Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D5/00—Rigid or semi-rigid containers of polygonal cross-section, e.g. boxes, cartons or trays, formed by folding or erecting one or more blanks made of paper
  • B65D5/42—Details of containers or of foldable or erectable container blanks
  • B65D5/64—Lids
  • B65D5/66—Hinged lids
  • B65D5/6602—Hinged lids formed by folding one or more extensions hinged to the upper edge of a tubular container body
  • B65D5/6617—Hinged lids formed by folding one or more extensions hinged to the upper edge of a tubular container body the container body sliding in an outer sleeve
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D2301/00—Details of blanks
  • B65D2301/10—Blanks mutually positioned to minimise waste material upon cutting out the individual blank from a continuous or large sheet

Definitions

• the present invention concerns packets with sizes such as to be considered pocket-sized and suitable to contain edible products, such as sweets, candies, tablets and suchlike, or pharmaceutical products, medicines and suchlike, or also and above all tobacco-based products, such as traditional smoking articles, such as for example cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos or suchlike.
• edible products such as sweets, candies, tablets and suchlike, or pharmaceutical products, medicines and suchlike, or also and above all tobacco-based products, such as traditional smoking articles, such as for example cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos or suchlike.
• the invention also concerns a flat component, of an easily workable material, such as paperboard, cardboard, paper, or similar materials, which is suitably cut, folded and shaped, which persons of skill in the art usually call a “blank” in English, from which it is possible to start to make a packet, or a part of a packet; the invention also concerns the method to produce said blank.
• an easily workable material such as paperboard, cardboard, paper, or similar materials
• pocket-sized packets with sliding opening are known, described for example in the patent documents US 2929542 and WO 2015/121831, and known, especially in the sector of smoking articles, by the English term “shell & slide”.
• These packets comprise an internal container, usually made of paperboard, which is intended to receive one or more products, in particular organized groups of smoking articles, with each of the groups being wrapped in an internal wrapping, or wrapper, which is typically made of metallized paper, or foil.
• the internal container, box-shaped, comprises a lid hinged to a rear wall of the packet.
• Shell & slide packets also comprise an external sheath, also usually made of paperboard, shaped like a parallelepiped, but without the upper wall and possibly the lower wall, so as to define a cavity in which the internal container is inserted sliding. In this case the packet is opened by means of a relative sliding movement between the internal container and the external sheath.
• the packet described by US 2929542 has the shape of a parallelepiped obtained starting from a blank, in which no overlapping is provided between panels or tabs of the blank.
• the lid is hinged to a central panel configured to define the rear wall.
• the packet described by WO2015/121831 comprises a rear wall to which the lid is hinged, which has the thickness of the blank from which the packet is obtained, and is not formed by the overlapping of several panels or tabs of said blank.
• Shell & slide packets that are known in the state of the art usually require the use of two distinct, suitably shaped blanks that have to be fed separately, one at a time and in a flattened form, toward a packaging machine of a known type.
• one of the two blanks is configured to form the internal container, while another of the two blanks is configured to form the external sheath.
• one purpose of the present invention is to provide a pocket-sized packet which, in addition to being more rigid and therefore less deformable than known packets, is also simpler and cheaper to produce, in particular by means of an automated packaging machine.
• Another purpose of the present invention is to provide an easy-to-use pocket- sized packet, which can be easily opened by a user even with just one hand.
• Another purpose of the present invention is to provide a method to obtain a flat and shaped component, or blank, not from single sheets of material, to facilitate and speed up its feed toward a packaging machine to automatically package the pocket-sized packet.
• 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.
• a pocket- sized packet according to the present invention comprises an internal container configured to contain products and an external sheath inside which the internal container is inserted sliding.
• the internal container is made from a first flat shaped component and comprises at least a first front wall, a first rear wall, opposite the first front wall, two first lateral walls contiguous to the first front wall and to the first rear wall on two opposite larger sides thereof, and a first bottom wall.
• the first front and rear walls, the first lateral walls and the first bottom wall define between them a first housing for the products.
• the first rear wall is formed by two lateral tabs of the flat shaped component which are contiguous to the two first lateral walls on two opposite larger sides thereof. These two lateral tabs are at least partly overlapping each other in order to form the first rear wall.
• the internal container comprises a lid for closing a pick-up aperture which is configured to allow to pick- up the products from the first housing.
• the lid is made in continuation of one of the two lateral tabs in order to rotate with respect to a smaller side of the latter between a closing position, in which the same lid prevents access to the pick-up aperture, and an opening position in which it allows access to the pick-up aperture.
• the lid is advantageously hinged to a rear wall formed by the reciprocal overlapping of the two lateral tabs of the flat shaped component, which causes the structure of the packet to be much more robust and suitable to protect the articles disposed inside the packet from possible damage.
• the external sheath is made from a second flat shaped component and comprises a second front wall and a second rear wall, opposite the second front wall, which are both parallel to the first front wall and to the first rear wall, two second lateral walls contiguous to the second front wall on two opposite larger sides thereof, and a second bottom wall provided with an aperture.
• the second front wall, the two second lateral walls, the second rear wall and the second bottom wall together define a second housing for the internal container.
• the pick-up aperture comprises an upper mouth between said first front wall and said first rear wall, and at least one lateral pick-up window made on the first front wall in direct lateral continuation of the upper mouth.
• the lid is configured to selectively close said pick-up aperture and comprises a top wall having an extension such as to close at least a part of the upper mouth, when it is in the closing position, and a lateral closing flap configured to close the lateral pick-up window.
• the lateral closing flap has a greater extension than the extension of the lateral pick-up window in order to completely close the lateral pick-up window and produce a mechanical interference with the first larger front wall, such as to stably hold the lid in the closing position.
• the first bottom wall is configured to close the bottom of the internal container and it is formed by at least two lower tabs, reciprocally joined by gluing and made in continuation one of the first front wall and the other of the first rear wall.
• one of said lower tabs is connected to the lateral tab on which the lid is not connected.
• the first front wall and the lateral tabs each comprise a recessed part.
• Said lid and the lower tabs are defined by respective panels that are mating in shape and size with the corresponding recessed parts.
• said internal container is made from a single sheet.
• a flat shaped component for making an internal container of a pocket-sized packet, of the type with sliding opening.
• Said flat shaped component comprises a central panel, configured to form a front wall of the internal container, two lateral panels contiguous to the central panel on two opposite larger sides thereof and configured to form two lateral walls of the internal container, a first lateral tab contiguous to a first of said two lateral panels, a second lateral tab contiguous to a second of said two lateral panels.
• the first lateral tab and the second lateral tab are configured to be at least partly overlapping each other in order to form a rear wall of the internal container.
• the flat shaped component comprises an upper flap configured to form a lid of the internal container, wherein the upper flap is joined to the first lateral tab along a creasing line in order to rotate around it.
• said upper flap comprises a first distal tab configured to form said lateral closing flap and a second proximal tab configured to form said top wall.
• said first distal tab has a greater extension than the extension of a lateral recess of the central panel, in order to completely close the lateral recess and produce a mechanical interference with the front wall of the internal container.
• said central panel also comprises a first lower tab contiguous to the second lateral tab on a smaller side thereof, and a second lower tab contiguous to the central panel on a smaller side thereof.
• the first lower tab and the second lower tab are configured to be at least partly overlapping each other in order to form a bottom wall of the internal container.
• said first lateral tab to which said upper flap is joined comprises, on the opposite side of said upper flap, a first recessed part mating in shape and sizes with said upper flap; said second lateral tab to which said first lower tab is joined comprises, on the opposite side of said first lower tab, a second recessed part mating in shape and sizes with said first lower tab; and said second lower tab has a shape and sizes corresponding to those of said lateral recess.
• said flat shaped component comprises a top edge and a bottom edge the profiles of which are corresponding and mating with each other.
• the inventive idea underlying the present invention is that of manufacturing the internal container as a so-called “collar”, which however is configured as a packet given that it contains the products, for example the smoking articles, on all six sides.
• This method advantageously allows to reduce or even eliminate the paperboard scraps on the strip, and to make the subsequent manipulation of the blanks by the packaging machine simpler.
• - fig. 1 is a three-dimensional view of a pocket-sized packet according to the present invention, shown in a closed configuration;
• - fig. 2 is an exploded three-dimensional view of the packet of fig. 1;
• - fig. 3 is a section view of the packet of fig. 1, taken along a cross-section plane;
• - figs. 4-6 are three-dimensional views of the packet of figs. 1 and 2, shown in different conditions of use;
• - figs. 7 and 8 are top plan views of flat shaped components, also called blanks, which define the flat development of an external sheath and an internal container, respectively, which, assembled together, form the packet referred to in figs. 1-6;
• - fig. 9 is a three-dimensional view of a reel from which the flat shaped component of fig. 8 is obtained;
• - fig. 10 is a three-dimensional view of an alternative embodiment of a reel from which it is possible to obtain other flat shaped components according to the present invention.
• - figs. 11-17 are three-dimensional views of a sequence of manipulations performed on the flat shaped component of fig. 8 to obtain an internal container of a packet for smoking articles.
• a packet 10 according to the present invention is preferably a rigid packet, made of paperboard, with a parallelepiped shape.
• the packet 10 is configured to contain products A of small sizes, such as traditional smoking articles (fig. 3) for example, such as cigarettes or small cigars. It is understood that, according to other embodiments, the packet 10 can be configured to contain cartridges for vaporizers or inhalers, for example of tobacco or other substances, or components of electronic cigarettes, or even other objects of compatible sizes, such as for example edible products or pharmaceutical, medicinal and similar products.
• the packet 10 comprises an external sheath 11 and an internal container 12, which can be extracted sliding with respect to the external sheath 11.
• the external sheath 11 and the internal container 12 are made starting from respective flat shaped components, also called blanks in the jargon of the sector, which are also the object of the present invention, indicated with reference numbers 100, 200, respectively, and which will be described in greater detail below, after the packet 10 has been described.
• the internal container 12 can slide in a translational maimer with respect to the external sheath 11 according to a linear movement indicated by the arrow L in the drawings.
• the internal container 12 is made of paperboard and is conformed as a parallelepiped that comprises a first bottom wall 18, a first front wall 19a and a first rear wall 19b, opposite the first front wall 19a.
• the internal container 12 also comprises two first lateral walls 20a, 20b, contiguous to the first front wall 19a and to the first rear wall 19b on two opposite larger sides thereof.
• the first bottom wall 18, the first front wall 19a, the first rear wall 19b and the first lateral walls 20a, 20b define between them a first housing 21 for the products A, which are shown wrapped in a typical wrapping sheet B (figs. 3 and 6) which, for example, can be made of paper, metallic paper, metal, aluminum, aluminum foil or suchlike.
• the first rear wall 19b is formed by two lateral tabs 219b, 219c of the blank 200, which are contiguous to the two first lateral walls 20a, 20b on two opposite larger sides thereof.
• the lateral tabs 219b, 219c are at least partly overlapping each other in order to form the first rear wall 19b. In this way, the thickness of the first rear wall 19b is double that of the first front wall 19a, for at least part of its surface.
• the internal container 12 comprises a pick-up aperture 22 for picking up the smoking articles from the housing 21, in particular to allow a user to pick up and/or replace one or more articles.
• the pick-up aperture 22 comprises an upper mouth 23 interposed between the first front wall 19a and the first rear wall 19b, and at least one lateral pick-up window 24 made on the first front wall 19a in direct lateral continuation of the upper mouth 23.
• the first front wall 19a comprises a top edge 25 which is substantially U-shaped in order to define the lateral pick-up window 24.
• the internal container 12 comprises a closure lid 26 configured to selectively close the pick-up aperture 22 so as to prevent the unwanted escape of the products A contained in the housing 21.
• the lid 26 is connected to the first rear wall 19b along a creasing line 27 which rotatably connects the lid 26 to the first rear wall 19b in order to rotate between a closure position and an opening position, in which the lid 26 prevents or allows access to the pick-up aperture 22, respectively.
• the lid 26 is connected to a first 219b of the two lateral tabs 219b, 219c. It is to be noted that the bottom wall 18 is also connected to the first rear wall 19b, by means of its own creasing line 32. In particular, the bottom wall 18 is connected to a second 219c of the two lateral tabs 219b, 219c.
• the lid 26 can be connected to the second lateral tab 219c, while the bottom wall 18 is connected to the first lateral tab 219b.
• the lid 26 comprises a top wall 28, having an extension such as to close the upper mouth 23 in the closure position. It is to be noted that, when the lid 26 is in the closure position, the top wall 28 defines the upper wall of the internal container 12 and simultaneously defines the upper wall of the packet 10 (fig. 1). In fact, the top wall 28 remains exposed to view even when the packet 10 is in its closed configuration C.
• the lid 26 comprises a lateral closing flap 29, configured to close the lateral pick-up window 24 and to be positioned, in the closure position of the lid 26, in the first housing 21, adjacent to the first front wall 19a.
• the lateral closing flap 29 has a greater extension than the extension of the lateral pick-up window 24 (see figs. 3-7), in order to close it completely and create a mechanical interference with the first front wall 19a, suitable to stably hold the lid 26 in the closure position.
• the top wall 28 is joined to the first rear wall 19b by means of the creasing line 27. It is to be noted that the latter is a pre-yielded line, so that the top wall 28 can assume a position that is folded or inclined, for example by about 90°, with respect to the first rear wall 19b.
• the lateral closing flap 29 is contiguous to the top wall 28 and defines a free end of the lid 26 suitable to be stably held in position by the first front wall 19a, in order to completely close the lateral pick-up window 24 when the lid 26 is in the closure position.
• the lateral closing flap 29 is joined to the top wall 28 by means of a pre-yielded creasing line 30 which allows the lateral closing flap 29 to be able to assume, in a repeatable maimer, a position that is folded or inclined, for example by about 90°, with respect to the top wall 28, as can be seen in fig. 2.
• the lateral closing flap 29 is also delimited by a shaped edge 31, which defines the free end of the lid 26.
• the shaped edge 31, visible in figs. 2-6, is also indicated with a dotted line in figs. 2 and 4, in which the lid 26 is shown in the closure position. In this position, the lateral closing flap 29 is therefore substantially parallel to, adjacent to and overlapping with the first front wall 19a. In this condition of use, the lateral closing flap 29 is inserted between the first front wall 19a and the external sheath 11. In this way, due to the relative rigidity of the material which the internal container 12 is made of, the lateral closing flap 29 opens by itself once it is no longer kept blocked by the external sheath 11.
• the lateral closing flap 29 is disposed inside the first front wall 19a so that the latter is able to stably keep it in its position.
• the lateral closing flap 29 is inserted in the first housing 21 in such a way as to be interposed between the products A contained in the packet 10 (possibly wrapped in the wrapping sheet B) and the first front wall 19a.
• the external sheath 11 is also conformed as a parallelepiped and is made from a second flat shaped component 100.
• the external sheath 11 comprises a second bottom wall 13, a second front wall 14a, a second rear wall 14b, opposite the second front wall 14a, and two second lateral walls 15a, 15b, contiguous to the second front wall 14a on two opposite larger sides 141, 142 thereof.
• the second front wall 14a, the two second lateral walls 15 a, 15b, the second rear wall 14b and the second bottom wall 13 together define a second housing 121 to receive the internal container 12, when it is in the closed configuration C.
• the second front wall 14a and the second rear wall 14b are parallel and in contact with the first front wall 19a and the first rear wall 19b, respectively.
• the second lateral walls 15 a, 15b are in turn parallel to and in contact with the first lateral walls 20a, 20b.
• the second bottom wall 13 is parallel to the first bottom wall 18 and rests on the latter when the packet 10 is in the closed configuration C.
• the external sheath 11 also comprises an upper aperture 16 through which the internal container 12 can slide between the closed configuration C and the extracted configuration E.
• the upper aperture 16 is made on the opposite part with respect to the second bottom wall 13 and has substantially the same transverse extension as the latter.
• the external sheath 11 also comprises a window 17 able to allow the user to contact the internal container 12 contained in the second housing 121 and to press on it in order to take it from the closed configuration C to the extracted configuration E.
• the window 17 is made in the second bottom wall 13.
• the window 17 can, for example, have a substantially rectangular or square shape and has a size suitable to allow the passage of at least one finger of the user.
• packet 10 When not being used, packet 10 is normally in the closed configuration C (fig. 1).
• the user When the user has to pick up one or more products A contained in the housing 21, he/she presses on the internal container 12 with a finger, through the window 17 of the bottom wall 13 of the external sheath 11, so as to lift the internal container 12 with respect to the external sheath 11 and take it into the extracted configuration E (figs. 4-6).
• the lateral closing flap 29 is released from the second front wall 14a and the user can fully open the lid 26 in order to take it in the open condition shown in fig. 6, passing from the intermediate position visible in fig. 5.
• a shaped flat component also called blank, is described below, which is configured to create the external sheath 11 and is indicated as a whole with reference number 100.
• the blank 100 comprises a pair of central panels 114, in particular a front central panel 114a configured to form the second front wall 14a, and a rear central panel 114b configured to form the second rear wall 14b.
• the front central panel 114a and the rear central panel 114b have a substantially rectangular shape.
• central connection panel 113 Interposed between the front and rear central panels 114a and 114b is a central connection panel 113 configured to form the bottom wall 13.
• the central connection panel 113 is joined to the front and rear central panels 114a and 114b in correspondence with respective smaller sides 140 thereof.
• the smaller sides 140 define the folding lines along which a panel can be folded with respect to the panel contiguous to it.
• the central connection panel 113 comprises the window 17 in a substantially central position. Due to the presence of this window, the smaller second central panel 113 is divided into two portions 113a, each disposed in correspondence with a respective shorter side of the central connection panel 113.
• the blank 100 also comprises a plurality of respective lateral flaps 115 able to form the second lateral walls 15a, 15b.
• These respective lateral flaps 115 are joined both to the front central panel 114a and also to the rear central panel 114b, in correspondence with both the sides of the latter which have a greater extension, which are indicated with reference numbers 141, 142.
• These sides with a greater extension 141, 142 also define additional folding lines along which a panel can be folded with respect to the panel contiguous to it.
• the respective lateral flaps 115 comprise a pair of first lateral flaps 115a and a pair of second lateral flaps 115b. To each respective larger lateral panel 114 there are connected both a first lateral flap 115a and also a second lateral flap 115b, on opposite parts with respect to each other.
• Each first lateral flap 115a is connected to a respective larger lateral panel 114a, 114b along the side with a greater extension 141.
• each second lateral flap 115b is connected to a respective larger lateral panel 114a, 114b along the other side with a greater extension 142, parallel to the side 141.
• the first lateral flap 115a and the second lateral flap 115b which are connected to the first larger lateral panel 114a are each joined to a respective connection tab 133 on their short side 143, which is substantially aligned with the smaller sides 140 that join the portions 113a of smaller central panel 113 to the panels 114a and 114b, and which defines another folding line along which the connection tabs 133 can be folded with respect to the lateral flap 115a, 115b to which they are connected.
• the first lateral flaps 115a and the second lateral flaps 115b are configured to be joined together, for example by gluing with a suitable adhesive substance. It is to be noted that when the external sheath 11 is formed, the connection tabs 133, after having rotated by about 90° around the short side 143, are also disposed overlapping with the portions 113a and are joined to them, for example by gluing.
• the blank 100 is delimited at the upper and lower parts by a top edge 101 and a bottom edge 102, respectively.
• a blank is described below, which is configured to create the internal container 12 and is indicated as a whole with reference number 200.
• the blank 200 comprises a central panel 219a configured to form the first front wall 19a.
• the blank 200 comprises a pair of lateral tabs 219b and 219c, a first and a second lateral tab, respectively, which are configured to be at least partly overlapping each other and thus form the second rear wall 219b.
• the width of the lateral tabs 219b, 219c is the same as the width of the central panel 219a so that the thickness of the first rear wall 19b is doubled, at least for part of its extension, with respect to the thickness of the other walls of the internal container 12.
• the central panel 219a is located centrally with respect to the lateral tabs 219b, 219c, which extend from opposite parts, laterally with respect to the central panel 219a.
• the blank 200 also comprises two lateral panels 220a and 220b which join the central panel 219a to a respective one of the lateral tabs 219b, 219c.
• each smaller lateral panel 220 is joined to a respective larger side of the central panel 219a, and each of them is connected to a larger side of a respective one of either the first lateral tab 219b or the second lateral tab 219c.
• These longer sides are indicated with reference number 240 and define folding lines along which the lateral tabs 219b, 219c can be folded, for example by about 90°, with respect to the lateral walls 20a, 20b, and the latter can be folded, for example by about 90°, with respect to the central panel 219a.
• the blank 200 also comprises un upper flap 226 configured to form the lid 26 of the internal container 12.
• the upper flap 226 is joined only to one of the lateral tabs 219b, 219c which together form the first rear wall 19b. In the embodiment shown, the upper flap 226 is joined to the first lateral tab 219b.
• the upper flap 226 can comprise a first distal tab 229 and a second proximal tab 228.
• the first distal tab 229 is configured to define the lateral closing flap 29 of the lid 26 and the second proximal tab 228 is configured to define the top wall 28.
• the first distal tab 229 is joined to the second proximal tab 228 in correspondence with a larger side of such tabs, indicated with the number 230 and configured to define the creasing line 30.
• the first distal tab 229 is also delimited by an edge line 231 configured to define the shaped edge 31 which defines the free end of the lid 26.
• the second proximal tab 228 is joined to the respective lateral tab 219b, 219c in correspondence with its other larger side, parallel to the side 230, which is indicated with the number 227 and is configured to define the creasing line 27.
• the blank 200 also comprises a first lower tab 218 configured to form the first bottom wall 18 of the internal container 12.
• the first lower tab 218 is joined to a lateral tab 219b, 219c, in particular to the second lateral tab 219c, since in the example given here the upper flap 226 is joined to the first lateral tab 219b.
• the first lower tab 218 is joined to the second tab 219c, in particular to its bottom side 243 which defines a folding line along which these tabs can be folded with respect to each other.
• the first lower tab 218 is rectangular in shape and has sizes equal to the cross section of the first housing 21.
• the blank 200 also comprises a second lower tab 233 configured to be connected to the first lower tab 218 in a fixed manner in order to form together with it, in a stable manner, the first bottom wall 18.
• the second lower tab 233 is joined to the central panel 219a, in particular to its bottom side 244, which defines a respective folding line.
• the central panel 219a also comprises a top edge 225, shaped so as to delimit a lateral recess 224 suitable to define the lateral window 24.
• the profile of the top edge 225 corresponds to the profile of the second lateral tab 233.
• the extension of the lateral recess 224 is smaller than the extension of the first distal tab 229, so that the lateral closing flap 29 completely covers the lateral pick-up window 24 of the internal container 12 when the lid 26 is in the closing position.
• the lateral tab 219 to which the upper flap 226 is joined comprises a bottom edge 251 which delimits it at the lower part.
• the bottom edge 251 for example conformed as a curved profile, is disposed at a greater vertical height than the bottom sides 243 and 244.
• the position of the bottom edge 251 allows to define a recessed part 250.
• the bottom edge 251 is shaped and has a profile complementary to the profile of the edge line 231 of the first distal tab 229. More advantageously, the recessed part 250 has an extension and a shape corresponding to, in particular the same as, the extension and shape of the upper flap 226.
• the second lateral tab 219c also comprises a respective recessed portion 252 which has a shape and sizes corresponding to the sizes of the first lower tab 218, for example being rectangular in shape.
• the blank 200 has a shaped top edge 201 and a shaped bottom edge 202, which are indicated with two dotted lines different from each other in fig. 8, the profiles of which are complementary.
• the profile of the top edge 201 is defined by the upper flap 226, by the lateral recess 224 and by the recessed part 252, as well as by the elements that connect them, while the profile of the bottom edge 202 is defined by the recessed part 250, by the first and second lower tabs 218, 233, as well as by the elements that connect them.
• the blank 200 also comprises two opposite external lateral edges 203, 204, which externally delimit the two lateral tabs 219b, 219c.
• the blank 200 can be created starting from a continuous strip 300, wound to form a reel 301 (fig. 9). According to the present invention, it is provided to feed the blank 200 directly into a packaging machine while it is being unwound from the reel 301, which simplifies its management and subsequent processing by the packaging machine, which can be of a type known in the state of the art or of a type that will be developed in the future, and which is neither shown nor described since it does not form part of the present invention.
• both blanks 100, 200 described above are obtained from the same strip 300 wound to form a reel 301.
• each blank 100 is joined to a respective blank 200 along a line parallel to an unwinding direction T. After being unwound from the reel 301, by cutting along this line it is possible to separate the two blanks 100, 200.
• the external lateral edge 204 that is, the right edge, of the blank 200 is joined to the bottom edge 102 of the blank 100, since they are disposed along such line.
• a possible operating sequence is described below for forming the internal container 12 starting from the blank 200, and for associating the products A with it, which in the example shown here are the smoking articles wrapped in the corresponding wrapping sheet B.
• the lateral panels 220a, 220b are disposed perpendicular to the central panel 219a, being folded with respect to the latter by about 90°, each along a respective larger side 240 (fig. 11). This allows to start forming the first housing 21, into which a group of smoking articles wrapped in a wrapping sheet B is inserted (figs. 11 and 12).
• the upper flap 226 is then folded in order to form the lid 26 and close the pickup aperture 22.
• the second lateral tab 219c is then folded around the corresponding larger side 240 in order to position it against the first lateral tab 219b previously positioned against the rear surface of the wrapping sheet B (fig. 16). It is to be noted that the two lateral tabs 219b and 219c can be firmly joined by applying a few dots of glue 260, schematized in fig. 16.
• first lower tab 218 is folded around the bottom side 243 in order to position it against the second lower tab 233 previously placed against the bottom surface of the wrapping sheet B, and a few dots of glue are applied to them in order to make them adhere to each other and thus form the first bottom wall 18 (fig. 17), thus completing the formation of the internal container 12.
• the internal container 12 is ready to be inserted inside an external sheath 11.
• the lateral tabs 219b, 219c overlap only partly, in correspondence with a central zone thereof (figs. 16 and 17).
• the overlap zone of these two panels covers the entire width of the first rear wall 19b of the internal container 12. It can also be observed that the entire rear surface of the wrapping sheet B is covered, by one or the other of the lateral tabs 219b, 219c.
• each “folding line” can be a line incised or die-cut in segments, or a creasing line, or a line creased in segments, produced according to conventional techniques in the industry.
• each folding line is therefore a pre-yielded line which allows the two elements (panels, flaps, tabs%) adjacent to it to be able to assume, in a repeatable way, a position that is folded or inclined, for example by about 90°, with respect to each other.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Cartons (AREA)
• Packaging Of Annular Or Rod-Shaped Articles, Wearing Apparel, Cassettes, Or The Like (AREA)
• Packages (AREA)
• Packaging For Recording Disks (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (3)

Family

ID=79830881

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (4)

Family Cites Families (4)

• 2021
  • 2021-11-16 IT IT102021000028961A patent/IT202100028961A1/it unknown
• 2022
  • 2022-11-15 WO PCT/IT2022/050292 patent/WO2023089644A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2022-11-15 CN CN202280075544.7A patent/CN118234665A/zh active Pending
  • 2022-11-15 EP EP22822690.8A patent/EP4433376B1/de active Active

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