoing movement of the body A without risk of being torn or otherwise mutilated. As the body A is thu inserted, the resilient clip arm 19 will pass over the external face of the said package end wall portion 24, so that said wall portion will be gripped between said arm and the top face of the body A, and consequently the humidifying device will be securely held against accidental displacement from its operative assembled inserted relation to the package. Since the body A is of substantially less length than the distance between the side walls of the package, when said body A occupies its operative inserted position within the package, it will clear the opening 22 formed in the package end wall, and consequently will not impede access to the cigarettes through said opening, or withdrawal of the cigarettes therethrough. Since the bottom wall ll of the inserted body A faces the ends of the cigarettes contained in the package, moisture emanating from the moist pad I5 within the body will be emitted through the slot 16 of the bottom wall so as to contact the tobacco in the cigarettes, whereby to keep said tobacco in desirably moist condition, and thereby from quickly drying out.

After a package served by the humidifying device is empty, said device may be easily removed, again charged with moisture, if necessary, and then applied to another package. From this it will be understood that the device is substantially indestructible, and is well adaptedfor repeated use over and over again.

. Having. now described my invention, I claim:

1. A humidifier device for detachable insertion within a cigarette package through a cigarette access opening formed by tearing away a portion of an end wall of the package adjacent to a side thereof, said humidifier comprising a substantially rigid and flat rectangular hollow body closed at its forward end and open at its rearward end, a moisture absorbent pad entered in said body through the rearward open end thereof, said body having a perforate bottom wall, and a longitudinally disposed, forwardly directed, resilient clip arm afiixed by its rearward butt end portion to the top wall of said body, said body, in use, being inserted through said cigarette access opening of the package to lie between said package end wall in which said opening is formed and the ends of contained cigarettes opposed to said end wall, with the perforate bottom wall of the body opposed to said cigarette ends, and with the clip arm disposed exteriorly of said end wall to grip the same between said clip arm and the top wallof the inserted body, said body being of a length substantially less than the length of said package end wall whereby, when inserted within the package, it will leave a substantial portion of the cigarette access opening unobstructed.

2. The humidifier device of claim 1 wherein the perforate bottom wall of the body is formed by a plurality of laterally spaced apart longitudinal slots;

3. The humidifier device of claim 1 wherein the body is provided with a transversely rounded, downwardly and outwardly chamfered external nosing at its forward end.

4. A humidifier device for detachable insertion within a cigarette package through a cigarette access opening formed by tearing away a portion of a wall of the package, said humidifier device comprising a substantially rigid, flat hollow body, a moisture absorbent pad within the body interior, said body having a perforate bottom wall, said body being further provided with a transversely rounded, downwardly and outwardly chamfered external nosing at its forward end, and a resilient clip arm afiixed to the top wall of said body, said body, in use, being inserted through said cigarette access opening of the package to lie between the package wall in which said open- References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 911,392 Glatt Feb. 2, 1909 1,540,484 Larsen June 2, 1925 2,227,158 Saul Dec. 31, 1940 Hagan Dec. 30, 1952

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