WO2000011977A1 - Ashtray made from sheet product - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention concerns an ashtray of the type made from a sheet product by folding and cutting out a flat blank (1) for forming a closed hollow body (2) having at least an opening (3) for inserting in said body (2) ash and/or a cigarette stump. Said ashtray is characterised in that the base portion (5) of the ashtray body (2) is lined with a wall (7) spaced from said base (5) to form, when the body (2) is mounted, a support wall for stubbing out the cigarette stump and isolating the ashtray base portion (5) from any particular support whereon the ashtray rests so as to prevent the support from being damaged by burning. The invention is useful as a disposable ashtray.

Description

Ashtray of the type consisting of a sheet product

The present invention relates to an ashtray of the type consisting of a sheet product.

It relates more particularly to an ashtray obtained by folding and cutting a flat blank to form a closed hollow body having at least one opening for the introduction into said body of ashes and / or a cigarette butt.

Such ashtrays generally made of cardboard or paper are today widely used. Due to their low cost, they can be disposable. Furthermore, due to their reduced size linked to their possibility of flat storage, they are easily transportable. This design allows them to be used in unusual places, such as beaches where, after use, they are immediately thrown into a trash can.

However, such ashtrays have a number of drawbacks due to their design. Indeed, if such ashtrays can be widely used on the beach, they are still not widespread in public places where they must be placed on non-fragile supports. Indeed, the realization of these ashtrays in paper or in cardboard generates, during the crushing of the cigarette inside said ashtray, a hot spot which can cause a burn and consequently a marking of the support.

In addition, to perfectly fulfill their function, these ashtrays are, when they are placed in the open air, provided with a small opening which makes it difficult to crush the cigarette inside the ashtray because the opening is too small to allow fingers to pass through.

A first object of the present invention is therefore to propose an ashtray whose design makes it possible to avoid any deterioration by burning of the support on which the ashtray is placed.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an ashtray of reduced size, easily storable flat, easy to assemble and whose design facilitates the crushing of cigarettes.

To this end, the invention relates to an ashtray of the type consisting of a sheet product by folding and cutting a flat blank to form a closed hollow body having at least one opening for the introduction into said body of ashes and / or a cigarette butt, characterized in that the bottom part of the ashtray body is lined by a wall remote from said bottom to constitute, in the assembled state of the body, a butt support for crushing cigarette butt cigarette and insulation of the bottom part of the ashtray of any support on which the ashtray is placed so as to avoid any deterioration by burning of the support.

Thanks to this monolithic design of the bottom part of the body and of the wall remote from the bottom, it is always guaranteed a precise positioning of the wall remote from the bottom so as to facilitate the crushing of a cigarette. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the support and insulation wall takes the form of a tongue secured by at least one hinge-type connection to the rest of the body, the free edges of the tongue allowing movement of it inside the body.

Furthermore, preferably, the supporting and insulating wall is secured by bonding in an area adjoining its base to the face of the top of the body carrying the opening to ensure a predetermined positioning of the wall during the setting in volume. blank.

The invention will be clearly understood on reading the following description of exemplary embodiments, with reference to the appended drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of an ashtray according to one invention;

Figure 2 shows a front view of Figure 1;

3 shows a top view of a flat blank capable of forming the body of an ashtray according to one invention.

The ashtray, object of the invention, consists of a sheet product such as a sheet of cardboard, paper or any other material. This sheet product is in the form of a flat blank 1 of the type shown in FIG. 3. This flat blank 1 is folded, cut and grooved to form in the assembled state a closed hollow body 2 of the type shown in Figure 1, this closed hollow body 2 having at least one opening 3 for the introduction into said body 2 of ashes and / or a cigarette butt. Such a construction makes it possible to store the ashtray flat before use and to obtain a reduced size of the latter. Despite everything, the mounting of such an ashtray is easy as will be described below.

Obviously, the shapes of the ashtray body 2 are not limited to those shown. This body 2 generally has a so-called top face shown at 8 in FIG. 1, a bottom part shown at 5 in FIG. 1 and peripheral parts serving for the connection between the top face and the bottom face. This periphery of the ashtray body 2 is represented by the general reference 4 in FIG. 1.

Characteristically to the invention, the bottom wall 5 of the body 2 which is a solid wall is doubled by a wall 7 remote from the bottom to form an insulation and support wall for the cigarette crushing as shown Figure 1 where the wall 7 shown in dotted lines is positioned immediately below the opening 3 so that, when the user introduces his cigarette through the opening 3, the end of the cigarette comes into contact with said wall 7 to facilitate the extinction of said cigarette. Indeed, the support and insulation wall 7 takes the form of a tongue secured by at least one hinge-type connection to the rest of the body 2. This connection can be formed by a simple fold line delimiting an edge or side of the tongue called the base of the tongue. Furthermore, the area of this tongue adjacent to the base of this tongue is secured by gluing to the face 8 of the top of the body 2 of the ashtray to allow a predetermined positioning of the tongue inside the body during the volume setting. from the body. The other free edges of the tongue allow it to move inside the body 2. Due to the design of this wall 7, this wall 7 tends to lower under the action of the user to allow the ash housing inside the ashtray. As a result, the wall 7 support and insulation is movable under the action of a support exerted through the opening 3 of the body 2 between a position in which it is curved in the direction of the opening 3 of the body 2 and a position in which it rests against the bottom part 5 of the body 2.

Furthermore, to reinforce the insulation characteristics of the ashtray relative to a support on which the ashtray is placed during a cigarette crushing, the periphery 4 of the body 2 of the ashtray is extended beyond the bottom part 5 of the ashtray body by continuous or discontinuous supports 6 to isolate by a vacuum the bottom part 5 of the ashtray from any support on which the ashtray is placed. This avoids any deterioration by burning the support during a cigarette crushing. Indeed, a cigarette crushing generates, due to the materials used, a heating of the bottom part 5 of the ashtray which risks damaging by marking the support on which the ashtray is placed. These supports 6 () continuous or discontinuous are preferably made in one piece with the periphery 4 of the body 2. Again, their embodiment can be diverse and varied.

Although many embodiments of the body 2 of 5 ashtray can be envisaged, one of the preferred forms is that shown in FIG. 1. In this case, the body 2 of ashtray assigns in the assembled state a volume with a profile longitudinal almond shaped and with concave lateral sides. Such an embodiment is characterized by () great rigidity of the body 2 despite easy mounting and a number of connecting zones between said components of the blank particularly reduced. Indeed, this body 2 is obtained from a blank 1 formed from at least two flaps 9, 10 separated from each other by at least one line 5 of transverse folding LP1. One 9 of said flaps 9, 10 has an ashtray opening 3 through which the ashes or the cigarette butt can be introduced inside said body. These two components 9, 10 comprise respectively two side flaps 4A, 4B; 4C, 4D connected respectively to the flaps 9, 10 by a fold line LP3, LP4 longitudinal concave with respect to the longitudinal axis Z of said blank 1. The flaps 9, 10 are intended to be folded over one another and joined together. The components are generally joined together by bonding, the bonding lines being represented in FIG. 3 by a line consisting of a line and a point. This bonding allows the ashtray to be stored flat. It should be noted that the flaps 9 and 10 of Figure 3 correspond to the top 8 and bottom 5 parts shown in Figure 1. However, for reasons of clarity, these parts are mentioned in 9 and 10 when the bottom is shown flat and in 8 and 5 when the ashtray is in the assembled state.

As shown in Figure 3, the bottom flap 10 is extended by an axial foldable tongue inside the ashtray body. This tongue has free concave lateral edges 13 to adapt to the general profile of the concave walls of the ashtray. This tongue 7 is curved in the direction of the opening 3 of the ashtray to constitute, in the assembled state, the wall 7 of insulation and support. As has already been mentioned above, this wall 7 disposed during assembly in the vicinity of the opening 3 tends, during the action of cigarette crushing by the user, to approach the bottom part 8 of the ashtray body until it comes to bear on the latter. This movement is effected by sliding the free edge of the wall 7 opposite to that forming a hinge inside the body 2 and deformation of the wall 7 by at least partial inversion of its concavity. The wall 7 then tends to return to a position slightly above the median horizontal plane of the body. The wall 7 is substantially similar to a curved spring leaf. It is also noted that the side flaps 4A, 4B with a free edge 6 convex of the flap 9 carrying the ashtray opening 3 are substantially wider than the side flaps 4C, 4D of the flap 10 called bottom of the ashtray, so that in the folded state, the flaps 4A, 4B of the flap 9 carrying the opening 3 create a vacuum between bottom flap 10 and any bearing surface. Finally, to facilitate the mounting of such a blank, the side flaps 4C, 4D of the bottom flap 10 have on their free edge of generally convex appearance a cut-out imprint 11 to facilitate the shaping of the ashtray during mounting.

In summary, for the volume setting of such a blank 1, the procedure is as follows. The tongue 7 is folded against the bottom flap 10 by flap around the fold line LP2. The flap 9 carrying the opening 3 is in turn folded down by folding around the fold line LP1 against the tongue 7. It is secured by gluing to the latter by means of glue dots arranged at the locations represented by a line consisting of 'a line and a point. Thanks to this bonding of an area close to the base of the tongue 7 to the flap 9 carrying the opening 3, the tongue 7 will automatically bulge in the direction of the flap 9 when the blank is placed in volume. The blank 1 thus folded and glued can be sold. The user can then proceed alone to the mounting and the volume of this blank. For its volume, the user will simply have, after bringing lines LP1 and LP2 together to spread the bottom and top walls of the body, to fold along the fold lines LP4 the side flaps 4C and 4D of the so-called shutter of bottom 10 of the blank 1 then fold over by folding along the fold lines LP3 the side flaps 4A, 4B of the flap 9 carrying the opening 3. Once the folding of these side flaps has been carried out, the volume of the body is finished, the ashtray can then be used. The opening 3 of the ashtray can be closed by means of a flap 12 comprising, in a manner known per se, fold lines which allow the installation of a cigarette.

Finally, it should be noted that the bottom part 5 of the ashtray body 2 can be provided with a slot for ballasting ashtray by introducing any object such as a knife or the like.

Claims

1. Ashtray of the type consisting of a sheet product by folding and cutting a flat blank (1) to form a closed hollow body (2) having at least one opening (3) for introduction into said body (2 ) of ash and / or a cigarette butt, characterized in that the bottom part (5) of the body (2) of the ashtray is lined by a wall (7) remote from said bottom (5) to constitute the assembled state of the body (2), a support surface for crushing the cigarette butt and insulating the bottom part (5) of the ashtray from any support on which the ashtray is placed so as to avoid any damage by burning the support. 2. Ashtray according to claim 1, characterized in that the wall (7) for support and insulation takes the form of a tongue secured by at least one hinge-type connection, preferably formed by a fold line, to the rest of the body (2), the free edges of the tongue allowing it to move inside the body (2). 3. Ashtray according to one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the wall (7) of support and insulation is movable, under the action of a support exerted through the opening (3) of the body (2), between a position in which it is curved in the direction of the opening (3) of the body (2) and a position in which it bears against the bottom part (5) of body (2). 4. Ashtray according to claim 3, characterized in that the wall (7) of support and insulation is secured by gluing in an area adjoining its base to the face (8) of the top of the body (2) carrying the opening (3) to ensure a predetermined positioning of the wall (7) during the setting up of the blank. 5. Ashtray according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the periphery (4) of the body (2) of the ashtray is extended beyond the bottom part (5) of the ashtray body by supports ( 6) continuous or discontinuous to isolate by a vacuum the bottom part (5) of the ashtray from any support on which the ashtray is placed. 6. Ashtray according to claim 5, characterized in that the supports (6) continuous or discontinuous are made in one piece with the periphery (4) of the ashtray body. 7. Ashtray according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the body (2) of ashtray, assigning in the mounted state a volume with a longitudinal almond profile and concave sidewalls, is obtained from a blank (1), formed of at least two flaps (9, 10) separated from each other by at least one transverse fold line (LP1), one (9) of said flaps (9, 10) having at least one opening (3) of ashtray, these flaps (9, 10) respectively comprising two lateral flaps (4A, 4B; 4C, 4D) connected respectively to the flaps (9, 10) by a fold line (LP3, LP4) concave longitudinal by relative to the longitudinal axis (Z) of the blank (1), said flaps (9, 10) being intended to be folded over one another and secured to each other, the bottom flap (10) being extended by an axial tongue which can be folded down inside the body (2) of the ashtray, this tongue having concave lateral edges (13) to adapt to the general profile of the conc with the ashtray, this tab being curved in the direction of the opening (3) of the ashtray to constitute, in the assembled state, the wall (7) of insulation and support. 8. Ashtray according to claim 7, characterized in that the lateral flaps (4A, 4B) with free edge (6) convex of the flap (9) carrying the opening (3) are substantially wider than the lateral flaps (4C, 4D) of the shutter (10) called bottom of the ashtray, so that in the folded state, the flaps (4A, 4B) of the shutter (9) carrying the opening (3) create a vacuum between bottom shutter (10 ) and any bearing surface. 5 9. Ashtray according to one of claims 7 and 8, characterized in that the side flaps (4C, 4D) of the bottom flap (10) have on their free edge of generally convex appearance an imprint (11) cut to facilitate K) shaping the ashtray during assembly.