DISPENSING PACKAGE

ETH 288 Dispensers also have been proposed which include a heavy dispensing plate or insert of this type which applies a substantially constant pre s stir e to the top of the stack as the stacked articles are dispensed through a slot or other opening in the plate as described in United States Letters Patent No. 1,464,180.

The prior art packages of this type all suffer from the fact that the stack is retained compressed only by the outer package structure, i.e., by the top and bottom of the carton, itself. It is not practical or practicable to attempt to include a weighted dispensing plate in the package to apply pressure to the top of the stack. The cost and weight of any package structure designed on this principle would be prohibitive. As a result, the pressure on the stack is limited by the strength of the carton which, in turn, is a function of carton size. This means that the number of articles which can be compressed and dispensed from a given carton is limited. • Furthermore, since the amount of compressive force which can be applied to the stack is limited, it' soon becomes 20. completely dissipated as the articles are dispensed so that the remaining articles no longer "pop up" for ready removal through the top of the package. This problem is accentuated as the number of articles in the stack is increased with a corresponding increase in its height or thickness. In addition, since the articles become less and less accessible as the bottom of the carton is approached, there is a practical limit to the number of articles which can be readily dispensed from a single package in this manner.

ETH 288 I have invented a package and carton structtire for stacked flexible articles wherein theoretically, at least, there is no limit to the number of articles which can be readily dispensed from a single package. Further- more, in my package, much greater compressive forces may be applied to the stacked articles, thereby allowing more articles to be packaged in a given size carton. In accord- . ance with my invention, the articles are stacked In such a way that the compressive force is dissipated less quickly than in the most closely related packages of the prior art, .thereby facilitating dispensing of the articles from the package. In addition, the articles are arranged in my package In a plurality of relatively shallow compressed stacks, rather than only in one stack. This means both that the articles in my package do not become inaccessible, and that my package may be designed to contain an almost unlimited number of articles.

The package of my invention is particularly suited for packaging flat flexible articles, such as thin rubber-like surgical gloves which, when stacked in quantity, offer considerable resistance to compression of the stack. However, it may be used for packaging and dispensing almost any kind of flat flexible article which may advantageously be dispensed from a stack as described herein.

The package of my invention comprises a plurality of compressed stacks of flat flexible articles and a carton for holding said stacks and dispensing the articles from the top stack remaining therein. The carton comprises a plurality of ETH 288 horizontal dispensing walls mounted at each end of the carton Tor vertical movement with respect to a series of stops. These dispensing walls separate the stacks and hold them in a compressed condition. The stops are vertically spaced from one another and adapted to limit the vertical movement of each end of each dispen¬ sing wall, and position the dispensing walls to define the height of the stacks and hold the stacks compressed.

Each of the dispensing walls has a dispensing opening through which articles may be withdrawn for use, as in a tissue dispenser.

The articles in the top stack first are exposed through the dispensing opening in the uppermost horizontal dispensing wall, and may be withdrawn therethrough for use.

As the articles are withdrawn in this manner, they continue to "pop up" or be pressed against the top dispensing wall so that they may be grasped easily through the opening.

Finally, when enough of the articles are withdrawn from the top stack, the compressive forces on the stack become dissi- pated and the uppermost dispensing wall gradually drops away from its stops and rides down on top of those articles re¬ maining In the stack In such a way as to minimize disarrange¬ ment of the stack. The remaining articles still may be reached through the opening in the dispensing wall until all of the articles in the top stack have been dispensed. As the last article in the top stack is removed, the second horizontal wall becomes exposed and the articles in the second stack then may be dispensed through the opening therein. To facilitate _4- 853528 388 dispensing of the articles from successive stacks, the uppermost dispensing walls may be removed from the carton as the stacks which they protect are used up.

Normally, the carton of this invention includes a pair of opposed end walls and a corresponding pair of spaced side, or front and back, walls joining the end walls.

In this construction, the aforesaid series of stops normally are presented by the opposed end walls. Preferably, each of the end walls presents a series of guide slots which are spaced vertically from one another and the stops, for holding the dispensing walls, are presented at the top of these slots.

In this construction, the dispensing walls preferably have tongues or other portions normally riding in the slots and adapted to engage the stops at the top of the slots when holding the stacks compressed. To assure that the dispensing walls possess sufficient stiffness between their respective tongues to hold the subjacent stacks compressed and to help position the said stacks laterally in the carton, each of the walls includes a pair of depending longitudinal flanges foldably connected to the central portion of the dispensing wall.

In a preferred form of this Invention, wherein the stops are presented by slots located in the opposed end walls of the carton, each of the end walls comprises an inner panel and an outer panel which are spaced horizontally from one another and the slots are presented only in the inner panels. This allows the outer panels of the end walls to be continuous for providing a complete enclosure for the stacked articles. In one preferred form of this embodiment of the invention, the carton also comprises ETH 288 a Taottom wall and a top cover which preferably folds down over the top dispensing wall and unfolds to expose this wall for dispensing purposes. The cover and all of the above-mentioned walls of the carton. Including both panels of the end walls., are formed from a single piece of sheet material which is adapted to be folded to form the desired carton structure.

Other and further advantages of this invention will appear to one skilled in the art from the following description and claims taken together with the drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of one embodiment of the package and carton of this invention, partially broken away to show the Interior of the package.

Pig. 2 is a similar view in perspective of two of the horizontal dispensing walls and one of the end walls of the package of Pig. 1 partially exploded to show how the con¬ tents. I.e., plastic medical gloves, are arranged in the package with respect to these parts.

Pig. 3 is a somewhat enlarged longitudinal sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Pig- 1.

Pig. 4 is a similarly enlarged transverse sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of Pig. 3.

Pig. 5 is a transverse sectional view of a portion of the package of Pig. 4 illustrating how theuppermost horizontal dispensing wall holds the stack beneath it compressed after the stack above it has been removed from the package.

-6 Fig. 6 is a partial sectional view similar to Fig.

showing the position of the uppermost dispensing wall when there are only a few articles remaining in the stack below it.

Fig. 7 is a plan view, on a somewhat reduced scale, of the blank from which the carton of the package of the preceding figures was folded and constructed.

Fig. 8 is a view in perspective, similar to Fig. 1, of a package according to a somewhat different embodiment of this invention.

Referring to Figs. 1-7 of the drawings, there is shown a package and carton according to one embodiment of this invention wherein a multiplicity of flat flexible articles, i.e., plastic medical gloves 11, are arranged for dispensing from a plurality of compressed stacks 12 of these gloves. In this embodiment of the invention, the gloves may be packaged in a series of five stacks of approximately 50 gloves each, one above the other in such a way that the total, i.e., approximately 250 gloves, is contained in, and available for dispensing from, a relatively compact and sturdy package.

The stacked gloves 11 are contained in a carton which comprises opposed end walls 13 joined by front and back side walls 14 and 15, respectively, a bottom wall 16 closing the bottom of the carton, a top cover 17 foldably connected to one of the side walls, and a series of five horizontal dispensing walls 18 mounted in the opposed end walls 13. The dispensing walls 18 are located, one above each of the stacks 12, in such a way as to both separate the stacks and hold them in a compressed condition. Each of the dispensing walls 18 defines a centrally located dispensing opening 19 through which the gloves 11 may be withdrawn or dispensed from the stack 12 below it. As long as the stack remains in compressed condition, the gloves will tend to "pop up" into the opening 19 for dispensing therethrough. When the compressive force on the stack has become dissipated, the gloves can be reached through the dispensing opening 19 for dispensing, as will be further described hereinafter. Each of the end walls comprises an inner panel 20 and an outer panel 21. Each of the said inner panels 20 presents a series of guide slots 22 spaced vertically from one another, whereas the outer panel 21 is continuous to provide a complete enclosure for the gloves. Each of the horizontal dispensing walls 18 is somewhat shorter in length than the distance between the opposed inner panels 20 of the end walls, but presents opposed tongues 23 which enter corres¬ ponding opposed slots 22 in the end walls and, thereby, locate the dispensing walls 18 vertically in the package. The normal uncompressed height of a stack of gloves 11 according to this invention would be considerably greater than the height of the compressed stacks 12 contained in the package. Thus, it is an important function of each of the horizontal dispensing walls 18 to hold or retain the stack below it in a compressed condition. Each dispensing wall 18 is held down on top of a stack of gloves for this purpose by the engagement between the top 24 of each of the aforesaid slots 22 and the corresponding tongues 23 of each dispensing wall 18 which ride in these slots.

In other words, the tops of each of these slots act as a series of stops 24 which hold the dispensing walls 18 in compressing relation with the subjacent stack 12 of gloves. Since the slots 22 in the end walls have a definite vertical height, it will be seen that the dispensing walls 18 are mounted for vertical movement in the slots with respect to the stops 24 at - 8 the top of the slots. However, a given dispensing wall 18 will remain in contact with its respective stops in such a way as to retain the subjacent stack in a compressed condition until enough of the gloves are withdrawn from the stack to dissipate the compressive forces therein. Thereafter, the dispensing wall 18 will ride on top of the stack and move downwardly with the stack to prevent the gloves from being displaced therefrom until the tongues 23 of the dispensing wall come into contact with the bottom of the slots 22 in which they ride, as shown in Fig. 6. Since the dispensing wall 18 in question is so close to the bottom of the stack below it, or the next subjacent dispensing wall, as the case may be, at this point, the gloves 11 remaining in the partially dispensed stack may be withdrawn quite easily through the dispensing opening 19 therein until the stack is completely dispensed. Normally, each dispensing wall 18 is removed from the carton when the stack below it is completely dispensed to facilitate dispensing gloves from the next subjacent stack.

However, it is possible to dispense gloves from a compressed stack by drawing them through two of the dispensing walls 18 when the stack above has been completely dispensed and the uppermost dispensing wall is in the position shown in Fig. 6.

Similarly, the uppermost dispensing wall, shown in Fig. 6, may be removed prior to the time that the partially dispensed immediately subjacent stack is completely dispensed. However, when the cover 17 at the top of the package is unfolded or removed from the package by tearing or the like, the uppermost dispensing wall 18 desirably is left in the package to act as a retainer and partial dust cover at least for all of the gloves 12 in the immediately subjacent stack.

In order to assure that the dispensing walls 18 possess sufficient longitudinal stiffness to apply the necessary compressive forces to the stack below them, they each include a pair of depending longitudinal flanges folded downwardly from and integral with a central horizontal panel portion 26 of the dispensing wall which normally rests directly on top of the subjacent compressed stack 12. As shown most clearly in Figs. 4 through 6, these flanges overlap the sides of the stacks 12 and occupy a space provided between the stacks and the front and back side walls 14 and 15.

These flanges 25 are foldably connected to the central panel 26 of the dispensing walls in such a way that they tend to unfold or spread outwardly and thereby engage the inner surfaces of the front and back walls 14 and 15 to retain the stacked gloves in position laterally in the carton. This arrangement assures that the stacked gloves remain centrally located in the package and do not become jammed against one side of the carton during storage or handling.

One ofthe important features of this embodiment of the invention is that all of the parts of the carton may be folded and constructed from a single sheet of material, i.e., from a single blank of paper board or corrugated paper packaging material, or the like, as shown in Fig. 7. In this embodiment of the invention, the front wall 14 of the carton comprises an inner and outer panel 27 and 28, respectively, as shown in Figs.

4-6, as well as in Fig. 7. The inner panel 27 of the front wall acts as a retainer for the inner panels 20 of the end walls when the various parts of the blank are folded into position, as well as providing a structure for defining a slot 29 adapted to receive a corresponding tongue 31 provided on the leading edge - of the foldable cover 17. This assures that the cover 17 may be opened, closed and retained in position and then opened again easily any number of times as the gloves are being dis¬ pensed from a given carton. Narrow top spacer walls 32 and bottom spacer walls 33 are formed in the blank integral with the inner panels 20 of the end walls to position the inner panels with respect to the outer panels 21 of the end walls when the parts are folded together, as shown most clearly in Figs. 2 and 3. The bottom wall 16 of the carton actually consists of four flaps, i.e., a pair of longitudinal flaps 34 foldably connected to the front and back walls of the carton and a pair of end flaps 35 foldably connected to the outer panels 21 of the end walls of the carton. As shown most clearly in Fig. 3, the end flaps 35 are folded in first and then the side flaps 34 are folded over the end flaps and into contact therewith to form the bottom wall of the carton. As shown in Fig. 4, these side flaps 34 of the bottom wall 16 may be held together by a piece of pressure-sensitive adhesive tape 36, or the like, to provide a complete enclosure. The end flaps of the bottom wall each define a slot 37 for receiving a corresponding shallow tongue 38 provided at the bottom of each of the inner panels 20 of the end walls for holding these panels in position. The slots 22 in the inner panels of the end walls are formed merely by folding in a corresponding series of flaps 39 which are adapted to remain in the end wall structure and provide horizontal rigidity therefor, as shown most clearly in Figs. 2 and 3.

After the carton has been formed by folding the blank of Fig. 7 and interlocking the various parts, as described hereinbefore, the first stack 12 of gloves 11 may be placed in position in the bottom of the carton and the first horizontal dispensing wall 18 engaged with the lowermost slots 22 in the end walls. Then, the remaining stacks and dispensing walls may be successively added until all of the stacks are loaded in compressed condition, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3-6.

However, it may be possible to load the package in one step, i. e., by compressing all five stacks together with their res¬ pective dispensing walls in position with respect thereto, and then folding the carton around the compressed stacks to form the package. In either case, the end result is a package wherein the gloves 11 may be dispensed easily through the dispensing openings 19 provided in the horizontal dispensing walls, yet may be packaged in almost any quantity in a unit which may be constructed easily from a single blank of sheet material such as conventional paper board, or the like.

Fig. 8 illustrates a somewhat different embodiment of the invention wherein only two compressed stacks 12 of gloves, or other flat articles, are contained in the package.

The construction of the package of Fig. 8 is otherwise identical with that of the foregoing figures, except for the shape of the dispensing opening 19 in the horizontal dispensing walls 18 of the package and the fact that there are two tabs 41 for closing the foldable cover 17 and a corresponding pair of slots 42 presented along the top edge of the front wall 14 of the carton.

It will be apparent that the package of this invention may be utilized for packaging and dispensing any kind of flat article which may be dispensed from a compressed stack in the manner described, and that the opening in the dispensing wall and the various other structural features of the carton of this invention may be modified somewhat to suit the particular type of article or material which is being dispensed. Further¬ more, it will appear to those skilled in the art that innumerable variations, applications, modifications, and extensions of the basic principles involved in this invention may be made without departing from its spirit or scope.

: 853528 ETH 288 The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:- 1 1. A dispensing package for a multiplicity 2 of flat flexible objects which comprises a plurality of 3 compressed stacks of said articles and a carton for holding 4 said stacks; said carton comprising a plurality of horizontal dispensing walls mounted at each end of the carton for vertical 6 movement with respect to a series of stops, said dispensing 7 walls separating said stacks and holding them In a compressed 8 condition and said stops being vertically spaced from one 9 another and adapted to limit the vertical movement of each end of each dispensing wall, and each of said dispensing walls 11 defining a dispensing opening through which said articles may 12 be withdrawn for usej whereby said dispensing walls are urged 13 against said stops when the stacks first are placed In the 14 carton, and each of said dispensing walls is adapted to move downwardly on top of the stack beneath it as the height of 16 the stack drops below the respective stops normally holding 17: the wall and the stack compressed. ; ;