Dispenser Pack For Pre-moistened Towelettes

Abstract

Dispenser pack for edge-folded pre-moistened tissues or towelettes, comprising a tray, a removable cover having an access opening, and a flexible re-sealable closure flap larger than and covering the opening preventing the contents from drying out but being easily pushed back by the finger to allow the finger access to the top-most tissue or towelette by catching an edge thereof. The flap is of a material tending to maintain its planarity and thus automatically recloses when released.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Pre-moistened towelettes in individual impermeable envelopes are well known, and also available there is a container for a plurality of tissues or towelettes in the form of a long web perforated at intervals, that has special dispenser closure means to keep the contents moist. In some cases, it would be preferable to provide a stack of pre-moistened edge folded, individual tissues, etc., withdrawable one at a time from a container, but the problem is to also provide a simple efficient reseal for the access opening through which the tissues are withdrawn, e.g., by the finger, for preserving the moisture of the remaining towelettes, etc.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A box or tray having a close fitting cover holds a stack of individual separate, edge infolded tissues, towelettes, etc., the folds and the edges of the tissues, etc. extending lengthwise of the tray and both tray and contents being preferably rectangular. Where the towelettes are C-folded, both edges of each towelette are spaced to some extent. They lie adjacent the central axis of the cover, and are uppermost in the stack. Where the towelettes are J-folded, there is but a single folded edge.

The cover has a generally central access opening in it and this opening is preferably oval with its greater axis perpendicular to the fold axis of the towelettes. Thus it is very easy for a user to obtain a towelette by catching its edge with the tip of the finger or by the finger nail, whether they are C-folded or J-folded.

To ensure that the dispenser contents remain moist, a flexible flap covers the opening and acts as a seal. This flap is hinged to an edge portion of the cover on an axis e.g., parallel to the folds in the towelettes, and is of a material that tends to maintain its planarity so that it always closes automatically over the opening but is easily flipped open by the finger. The flap overlaps the edges of the opening to a degree that ensures a seal tight enough to ensure against drying out the dispenser contents.

A modification in the flap is to form a slight depression in the flap of the same shape as the opening in the cover, so that a tap of the finger would actually plug the opening; and in fact the edge of the depressure could be undercut to a slight degree to be snapped into secure engagement with the edge of the opening.

The hinge for the flap may be provided by the flap itself where the flap is heat sealed e.g. along an edge thereof adjacent the access opening; another way to form a simple inexpensive hinge is to tape the flap in place.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the dispenser flap open in solid lines and closed in broken lines;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view showing the flap open;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a modification of the flap;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view illustrating another modification of the flap;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a modification of the hinge for the flap; and

FIG. 6 is a partial plan view of the flap and hinge of FIG. 5 with the flap closed.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a tray 10 has a bottom 12, front and rear walls as at 14, 14, and end walls 16, 16. This tray or box should be impervious. It may have a like cover 18, or it may be closed with a top member, but in either case there is an opening 20 for access to the contents of the dispenser.

The pre-moistened edge infolded towelettes or tissues are indicated at 22 and in the case of C-folds, have the two edges 24, 26 that extend parallel to each other and to the tissues, etc., as a result of being overfolded inwardly at the edge portions thereof. The edges 24, 26 are exposed in the opening 20 for ready pickup by the finger of the user. The terms "tissues" and "towelettes" herein are interchangeable, and they may be either C-folded or J-folded.

The opening 20 has a dimension transverse to the tissues and their edges that is greater than the dimension that is parallel to the tissues and their edges, as seen in FIG. 2, and this facilitates the extraction of the tissues, because the user will tend to pick up the tissues by catching an edge 24 or 26.

A flap 28 covers the opening 20. This flap is flexible and has a "memory" to cause it to maintain this planarity, as shown in broken lines in FIGS. 1 and 2. By well overlapping the opening edges, it forms a seal that maintains the moisture in the towelettes or tissues, and the flap automatically re-closes when released.

The flap is hinged at one side edge to the cover or top, e.g., by heat sealing as at 30, and the remainder of the flap is free of the cover or top. It is flat when not in use. The finger of the user easily flicks the flap back toward the hinge area 30 and with substantially the same motion, reaches into the tray to catch an edge, in this case edge 24, to extract one single towelette. Upon removal of the finger, the flap automatically recloses and reseals the opening, so that the contents do not dry out.

To further enhance the sealing action of the flap, a depression as at 32 could be molded into the flap 28' with the same shape as the opening to protrude into the opening to some extent, see FIG. 3. This depression may also be undercut as at 34 in FIG. 4, so that by a slight tap of the finger the depression in flap 28" snaps down into the opening 20", insuring a tighter seal.

This invention relates to pre-moistened towelettes folded in any way that will provide at least one edge of the towelette accessible through the opening 20. As shown in FIG. 1, the towelettes are C-folded, that is, the edges are partially folded over, as at 24 and 26 in FIG. 1. Another manner of folding is illustrated in FIG. 5 wherein the towelettes are folded at one edge only as at 36, providing a single edge 38 crossing the opening 40. In this case, the edge may be located anywhere convenient for grasping by the finger tip and may be folded over from either edge. As shown, the towelettes 42 are alternated, presenting edges that are near the center of the opening 40, but from alternate sides of the box 44. However all the towelettes may be folded uniformly at the same relative edge if desired, especially if it should be more convenient to have the folds extend from the front side 46 of the box so as to place the edge 38, like that at 24, facing to the rear or flap side of the container for easier pick up by the finger nail, e.g.

In FIGS. 5 and 6, the flap 28'" is of similar material to the previously described flaps but is held to the top or cover of the container by an adhesive strip, tape, or the like as at 48. This provides a greater flexibility but the flap automatically returns to closed position as before.

Claims

I claim:

1. A dispenser for pre-moistened edge folded towelettes comprising a container having a top, an opening in the top, towelettes therein being arranged each to present an exposed edge transversely of the opening,

a flexible flap having an edge secured to the container adjacent the opening, said flap being free-ended and being of a material tending to maintain a planar position on the container top in contact therewith, said flap being of greater extent than the opening, covering the opening and overlapping all the edges thereof, the unsecured portion of the flap being displaceable to give access to the opening.

2. The dispenser of claim 1 wherein the towelettes are separate from each other.

3. The dispenser of claim 2 wherein the towelettes are C-folded.

4. The dispenser of claim 2 wherein the towelettes are J-folded.

5. The dispenser of claim 1 wherein the flap is hinged to the container.

6. The dispenser of claim 1 wherein the flap is heat sealed to the container.

7. The dispenser of claim 1 including an adhesive strip securing the flap to the container.

8. The dispenser of claim 1 including a depression in the flap of the size and shape of the opening.

9. The dispenser of claim 8 wherein the depression includes undercut edges matching the edges of the opening for snapping thereinto.

10. The dispenser of claim 1 wherein the opening has a longer dimension transverse to the exposed edges of the towelettes than its dimension parallel to the edges of the towelettes.

11. The dispenser of claim 10 wherein the flap is secured to the container in a position to flex on an axis at right angles to the larger dimension of the opening.

12. The dispenser of claim 10 wherein the secured edge of the flap is adjacent an end of the opening on the longer dimension, the secured edge of the flap being generally parallel to the shorter dimension of the opening.

13. A dispenser for pre-moistened separate towelettes comprising a tray,

a cover therefor,

an opening in the cover having a longer dimension and a shorter dimension,

a flexible flap greater in extent than the opening and secured to the cover adjacent the opening along an edge of the flap that is perpendicular to the longer dimension of the opening and normally overlying the opening and overlapping all the edges thereof,

the flap being of a material that yields to uncover the opening but maintains planar contact with the cover about the opening when released.

14. The dispenser of claim 13 wherein the flap is heat sealed to the cover.

15. The dispenser of claim 13 including a tape securing the flap to the cover.

16. The dispenser of claim 13 including a depression in the flap forming an edge fitting the opening.

17. The dispenser of claim 16 wherein the edge of the depression is undercut for snapping past the edge of the opening.

18. The dispenser of claim 13 wherein the towelettes are arranged to present successive edges intersecting the opening along lines extending across the shorter dimension of the opening.