Package containing a booklet or folder insert

A container, typically for a watch, has a chamber defined by its bottom and a parallel member extending between the side walls adjacent the bottom and one of the side walls provides access to the chamber, which is intended to receive a booklet or folder having indicia and/or graphics pertinent to the contents of the container. The parallel member is provided with an opening permitting contact with the booklet or folder by thumb or finger.

This invention relates to a container, storage box or package, and is more 
particularly concerned with a container or storage box adapted to hold a 
watch or other item or items and provided with a chamber for holding a 
readily-accessible booklet or folder containing indicia and/or graphics 
relating to the contents of the container or box. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Various items such as watches are conventionally transported, sold and 
stored in containers and are accompanied by booklets or folders containing 
indicia and/or graphics in the form of instructions, warranties and the 
like. These booklets or folders are ordinarily loosely positioned inside 
the box along with the watch or other item or are loose and separately 
accompany the box. In either case, the booklets or folders are easily lost 
and this can cause much distress to the owners. 
Containers or packages for various items have been disclosed which provide 
means for holding booklets or other units with related graphics and/or 
indicia. Typical of such containers are Beadle, U.S. Pat. No. 2,644,259, 
Luertzing, U.S. Pat. No. 3,243,037 and Papirnyik U.S. Pat. No. 3,679,047. 
Thus, Beadle U.S. Pat. No. 2,644,259 shows a box for pills or other 
pharmaceutical preparations which has a body to hold the pills and a 
cooperating hinged top which is formed with "nubs" for removably retaining 
a transparent plastic retainer plate behind which are inserted labels or 
the like which provide the appropriate prescription data for the contained 
pills, as well as information regarding the pharmacy supplying the 
pharmaceutical preparations. Two labels are contemplated, one being 
visible through the transparent retainer plate, and the other, facing in 
the opposite direction, being visible through the transparent top. 
Luertzing, U.S. Pat. No. 3,243,037 discloses a package for glassware, 
particularly chemical glassware, and has a top and bottom shaped with 
interior recesses or seats to hold flasks, condensers, funnels, and the 
like. In addition, a pocket 45 is formed in the top "to receive therein 
brochures and the like." Papirnyik, U.S. Pat. No. 3,679,047 describes a 
box for storing attachments and an instruction booklet for a sewing 
machine or similar household appliance. The box has a body for the storage 
of the attachments and a transparent plastic top cover for storing the 
instruction booklet. Interiorly of the cover of the box, narrow shelves 
loosely support the booklet, which is bowed or flexed to fit the shelves 
and is visible through the transparent cover to identify the model number 
and to provide other indicia and/or graphics. While the disclosed 
containers are provided with arrangements for storing the booklets, 
folders or other indicia-bearing units in the container, the storage is 
not secure and it is possible, especially in the case of booklets, for the 
indicia-bearing units to become displaced and separated from the 
containers accidentally when the contained item is being introduced or 
removed or when the container is tilted, and any booklet or other 
indicia-bearing unit may be thereby lost. These disclosed containers are 
an improvement over previously-known containers in which a booklet or 
folder or other indicia-bearing unit is just loosely placed in the box 
along with the item or items for which the box is used but there still 
remains room for improvement, particularly from the standpoint of 
positively and firmly but removably retaining a booklet or folder with 
graphics or indicia which relate to the contained item. 
OBJECTS AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a box or 
container for the handling, sale and storage of a watch or the like, which 
is provided with means for securely holding and retaining a booket or the 
like with graphics and/or indicia pertaining to the watch or other item 
contained in the box, yet which is readily accessible when desired. 
It is a further object of the invention to provide a container of the 
character indicated from which the stored booklet or indicia-bearing unit 
cannot be accidentally displaced. 
It is still another object to provide a package comprising a packaging unit 
and a packaged item containing graphics and/or indicia. 
Other objects and features of the invention will be readily apparent from 
the following description of the invention and from the accompanying 
drawings of an illustrative embodiment thereof. 
In accordance with the invention, a container, having a body and a cover, 
preferably hinged to the body, is provided in its body with a slot of 
limited height which is adapted to hold a booklet or folder tightly 
against slippage yet is provided with means permitting engagement of the 
booklet or folder with the thumb or finger to remove the indicia-bearing 
unit when desired. 
The invention also contemplates a package which has side walls and a bottom 
and a means which define a chamber with the side walls and bottom, and a 
folder or booklet with graphics or indicia contained in secure but 
removable position in the chamber.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring to the drawings, and particularly to FIG. 1, the reference 
numeral 1 designates generally a container for a wrist watch having a body 
3 provided with a mating cover 5, conveniently hinged to body 3 by any 
effective hinge means (not shown). The body 3 and cover 5 are suitably 
formed from a rigid plastic material, e.g. a phenol-formaldehyde resin, or 
the like, which may be colored in any desired hue, and readily formed by 
molding. Container 1 may be opaque or transparent, but is preferably the 
former. As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the body 3 and the cover 5 are 
lined interiorly with a lining 7 which is secured, as by gluing, to the 
interior surface of body 3 and the interior surface of cover 5 and has a 
stiff central portion 9 which limits the movement of cover 5 relatively to 
body 3. A watch-supporting bracket of conventional form is shown at 12, 
secured, as by a rivet 13, to the rigid liner 9. In accordance with the 
invention, the body 3 is formed with a bottom 14, front and rear walls 15 
and 16, and side walls 17 and 18, and has a secondary bottom 20 which is 
parallel to but spaced from the exterior or bottom surface of bottom 14 
i.e. in the direction of the open end of walls 15, 16, 17 and 18, to 
define a chamber 24 in the body 3. The rear wall 16 is cut away between 
its lines of contact with bottom 14 and secondary bottom 20 to form a slot 
26 which allows access to chamber 24. While rear wall 16 is shown as cut 
away in the embodiment illustrated, it will be apparent that the cut away 
could be made in any one of the other three walls, since similar access to 
chamber 24 would thereby be achieved. Similarly, the container could have 
more than four walls, if desired. What are termed "front" and "rear" walls 
may also be considered "side" walls. 
When the container is formed by molding a plastic substance, as mentioned 
above, the four side walls, the secondary bottom 20, a recess for the 
chamber 24, and the cut-away in one of the walls can be molded as one 
piece, and the bottom 14 can be separately formed and attached, as by 
gluing, to the molded unit parallel to the bottom 14. The recess is 
thereby closed, except for the slot 26 shown in FIG. 1 and the chamber 24 
is formed. Other ways of making the body and providing chamber 24 can, of 
course, be employed. 
Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, a booklet 30 with graphics or indicia is 
shown by broken lines as seated in chamber 24. The booklet 30 can readily 
be inserted in chamber 24 by introducing it through slot 26. It is a 
feature of the invention that the folder will be held securely in chamber 
24 at all times regardless of the spatial orientation of the container. 
For this purpose, the bottom surface of bottom 14 or the upper surface of 
secondary bottom 20, or both, may be roughened or otherwise provided with 
a friction-increasing characteristic, as by overlaying them with felt or 
plush or rubber 21, or the like. Effective increase in friction can, 
however, be achieved by making the slot 26 and the height of chamber 24, 
i.e. the distance between the opposing surfaces of bottoms 14 and 20, of a 
small dimension compared to the thickness of the booklet 30 to be stored 
in chamber 24 so that it will be necessary for the booklet to be 
compressed, or squeezed together, as it is inserted in the chamber, and 
thus it will be frictionally engaged with the top and bottom of chamber 
24. The booklet is dimensioned to fit entirely within chamber 24. 
The user will, however, want at some time to remove the booklet 30 from its 
storage position, securely concealed in body 3. For this purpose, and in 
accordance with the invention, the secondary bottom 20 is provided with an 
aperture 35 which is preferably centrally located between walls 17 and 18 
near slot 26. The aperture may be circular, elongated or of any desired 
form to permit the user's thumb or finger to contact the booklet in 
chamber 24 and move it toward slot 26. Simple movement of the thumb or 
finger toward slot 26 will serve to expel the booklet 30 from chamber 24, 
as shown in phantom lines in FIG. 3. 
It will be apparent, therefore, that the container can be repeatedly opened 
and closed without exposing the booklet 30 to loss and the booklet will be 
effectively stored until needed by the user. In effect, therefore, there 
is provided a package composed of a containing unit and a contained 
booklet or folder or other indicia-bearing unit. 
While in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-3, the aperture 35 is shown as a 
hole spaced from all four edges of secondary bottom 20. The aperture can 
merge with one of the edges preferably the one coinciding with the slot 
26, as shown in FIG. 4, wherein like parts are given like reference 
numerals. In FIG. 4 the aperture 35 merges with the rear edge of secondary 
bottom 20, adjacent slot 26, and thus the aperture 35 has a semicircular 
shape. It could also have a different shape. Furthermore, while the 
embodiments of FIGS. 1-3 and 4 have a cross-section which is approximately 
square, it will be apparent that the features of the invention can be 
embodied in boxes or containers of other geometrical cross-section, as has 
been alluded to before. For example they may have a cross-section, and 
therefore a secondary bottom which is generally hexagonal, octagonal or 
rectangular of non-square shape, e.g. long in one dimension and short in 
the other. The secondary bottom 20 of such a container is shown in FIG. 5, 
wherein like parts of FIGS. 1-4 are given like reference numerals. In FIG. 
5, the secondary bottom 20 has long front and rear edges and short side 
edges, and, like the embodiment of FIG. 4, the aperture 35 merges with the 
rear edge of secondary bottom 20 and thus with slot 26 and has a 
semicircular shape, but, as shown in FIGS. 1-3, the aperture 35 could be 
spaced from all four edges. It could also have another shape. 
In the embodiments of FIGS. 4 and 5, the edges of secondary bottom 20 and 
aperture 35 are lined by a ridge or embossment upon which the container is 
adapted to rest. The remainder of the embodiments of FIGS. 4 and 5 have 
the same structure described above for the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3, e.g. 
side walls, top or cover chamber 24, bottom, etc. although the interior 
may differ, e.g. the lining, any article-supporting bracket, and the like, 
depending upon the article or articles for which the container is 
intended. 
It will be apparent that various other changes and modifications of the 
embodiments illustrated may be made without departing from the invention 
as defined in the appended claims. For example, the secondary bottom 20 
may be spaced from bottom 14 throughout its extent or it may be only 
partially spaced inwardly from slot 26 or side walls 17 and 18 to define a 
chamber of limited inward depth from slot 26 or limited width between 
opposing side walls. Similarly, while the embodiments illustrated are 
constructed to contain wrist watches, they may be constructed to contain 
any other item or items. It is intended, therefore, that all matter 
contained in the description and in the drawings shall be interpreted as 
illustrative only and not as limitative of the invention.