ITBO20130166A1 - PACKAGE OF CIGARETTES WITH SPACER ELEMENTS INSIDE THE GROUP OF CIGARETTES, METHOD OF WRAPPING AND MACHINE PACKAGING MACHINE TO MAKE THE CIGARETTE PACKAGE. - Google Patents

Description

DESCRIPTION

"Cigarette pack with spacer element arranged inside the group of cigarettes, wrapping method and packing machine to make the pack of cigarettes"

TECHNIQUE SECTOR

The present invention relates to a pack of cigarettes. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a wrapping method and to a packing machine for making the packet of cigarettes.

In the following description, reference will be made, for the sake of brevity, to a rigid packet of cigarettes with a hinged lid, without the present invention having to lose generality.

ANTERIOR ART

Normally, a rigid packet of cigarettes with a hinged lid comprises an inner wrapper that encloses a group of cigarettes and a rigid outer wrapper that houses the inner wrapping inside it.

The internal wrapping is initially completely closed and has an upper tear-away portion (called â € œpullâ €) which is removed when the cigarette packet is first opened to allow the extraction of the cigarettes enclosed by the internal wrapping.

A cigarette with a filter comprises a length of tobacco rod with an external and an internal end, and a filter which is coupled from the head to the length of tobacco rod at its internal end and is mechanically connected to the length of the rod. of tobacco by means of a band that is wrapped around the filter and, partially, around the piece of tobacco rod.

The filters currently used are made up of cylindrical pieces of cellulose acetate having a longitudinal dimension between 10 mm and 35 mm, and with a variable diameter between 4 mm and 9 mm, identical to the diameter of the corresponding tobacco rod. The band wrapped around the filter also partially covers the piece of tobacco rod for a length from 2 mm to 3 mm.

Often the inner wrapping and the outer wrapping exert a certain lateral compression on the group of cigarettes enclosed in the inner wrapping; when the pack of cigarettes is new, that is, the group of cigarettes is intact and complete, the lateral compression exerted on the group of cigarettes by the internal wrapping and by the external wrapping can reach sufficiently high values to make difficult the Extraction of the first cigarette from the group of cigarettes due to the friction between the first cigarette and the surrounding cigarettes. To facilitate the extraction of the first cigarette from the group of cigarettes, it has been proposed to pair at least one cigarette of the group of cigarettes with an extraction belt that has a gripping end that protrudes from an upper wall of the group of cigarettes and is able to be pulled to lift the cigarette itself.

However, a known extraction belt necessarily requires that an internal end of the extraction belt opposite the gripping end be glued to a wall of the internal wrapping; this feature constitutes a significant drawback, as the internal wrapping of cigarette packets has always been glue-free in light of the fact that the glue placed in contact with or in close proximity to the cigarettes can release volatile substances which are absorbed by the cigarettes causing a unwanted alteration of the aroma and / or taste of the tobacco contained in the cigarettes themselves.

Furthermore, in a standard packaging machine it is complex to insert a gummer that is able to apply glue on the internal surface of the internal wrapping.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide a packet of cigarettes which is free from the drawbacks described above and is, at the same time, easy and cheap to manufacture. A further object of the present invention is to provide a wrapping method and a packing machine for making the packet of cigarettes.

In accordance with the present invention, a packet of cigarettes and the corresponding wrapping method and packing machine are provided, as claimed in the attached claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will now be described with reference to the attached drawings, which illustrate a non-limiting example of embodiment, in which: - Figure 1 is a front perspective view and in a closed configuration of a packet of cigarettes made according to with the present invention;

- Figure 2 is a front perspective view of the cigarette packet of Figure 1 in an open configuration;

Figure 3 is a rear perspective view of the cigarette packet of Figure 1 in a closed configuration;

- figure 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of an internal wrapping of the cigarette packet of figure 1;

â € “figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of the internal wrapping of figure 4;

â € “figure 6 is a perspective view of a group of cigarettes contained in the internal wrapping of figure 4;

â € “figure 7 is an exploded perspective view of the group of cigarettes in figure 6;

- Figure 8 is a view of a flat blank which is folded to form a spacer element of the group of cigarettes of Figure 6;

- figure 9 is a schematic view of a packing machine that produces the packet of cigarettes of figure 1; And

Figure 10 is a schematic view of a forming unit of the packing machine of Figure 9 in which the group of cigarettes of Figure 6 is formed.

PREFERRED FORMS OF IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INVENTION

In Figures 1, 2 and 3, the number 1 indicates a rigid packet of cigarettes as a whole. The cigarette pack 1 comprises an external container 2 which is made of cardboard or rigid cardboard, is cup-shaped, has a hinged lid and houses a wrapper 3 inside (partially visible in figure 2).

As illustrated in figures 4 to 7, wrapping 3 contains a group 4 of parallelepiped-shaped cigarettes; the group 4 of cigarettes comprises two rows 5 of cigarettes and a spacer element 6, which is coupled to the group 4 of cigarettes and is interposed between the two rows 5 of cigarettes so as to distance the two rows 5 of cigarettes from each other same. The spacer element 6 is placed between the two rows 5 of cigarettes to space the two rows 5 of cigarettes between them; in this way it is much easier to grasp and extract the cigarettes from the group 4 of cigarettes since the two rows 5 of cigarettes are no longer pressed into contact with each other, but are arranged in contact with the spacer element 6.

According to a preferred embodiment, the spacer element 6 has a longitudinal dimension lower than the longitudinal dimension of the cigarettes of the group 4 of cigarettes and is arranged at a predetermined distance D from an upper portion of the wrapping 3 through which the cigarettes are removed from the wrapping 3.

In this way, and as well illustrated in figures 4 and 6, the upper parts of the cigarettes (typically the filters) that are grasped with the fingers to extract the cigarettes from the wrapping 3 are completely free internally: a cavity in the upper central zone of group 4 of cigarettes whose depth corresponds to the predetermined distance D; consequently, it is very easy to grasp the upper parts of the cigarettes (typically the filters) with the fingers (the grip with the thumb opposing the other fingers) to extract the cigarettes from the wrapping 3.

According to a preferred, but not limiting, embodiment illustrated in the attached figures, the spacer element 6 is constituted by a box-like body (ie internally empty); alternatively, the spacer element 6 could be made up of a solid body (ie internally full), possibly of spongy material, solid foam (such as expanded polystyrene for example) or similar. The spacer element 6 could also be constituted by a piece of corrugated cardboard or by a piece of cardboard folded into a bellows, or by an insert of deformed plastic material.

The spacer element 6 has an upper end 7 that must face the cigarette filters of the cigarette rows 5 (i.e. the upper end 7 of the spacer element 6 must face the cigarettes at the filter) and not to the underlying cigarette worm, which could be damaged as it is more delicate than the filter, and therefore the predetermined distance D is less than the longitudinal dimension of the filters.

The predetermined distance D between the upper portion of the wrapping 3 and the upper end 7 of the spacer element 6 to allow the cigarettes to be gripped with the fingers is, in particular, between 50% and 80% of the longitudinal dimension of the filters, i.e. between 5 mm and 28 mm. Preferably the predetermined distance D is comprised between 8 mm and 15 mm.

According to a preferred, but not limiting, embodiment illustrated in the attached figures, the spacer element 6 has an open upper end 7 which faces an upper portion of the wrapper 3 through which the cigarettes are extracted from the Wrapping 3. In this way, the spacer element 6 can also be used as a container, both to house objects from the formation of pack 1 of cigarettes (for example a gift combined with pack 1 of cigarettes), and to house objects at a later time, ie after opening pack 1 of cigarettes (for example a lighter or, typically in an emergency, the ash or butts of used cigarettes).

Alternatively, the spacer element 6 could be closed on all sides (also in this case the spacer element 6 could contain a gift that is combined with pack 1 of cigarettes and which requires the tear-off opening of the spacer element 6).

According to a preferred, but not limiting, embodiment illustrated in Figure 7, the spacer element 6 is formed by folding and gluing a flat blank 8.

Figure 8 illustrates a flat blank 8 that is stretched out and is suitable, in particular, to form a spacer element 6 of the type closed on all sides.

In the preferred, but not limiting, embodiment illustrated in the attached figures, the group 4 of cigarettes comprises exactly two rows 5 of cigarettes between which the spacer element 6 is arranged; according to other embodiments not illustrated, the group 4 of cigarettes could comprise three rows 5 of cigarettes between which the spacer element 6 is arranged (i.e. the spacer element 6 is arranged between a single cigarette row 5 and two rows 5 of cigarettes superimposed and in contact with each other) or two distinct spacer elements 6 alternately interposed between the three rows 5 of cigarettes. In general, the group 4 of cigarettes could comprise a plurality of rows 5 of cigarettes neatly intercalated by one or more spacer elements 6.

In practice, however, it is sufficient to extract from pack 1 of cigarettes the cigarettes that make up a first row 5 of cigarettes (typically the first row 5 of cigarettes facing a front portion of pack 1 of cigarettes) to cancel the lateral compression on the group 4 of cigarettes enclosed in wrapping 3 and making the presence of the spacer element 6 superfluous, which can also be removed from group 4 of cigarettes. In other words, when the first row 5 of cigarettes has been extracted, the lateral compression on the group 4 of cigarettes is lacking and the frictional resistance between the cigarette to be extracted and the surrounding cigarettes is eliminated. Therefore, it is evident that to achieve the object of the present invention and to facilitate the extraction of the first cigarette, only one spacer element 6 in the group 4 of cigarettes would be sufficient, arranged between the first row 5 of cigarettes and the remaining rows 5 of cigarettes enclosed in the € ™ wrapping 3.

According to a non-limiting embodiment, the spacer element 6 is fixed to the wrapping 3 by applying points or layers of cold glue or, preferably, the flat blank 8 may have rubberized areas with a hot reactivable adhesive substance, to avoid extracting even only partially the spacer element 6 with the first cigarette due to friction in the intact group 4 of cigarettes. With reference to the attached figures, the parallelepiped-shaped spacer element 6 is fixed to the package 3 at a lower end and / or at least one minor side wall.

Figure 9 schematically illustrates a packing machine 9 which produces the packet 1 of cigarettes described above. As illustrated in Figure 9, the packing machine 9 comprises a folding unit 10 in which the spacer element 6 is made by folding and gluing a corresponding blank 8, a forming unit 11 in which the group 4 of cigarettes is made, and a wrapping unit 12 in which wrapping 3 is formed around the group 4 of cigarettes by folding a sheet of soft wrapping and, subsequently, the outer container 2 around wrapping 3 by folding a rigid blank. Alternatively, the folding unit 10 is suitable for imparting a wavy deformation to cardboard pieces or for folding cardboard pieces like a bellows to make the spacer element 6.

As illustrated in Figure 10, the forming unit 11 comprises a belt forming conveyor 13 which supports a plurality of forming pockets 14, each of which is adapted to receive and advance a corresponding group 4 of cigarettes. The forming conveyor 13 moves counterclockwise stepwise to feed each forming pocket 14 along a rectilinear forming path P. Along the formation path P there are two hoppers 15 for cigarettes and a hopper 16 for the elements 6 arranged between the two hoppers 15 for cigarettes.

Each cigarette hopper 15 comprises three outlets identical to each other and arranged in series along the formation path P; in the embodiment illustrated in Figure 10, the two cigarette hoppers 15 have a common feed, ie they comprise a single common upper container 17 which distributes the cigarette to the two cigarette hoppers 15.

According to a different, and perfectly equivalent, embodiment not shown, each cigarette hopper 15 comprises only two outlet openings arranged in series along the formation path P or a single outlet mouth. Similarly, the hopper 16 for the spacer elements 6 also comprises three outlets identical to each other and arranged in series along the formation path P. According to a different, and perfectly equivalent, embodiment not shown, the hopper 16 for the spacer elements 6 comprises only two outlet openings arranged in series along the formation path P or a single outlet mouth; It is important to note that the number of outlets of the hopper 16 for the 6 spacer elements could be different from the number of outlets of the 15 cigarette hoppers.

Basically, the rectilinear formation path P develops in correspondence with the succession of hoppers 15 and 16.

The forming unit 11 comprises transfer members 18, each of which is coupled to a corresponding outlet of a cigarette hopper 15; when a formation pocket 14 stops in front of an outlet of a cigarette hopper 15, the corresponding transfer member 18 extracts a row 5 of cigarettes from the outlet and at the same time inserts the row 5 of cigarettes into the ™ inside of the training pocket 14.

The forming unit 11 comprises transfer members 19, each of which is coupled to a corresponding outlet mouth of a hopper 16 for the spacer elements 6; when a forming pocket 14 stops in front of an outlet mouth of the hopper 16 for the spacer elements 6, the corresponding transfer member 19 extracts a spacer element 6 from the outlet mouth and at the same time inserts the spacer element 6 itself inside the training pocket 14.

The spacer element 6 has a lower end that faces a lower portion of the wrapper 3 opposite the upper portion through which the cigarettes are extracted from the wrapper 3. In particular, the lower end of the wrapper. The spacer element 6 is closed and is capable of being engaged by the transferring member 19 of the forming unit 11, ie the flat blank 8 has a panel at said lower end.

Basically, each group 4 of cigarettes is formed inside a corresponding formation pocket 14 by layers, i.e. by inserting in the formation pocket 14 first a row 5 of cigarettes, then a spacer element 6, and finally another row 5 of cigarettes.

As illustrated in Figure 9, the bending unit 10 forms the spacer elements 6 by folding the blanks 8 around tubular bending mandrels and according to known methods and then feeds the spacer elements 6 to the hopper 16 for the spacer elements 6. Once a group 4 of cigarettes has been formed in the forming unit 11, the group 4 of cigarettes itself is transferred from the forming unit 11 to the wrapping unit 12 to make a corresponding packet 1 of cigarettes according to fully known methods.

The packet 1 of cigarettes described above has numerous advantages.

In the first place, the pack 1 of cigarettes described above allows the cigarettes to be extracted with extreme ease from the pack 3, since the upper parts (typically the filters) of the cigarettes of a single row 5 of cigarettes that are grasped with the fingers they are completely free internally; consequently, it is very easy to grasp with the fingers the upper parts (typically the filters) of the cigarettes of a single row 5 of cigarettes to extract the cigarettes from the wrapping 3.

Furthermore, pack 1 of cigarettes described above can be easily produced in a substantially standard packaging machine (which requires only a few modest modifications) and therefore for its production it does not require the use of an expensive special packaging machine (i.e. ̈ specially designed for this type of cigarette packs 1).

Claims (14)

R I V E N D I C A Z I O N I 1. Packet (1) of cigarettes comprising: a group (4) of cigarettes having at least two rows (5) of cigarettes; and a wrapper (3) which encloses the group (4) of cigarettes; the packet (1) is characterized by the fact that it includes a spacer element (6), which is coupled to the group (4) of cigarettes and is interposed between two rows (5) of cigarettes so as to distance the two rows (5) of the same cigarettes. Packet (1) of cigarettes according to claim 1, wherein the spacer element (6) has a lower longitudinal dimension than the cigarettes of the group (4) of cigarettes and is arranged at a predetermined distance D from a portion top of the wrapping (3) through which the cigarettes are extracted from the wrapping (3). Packet (1) of cigarettes according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the spacer element (6) consists of a box-like body. 4. Cigarette packet (1) according to claim 3, wherein the spacer element (6) has an open upper end (7) which faces an upper portion of the wrapper (3) through which the cigarettes are extracted from the wrapping (3). Packet (1) of cigarettes according to claim 3, wherein the spacer element (6) is closed on all sides. Packet (1) of cigarettes according to claim 3, 4 or 5, wherein the spacer element (6) is formed by folding and gluing a flat blank (8). 7. Packet (1) of cigarettes according to claim 1 or 2, in which the spacer element (6) is made up of a body filled with spongy material or solid foam, or of a piece of corrugated cardboard, or of a piece of cardboard folded into a bellows, or from an insert of deformed plastic material. Cigarette packet (1) according to one of claims 1 to 7, in which the spacer element (6) is fixed to the package (3) by means of glue. Packet (1) of cigarettes according to one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the group (4) of cigarettes comprises exactly two rows (5) of cigarettes between which the spacer element (6) is arranged. Packet (1) of cigarettes according to one of claims 1 to 9 and comprising a rigid outer container (2) which houses the wrapping (3). 11. Wrapping method for making a packet (1) of cigarettes comprising a group (4) of cigarettes having at least two rows (5) of cigarettes and a wrapping (3) which encloses the group (4) of cigarettes; the wrapping method includes the steps of: feeding a formation pocket (14) adapted to contain the group (4) of cigarettes along a formation path (P) which develops in correspondence with a succession of first cigarette hoppers (15); forming the group (4) of cigarettes by extracting each row (5) of cigarettes from a corresponding first hopper (15) and simultaneously inserting the row (5) of cigarettes itself into the formation pocket (14); And folding a sheet of wrapping around the group (4) of cigarettes to form the wrapping (3) that encloses the group (4) of cigarettes; the wrapping method is characterized by the fact of understanding the further phases of: arranging along the formation path (P) a second hopper (16) containing a spacer element (6); And transfer the spacer element (6) from the second hopper (16) to the formation pocket (14) to arrange the spacer element (6) between two rows (5) of cigarettes so as to space the two rows ( 5) of cigarettes themselves. Wrapping method according to claim 11, wherein the second hopper (16) is arranged between two first hoppers (15), so as to initially feed a row (5) of cigarettes to the forming pocket (14), then the spacer element (6), and finally the other row (5) of cigarettes. 13. Packing machine (9) for making a packet (1) of cigarettes comprising a group (4) of cigarettes having at least two rows (5) of cigarettes and a wrapping (3) which encloses the group (4) of cigarettes; the packing machine (9) includes: a succession of first hoppers (15) for cigarettes; a formation pocket (14) adapted to contain the group (4) of cigarettes; a forming conveyor (13) for feeding the forming pocket (14) along a forming path (P) which develops in correspondence with the succession of first hoppers (15); first transferring members (18) for forming the group (4) of cigarettes by extracting each row (5) of cigarettes from a corresponding first hopper (15) and at the same time inserting the row (5) of cigarettes itself in the formation pocket (14); and a wrapping unit (12) for folding a wrapping sheet around the group (4) of cigarettes so as to form the wrapping (3) that encloses the group (4) of cigarettes; the packaging machine (9) is characterized by the fact that it comprises: a second hopper (16) containing a spacer element (6) which is arranged along the formation path (P); And second transfer elements (19) to transfer the spacer element (6) from the second hopper (16) to the formation pocket (14) so as to arrange the spacer element (6) between two rows (5) of cigarettes for space the two rows (5) of cigarettes between them. Packaging machine (9) according to claim 13, in which the second hopper (16) is arranged between two first hoppers (15), so as to initially feed a row (5) of cigarettes, then the spacer element (6), and finally the other row (5) of cigarettes.