EP2922426A1

EP2922426A1 - Cigarette tube holder

Info

Publication number: EP2922426A1
Application number: EP13792708.3A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Stephan Meyer; Daniel MENNEL; Christian Lobeto
Original assignee: JT International SA
Current assignee: JT International SA
Priority date: 2012-11-23
Filing date: 2013-11-21
Publication date: 2015-09-30
Anticipated expiration: 2033-11-21
Also published as: WO2014079949A1; EP2922426B1

Abstract

A package for use with a MYO cigarette machine is disclosed, comprising: a cigarette tube holder, arranged to receive a plurality of cigarette tubes;and a cover; the cigarette tube holder being movable, preferably slidable,relative to the cover between a first position, in which the cigarette tubes are concealed by at least the coverto prevent the machine from accessing the plurality of cigarette tubes,and a second position, in which at least one of the cigarette tubes is accessible. Means for adapting the package to an MYO machine are disclosed as are locking means and various construction alternatives for the package.

Description

CIGARETTE TUBE HOLDER

The present invention relates to a package for holding cigarette tubes for making cigarettes. In particular the invention relates to a package having movable parts which may be displaced relative to one another to expose cigarette tubes retained by a holder for use in a cigarette tube filling machine.

As an alternative to buying pre-manufactured cigarettes, a user may buy loose tobacco suitable for hand rolling and cigarette papers in order to roll his own cigarettes by hand. It is also possible for the user to purchase loose tobacco and ready made cigarette tubes, and to fill the cigarette tubes with the tobacco, commonly known as make-your-own (MYO) cigarettes.

Machines for making cigarettes from loose tobacco have been proposed in the past. Such machines can take a loose supply of cigarette tubes and attempt to automate the process of filling the cigarette tube with a portion of tobacco.

A problem with the use of stored cigarette tubes is that, prior to filling, they are relatively fragile and easily crushable, since they are generally made from a relatively thin paper and they are therefore susceptible to damage or deformation during transport. This damage or deformation can render the tubes either unusable, or very difficult to use, since if the open end in particular of a cigarette tube has been damaged, then it can be very difficult to insert a portion of tobacco into the deformed rod.

The present invention seeks to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art.

According to the present invention there is provided a package for use with a MYO cigarette machine, comprising:

a cigarette tube holder, arranged to receive a plurality of cigarette tubes; and

a cover;

the cigarette tube holder being movable relative to the cover between a first position, in which the cigarette tubes are concealed by at least the cover to prevent the machine from accessing the plurality of cigarette tubes, and a second position, in which at least one of the cigarette tubes is accessible.

The package of the present invention provides improved protection to cigarette tubes during transport and allows the cigarette tubes to be released by movement of a cover relative to the cigarette tube holder. The movement may be a sliding or translational movement, preferably a substantially linear sliding or translational movement. Such a movement may be carried out by a user and may also be particularly suited to being actuated by an automated machine. In particular, if the sliding movement is a linear movement, then the opening action can be particularly suited to linear actuation by a device for filling cigarette tubes with tobacco portions. The package may therefore be arranged and adapted for use with a MYO cigarette making machine. The sliding motion can include a rotation and/or a translation, generally in a plane of the cover.

The cover may be an outer cover and the cigarette tube holder may be slidable within the outer cover. This allows the outer cover to provide protection to the entire cigarette tube holder. Further, the cigarette tube holder may be more efficiently manufactured, since its function is merely to hold the cigarette tubes and it need not provide the structural protection to the cigarette tubes, which is provided by the outer cover. Accordingly, the cigarette tube holder and the outer cover can be arranged for their respective functions and the overall complexity and/or related cost of the package may be reduced and manufacturing may be more efficiently achieved.

The package may be configured such that the cigarette tubes can be accessed sequentially by relative movement of the cover and the cigarette tube holder, optionally one by one. Sequential revealing of the cigarette tubes means that either individual tubes or sub-groups of tubes can be revealed by an initial movement of the cover, while further individual tubes or sub-groups of tubes can be revealed by further movement of the cover of the package relative to the cigarette tube holder.

The cigarette tube holder may comprise a plurality of cigarette tube receiving areas for receiving separate cigarette tubes or sub-groups of cigarette tubes. This can allow the separate cigarette tubes to be received individually and separately and/or released from the package individually or separately or in separate sub-groups. The receiving areas may be any of: areas separated by dividers, recesses, channels, or chambers and may be any area suited to holding cigarette tubes to substantially protect their shape and form from external disturbance, crushing or shock. This can prevent the cigarette tubes from damaging one another during transport and can facilitate the removal of cigarette tubes from the package separately, individually, or in pairs or groups, for example.

The cigarette tube holder may comprise a plurality of dividers, such that separate cigarette tubes can be located between the dividers, which may be neighbouring dividers. This can further facilitate the separation and protection from damage of the cigarette tubes by neighbouring cigarette tubes during transport and use of the package.

At least one of the dividers may be arranged to form a channel having a wall. Providing a channel having a wall can provide support to a wall or walls of the cigarette tubes during transport and during use. Further, the divider being arranged to form a channel can allow a cigarette tube to pass along the channel and to be guided by the channel before, during, or after use, to fill the tube with tobacco or to remove the tube from the package before or after filling. At least a part of the wall may be substantially part-cylindrical. This further allows the channel to support a cylindrical cigarette tube to guide it and protect it from damage.

The wall may comprise at least one protrusion for releasably retaining a cigarette tube in the channel. Such a protrusion may be arranged to prevent longitudinal movement of the tube along a longitudinal axis of the cigarette tube, but may be sufficiently small that the retaining force can be overcome with sufficient pressure or force on the tube. A sufficient pressure or force may be large enough to deform the tube to pass the protrusion, but small enough to do so without significantly damaging the tube. Significant damage may hinder the use of the tube and render insertion of a portion of tobacco into the tube. Such damage may weaken or puncture the surface of the tube. Alternatively or additionally, the protrusion or protrusions may be arranged to prevent the cigarette tube from being dislodged from the cigarette tube holder in a direction substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal access of the cigarette tube. The protrusion may be sufficiently small that a retaining force provided by the protrusion can be overcome by providing sufficient force to slightly deform the tube, such that it can pass the protrusion to be removed from the holder without significant damage to the tube.

The cigarette tube holder may comprise an opening arranged to allow a cigarette tube to be pushed out of a side of the holder opposing the opening, in a direction substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal access of the cigarette tube. This can facilitate ejection of a cigarette tube from the cigarette tube holder either before or after the cigarette tube has been filled. The opening may be located in at least one cigarette tube receiving area.

The package may comprise engaging means for engaging with a cigarette making machine. Such machine engaging means of the packet may be located either on the inside or on the outside of the package. In this way, the package for cigarette tubes can be engaged with a cigarette making machine so that the package can be used in the machine for delivering tubes to be filled with tobacco portions. The engaging means may optionally comprise a step or a ridge on the package. This can allow a corresponding member of a tube filling machine to engage with the step or ridge on the package, to retain the package on the machine. This can allow for the prevention or removal of the package, in particular during use of the package by the machine, so that operator intervention does not cause any damage to the machine or cigarette tubes during the tube filling process or during extraction of the tubes from the cigarette tube holder.

The cigarette tube holder may comprise a machine engagement portion, arranged to be engagable by a machine for filling cigarettes to displace the cigarette tube holder relative to the cover. Providing engagement means on both the cover and the cigarette tube holder allows the machine to actuate the package to displace the cover relatively to the cigarette tube holder. In this way, the machine may release and extract cigarette tubes from the package for cigarette tubes in a controlled and optionally automated manner. The engagement portion may be arranged such that the machine can pull the cigarette tube relative to the cover. This can allow the cover to remain static relative to the machine, while the tube holder can be drawn into or toward the machine to allow a tube in the holder to be used by the machine. Additionally or alternatively, the machine engagement portion may be used to fine-position the package or cigarette tube holder inside the machine and control the relative movement of the retainer to the cover.

The package may comprise locking means for locking the package in a closed position. This can ensure that the package does not unintentionally release cigarette tubes or expose them to damage during transport and/or prior to use. Further, the locking means may be arranged such that they cannot be opened without specific tools or specific parts of a machine to actuate the locking means. This provides for the access to the package to be limited to either authorised individuals with specific tools and/or limited to a machine which will use the cigarette tubes. This can prevent the wrong kind of cigarette tubes being placed in the cartridge by an unauthorised individual and can ensure that the tubes are not inadvertently damaged by exposure by an unauthorised user. The locking means may further be arranged to be actuated by a release mechanism of a cigarette making machine to open the package.

The cover may comprise additional walls to provide the package with an asymmetrical form. Advantageously, this allows insertion of the package in the cigarette making machine only in a correct orientation.

The cigarette tube holder may comprise a plurality of combiners for assisting the insertion of a plurality of tobacco rods into the plurality of cigarette tubes. The combiners may be located over openings of a first portion of the cigarette tube holder. Each combiner may comprise a flexible film material forming a plurality of radial slits.

The package may comprise at least one part which is formed of a substantially rigid material. This may be a thermoplastic or other plastics material, metal, carbon-fibre or other, generally rigid, synthetic or organic materials or metals. This part may provide the structural rigidity required in particular in the area in which the package is arranged to engage with a machine. For example, the engagement portion of the package and/or the cigarette tube holder itself and/or the locking means may be formed from a substantially rigid material. Remaining parts of the package, for example those which are principally provided for the structural protection of the tubes may be formed from a less rigid sheet of material, such as cardboard, sheet plastic, films or other more flexible material. This material may be folded from a blank to form the structural part of the package. In this way, the more expensive rigid materials, which are often more expensive to obtain and to manufacture, can be used only where necessary, while cheaper and more easily recyclable materials may be used for the general structural parts of the package.

The invention further provides a system comprising a make-your-own (MYO) cigarette making machine and a package for cigarette tubes as described. Such a system allows cigarette tubes to be used to make home cigarettes without the need for user intervention and protects the tubes and ensures that the tubes are provided to the machine in a suitable state for filling with tobacco. The invention may further provide a MYO cigarette making machine arranged to actuate the package for cigarette tubes as described herein to extract cigarette tubes therefrom.

The invention further provides a method of making cigarettes comprising the steps of:

inserting a package for cigarette tubes as described herein into a cigarette making machine; and actuating the cigarette tube holder and/or the cover of the package of cigarette tubes to extract a cigarette tube therefrom for use in a cigarette.

Specific examples of the invention will now be described with reference to the following figures in which:

Figure 1 shows a view of a package according to the present invention;

Figure 2 shows a section through the package of Figure 1 ;

Figure 3 shows a package of the present invention in a partly opened state;

Figure 4 shows a cross-section through the package of Figure 3;

Figure 5 shows a cigarette tube holder according to the present invention;

Figure 6 shows a section through the cigarette tube holder of Figure 5; Figure 7 shows a detailed cut away of a locking mechanism of a package of the present invention;

Figure 8 illustrates a package of the present invention being actuated by an actuation mechanism of a machine;

Figure 9A illustrates a package of the present invention in engagement with a machine for actuating the package;

Figure 9B illustrates a detailed cut-away section of the arrangement of Figure 9A;

Figure 9C shows a detailed section of a locking mechanism of the present invention in engagement with an actuation mechanism of a machine.

Figures 10A is a side view of a package shown in Figure 10B, illustrating the provision of combiners for assisting insertion of a preformed rod of tobacco into an empty cigarette tube; Figure 1 1 shows a tobacco rod outside the cigarette tube as shown in Figure 10A;

Figure 12 shows a tobacco rod inside the cigarette tube as shown in Figure 10A; and

Figure 13 shows a pre-cut part of foil for combiners, wherein star cuts are rotated from position to position to reduce the distance of indexing.

Figure 1 illustrates a package 1 for cigarette tubes according to the present invention. In the illustrated example, the package comprises an outer cover 1 1. The function of the outer cover is to provide protection to the components to the inside of the outer cover. To this end, outer cover 1 1 substantially surrounds a cigarette tube holder which is arranged to be located within the outer cover 1 1 of the package 1. The cover may provide one, two or more walls for the package, but need not surround the entire contents of the inner package in the illustrated manner. The cover may alternatively be arranged to cover or surround only a portion of the remaining components of package 1. For example, an alternative tube holder, arranged to interact with the cover 11 , may comprise a first part of a protective outer body of package 1 , while the cover 1 1 provides a second part of the outer covering. A substantially hollow body may therefore be provided, containing the package contents, while the cover may only form one, two or more sides of the package to substantially enclose the contents of the package when in a closed position.

The illustrated cover 1 1 comprises a first portion 1 1 1 and a second portion 1 12. The first portion 1 1 1 is arranged to surround internal components of the package and may be made from a substantially air tight and/or moisture tight material to substantially preserve a level of relative humidity in the package when the package is in a closed configuration. The first portion 1 1 1 at least may be made from moulded or deep-drawn plastics for example, or may be formed or moulded from any other deformable material. Alternatively, it may be folded from a sheet of relatively thin card, plastic or paper which is formed from a foldable blank and bonded to form the desired shape. The cover may alternatively be formed as a single part incorporating the features of both the first and second portions.

The second portion 1 12 is arranged to provide an opening for extraction of the inner parts of the package 1 and may be substantially thicker and/or more rigid than the first part 1 1 1 to provide a degree of structural rigidity to the package adjacent to an opening for extracting inner components of the package 1. Second portion 112 may therefore be moulded from a material having greater stiffness than that that used for first portion 1 1 1. The greater rigidity may simply be provided by using material of a thicker wall construction. The second portion 1 12 may be formed from different materials to those used for the first portion 1 1 1. For example, the second portion 1 12 may be moulded from plastics and the first portion 1 1 1 may be folded from a plastic sheet or card or a blank made from any other substantially-sheet like material.

The cover 1 1 of the package 1 has a profiled shape, in that in addition to its for generally rectanguloid side walls, which are arranged at substantially 90 degrees to one another, the package is provided with an additional pair of substantially opposing sides or vertical walls 1 13 and 1 14. Such additional walls can provide the packet with an asymmetrical form, such that it can only be mounted in a cigarette tube filling machine in one orientation. The machine engaging part of the packet, which may be the part comprising an opening for extraction of the packet contents, may therefore be provided with a form which allows the packet to be inserted in the machine only in the correct orientation. This can avoid the risk of a user mounting the packet incorrectly in the machine. All vertical walls of cover 11 have the same height hi . The cover 11 has a closed top side 1 15 and an open bottom side, opposite the top side. Therefore, in the illustrated embodiment, the cover 1 1 has only one open end.

Each additional opposing wall 1 13 and 1 14 is located at an angle a with respect to first pair of major vertical walls 1 16 and 1 17, i.e. the front and back walls, and at an angle β with respect to a second pair of vertical walls 1 18 and 1 19. In the preferred embodiment a may be equal to β and may be greater than 90°.

In the illustrated embodiment, the cover 1 1 has a second portion 1 12 which may be a frame, which surrounds the bottom portion of the cover 1 1 , adjacent to the open bottom side of the cover 1 1 1 , as shown in Figure 1 for example. The frame forms a step on the cover 1 1 representing engaging means suitable for engaging with a cigarette making machine 80 as illustrated in Figures 8 and 9A to 9C. Alternative engaging means may be provided, such as a notch, recess, hinge, protrusion, ridge or the like. The engaging means can be located on the inner side of the cover. Preferably, the dimensions of the frame match the dimensions of the first portion 1 11 of the cover 11 , such that the frame forms an outer sleeve on the bottom portion of the cover 1 1. Accordingly, the frame may have the same number of side walls as the first portion 1 1 1 of the cover 1 1 , having widths slightly bigger than the widths of the side walls, so that in internal dimension of the frame substantially matches an outer dimension of the first portion 1 1 1 of cover 1 1 , while the height h2 of the frame is smaller than the height hi of the side walls.

Figure 2 illustrates a cut-away view of the package 1 of Figure 1. The outer cover 1 1 can be seen to surround inner components of the package 1 , including a cigarette tube holder 12. The cigarette tube holder 12 is arranged to accommodate a plurality of cigarette tubes 20. The cigarette tubes 20 generally have the form of filled cigarettes, but are not filled with tobacco. The cigarette tubes 20 therefore have a generally cylindrical form, which is substantially hollow. However, the cigarette tubes may be tipped with a cigarette filter 201.

The cigarette tube holder 12 may be arranged with a plurality of dividers 121 , arranged to support each cigarette tube 20 on at least one side of the cigarette tube and possibly on both sides of each cigarette tube 20. The cover 1 1 may be an outer cover which is arranged to substantially surround the cigarette tube holder 12. Further, cigarette tube holder 12 may comprise a closure portion 122, which is arranged to close an opening in the outer cover 1 1 of the package 1 when the package is in a closed configuration. Therefore, the overall outer structure of the package may be comprised partly of the cover 1 1 and partly of a closure portion 122 of the cigarette tube holder 12. Alternatively, the package may be configured such that the cover, which is separate from the cigarette holder, is configured to close an opening in a housing of the cigarette tube holder. The package 1 may further be provided with locking means 70, which will be described in greater detail in relation to later figures.

In a preferred embodiment, the package 1 in a closed position is hermetically sealed or airtight so as to prevent humidity exchange between the package contents, such as cigarette tubes 20 and the surrounding environment outside the package. The package 1 may include a first permanent seal (not shown), for example by wrapping a sheet of plastic or polyethylene or other substantially hermetic wrapper as a seal around the retainer 20. An additional or alternative seal, which can be opened and closed repeatedly, may be provided, such as for example an elastomer or other deformable seal located between the bottom part of the closure portion 122 and the cover 11 or generally between first and second parts of the package which can cooperate to substantially seal the package.

Figure 3 illustrates a package 1 of the present invention in an open configuration. As can be seen in the figure, cover 11 has been displaced relative to cigarette tube holder 12 in a substantially linear fashion, from a closed position to an open position with respect to the arrangement of Figures 1 and 2. As such, a relative movement of closure portion 122 of cigarette tube holder 12, relative to cover 1 1 opens an opening 1 13 of the cover of package 1 12 to allow cigarette tubes 20 to be exposed. The cigarette tubes 20 may then be extracted from cigarette tube holder 12. In the illustrated example, cover 1 1 is arranged to completely surround cigarette tube holder 12. Alternative embodiments may be envisaged where a portion of cover 11 , such as the rear half of the cover as viewed in Figure 3, is attached to cigarette tube holder 12 in a permanent manner, while a front portion of cover 1 1 as viewed in Figure 3, may slide relative to the rear portion and the cigarette tube holder, such that the cover 1 1 is not arranged to completely surround cigarette tube holder 12, but merely provides closure means to prevent access to the cigarette tubes 20 when the cover and cigarette tube holder 12 are in a closed configuration. Hence this configuration prevents the MYO cigarette making machine from accessing to the cigarette tubes.

Figure 4 shows a cross-section through the package 1 illustrated in Figure 3. As can be seen in the Figure, cover 1 1 has been displaced relative to cigarette tube holder 12 in such a manner that a sub-set of six cigarette tubes 20 has been exposed and a subset of four cigarette tubes remains substantially enclosed by the cover 11. Differing degrees of relative movement of cover 11 relative to cigarette tube holder 12 can allow differing numbers of cigarette tubes 20 to be exposed, either individually, one by one, or as sub-groups. In particular, if cigarette tubes were stored in the package 1 in a two-wide arrangement, sub groups of two tubes may be exposed by relative movement of the cigarette tube holder 12 relative to cover 1 1 by a distance equal to the diameter of a single cigarette tube. Figure 5 shows an example of a cigarette tube holder 12 which has no cover 11 associated with it. The cigarette tube holder 12 comprises a slide 123 which is arranged for sliding engagement with a corresponding slide-engaging portion of cover 1 1. Slide 123 is arranged on a first portion 124 of the cigarette tube holder, which first portion is arranged to accommodate a substantially linear array of cigarette tubes 20. Arranged on first portion 124 is a plurality of cigarette tube receiving areas for receiving plural cigarette tubes 20. The cigarette tube receiving areas are separated by dividers 121 , which may be dividing walls. At least a portion of the dividing walls may have a substantially part-cylindrical form, which may correspond substantially to the cylindrical form of a cigarette tube, to provide support to the walls of the cigarette tube. The walls may have a substantially U-shaped profile, having a first portion which is substantially part-cylindrical and a second portion which is substantially straight or planar, such that a cigarette tube can be guided out from the substantially part-cylindrical portion, along a substantially straight portion of the wall, in order to extract the cigarette tube from the cigarette tube holder either before or after having been filled with tobacco. The first portion 124 of the cigarette tube holder may be provided with openings, which correspond to the cigarette tube ends of cigarette tubes 20, such that tobacco portions may be inserted into cigarette tubes 20 while the tubes are held in cigarette tube holder 12.

Such an arrangement is illustrated in Figure 6, which shows a section through walls of a cigarette tube receiving area of a cigarette tube holder 12 as illustrated in Figure 5. As can be seen in Figure 6, a wall of the cigarette tube holder 12 may have a substantially cylindrical first section 60 and a substantially straight second section 61. A cigarette tube 20 may be extracted from the tube receiving area 62 in the region of wall 60 by a substantially linear movement in a direction substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the cigarette tube 20. This motion is illustrated by arrow 63 of Figure 6. As can be seen in Figure 6, there may be provided a protrusion or other tube-retaining feature 64, which acts to resist extraction of the cigarette tube 20 from the tube receiving areas 62. This tube-retaining feature may be any feature which creates an opening which is slightly smaller in width than the diameter of the cigarette tube to be retained, such that the cigarette tube requires some degree of compression to extract it from the tube receiving area 62. Such a feature can be created by a substantially cylindrical or circular part of wall 60 describing an arc passing through an angle of greater than 180^°. Alternatively, a simple protrusion may be provided on the wall of the cigarette tube receiving area to provide a similar exit path having a width which is less than the diameter of a cigarette tube. In this way, an opening of the cigarette receiving area in a direction of extraction of the cigarette tube from the tube receiving area has a width less than a diameter of a cigarette tube. Excessive deformation of the cigarette tube 20 on extraction in the direction of arrow 63 may cause damage to the tube and therefore the opening must be sufficiently large to allow passing of the tube with only minor compression and minimal damage. A suitable size of the opening may be above either 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95% or 98% of the diameter of the cigarette tube in order to find the appropriate balance of resistance to extraction of the tube versus limited damage to the tube 20 upon extraction.

Figures 10A is a side view of the package illustrated in Figure 10B, showing the provision of combiners 300 for assisting insertion of a preformed rod of tobacco into an empty cigarette tube 20 formed from cigarette paper. The empty cigarette tube 20 may be made of any suitable material, including recyclable materials for example. Each combiner 300 comprises an insertion guide of film having radial slits 127 which terminate beyond the cigarette tube. Each slit 127 has a length which permits bending of flaps 126 within a cigarette tube by pressing a tobacco rod end against the film to guide insert a tobacco rod into the cigarette tube 20.

Figure 10A also shows a slit design for providing flaps 126 for the insertion guide. The flaps 126 are formed in a slide 123 of a cigarette tube holder 12. In this example, six radial slits 127 define six flaps, although it will be appreciated that the number of slits and flap may vary. In this example, the slits 127 are all of equal length and radiate from a central area 128. The radial slits 127 of each insertion guide are rotated from position to position to reduce the distance of indexing, as shown in Figure 13).

As shown in Figures 1 1 to 13, with the embodiment illustrated in Figures

10A and 10B, the slits 127 terminate at slit ends 60 and 62 where the flaps 126 fold within the cigarette tube 20 along a respective fold region 52. In the illustrated example, such folds, in essence, define a hexagon shape (not shown). By virtue of the slit ends 60 and 62 being free, i.e. not clamped or the like, the flaps 126 are not constrained to fold in any particular region. The flaps 126 may fold as needed to conform to the outside surface of the tobacco rod 30. In preferred embodiments the tobacco portions are tobacco rods. A tobacco rod may comprise tobacco wrapped in foil such as a non-smokeable but tear resistant foil or paper thereby providing structural rigidity to the tobacco portion.

As shown in Figure 12, the fold region extends between the slit ends 60 and 62 and tucks beneath the tobacco rod at region 52. This folding accommodates the outer surface of the tobacco rod while at the same time allows flap folding within the tube. It has been found that the freedom in allowing the flaps to fold along regions 52 as needed greatly facilitates and eases insertion of the end 32 of the tobacco rod to within the open end of the cigarette tube. Such freedom in flap folding is brought about by not constraining the slit ends. That is the slit ends are not defined by clamping the film between discrete components. Such free slit ends allow folding along region 52 in any needed way to conform to tobacco rod outside diameter. By avoiding the rod end 32 catching the end 66 of the cigarette tube, and by virtue of allowing the flaps to fold where needed to accommodate the size of the tobacco rod 32, a smooth insertion is assured.

Figure 7 illustrates a locking mechanism which may be utilised in a package 1 of the present invention. The locking mechanism 70 comprises a recess 71 in the cover 1 1 and a recess engaging member 72 in the cigarette tube holder 12 for engagement with the recess 71. The arrangement could alternatively be reversed, such that the recess 71 is located in the cigarette tube holder 12 and the recess engaging member 72 is located in the cover 1 1. The recess engaging member 72 may be a moveable pin, which may be displaceable to engage and disengage recess 71. The recess engaging member 72 may be biased into a recess engaging position by a biasing member 73, which may be a spring. By translation of the recess engaging member 72 between a recess engaging position and a recess disengaging position, the package 1 may be changed between a locked state and an unlocked state. The locking mechanism may be located substantially inside the package 1. The locking mechanism 70 may be substantially hidden from access from an outer side of package 1 , such that the locking mechanism may not be actuated by a manual intervention by a hand or digit of a user. Therefore, the locking means is configured such that it can only be operated with a specific tool or by a machine having specific locking mechanism engagement means, arranged to actuate a locking mechanism, preferably where the locking mechanism is substantially located on the inside of a package 1. There may therefore be a wall of package 1 and/or of cigarette tube holder 12 located between the locking mechanism 70 and an outer side of package 1. An opening may be located in the wall of the package, between the locking mechanism and an outer side of the package. Alternative arrangements may be provided to provide the same function. The biasing may be provided by an integral part of the packet, such as by forming a deformable section in the packet. The pin 72 may be replaced by an alternative movable member, which may be moulded as an integral part of the package.

Figure 8 illustrates package 1 in engagement with a machine having a mechanism for opening package 1. The machine 80 may be a cigarette tube filling machine, arranged to fill cigarette tubes with tobacco portions. Such machines have been proposed in the past and may therefore be adapted to operate a package of the present invention to extract cigarette tubes therefrom, either before or after filling the cigarette tubes with tobacco.

Returning to Figure 8, machine 80 may comprise a package engaging portion 81 , which may be arranged to engage a machine engagement portion 101 of package 1. Machine engaging portion 101 of package 1 may comprise a ridge or a step or a general change in the outer dimensions of the package, such that a corresponding portion of the package engaging portion 81 of machine 80 can engage with the feature to hinder or prevent removal of the package 1 from the machine. The machine 80 may comprise a moveable member which can be moved into position to lock the cigarette tube package 1 in place during operation of the machine 80.

The machine 80 may be equipped with a cigarette tube holder engagement portion 82 which is arrange to engage the cigarette tube holder 12 and to move the cigarette tube holder 12 relative to the cover 11 of package 1. In an alternative arrangement, the machine may be arranged to engage the cigarette tube holder in a fixed manner and may be configured to move the cover relative to the cigarette tube holder. As such, the machine 80 may be configured to cause movement of the cover relative to the cigarette tube holder to expose cigarette tubes 20 for filling with tobacco portions. In the illustrated examples, the cigarette tube package 1 is opened by linear movement of the cover 1 1 relative to the cigarette tube holder 12. However, it is also possible to provide a cigarette tube holder and cover arrangement which is opened by non linear movement, such as rotation of one of the cover and the cigarette tube holder relative to the other or by a combination of rotation and translation of the cover relative to the remainder of the package. For example, a first part of cover 11 may be integral with cigarette tube holder 12 to provide a first part of the covering function to enclose cigarette tubes within the package 1 and a second portion of cover 11 may be rotatable relative to the first part of the cover to expose cigarette tubes for use in a machine 80.

Figures 9A to 9C illustrate how the cigarette tube package and machine may be configured to allow a machine to unlock and open a cigarette tube package 1 of the present invention. Figure 9A shows a package 1 , which is in a closed configuration and which is engaged with a machine 80.

Figure 9B illustrates the detailed section A of Figure 9A. The figure illustrates detail of how a locking means of the present invention may be engaged by a locking means engaging device 82 of a machine 80.

Recess engagement means 72 of the locking means 70 comprises a displacement portion 721 for engagement with a displacing member to displace the recess engagement means, or pin, 72. This displacement portion is located within the package 1 and behind a wall 74 of the package 1 , so that no direct linear access to the displacement portion 721 is available to a user to actuate the recess engaging member 72. The wall 74, and opening 75 in the wall are configured such that a locking mechanism release member 83 must be introduced into opening 75 substantially in a first direction and then displaced in a second direction, substantially perpendicular to the first direction in order to release the locking mechanism. Accordingly, release member 83 of machine 80 must be introduced into opening 75 in a first direction, substantially in the direction of arrow 84 in the figure, and subsequently displaced in a direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction in a direction of arrow 85 in the figure, to displace the recess engagement means 72 via the displacement portion 721 to unlock the package 1 for opening. Alternative arrangement may be provided to prevent unlocking of the package by a hand or digit of a user without the need to specifically arranged tools or actuating members. Further examples can include a small hole arranged in the packet such that a pin entering the hole in a single direction can actuate the locking means 70, while the size of the hole prevents actuation of the locking means by a digit of a user.

Machine 80 may further comprise package engaging means 86.

Package engaging means 86 may be a pin and may be manually actuated or may be actuated by the machine. The actuation may be in a substantially linear manner, as indicated by arrow 861 , optionally by a rotary or linear motor or a solenoid, or any other substantially linear drive. Alternatively, package engagement means 86 may be rotated to engage the package 1 at machine engaging portion 101. This can be achieved by means such as a screw thread or by rotating the member 86 about a pivot.

The machine 80 may be configured such that the tube extraction and filling process is only initiated if the package engagement means 86 is in the package engaging position. This can prevent the user from removing the package during operation of the machine, which could otherwise damage the machine and/or the package. The machine may therefore comprise a controller, which may be coupled to either or both of: drive means for the package engagement means 86; and drive means for cigarette tube holder engagement means 82, or cover engagement means for displacing the cover. The controller may be configured to only allow actuation of the displacement means and any further mechanisms for carrying out the tube filling process when the package is engaged by the machine, preferably via locking means engagement device 86.

Figure 9C shows the arrangement of Figure 9B, in which the locking mechanism 70 has been actuated to an unlocked position by movement of release member 83 of machine 80 in a direction of arrow 85. It can be seen in the figure that release member 83 has a displacement member engagement portion 86 which is configured to both displace the locking means to unlock the package 1 and further, by engagement with element 74 of the package, the member 86 can further engage the cigarette tube holder 12 of the package 1 to cause relative displacement between those two components to open the package. There is therefore provided a machine having a release member configured to actuate a locking mechanism of the package. The machine also comprises an actuation element arranged to engage the package to cause relative movement between a cover 1 1 and a cigarette tube holder 12 of the package 1. The release member and the actuation element can be the same element in the illustrated example.

Claims

A package for use with a MYO cigarette machine, comprising:

a cover;

A package according to claim 1 , wherein the cover is an outer cover and cigarette tube holder is slidable within the outer cover, preferably in a substantially linear manner, relative to the cover between the first and second positions.

A package according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the package is configured such that the cigarette tubes can be accessed sequentially by relative movement of the cover, optionally one by one.

A package according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the cigarette tube holder comprises a plurality of cigarette tube receiving areas for receiving separate cigarette tubes or sub-groups of cigarette tubes.

A package according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the cigarette tube holder comprises a plurality of dividers, such that separate cigarette tubes can be located between the dividers, the dividers preferably being arranged to form a channel having a wall, a part of the wall preferably being substantially part-cylindrical.

A package according to claim 0, wherein the wall comprises at least one protrusion for releasably retaining a cigarette tube in the channel. A package according to any of claims 1 to 0, wherein the cigarette tube holder comprises an opening arranged to allow a cigarette tube to be pushed out of a side of the holder opposing the opening, in a direction substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the cigarette tube.

A package according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the package comprises engaging means for engaging with a cigarette making machine, the engaging means optionally comprising a step, a ridge, or a recess on the package.

A package according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the cigarette tube holder comprises a machine engagement portion, arranged to be engageable by a machine to displace the cigarette tube holder relative to the cover to allow the cigarette tube holder to be pulled relative to the cover.

A package according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the package comprises locking means for locking the package in a closed position, the locking means preferably being arranged to be actuated by a release mechanism of a cigarette making machine to open the package.

A package according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the cover comprises additional walls to provide the package with an asymmetrical form for allowing insertion of the package in the cigarette making machine only in a correct orientation.

A package according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the cigarette tube holder comprises a plurality of combiners for assisting the insertion of a plurality of tobacco rods into the plurality of cigarette tubes.

A package according to claim 12, wherein the combiners are located over openings of a first portion of the cigarette tube holder and wherein each combiner comprises a flexible film material forming a plurality of radial slits.

A system comprising a make-your-own, MYO, cigarette making machine arranged to actuate the cigarette tube holder of a cigarette tube package according to any one of the preceding claims to extract a cigarette tube therefrom.

A method for making cigarettes comprising the steps of:

inserting a package according to any one of claims 1 to 13 into a cigarette making machine; and

actuating the retainer of the package to extract a cigarette tube therefrom for use in a cigarette.