KR20180127354A - A container having a resealable inner package - Google Patents

Abstract

The container 10 (60) includes a housing 12 (62) including a box 14 (64) and a lead 16 (66) hinged to the box. An inner package (18; 68, 70) of the consumer material is housed within the box and has an upper opening (20) through which the consumable material can be removed when the lid (16) is in the open position; And a cover flap (22; 72, 74) that closes the opening. The container further comprises a single re-closable adhesive label (24; 76) releasably attached to the inner package (18; 68, 70). A re-closable label (24; 76) extends beyond the periphery of the opening and is provided with a resealable adhesive (24; 76) provided on the first area of the inner surface of the re- 68, 70 to be at least partially resting on the cover flaps 22 (72, 74) The front tab of the re-closable label 24 76 is permanently attached to the lid 16 so that when the lid 16 is opened the re-closureable label 24 76 is lifted from the inner package, 22; 72, 74).

Description

A container having a resealable inner package

The present invention relates to a container for consumer goods comprising an outer hinge lid box and two or more inner packages of consumer goods. In particular, the container of the present invention finds application as a container for elongated consumer items such as smoking articles.

The smoking article is typically packaged in a rigid hinge-lead container. The bundle of smoking articles contained in the box is typically wrapped in a metallized paper, a metal foil or an inner liner of other flexible sheet material, or a package. The sealed state of the inner package is understood by the consumer as evidence that the product inside the package is kept fresh at least until the initial opening of the container.

The container is known, for example, from WO-A-2008/142540 (GD), where the smoking article is releasably attached to the inner package using a non-drying adhesive applied to the underside of the cover flap Is enclosed in an inner package having an extraction opening that is removably closed by a cover flap. This makes the inner package resealable. A portion of the cover flap is permanently and irremovably bonded to the interior surface of the front wall of the lid such that opening and closing of the lid results in simultaneous opening and closing of the cover flap and repeatedly exposing and covering the extraction opening .

Also known is a container comprising two or more interior compartments, each housing a respective bundle of smoking articles wrapped in an inner package. This provides the consumer with a desirable opportunity to access the article in one package and use the article while the other package or article of packages is kept fresh and independent.

It would be desirable to provide a container for consumer goods that has enhanced usability and further promotes a personalized user experience. It would also be desirable to provide a condition in which the consumer article contained in the container is kept fresh for as long as possible.

It would be desirable to provide a container for consumer goods that solves the identified need above. It would also be desirable to provide a consumer container that provides consumers with a more convenient and customized approach to accessing consumer goods in the container. At the same time, it would be particularly desirable to provide such a container that can be easily manufactured using conventional high-speed manufacturing techniques with minimal deformation.

According to the present invention there is provided a container for a consumer product, the container for consumer goods comprising an outer housing, hinged to the box along a hinge line extending over the box and the rear wall of the outer housing, An outer housing including a lead pivotable about an axis; And an internal package of consumer goods. The inner package includes an upper access opening that is received within the box and from which the consumable material can be removed when the lid of the outer housing is in the open position. The inner package also includes a cover flap that closes the upper access opening of the inner package. The container further includes a single re-closable adhesive label releasably attached to the inner package and at least partially resting on the cover flap of the inner package. Wherein the re-closable adhesive label extends beyond the periphery of the access opening of the inner package and is secured to the cover by a resealable adhesive provided on the first area of the inner surface of the re-closable adhesive label extending around at least the front edge of the access opening. Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > at least < / RTI > partially over the flap. The lower tab of the re-closable adhesive label is permanently attached to the surface of the lid of the outer housing such that when re-opening the re-closureable adhesive label is lifted from the inner package to at least partially expose the cover flap.

As used herein, the terms "front," "rear," "upper," "lower," "upper," "lower," and " Quot; refers to the relative position of a portion of a container and its components in accordance with the present invention when the container is in an upright position with a hinge line. When describing a container according to the invention, these terms are used irrespective of the orientation of the container being described. The rear wall of the outer housing is a wall containing a hinge line. The access opening of the inner package is arranged in the upper portion of the inner package such that the access opening extends at least partially over the upper wall of the inner package. When the entire access opening is formed in the top wall of the inner package, the front edge of the access opening is in the front portion of the top wall of the inner package. When the access opening extends over the top wall and the front wall of the inner package, the front edge of the access opening is also the bottom edge of the access opening and is located in the upper portion of the front wall of the inner package.

The term "inner surface" is used throughout this specification to refer to the interior surface of a container, for example, the surface of a component of an assembled container facing the consumer when the container is in the closed position. Similarly, the term "outer surface" is used throughout this specification to refer to the surface of a component of a container facing outwardly of the container. For example, a re-closable adhesive label includes an outer surface facing the outer housing of the container and an inner surface facing the inner package and the interior of the consumer. It should be noted that the inner or outer surface need not necessarily be equivalent to the particular aspect of the blank used in the assembly of the container. Depending on how the blank collapses around the consumer material, the area on the same side of the container may face toward the inside or outside of the container.

The term "hinge line" refers to a line through which a lead can be pivoted to open a container. The hinge lines may be, for example, fold lines or graduation lines in the panel forming the rear wall of the container.

As used herein, the term "activatable" is used to describe an adhesive element that is supplied to a consumer in a non-sticky state so as not to stick to another component of the container. The activatable adhesive element requires that some form of activation on the part of the consumer be brought into an adhesive state for application to the other component.

Throughout this specification, the term "selectively activated" describes an adhesive element that can be selected by the consumer to transition from a non-adhesive state to an adhesive state by performing an activation (i.e., state-change) . Depending on the nature and structure of the adhesive element, different activation mechanisms are possible. The activatable adhesive element may be provided as a tacky adhesive which is protected by the covering element so that it can not stick to the other components of the container because direct cooperation of the adhesive element with the other surface is prevented. Thus, the adhesive element can be mechanically activated by removing the covering element to protect it and by exposing the adhesive element to the environment. Alternatively, the activatable adhesive element may be provided as an unprotected non-tacky substrate which may be made tacky by the supply of moisture, heat, pressure, and the like.

The term "longitudinal direction" refers to a direction from bottom to top or vice versa. The term "transverse direction" refers to a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction.

The term "width" is used to describe the dimensions of the label or flap component of the container when measured in the transverse direction. The term "height" is used to describe the dimensions of the label or flap element of the container when measured in a direction perpendicular to the width of the element. When describing a label or an element of a label, the reference usually consists of a flat label.

In the container according to the invention, the inner package of the consumer goods is received in the hinge lead outer housing. The inner package has an upper access opening through which the consumable material can be removed when the lid of the outer housing is in the open position. In contrast to conventional containers, the inner package includes a cover flap that occludes the access opening, and the container further includes a single reclosable adhesive label releasably attached to the inner package and at least partially resting on the cover flap do. Wherein the re-closable adhesive label extends beyond the periphery of the access opening of the inner package and is provided by the resealable adhesive provided on the first area of the re-closable inner surface extending around at least the front edge of the access opening, As shown in Fig. Also, the front tab of the re-closable adhesive label is permanently attached to the surface of the lid of the outer housing such that when re-opening the re-closureable adhesive label is lifted from the inner package to at least partially expose the cover flap. Also, the cover flap is completely removable from the inner package.

Thus, the re-sealable adhesive label provides a second protective layer over the cover flap to ensure that the freshness of the consumer material, which may be the case, for example, with a flavor or substance associated with flavor, is preserved by the double barrier.

To access the contents of the inner package, the consumer needs to at least partially release the cover flap from the inner package to expose the underlying access opening. Thus, the freshness of the consumer goods in the inner package is advantageously preserved up to such an instant. Also, in embodiments that include one or more additional inner packages, the freshness of the consumer goods contained in such additional inner packages housed within the same outer housing can be preserved for longer, As well as the consumption of the consumer goods contained therein. This advantageously helps preserve the freshness of the consumer goods in the container over an extended period of time.

The consumer is given the opportunity to personally verify the seal quality of the inner package when opening the container for the first time. It is also possible for the consumer to either completely remove the cover flap to make it completely "automatic " in that the opening and closing of a given internal package depends only on the reclosable adhesive label, You have the choice of manually opening and closing the flap.

Further, in an embodiment in which different internal packages include one or more additional internal packages containing different types of articles, the consumer may advantageously choose what type of article to consume first, or to open the cover flaps for any internal package and / You can choose whether the closure should be "automatic".

In general, the present invention allows the provision of novel containers associated with interesting and new routines for consumers. This can be advantageously unique, customized, and can result in unique products. In particular, implementations that include one or more additional internal packages provide an increased number of alternative ways of using the container to the consumer, as will become apparent from the following discussion.

In its most general terms, a container according to the present invention comprises an inner housing of an outer housing and a consumer. The outer housing includes a box and a lead hingedly connected to the box along a hinge line extending across the rear wall of the outer housing and pivotable about a hinge line between the open and closed positions. The inner package includes an upper access opening that is received within the box and from which the consumable material can be removed when the lid of the outer housing is in the open position. The inner package also includes a cover flap that closes the upper access opening of the inner package. The container further includes a single re-closable adhesive label releasably attached to the inner package and at least partially resting on the cover flap of the inner package. Wherein the re-closable adhesive label extends beyond the periphery of the access opening of the inner package and is secured to the cover by a resealable adhesive provided on the first area of the inner surface of the re-closable adhesive label extending around at least the front edge of the access opening. Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > at least < / RTI > partially over the flap. The front tab of the re-closable adhesive label is permanently attached to the surface of the lid of the outer housing such that the re-closureable adhesive label is lifted from the inner package to at least partially expose the cover flap when opening the lid. Preferably, the front tab of the re-closable adhesive label is permanently attached to the inner surface of the front wall of the lid. Also, the cover flap is completely removable from the inner package.

Preferably, the re-closable adhesive label is permanently attached to the connection portion of the inner package by a permanent adhesive provided on the second area of the inner surface of the re-closable adhesive label. In the inner package, the connecting portion is adjacent the upper access opening of the inner package and is located behind the upper wall of the inner package. This allows the re-sealable adhesive label to be secured to the inner package and the second area of the inner surface of the re-sealable adhesive label to function effectively as a hinge, centered on the hinge, the re- Is pivotable between a closed position lying against the top wall and an open position raised from the plane of the top wall of the inner package to expose the cover flap to the consumer. Because the re-sealable adhesive label is permanently secured to the inner package, it facilitates the consumer to move the label a significant number of times between the closed and open positions without compromising the opportunity to reseal the inner package.

More preferably, the third region of the inner surface of the re-closable adhesive label disposed between the first and second regions is substantially free of adhesive. Providing an area free of adhesive between the (permanently) attached area of the inner package and the (first) area releasably attached over the package and the cover flaps provides the re-closable adhesive label with an absolutely permanent . Thus, the cover flap can be easily separated from the inner package entirely without interfering with the connection between the re-closable label and the respective inner package.

Preferably, the height of the third area of the inner surface of the re-closable adhesive label is at least about 1 mm. More preferably, the height of the third area of the inner surface of the re-closable adhesive label is at least about 2 mm. Additionally or alternatively, the height of the third area of the inner surface of the re-closable adhesive label is preferably less than about 12 mm. More preferably, the height of the third area of the inner surface of the re-closable adhesive label is less than about 8 mm. In a preferred embodiment, the height of the third area of the inner surface of the re-closable adhesive label is from about 2 mm to about 8 mm.

In some embodiments, the box defines two or more volume portions internally, and the inner package is contained within one of the volume portions. The container includes at least one additional inner package of the consumable material, the additional inner package is received in the other one of the volume portions of the box, and each upper access opening, in which the consumable material can be removed when the lid of the outer housing is in the open position .

Preferably, the two or more volume portions are adjacent in a side-to-side configuration such that the access openings of the two or more inner packages received in the volume portion are aligned along the transverse axis of the outer housing. That is, the access opening of the inner package is on the left or right side of the access opening of the other inner package. Alternatively, the two or more volume portions may be contiguous in a front-to-back configuration such that the access openings of the two or more inner packages received in the volume portion are aligned along a direction perpendicular to the transverse axis of the outer housing There may be. That is, the access opening of the inner package is in front of or behind the access opening of the other inner package.

When the additional inner package does not have a cover flap, when the lid of the outer housing is opened and the re-closureable adhesive label is lifted from the inner package for the first time, the upper opening of the additional inner package is exposed, , While the upper opening of the (first) inner package is closed by the cover flap. Thus, the consumer can use the consumables contained in the additional inner package first, while the consumable contained in the (first) inner package can be preserved for longer than the combined protection of the cover flap and the resealable adhesive label. At the same time, however, at the same time, when the lid is reclosed, the re-closureable adhesive label effectively recloses the upper opening of the additional inner package, so that the consumable in the additional inner package is preserved between consecutive consumer accesses to the inner package. Thus, one such container can advantageously help preserve the freshness of the consumer goods in the container over an extended period of time.

Preferably, the further inner package comprises a respective cover flap for occluding the upper access opening of the further inner package, wherein the single re-closable adhesive label is at least partly provided on the cover flap of the further inner package by a resealable adhesive Is set. In such an embodiment, the outer housing houses two or more inner packages, each inner package having an upper access opening occluded by a respective cover flap. Thus, each inner package is provided with a double protection structure to preserve the freshness of the consumer goods contained in each package, and provides the greatest use flexibility to the consumer, as will become more apparent below. In fact, once the lid is first opened, the re-sealable adhesive label is lifted from the inner package and the cover flap is exposed, and each inner package is essentially usable independently of other inner packages or packages in the container.

In some preferred embodiments, the cover flap that closes the upper access opening of the inner package or additional inner package includes a cover adhesive label that is at least partially releasably attached to the respective inner package or additional inner package by a resealable adhesive And a resealable adhesive is provided on the first area of the inner surface of the cover adhesive label extending around at least the forward edge of the access opening of the inner package or additional inner package. Thus, in each inner package provided with one such cover flap, the double protective structure comprises two resealable layers.

Because the cover flaps are completely removable from the inner or additional inner package, the consumer can effectively customize the container. Advantageously, therefore, it is advantageous whether the consumer will maintain a double protective structure for the inner package, or whether the opening of the inner package will be effected automatically, resulting directly from the lifting of the open and re-closable adhesive label of the lid You can choose. In addition, if the container comprises two or more inner packages, the consumer may choose to remove the cover flaps from one inner package at a time, .

The re-closable adhesive label may include an adhesive-free area where the shape and size of the access opening of the inner package are corresponding. Thus, when the cover flap is removed and the lid is in the closed position with the adhesive label sealed in the inner package, this adhesive-free area covers the access opening of the inner package. This will prevent dust or small particles, such as tobacco shorts or other residues from the consumer material in the package, from sticking to the reclosable adhesive label. This may occur, for example, when the adhesive label is in contact with the consumer material in the inner package.

In some embodiments, the front tab of the cover flap is folded along a fold line about 180 degrees above the remainder of the cover flap. This is advantageous in that the cover flap is intended to be re-closureable, and both when the cover flap is completely removable from the inner package, to facilitate the pulling of the front tab by the consumer to peel the cover flap from the respective inner package. Do. Preferably, the folded front tab of the cover flap is substantially free of adhesive. This advantageously ensures that the cover flap is not inadvertently stuck to the surface of the re-closureable adhesive label or outer housing.

In such an embodiment in which the cover flap extends over the top wall and the front wall of the inner package, when the front tab is in fact also the bottom tab of the cover flap and folds about 180 degrees relative to the remainder of the cover flap, And is substantially placed in a vertical plane parallel to the front wall of the lid when in position. This makes it particularly easy for the consumer to peel the cover flap from the inner package by pulling the front tab upward. In such an embodiment, in which the cover flap extends only over the top wall of the inner package, when folded about 180 degrees relative to the remainder of the cover flap, the front tab is substantially parallel to the top wall of the lead, Plane.

Preferably, the fold line at which the front tab of the cover flap is folded is below the upper edge of the front wall of the box. When the inner frame is received in the box of the outer housing and the front wall of the inner frame extends beyond the upper edge of the front wall of the box, the fold line at which the front tab of the cover flap is folded is below the upper edge of the front wall of the inner frame . This advantageously allows a larger surface area of the access opening so that the access opening extends over the top wall and the front wall of the inner package and the first area of the inner surface of the re- And can continue to extend down to the upper edge. At the same time, this allows longer cover flaps. Such an arrangement has the additional advantage that the folded front tabs of the cover flaps during manufacture may not stick to the other elements of the container and may not interfere with other elements and remain snugly parallel to the inner package.

Preferably, the container comprises an activatable permanent adhesive element provided on the outer surface of the front tab of the cover flap, the adhesive element being selectively activated, and the front tab attached to the inner surface of the re- So that when opening the lid, the cover flap is lifted from the inner package to at least partially expose the access opening. This is advantageous in that it provides the user with additional options for customizing the container so that the cover flap can be structurally connected to the re-closureable adhesive label and the opening and closing of the cover flap can be made "automatic ". In fact, when moving the lid of the outer housing between the closed and open positions, also the re-closureable adhesive label and any cover flaps attached to the re-closureable adhesive label are also moved between their respective closed and open positions. Thus, the consumer may continue to rely on the combined action of the re-closable adhesive label and the cover flaps or flaps to provide the re-closable adhesive label, which is provided by the re-closable adhesive label affixed to the lid, It is possible to enjoy ease of use.

When the front tab of the cover flap is folded about 180 degrees as described above, the outer surface of the front tab is the surface facing the inner surface of the lid.

In some embodiments, the adhesive element is protected by a layer of backing material, and the backing material layer can be removed to expose and activate the adhesive element. Alternatively, the adhesive element may be a pressure sensitive adhesive or a water activatable adhesive or a thermally activatable adhesive.

Preferably, in an embodiment in which the container comprises an activatable permanent adhesive element on the outer surface of the front tab, a fourth region of the inner surface of the re-closable adhesive label, which overlies the front tab of the cover flap when the lid is in the closed position, There is substantially no adhesive. This ensures that the front tab of the cover flap is not inadvertently stuck to the reclosable adhesive label. In addition, when the adhesive element is mechanically protected by the backing material layer, this ensures that the backing material layer is not inadvertently removed by sticking to the re-sealable adhesive label. More preferably, the height of the fourth area of the inner surface of the re-sealable adhesive label is at least about 1 mm. Even more preferably, the height of the fourth region of the inner surface of the re-closable adhesive label is at least about 2 mm. Additionally or alternatively, the height of the fourth region of the inner surface of the re-sealable adhesive label is preferably less than about 12 mm. More preferably, the height of the fourth region of the inner surface of the re-closable adhesive label is less than about 8 mm. In a preferred embodiment, the height of the fourth area of the inner surface of the re-closable adhesive label is from about 2 mm to about 8 mm.

Additionally or alternatively, the height of the fourth region of the interior surface of the re-closable adhesive label is at least 1 mm greater than the height of the front tab of the cover flap.

The container according to the invention finds particular application as consumer goods, in particular as elongated consumer goods, for example containers for smoking articles. However, they can also be used for some other types of consumer goods.

The outer housing may be formed of a blank of any suitable material or combination of materials, including, but not limited to, a cardboard, a paperboard, a plastic, a metal, or a combination thereof. Preferably, the blank is a laminated cardboard blank having a weight of from about 100 g / m2 to about 350 g / m2.

The container may optionally include an outer wrapper that is preferably a transparent polymer film of, for example, high density or low density polyethylene, polypropylene, oriented polypropylene, polyvinylidene chloride, a cellulose membrane, or a combination thereof, Are applied in a conventional manner. The outer wrapper may include a release tape. Also, the outer wrapper may be printed with images, consumer information, or other data.

Preferably, the inner package is formed of a metal foil or a metallized paper. The inner package material may be formed as a laminate of a metallized polyethylene film and a liner material. The liner material may be a super calendared glassine paper. Also, the inner package material may be provided with a printable aqueous topcoat.

Materials suitable for re-sealable adhesive labels and cover flaps will be known to those skilled in the art. Similarly, some resealable adhesives and permanent adhesives suitable for use in containers according to the present invention are commercially available and will be known to those skilled in the art.

The outer housing is preferably a rectangular parallelepiped comprising two wider walls spaced by two narrower walls. The hinge-lid housing of the container according to the invention may be in the form of a rectangular parallelepiped having a right-angled longitudinal edge and a right-angled transverse edge. Alternatively, the hinged lid housing may include at least one round longitudinal edge, a round transverse edge, a sloping longitudinal edge or an inclined transverse edge, or a combination thereof.

The invention will now be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
1 is a schematic perspective view of a container according to the invention;
Figure 2 is a schematic top view of the inner surface of an adhesive label used in a container according to the present invention;
Figure 3 is a schematic top view of the outer surface of the adhesive label of Figure 2;
Figure 4 is a schematic top view of a cover flap used in a container according to the present invention;
Figure 5 is a schematic top view of the access opening of the container according to the invention; And
Figure 6 is a schematic perspective view of another embodiment of a container according to the present invention.

Figure 1 shows a container 10 according to the invention. The container 10 includes an outer housing 12 which is rectangular parallelepiped and includes a box 14 and a lid 16. The lead 16 is hinged about a hinge line extending across the rear wall of the housing 12 and is pivotable between an open position (shown in FIG. 1) and a closed position. The container 10 also includes an inner package 18 of the smoking article contained within the box 14. The inner package 18 includes an access opening 20 (shown schematically in Figure 5) that extends over the top and front walls of the inner package. The smoking article contained in the inner package 18 can be removed through the access opening when the lid 16 is in the open position. The inner package includes a cover flap (22) that closes the access opening (20).

The container also includes a single re-closable adhesive label 24 releasably attached to the inner package 18. When the lid is in the closed position, the re-closable adhesive label 24 rests on the cover flap 22. [

5, the re-closable adhesive label 24 extends beyond the periphery of the access opening 20 and includes a re-closureable adhesive label 24 extending around at least the forward edge 26 of the access opening 20 (Shown schematically in Figure 4) by a resealable adhesive provided on the first area 40 of the inner surface of the inner surface 24 of the cover flap 22 .

The front tabs 42 of the re-closureable adhesive label are permanently attached to the surface of the lid 14 of the outer housing 12. As shown schematically in Fig. 3, this is achieved by providing a permanent adhesive on the area 50 of the outer surface of the re-closable adhesive label. Thus, when opening the lid 14, the re-closable adhesive label 24 is lifted from the inner package 18 to expose the opening 20 at least partially.

The re-closable adhesive label 24 is permanently attached to the connection portion of the inner package 18 by a permanent adhesive provided on the second area 44 of the inner surface of the re-closable adhesive label 24 Reference). In the inner package 18, the connecting portion is adjacent to the upper access opening 20 of the inner package and is located behind the upper wall of the inner package. There is substantially no adhesive in the third region 46 of the inner surface of the re-closable adhesive label disposed between the first region 40 and the second region 44. [ The height of the third region 46 is about 2 mm.

The cover flap 22 includes a cover adhesive label at least partially releasably attached to the inner package by a resealable adhesive and the resealable adhesive extends around the front edge of the access opening of the inner package 18 Is provided on the first area of the inner surface of the cover adhesive label. The cover flap 22 is completely removable from the inner package 18. The consumer can conveniently pull the front tab 23 of the cover flap and there is no adhesive on the inner surface of the front tab so that the inner surface does not stick to the outer surface of the inner package 18. [ There is substantially no adhesive in the fourth region 48 of the inner surface of the re-closable adhesive label 24 that rests on the front tab 23 of the cover flap 22 when the reed is in the closed position.

Figure 6 shows another embodiment of a container 60 according to the present invention. The container 60 is hinged about an hinge line extending over the rear wall of the outer housing 62 and an outer housing 62 that includes a box 64 and includes an open position (shown in Figure 6) Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > 66 < / RTI > The container 60 includes a first and a second inner package 68, 70, each including an upper access opening (not shown). The inner package 68, 70 includes a respective cover flap 72, 74 that occludes each opening. The container 60 also includes a single re-closable adhesive label 76 releasably attached to both the inner packages 68, 70 and overlying the cover flaps 72, 74. More specifically, the re-closable adhesive label 76 extends beyond the perimeter of all of the access openings of the inner package 68, 70, and extends over at least the inner surface of the re-sealable adhesive label 74 on the cover flaps 72, 74 by a resealable adhesive provided on the region of the cover flaps 72, 74.

The front tabs 78, 80 of the cover flaps 72, 74 are folded about 180 degrees relative to the remainder of each cover flap. Permanent adhesive elements are provided on the outer surface of each of the front tabs 78, 80. Each such adhesive element can be selectively activated such that each forward tab 78, 80 can be independently attached to the interior surface of the re-closureable adhesive label 76 so that when opening the lid 66 The cover flaps 72, 74 of the inner package 68, 70 are lifted from the respective inner package 68, 70 to at least partially expose the underlying access opening.

In an alternative embodiment (not shown), the container according to the present invention is substantially identical to the container 60 of FIG. 6 and only the first one of the two inner packages covers the access opening And is different from the container 60 in that it includes In contrast, the access opening of the second inner package is covered only by the re-closureable adhesive label so that access to the contents of the second inner package is automatically granted to the consumer when the lead is first opened. Thus, while the consumer can use the goods in the second package, the cover flap continues to provide double protection against the contents of the first inner package until the consumer chooses to remove the cover flap.

Claims (14)

As containers for consumer goods:
An outer housing, the outer housing comprising:
box; And
A lead hinged to the box along a hinge line extending across the rear wall of the outer housing and pivotable about a hinge line between an open position and a closed position;
The container comprising an inner package of the consumable material, the inner package being contained within the box and comprising an upper access opening through which the consumable material can be removed when the lid of the outer housing is in the open position; The inner package comprising a cover flap closing the upper access opening of the inner package;
Wherein the container further comprises a single re-closable adhesive label releasably attached to the inner package and at least partially resting on the cover flap of the inner package, wherein the re-closable adhesive label extends beyond the periphery of the access opening of the inner package Attached to the inner package such that it is at least partially resting on the cover flap by a resealable adhesive provided on a first area of the inner surface of the re-closable adhesive label extending around at least the front edge of the access opening;
The front tab of the re-closable adhesive label is permanently attached to the surface of the lid of the outer housing such that when re-opening the re-closureable adhesive label is lifted from the inner package to at least partially expose the cover flap;
Wherein the cover flap is completely removable from the inner package. 2. The package of claim 1, wherein the re-closable adhesive label is permanently attached to a connection portion of the inner package by a permanent adhesive provided on a second area of the inner surface of the re-closable adhesive label, Is located adjacent the upper access opening of the inner package and behind the upper wall of the inner package. 3. The container of claim 2, wherein the third region of the interior surface of the re-closable adhesive label disposed between the first and second regions is substantially free of adhesive. The container for consumer goods according to claim 3, wherein the height of the third region of the inner surface of the re-closable adhesive label is at least about 1 mm. 5. A package according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the box defines two or more volume portions internally, the inner package being received within one of the volume portions; The container includes at least one additional inner package of the consumable material, the additional inner package is received in the other one of the volume portions of the box, and each upper access opening, in which the consumable material can be removed when the lid of the outer housing is in the open position And a container for consumer goods. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the additional inner package comprises a respective cover flap that occludes the access opening of an additional inner package, wherein a single reclosable adhesive label is releasably attached to the additional inner package, Wherein the re-closable adhesive label extends beyond the perimeter of the access opening of the further inner package and has at least a portion of the inner surface of the re-closable adhesive label extending around at least the front edge of the access opening of the further inner package Is attached to the further inner package such that it is at least partially resting on each cover flap by a resealable adhesive provided on the region. 7. A package according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the cover flap comprises a cover adhesive label at least partially releasably attached to the inner package by a resealable adhesive, Is provided on a first area of an inner surface of a cover adhesive label extending around at least the front edge of the access opening. 8. A container according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the front tab of the cover flap folds along a fold line about 180 degrees on the remainder of the cover flap. 9. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising an activatable permanent adhesive element provided on an outer surface of the front tab, the adhesive element being selectively activated, the front tab being attachable to an inner surface of the re- So that when opening the lid, the cover flap is lifted from the inner package to at least partially expose the access opening. 10. The container of claim 9, wherein the adhesive element is protected by a backing material layer and the backing material layer is removable to expose and activate the adhesive element. A method according to any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein when the lid is in the closed position, a fourth region of the interior surface of the re-closable adhesive label lying over the front tab of the cover flap is substantially free of adhesive, Container. 12. A folding device according to any one of claims 8 to 11, wherein the fold line at which the front tab of the cover flap folds is below the upper edge of the front wall of the box or below the upper edge of the front wall of the inner frame housed in the box Wherein the front wall of the inner frame extends beyond an upper edge of the front wall of the box. 12. The container for consumer goods according to claim 11, wherein the height of the third region of the inner surface of the pre-closable adhesive label is at least about 1 mm greater than the height of the front tab of the cover flap. 14. The container for consumer goods according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the consumable is a smoking article.

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