Patent Publication Number: US-6709325-B2

Title: Tube for holding coins

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to coin tubes; and, more particularly, to a closable tube for holding a wrapped set of coins in tight fitting relationship. 
     2. Related Art 
     Coin tubes are tubes for holding a fixed number of coins of a certain denomination in a container. In the past, such tubes were cylindrical but in U.S. Pat. No. 3,244,272, to Beaman et al., a rectangular coin tube is disclosed. These tubes improved on prior art cylindrical tubes by being stackable and non-rolling when placed on a supporting surface. Such tubes may be used by collectors and should be transparent or semi-transparent so as to be able to inspect the coins therein and air tight to preserve the coins against corrosion and oxidation. 
     The coin tube in U.S. Pat. No. 3,244,272 solves most of these problems but has a removable cap that is not fixed to the tube&#39;s main body. Although lugs are disclosed on the exterior of the tube of the main body portion which engage grooves on the interior of the cap, it is expensive to manufacture such lugs and grooves to provide proper alignment. They also do not provide a positive locking feature on the cap. 
     Also, the exterior rectangular surfaces of the main body portion of the coin tube are flat and planar with sharp corners. Such tubes can still easily roll on a supporting surface. 
     There is a need for a coin tube that is less expensive to make than known prior art tubes, is stackable, uses less material than prior art tubes and does not roll when placed on a supporting surface. The cap should be locked to the tube body to prevent the cap from coming off and the contents of the tube from coming out. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of this invention to provide a coin tube having interlocking means at the mating corners of the removable cap and main body portion to prevent the cap from spinning or sliding off, with respect to the main body portion. 
     It is a further object of this invention to provide aligned ribs at the corners of the removable cap and main body portion to reduce the costs of manufacture of the coin tube and give vertical strength to the tube. 
     These and other objects are preferably accomplished by providing a square shaped coin tube having a main body portion with an inner chamber for holding the wrapped coins and a removable cap tightly fitting to the main body portion. The chamber extends upwardly from the main body portion terminating in an annular lip which engages one or more inner annular ridges on the cap. Both the cap and the main body portion having longitudinally extending ribs at the corners, the ribs of the main body portion having depressions at top receiving nubs on the ribs of the cap thereon to prevent the cap from turning with respect to the main body portion. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a coin tube in accordance with the teachings of the invention; 
     FIG. 2 is an elevational sectional view illustrating the interlocking features of the cap and main body portion of the tube of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a view of the underside of the cap of FIG. 1 taken along lines  3 — 3  thereof; 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the underside of the cap of FIG. 1; and 
     FIG. 5 is a view taken along lines  5 — 5  of FIG.  1 . 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring now to FIG. 1 of the drawing, a coin tube  10  is shown having four generally rectangular planar sides  11  forming a lower main body portion  14  with a square-shaped bottom  12  (FIG.  2 ). Tube  10  has a generally cylindrical cap receiving portion  13  (FIG. 1) at top slightly lesser in diameter than the width of main body portion  14 . Cap receiving portion  13  has a ridge  22 , on its exterior at top for reasons to be discussed. 
     Coin tube  10 , as shown in FIG. 2, is adapted to receive in its interior  17  a plurality of coins  18  which may be wrapped in a paper wrapper (not shown) or unwrapped (as shown). 
     A removable cap  19  (FIG. 1) is provided which is generally square in cross-section having a top wall  20  and  4  interconnected side walls  21 . As seen in FIG. 2, cap  19  is hollow on its interior, which is round, as seen in FIG. 3, and has a plurality, such as  2 , of spaced ridges  23 ,  24  (see FIG. 4) to compensate for caps that might be slightly larger than the outer configuration of portion  13  to provide a tight friction fit with cylindrical portion  13 . 
     As seen in FIG. 1, each corner of main body portion  14  has an elongated rib  25 , which, as seen in FIG. 5, is generally rounded at its end  26 , and extends outwardly from main body portion  14  with cut out areas  27 ,  29  on each side thereof. 
     Each rib  25  terminates at top in a hole or depression  28  (see also FIGS. 1 and 2) which receives therein a nub  29 ′ (FIG. 4) in cap  19 . As also seen in FIGS. 1,  4  and  3 , the cap  19  has  4  ribs  30  at each corner identical to ribs  25  on main body portion  14  so as to provide an extension thereof. 
     In operation, coins  18  are placed inside of the main body portion  14  of tube  10  and such coins  18  are either sufficient in number to extend to the top of cylindrical portion  13  (as seen in FIG. 2) or wrapped in a coin wrapper to friction fit therein. 
     Cap  19  is now placed on top of cylindrical portion  13 , ridge  22  moving over ridges  23 ,  24  inside of cap  19 , the latter providing a friction fit of cap  19  thereon. Nubs  29 ′ on cap  19  snap into the holes or depressions  28  on main body portion  14  thus preventing cap  19  from rotating with respect to main body portion  14 . Of course, nubs  29 ′ could be on main body portion  14  and mate with holes or depressions  28  in cap  19 . 
     The outer configuration of coin tube  10  and ribs  25  prevents it from rolling and such tubes can be easily stacked. The configuration herein uses less material in the manufacturing process than known coin tubes. The nubs and holes  28 ,  29  provide a firm lock of the cap  19  to the main body portion of the tube. The ridges  23 ,  24  inside of the cap  19  provide for any misalignment in the manufacturing process between the inner circular configuration of cap  19  and the outer cylindrical configuration of cylindrical portion  3  thus saving costs of tooling in the manufacture thereof. 
     Any suitable materials may be used, such as plastic, and such material should preferably be transparent or semi-transparent so as to be able to view the inner contents of the coin tube  10  without the need of removing cap  19 . Preferably, the material used should be an inert material, such as polypropylene or polyethylene so as not to harm, tarnish or chemically react with the coins in the tube. 
     The coin tube  10  disclosed herein is cheaper to manufacture, uses less materials and provides an air tight seal for the stored coins that is an improvement over prior art coin tubes. There is a positive lock of the cap to the tube body to prevent the cap from coming off and the contents from coming out. Rings  23 ,  24  provide a semi-locking feature to the cap so that, if the tube is dropped, the contents will not spill out. 
     Any suitable dimensions can be used. For example, cylindrical portion  13  may be about 1.054 inches in outer diameter and about 1.040 inches in inner diameter. Main body portion  14  may be about 1.070 inches in outer diameter and about 2.414 inches in length. Cylindrical portion  13  may be about 0.500 inches in length with ridge  22  spaced from the upper end of cylindrical portion  13  about 0.100 inches. Ridge  22  may be about 0.020 inches wide. Ribs  25 ,  30  may be about 0.100 inches wide. 
     It can be seen that there is disclosed a coin tube that is designed to prevent the tube from rolling. It can be manufactured using less materials than prior art coin tubes and lesser attention to tolerances. The unique nub and hole arrangement between the cap and cylindrical portion keeps the cap from spinning and coming off. The coin tube is stackable and the ridges on the interior of the cap compensate for misalignment providing a tight friction fit. The contents of the tube are protected and will not fall out if the tube is dropped. 
     Although a particular embodiment of the invention is disclosed, variations thereof may occur to an artisan and the scope of the invention should only be limited by the scope of the appended claims.