EP2870886B1

EP2870886B1 - Receptacle for tobacco and tobacco related articles and/or smoking articles

Info

Publication number: EP2870886B1
Application number: EP13192577.8A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Carmen Bühr
Original assignee: Reemtsma Cigarettenfabriken GmbH
Current assignee: Reemtsma Cigarettenfabriken GmbH
Priority date: 2013-11-12
Filing date: 2013-11-12
Publication date: 2020-10-21
Anticipated expiration: 2033-11-12
Also published as: EP2870886A1; PL2870886T3

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a receptacle for tobacco and tobacco related articles and/or smoking articles and a method for manufacturing such a receptacle.

BACKGROUND

Receptacles for tobacco are well known in the art. They are usually offered as cylindrical boxes which are filled with tobacco. The tobacco is, for example used for making cigarettes using papers and optionally filters or for filling a pipe. However, making cigarettes and cleaning and filling a pipe requires numerous utensils and additional components making it difficult to carry and handle the multiple different objects.
Document FR 2 762 481 discloses a receptacle for tobacco and tobacco related articles comprising the features of the preamble of claim 1.

SUMMARY

It is an object of the invention to provide a receptacle for tobacco and tobacco related articles and/or smoking articles and a not claimed method for manufacturing such a receptacle allowing for an easier handling of the necessary components for making a consumable tobacco related or smoking product.
The invention, as defined by claim 1, defines a receptacle for tobacco and tobacco related articles and/or smoking articles. The receptacle comprises, inter alia, a body having a bottom wall and a side wall coupled to the bottom wall. The bottom wall and the side wall encompass the inner space of the receptacle except for an access opening of the body. There is further a cover for opening and closing the access opening of the body. The inner space of the body is divided into a plurality of compartments by a plurality of inner walls. In the context of this specification, the inner walls can comprise inner side walls and intermediate walls. The inner side walls can be more or less parallel to the side wall of the receptacle while the intermediate walls can extend from the inner side walls to the side wall of the receptacle. The inner compartments are configured such that a content contained in the compartments can be manually retrieved. The aspect of the invention generally provides an all-in-one receptacle in which multiple components and/or utensils for creating tobacco related articles or smoking articles can be contained. The receptacle can be made of plastic, metal, cardboard, tin or the like.
According to the invention there are a first compartment (main compartment) and a plurality of additional compartments. This aspect relates to specific types of receptacles having a large main compartment for a tobacco related article or smoking article which however need further manipulation or treatment in order to be or become a consumable tobacco related product.
An inner diameter defined by the inner walls of the receptacle can be shorter than a diameter defined by the side wall of the receptacle.
A height of at least one inner wall of the receptacle can be lower than a height of the side wall of the receptacle. In other words, one or more inner walls, in particular inner side walls of the receptacle can be equal to or shorter than the side wall of the body of the receptacle. In other words, a height of an inner side wall or an intermediate wall can be the same or lower than the height of the outer side wall. Advantageously, the height of at least one or all inner side walls can be lower than the height of the outer side wall by 0.5 cm to 2 cm. This allows the content of the compartments to be easily retrieved by grasping the content of a compartment with the fingers or finger tips.
The receptacle can also comprise a tab in one of the compartments in order to lift the content of a compartment towards the access opening. This is good manner of reaching any small articles contained in the compartments.
According to the invention, the receptacle comprises a plurality of compartments, one of which is located substantially in the center of the receptacle while the other additional compartments can be arranged along the side wall of the compartment between the side wall and the first compartment. The additional compartments (i.e. for example the second, third, fourth etc. compartment) can advantageously be arranged circumferentially around the main compartment.
The first compartment can be the largest compartment of all compartments. This means that the first compartment can be larger than the second and/or the third compartment and/or the fourth compartment and, if more compartments are present, larger than any further compartment. The second, third, fourth and any further compartment except the first compartment are also referred to as additional compartments.
The receptacle can comprise a sealing for anyone of the compartments. The sealing or multiple sealings can be arranged on an access opening of any of the compartments and beneath the cover.
For example, the first compartment can be sealed with the sealing that is arranged on the access opening of the first compartment and beneath the cover.
At least the first compartment can be configured to accommodate loose tobacco. The weight of the loose tobacco in the first compartment or main compartment is advantageously greater than 20 g, in particular the weight is 20 g to 300 g, preferably the weight is 50g to 200g At least the second compartment and/or other compartments in the inner space can then be configured to accommodate utensils for at least partially making a consumable product out of the tobacco contained in the first compartment or for consuming the tobacco contained in the first compartment. The second compartment can be configured to contain papers for making cigarettes. The third compartment can be configured to contain cigarettes ready for being consumed. The fourth compartment can be configured to contain filters for making filter cigarettes with the papers and the tobacco in the receptacle. There can be a fifth compartment in the receptacle configured to accommodate matches or a lighter for lighting a cigarette.
The cover of the receptacle can be configured to cover all compartments. The cover can have a lid portion and a protrusion. The protrusion can be configured such that the compartments are firmly closed, in particular in an embodiment in which anyone of the inner walls (for example the inner side wall) has a lower height than the outer side wall. An outer circumferential edge of the protrusion of the cover can be inclined or chamfered in accordance with the upper edges of the inner walls, in particular in accordance with the upper edges of the intermediate walls.
In an aspect, the outer side wall of the first compartment can be the inner side wall of the other compartments. The other compartments can be arranged at least partially around the first compartment. The outer side wall of the other compartments can then be the outer side wall of the receptacle.
In an aspect, the receptacle can have an outer side wall and an inner side wall which separates the other compartments from the first compartment. The first compartment can then be arranged in the center of the receptacle encompassed by the inner side wall. The space between the inner side wall and the outer side wall can be divided into compartments by intermediate walls. The intermediate walls can extend in a direction perpendicular to the inner wall and outwardly from the inner side wall to the outer side wall.
The outer side wall of the receptacle and the inner side wall encompassing the first compartment can have the same cross-sectional shape. This means the inner side wall of the first compartment can follow the cross-sectional shape of the outer side wall of the receptacle. If for example, the receptacle has a basically round or oval cross-sectional shape, the inner side wall of the first compartment can also have corresponding round or oval shape with smaller diameter than the outer side wall of the receptacle.
The outer side wall of the first compartment and/or the inner side walls of the other compartments can be lower than the outer side wall of the receptacle.
The minimum length and width (or diameter) of anyone of the additional compartments is advantageously not less than 0.5 cm. This supports easy manual access to the content of the compartments. Dependent on the specific embodiment, in particular for an embodiment in which the cross-sectional shape of the inner side wall and the outer side wall are substantially equal, the minimum distance between the inner side wall and the outer side wall should not be less than 0.5 cm. The diameter of the body of the receptacle can range from 5 cm to 15 cm. The minimum length and width of the access opening of the first compartment (or main compartment) is advantageously equal to or greater than 5 cm.
In an aspect, at least one of the compartments of the receptacle can be configured to be refilled. The receptacle can comprise a refill can arranged in at least one of the compartments and in particular in the first compartment. The refill can may then advantageously be replaced once the content of the first compartment is consumed. In other words, the first compartment can comprises a refill can which is exchangeable.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Further aspects and characteristics of the invention ensue from the following description of the preferred embodiments of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein

FIG.1 shows a simplified perspective view on a receptacle according to an embodiment;
FIG. 2 shows a simplified side view on an embodiment, and
FIG. 3 shows a simplified perspective view of an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EXAMPLE EMBODIMENT

FIG.1 shows a simplified perspective view on a receptacle 1 according to an embodiment. The receptacle comprises a body 2 and a cover 3. The cover 3 fits on body 2 and serves to tightly close the access opening or access openings of the body 2. The body 2 generally comprises a bottom wall 5 and a side wall 4 which encompass the entire inner space of the receptacle except for the access opening 6 which allows the content of the receptacle to be removed.
The body further comprises multiple compartments 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13. The first compartment 7 is arranged in the center of the body 2 and can also be referred to as main compartment. The compartments are created by an inner side wall 17 and a number of intermediate walls 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27. The intermediate walls 22 to 27 and the inner side wall 17 as well as the outer side wall define the compartments.
According to the invention, the inner side wall 17 basically follows the cross-sectional shape of the outer side wall 4. In the present embodiment, the cross-sectional shape of the outer side wall 4 is circular. The cross-sectional shape of the inner side wall 4 is also circular. However, in other embodiments, the inner side wall 17 can have a different cross sectional shape than the cross-sectional shape of the outer side wall 4. Furthermore, the cross-sectional shapes of the inner side wall 17 and/or the outer side wall 4 can have any convenient shape, as for example circular, oval, rectangular, octagonal, polygonal, squarish or others.
The first compartment 7 is the largest compartment. There are additional compartments 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 which are arranged around the first compartment 7 between the inner side wall 17 and the outer side wall 4 of the body. The additional compartments 8 to 13 are arranged circumferentially along the inner side wall 17 and/or the outer side wall 4.
The height of the body is H1. The diameter of the body 2 is D1. The diameter of the first compartment is D3. The distance between the inner side wall 17 and the outer side wall 4 is D2. D2 is also the width of an additional compartment In the present embodiment, this is shown for compartment 8. The width D2 is also the width of the intermediate walls 22 to 27. In the present embodiment, all the additional compartments 8 to 13 advantageously have the same width D2. However, in other embodiments, the width D2 may be varied for each of the additional compartments 8 to 13.
The height H1 of the body can generally range from 5 cm to 25 cm. The diameter of the body can generally range from 5 cm to 15 cm. The width D2 of an additional compartment 8 to 13 is greater than 0.5 cm. The diameter of the first compartment 7 is generally the difference of the width D2 of the surrounding compartments and the diameter D1 of the body 2.
The length of an additional compartment is L1. The size of the access opening of an additional compartment 8 to 13 is then substantially the product of the length L1 and the width D2 of the compartment. In the present embodiment, in which the cross-sectional shape of the receptacle 1 is basically circular, the length of an additional compartment corresponds to the arc length. However, in other embodiments, the shape of the compartments can be different. An access opening of an additional compartment 8 to 13 should not be less than 0.5 cm by 0.5 cm. This allows the content of an additional compartment to be manually removed.
The additional compartments 8 to 13 can also be referred to as a second compartment 8, a third compartment 9, a fourth compartment 10, a fifth compartment 11, a sixth compartment 12 and a seventh compartment 13. The number of additional compartments can be varied.
In an embodiment, the first compartment 7 can be configured to accommodate tobacco. The second compartment 8 can be configured to accommodate filters for cigarettes. The sixth compartment 12 can be configured to accommodate papers (here shown as a small booklet of papers 14) for making cigarettes using the tobacco contained in the first compartment 7 and the papers contained in the sixth compartment 12. Also the filters 28 contained in the second compartment 8 can be used for making the cigarettes. The third compartment 9 can be configured to accommodate the finished cigarettes 29 which are ready to be consumed.
Generally, the receptacle 1 and in particular the different compartments 7 to 13 can contain all components for self-made cigarettes. The first compartment 7 may contain the tobacco, while the other additional compartments 8 to 13 contain utensils for making the cigarettes, such as papers and filters etc. Further compartments, as for example the fifth and seventh compartment 11, 13 can remain empty. However, they can also be configured to accommodate matches or a lighter for lighting up the cigarettes 29.
In another embodiment, the additional compartments may be configured to accommodate utensils for pipe smokers, such as filters for pipes and tools for cleaning and filling a pipe.
FIG. 2 shows a simplified side view of some aspects relating to an embodiment of the invention. Similar to the previously described embodiment, the body 2 contains an inner side wall 17 and an outer side wall 4. The inner side wall 17 has a height H2 that is lower than the height H1 of the outer side wall 4. As an example, there is a second compartment 8 containing a row of filters 30. The filters are stacked one upon the other and wrapped by a foil or the like allowing the filters of the row to be removed one by one from the row 30.
The inner side wall 17 is lower than the outer side wall 4 by a length D5. This difference can be in the range of 0.5 cm to 2 cm. The different heights H1 and H2 of the inner side wall 17 and the outer side wall 4 allow the content of the additional compartments to be easily manually removed from the compartments.
In this embodiment, the cover 3 can be configured to safely close all the compartments 7 to 13 (as shown in FIG. 1). Therefore, the cover 3 has a lid portion 21 and a protrusion 20 protruding from the lid portion 20 in form of a nyliner or the like. The protrusion 20 extends into the body 2 of the receptacle by a depth D6 defined by the height of the protrusion 20 when the receptacle is closed with the cover 3. This allows at least the first compartment 7 to be firmly closed. If, for example tobacco is contained in the first compartment 7, the tobacco is prevented from leaving the first compartment 7 when the receptacle is closed. This is advantageous, especially if the inner side wall 17 has a lower height H2 than the outer side wall 4. The height D6 of the central part of the protrusion is equal to or greater than D5, which is the length by which the inner side wall 17 is shorter than the outer side wall 4. Furthermore, the protrusion 20 can be shaped to also close one or more of the additional compartments. The edges of the protrusion 20 can then be shaped to follow the shape of the upper edges 31, 32 of the intermediate walls (22 to 27 shown in FIG. 1). The upper edges 31, 32 of the intermediate walls (here only shown for two of them) can start with a first height H2 at the inner side wall 17 and increase their height towards the outer side wall 4 to finally have the equal height H1 of the outer side wall 4 once they have reached the outer side wall 4. This protrusion 20 of the cover 3 can be shaped accordingly which provides that all compartments are safely closed once the cover 3 is placed on the body 2. In other words, the outer circumferential edge of the protrusion of the cover 3 can be inclined or chamfered in accordance with the inclination of the upper edges of the intermediate walls.
In the embodiments, one or more of the compartments 7 to 13 (as shown in FIG. 1) can be equipped with a pull tab 18. This is illustrated with respect to compartment 8 in the present example. The pull tab 18 can be used to push the content of a compartment (here the row of filters) towards the access opening of the compartment if the consumer pulls at one side of the pull tab 18. The pull tab 18 can have a free end and one end which can be attached to an inner side of the compartment at point 19. This can be helpful in order to easily and manually remove the content of a compartment, in particular if the content comprises short and smaller and/or loose articles.
FIG. 3 shows a simplified perspective view of an embodiment illustrating other aspects of the invention. In this and the other embodiments of the invention, one or more of the compartments can be sealed with a sealing 16. The sealing serves to preserve the humidity and/or the aroma of the articles contained in the compartments. This can be particularly useful in order to prevent tobacco contained in the first compartment from losing its quality. Any sealing is then arranged on top of a compartment and underneath the cover when the receptacle is closed.
Furthermore, the first compartment 7 can be configured to be refilled with a refill can 15 instead of loose tobacco. The refill can 15 can be a sealed with a sealing 16 and be separately sold. The receptacle 1 can then be reused by replacing the refill can 15 in the receptacle by a fresh refill can 15. The refill can 15 can be made of plastic, metal, cardboard or tin or the like. The diameter of the refill can 15 is D4. D4 should then be slightly smaller than the diameter D2 of the first compartment 7. The refill can 15 can be attached to the inner side of the bottom wall 5 once it is placed inside compartment 7 of the receptacle. The amount of tobacco contained in the refill can (as well as in the main or first compartment 7 in general) advantageously ranges from 20 g to 300 g, preferably from 50 g to 200 g
Although the invention has been described hereinabove with reference to specific embodiments, it is not limited to these embodiments. Instead the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims.

Claims

A receptacle (1) for tobacco and tobacco related articles and/or smoking articles, the receptacle (1) comprising a body (2) having a bottom wall (5) and an outer side wall (4) coupled to the bottom wall (5), the outer side wall (4) encompassing the inner space of the receptacle except for an access opening (6) in the body, the receptacle (1) further comprising a cover (3) for opening and closing the access opening (6) of the receptacle, wherein the inner space of the body (2) is divided into a plurality of compartments, comprising a first compartment (7) and a plurality of additional compartments (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13), by the outer side wall (4), an inner side wall (17) which follows the cross-sectional shape of the outer side wall (4), and a plurality of intermediate walls (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27), wherein the compartments (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13) are configured to manually retrieve a content from the compartments, wherein the first compartment (7) is defined by the inner side wall (17) and is arranged in the center of the body (2), characterized in that the plurality of additional compartments (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13) is arranged around the first compartment (7), wherein said additional compartments (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13) are formed between the outer side wall (4), the inner side wall (17) and the intermediate walls (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27) which extend between the inner side wall (17) and the outer side wall (4), so that the additional compartments (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13) are arranged between the outer side wall (4) and the first compartment (7) .
The receptacle (1) according to claim 1, wherein an inner diameter defined by the inner side wall (17) of the receptacle (1) is shorter than a diameter defined by the outer side wall (4) of the receptacle (1).
The receptacle (1) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a height of the inner side wall (17) of the receptacle (1) is lower than a height of the outer side wall (4) of the receptacle (1).
The receptacle (1) according to anyone of the previous claims, further comprising a tab (18) in one of the compartments (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13) for lifting the content of the compartment.
The receptacle (1) according to anyone of the previous claims, wherein the first compartment (7) is the largest compartment, i.e. larger than the additional compartments (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13).
The receptacle according to anyone of the previous claims, further comprising a sealing (16) for the first compartment (7) which is arranged on an access opening (6) of the first compartment (7) and beneath the cover (3).
The receptacle (1) according to anyone of the previous claims, wherein at least the first compartment (7) in the inner space is configured to accommodate loose tobacco and at least one of the additional compartments (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13) in the inner space is configured to accommodate utensils for at least partially making a consumable product out of the tobacco contained in the first compartment (7) or for consuming the tobacco contained in the first compartment (7).
The receptacle (1) according to claim 7, wherein at least one of the additional compartments (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13) is configured to contain papers for making cigarettes.
The receptacle (1) according to claim 8, wherein at least one of the additional compartments (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13) is configured to accommodate finished cigarettes for being consumed.
The receptacle (1) according to anyone of the previous claims, wherein the cover (3) is configured to cover all compartments (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13).
The receptacle (1) according to anyone of the previous claims, wherein the cover (3) comprises a protrusion (20) extending into the body (2) of the receptacle (1).
The receptacle (1) according to claim 11, wherein an outer circumferential edge of the protrusion (20) of the cover (3) is chamfered in accordance with upper edges of the inner walls.
The receptacle (1) according to anyone of the previous claims, wherein at least one of the compartments (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13) is configured to be refilled.
The receptacle (1) according to claim 13, wherein the first compartment (7) comprises a refill can (15) which is exchangeable.