US2002691A - Folded napkin - Google Patents

Description

May 28, 1935. A, E. COFRIN 2,002,691

. FOLDED NAPKIN Filed Jan. 16, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 K LWJ I Patented May 28, 1935 FOLDED NAPKIN Austin E. Cofrin, Green Bay, Wis

Application Janiiary 16, 1933, Serial Ho. 52.05? 3 Claims. (01. 206-57);

a invention relates to; folded sheets as napkins or the like, and has as an object, the provision of a ool-npact fold having tabs which may be grasped by the user in a dispensing operation.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a fold that will be compact whereby a napkin may be reduced to a size at present desired by restaurants where the space occupied by dispensers is a consideration.

It is a further object of theinvention to provide a fold that will be substantially of uniform density throughout and still have the compact form desired.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a fold that will have tabs made up of folded portions of the original sheet whereby to give the desired strength to avoid tearing of the sheet when the fold is abstracted from the supply.

Further objects of the invention will appear from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings showing illustrative embodiments of the invention, and wherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the sheet to be folded with the fold lines indicated thereon;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a partially folded sheet;

Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of an end of a modified form of the showing of Fig. 2;

Figs. 4 and 5 are respective views of the completely folded article;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of an unfolded sheet of different size; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of one stage of the folding of the sheet of Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the final fold of the sheet of Fig. 6.

It is to be understood that the sheet shown in plan view of Fig. 1 may 'be a single thickness, or where the original sheet is double the size shown, the sheet may be doubled-and folded midway of its width as upon line 10, as indicated in Fig. 3.

The first step in the folding of the sheet to produce the fold of the invention is the inward folding of the edges of the sheet'upon lines II, I! to bring the edges substantially at the lines l3, II to the form illustrated in Fig. 2. The next folding operation is the folding of the ends of the thus resulting form first upon line I5 to superpose the portion l6 upon the portion IT, as indicated in Fig. 2, and the then folding of the form resulting from the first folding of the sheet upon lines H and l2,-,upon the [8 to. bring the portion 19 into position superposed .upongthe pQ ion,-l6.. 1 i In) {11 It is preferred in the folding of napkins of the usual size that the portion It shall be, as indicated, of less length transversely of Fig. 1 than the portion l1, whereby the edge 20 will fall short of the line l8 when I6 is superposed upon [1. However the position of the line 15 may be fixed to some extent in accordance with the size desired in the finished fold;

The final step in producing the fold of the invention is the folding of the form of Fig. 2 in its folded position upon the lines I3, l4 substantially coincident with the positions occupied by the edges l0 and 2| to positions such as shown in either Fig. 4 or Fig. 5, thus providing tabs superposed upon the body of the fold which may be readily grasped by the user in abstraction of the sheet and which, because they are formed of several thicknesses and without raw edges, will afford the necessary strength to permit of the abstraction of the fold from a dispenser without tearing the sheet.

It will be understood that Figs. 1 and 6 represent a sheet that has been once folded as provided by the invention and then extended so as to bear the crease lines caused by the folding operation.

Figs. 6, 7, and 8 illustrate the folding, according to the invention, of a sheet intermediate in size between the sizes of sheet of Figs. 2 and 3, the sheet of Fig. 3 being twice the size of that of Fig. 2. The fold of Figs. 6, '7 and 8 therefore omits the preliminary folding on lines II and [2 of Fig. 1, but is in all other respects similar to the fold of Figs. 1-4 and may be similar to Fig. 5, as will be obvious.

In the form of Figs. 6-8, the sheet of Fig. 6 is first doubled by folding on the line 22. The doubled sheet is then folded as at 23 upon a line shown as less than one-third the length of the doubled sheet from the righthand end of Fig. 6 to superpose this end upon the body portion 24. Afterwards the lefthand end of Fig. 6 is folded on line 25 to cover the righthand end of Fig. 6. The fold is completed by folding on lines 26, 21 to superpose the tabs 28, 29 upon the central body. Fig. 8 shows the tabs 28, 29 lying upon the same side of the body portion to agree with the form of Fig. 4 providing tab edges which may be grasped by either the right or left hand of the user.

The fold provided by the invention will be seen to be of substantially uniform density throughout its extent and therefore a package made up for delivery will be the same thickness and density throughout and will readily yield itself to firm packaging.

Minor changes may be made in the physical embodiments of the invention within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit thereof.

I claim:

1. A sheet folded to provide a longitudinally elongated body; then folded upon transverse lines substantially one-third of the length of said body from each end thereof to provide a transversely elongated body, and lastly folded upon lines substantially one-fourth of the length of the transversely elongated body from'the opposite ends thereof upon lines perpendicular to said transverse lines to provide a final fold presenting tabs superposed on said body with their edges lying closely adjacent the center of said body.

2; A sheet folded to provide an elongated body of at least two thicknesses throughout its extent; then folded upon transverse lines substantially one-third of the length of said body from each end thereof to provide a transversely elongated body, and lastly folded upon lines substantially one-fourth of the length of the transversely elongated body from the opposite ends thereof upon lines perpendicular to said transverse lines to provide a final fold presenting tabs superposed on said body with their edges lying closely adjacent the center of said body.

3. A sheet having its edges folded inwardly on lines parallel with said edges and each spaced therefrom substantially one-sixth of the width of the sheet; then folded transversely to the first named folds upon lines substantially onethird of the length of the sheet from the ends of the form resulting from the first fold; opposite edges of the form resulting from the last named folding operation folded upon lines substantially coinciding with the original margins of the sheet in their first folded position to provide tabs superposed upon the body of the final form with their edges adjacent the center line thereof. v

AUSTIN E. COFRIN;

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