EP2800703B1

EP2800703B1 - Pocket-sized packet to contain small-sized products

Info

Publication number: EP2800703B1
Application number: EP13707028.0A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Fiorenzo Draghetti
Original assignee: Gima TT SpA
Current assignee: Gima TT SpA
Priority date: 2012-01-03
Filing date: 2013-01-02
Publication date: 2016-08-03
Anticipated expiration: 2033-01-02
Also published as: PL2800703T3; KR20140109983A; JP2015503494A; RU2613163C2; IN2014KN01467A; EP2800703A1; WO2013102841A1; RU2014129309A; CN104159826A; ITMI20120006A1; CN104159826B

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention concerns a pocket-sized packet for small-sized products such as sweets, tablets, articles for smoking such as for example cigarettes, or other.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the field of pocket-sized packets, normally made using a shaped piece of cardboard, it is necessary to have a containing body which is sufficiently rigid, in which to dispose the products, and a closing element or lid, hinged to the container and easily mobile between a closed position and an open position. The lid must also be able to close easily, better if the same hand can be used which is holding the container.
The main problem in making such types of packets is to make them with as much free surface as possible so that advertising slogans, graphical patterns, in combination with messages for the user can be written on it.
In particular, in packets which are used for cigarettes, given the considerable space that the law says must be dedicated to communications concerning health, the search to find space for advertising messages is even more urgent and important.
Among the many known pocket-sized packets, some are described in the international application WO-A-2011/010185 (WO' 185). The pocket-sized packets described there are rather complex and costly to make, because of the presence in the lid of lateral stiffening folds which define gaps. Moreover said known pocket-sized packets are not provided with safety means which prevent the lid from inadvertently opening, without any deliberate action on the part of the user.
Furthermore, the Applicant has identified the presence of spaces which can be obtained with particular strategies and that the application WO' 185, due to the type of teaching proposed, does not have.
Other cigarette packets are known from the patents US-A-3,438,564 , WO-A-2010/063569 , JP-U-49083121 , US-A-3,794,238 , WO-A-2006/090246 and JP-U-H02117314 .
A first purpose of the present invention is therefore to free and create new spaces which can be used for written advertisements and publicity, or also for specific messages.
Another purpose of the present invention is to obtain a pocket-sized packet in which, in relation to its sizes, there is the maximum surface available to be able to affix writings, images, logos, trademarks or any other information for the user.
Another purpose of the present invention is to obtain a pocket-sized packet which is simple, reliable and in which the lid is only opened when the user wants to do so.
Another purpose of the present invention is to make a pocket-sized packet in which the products contained therein have their upper part protected too, and not only when the lid is closed.
A further purpose of the present invention is to make a pocket-sized packet which can be open and handled with one hand.
The Applicant has devised, tested and embodied the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the state of the art and to obtain these and other purposes and advantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is set forth and characterized in the independent claim, while the dependent claims describe other characteristics of the invention or variants to the main inventive idea.
The new and original technical solution which obtains all the above purposes, in an advantageous, surprising and unforeseeable way for a person of skill in the art, provides to make a pocket-sized packet which comprises a pocket-sized container according to the present invention.
Said container has a plurality of walls which define an internal compartment, in which small-sized products can be disposed, such as cigarettes, sweets, tablets or other, either haphazardly or in an organized manner, as normally occurs for cigarettes, or similar smoking products. The pocket-sized packet also comprises a lid, hinged or in any case articulated on the container.
Said lid is mobile, for example by rotation, between a closed position and an open position, which allows access to the internal compartment.
The container comprises an upper element suitable to cooperate with the lid when the latter is in the closed position.
In accordance with a main characteristic of the present invention, said lid comprises both an upper part with two lateral elements configured to cooperate with the upper element of the container, when the latter is in the closed position, and a lower part with a flat wall by means of which the lid is hinged on the container.
In this way, in the flat wall of the lid there are two surfaces of ample size, one inside and one outside, parallel to each other, to be used for written advertisements or publicity, or for specific written messages.
The upper element comprises a tongue hinged on an upper edge of the container and this is also mobile between a closed position, in which it at least partly covers the upper part of the internal compartment, and an open position, in which it does not interfere with access to the internal compartment. The tongue is suitable to cooperate with the lid in order to prevent the latter from opening involuntarily when both are in the closed position. Said tongue has a width slightly greater than the internal distance between the lateral elements of the lid, in order to prevent the latter from opening involuntarily when both the lid and the tongue are in the closed position.
Furthermore, in accordance with a secondary characteristic of the present invention, the sizes of the tongue are substantially equal to or slightly less than those of a bottom wall of the container, so as to selectively close the internal compartment even when the lid is in the open position.
In particular, in accordance with another secondary characteristic of the present invention, in the closed position the tongue is suitable to cooperate, with a slight interference, with two lateral elements of the lid, even when the latter is in closed position.
In this way, the tongue advantageously has a triple function: when it is in the closed position and the lid is too, it cooperates with the latter to keep it in the closed position; it can cover the upper opening of the internal compartment of the container, protecting the products contained therein, even when the lid is in the open position; and its external surface, but also the internal one if so desired, is available to increase the space on which information can be written for the users.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferential form of embodiment, given as a non-restrictive example with reference to the attached drawings wherein:

fig. 1 is a three dimensional front view of a pocket-sized packet, according to the present invention, in the closed position;
fig. 2 is a three dimensional rear view of a pocket-sized packet in fig. 1;
fig. 3 is a section view of a detail of the pocket-sized packet in fig. 1 in the closed position;
fig. 4 is a three dimensional view of a pocket-sized packet in fig. 1 in the open position;
fig. 5 is a three dimensional front view of a first variant of the pocket-sized packet in fig. 1, in the closed position;
fig. 6 is a three dimensional front view of the pocket-sized packet according to the variant in fig. 5, in the open position;
fig. 7 is a three dimensional front view of a second variant of the pocket-sized packet in fig. 1, in the open position and on a reduced scale;
fig. 8 is a plan view of two shaped sheets with which it is possible, by folding along the edges shown with a broken line and by gluing them, to make the pocket-sized packet of fig. 7;
fig. 9 is a plan view of a variant of one of the two shaped sheets in fig. 8.

DESCRIPTION OF SOME FORMS OF EMBODIMENT OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

To facilitate comprehension, the same reference numbers refer to identical parts in the different forms of embodiment described.
With reference to figs. 1, 2 and 3, a pocket-sized packet 10 according to the present invention comprises a container 11 and a lid 12 hinged along a hinging edge 13 of the container 11. The container 11 and the lid 12 can be made in any known way, for example using a sheet of sufficiently rigid material, which can be easily folded, such as cardboard, sheet metal, a plastic material, suitably shaped, folded and glued or attached along the edges.
In the example given here, the container 11 has the shape of a parallelepiped, with a front wall 15, a back wall 16, two side walls 18 and a bottom wall 19, which define an internal compartment 20 open toward the top. The hinging edge 13 of the lid 12 is located at the intersection of the front wall 15 with the bottom wall 19. The hinging element between the lid 12 and the container 11 can also be a simple fold of the sheet with which they are made.
The lid 12 comprises a simple flat wall 21, of a rectangular shape, without stiffening ribs or ridges, an upper wall 22, located at the end opposite the hinging edge 13, and two lateral flanks or ribs 23, of a triangular shape, which keep the upper wall 22 perpendicular to the flat wall 21.
A tongue 25, which in the example has a substantially rectangular shape, possibly with one or more rounded or beveled corners, is hinged on an upper edge 26 of the back wall 18. Advantageously the tongue 25 is made from the same sheet of material with which the container 11 and the lid 12 are made.
The tongue 25 is also mobile, by rotation with respect to the upper edge 26, between a closed or lowered position, in which it fits with the lateral walls 18 of the container 11 and closes the opening of the internal compartment 20, and an open position, in which it allows access to the internal compartment 20.
The sizes of the tongue 25 are substantially equal to or slightly less than those of the bottom wall 19. In particular, the width of the tongue 25, that is, in this case, its bigger side, is slightly larger, for example by some tenths of a millimeter, than the internal distance between the two lateral flanks 23 of the lid 12 (fig. 4).
In this way, when both the tongue 25 and the lid 12 are in the closed position there is a slight interference of the tongue 25 with the lateral flanks 23 of the lid 12, so that the tongue 25 bends slightly and exerts a slight lateral thrust on the flanks 23, thus contributing to maintain the lid 12 in the closed position. It is therefore almost impossible, or in any case very improbable that the lid 12 can open without someone applying a determinate force on it, which overcomes the force exerted by the tongue 25 on the lateral flanks 23. It is clear that such force may not be much, so that a user can apply it with a simple finger, even of the same hand which is holding the packet 10.
According to a first variant, shown in figs. 5 and 6, a pocket-sized packet 110, also according to the present invention, comprises a lid 112, which is different from the lid 12 only in the lower part. Indeed, the lid 112 comprises a flat wall 121 which, instead of being rectangular in shape, is trapezoid shaped and instead of being hinged on the hinging edge 13 is hinged on an oblique edge 113, inclined by a determinate angle α, for example comprised as desired between 30° and 50° with respect to the front edge of the bottom wall 19. In practice, it is as if a lower part 121a of the flat part 121, in this case of a triangular shape, were attached, by gluing for example, to the lower part of the front wall 15 of the lid 11.
The remaining parts of the packet 110 are the same as those of the packet 10 described above.
In accordance with a second variant, shown in fig. 7, a pocket-sized packet 210 also according to the present invention, comprises a tongue 225, with a length and width equal to those of the tongue 25, but made in two parts 225a and 225b, visible in fig. 8, identical to each other and made from a first shaped sheet 230, of cardboard for example. The two parts 225a and 225b are suitable to be folded back and possibly, but not necessarily, attached to each other, for example by gluing. A second shaped sheet 231 is suitable to make the front wall 15 and a part of the lateral walls 18.
Moreover, to reinforce the flat wall 21 of the lid 12, the first shaped sheet 230 also comprises two lateral fins 232 and 233, each as wide as half the width of the flat wall 21 and suitable to be folded back and possibly, but not necessarily, attached, for example by gluing, to the latter.
According to another variant, shown in fig. 9, on a shaped sheet 330 a single lateral fin 333 is provided, with the width equal to that of the flat wall 21 and suitable to be folded back and possibly, but not necessarily, attached, for example by gluing, to the latter.
It is clear that modifications and/or additions of parts may be made to the pocket- sized packets 10 and 110 as described heretofore, without departing from the field and scope of the present invention.
For example, the hinging point of the lid, with respect to the container, can be different from those described above.
Moreover, the shape of the container could be different from that of a parallelepiped.
It is also clear that, although the present invention has been described with reference to some specific examples, a person of skill in the art shall certainly be able to achieve many other equivalent forms of pocket-sized packets, having the characteristics as set forth in the claims and hence all coming within the field of protection defined thereby.

Claims

Pocket-sized packet comprising a container (11), having a plurality of walls (15, 16, 18, 19) that define an internal compartment (20) suitable to contain small goods, and a lid (12, 112) hinged on said container (11) and mobile between a closed position in which access to said internal compartment (20) of the container (11) is prevented, and an open position in which access is allowed, from above, to said internal compartment (20), or vice versa, wherein an upper element (25, 225) of said container (11) is suitable to cooperate with said lid (12, 112) when the latter is in said closed position, characterized in that said lid (12, 112) comprises both an upper part with two lateral elements (23) configured to cooperate with said upper element (25, 225) of said container (11), when said lid (12, 112) is in the closed position, and a lower part with a flat wall (21, 121) by means of which said lid (12, 112) is hinged on said container (11), wherein said upper element comprises a tongue (25, 225) hinged on an upper edge (26) of said container (11) and also mobile between a closed position in which said tongue (25, 225) at least partly covers the upper part of said internal compartment (20), and an open position in which it does not interfere with access to said internal compartment (20), or vice versa, the width of said tongue (25, 225) being slightly greater than the internal distance between said lateral elements (23), to prevent said lid (12, 112) from opening by chance when both the latter and said tongue (25, 225) are in the closed position.
Pocket-sized packet as in claim 1, wherein said plurality of walls (15, 16, 18, 19) comprises at least a bottom wall (19), characterized in that the sizes of said tongue (25, 225) are substantially equal to, or slightly smaller than, those of said bottom wall (19), so as to selectively close said internal compartment (20) even when said lid (12, 112) is in the open position.
Pocket-sized packet as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that said lateral elements (23) define two corresponding sides of said lid (12, 112) in correspondence with an upper wall (22) of the latter.
Pocket-sized packet as in any claim from 1 or 3 wherein said plurality of walls (15, 16, 18, 19) comprises at least a front wall (15) and a bottom wall (19), characterized in that said flat wall (21) of said lid (12) has substantially the same sizes as said front wall (15) and is hinged on a hinging edge (13) located at the intersection of said front wall (15) with said bottom wall (19).
Pocket-sized packet as in any claim from 1 to 3, wherein said plurality of walls (15, 16, 18, 19) comprises at least a bottom wall (19), characterized in that said flat wall (121) of said lid (12) has a substantially trapezoid shape and is hinged on an oblique edge (113), inclined by a determinate angle (α) with respect to the front edge of said bottom wall (19).
Pocket-sized packet as in any of the claims 1 or 2, characterized in that said tongue (225) is made in two parts (225a, 225b), identical to each other, made from a single shaped sheet (230) and suitable to be folded back and attached to each other.
Pocket-sized packet as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that two lateral fins (232, 233) are associated with said flat wall (21) of said lid (12), each as wide as half the width of said flat wall (21) and suitable to be folded back on the latter.
Pocket-sized packet as in claim 7, characterized in that said two lateral fins (232, 233) are attached to said flat wall (21).
Pocket-sized packet as in any claim from 1 to 6, characterized in that a single lateral fin (333) is associated with said flat wall (21) of said lid (12) with a width equal to that of said flat wall (21) and suitable to be folded back on the latter.
Pocket-sized packet as in claim 9, characterized in that said lateral fin (333) is attached to said flat wall (21).