US1501662A - Sheet of folded material - Google Patents

Description

Patented July 15, 1924.

UNITED STATES 1,501,662 PATENT OFFICE.

PAUL H. HORWITT, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T0 INDEPENDENT PAPER HILLS INC., OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

SHEET or FOLDED MATERIAL.

Application filed July 21, 923. Serial No. 652,940.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, PAUL H.'H0RWITT, a citizen of the United States, residing in the borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings, city and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Sheets of Folded Material, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates to an improvement in sheets of folded material, and more particularly to sheets of paper or similar substances adapted for use as napkins, towels and like articles. I am aware that heretofore sheets of papers, for example, for the purposes'indicated have been folded in various manners. In some instances, for example, the paper sheets have been folded into rectangular strips and placed in superimposed piles with alternate strips or napkins and similararticles in transverse or crosswise positions in order to be adapted for use in a dispensing device with the object of causing the user to take one article at a time therefrom. In other instances as a further example sheets of paper have been folded and succeeding sheets caused to be interlaced or interlapped so that when placed in a re ceptacle one member of the outermost sheet may be caused to extend through an opening therein and when the outermost article is withdrawn from the receptacle through the opening therein it automatically carries with it the outer part or member of the next succeeding article. In no instance, however, so far as I am aware has a sheet of material whether paper or otherwise been so folded as to be adapted in .use when placed in a superimposed pile to be unfolded in and by the act of grasping and lifting the sheet so that the napkin or towel is then ready for use and at the same time so folded as to be adapted to cause the user to take but one napkin, towel or other similar article from the superimposed pile at one time.

The object of my present invention, therefore, is the provision of a sheet of folded material for use as a napkin, towel or similar article so folded as to enable the user to readily grasp onearticle at a time, and in lifting the same for removing it from a suitable dispenser in which a superimposed pile of the articles may be placed the article whether it be a napkin, towel or similar article is unfolded by the act of grasping and lifting the same .so that no additional effort is required in unfolding the article for use irrespective of the purpose for which it is to be employed.

In carrying out the invention the sheet of paper or similar material to be used as a napkin or towel or other similar article is folded along substantially parallel lines and preferably in opposite directions so as to provide therein a plurality of centrally disposedcoextensive sections and an end section or sections of less extent which, when the article is in position to be taken by the user, are outermost so that the edge thereof may be readily grasped and the article raised or withdrawn from a dispenser or other receptacle which act, as hereinbefore stated and as will be hereinafter more particularly described, causes the article to open or unfold so that it will then be ready for use.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan of a sheet of paper or other material showing the lines along which the same is folded in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view article completely folded.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a package of articles folded in accordance with my invention and bundled for use, and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view illustrating the manner in which the sheet of paper unfolds when suitably grasped and removed from the pile or taken from the dispenser in which a bundle of the articles may be placed.

In carrying out the invention the blank sheet of paper or other material to be used as a napkin, towel or other article may be of any desired or necessary size and. as will be understood of any type or quality of paper or other material. In Fig. 1 I have illusshowing the trated asheet forming a blank from'which, 90

for example, the paper napkin is folded in accordance with my invention. This sheet is folded along predetermined substantially parallel lines indicated at 10 and 11, 12 and 13, 14 and 15 and 16'and 17. The lines 10 and 11 are substantial continuations of each other as are the lines 12 and 13, the lines 14 and 15 and the lines 16 and 17 In the blank as indicated in Fig. 1, there is also a centrally disposed fold line 18 at right angles to the fold lines hereinhefore described and to which reference will be hereinafter made. when the sheet is provided with these fold lines it is divided into a plurality of sections indicated at 19 and 20, 21 and 22, 23 and 24,

25 and 26 and 27 and 28. As illustrated the sections are folded in one direction along the lines 10 and 11 so that the obverse faces of the sections 19, 20, 21 and 22 come together; the sections are then folded in the reverse direction along the lines 12 and 13 so that the reverse faces of sections 21 and 22 are juxtaposed to the reverse faces of the sections 23 and 24 respectively. Then again the sections are folded in the other direction along the lines 14 and 15 so that the obverse faces of sections 23 and 24 are juxtaposed to the obverse faces of sections 25 and 2G, and then the fold along the lines 16 and 17 is again made in an opposite direction so that the reverse faces of the sec tions 27 and 28 lie against the reverse faces respectively of the sections 25 and 26. When the sheet is thus folded it forms a relatively long rectangular article which is then folded transversely along the fold lines indicated at 18 in the blank to assume the form of the napkin or towel or other article as illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawing.

It will be noted that in thus folding the sheet to form a napkin, towel or other article there is provided therein a plurality of inner or centrally disposed coextensive sections 21 to 26 inclusive and end sections 19 and 20 and 27 and 28 which are appreciably smaller than the other sections. As illustrated these end sections are of substantially one-half the width of the intermediate sections, but as will be understood they may be of any desired and predetermined width. It will also be understood that any desired number of central or intermediate sections may be employed and that the num' her as shown is merely illustrative. Furthermore in carrying out the invention it is not necessary to employ the non-coexten sive sections at both ends of the blank as but one of them will answer all intents and purposes in some instances. The advantage, however, in employing the non-coextensive sections at both ends of the blank is that thereby it is immaterial in which direction the parts are folded on the fold line 18 because in either event, that is whether folded in one direction or the other there will be an outer non-coextensive section, the edge of which may be grasped in taking the napkin or other article for use.

This article, as hereinbefore described, whether a towel, napkin or some other article is preferably bundled as indicated in Fig. 3, the superimposed pile being desig nated at 29 and the tape or cord by which the pile is bundled designated at 30.

In the use of articles made in accordance with this invention a bundle or bundles of the same are preferably placed in a suitable dispenser from which they are withdrawn one at a time for use, although as will be understood the same efiect in unfolding the memes sheet is possible whether the folded article is taken from a dispenser or taken from a superimposed pile of articles or merely lifted by it elf from a suitable support. In the use of the article the same is grasped along the edge of the outermost end section as indicated in Fig. 4 and raised or removed from the dispenser which act causes the napkin or similarly folded article to automatically unfold and to be thus ready for use without any additional effort or trouble in unfolding the article.

In folding sheets of paper or other material as hereinbefore described for use as napkins, towels and similar articles it will be understood that irrespective of the size of the blank from which the article is folded, which of course depends upon the desired size of the article, the folded article may be of a uniform. standard comparatively small size. In the use of the invention as practiced, the article is folded to practically 3% x 7 inch dimension, and the sheets may be folded so that within any reasonable limit a sheet of any desired size may be reduced to this dimension in order to be distributed from a standard container or dispenser. It will furthermore be noted that in folding a sheet as hereinbefore described the articles as folded may be placed in a superimposed regularly formed pile and. that it is unnecessary to place the folded articles in any particular manner in the pile, and that irrespective of the way in which the articles are arranged in the pile the feature of providing a pile from which one article at a time is taken is present and that at the .same time, as hereinbefore stated, in removing an article from the pile the act of removal opens or unfolds the article so that the same is then ready for use.

I claim as my invention:

1. A sheet of material folded into a plurality of substantially coextensive sections, and an end section which is non-coextensive with the other sections, the sheet being then folded transversely to cause the non-coextensive end section to lie along one edge at the top and bottom thereof.

2. A sheet of material folded into aplurality of substantially coextensive rectangular sections, and end rectangular sections which are non-coextensive with the other sections and then folded transversely in a substantially central position to bring one non-coextensive end section on the outer side along one edge and the other non-coextensive end section on the inside along the other edge of the article thus formed whereby in grasping the edge portion of the outermost non-coextensive section and raising the same the sheet thus folded will unfold itself.

Signed by me this 20th day of Jul 1923.

PAUL H. HOB ITT.

DISCLAIMER.

1,501,662.-Paul H. H orwz'tt, Brooklyn, N. Y. SHEET 0F FOLDED MATERIAL. Patent dated July 15, 1924. Disclaimer filed June 24, 1927, by the assignee, Independmt Paper Mills Inc.

Hereby enters this disclaimer to the said claim No. 1 in the said specification,-

which is in the followin Words, to wit:

A sheet of material folded into a plurality of substantially coextensive sections, and an end section which is non-coextensive with the other sections, the sheet being then folded transversely to cause the non-coextensive end section to lie along one edge at the top and bottom thereof. [Oficz'al Gazette Jukz 19, 19%.]

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