Collapsible tube patentIn 1841, the first U.S. patent for collapsible metal tubes was issued to an artist, John Rand (No. 2,252). His purpose was as a "mode of preserving paints, and other fluids, by confining them in close mettalic vessels so constructed as to collapse with slight pressure, and thus force out the paint or fluid confined therein through proper openings for that purpose." The tubes, molded of lead and used to hold oil colours, were provided with caps to keep them airtight. The idea was later reinvented in 1892 for the commercial packaging of tootpaste. The first collapsible polythene tubes were produced in the U.S. for skin-tanning lotion in 1953. |
