This invention relates generally to containers and more specifically to a paperboard container having multiple individual compartments and a dial wheel type closure which allows dispensing from one or more of the individual compartments.
Containers or paperboard boxes are known to the art. Generally speaking, the uses for small paperboard containers or boxes are unlimited. These containers can hold any item from paperclips to pharmaceuticals. Commonly such containers are used to hold consumable items such as candy. Although the container of the present invention is intended have many uses, one preferred use is for the containment and dispensing of small individual candies. For simplicity, the preferred embodiment will be referred to in that environment, but such reference should not be construed to narrow the scope of the invention.
Paperboard containers used to contain small candies, for example, are generally comprised of four walls, a bottom wall and a top wall defining an inner chamber. The top wall can function as a lid, being movable about a fold line from an open position to a closed position or can have a small opening or even a spout-like structure formed therein. In most instances the container holds one homogeneous product in a single inner chamber. In exceptional circumstances the chamber can be divided by an internal wall or baffled to divide the inner chamber into discrete compartments.
It would be advantageous to have a paperboard container that could hold more than one type of candy, for example, in separate chambers or compartments from which one or more of the different types of candies could be dispensed. Dispensing containers are known to the art. Generally speaking, such containers are formed or molded from plastic, glass or the like and the designs do not lend themselves to construction from paperboard. Such dispensing containers are used to contain and dispense medicines, such as tablets, capsules or lead fishing weights. Examples of such dispensing containers are disclosed U.S. Pat. No. 2,258,866 to Sanford; U.S. Pat. No. 2,335,016 to Lorenzen et al; U.S. Pat. No. 2,410,923 to Beardsley; U.S. Pat. No. 2,774,466 to Liska; U.S. Pat. No. 2,948,389 to Horland; U.S. Pat. No. 3,182,789 to Sparks; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,322,166 to Crowther.
The known dispensers have limitations. For example, as stated above, they are designed to be manufactured from rigid materials such as plastic or glass and do not lend themselves to construction from paperboard. Further, some of the designs are limited in volume or capacity. For example, those container which are designed to dispense individual pills may only have the capacity to hold a 21 or 28 day supply. Often if the container can hold more than one type of product, for example, two different types of pills, the container is capable of dispensing only one type at a time. In other words, the container does not have the capacity to dispense a mix of different contents.