ES2655723T3 - Rigid package for smoking items - Google Patents

Abstract

Rigid package for smoking articles comprising: A bundle (4) of smoking articles; An inner wrapper (3) that wraps the bundle (4) of smoking articles; A rigid outer container (2) that houses the inner wrap (3) and has an open end (21); and A rigid collar (5) partially protruding from the open end (21) of the outer container (2), said collar (5) being located between the inner wrap (3) and the outer container (2), in which the Inner wrap (3) and outer container (2) is present an empty space (7), in which the collar (5) is made of a single sheet (50) which is folded around the inner wrap (3) in such a way completely surrounds it, the sheet (50) comprising: a front wall (51) of the collar (5), two opposite side walls (52) of the collar (5) and a rear wall (54) of the collar (5) , characterized by at least two tabs (55) opposed to each other and obtained by the direct incision in the rear wall (54), each tab (55) positioned as a continuation of each of the two side walls (52) perpendicular to the rear wall (54) of the collar (5) and in contact with the outer container (2) in order to distance the inner wrap (3) with with respect to the outer container (2) and lock the inner wrapper (3) with respect to the outer container (2) in a fixed position with respect to the outer container (2), thus keeping said space (7) fixed.

Description

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DESCRIPTION

Rigid package for smoking articles Field of the invention

The present invention relates to a rigid package for smoking articles and a corresponding packaging method.

In the following description, reference is made, for clarity purposes, to a rigid package of cigarettes with an articulated lid, without limiting the present invention in its general scope.

Prior art

Normally a rigid packet of cigarettes with an articulated lid includes an inner wrapper that wraps a bundle of cigarettes and an outer rigid container that houses the inner wrapper.

In common practice, to optimize the amount of space made available by the package, to make an internal wrapper that is contained tightly by the outer container, that is, the package is completely occupied by the bundle of cigarettes contained in the wrapper. internal.

When a packet of cigarettes is made to contain a limited number of cigarettes, for example, ten cigarettes, this outer packet has dimensions that are proportionally reduced, so that it substantially occupies half the space of a packet that has twice the number of cigarettes, for example twenty.

A problem of rigid packages of cigarettes with reduced dimensions consists in the fact that the space that remains available on the outer surface is also reduced, so that also the amount of information that can be presented on the outer surfaces of such size packages reduced will be limited. In addition, in countries where there is a legal obligation to devote a certain minimum space for health notices, it may be that the small-sized packages do not offer the minimally necessary surface and not enough space to insert other types of desired information.

The prior art document US-A-4850482 describes the features of the preamble of claim 1, a cigarette pack comprising an outer container and an inner frame that houses cigarettes that is smaller in size than the outer container, having said internal frame a front wall, a rear wall and two opposite side walls.

The two side walls of the inner frame extend until they meet the rear wall of the outer container where they are folded to form the rear wall separated from the rear wall of the outer container. The rear wall is connected to two narrow walls, one of which is at a free end of the collar blade, and both of which, in the erect configuration of the collar, partially overlap with the two side walls.

This embodiment of the prior art involves a considerable amount of cardboard used to make the internal frame.

The technical problem at the basis of the present invention is thus to design a rigid package for smoking articles, in particular cigarettes, that solves the drawbacks of the prior art described above, and in particular that is extremely practical, manageable and economical, within the context of a racial and simple constructive solution. Document US 5,439,105 describes a package with articulated lid for a music tape, derived from similar packages for smoking articles. A collar is provided that has a central wall connected to two side walls. The central wall is separated from an inner wall of an outer container by means of bent dividers or with tongues formed in the respective corners between the central wall and the two side walls. The object of the present invention is to meet the above needs and at the same time overcome the drawbacks described above with reference to the prior art.

Description of the invention

This objective is achieved with a rigid package for smoking articles, according to claim 1 of the present invention.

The dependent claims describe particularly advantageous and preferred embodiments of the package according to the invention.

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In addition, this objective is also obtained with a packaging method to make a rigid package of the type defined above.

Additional features and advantages will be apparent from the following detailed description, followed by a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of the present invention with reference to the figures included by way of non-limiting examples.

Brief description of the figures

Figure 1A shows a perspective view of a rigid package for smoking articles with the lid open, in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 1B shows a perspective view of the package of Figure 1A with the inner wrap removed and the cigarettes visible;

Figure 2 shows a side view of the package of Figure 1A;

Figure 3 shows a top view of the package of Figure 1A;

Figures 4 and 5 show respective perspective views of the package of Figure 1A with the lid closed and the outer container shown as transparent and the inner wrap removed, so that the inside is visible;

View 6 shows an elevation view of the package of Figures 4 and 5;

Figures 7A-7D are top, rear, side, front views respectively of a collar for the package according to the present invention;

Figure 8 shows a perspective view of the rigid container for smoking articles with the lid partially open, in accordance with an alternative embodiment;

Figures 9A and 9B show perspective views of a collar for the package of Figure 8 together with a bundle of cigarettes whose inner wrap has been removed;

Figures 10 and 11 show a sheet, respectively folded and extended, to form the collar of Figures 9A and 9B.

Detailed description

With reference to Figures 1-6, reference 1 is used to generally indicate a rigid package for smoking articles, in particular cigarettes. The package 1 comprises an outer container 2 made of cardboard or thick paper, in the form of a cup and an inner wrap 3 housed inside the container 2. The inner wrap 3 wraps the bundle 4 of cigarettes in a parallelepipedic manner (Figure 4).

The outer container 2 has an open upper end 21 and is equipped with a lid 22, which is cup-shaped and articulated to the container 2 along a hinge 23 to rotate, with respect to the container 2, between an open position and a closed position of the upper open end 21.

The lid 22, when in its closed position, lends a rectangular parallelepipedic shape to the outer container 2 with an upper wall and a lower wall, parallel and opposite each other, two large side walls 26, parallel and opposite each other. In particular, a large side wall defines a front wall 24 of the outer container 2, while the other large side wall defines a rear wall 25 of the outer container 2. Between the side walls 26 and the front walls 24 and rear 25 are defined four longitudinal edges, in this example at right angles, while eight transverse edges are defined between the upper and lower walls and the front 24, rear 25 and side walls 26.

The package 1 further comprises a rigid collar 5 (i.e. made of cardboard or thick paper), which is folded around the inner wrap 3 in an enveloping manner, to cover at least partially an upper region of the inner wrap 3 and which is attached (usually by means of gluing) to the outer container 2 or to the inner wrapper 3 itself or even to both the inner wrapper 3 and the outer wrapper 2. The inner wrapper 3 is in turn attached by means of sticking to the outer wrapper 2 at a point where the collar 5 which is located between the inner wrap 3 and the outer container 2 is not present. The collar 5 extends partially from the open upper end 21 (together with the inner wrap 3 that partially covers it) and implies a corresponding inner surface of the lid 22 when the lid 22 is placed in the closed position. Preferably, the collar 5 has a pair of tabs 6 that extend laterally to engage with the side walls of the lid 22 in order to keep the lid 22 in the closed position.

Advantageously, there is at least one empty space between the inner wrap 3 and the outer container 2.

In practice, the inner wrap 3 is smaller than the outer bin 2.

The inner wrap 3 has a rectangular parallelepipedic shape with a front wall 31, which is externally located facing the front wall 24 of the outer container 2; two side walls 32, located laterally with respect to the front wall 31, are located in front of the side walls 26 of the outer container 2; a wall

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upper 33, which, when the lid 22 is in its closed position, is externally placed in contact with the upper wall of the outer container 2; and a rear wall 34, facing the space 7.

The collar 5 is located between the inner wrap 3 and the outer container 2.

The collar 5 comprises a front wall 51, which is internally located in contact with the front wall 31 of the inner wrap 3 and externally located in contact with the front wall 24 of the outer container 2; two side walls 52, which are laterally located with respect to the front wall 51, are externally arranged to be in contact with the side walls 26 of the outer container 2 and internally in contact with the side walls 32 of the inner wrap 3; a rear wall 54, which is internally located in contact with the rear wall 34 of the inner wrap 3 and externally located in front of the space 7; two pairs of tongues 55, each starting from the side wall 32 of the collar 5 in a direction that is parallel to the side wall 26 and then extending therefrom, as well as perpendicular to the rear wall 54 of the collar 5, contacting the edges of the tabs 55 with the inner side of the rear wall 25 of the outer container 2.

In accordance with the present invention, the tongues are obtained by a direct incision in the rear wall 54 of the collar 5, in order to minimize the amount of cardboard used to make the collar.

This incision, for example U-shaped, to make the tongue is applied to the rear wall 54 of the collar 5 on the side walls 52 of the collar, the cut region forms an extension that then rotates 90 ° with respect to the rear wall 54 of collar 5 to create the tongue that is perpendicular to the rear wall 54.

The 90 ° rotation of the extension that forms the tongue 55 takes place along the edge of the corner where the side wall 52 of the collar 5 joins the rear wall 54 of the collar 5.

In practice, the collar 5 surrounds the inner wrap 3 that contains the cigarettes completely and the tabs 55 allow the rigid collar to be separated from the rear wall 25 of the outer container 2 to create the space 7.

The space 7 is the free space created between the rear wall 34 of the inner wrap 3 and the rear wall 25 of the outer container 2; the distance between these two rear walls is kept fixed by the tabs 55 of the collar 5.

In this way the volume dedicated to the bundle of cigarettes 4 is smaller than the entire volume available in the outer container 2.

As illustrated in Figures 7A-7D the collar 5 is made of a single sheet 50 that is folded around the inner wrap 3 to completely surround it. The sheet 50 comprises: a main panel 51 'forming the front wall 51 of the collar 5; two panels 52 'forming the side walls 52 of the collar 5, located on opposite sides front wall of the main panel 51' and divided from the main panel 51 'by two weakened longitudinal lines 60; and two panels 54 'forming the rear wall 54 of the collar 5, each located next to the panel 52' and separated from the panel 52 'by a weakened longitudinal line 61. In addition, the sheet 50 has U-shaped notches 55' applied to the two panels 54 'that form the rear wall 54 of the collar 5, each of these notches 55' is made to create the tabs 55 that rotate the cut section along the weakened longitudinal line 61 that separates the panel 52 'from panel 54'.

In order to better block the position of the smaller inner wrap 3 located within the larger outer container 2, the tabs 55 of the collar 5 are located with one of their edges in contact with the rear wall 25 of the outer container 2 so that create separate inner wrapper 3 from outer wrapper 2 in space

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In particular, the distance between the rear wall 25 of the outer container 2 and the rear wall 34 of the inner wrap 3 is maintained at a fixed distance by the tabs 55 of the collar 5 that are placed straight between the rear wall 25 of the outer container 2 and the rear wall 54 of the collar it 5.

As in the embodiment described here the rear wall 54 of the collar 5 is in direct contact with the rear wall 34 of the inner wrap, any reference to the space 7 is intended to refer interchangeably to the rear wall 54 of the collar 5 or to the rear wall 34 of the inner wrap 3.

The rear wall 54 of the collar 5 is located parallel to the rear wall 34 of the inner wrap, and parallel to the rear wall of the inner wrap 3, while the tabs 55 extend perpendicularly to these rear walls.

Thanks to this positioning the inner wrap 3 cannot move inside the larger outer container 2 and the collar 5 keeps the inner wrap 3 firmly and well positioned inside the outer container 2.

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Naturally, it is also possible to have a different position for the inner wrap 3 with respect to the outer container 2.

For example, the space 7 can be obtained in the front part, between the front wall 31 of the inner wrap 3 (corresponding to the front wall 51 of the collar 5) and the front wall 24 of the outer container 2.

In an alternative embodiment, illustrated in Figures 8-11, the rigid package for smoking articles may have a collar 10 having a different conformation to the collar 5 described above, with all the rest unaltered.

The collar 10 comprises a front wall 11, which is internally located in contact with the front wall 31 of the inner wrap 3 and externally in contact with the front wall 24 of the outer container 2; two side walls 12, which are located laterally with respect to the front wall 11, are in internal contact with the side walls 32 of the inner wrap 3; a tongue 15 extending from one of the side walls 12 of the collar 10 with the edge of the tongue 15 coming into contact with the inner side of the side wall 26 of the outer container 2.

In practice, the collar 10 surrounds around the inner wrap 3 that contains the cigarettes and the tongue 15 allows the inner wrap to be locked inside the outer container 2, even through the inner wrap 3 which is smaller than the outer container 2 , leaving space 17 unoccupied.

The space 17 is the free space created by the tongue 15, the side wall 12 of the collar and the outer container 2.

The tongue 15 is formed by a wall that rests on the rear wall 25 of the outer container.

As illustrated in Figures 10 and 11, the collar 10 is made of a single sheet 90. The sheet 90 comprises: a main panel 11 'forming the front wall of the collar 10; three panels 12 ', 12 "and 12"' forming the side walls 12 of the collar 10, which are located on opposite sides of the main panel 11 '; the side panel on the right side in figure 15 is separated from the main panel 11 'by a longitudinal weakened line 65 and forms one of the two side walls 12 of the collar 10, while the other two side panels 12 "and 12"' they form the remaining side walls 12 of the collar 10. The first of these two other side panels, indicated as 12 "', is separated from the main panel by a longitudinal weakened line 66 interrupted by a cross-section 67; the second of these two other panels, indicated as 12 ", is separated from the main panel by a longitudinal weakened line 68 also interrupted by a cross section 67. The two weakened lines 66 and 68 are parallel and separated from each other. Next to the panel indicated by 12 "there is a panel 15 'constituting the tongue 15 and which is separated from the panel indicated by 12" by a longitudinal weakened line 69 interrupted by the transverse cut 67. The longitudinal weakened line 69 is located in such so that it constitutes substantially a continuation of the longitudinal weakened line 66.

In order to better block the position of the smaller inner wrap 3 located inside the larger outer container 2, the tongue 15 of the collar 10 is located with one of its edges in contact with the side wall 26 of the outer container 2 so that separate the inner wrap 3 from the outer container 2 in space 17.

In particular, the distance between the side wall 26 of the outer container 2 and the side wall 32 of the inner wrap 3 is held fixed by the tongue 15 of the collar 10 which is arranged exactly between the side wall 26 of the outer container 2 and the side wall 32 of the inner wrap 3.

Thanks to this configuration the inner wrap 3 remains immovable within the larger outer container 2 and the collar 10 holds the inner wrap 3 still and well positioned inside the outer container 2.

Naturally it is possible to have different configurations of the position of the inner wrap 3 with respect to the outer container.

For example, the space 17 can be on both sides of the inner wrap 3, creating a pair of tabs 15 but still from a single sheet, in the manner described above.

As will be appreciated from this description, the rigid package for smoking articles according to the present invention makes it possible to meet the needs and overcome the inconveniences set forth in the introduction of the present description with reference to the prior art.

In fact it is possible to use an outer container of standard dimensions, for example a container for twenty cigarettes, to also contain a lower number of cigarettes, for example ten, while retaining a functional and orderly location within the inner packaging of appropriate dimensions , and held firmly within a larger outer container by a collar made according to the present invention.

Obviously, in order to meet the specific and contingent needs, a person skilled in the art can apply numerous modifications and variations to the described facts, all of which are contained by the scope of protection of the invention defined in the following claims. .

Claims (9)

5 10 fifteen twenty 25 30 35 40 Four. Five fifty 55 60 1. Rigid package for smoking articles comprising: A bundle (4) of smoking articles; An inner wrap (3) that wraps the bundle (4) of smoking articles; A rigid outer container (2) housing the inner wrap (3) and having an open end (21); and A rigid collar (5) partially protruding from the open end (21) of the outer container (2), said collar (5) being located between the inner wrap (3) and the outer container (2), in which between the inner wrap (3) and the outer container (2) an empty space (7) is present, in which the collar (5) is made of a single sheet (50) that is folded around the inner wrap (3) of such completely surrounding it, comprising the sheet (50): a front wall (51) of the collar (5), two opposite side walls (52) of the collar (5) and a rear wall (54) of the collar (5) , characterized by at least two tabs (55) opposite each other and obtained by the direct incision in the rear wall (54), each tongue (55) positioned as a continuation of each of the two side walls (52) perpendicular to the rear wall (54) of the collar (5) and in contact with the outer container (2) in order to distance the inner wrap rior (3) with respect to the outer container (2) and block the inner wrap (3) with respect to the outer container (2) in a fixed position with respect to the outer container (2), thus keeping said space (7) fixed. 2. Package (1) according to claim 1, wherein said space (7) is arranged such that it maintains the rear wall (54) of the collar (5) at a distance from an opposite rear wall (25) of the container exterior (2). 3. Package (1) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the rear wall (54) of the collar (5) extends parallel to a rear wall (34) of the inner wrap (3). 4. Package (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein each tongue (55) is disposed on opposite sides of the inner wrap (3) and in contact with two opposite side walls (26) of the outer container. 5. Package (1) according to claim 4, wherein each tongue (55) extends protruding as a continuation from the corresponding side wall (52) of the collar (5), the side walls (52) of the collar (5) being ) in contact with said opposite side walls (26) of the outer container (2). 6. Package (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the inner wrap (3) is attached to the outer container (2) at a point where there is no collar present between the inner wrap (3) and the outer container (2). 7. Package (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the collar (5) comprises two opposite pairs of tongues (55), each tongue (55) being obtained by applying a U-shaped incision in the rear wall (54) of the collar (5). 8. Package (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein each tongue (55) is created by an extension rotated 90 ° with respect to the rear wall (54) of the collar (5) from which it has been cut the tongue 9. Packaging method (1) for the formation of a rigid package for smoking articles; The packaging method comprising the steps of: Arrange an inner wrap sheet; Fold the wrap sheet around a bundle (4) of smoking articles to create an inner wrap (3) that wraps the bundle (4) of smoking articles; Fold a first sheet around the inner wrap to create a rigid outer container (2) that houses the inner wrap (3); Folding a second sheet (50) that constitutes a collar (5) around the inner wrap (3) before folding the first sheet around the inner wrap (3), said second sheet (50) comprising: a front wall (51) of the collar (5), two opposite side walls (52) of the collar (5) and a rear wall (54) of the collar (5), at least two tabs (55) opposite each other and obtained by the incision in the rear wall ( 54), each tongue (55) being positioned as a continuation of each of the two side walls (52) in order to be placed perpendicularly to the rear wall (54) of the collar (5) and in contact with the outer container (2 ) in order to distance the inner wrap (3) from the outer container (2) by means of a space to block the inner wrap (3) from the outer container (2) in a fixed position with respect to the outer container (2) , thus maintaining said fixed space (7).