GB2123796A

GB2123796A - A blank for a cigarette box and a cigarette box formed therefrom

Info

Publication number: GB2123796A
Application number: GB08313201A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Hans Peter Ackermann; Willi Kromarek; Hermann Luhmann
Original assignee: BRINKMANN AG M TABAK
Current assignee: BRINKMANN AG M TABAK
Priority date: 1982-05-18
Filing date: 1983-05-13
Publication date: 1984-02-08
Also published as: ES269174Y; GB8313201D0; ZA828893B; DD230852A1; DE3218639A1; EP0094451A2; AU9112582A; EP0094451A3; ES269174U; GR78795B

Description

SPECIFICATION Blank for a cigarette box and a cigarette box formed therefrom This invention relates to a blank for a cigarette box and a cigarette box formed therefrom.

Blanks for parallelepipedic cardboard cigarette packets or boxes, of the type whose top forms together with the upper portions of the front wall and the side walls, and optionally the rear wall a hinged lid or cover, which can be swung up from a closed position into an open position about an articulation or bend line on the rear wall parallel to the bottom, and wherein at least the lower edge portion of the front wall is reinforced by an integral reinforcing tongue provided on the inside thereof, have been proposed. Such blanks are substantially rectangular and have the reinforcing tongue extending from one end thereof and connected to the portion forming the front wall of the hinged cover by an articulation or bend line.Each blank comprises a substantially rectangular cardboard strip which is provided with bend lines spaced from the longitudinal and transverse edges and also with incisions. To form a hinged cover whose front wall is deeper than its rear wall, the upper corners of the blank are cut off and the lower corner areas of the blank can be downwardly lengthened by corresponding triangular portions.

From the upper end of the blank extends a portion forming a reinforcing tongue for the front wall of the hinged cover which is connected to the latter by a bend line. The width of the reinforcing tongue is smaller than that of the hinged cover front wall.

As a result, on folding together the cigarette packet, the portion forming the reinforcing tongue is pivoted about the said bend line onto the inside of the portion forming the hinged cover front wall and can be bonded thereto. The portions of the blank for the hinged cover front wall, top, rear wall, bottom and remaining front wall of the packet, in each case connected by bend lines, are provided on their longitudinal edges in the form of bend lines with flaps which, in the folded state, form the side walls.

The reinforcing tongue provided in previously proposed blanks and in packets formed therefrom is desirable to prevent tearing of the hinged cover front wall on opening a cigarette packet closed by a revenue stamp. Thus, the reinforcing tongue is a not inconsiderable cost factor, because it must be adhered by means of an adhesion device to the inside of the hinged cover front wall. The cost of such adhesion devices constitutes a disadvantage, as do the setting up and cleaning times necessary because of soiling of the blank guides when passing through the adhesion station.

It is an object of the present invention to enable the provision of a blank for a cigarette box whereby the above disadvantages may be overcome or at least mitigated, as well as a cigarette box or packet formed from such a blank.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a blank for a cigarette box, which blank comprises a first portion for forming a wall of the cigarette box or part of the cigarette box, a tongue for reinforcing at least an edge portion of the said wall, the tongue extending from and being integrally formed with the first portion, and further portions for forming further walls of the cigarette box or part of the cigarette box, wherein the width of the reinforcing tongue is greater than that of the said edge portion, whereby, in the assembled cigarette box, the tongue is maintained in contact with the edge portion by friction and/or positive engagement between the tongue and one or more of the said further walls.

The invention further provides a cigarette packet whenever formed from a blank in accordance with the first aspect.

The present invention thus enables the provision of a blank of the type discussed above, which does not require bonding of the reinforcing tongue to the portion forming the hinged cover front wall, but which stili ensures that in the assembled packet the reinforcing tongue securely engages with the inside of the hinged cover front wall.

According to an aspect of the invention, this problem is solved in that the width of the reinforcing tongue is greater than the width of the portion forming the hinged cover front wall.

It is possible using a blank in accordance with the invention to maintain the reinforcing tongue in position inside the hinged cover front wall by means of positive and/or frictional engagement between lateral edges thereof and inner portions of side walls of the hinged cover.

Preferably, the reinforcing tongue is approximately two to three cardboard thicknesses wider than the portion forming the hinged cover front wall, the width difference being preferably between 0.5 and 2mm and in particular approximately 1 mm, so that there is a projection of approximtely 0.5mm on either side of the tongue.

Advantageously, the reinforcing tongue does not have such an extra width over its entire length (measured in the longitudinal direction of a striplike blank), because it has been found that the positive and/or frictional engagement can be obtained if the reinforcing tongue only has the extra width over part of its length. Thus, in a preferred aspect of the invention, the lateral edges running at right angles to the fold line of the tongue are rounded and preferably each lies on an arc of a circle. Alternatively the lateral edges are each chamfered towards the fold line and the free edge of the tongue, that is they form triangular shoulders because in the case of widening of the blanks at a distance from the free edge of the reinforcing tongue, continuous punching or stamping can take place without a double cut and corresponding losses, as is desirable for economic reasons.

To obtain a cigarette packet, the upper end portion of the rear wall of which forms part of the hinged cover and to obtain a positive engagement of the reinforcing tongue on the inside of the hinged cover front wall, the blank can be provided on each of the blank portions forming the lateral edges of the hinged cover front wall and a hinged cover rear wall, in the form of fold lines, with a lateral flap for forming hinged cover side walls.

The length of the portion forming the top of the packet in such a construction is somewhat greater than the width of the lateral flaps extending from the portion forming the hinged cover rear wall.

Thus, in the assembled packet, the outer edges of the lateral flaps extending from the portion forming the hinged cover rear wall are at a distance from the inside of the hinged cover front wall, which is approximately equal to the thickness of the cardboard and can consequently maintain the reinforcing tongue in engagement with the inside of the hinged cover front wall.

For a better understanding of the present invention, and to show how the same may be put into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a plan view of a cardboard blank for a cigarette packet in accordance with the invention, Figure 2 is a perspective view of the cigarette packet formed from the blank of Figure 1, Figure 3 shows the upper part of the view shown in Figure 1 on a larger scale, Figure 4 is an elevational view of the inside of a hinged lid of the cigarette packet of Figure 2, taken in the direction of arrow IV in Figure 5, Figure 5 is an elevational view of the inside of a front wall of the hinged lid of Figure 4 taken in the direction of arrow V in Figure 4, Figure 6 is a sectional view taken along the line VI--VI of Figure 5, and Figure 7 is a view on a larger scale of the portion enclosed by dot-dash lines in Figure 4.

Referring now to the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of the inside of a strip-like blank 1 made from cardboard with a wall thickness of approximately 0.3mm and used for forming a parallelepipedic cigarette box or packet 2 (shown in Figure 2), whose top 3 with the upper end portion 4 of the front wall and the upper end portions 5, 6 of the side walls, as well as the upper end portion 7 of the rear wall form a hinged cover or lid 8, which can be swung up around a bend line 11 running parallel to the bottom 9 on the rear wall from a close position indicated by dotdash lines in Figure 2 into an open position shown by unbroken lines in the same Figure. the hinged cover front wall 4 is reinforced with an integral reinforcing tongue 12 on the lower edge portion of its inside.

As can be seen in Figure 1, the strip like cardboard blank is substantially rectangular and only differs from the rectangular shape at the narrow edges.

The reinforcing tongue 12, which will be described in greater detail hereinafter, is joined by means of a bend or articulation line 13 to a portion 14 which, in the folded together state, forms the hinged cover front wall 4. Portion 14 is connected by means of a bend line 16 to a rectangular portion.

17 which, in the folded together state, forms the top 3 of cigarette packet 2. Portion 1 7 is in turn connected to a portion 19 forming the hinged cover rear wall 7 by means of a bend line 18. By means of a bend line 21, portion 19 passes into a portion 22 forming the remainder of the rear wall of cigarette packet 2. Portion 22 is connected by means of a bend line 23 to a portion 24, whose dimensions correspond to portion 17 and which forms the bottom 9 of cigarette packet 2. Finally, portion 24 is connected by means of a bend line 26 to a rectangular portion 27, which forms the lower portion of the front wall of the cigarette packet 2 in the folded together state.

Portions 14, 17, 19, 22, 24 and 27 have a width b of 56mm and are in each case bounded by bend or separating lines at their lateral edges running at right angles to bend lines 1 6, 1 8, 21, 23 and 26, the said separating or bend lines running parallel to the longitudinal edges 28, 29 of the blank 1 with a spacing a of 21.5mm.

A flap 32, forming part of the hinged cover side wall 5 or 6, is joined laterally to portion 14 in each case by a bend line 31. At their upper edge, flaps 32 are chamfered by an angle of 300. The length of the outer edge 33 thereof, measured in the longitudinal direction of the blank 1, corresponds to the length or height of the hinged cover rear wall 7.

By means of bend lines 34, flaps 36 are connected to portion 1 9 and each of their lower edges 37 is parallel to the upper edge 38 of the flap located on the same side of the bank 1. Each of the flaps 36 is connected by means of a bend line 39 to a flap 41, whose length is the same as that of portion 17.

Portion 22 is connected by bend lines 42 to flaps 43, whose chamfered upper edges are directed in the same way as the lower edges of flaps 36, and which are bounded at their lower edge by bend lines 44 aligned with bend line 23 and to which are connected flaps 46, whose length is the same as that of portion 24. Finally, portion 27 is also connected by means of bend lines 47 to flaps 48 projecting downwards by a triangular portion over the straight line along lower edge 51 of portion 27, the triangular portions 49 corresponding dimensionally to those portions by which flaps 32 are reduced by chamfering at their free corners.

The blank shown in Figure 1 differs from similar known blanks in the construction of the reinforcing tongue 12. The reinforcing tongue 12 has a maximum width B, which is greater than the width b of the central strip of the blank 1 defined by portions 14, 17, 19,22,24 and 27 and on either side projects beyond the central strip by a distance s (shown in Figure 3), which is approximately 0.5mm.

The construction of the reinforcing tongue 12 also differs from that of similar known blanks in that its lateral edges 52 are rounded so that each edge lies on an arc of a circle or are chamfered towards bend line 14 and the free edge, as indicated by the dot-dash line in Figure 3.

The steps of folding and sticking the blank 1 to obtain the cigarette packet 2 can be carried out in a number of ways for example in different orders, the exact order chosen depending to some extent on the filling process and the provision of a pasteboard insert for the purpose of reinforcing the lower portion of the said packet, as well as for guiding the cigarettes when the hinged lid or cover is open. The flaps 46 are swung up by 900 about bend lines 44, in the same way as flaps 43 are swung up about bend lines 42 and flaps 48 about bend lines 47, in each case by 90 . Thus, on swinging up portion 24 by 900, flaps 46 engage inside flaps 43. Following a further 900 pivoting about bed line 26 of portion 27 with flaps 48, the inner faces of the latter engage with the outer faces of flaps 43 and can be bonded therewith.

To form the hinged cover, the flaps 36 and 41 are swung up by 900 about bend lines 44 and flaps 41 are pivoted inwards by 900 about bend lines 39, so that the outsides of flaps 41 engage with the inside of the upwardly swung portion 17.

After pivoting portion 14 by 900 about bend line 16 and an inward pivoting of flaps 32 about bend lines 31, the insides of flaps 32 can be bonded to the outsides of flaps 36.

If the reinforcing tongue 12 is swung about bend line 1 3 against the inside of portion 14, which takes place prior to the bonding of flaps 32 to flaps 36, the central portions of the edges 52 of the recinforcing tongue 12 having an extra width B compared with the width b of the portion 14 forming the hinged cover front wall 4 come into pressure engagement with the insides of flaps 32 and undergo slight deformation so that the reinforcing tongue 12 is held on the inside of portion 14 by frictional engagement of its lateral edges 52 on the insides of flaps 36. It is advisable to ensure that bend line 13 is sharply bent.

In addition, the reinforcing tongue 12 is held in place by positive engagement. To achieve this, the length 1 of the portion 17 forming the top 3 of the cigarette packet 2 is made somewhat larger than the width of a of the lateral flaps and of the flaps 36, so that the edge 53 of the flaps 36 located on the outside in the flat blank 1, due to its limited width compared with the length 1 of portion 17 is spaced from the inside of portion 14 in the folded together state, so that edges 53 of flaps 36 form a gap with the inside of portion 14 into which the lateral edges 52 of reinforcing tongue 12 can partially extend. The edges 53 also form a shoulder behind which the outer portions of the lateral edges 52 of the reinforcing tongue 12 engage and on which the reinforcing tongue 12 can be supported, in addition to or instead of the frictional engagement.

Figures 4 to 7 show various views of the hinged cover 8. To facilitate understanding, individual portions of the walls of the assembled cover are designated by the same reference numerals as those used in relation to the blank.

Figures 4 and 7 are plan views of the hinged cover 8, viewed perpendicularly to the inside of the top 17, whilst Figure 5 is a view in the direction of arrow V in Figure 4, that is a plan view of the inside of the hinged cover front wall 4.

Figure 6 shows a section taken along the line VI--VI of Figure 5. The edge 53 of the flaps 36 does not extend to the inside of portion 14 and instead terminates at a distance s therefrom, so that a gap is formed between the edge 53 of each flap 36 and the inside portion 14 and into this gap extends in each case a lateral edge 52 of the reinforcing tongue 12, so that it is held in positively engaging manner by the edge 53 of each flap 36, which forms a shoulder. In addition, due to their size, the lateral edges 52 of the reinforcing tongue 12 are slightly deformed and frictionally engage on the inside of flaps 32, which together with flaps 36, form hinged cover side walls 5 and 6.

As a result, it is possible to form a cigarette packet with a hinged cover front wall 4 reinforced by a reinforcing tongue 12, in which the latter need not be stuck to the inside of portion 14.

Instead, a completely satisfactory engagement of the reinforcing tongue 12 with the inside of portion 14 can be ensured by positive and/or frictional engagement. Thus, whilst simultaneously saving the glue which was hitherto necessary, there is no need for a corresponding adhesion device, which reduces the setting up time and prevents soiling of the connecting blank guides, thereby reducing the necessary cleaning time and generally improving the efficiency of the machines, accompanied by reducing capital costs.

Claims

1. A blank for a cigarette box, which blank comprises a first portion for forming a wall of the cigarette box or part of the cigarette box, a tongue for reinforcing at least an edge portion of the said wall, the tongue extending from and being integrally formed with the first portion, and further portions for forming further walls of the cigarette box or part of the cigarette box, wherein the width of the reinforcing tongue is greater than that of the said edge portion, whereby, in the assembled cigarette box, the tongue is maintained in contact with the edge portion by frictional and/or positive engagement between the tongue and one or more of the said further walls.

2. A blank according to Claim 1, which blank comprises cardboard.

3. A blank according to Claim 1 or 2, which is a blank for a parallelepipedal cigarette box.

4. A blank according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the side wall is a front wall of a hinged lid of the cigarette box.

5. A blank according to Claim 4, wherein the said further walls comprise side walls of the hinged lid of the cigarette box.

6. A blank according to Claim 4 or 5, wherein the said further walls comprise a top wall and a rear wall of the hinged lid of the cigarette box.

7. A blank according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the reinforcing tongue is wider by about double the thickness of the blank than the said edge portion.

8. A blank according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the reinforcing tongue is wider by about 0.5 to 2 mm than the said edge portion.

9. A blank according to Claim 8, wherein the reinforcing tongue is wider by about 1 mm than the said edge portion.

10. A blank according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one side edge of the reinforcing tongue is rounded.

11. A blank according to Claim 10, wherein the said at least one side edge of the reinforcing tongue lies on an arc of a circle.

12. A blank according to any one of Claims 1 to 9, wherein at least one side edge of the reinforcing tongue is chamfered towards the first portion and towards an outer free edge of the tongue.

13. A blank according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein a said further wall includes a recess for receiving a side edge portion of the reinforcing tongue.

14. A blank according to Claim 13, wherein the said further portions of the blank comprise two flaps for forming the said further wall, which two flaps overlap in the assembled cigarette box so as to define, together with the said front wall, the recess.

1 5. A blank for a cigarette box, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as shown in, the accompanying drawings.

16. A cigarette box whenever made from a blank in accordance with any one of the preceding claims.

17. A cigarette box, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as shown, in the accompanying drawings.

18. Any novel feature or combination of features described herein.