Patent Publication Number: US-9414722-B2

Title: Facial tissue weighted box system

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application has a priority date based on Provisional Patent Application No. 61/962,277, which was filed on Nov. 5, 2013. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates, generally, to ballast systems used to stabilize boxes containing a quantity of consumable items and, more particularly, to a magnetically securable ballast system for boxes containing a quantity of folded tissue paper sheets. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Facial tissues are generally packaged in a six-panel rectangular paperboard box containing a stack of inter-folded tissue sheets. Typically, the paperboard box has an opening in the center of the top paperboard panel that is sealed with a flexible polyethylene sheet membrane having a slit down the center that acts as a dust shield. Tissues are dispensed by pulling them, one at a time, through the slit in the membrane. Most people have experienced grabbing a tissue from a box of facial tissue, only to have the box lift from the surface on which it is resting, along with the tissue that is being removed from it. Likewise, most people have also experienced having to put one hand on the box to stabilize it and prevent it from lifting when a tissue is removed with the other hand. This typically happens when the box is only partly full and the weight of the box and the remaining enclosed tissues is insufficient to overcome the friction generated as a tissue is being pulled from the box through the slit in the sheet membrane. 
     Several decades ago, a product was advertised that was intended to overcome the problem described above. The tissue box sat on top of a two-part steel plate that was about the same size as the bottom of a standard tissue box. The plate was equipped with sharp projections that engaged the sides of the tissue box near the bottom thereof in order to hold the two-part steel plate in place. 
     The problem described above was never adequately resolved because the sharp projections that engaged the sides of the tissue box soon became disengaged from the box and the two-part plate fell off. In addition, the two-part plate had to be the same size as the box and would not accommodate a variety of box sizes and shapes as does my invention. Furthermore, the weight of the two-part plate was greater than it needed to be to stabilize the box, thereby making it difficult to carry the box from one location to another. 
     About the same time that the two-part plate product was on the market, there was another product intended to solve the same problem. This product consisted of a single rectangular sheet metal plate that was one inch longer and one inch wider than the top panel of a standard size of tissue box. The edges of the panel were downwardly bent at 90-degree angles so that the panel fitted snugly over the top of the box. There was also a cutout to accommodate the removal of tissues from the box opening. This product had problems similar to those of the two-part plate product: The weight of the device was excessive; the metal plate would only accommodate one size of tissue box; and the metal plate was not secured to the box. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention solves the problems of a six-panel rectangular paperboard tissue box lifting as tissues are pulled from it, through the slit in the dust shield, by providing a ballast system that provides mass and stability to the box. The ballast system includes at least two laminar backing plates fabricated from ferromagnetic material, the backing plates being insertable through the slit in the dust shield and positionable on an interior surface of the top panel of said paperboard box. The ballast system also includes at least two permanent magnets positionable on an exterior surface of the top panel of said paperboard box, each permanent magnet securing itself and one backing plate to the paperboard box, with the top panel sandwiched therebetween. The box, the backing plates and the permanent magnets have a combined mass that is sufficient to minimize the likelihood that the box will be lifted from a surface on which it is resting when a tissue is pulled from the box through the opening and the number of folded tissues in the box is approaching zero. The magnets and backing plates add mass to the tissue box, keeping it in place on a table and making it easier to pull tissues out of the box. The magnets and backing plates can be easily removed from an empty box and attached to a new box. The ballast system is compact, simple to use, lasts for years and fits onto any tissue box, regardless of size or shape. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an isometric view of a standard, six-panel, rectangular tissue box equipped with a first configuration of the ballast system of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 2  is an isometric view of a standard, six-panel, rectangular tissue box equipped with a second configuration of the ballast system of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention will now be described in detail, with reference to the attached drawing figures. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 1 , a standard six-panel paperboard box  100 , having a top panel  101  with a central opening  102  that is sealed with a flexible sheet membrane  103  having a central slit  104  through which tissues are dispensed, has been equipped with a first configuration of the ballast system of the present invention. The ballast system is designed to stabilize a paperboard box containing a stack of inter-folded tissue sheets. As each tissue is removed from the box through the slit  104 , the interfolded configuration of the stacked tissues ensures that a portion the very next tissue below the one being removed will be pulled through the opening so that the protruding portion of that next tissue can be easily grasped and removed in succession. Friction generated by the tissues passing through the opening is the primary cause of a destabilizing upward force being applied to the box. As the number of folded tissues within the box approaches zero, and the friction generated as a tissue is pulled through the slit  104  becomes greater than the weight of the box and the remaining tissues, the box will have a tendency to lift from the surface on which it is resting when a tissue is removed through the slit  104 . 
     Still referring to  FIG. 1 , the ballast system of the present invention counteracts that upward force by increasing the total weight of the box. The ballast system includes at least two laminar backing plates  105  fabricated from ferromagnetic material, which are positionable on an interior surface of the top panel  101 , and at least two permanent magnets  106  positionable on an exterior surface of the top panel  101 . Each permanent magnet  106  is used to secure itself and one backing plate  105  to the paperboard box, with the top panel  101  sandwiched therebetween. It will be noted that the top panel  101  has a rectangular peripheral edge  107 , which includes a pair of longitudinal side edges  108 A and  108 B and a pair of transverse side edges  109 A and  109 B. For this first configuration of the backing plates  105  and the magnets  106 , the backing plates  105  and the magnets  106  are positioned at opposite ends of the slit  104 , in the middle of the top panel  101  between the opening  102  and one of the transverse side edges  109 A or  109 B. The box  100 , the backing plates  105  and the permanent magnets  106  have a combined mass that is sufficient to prevent the box  100  from being lifted from a surface on which it is resting when a tissue is pulled from the box  100  through the slit  104  and opening  102 , and the number of folded tissues in the box  100  is approaching zero. The ballast system is compact, simple to use, lasts almost indefinitely, and fits onto any tissue box, regardless of size or shape. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 2 , the six-panel paperboard box  100  of  FIG. 1  is shown again with the ballast components rearranged in a second configuration. While in  FIG. 1 , the backing plates  105  and the magnets  106  are positioned at opposite ends of the slit  104 , in  FIG. 2 , they are positioned on opposite sides of the slit  104 , in the middle of the top panel  101  between the opening  102  and one of the longitudinal side edges  108 A or  108 B. 
     Like most consumer products, and particularly those which are intended as impulse-buy items, this product almost certainly has associated with it a price elasticity of demand that is extremely negative. In other words, the higher the sales price, the smaller the quantity of items sold. In fact, the negative price elasticity of demand may actually be an exponential function, with sales dropping off at an increasing rate as the price is increased. Thus, manufacturing costs for such a product must be cut to a bare minimum so that a pricing structure conducive to high demand can be maintained. 
     The three common types of permanent magnets, listed in order of increasing magnetic field strength are: ferrite magnets (also referred to as ceramic magnets); aluminum-nickel-cobalt-iron alloy magnets (also referred to as alnico magnets); and rare-earth magnets, which are compounds of lanthanide elements and transition metals, such as iron, nickel and cobalt. Two types of rare-earth magnets are commonly available: neodymium magnets and samarium-cobalt (SmCo 5 ) magnets. Neodymium magnets, which are the least expensive and most powerful of the two, are made of an alloy of neodymium, iron and boron (Nd 2 Fe 14 B). They are frequently referred to as NIB magnets. Alnico magnets have up to 30 percent more magnetic energy than bonded ceramic magnets. NIB magnets have about 500 percent more magnetic energy than alnico magnets. Of the three types of commonly-available magnets, ferrite magnets are, by far, the least expensive. For that reason, they are used to implement the preferred embodiment of the invention. Though for any given weight, they are far less powerful than either alnico or NIB magnets, that characteristic is actually a positive attribute for this application, as we are looking to increase the mass of the tissue box. 
     When a facial tissue is removed from the box  100  that contains it, the weight of the box  100  and it&#39;s contents are usually sufficient to keep the box  100  in place. However, as it is emptied, insufficient weight remains to keep the box  100  in position. The box  100  frequently is lifted up with the tissues as they are pulled from the box  100 . This is particularly annoying because it frequently takes two hands to remove a tissue, one to hold the box  100  down and the other to remove the tissue. In addition, the problem can sometimes occur with all the tissues from the first to the last when there is excessive resistance (friction) between the tissue and the opening  104 . 
     This invention overcomes the above problem by adding weight to the box  100  in the form of two ferrite (ceramic) magnets  106  and two thin (16 gauge) steel plates  105 . The two plates  105  are inserted through the slit  104  in the top 101 of the box  100 . One is placed on each side of the opening  102  beneath the top panel  101  of the box  100  and on top of the enclosed stack of tissue (not shown). They can be placed anywhere on the interior surface of the top panel  101  of the box  100  so long as they do not cover the slit  104 , however, it is most simple to position them either at the very ends of the top panel  101 , as shown in  FIG. 1 , or on either side of the slit  104 , as shown in  FIG. 2 . A permanent magnet  106  is then placed on the upper surface of the top panel  101 , above backing plate  105 . Because the magnets  106  are so powerful, and the paperboard from which the box  100  is made is relatively thin, the plates  105  and the magnets  106  cling to each other and stay firmly in position, with the top panel  101  sandwiched therebetween. The magnets  106  and the backing plates add the weight necessary to stabilize and hold the box  100  in position, thereby eliminating the annoyance of having to use two hands to remove tissues. 
     The enclosed drawing shows each of the magnets  106  as being about 4.75 cm long by 2.25 cm wide, by 1 cm thick. The preferred size of each of the steel backing plates  105  is about 7.62 cm long by 3.8 cm wide by 0.16 cm thick (16 gauge). However, other sizes, shapes, and thicknesses of both magnets  106  and backing plates  105  will also work as long as their combined weight is sufficient to hold the tissue box  100  in position. 
     Although only two configurations of a single embodiment of the new ballast system for tissue boxes have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those having ordinary skill in the art that changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention as hereinafter claimed.