Ash Tray

Abstract

An ash tray comprising an inner cup-shaped receptacle surrounded by an outer cup-shaped receptacle. Both receptacles have an upper smooth edge so that a cigarette can rest on the two edges; the upper edge of the inner receptacle is lower than that of the outer receptacle, so that a line tangent to the two edges is inclined to the horizontal at an angle lying between 10.degree. and 40.degree.. The distance from the upper edge of the inner receptacle to the opposite wall of the inner receptacle (as measured along an extension of the line tangent to both edges) is between one-eight and one-half the length of a cigarette, and the distance between the two edges on the same line of tangency is between one-half and full length of a cigarette minus the distance from the upper edge of the inner receptacle to the opposite wall of the inner receptacle. The inner receptacle may be circular with a downwardly and inwardly sloping inner surface and a downwardly and outwardly inclined outer surface. The outer receptacle has a downwardly and inwardly sloping wall.

Parent Case Text

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 675,400, filed Oct. 16, 1967, and now abandoned.

Description

This invention relates to an improved ash tray, and, especially though not exclusively, to an ash tray of the disposable type.

Traditional designs for ash trays provide a dish having one or more notches or smooth arcuate recesses around the periphery, in which the cigarettes are to be rested. Since such ash receptacles become very dirty and provide a distasteful task in cleaning, one object of the present invention is to provide an ash tray which, instead of requiring cleaning, can be easily disposed of at low total expense.

One of the problems with providing a proper ash receptacle for cigarettes has been that a cigarette burning in a predominately vertical position builds up tars within it and this action causes it to smell. The present invention overcomes this by holding the cigarette in a predominately horizontal position.

An even more important object of the invention is to provide a disposable ash tray having a novel protective feature that makes it substantially impossible for a cigarette placed in the receptacle to fall out of the receptacle even though it may burn completely to an end. A major purpose of this structure is to reduce the likelihood of fires. For example, when a smoker leaves a cigarette burning in an ash tray, and falls asleep, conventional ash trays may not provide any really certain means of preventing the cigarette from becoming unbalanced and falling out of the tray. Even though the smoker may have appropriately placed his cigarette in a conventional ash tray, lighted end in, and has rested it in a peripheral notch or recess, it tends to burn until its length has been so shortened that the cigarette becomes unbalanced, with a major portion of the cigarette outside the ash tray. When so unbalanced, the cigarette falls out of the ash tray, unless someone picks it up and snuffs it out beforehand; and, of course, if a lone user has fallen asleep in the meantime, there is no one to do this.

There is currently on the market a type of ash tray, sometimes made of an injection-molded plastic and sometimes made of ceramic, having sharp V-grooves or narrow U-grooves in the edge of the bowl. These grooves are purposely made to be slightly smaller than cigarette diameter. For proper operation the smoker presses his cigarette into the grooves, thereby compressing the tobacco and helping to exclude oxygen from the cigarette in areas where it is in contact with the inside wall of the groove. When the cigarette is properly pushed into such a groove, it will burn only so far as that groove, and will there become extinguished because of insufficient oxygen exposure. The trouble with this structure has been the human element, for smokers have sometimes carelessly placed the cigarette improperly into the groove--or failed to press it down far enough--so that it can still fall out when it is burned a while and the lengths on each side of the groove have become unbalanced. Unfortunately, improper use of such ash trays has often resulted in considerable fire damage.

Another object of the present invention is to provide ash receptacles which are compactly stackable within each other, thus enabling a large number to be handled in a small space. For example, when they are used on a restaurant table, a stack of the ash trays of this invention may be placed on the table, and when the waiter changes tables, instead of dumping out the ash tray, he may simply remove the top tray, leaving the remainder.

Briefly summarized, the ash tray of this invention comprises a receptacle made from thin material which is not inflammable. A receptacle of this invention is so contoured that the cigarette of necessity rests in it and burns normally, and while burning, the cigarette creeps into the dish, and if left unattended, falls inside the dish. The ash tray is so contoured as to provide an inner ring and an outer ring. The inner ring surrounds an inner or central dish, and the outer ring surrounds an outer dish, or circular channel between the inner dish and the outer channel. The positioning of the rings with respect to each other is properly dimensioned and proportioned, and there is also an important angular relationship. These will be explained in the following description of several preferred embodiments. Other objects and advantages will also appear from this description.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of an ash tray embodying the principles of the invention, showing a cigarette resting in it.

FIG. 2 is a top view in perspective, of the ash tray of FIG. 1 with the cigarette resting therein.

FIG. 3 is a view in elevation and in section of the ash tray of FIGS. 1 and 2, showing a freshly lighted cigarette properly resting therein.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing the cigarette as it has been left burning from FIG. 3, and, having built up considerable ash, has shrunk into the ash tray.

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4, showing what happens upon further burning of the cigarette of FIG. 4 when left to burn in the ash tray.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary enlarged view in elevation and in section showing the outer edge of the ash tray of FIGS. 1 through 5 and the position of the cigarette thereon.

FIG. 7 is a view in section taken along the line 7--7 in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a top plan view of a blank by which the ash tray of FIGS. 1 through 7 may be made from a single sheet of noninflammable paper or plastic.

FIG. 9 is a view in elevation and in section of a stack of three ash trays all like that of FIGS. 1 through 8, showing a cigarette in the position shown in FIG. 5, but viewing it and the tray from a different angle.

FIG. 10 is a view in perspective of a modified form of the invention.

FIG. 11 is a top plan view of a blank from which the ash tray of FIG. 10 may be made.

FIG. 12 is a view in perspective of another modified form of ash tray embodying the principles of the invention, with a cigarette shown therein.

FIG. 13 is a top view in perspective of the ash tray of FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is a top plan view of a paper blank from which the ash tray of FIGS. 12 and 13 may be made.

FIG. 15 is a view in perspective of a modified form of ash tray of the invention, which is square or rectangular.

FIG. 16 is a view in perspective of a further modified form of the invention, with a freshly lighted cigarette resting therein.

FIG. 17 is a view in elevation and in section of the ash tray of FIG. 16.

FIG. 18 is a view on a reduced scale of a blank from which the ash tray of FIGS. 16 and 17 may be made by folding alone.

FIG. 19 is a view in perspective of another modified form of the invention, this one being molded or pressed to shape from metal, plastic, or other suitable material, rather than being folded or glued. A freshly lighted cigarette is shown therein.

FIG. 20 is a view in elevation and in section of the ash tray of FIG. 19 with a freshly lighted cigarette therein.

FIG. 21 is a view similar to FIG. 20 showing the cigarette of FIG. 20 left in the ash tray to burn somewhat more.

FIG. 22 is a view similar to FIG. 21 with the cigarette at a later stage of burning.

FIG. 23 is a view similar to FIG. 21 with a cigarette which has been smoked intermittently since initially being placed in the ash tray as in FIG. 20, having been taken out and put back in several times.

FIG. 24 is a view similar to FIG. 20 showing accommodation for a short cigarette across the inner cup, which has a modified form of edge, having scallops instead of lying only on a single horizontal plane.

FIG. 25 is a view in perspective of still another modified form of the invention, wider and having a different form of stop centered in the inner cup. The ash tray can be molded or formed to this shape.

FIG. 26 is a view in elevation and is section of the tray of FIG. 25 but slightly modified.

The ash tray 30 shown in FIGS. 1 through 9, as well as the other ash trays shown, may be made from noninflammable paper such as metal-foil-backed paper or film-laminated paper. Any nonflammable stiff paper may be used, including some of the clay-finish papers. Also, plastic such as phenolic and melamines and ceramic materials are appropriate, though ceramic ash trays will not stack quite as compactly; nevertheless, as far as design is concerned, the ash tray can be made in ceramic with good results. The ash tray may be made from a flat paper blank or a flat plastic blank or may be made by vacuum molding or injection molding, or can be made by stamping and forming metal. It may have a vacuum metalized surface for heat reflection or it may be otherwise coated.

The ash tray 30 of FIGS. 1 through 9, whether made from a paper-metal foil laminate like the blank in FIG. 8 or of molded plastic, or in any form, comprises a unitary receptacle providing two concentric cups, a lower, inner cup 31 and a higher, outer cup 32. The outer cup 32 has a peripheral edge 33 higher than the peripheral edge 34 of the inner cup 31 and its wall 35 meets the inner cup 31 by means of a web 36 which extends up from a vertex 37 where the wall 35 of the outer cup terminates; the web 36 extends up to the upper edge 33 of the inner cup 31. The vertex 37 forms a circle.

The inner cup 31 has a sloping inner wall 38 that goes down to a bottom vertex 39 forming a circle on the same plane as the vertex 37. From the vertex 39 a central cone 40 may arise, terminating in a point 41. Preferably, the cone 40 is made so that it lies fully below a line passing through or tangent to the edges 33 and 34 and extended on down. Hence, the cigarette C never rests on the top 41 of the cone 40. When it burns short, the cigarette C may rest on the slope of the cone 40, as will be explained later.

The outer periphery 33 is preferably provided with V notches 42 which are the preferred cigarette resting locations. As shown best in FIGS. 2 and 3, the cigarette C, in at least its early stages of burning, rests tangent to the edge 33 in a notch 42 of the outer cup 32, on or tangent to the edge 34 of the inner cup 31, and on the opposite slope 38 at a stop position.

In FIG. 6, the material of the ash tray is shown here as foil-coated paper, comprising a lamination 43 of foil on the inside surface and a lamination 44 of paper on the outside. At the notches 42, are downward folds 53 (see FIG. 8) which provide smooth tangent resting points and eliminated the change of the cigarette's catching on a sharp paper edge which might prevent it from sliding. The tangent resting points are located about where the fold is made. This tangency is best shown in FIG. 6.

The dimensions and angles involved are important. The dimension A shown in FIG. 4 is the distance from the edge 34 to the opposite stop point on the wall 38, measured along the line which is an extension of the line joining the tangents to the edges 33 and 34, and the distance along that line between the edges 33 and 34 is the dimension B shown in FIG. 4. The dimension A is ideally 0.3 times the length of a new cigarette, which for current standard sizes is 1.3 inches or 33 mm. The maximum length for dimension A is about one half the length of a new unlit cigarette or about 2 inches (50 mm.) and the minimum is about one-eighth the length of a new cigarette or about one half inch (about 12 mm.). The dimension B is ideally about 1.4 inches (35 mm.) or slightly larger than the ideal length of the dimension A. The maximum practicable length of the dimension B is the length of a new unlit cigarette, less the dimension A, or about seven-eighths the length of a new cigarette when A is at its minimum, i.e., about 31/2 inches (about 88 mm.). The minimum length of dimension B is half of the length of a new unlit cigarette, less the dimension A, or about one-eighth the length of a new cigarette (about one-half inch or 12 mm.). The cigarette slope angle in this invention lies between 10.degree. and 40.degree., ideally around 25.degree., and this being the inclination to horizontal made by the line tangent to the edges 33 and 34, horizontal being the plane of the circles 37 and 39.

When these critical dimensions and angles are used, one very important result is illustrated by FIGS. 3, 4, and 5. As shown in FIGS. 1-3, a cigarette C has just been lit, and it is placed somewhere along its length on the edges 33 and 34. The slope is such that the cigarette C automatically slides until its lighted end D engages the wall 38. At this time, the unlit end E is still overhanging the outside of the ash tray 30, and if nothing else happened, the cigarette C might burn up to a point near the edge 33 where the weight of the unlit overhanging portion F (see FIGS. 6 and 3) would outweigh the inside portion, and the butt could then fall over out of the ash tray 30. However, this cannot happen, because a cigarette shrinks as it burns, and because the angle of inclination tends to cause it to slide further into the ash tray 30. It slides freely across the rounded edges 33 and 34. The shrinkage pulls the unlit end E into a safe position as is shown in FIG. 4, and upon further burning the ash G gives way and falls to the bottom 39 of the inner cup 31 and the cigarette C then slides down further to a position such as that shown in FIG. 5. It will do this also if the smoker has taken some draughts on it and has replaced it on the edges 33 and 34, because the lighted end will again immediately slide against the wall 38. The proportioning on the positions of the edges and the angle of rest of the cigarette is such as to make it virtually impossible to misuse the ash tray 30, or to misuse cigarettes in relation to it. A cigarette always falls or slides into a safe position.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, another feature of the invention is that the lip structure 33 is curved down between the notches 42 so that there are no sharp edges to hook on to the cigarette C and impede its proper sliding in. There is a smooth curve at the contact points rather than anything confining, as is shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

Note that when the cigarette burns in the way shown in FIG. 5, it does not rest on the vertex 41 of the cone 40 but falls beside it on to the sloping wall of the cone 40. The cone's function is to hold the lighted end up somewhat so that the air can circulate underneath it and keep the cigarette burning even when the cigarette is short, so that it can still be smoked until it is finally too short. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 9, a very short cigarette stub will then rest on three points, on the inner rim 34 and on both of the two sloping surfaces 38 and 40.

A blank 50 shown in FIG. 8 may be used to manufacture the ash tray 30 of FIGS. 1 through 7. It will be seen that the blank comprises an arcuate edge 51, having short cuts 52 to provide the notches 42 when flaps 53 are folded down. There are arcuate fold lines 54, 55, and 56 to provide the vertices 37, 34, and 39, respectively. The two radially inwardly extending edges 57 and 58 are brought together during folding, and a marginal portion 59 along one of these edges 58 may be previously provided with adhesive, or adhesive may be applied just previous to the folding operation.

An outstanding feature of the invention when it is made of thin material such as foil-coated paper, is its stackability. It can be stacked just as compactly as thin paper plates or cups, and FIG. 9 shows a short stack of these ash trays 30a, 30b, and 30c, with other reference numerals corresponding with the indicia a, b, and c added for the thin trays. Since they stack so compactly, an entire stack may be used as an ash tray, and the top one removed as it is dirtied. There can be successive such removals until finally the stack is consumed.

The number of slots 52 which are on the periphery is not critical. The amount shown in the drawing is chosen to give a satisfying look and good performance, but more or fewer can be used.

A modified ash tray 60 of the invention is shown in FIG. 10, and FIG. 11 shows a pattern 61 for it, generally circular with radial cuts 62a somewhat resembling a flattened orange peel. There are provided circular fold lines 62, 63, and 64 to make the inner and outer cups 65 and 66. In a preferred form of the ash tray 60, there is gluing at a tab 67 on the edge of each of the several segments 68. At the outer edge, flaps 69 are turned down with a wide curving fold provided. The result, as shown in FIG. 10, is very similar to what was shown in FIGS. 1 through 8.

In this instance, there is no central cone, and the inside of the inner cup 65 is made with a flat bottom surface 70. The upper edges 72 and 71 of the outer and inner cups 66 and 65, respectively, are smooth and the edge 71 is broadly rounded at the notches 73, which are again provided with the downward folds 69 located so as to provide smooth tangent resting points and to eliminate the chance of a cigarette's catching on a sharp paper edge. The wall 74 of the outer cup 66 and the walls 75 and 76 of the inner cup 65 slope conically. The cigarette rests on tangent points inboard from a curved-away sharp outer edge 77, when it is rested in one of the notch areas, and again of course rests on the smooth folded edge 71 of the inner cup 65, which is lower than the edge 72 of the outer cup 66. It may also rest substantially against the conical wall 76 of the inner cup 65. The same proportions are used as those discussed above in connection with FIG. 4, for these proportions and slope angles apply throughout the invention. Note that the edge 71 of the inner cup 65 is (as throughout this invention it must be) lower than the edge 72 of the outer cup 66.

Another modified ash tray 80 of the invention is shown in FIGS. 12 through 14. Here the blank 81 (FIG. 14) comprises a full circle, with an outer edge 82 having recessed arcs 83 therein alternating with the normal edge 82 at regular intervals about half the width of the full length portions 82. Each full length portion 82 has a notch 84 enabling the folding of flaps 85 to give the needed smooth edge here. There are no radial cuts as in FIGS. 10 and 11, but there are radial fold lines 86 and 87 and also fold lines 88 and 89 to give overlaps, much as is done in some types of paper cups. The result is quite attractive, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13. There are also two generally circular folds 90 and 91, which are made up of short straight folds that lie at an angle to each other, fold lines 92 and 93 for the outer fold 90 and fold lines 94 and 95 for the inner fold 91.

The relationship in this ash tray 80 between its inner cup 96 and outer cup 97 is substantially the same, although in this instance there is a zig-zag, star-like rim 98, 99 on each of the inner cup 96 and outer cup 97, which serves for holding the cigarette, again without causing any catching at any of the edges, since they are all folded edges.

Other forms along this line are obviously possible, and it is not critical that the device be made from a flat blank, for it can be molded or pressed as has been stated before.

For example, FIG. 15 shows a square ash tray 100 having a square outer cup 101 with a vertical wall 102 connected by a flat bottom wall 103 to a square inner cup 104 having a vertical wall 105 extending up from the flat bottom wall 103. The proportions, slope angles, sizes, and rounding of edges 106 on the outer wall 102 and 107 on the inner wall 105 are basically as have been discussed. The walls 105 and 103 or either of them may be made with a slope, especially the inner wall 105. There may be a central pyramid like the cone 40 if desired. Instead of being square or circular, the ash tray may be rectangular or in the shape of a regular or irregular polygon or an ellipse or irregular closed curve. The irregular shapes are easier in ceramic or molded plastic.

The embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 16, 17 and 18 presents an ash tray 110 made much like the type of cups that are used in many restaurants to serve cole slaw. This ash tray 110 may be considered as a totally folded embodiment. It may be made from metal, like the pie plates used in frozen foods. Once again, it has an outer cup 111 and an inner cup 112, through in this case the outer cup 111 is provided with a flange 113 around a conical wall 114, the two meeting at a point 115 where curvature changes, not in a sharp edge but at a rounded vertex. The downward sloped wall 114 joins an upwardly sloped conical wall 116 of the inner cup 112 at a vertex 117 which describes a circle around the bottom of the cup 112. The inner cup 112 also has a smooth upper edge 118 and an inner sloping conical wall 119 leading down to a circular flat portion 120.

The blank 121 of FIG. 18 is circular and is provided with a circular outer circumference 122, with circular fold lines 123, 124, 125 and 128, and with radial fold lines 126 and 127 in pairs. There is no need to have the notches here because of the folds along the double fold line 126, 127, so that a cigarette C rests on the smooth edges 115 and 118 without any sharp cut paper edges. A wedge-shaped space 128 (FIG. 17) minimizes the cigarette contact along the flange 113, and there are smooth contact points providing minimum obstruction to the cigarette's natural tendency to slide, so that as it burns, the cigarette C does slide inwardly toward the inner cup wall 119 opposite from the edge 118 on which it rests.

As stated earlier, the cup may be molded instead of made by folding or by forming a flat blank. A molded cup 150 is shown in FIGS. 19 through 23. It may be pressed instead of molded, if desired, so that it may be made out of suitable sheet material, such as metal, or it may be made from phenolic resin or from other types of fire-resistant plastic. The ash tray 150 has an outer cup 151 and an inner cup 152, and the outer cup 151 has a sloping outer wall 153 meeting a sloping flange 154 at a smoothly curved inner rim 155. The downwardly and inwardly extending conical wall 153 meets an outer conical wall 156 of the inner cup 152 at a vertex circle 157. The inner cup 152 has a smooth contact edge 158 lower than the flange 154 and rim 155, and it has an inner conical wall 159 leading to a well 160 with a flat bottom wall 161, which is coplanar with the circular vertex 157. The edge 158 is smooth, so that it does not make a sharp contact with the cigarette C. The slope angle of the cigarette again is within the range of 15.degree. to 40.degree. and is preferably about 25.degree. so that the cigarette C has a minimum sliding resistance and does not get hooked on either edge 155 or 158. The cigarette C really rests on three points: the outer rim 155, the inner rim 158, and the stop position of the wall 159 of the inner cup 152.

FIGS. 20 through 22 show what happens to a cigarette C in the ash tray 150. If the cigarette C of FIG. 20 is simply left in place, it progressively burns as shown in FIG. 21 and then as shown in FIG. 22. When the ash 162 eventually breaks after sliding of the cigarette C, the stub 163 falls harmlessly into the well 164 between the inner and outer cups.

FIG. 23 shows what happens with a cigarette C that is smoked intermittently. When it is placed in the ash tray 150, it assumes the position shown here, and if it is left alone awhile after being smoked, it slides further and it is ready to fall into the inner cup 152.

FIG. 24 shows how the inner cup 152 can also be used to provide accommodation for a short cigarette 165. The inner cup 152 may have, as shown here, small notches or valleys 166 in the edge 158 to prevent roll of the cigarette 165, if this should be deemed desirable.

FIGS. 25 and 26 show one further modification, an ash tray 170 which generally resembles the ash tray 150 but which is wider and has a cone 171 inside the inner cup 172 to serve as a stop. Unlike the use of the cone 40 in FIG. 1, the cone 171 here is used as a stop and the ash E is placed up against it. In other words, a wide ash tray 170 can have a wide central inner cup 172, so that the cigarette C, if properly inclined as shown in FIGS. 25 and 26, tends to come in to a bottom wall 173 rather than reaching the opposite wall 174 of the inner cup 172. In order to make it wide this way, it is desirable to have the cone 171 to serve as a stop.

Another modification which is feasible is to have, as is shown in FIG. 26, a small conical ring 175 somewhat analogous to the central cone 40 of FIG. 1, placed in between the central cone 170 and the wall 174 of the inner cup 172. The function of the conical ring 175 is to accommodate short cigarettes by keeping them up in the air and helping to keep them burning.

To those skilled in the art to which this invention relates, many changes in construction and widely differing embodiments and applications of the invention will suggest themselves without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The disclosures and the description herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in any sense limiting.

Claims

I claim:

1. An ash tray comprising two concentric cup-shaped portions, an inner cup and an outer cup, both cups having an upper edge, the upper edge of said inner cup being lower than that of the outer cup so that a line tangent to all segments of the contours of the two edges, on which a cigarette would rest, is inclined to the horizontal at an angle lying between 10.degree. and 40.degree., both said edges being smoothly rounded, so that a cigarette can slide downwardly and inwardly into said inner cup as it shrinks by burning, said outer cup having a downwardly and inwardly sloping wall, and said inner cup having a downwardly and inwardly sloping inner surface and a downwardly and outwardly sloping outer wall that meets said wall of said outer cup at a vertex that lies along a horizontal plane, a cone in said inner cup projecting up from the bottom thereof to a point, the top of said cone lying below the line tangent to said two upper edges.

2. The ash tray of claim 1 wherein the said cone meets said downwardly and inwardly sloping inner surface at a circular vertex.