Package

April 25, 1939.

J. W. LITTLE

PACKAGE

2,155,668

<img file="US2155668A_D0001.tif" />

Patented Apr. 25,1939

2,155,668

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

2,155,668 PACKAGE John W. Little, Pawtucket, R. I., assignor to Forbea Lithograph Manufacturing Company,. Chelae* Mass., * corporation of Massachusetts

Application October 11, 1935, Serial No. 44,526

Claims.

This invention relates to packages and the object is to provide a sightly, and inexpensive package In which the outer layer of the wrapping is of transparent cellulosic material suchas that 5 popularly known by the name Cellophane” although that word more properly denotes a .particular manufacture of such material. My invention finds-a particular application to the packaging of soap, and for convenience in the 10 present description I will refer to soap as the commodity wrapped and to the problems presented thereby.

My invention will be well understood by reference to the following description of an illustra15 tive embodiment thereof shown by way of example in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 Is a perspective of a wrapped cake of soap;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view showing the cake20 of· soap in elevation and spaced therefrom and in section the various wrappings;

Fig. 3 is a perspective illustrating the wrapping partly completed; and

Fig. 4 is a perspective showing a later stage of 25 the wrapping.

It will be understood that in the drawi ng the thickness of various layers of wrapping material is necessarily exaggerated.

At the present time the purchasing public 80 favors Articles enclosed in an outer wrapping of what is known to it as Cellophane”. Such a package may be provided by enclosing a package of conventional or pre-existing form in a Cellophane wrapper but at a correspondingly in35 creased cost for material and handling The present invention provides for an equally attractive package at a lesser cost. Moreover, in the case of soap, for example, particularly stringent conditions must be met. Toilet soap at the pres40 ent time is commonly packaged in a fresh or green state and it is desirable to maintain the shapely form of the cake without drying or warping until it reaches the hands of the consumer. Due to the moisture content the cake 45 of soap may sweat and may affect the printing of the enclosing wrapping or otherwise damage the wrapping in such a way as to affect its appearance and detract from salability. These conditions, among others, are met by the con50 struction which I am about to describe.

Referring to the annexed drawing, the cake 5 of . soap is enclosed in a wrapping which comprises an outer sheet 7 of transparent cellulosic material desirably of the so-called moisture55 proof type, that is, one which has a coating of a (Cl. 229—87) suitable nitro-cellulose lacquer which usually embodies a wax-like plasticizer. I have not attempted in the drawing to show this lacquer coating. On the Interior side of the transparent sheet 7 there is printed a suitable image in re- ,_everse constituted by a layer 9 of pigment or ink, shown in Fig. 2 but omitted for clearness in the other figures, and in which may be embodied a suitable design such as a medallion 11, illustrated in Figs. 1 and 4, and lettering as 12. The print- io ing is of such an extent that when the sheet is applied about the. soap cake or other commodity it conceals the _r same and the appearance of the transparent layer T with the pigment layer 9 on the interior thereof when it is in position is that 15 of an inner printed wrapping paper or the like, which, however, is merely the layer of ink, enclosed by the transparent cellulose. It may be noted here that I use the word “pigment” to refer to colored material applied as an ink or paint 20 and do-not necessarily imply a pigment in the more technical sense of a dry powder suspended in a vehicle to form a paint.

If the printed cellulosic sheet were wrapped alone about a cake of soap, it will be apparent «5 that at the joints where sealing is required the pigment layer would be presented in opposition to the outer surface. The adhesives commonly used for transparent cellulose have a solvent action thereon and would attack the ink, espe- 30 dally since lacquer base ink is customarily used, and thus spoil the appearance of the package Moreover, the adhesion of the ink or pigment layer to transparent cellulose is comparatively weak and, if the printing is on so-called mois- 35 ture-proof material, the adherence can be no better than that of the lacquer layer over which it is applied. It is therefore desirable to. provide a joint which, while secure, will separate without breaking away the pigment layer to give 4η an unsightly appearance to the wrapper when removed, which would be likely to suggest damage to thepurchaser. ,

In accordance with my invention I utilize a thermoplastic Adhesive positioned inwardly of 45 the ink layer at least at the location of the Joints to form a Zeal by its adherence on the one hand to the pigment layer and on the other hand to the outer face of the cdluloeic sheet. Paraffin wax of the kind used in the manufacture of 50 self-sealing waxed papers, such as bread wrappers, is an example of such material. Conveniently I may provide a layer of wax completely covering the inner face of the pigment layer and serving completely to protect it from , the soap. 55

8,155,668

To Obtain expeditiously and economically the advantages of a substantially unitary wrapping capable of application by a single wrapping operation the wax in the preferred embodiment r of the invention herein illustrated is supported on a carrier sheet 13. A complete inner layer of wax is provided by the use of a sheet of ordinary waxed paper of the so-called self-sealing variety embodying a paper base, which may be of fairly 10 cheap quality, coated throughout its area with paraffin wax in the usual manner.

In the packaging of soap at the present time an encircling band of thin card is frequently ap- plied about the cake about which the flexible 16 wrapping material is shaped to provide a more regular package. I may omit such a band and make the central portion of the waxed wrapping sheet heavier to provide a similar form and herein I have shown the central portion of the sheet 20 pleated to form a treble thickness for this purpose. In Fig. 2 consistently with its diagrammatic character the layers of this pleated portion are shown-separated for clearness, but it will be understood that in practice they lie close 26 together and ordinarily will be joined together by the coherence of the wax making a stiff central band of approximately the length of the soap cake 5.

As illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, the cellulosic 30 outer sheet I and the inner waxed sheet 13 are' wrapped as one about the soap cake 5. In Fig. S this wrapping is shown partially completed as if the work were being done by hand. Ordinarily a machine would be used and it will 36 be noted that the two sheets could be applied by a single wrapping unit. As the result of this application of the superposed sheets as a unit, they are interleaved at the joints of the package. Thus at the. longitudinal joint about to be completed across the·’broad face of the cake by folding down the upstanding portion »hnwn in Fig. 3 there will be provided serially from the upper face of the cake as there shown first the waxed paper layer 13 and then the cel_ lulosic layer 7 as shown in the folded-down po⁴⁰ sition, next a waxed paper layer and finally a cellulosic layer. Similarly at the end joints, as illustrated in Fig. 4, if the lower flap is first folded upwardly, the waxed layer 13 will be next to the soap cake, then the cellulosic layer ⁶⁰ I, then the waxed layer 13 and then the cellulosic layer 7. As a result of this it will be seen that, the outer surface of the underlying portion of the cellulosic layer 7 which is coated with moistureproofing lacquer will be presented at the °* joint to the waxed paper layer. These parts are adapted to cohere on slight heating to effect sealing of the package without the use of adhesives possibly deleterious to the ink.

Tn the package described the soap receives a double protection both from the waxed paper 5 inner wrapping and from the outer wrapping. The dress of the package, such as the coloring, decoration, trade-marks and the like, is provided by the layer of ink adherent to the inner face of the transparent cellulose sheet 7. This 10 ink is completely protected from the soap and vice versa by the intervening waxed paper. The waxed paper which is· relatively unsightly on the other hand is completely covered by jhe layer of ink. The exterior appearance of the 15 package is that of a commodity in an attractively printed paper wrapper enclosed by an external wrapping of transparent cellulose. The package may be formed in a single simple wrapping operation and with economy of materials. 20

I am aware , that the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing'from the spirit or essential attributes thereof and I therefore desire the present embodiment to be considered in all respects as illus- 25 trative and not restrictive; reference being had to appended claims rather than to the going description to Indicate the scope of the invention.