JP2020511371A - Packages for smoking equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

A package for a smoking article is disclosed that includes an inner container (4, 104) and an outer container (6, 106). The inner container is slidable with respect to the outer container, and the inner container includes at least one compartment for holding a plurality of smoking devices. The sliding rails can be provided as slots (10) in the inner container (4) or as folded flaps (110) in the outer container (106). Tabs may be provided on the outer container or tabs (116) may be provided on the inner container for sliding on the sliding rails. Sliding interaction between the tab (116) and the slot (10) or flap (110) is provided inside the outer wall (17, 117) of the outer container (6, 106).

Description

  The present invention relates to packages for smoking articles. In particular, the invention relates to a so-called lateral slide pack having an inner container containing a bundle of cigarettes, which is inserted into the outer container and is arranged to slide between open and closed positions.

  In the closed position, the inner container is substantially within the outer container so that access to the stack of cigarettes is impeded. In the open position, the inner container is partially outside the outer container to allow access to the cigarette stack. The inner container can contain two bundles of cigarettes, each wrapped in an inner liner.

  The cigarette bundle is wrapped in an inner liner to ensure that the bundle is sufficiently rigid to withstand the manufacturing process. Additionally, the inner liner helps control the humidity of the cigarette and allows oxygen exchange, which ensures the freshness of the product.

  Several designs are known to allow the inner container to slide within the outer container. In one example, Chinese Utility Model Application No. 202686921U has two tabs that are foldable on one side of a main panel that is an outer container and is formed as a guide for a tongue protruding from the inner container. The outer container including is described. A similar arrangement is described in Chinese Utility Model Application No. 202244723U, where the inner wall of the outer container includes a guide with a limiting stop edge that bounds the movement of the inner container.

  As can be experienced in normal use of the package, effective operation of the sliding mechanism can be affected by the pressure exerted on the outer container, which can cause problems in known designs. In addition, the relative movement of the guides and tabs may create a slight bulge in the outer wall of the outer container, which is undesirable for some users.

  The purpose of the present invention is to address and mitigate some of these problems.

  According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a package for a smoking device, the outer container having an outer wall, the inner container movable with respect to the outer container, the inner container being provided inside the outer wall, and the plurality of smoking devices. An inner container comprising at least one compartment for holding, a sliding rail provided on one of the outer container and the inner container and a tab provided on the other of the outer container and the inner container, the tab being relative to the rail Configured to slide and the slide rail and tab provide a closed position for the inner container and first and second open positions in respective relative positions, the slide rail and tab comprising: A package is provided that is provided inside the outer wall of the outer container.

  Therefore, the relative movement of the rails and tabs occurs inside the outer wall of the outer container of the package. This may provide some protection for the sliding relative movement of these components so that they may be less susceptible to external factors. In addition, by providing sliding movement of the tabs relative to the rails inside the outer wall, these moving parts can be less visible to the user.

  In one arrangement, the sliding rail may include a slot in the inner container. In this arrangement, the tab can be provided on the outer container so that it can be received in the slot. This has proved to be a convenient arrangement for positioning the sliding interaction part inwardly in the package relative to the outer container. The first open position may be achieved when the tab is positioned on the first side of the slot, and the second open position may be achieved when the tab is positioned on the second side of the slot. The edges of the slot may thus provide a limit to the movement of the tab. Alternatively, slots may be provided on the outer container and tabs on the inner container.

  In another arrangement, the sliding rails may be provided by folded flaps on one of the outer and inner containers. In this way, sliding rails can be created without glue and simply by folding the flaps of the work piece. This can improve manufacturability.

  The inner and outer containers are typically formed from multiple panels. In some embodiments, one panel of the inner container comprises tabs and one panel of the outer container comprises slide rails. In other embodiments, one panel of the inner container comprises sliding rails and one panel of the outer container comprises tabs. The outer container panel, including the tabs or sliding rails, is preferably multilayer. By providing this multilayer panel, the tabs and / or sliding rails are hidden from the outside, which is more aesthetically appealing and also protects the tabs and / or sliding rails from damage.

  The tab may be arranged to wrap around the slide rail as viewed from the outer or inner container in which the tab is provided. Also, the sliding rails and tabs can be biased together. This may allow a firm engagement between the sliding rail and the tab to be achieved as they slide against each other. The bias can be achieved by providing the sliding rail as a folded flap with a natural bias due to the bending resistance of the material.

  The sliding rail may include a major surface that is angled to the outer wall of the outer container. An acute angle may be formed between the sliding rail and the outer wall of the outer container.

  The sliding rail may be provided on the outer container of the package with the tab provided on the inner container of the package. In use, the tab may be positioned between the sliding rail and the outer wall of the outer container. In an alternative arrangement, when a sliding rail is provided on the inner container of the package and a tab is provided on the outer container of the package, the sliding rail is provided between the tab and the outer wall of the outer container of the package. obtain.

  Preferably, the first open position is reached by sliding the inner container relative to the outer container in a first direction from the closed position, and the second open position is arranged to move the inner container relative to the outer container from the closed position. Reached by sliding in the second direction, the first and second directions being opposite to each other.

  Preferably, the sliding rail includes first and second limiting stops for limiting movement of the tab relative to the rail between the first and second open positions. Also, the length of the sliding rail can be less than the width of the outer or inner container in which the sliding rail is provided. Limit stops may be suitably provided between each end of the sliding rail and the edge of the outer or inner container.

  According to another aspect of the invention, a work piece is provided for forming a container for a smoking article package. The work piece includes an outer surface, two large longitudinal panels, a base panel and (i) at least one of a plurality of small longitudinal side panels and (ii) a top panel, the panels for holding a smoking article. It can be assembled to form a container. At least one large longitudinal panel includes tabs that project from the outer surface of the large longitudinal panel.

  The tab may be formed by cutting. The at least one large longitudinal panel including the tab can be multi-layered.

  In a further aspect of the invention, a workpiece for forming a container for a smoking article package, comprising two large longitudinal panels, a base panel and (i) a plurality of small longitudinal side panels and (ii). A work piece is provided that includes at least one of the top panels, the panels may be assembled to form a container for holding a smoking article, and the at least one large longitudinal panel includes sliding rails. It

  The work piece may further include a reinforcement panel for forming at least one multi-layer large longitudinal panel, one of the reinforcement panels including a folded flap forming a sliding rail.

  According to another aspect of the invention, a pair of workpieces for forming a smoking article package, the outer container workpiece being movable into an outer container having an outer wall, movable relative to the outer container, And an inner container workpiece, which is provided inside the outer wall and can be assembled into an inner container including at least one compartment for holding a plurality of smoking articles, the inner container workpiece and the outer container workpiece One includes a sliding rail, and the other of the inner and outer container workpieces includes a tab, the tab configured to slide relative to the rail when assembled, and The moving rail and the tab provide a closed position and a first and second open position for the inner container in their relative positions, and the sliding rail and the tab are provided inside the outer wall of the outer container. , A pair of workpieces is provided.

  Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the drawings.

1 is a perspective view of an inner container of a package for a smoking article according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a package for a smoking article according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an inner container of a package for a smoking article according to another embodiment of the present invention. 4 is a detailed view of an inner container of the package shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of an outer container of a package for a smoking article according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a rear perspective view of the outer container of the package shown in FIG. 5. FIG. 6 is a front perspective view of the package according to the embodiment of the present invention, in which the inner container is in a position displaced from the outer container. FIG. 8 is another front perspective view of a package in an embodiment of the invention, with the inner container generally contained within the outer container. It is a top view of the processed material for forming the inner container and the outer container in the embodiment of the present invention. It is another top view of the work piece for forming the inner container and the outer container in the embodiment of the present invention.

  A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2A, 2B and 10. In this arrangement, the package 2 for a smoking article comprises an inner container 4 and an outer container 6 formed from the respective work pieces. The outer container 6 is a rectangular parallelepiped having two open faces. The inner container 4 is a rectangular parallelepiped sized and shaped to be generally received in the outer container 6. The smoking article 8 is housed in the inner container 4.

  The inner container 4 comprises a slot 10 with a length slightly below the width of the front face of the inner container 4. Two hinge lids 12, 14 are provided on the upper end of the inner container 4, which can be opened independently to access the respective bundles of cigarettes each wrapped in a liner.

  The tab 16 is provided on the inner surface of the outer container 6 so as to project inward toward the inner container 4. In use, the tab 16 is received in the slot 10. The inner container 4 can thus slide with respect to the outer container 6 and the limit of movement is determined by the position where the tab 16 abuts the edge of the slot 10. In use, the user may slide the inner container 4 relative to the outer container 6 so that one of the hinge lids 12, 14 is visible. The user can then open the associated hinge lids 12, 14 to access the cigarette. The inner container 4 is completely contained within the outer container 6 in its closed position. The inner container 4 can move in two possible directions opposite to each other while the tab 16 is received in the slot 10. The inner container 4 may move in a first direction to access the cigarettes below the first hinge lid 12 and in a second direction to access the cigarettes below the second hinge lid 14. The cigarettes under the first and second hinge lids 12, 14 may have different characteristics, eg flavor.

  A sliding interaction between the tab 16 and the slot 10 is provided inside the outer surface 17 of the outer container 6. It has been found advantageous to position the sliding surfaces inside the outer surface 17, since this means that they are less susceptible to external factors. This may improve operational reliability and may reduce the visibility of movement of one surface relative to another when viewed from outside of the outer surface 17.

  The tab 16 in this arrangement is a simple protrusion extending from the outer container 6 towards the inner container 4. In another arrangement, the tab 16 may be bent into a hook to wrap over the edge of the slot 10.

  As can be seen from FIG. 10, the tab 16 is formed in the circumferential contour of the workpiece of the outer container 6. In other words, the tab 16 is formed along a part of the outer edge of the work piece. This may be advantageous because the tab 16 may be formed in a single step when the work piece is separated from the sheet of material. When a laser is used to separate a work piece from a sheet of material, this can be accomplished in a single continuous operation around the circumferential contour or contour.

  A second embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In this arrangement, the package includes an inner container 104 and an outer container 106. As in the first embodiment, the outer container 106 is a rectangular parallelepiped with two open faces. The inner container 104 is a rectangular parallelepiped sized and shaped to be completely received within the outer container 106. A smoking article (not shown) is housed in the inner container 104.

  A wrapping paper 105 for cigarettes is provided on the upper end of the inner container 104. The work piece 204 for the inner container 104 can be formed into a rectangular parallelepiped that wraps the wrapper 105. A notch 103 is provided in the upper end of the inner container 104 to improve accessibility to the cigarettes contained in the wrapper 105.

  The inner container 104 includes a tab 116 on the front surface 118. The tab 116 is formed by a U-shaped notch in the front surface 118 so that the tab 116 is hingedly attached to the front surface 118 at its upper end. Tab 116 is shown in FIG. 3 bent outwardly so that it projects partially away from front surface 118 at its lower end. The tabs 116 preferably resist bending away from the position shown in FIG. 3 because of the inherent bending resistance of the material from which the front surface 118 is made. In a preferred embodiment, this material is paper or cardboard.

  The work piece 206 for the outer container 106 can be formed into a rectangular parallelepiped having two open faces. The outer container 106 includes a front surface 120 and a rear surface 122 (although it is understood that this terminology can be easily reversed). The front surface 120 includes an inner surface 115 that faces the inner container 104 in use and an outer surface 117 that is the outer surface of the package.

  The front surface 120 includes first and second side panels 124, 126 that are folded inward when the outer container 106 is formed. The first side panel 124 includes a U-shaped cutout 128, and the second side panel 126 includes a protrusion 130. The protrusion 130 is sized to fit within the U-shaped notch 128 when the panels 124, 126 are folded inward. The protrusion 130 includes a fold line for forming a flap 110 that can protrude inward from the inner surface 115 toward the inner container 104 when in use. As a result, the front surface 120 is multi-layered.

  The width of the flap 110 at the protrusion 130 is slightly smaller than the total width of the front surface 120. The first end of flap 110 is slightly spaced from the fold line between second side panel 126 and front surface 120. When the first and second side panels 124, 126 are folded inwardly, the second end of the flap 110 abuts a U-shaped notch 128 in the first side panel 124. The U-shaped notch 128 in this arrangement is slightly spaced from the fold line between the first side panel 124 and the front surface 120. Therefore, the first and second ends of the flap 110 are slightly spaced from the fold line between the first and second side panels 124, 126. In effect, they provide limiting stops for the tabs 116 at the ends of the flap 110.

  The depth of flap 110 is approximately equal to the length of tab 116. Accordingly, the tab 116 may engage the flap 110, which acts as a sliding rail.

  The outer container 106 generally has ink, varnish, lacquer or its outer surface on its outer (external) surface to create a design and to contain legally required information such as health warnings or manufacturing details. Printed in a conventional manner using the combination. Typically, the inner surface of outer container 106 is not printed.

  Flap 110 generally has a printed side and an unprinted side. The flap 110 is folded such that the printed side faces generally the front surface 120 and is angled with respect to the front surface 120. In use, the inner container 104 is received by the outer container 106 and the tabs 116 are arranged to wrap over the flap 110 and abut its unprinted side. Accordingly, the tab 116 is provided between the flap 110 and the inner surface 115 of the front surface 120 of the outer container 106. The inner container 104 is thus free to slide relative to the outer container 106. The sliding interaction is located inside the front surface 120 of the outer container 106. It has been found to be advantageous to position the sliding surfaces inside the outer surface 117 of the front surface 120, as this means that they are less affected by external factors. The bending resistance of tab 116 and flap 110 means that the two are biased together.

  In an alternative arrangement, the flap 110 may be provided on the inner container 104 and the tab 116 may be provided on the outer container 106. In this arrangement, the flap 110 may be positioned between the tab 116 and the inner surface 115 of the front surface 120 of the outer container 106 in use.

  The flap 110 can function as a sliding rail. The flap 110 and the tab 116 provide a closed position and a first and second open position for the inner container 104 in their respective relative positions. In the closed position, the inner container 104 is generally received within the outer container 106, as shown in FIG. In the first open position, the tab 116 is positioned at one end of the flap 110 at one end of the restriction stop. In the second open position, the tab 116 is positioned at the opposite end of the flap 110 to the other of the limit stops. In practice, the first and second open positions may be provided when the tab 116 is in other positions relative to the flap 110, as long as the cigarettes in the inner container 104 are easily accessible. FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary arrangement in which the inner container 104 is partially exposed from the outer container 106 to allow access to the cigarette.

  In use, the inner containers 104 can be slid in opposite directions away from the closed position. In the first open position, the cigarette can be accessed from the first side of the inner container 104, and in the second open position, the cigarette can be accessed from the second side of the inner container 104.

  Multiple outer container workpieces 206 may be provided in a single sheet of material. The work piece 206 may be separated by stamping it separately from a sheet of material. The work piece 206 is made of material such that the protrusion 130 on the second side panel 126 of the first work piece is nested within the U-shaped notch 128 of the first side panel 124 of the second work piece. Placed on the sheet. Corresponding inserts are provided for the protrusions and notches in the side panels on the rear side of the work piece. Nesting the work pieces in this manner can advantageously reduce material waste during manufacture.

Claims (15)

A package for a smoking article,
An outer container having an outer wall,
An inner container movable with respect to the outer container, the inner container including at least one compartment provided inside the outer wall and for holding a plurality of smoking articles,
A slide rail provided on one of the outer container and the inner container, and a tab provided on the other of the outer container and the inner container, the tab slidingly relative to the slide rail. And wherein the sliding rail and the tab provide a closed position and a first and second open position for the inner container in respective relative positions,
The package, wherein the sliding rail and the tab are provided inside the outer wall of the outer container.   The package of claim 1, wherein the sliding rail is provided by a slot in one of the outer container and the inner container, and the tab is arranged to be received in the slot.   The package of claim 1, wherein the sliding rail is provided by a folded flap on one of the outer container and the inner container.   4. The package according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the tab is arranged to wrap around the slide rail for engaging the slide rail.   The package according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the sliding rail and the tab are biased together.   The package according to claim 3, wherein the sliding rail includes a main surface that is angled with respect to the outer wall of the outer container.   The first open position is reached by sliding the inner container relative to the outer container in the first direction from the closed position, and the second open position positions the inner container relative to the outer container. 7. The package according to any of claims 1-6, reached by sliding in the second direction from the closed position, the first and second directions being opposite to each other.   8. The package of claim 7, wherein the sliding rail includes first and second limit stops for limiting movement of the tab relative to the rail between the first and second open positions.   9. The package according to any one of claims 1-8, wherein the length of the sliding rail is less than the width of the outer container or the inner container in which the sliding rail is provided. A workpiece for forming a container for a smoking article package, comprising:
Outside,
Two large longitudinal panels, a base panel and (i) at least one of a plurality of small longitudinal side panels and (ii) a top panel, said panels forming a container for holding a smoking article. Can be assembled,
A work piece, wherein at least one large longitudinal panel comprises a tab projecting from the outer surface of the large longitudinal panel.   The work piece according to claim 10, wherein the tab is formed by cutting.   The work piece according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the at least one large longitudinal panel including the tabs is multilayer.   A work piece according to any one of claims 10 to 12, including a circumferential contour extending around the work piece, the edges of the tab forming part of the circumferential contour. Stuff. A workpiece for forming a container for a smoking article package, comprising:
Two large longitudinal panels, a base panel and (i) at least one of a plurality of small longitudinal side panels and (ii) a top panel, said panels forming a container for holding a smoking article. Can be assembled,
A work piece, wherein at least one large longitudinal panel comprises a sliding rail.   15. The jacket of claim 14, further comprising a reinforcement panel for forming at least one multi-layer large longitudinal panel, one of the reinforcement panels including a folded flap forming the slide rail. Workpiece.

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