Patent Publication Number: US-10786002-B2

Title: Protective cigarette pack case

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/338,482 filed May 18, 2016 and fully incorporated by reference herein. 
    
    
     FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH 
     None 
     SEQUENCE LISTING 
     NONE 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to cigarette containers and more specifically a container that will protect a hard pack of cigarettes and still function just like a cigarette hard pack. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Cigarettes are sold in paper packages from the manufacturer. These cigarette packages are problematic because they do not adequately protect the cigarettes from deformation or breakage during transport. The prior art has attempted in numerous ways to solve the problem of protecting cigarette packs using various types of receptacles and cases. Many of these prior art cases have movable and therefore breakable parts such as hinges. Also, other cigarette cases require a user to unload the cigarettes from their paper packaging into the case which can lead to cigarette damage or breakage. What is needed in the art is a cigarette case that is virtually indestructible and that incorporates and uses the paper hinge located on a cigarette hard paper pack as the hinge device instead of incorporating a hinge or other type of moveable and therefore breakable device on the cigarette pack. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is a cigarette pack case for use with paper cigarette hard packs. It is made of metal and is comprised of a bottom portion and a lid portion. Alternatively, it can be comprised of a back portion and a front portion that mate together to form the bottom portion and a lid portion that can easily be assembled to form a protective case around the pack. The lid portion is shaped to conform to the lid of a hard paper pack cigarettes and has a back panel that has an inward bend such that the bottom edge of the back panel is projected toward the front panel such that it allows the bottom edge of the back panel that allows for firm contact and grip with the lid portion of the cigarette pack such that the inward bend causes the bottom edge to indent into the paper pack and maintain a fixed position fully enveloping the lid portion. The bottom portion of the cigarette case has parallel ears protruding out of its top side edge that stabilize the lid portion on the bottom portion and provide rigidity for the case as a whole. 
    
    
     
       DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a back perspective view of a cigarette case. 
         FIG. 2  is a top plan view of a an unformed lid portion of a cigarette case. 
         FIG. 3  is a top plan view of an unformed back portion of a cigarette case 
         FIG. 4  is a top plan view of an unformed front portion of a cigarette case. 
         FIG. 5  is a side perspective view of a formed lid portion of a cigarette case. 
         FIG. 6  is a side perspective view of a formed front portion of a cigarette case bottom portion. 
         FIG. 7  is a side perspective view of a formed back portion of a cigarette case bottom portion. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The invention is generally depicted in  FIGS. 1-7 , but may be embodied in various other forms. The principles and teachings of the invention, therefore, can be applied to numerous alternative variations. Referring now to the drawings,  FIG. 1  depicts a hard pack cigarette pack case  10  with a lid portion  12  and a bottom portion  26 . The lid portion  12  has a top panel  14 , two side panels  16 , a front panel  18  and a back panel  20 . The back panel  20  has an inward bend  22  such that it causes the back panel  20  bottom edge  24  to project forward toward the front panel  18 . The dimensions of the lid portion  12  are such that the lid portion  12  nests onto the top of a cigarette hard pack such that there is a tight frictional connection. This is further achieved by use of an inward bend  22  of the back panel  20  that causes the bottom edge  24  to projects forward to indent into the paper pack and maintain a fixed position fully enveloping the lid portion  12 . The lid portion is ideally made of a metal such as steel, copper, silver, tin, aluminum along with other malleable metals. The lid portion  12  in a preferred embodiment would be formed out of a flat sheet of metal and dimensioned appropriately by metal stamping the flat sheet or by cutting the flat sheet with either shears or by cutting torch or other similar means. The lid portion  12  could also be molded and cast using molten metal. 
     The bottom portion  26  of the cigarette pack case  10  as shown in  FIG. 1  has a front panel  28 , back panel  30 , side panels  32 , a bottom panel  34  and protruding ears  36  located in the top of the side panels  32 . The bottom portion  26  can be formed of metal such as steel, copper, silver, tin, aluminum along with other malleable metals and could be formed of sheets of metal stamped or cut into appropriate configurations to result in, after welding or soldering, the bottom portion  26  of the cigarette pack case  10 . The bottom portion  26  and the lid portion  12  can be customized or personalized by engraving or etching desirable indicia, words, symbols, logo, picture or other such design for purposes of ornamentation and identification of the cigarette pack case  10 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 2 , there is shown an unformed lid portion  38  having a top panel  14 , two side panels  16 , a front panel  18 , and a back panel  20 . These panels are defined by their perimeter and the shown hashed lines in  FIG. 2 . These panels are bent in the appropriate manner along the hashed lines shown in  FIG. 2  to achieve a formed lid portion  12  as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 3 , there is shown an unformed back portion  40  of the bottom portion  26  of a cigarette of a cigarette pack case  10 .  FIG. 4  shows an unformed front portion  48  of the bottom portion  26  of a cigarette pack case  10 . In one embodiment, the back portion  40  and the front portion  48  are designed such that the back portion  40  is insertable into the front portion  48  such that they form the bottom portion  26  of the cigarette pack case  10  after the appropriate bending and formation of the front  48  and the back portion  40 . This configuration allows for the bottom portion  26  to be formed without having to stamp or cut and join by means of soldering and welding the various panels  28 ,  30 ,  32 ,  34 , and  36  as shown in  FIG. 1 . It allows a user to disengage the front portion  48  from the back portion  40  by pulling them apart. The dimensions of the front portion  48  and the back portion  40  are such that they fit together in tight frictional communication using the bending attributes characteristic in metal and capable of protecting a hard cigarette pack. The unformed back portion  40  has a back panel  42 , side panels  44  and protruding ears  46  which are located at the top edge of said side panels  44 . The unformed front portion  48  has a front panel  50 , a bottom panel  52  and side panels  54 . 
     Referring now to  FIG. 5 , there is shown a side perspective view of the formed lid portion  56  having a top panel  14 , a front panel  18 , side panels  16  a back panel  20  and an inward bend  22  of the back panel  20  such that the bottom edge  24  of the back panel  20  projects forward. The inner compartment formed by the lid portion  56  is adapted to receive the lid of a cigarette hard pack in frictional communication such that it firmly grasps the cigarette hard pack lid and the inward bend  22  further enhances this grasping effect by projecting the bottom edge  24  of the back panel  20  into the paper lid such that it indents and anchors the formed lid portion  56  to the cigarette hard pack lid. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 6  and  FIG. 7  Both the back portion  40  and the front portion  48  are bent along hashed lines as shown in  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4  such that they produce the formed front portion  58  as shown in  FIG. 7  and the formed back portion  66  as shown in  FIG. 6 . The formed front portion  58  has a front panel  60 , side panels  62  and a bottom panel  64 . The formed back portion  66  has a back panel  68 , side panels  70  and protruding ears  72  located on the top of the side panels  70 . The protruding ears  72  allow for the lid portion  12  to rest on top of the bottom portion  26  such that the cigarette pack case  10  is rigid and does not move from side to side and does not injure the pack of cigarettes should external force be applied. The formed front portion  58  receives the formed back portion  66  such that they form the bottom portion  26  which acts as a compartment for the cigarette pack. The formed front portion  58  and formed back portion  66  are dimensioned such that they provide a tight fitting compartment for a cigarette hard pack. 
     To further promote adequate nesting between the formed front portion  58  and formed back portion  66 , there is located in the side panels  60  of the formed front portion  58  a longitudinal channel  74 . The formed back portion  66  has divots  76  formed along its side panels  70  that align with said longitudinal channel  74  of the formed front portion  58  such that it aids in maintaining rigid connection of the formed front portion  58  with said formed back portion  66  by way of the divots  76  maintaining a fixed presence within said longitudinal channels  74 . The formed front portion  58  and back portion  66  are formed of various malleable metals. 
     The principles, embodiments and modes of operation of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing specification. The embodiments disclosed herein should be interpreted as illustrating the present invention and not as restricting it. The foregoing disclosure is not intended to limit the range of equivalent structure available to a person of ordinary skill in the art in any way, but rather to expand the range of equivalent structures in ways not previously contemplated. Numerous variations and changes can be made to the foregoing illustrative embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.