KR101494145B1 - A pack for smoking articles - Google Patents

Abstract

A pack for a smoking article such as a cigarette, comprising front and rear panels (2, 3), a floor panel (6), and a cover (7) connected by opposing side panels (4, 5) At least one of which is provided with a plurality of transverse strengthening bands (18), said bands having a thickness greater than a region (19) between said bands. The band 18 may be formed by an embossing method.

Description

A pack for smoking product packs {A PACK FOR SMOKING ARTICLES}

The present invention relates to a pack for a smoking article, in particular not only a cigarette.

A pack for a smoking article, such as cigarettes, from a blank of the board, for example a cardboard, comprising front and rear panels connected by opposing side panels, Manufacturing is well known. Such cover may be constructed in a so-called flip-top manner.

A problem associated with these conventional packs is that the panels, particularly the front and rear panels, can be undesirably bent, especially when the grain of the board extends parallel to the length of the pack. It may be desirable to use thinner boards for pack manufacture to save costs, but using thinner boards may feel weaker to the user, and thinner boards are too weak for larger packs, limiting the choice of pack form do.

It is known in the art that a conventional flip-top type pack is provided with an internal frame to provide a jam wherein the lid is closed at the closed position so that its outer perimeter is coextensive with the rest of the pack. . US-A-5964345 proposes a method of providing a ribbing on the surface of the inner frame adjacent to the inner surface of the front panel of the pack. However, such a configuration undesirably consumes space in the container and also increases the overall material cost of the pack.

According to the present invention there is provided a pack for a smoking article comprising a front and rear panel, a bottom panel and an upper panel connected by opposite side panels, at least one of the panels having a plurality of transverse bands, Is provided with a pack for a smoking article having a thickness greater than the area between the bands.

The top panel may include a cover. The band may be formed on the outer periphery of the pack and both the front and rear panels may include horizontal bands.

Conveniently, the band may be embossed as a preliminary manufacturing step during the manufacture of the blank or in the process of packaging the smoking article into a pack.

The pack may be made from a sheet material and the band may comprise a fold formed in the thickness of the sheet material. One or more of the pleats may be formed on the lid.

The present invention also relates to a blank for producing a pack for a smoking article comprising a front and rear panel portion, a bottom panel portion and a side panel portion and a portion for forming a cover, wherein at least one of the panel portions comprises a plurality of transverse bands Wherein the band comprises a blank for producing a pack for a smoking article having a thickness greater than the area between the bands.

The present invention also relates to a method for producing a pack for a smoking article from a blank, the blank comprising a front and rear panel portion, a bottom panel portion and a side panel portion and a portion for forming a cover, Forming a plurality of horizontal bands in at least one of the bands, wherein the bands comprise a plurality of horizontal band forming steps, wherein the bands have a greater thickness than the area between the bands. do.

The method may include embossing the blank to form the transverse band.

This method can be carried out by feeding the blank from the blank stock to the embossing station and feeding the embossed blank to the cigarette packaging machine to form a pack of cigarettes, to form the band.

As used herein, the term "smoking article" refers to tobacco, tobacco derivatives, expanded tobacco, reconstituted tobacco or tobacco substitute, And cigarettes, cigars, and cigarillos, whether based on heat-and-heat products or heat-not-burn products. Such a smoking article may be provided with a filter for gas phase flow sucked by the smoker.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order that the invention may be more fully understood, embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig.
1 is a schematic perspective view of a cigarette pack viewed from the front and from one side thereof, the cover of which is closed.
Figure 2 shows the pack of Figure 1 with the lid open.
Figure 3 is a schematic exploded view of the pack shown in Figures 1 and 2;
4 is a front view of the pack.
5 is a rear view of the pack.
6 is a side view of the pack.
7 is a bottom view of the pack.
Figure 8 schematically shows the blank used to make the pack shown in Figures 1-7.
9 is a partial sectional view taken along the line A-A 'in FIG.
Fig. 10 schematically shows a facility for packing a cigarette in a pack as shown in Figs. 1-7.
11 is a schematic illustration of an embossing station for use in the installation shown in FIG.

1 to 8, a flip-top pack 1 for a cigarette is formed from a blank shown in Fig. 8, and a front panel 2, a rear panel 3, Which is formed from a sheet board stock material, such as a cardboard, including side panels 4, 5, a floor panel 6 and a hinged lip 7, 8 by folding and attaching selected portions of the blank shown in Figs.

The pack has a beveled edge portion 8 extending longitudinally along the junction between the side panels 4, 5 and the front and rear panels 2, 3.

The lid 7 has an inclined lateral edge 9 and a tangential edge 10 which are located lower than the hinge line 11 for the lid in the closed position and the upper edge of the front and side panels 2, The edges 12,13 are formed to correspond to provide a close-fit when the lid is closed. As shown in Figures 2 and 3, in this embodiment the pack contains 20 cigarettes 14 and, as is also well known in the relevant art, the tilted configuration of the lid 7 is such that when the lid is open Thereby improving accessibility to the cigarette.

An inner frame 15 of sheetboard stock material such as a cardboard is assembled in the upper portion of the opening of the container, for example by gluing, and is provided with a re-entrant part 16, To access the cigarette. The inner frame 15 is shaped to delimit the interior of the front and side panels 2, 4, 5 with the beveled edge adjacent the front panel to act as a jam, When closed, its outer surface is co-extensive with the front and side panels 2, 4, 5 and is supported on the jam. The inner frame 15 has a depending flange 17 which acts as a stop to hold the lid 7 when it is closed.

The front and rear panels 2, 3 are provided with a transverse band 18 which can be formed by embossing the blank, as will be described in more detail below.

The horizontal band 18 includes the corrugation shown in Fig. The band 18 has a thickness t that is thicker than the thickness r of the region 19 between the bands 18. The region 19 may be formed by embossing, but may be formed by, for example, scoring or swiping into a blunt blade to squeeze the board material along region 19, for example, Other techniques may be used.

In the illustrated example, the corrugations 18 extend over the entire width of the front and rear panels 2, 3 and have the same width w as shown in Fig. The regions 19 between the pleats 18 are rectilinear in this embodiment and are parallel to one another. As shown in Figs. 4 and 5, these folds 18A are also provided in front of and behind the lid 7. Fig.

The pleats 18 have the effect of rigidifying and strengthening the front and rear panels 2 and 3 of the pack so that the thinner board stock material can be removed from the blank 18 without weakening the rigidity of the assembled pack, / RTI > As the weight of the pack is reduced, this reduces costs not only in terms of the materials used, but also in terms of transportation costs. The pleats 18A perform a similar function with respect to the lid 7.

In addition, due to the strength provided by the corrugations 18, the pack can be made of a board stock grain that can be placed longitudinally or laterally of the pack without any significant change in the strength of the front and rear panels 2, ) Direction. ≪ / RTI >

In addition, by using the described corrugations 18, the pack can be manufactured wider than ever for a particular board thickness, giving the designer the freedom to design a new packaging design.

Moreover, the pleats 18, 18A provide a tactile gripping surface on the outer surface of the pack, which assists the user in gripping the pack and opening the lid 7. [

The card used in the pack 1 may have a weight of 180-300 g / squ. M., For example 280 g / squ. M, but by providing the band 18 a lighter, Materials of 215 g / squ. M or 200 g / squ. M may also be used. The lighter the weight, the less rigid the card will be, but this is improved by providing the band 18. The card is typically about 0.3 mm thick, and the thickness of the embossing forming the band 18 is about 50% of the thickness of the un-bossed card.

A method of packaging a cigarette in such a pack will now be described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11. FIG. The magazine 20 as shown in FIG. 10 includes a plurality of blank 1 ', substantially as shown in FIG. 8, but without corrugations 18. The blank may be pre-printed or pre-printed in a line of floding in a manner well known in the art. Each blank is conveyed sequentially to the embossing station 21, where the pleats 18 are embossed on the pre-printed blank. Thereafter, the blank is supplied to the cigarette packaging machine 22 to which the cigarette 23 is supplied. The cigarette packaging machine 22 folds the blank to form the pack 1 and fills the pack with the cigarette, which is provided on the inner frame 15 and can be wrapped with a foil (not shown).

To form the pack, the packaging machine 22 operates in a manner known in the art to fold the blank shown in Fig. 8 along a hatched fold line to make a pack. The blank 1 'comprises a front panel portion 2' and a rear panel portion 3 'connected by a base panel portion 6'. The lid includes a re-entrant flap 28-30 that is foldable inwardly to form the lid structure shown in Figs. 1-3, a lid top 24, a lid rear panel 25, a lid front panel 26 < RTI ID = 0.0 >). ≪ / RTI >

The side walls 4, 5 of the pack are formed from the panel portions 4 ', 4 ", 5', 5" which rest on the front and rear panel portions 2 ', 3', respectively. When the pack is folded, the panel portions 4 ', 4 "and the panel portions 5', 5" are overlapped and bonded together to form the side panels 4, 5.

The beveled edge 8 is formed from the region 8 'by folding along the hatched fold lines 31, 32. When assembled, the lid 7 can be hinged along the hinge line 11.

Initially, the blanks may be pre-printed with commerce and user information, but without corrugations 18 and 18a. The corrugations are subsequently applied at the embossing station 21, which can use an embossing tool as shown in FIG. Here, the preprinted blank 1 'is arranged in alignment with the embossing tool 34 shown in cross-section, moving in the direction of arrow A to emboss the surface of the blank. The embossing tool 34 comprises a series of concave corrugations 35 which are mirrors of the final convex corrugations 18 formed in the blank which are driven downward on the blank 1 ' The wrinkles are embossed into the blank to form the shape shown in Fig.

Thereafter, the embossed blank 1 'is supplied to the cigarette packaging machine 2 shown in Fig. 10 for assembly and filling as described above.

Within the scope of the present invention, various modifications and changes may be made to the pack described above. Although the same number of pleats 18 are shown on the front and rear panels 2 and 3 of the pack, other numbers may be used, for example fewer corrugations 18 compared to the front panel, 3). ≪ / RTI > Also, it is not necessary that the front panel is provided with corrugations 18, and a flat shape without wrinkles may be provided on a part of the panel surface.

Also, although the pack described above has an beveled edge 8, it may be removed therefrom such that the pack has a rectangular edge or a curved edge. In the case where a curved edge is provided, the corrugation 18 has the advantage that it can use a relatively thin board material that can be deformed into curved edges while providing rigidity to the front and rear surfaces of the pack.

The pleats 18 need not be the same width as described above and may have varying widths. Furthermore, the corrugation need not be straight and may have curved edges. It is not necessary for the corrugations 18 to extend over the entire width of the front and rear panels 2,3.

It should also be noted that the embossing tool for the embossing station 21 can be a rotary embossing device and other ways of forming bands or wrinkles, which are not necessarily accompanied by embossing, are also evident to those of ordinary skill in the art something to do.

Also, bands 18 may be preformed in the blank at the time of manufacture, so that the blanks held in the storage 20 already have bands, in which case the embossing station 21 is not required.

Although the present invention has been described in the context of a flip-top pack, it can also be used in other smoking product packs, e.g., containers that hold multiple flip-top cigarette packs, have.

It will be apparent that many other modifications and variations are within the scope of the following claims.

Claims (19)

A pack for a smoking article,
A front panel, a bottom panel, and an upper panel connected by opposed side panels,
Wherein the pack is formed from a sheet board stock material,
Wherein at least one of the panels has a plurality of horizontal bands including corrugations formed on the outer surface by compression of the board stock material within the thickness of the sheet material,
Wherein the horizontal band has a thickness greater than a region between the horizontal bands,
Pack for smoking products.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the upper panel comprises a cover,
Pack for smoking products.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the corrugations are formed only on the outer surface of the one or more panels without corresponding wrinkles or deformation of the board stock material on the inner surface of the one or more panels.
Pack for smoking products.
3. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
Wherein both the front and rear panels comprise the band,
Pack for smoking products.
3. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
Comprising one or more pleats on the cover,
Pack for smoking products.
3. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
Wherein the wrinkles have parallel side edges,
Pack for smoking products.
3. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
Wherein the corrugations extend between the side panels,
Pack for smoking products.
3. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
Wherein the sheet material comprises a card board,
Pack for smoking products.
3. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
Smoking products,
Pack for smoking products.
10. The method of claim 9,
Wherein the smoking article comprises a cigarette,
Pack for smoking products.
3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the top panel comprises a flip-top cover,
Pack for smoking products.
3. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
And an inner frame within the pack,
Pack for smoking products.
3. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
Wherein corner edges of the pack are oblique, curved,
Pack for smoking products.
WHAT IS CLAIMED IS: 1. A blank for producing a pack for smoking articles,
Front and rear panel portions, a bottom panel portion and a side panel portion and a portion for forming a cover,
Said blank being made from a sheet board stock material,
Wherein at least one of the panel portions has a plurality of horizontal bands including corrugations formed by compression within the thickness of the sheetboard stock material so that the panel portions are disposed on an outer surface of the pack when manufactured,
Wherein the horizontal band has a thickness greater than a region between the horizontal bands,
Blank for making packs for smoking products.
A method of making a pack for smoking products from a blank of board stock material,
Wherein the blank includes a front and rear panel portion, a bottom panel portion and a side panel portion and a portion for forming a cover,
Said blank being made from a sheet board stock material,
The method comprising forming a plurality of horizontal bands in the at least one of the panel portions, wherein the horizontal bands comprise corrugations formed in the thickness of the sheet material, wherein the corrugations are formed on the outer surface of the pack, Wherein said band is formed by compression bonding, said band having a thickness greater than a region between said bands.
A method for manufacturing a pack for smoking products from a blank.
16. The method of claim 15,
Feeding a continuous blank from the blank stock to the embossing station to form the band and feeding the squeezed blank to the cigarette packaging machine to form a pack filled with the cigarette,
A method for manufacturing a pack for smoking products from a blank. delete delete delete

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