ITBO950501A1 - RIGID CONTAINER WITH HINGED LID FOR CIGARETTES. - Google Patents

Abstract

Rigid container (1; 56; 66) with hinged lid for cigarettes (2) defined by a cup-shaped lower body (3), and by a lid (5), which is also cup-shaped and is hinged to an open upper end (4) of the body (3) for rotating between an open position and a closed position of the body (3) itself; the container (1; 56; 66) substantially has the shape of a parallelepiped equipped with a front wall (18), a rear wall (17) and two end walls (9, 14) substantially rectangular, and two side walls (19 ) rhomboid in shape. (Figure 2)

Description

DESCRIPTION

of the Industrial invention entitled: "Rigid container with hinged lid for cigarettes."

The present invention relates to a rigid container with a hinged lid for cigarettes.

The present invention finds a particularly advantageous application in the production of packets of cigarettes or cartons of cigarettes.

In the field of tobaccos it is known to make rigid containers with hinged lids, which act as packets for a determined number of cigarettes arranged in several rows side by side, or, if suitably sized, as sticks, i.e. containers for a given number of packets of cigarettes arranged in several rows side by side.

These known containers normally have the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped, and suffer from the drawback that, in them, the products, be they cigarettes or packets, making up each of the aforementioned rows are arranged at the same level as the corresponding products of the adjacent rows and are, therefore, difficult to extract especially when the container is completely full.

As far as cigarette packets are concerned, it is known to obviate a similar drawback by keeping the shape of the packets unchanged, but increasing their longitudinal dimensions so as to allow the introduction, on the bottom of the body, of shaped elements suitable to give the bottom itself a stepped shape. By placing each row of cigarettes on a respective step it is possible to stagger the free ends of the cigarettes with respect to the free ends of the corresponding cigarettes of the adjacent rows, facilitating the removal of the cigarettes themselves from the relative packet. However, a similar result is achieved through an increase in the longitudinal dimensions of the packet, with a consequent decrease in the handling of the packet itself and an increase in the quantity of paper material used.

The object of the present invention is to provide a container which makes it possible to offset the longitudinal rows of products contained therein, but which is substantially free from the drawback described above.

According to the present invention, a rigid container with a hinged lid for cigarettes is produced, the container substantially having the shape of a parallelepiped having a front wall, a rear wall and two upper and lower end walls, and two side walls orthogonal to the front walls, posterior and extremity; and comprising a cup-shaped lower body, and a lid, which is also cup-shaped and is hinged to an open upper end of the body to rotate between an open position and a closed position of the body; the container being characterized in that said side walls are substantially rhomboidal in shape. The present invention will now be described with reference to the attached drawings, which illustrate non-limiting examples of embodiment, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a first preferred embodiment of the container of the present invention in a closed configuration;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the container of Figure 1 in an open configuration;

Figure 3 illustrates a plan development of a blank used to make the container of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a perspective view of a second preferred embodiment of the container of the present invention in a closed configuration;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the container of Figure 4 in an open configuration;

figure 6 illustrates a plan development of a blank used to make the container of figure 4; Figure 7 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of the container of the present invention in a closed configuration; and - figure 8 illustrates a plan development of a blank used to make the container of figure 7. Figures 1 and 2 illustrate a container consisting of a rigid packet 1 suitable for housing a group of cigarettes 2, and comprising a lower body 3 cup-shaped and having an open upper end 4, and an upper lid 5, which is also cup-shaped, and is hinged to the body 3 to rotate between an open position and a closed position of the end 4. The body 3 has a front wall 6 and a rear wall 7 parallel to each other and partially offset with respect to each other in a longitudinal direction, i.e. in a direction parallel to a longitudinal axis (not shown) of the package 1. The body 3 also has two lateral walls 8 parallel to each other and perpendicular to the walls 6 and 7, and a bottom wall 9 perpendicular to the walls 8 and arranged inclined with respect to the walls 6 and 7. In particular the wall 9 is inclined in such a way as to form, with the wall 6, an angle of about 60 °. The body 3 finally has a wall 10, which defines a chamfer for connecting the walls 6 and 9 to each other and is perpendicular both to the walls 8 and to the bisector of the angle between the walls 6 and 9 themselves.

The lid 5 has a front wall 11 and a rear wall 12 parallel to each other and partially offset with respect to each other in a longitudinal direction, i.e. in a direction parallel to a longitudinal axis (not shown) of the package 1. The lid 5 also has two lateral walls 13, parallel to each other and perpendicular to the walls 11 and 12, and a bottom wall 14 perpendicular to the walls 13 and arranged inclined with respect to the walls 11 and 12. In particular, the wall 14 is inclined in such a way as to form, with the wall 12, an angle of about 60 ° and to be parallel to the wall 9 when the package 1 is closed. The lid 5 finally has a wall 15, which defines a chamfer for connecting the walls 12 and 14 to each other and is perpendicular both to the walls 13 and to the bisector of the angle between the walls 12 and 14 themselves.

The walls 7 and 12 are integral with each other along a rotation hinge 16 of the lid 5 to define, as a whole, a rear wall 17 of the packet 1; similarly, when the lid 5 is in its closed position, the wall 11 is arranged in a coplanar position and contiguous to the wall 6 to define a front wall 18 of the pack 1, and each wall 13 is arranged in a coplanar position and contiguous to the relative wall 8 to define a relative side wall 19 of the package 1. Due to the inclined position of the walls 9 and 14, each wall 19 has a substantially rhomboidal shape.

The package 1 finally comprises a U-shaped collar 21, 11 which partially protrudes outside the end 4, and comprises a central wall 22 having a central recess 23 facing the lid 5 and defining, on the wall 22 itself, a central portion 24 lowered and two lateral wings 25 extending towards the lid 5. The wall 22 is connected to the internal surface of the wall 6, from which it protrudes with part of the portion 24 and the wings 25, and carries two side walls 26 connected together to the internal surface of the respective walls 8, from which the walls 26 themselves partially protrude towards the lid 5.

As illustrated in Figure 3, packet 1 is obtained, by way of example, starting from a flat blank 27, the parts of which will be marked, where possible, with reference numbers with apex equal to the reference numbers that distinguish the corresponding parts of package 1.

According to what is illustrated in Figure 3, the blank 27 has a substantially elongated rectangular shape very similar to that of a common blank for the production of rigid packages with a hinged lid, and is provided with a plurality of pre-indebloid transverse folding lines indicated by numbers 28 to 35, and two pre-weakened longitudinal folding lines 36 and 37. Lines 28 to 35 define, between lines 36 and 37, a first end panel 111 extending between lines 28 and 29; a strengthening tab 38 integral with the panel 11 'along the line 28; a first intermediate panel 14 'extending between lines 29 and 30; a second intermediate panel 12 'extending between lines 31 and 32 and having a height lower than that of panel 11'; a panel 15 'of reduced height and connecting the panels 12' and 14 'to each other; a central panel 7 'extending between lines 32 and 33; a third intermediate panel 9 'extending between lines 33 and 34; a second end panel 6 'extending from line 35; and a panel 101, which has a height equal to that of the panel 15 ', extending between the lines 34 and 35, and acts as a connection between the panels 6' and 9 '.

The lines 36 and 37 each identify, outside the panels 11 ', 12', 7 'and 6', respective wings indicated in figure 3 with the numbers from 39 to 42. The wings 40 are arranged outside the panel 12 ', and have respective longitudinal appendages 43, which are joined to the wings 40 themselves along respective pre-weakened folding lines 44 arranged obliquely with respect to the lines 36 and 37 and converging to each other and towards the tab 38. In particular, each line 44 forms, with the respective adjacent line 36, 37, an angle equal to that included between the walls 6 and 9 of the body 3. The wings 41 are arranged outside the panel 7 ', and have respective longitudinal appendages 46, which are joined to the wings 41 themselves along respective pre-weakened folding lines 47 parallel to the respective lines 44. Each of the wings 39 has a substantially rhomboidal shape, and is externally delimited by a portion of the relative line 36, 37, by an external longitudinal edge 50 pa slow it down to lines 36 and 37, and from two edges 51a and 51b, which are parallel to each other and to lines 44 and 47, and extend towards the outside of the panel 11 'starting from lines 28 and, respectively, 29. In each flange 39, the edges 50 and 51b are joined together by a flat bevel 49 perpendicular to the bisector of the angle between the edges 50 and 51b themselves.

Each of the wings 40 has a substantially rhomboidal shape similar to that of the relative wing 39, and is externally delimited by a longitudinal edge, which is parallel to the lines 36 and 37, constitutes the extension of the edge 50 of the respective wing 39, and is also it is indicated with the number 50. In each wing 40, the edge defined by the line 44 and the edge defined by the line 36, 37 are joined together by a bevel 52 plane perpendicular to the bisector of the angle between the aforementioned two edges, parallel to the relative chamfer 49, and extending outwards from a respective end of the line 31.

Each appendix 43 has a rectangle trapezoid shape, whose major base is represented by the line 44, and whose oblique side coincides with an extension of the edge 50 of the wings 39 and 40.

Each wing 41 has a substantially rhomboidal shape and is externally delimited by a longitudinal edge, which is parallel to the lines 36 and 37, constitutes the extension of the edge 50 of the respective wing 39, and is also indicated with the number 50. In each flange 41, the relative edge 50 and the edge defined by the relative line 47 are joined together by a bevel 54 plane perpendicular to the bisector of the angle between the aforementioned two edges and parallel to the relative bevels 49 and 52

Each of the appendages 46 has a substantially triangular shape, one side of which is defined by a portion of the respective line 36, 37 and a vertex of which is chamfered in correspondence with the line 34 with a respective chamfer 53 parallel to, and arranged on the extension of the line 34 itself.

Finally, the wings 42 also have a substantially rhomboidal shape with a width equal to that of the wings 39, 40 and 41, and have oblique end edges parallel to the corresponding edges 51. Near the lines 35, the wings 42 have bevels 55 parallel to the corresponding bevels 49, 52 and 54.

The line 32 defines the hinge 16, and the wings 41 and 42, after being folded squarely with respect to the panels 7 'and 6', are superimposed, by square rotation towards each other of the panels 6 'and 7' with respect to the panels 9 'and 10', one to the other to define the side walls 8 of the body 3; the appendages 46 are folded squarely with respect to the respective wings 41, and are rotated with the wings 41 themselves to come into contact with the internal surface of the panel 9 'and define, with the panel 9' itself, the wall 9. In the same way, the wings 39 and 40 of the panels 11 'and 12' are folded squarely with respect to the panels 11 'and 12' themselves, and are superimposed on each other, by rotating the panels 11 ', 12' towards each other and 15 'with respect to the panel 14', to define the side walls 13 of the lid 3; and the appendages 43 are folded squarely with respect to the respective wings 40, and are rotated with the wings 40 themselves to come into contact with the internal surface of the panel 14 'and define, with the panel 14' itself, the wall 14.

It should be pointed out that at the conclusion of the folding operation described above, the bevels 49 and 52 are superimposed on each other and coincide with, but are disconnected from, the lateral edges of the panel 15 '; similarly, the bevels 54 and 55 are superimposed on each other and coincide with, but disconnected from, the lateral edges of the panel 10 '. Therefore, the connecting walls 10 and 15 are disconnected from the walls 19, with the consequence that both the body 3 and the lid 5 have rectilinear notches at the opposite lateral ends of the wall 10 and, respectively, of the wall 15.

The bending of the blank 27 involves the production of only the body 3 and the lid 5, and therefore the collar 21 must be made separately with separate bending operations, and must subsequently be made integral with the body 3. The collar 21 is of the commonly used type used in packets of cigarettes with a rectangular section.

From the foregoing description and from what is clearly illustrated in Figures 2 and 3 it is possible to note that the open end 4 of the body 3 develops on an inclined plane substantially parallel to the wall 9, whose position is inclined with respect to the front walls 6 and 7 rear of the body 3 itself allows to arrange the cigarettes 2 in three rows staggered in height, and to facilitate, therefore, the extraction of the cigarettes 2 themselves from the body 3 when the packet 1 is full.

According to a variant not shown, the walls 10 'and 15' are missing, together with the bevels 49, 52, 54 and 55, and are each replaced by a respective pre-weakened line (not shown).

The variant illustrated in figures 4 to 6 relates to a packet 56, which is very similar to packet 1, and whose component parts are marked, where possible, by the same reference numbers that distinguish the corresponding parts of packet 1.

With respect to packet 1, in packet 56 the connecting walls 10 and 15 are curved walls with a cylindrical shape; and the package 56 itself is made starting from a blank 59, which differs from the blank 27 by the presence, on the panels 10 'and 15', of a plurality of weakening transverse lines 60 and 61 respectively. Furthermore, in the blank 59, the flat bevels 49, 52, 54 and 55 of the blank 26 are replaced by corresponding circularly curved bevels 62, 63, 64 and 65 all having the same radius.

Like packet 1, packet 56, at the end of the folding operation, is also open at the opposite ends of walls 10 and 15.

Finally, with reference to Figure 7, 66 indicates a rigid container suitable for housing a plurality of packages 1 and having a shape similar to that of the individual packages 1 housed therein. Given the similarity between the container 66 and the package 1, the component parts of the container 66 will be identified, where possible, with the same reference numbers used to distinguish the corresponding parts of the package 1.

Similarly to the package 1, the container 66 comprising a lower body 3, cup-shaped and having an open upper end 4, and an upper lid 5, which is also cup-shaped, and is hinged to the body 3 to rotate between an open position and a closed position of the end 4.

Similarly to the package 1, the container 66 is also limited by a rear wall 17 divided into two parts by the hinge 16, a front wall 18 parallel to the wall 17, but offset in height with respect to the wall 17 itself, two lateral walls 19 perpendicular to the walls 17 and 18, an upper wall 14 connected to wall 17 by means of a connecting wall 15 and arranged, together with the wall 15 itself, perpendicular to the walls 19, and a bottom wall 9 connected to the front wall 18 by means of a connecting wall 10 and arranged, together with the wall 10 itself, perpendicular to the walls 19. In particular, the walls 9 and 14 are arranged parallel to each other, and are inclined with respect to the walls 17 and 18 so as to give the walls 19 a rhomboid shape.

According to what is illustrated in Figure 8, the container 66 is obtained, by way of example, starting from a blank 68 similar to the blank 27 and for the detailed description of which reference should be made to the description relating to the blank 27 itself. With regard to the blank 68 it is only appropriate to point out that, in it, the panels 6 ', 7', 10 ', 12', 15 'and 11' have heights approximating by excess the heights of the corresponding panels of the blank 27 and widths equal to a multiple (in this case 5) of the width of the corresponding panels of the blank 27. Furthermore, in the blank 68, the panels 9 'and 14' have a height approximating upwards a multiple (in this case 2) of the height of the corresponding panels of the blank 27.

Similarly to the packet 1, also the container 66 is, at the end of the folding operation, open in coincidence with the bevels 49, 52, 54 and 55.

As in the case of packet 1, the bevels 49, 52, 54 and 55 may be missing or are replaced with rounded bevels similar to those of packet 56 if the container 66 is to contain packets 56.

Claims (16)

R I V E N D I C A Z I O N I 1) Rigid container with hinged lid (5) for cigarettes, the container (1; 56; 66) substantially having the shape of a parallelepiped presenting a front wall (17), a rear wall (18) and two end walls (14 , 9) upper and lower, and two side walls (19) orthogonal to the front (17), rear (18) and end (14,9) walls; and comprising a cup-shaped lower body (3), and a lid (5), which is also cup-shaped and is hinged to an open upper end of the body (3) to rotate between an open and a closed position of the body (3) itself; the container (1; 56; 66) being characterized in that the said side walls (19) are substantially rhomboidal in shape. 2) Container according to claim 1, characterized in that the end walls (14,9) are parallel to each other, and are inclined at a given angle with respect to said front (17) and rear (18) walls. 3) Container according to claim 2, characterized in that the upper end wall (14) forms an angle of about 60 ° with said rear wall (18). 4) Container according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that said upper open end (4) is arranged on a plane parallel to the end walls (14,9). 5) Container according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that it substantially has the shape of a parallelepiped provided with at least one beveled transverse edge (10,15). 6) Container according to claim 5, characterized in that said beveled transversal edge (10; 15) is a flat beveled transversal edge defined by a flat oblique connecting wall (10; 15) between a longitudinal end of one of the front walls (17) and rear (18) and the adjacent end wall (9; 14). 7) Container according to claim 6, characterized in that said connecting wall (10; 15) is arranged substantially perpendicular to a bisector of the relative said angle. 8) Container according to claim 5, characterized by the fact that said beveled transversal edge (10; 15) is a curved beveled transversal corner defined by a curved wall (10; 15) connecting a longitudinal end of one of the front walls ( 17) and posterior (18) and the adjacent end wall (9; 14). 9) Container according to one of claims 6 to 8, characterized in that said connecting wall (10; 15) has lateral end edges which extend along, but are disconnected from, corresponding peripheral portions of the respective side walls (19 ). 10) Container according to claim 9, characterized in that it has been made starting from a flat blank (27; 59; 68) of a substantially rectangular shape having two pre-weakened longitudinal lines (36,37) and a plurality of lines ( 28-35) pre-weakened transversal lines, which define, between said two longitudinal lines (36,37) and both for the body (3) and for the cover (5), a front panel (61; 11 '), a panel End (9 '; 14') and a rear panel (71; 12 '); each front panel (61; 11 ') having two opposite front longitudinal side wings (42; 39); each rear panel (7 '; 12') presenting two opposite longitudinal rear side wings (41; 40); each front longitudinal lateral wing (42; 39) being aligned with a corresponding rear longitudinal lateral wing (41; 40), and being able to overlap the corresponding rear longitudinal lateral wing (41; 40) itself to define a portion of a respective wall side (19) of the container (1; 56; 66) itself; each side wing (39; 40; 41; 42) being inclined by the said angle with respect to the relative panel (11 '; 12'; 7 '; 6'). 11) Container according to claim 10, characterized in that in each pair (39,40; 41,42) of corresponding side wings (39; 40; 41; 42), each side wing (39; 40; 41; 42) has, at its own longitudinal end, a chamfer (49; 52; 54; 55) defining, with the corresponding chamfer (52; 49; 55; 54) of the corresponding lateral wing (40; 39; 42; 41), a relative to said peripheral portion of the respective side wall (19). 12) Container according to claim 11, characterized in that in each said pair (39,40; 41,42) of corresponding side wings (39; 40; 41; 42), a first said chamfer (52; 55) is obtained on a first (40; 42) of the said lateral wings (39,40,41,42) corresponding in a position adjacent to the relative said longitudinal line (36; 37), and a second said chamfer (49; 54) is obtained on a second (39; 42) of the said lateral wings (39,40,41,42) corresponding in a position adjacent to a longitudinal edge of the second lateral wing (39; 42) opposite the said longitudinal line (36; 37). 13) Container according to claim 12, characterized in that the side wings of each pair (39,40; 41,42) of corresponding side wings have transversal end edges (51b, 44) facing each other; one (40) of the two corresponding lateral wings (39,40) of a said pair having a longitudinal appendix (43) extending from the relative said end edge (44) towards the other corresponding lateral wing (39); 11 said chamfer (52) defining an end portion of said end edge (44); and said appendix (43) extending from the remaining part of said end edge (44) and presenting a tapered shape starting from said end edge (44) itself. 14) Container according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it consists of a packet (1; 56) of cigarettes. 15) Container according to any one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that it consists of a container (66) for packets (1; 56) of cigarettes. 16) Container substantially as described with reference to any of the annexed drawings.