US3025958A - Pilfer-proof merchandise case - Google Patents

Description

March 20, 1962 A. 1.. SNAPE 3, ,958

PILFER-PROOFMERCHANDISE CASE Filed May 27, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG l IN VEN TOR.

BY Ahrea L. 5/20 02 Hi5 Mfume/5 March 20, 1962 A. L. SNAPE 3,025,958

PILFER-PROOF MERCHANDISE CASE Filed May 27, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG. 9

INVENTOR.

Hi5 wameys tates Patent 3,.fl25fi58 Patented Mar. 20, 1962 free 3,tl25,958 PILFER PRQGF MERCHANDESE CASE Alfred L. Snape, Stoughton, Mass, assignor to The Gillette Company, Boston, Mass, a corporation of Delaware Filed May 27, 1959, Ser. No. 816,243 9 (Ilaims. (Cl. 206-49) This invention comprises a new and improved pilferproof case for small articles such as safety razors and blades contained in shaving outfits.

Such cases as heretofore exhibited for sale, particularly under self-service conditions, have been subject to the very serious objection that they tempt pilfering, that is to say, they make it too easy for an unscrupulous shopper to surreptitiously open the case and abstract a blade package or the like. When the case is immediately closed the loss is not realized by the dealer.

Accordingly it is an object of the present invention to provide a case that cannot be readily opened by a customer without in some Way giving notice of the fact. A further object of the invention is to provide hinged cases of the type already in Wide commercial use with a destructible locking device which is effective to prevent opening of the case unless mutilated in being forcibly removed from its initial position. Such treatment of the locking device is. a conspicuous signal to the dealer that pilfering has occurred. It also reacts as a powerful deterrent to a possible pilferer.

As applied to a case having a receptacle and cover hinged together, the invention is embodied therein by providing a recess in one of the two and a complementary projection in the other which is movable into the recess when the cover is opened, in combination with a destructible locking device of sheet material such as cardboard which is engaged Within the cover and projects outwardly in position to obstruct the said recess.

The features and advantages of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of preferred embodiments thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a hinged case, shown with the locking device in operative position,

FIG. 2 is a view in perspective of the locking device,

FIG. 3 is an end view of the case, partly in section on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1, showing the locking device in position for insertion,

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary bottom view of the case,

FIG. 5 is an end view of the case,

FIG. 6 is a sectional view on the line 6-6 of FIG. 1,

FIGS. 7 and 8 are fragmentary views on an enlarged scale showing the hinge mechanism of the case, the line -88 of FIG. 5 indicating the section shown in FIG. 8,

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a blank for a locking device of alternative construction, and

FIGS. 10 and 11 are views in side elevation and section showing its application to a hinged case.

The case herein shown comprises a base or receptacle having a fiat bottom 11 merging into convex front and rear walls 12 and 13. The end walls of the case comprise inner sections 14, 14' and outer sections 15, 15' spaced from each other and connected by integral pivot pins 16 at the rear of the case and horizontal webs 22 which extend to the front edge of the case. The two end wall sections form at the rear end of the base an open recess or slot in which a portion of the cover is freely movable as will presently appear.

Within the receptacle is located a deck 17 in which is formed a cavity 18 for a safety razor and a cavity 19 for razor blades or a blade dispenser. In the front Wall of the receptacle is formed a yielding latch 20 which makes spring engagement with the cover and may be depressed to free it for opening.

The cover 24 is generally convex in shape having end Walls 25 which are provided with downwardly extending sectors 26. In each of these sectors is formed a bearing to engage one of the pivot pins 16, and the sectors are freely movable within the recess formed between the inner and outer end walls 14 and 15 of the receptacle.

The rear edge of the cover 24 is offset inwardly or upwardly so that a lateral slot 28 is formed between the cover and the top edge of the rear wall 13 of the receptacle when the cover is closed. The cover is thus shaped so that it is free to swing down outside the rear wall 13 in being opened. It is, however, provided at each of its rear corners with a projection or arm 29 that passes downwardly into the recess between the end wall sections 14 and 15 when the cover is opened. In the closed position of the cover these arms are located slightly above the top edges of the wall sections 14 and 15, and as will be presently explained, the cover is locked in closed position by interposing a blocking card or plate between the arms 29- and the recesses.

The cover is biased toward open position by a straight wire spring 27, located between the end Wall sections 14' and 15 at one end of the receptacle. The section 26 at that end of the receptacle is grooved in its arcuate edge to receive the rear end of the wire spring 27 while the front end of the wire is held beneath the web 22,. The inner wall section 14' is vertically slotted to permit passage of a flange 17' of the deck 17 in position to engage and hold the wire 27 in place against the under side of the web 22.

The destructible locking device as herein shown comprises a card having a rectangular body 30 with a scored corrugation setting off a flange 31 at its rear edge. This flange has corner notches 32 which define an intermediate flap 33 of such length as to fit snugly between the arms 29 of the cover. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, the flap 33 is folded upon itself to form an anchor ply 34 which is adhesively secured to the flap 33 and the flap is then folded upwardly and biased to stand resiliently and obliquely at an angle of about 45 to the body 30 of the card. The anchor ply 34 extends at its lower edge substantially beyond the flap 33.

When the case has been closed and its cover latched as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the flap 33 may be flattened by hand, as suggested in FIG. 3, and inserted into the case through the slot 28 until arrested by engagement of the edges of the notches 32 with the end walls 25 of the cover where these walls are notched beneath the arms 29. This occurs when the anchoring flap has passed wholly through the slot 28 and as soon as this happens the flap springs up into the position shown in FIG. 2, thus locking the card against withdrawal and in position with the flange 31 blocking entrance of the cover arms 29 to the recesses beneath them in the end walls of the receptacle. The locking card cannot be forced further into the case because of the engagement of its notches 32 with parts of the cover and it cannot be withdrawn because of the action of the anchor flap as suggested in FIG. 6. The harder the card is pulled outwardly the more the anchor flange tends to approach a right angular position in which it cannot possibly pass through the slot 28, the action being somewhat like that of the barb of a fish hook.

The result is that the case is locked against being opened and the only way to release the cover is forcibly to tear the card apart in such a manner as to free the slots in the end walls of the receptacle for passage of the arms 29 of the cover. Such procedure, of course, immediately notifies the dealer or any observer that the case has been tampered with.

The body 30 of the card is shown as perforated and may conveniently be used to suspend the individual cases for display if so desired. It also serves as a medium for advertising and price information.

A locking device of somewhat alternative nature is shown in FIGS. 9-11. The blank as shown in FIG. 9 is generally rectangular in outline and includes within its area a large external panel 40 shouldered and merging into two narrower intermediate panels 41 and 42 set off by a transverse division line or crease 41'.

The intermediate panel 42 merges into a terminal panel 4 3 having laterally extending ears 44 at each edge, a wide forwardly extending central flap 45 and a tongue 46 at each edge separated by a slot from the flap 45 and by a transverse scored line from the body of the panel 43. In completing the locking device these tongues 46 are folded inwardly or forwardly between the panel 40 and the terminal panel 43 as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10.

The width of the external panel 40 and the overall width of the ears 44 is greater than the distance between the two end walls 25 of the case so that they cannot be inserted in the slot 28 between the cover 24 and the rear wall 13 of the base. Only that portion of the blank between the shoulders of the panel 40 and the ears 44 can be inserted.

In placing the locking device in operative position it is first folded on the line 41' with the panel 42 and the terminal panel 43 lying beneath the panels 4% and 41. The tongues 46 are at the same time folded forwardly between the panel 40 and the body of the panel 43, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. The blank folded in this fashion may now be inserted until the shoulders of the panel 40 engage the end walls of the cover. Thereupon the flap 45 is pushed inwardly until the cars 44 engage the end walls of the base and in this final movement the intermediate panel 42 is forced into the upright position shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 and the slot between the cover and base is filled by three thicknesses of the sheet material of the locking device.

The cover 24 of the case cannot therefore be opened and the locking device cannot be removed by pulling outwardly on the external panel 40, being prevented by the panel 41 which is held in its forwardly inclined position by the three layers of sheet material beneath its forward edge, thus forming an angular obstruction to withdrawal of the card.

On the other hand, the device may be removed by pulling outwardly on the concealed flap 45 since in this case there is nothing to prevent the panel 42 from swinging forwardly about its upper edge 41'.

Having thus disclosed my invention and described in detail an illustrative embodiment thereof, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A pilfer-proof case comprising a receptacle and cover hinged together and having, one a recess and the other a complementary projection movable into the recess when the cover is opened, and a destructible locking device engaged within the cover and projecting outwardly in position to obstruct the said recess.

2. A pilfer-proof case comprising a receptacle having an external recess at each end, a cover hinged to the receptacle, having arms movable into the recesses when the cover is swung into open position and spaced from the receptacle by a narrow slot at its rear edge, in combination with a locking device of sheet material insertable through said slot and having an inner anchor flange and an outer portion blocking .the external recesses at the end of the receptacle.

3. A pilfer-proof case comprising a receptacle of rectangular contour having internal compartments for a safety razor and a blade package and external slots at one end at least, a cover pivotally connected to the receptacle and having projecting portions arranged to enter said slots when the cover is swung into open position, and a destructible card inserted between the receptacle and its cover and having a resilient anchor portion biased toward angular relation with respect to the card as a whole, and outer portions arranged to overlie the external slots of the receptacle.

4. A pilfer-proof case comprising a hollow rectangular receptacle having end walls of spaced sections defining walled slots at both ends of the receptacle, pivot pins traversing said slots, a cover mounted to swing on said pivot pins and having end wall portions arranged to enter said slots when the cover is swung toward open position, and a locking card notched to engage the end walls of the cover and to locate the card in blocking relation to the slots, and a resilient anchor section carried by the card at its inner end.

5L In a hinged case having a clearance slot between a base and a cover, a locking card having a rectangular body, notched inwardly at its forward corners and having at its inner edge between said notches a transversely folded resilient anchor section biased to project upwardly and downwardly beyond both faces of the card as a whole and compressible to pass through the slot of the case.

6. In a hinged case having a clearance slot between a base and a cover, a locking card having a flat rectangular :body notched inwardly at its forward corners and having its inner edge section between the notches transversely folded into an upstanding flap, and a ply of cardboard adhesively secured to said flap and extending transversely beyond the lower face of the card as a whole, said transverse fold and said ply of cardboard secured thereto being compressible to pass through the slot of the case and biased to expand to a size to preclude withdrawal of the card.

7. A case having a receptacle for small articles and a cover hinged thereto at one side, and partially separated from the receptacle by a narrow slot, the receptacle having an open top recess therein and the cover having an arm normally standing above the recess and movable thereinto when the cover is opened, in combination with a card having a resilient anchor flange that may be inserted through the said slot and which is biased to spring into angular locking position when fully inserted and in that position to overlie said recess.

8. In a case having a base and a hinged cover with a clearance slot between them, a locking card having a rectangular body notched at its opposite edges to define a narrower intermediate section entered in said slot and transversely folded within the case in the form of an angular obstruction to withdrawal of the card.

9. A razor set case comprising a base and a cover hinged to said base at one side thereof, the base having an open top recess therein and said cover having an arm movable into said recess when the cover is swung open, said arm and adjacent edge of said cover being spaced from said base adjacent said recess to permit insertion of a locking device therein to overlie said recess and prevent said arm from entering said recess.

Webber Feb. 15, 1938 Colgate Nov. 17, 1959 Uni-nil Lad. .-.t.

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