MX2011005574A

MX2011005574A - A package for tobacco products.

Info

Publication number: MX2011005574A
Application number: MX2011005574A
Authority: MX
Inventors: Andrew Jonathan Bray
Original assignee: British American Tobacco Co
Priority date: 2008-12-09
Filing date: 2009-11-16
Publication date: 2011-06-16
Also published as: CN102245481A; KR20110102434A; AR074568A1; JP2012511478A; US20110303567A1; CL2011001367A1; CA2745502A1; TW201032742A; GB0822405D0; NZ593154A; EP2373552A1; AU2009326369A1; SG171845A1; BRPI0921951A2; WO2010066543A1; RU2011127900A

Abstract

A package for tobacco products comprises a container (3, 4) and an enclosure (2) of barrier material (15) for enclosing a charge of tobacco products. The enclosure of barrier material is located in the container and defines an access aperture. A moveable cover (7) extends over the access aperture and has a graspable tab (10). The container (3, 4) defines a window (14) overlying the tab (10).

Description

CONTAINER FOR TOBACCO PRODUCTS DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to containers for tobacco products, and in particular, to smoking articles such as cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos and loose tobacco. For convenience, in this specification it will be referred to as "cigarettes".

It is known to provide a barrier layer as an inner wrapper of a cigarette pack. The provision of a barrier layer greatly improves commercial shelf life in areas that have hostile weather conditions, especially in high temperature, high humidity areas.

WO 98/22367 discloses a cigarette pack having a body and an articulated lid. A barrier layer forms a closed enclosure within the body with an access opening to the enclosure. A cover is provided over the access opening with a tongue so that a user can hold it and pull it to expose the access opening. The tongue is forced against the surface of the underlying barrier layer material by means of the hinged lid. This can make the tongue difficult to hold.

One solution that allows the tongue to be easier to hold is to fold the tongue over itself with a 180 ° bend. This results in that a consumer is presented with a bottom side of the tongue when opening the hinged lid. The back of the tongue has a different surface finish than the outer surface and does not have a surface with a glossy finish such as that provided to the outer surface of the tongue, the cover and the barrier material.

The present invention provides a container for tobacco products comprising: a container, an enclosure of barrier material for enclosing a cargo of tobacco products, wherein the enclosure of barrier material is located in the container and defines an access opening , a movable cover extending over the access opening and having a clamped tab; wherein the container defines a window that is above the tongue.

In this way, the tongue is free of container pressure. This allows the user to more easily hold the tongue once the container is opened.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying figures, wherein: Figure 1 is a perspective view of the package according to the present invention with the lid closed; Y Figure 2 is a perspective view of the package according to the present invention with the lid open.

With reference to Figures 1 and 2, a package (1) for tobacco products according to the present invention is shown. The package (1) includes a closed charge (2) to contain a tobacco product, preferably cigarettes. The closed charge (2) is arranged in a container having a body (3) and an articulated lid (4). The body (3) has an edge (16) on a front side that is adjacent to a facing edge (17) of a front side of the lid (4) when the lid (4) is in a closed position.

The sealed charge (2) comprises a charge of cigarettes which optionally is located in an internal structure (not shown). The load (2) further comprises a layer of barrier material (15), which provides a closed enclosure around the cigarettes and, if present, the internal structure. The layer of barrier material (15) has an access opening through which the cigarettes can be removed. The access opening is defined by the edges (6) on the upper side of the load (2) and the edges (12) on the front side of the load (2) which are shown as dotted lines. The access opening is removably closed by a movable cover (7). The cover (7) preferably has the shape of a flap with a hinge line (5) on a surface of the barrier material (15). The articulation line is preferably located on a rear surface of the barrier material (15) or adjacent to the rear surface. The cover (7) is held in the barrier material (15) or integrally formed with the barrier material (15).

The cover (7) is provided with a tongue (10) at a distal edge of the articulation line (5). The tab (10) is sized so that a user can hold it to open the cover (7) and expose the access opening in order to remove a cigarette.

The cover (7) has side edges 8 which overlap with the barrier material on the upper side of the load (2) and side edges (9) which overlap with the barrier material on the front side of the load (2). ). A bottom surface of the cover (7) can be provided with a permanently tacky material to reusablely adhere to the underlying barrier material that is adjacent to the edges (6, 12). Alternatively, a permanently tacky material may be present in the barrier material (15) to mate with the cover (7). The tab (10) is at least partially free of the permanently tacky material and covers an anterior side of the barrier material (15).

The barrier material (15) can be manufactured, for example, from a metallized plastic laminate or from a plastic / metal foil laminate. The cover (7) and / or the tongue (10) can be made of the same material as the barrier layer (15).

A window (14) is formed in the container. The window (14) is an opening in the container formed between the edge (16) of the body (3) and the adjacent edge (17) of the lid (4). The window (14) preferably has the shape of a cutout or recess in the body (3). It is considered that the edge (16) extends along the periphery of the body (3) facing the lid (4) and thus the shape of the edge (16) is determined by the shape of the cutout. The cutout defines the lower and side edges of the window (14). The lid (4) preferably has a straight edge (17) defining the upper edge of the window. The edge (16) is an upper edge of the body (3) and the edge (17) is a lower edge of the lid (4) when the container is in the vertical position as shown in Figures 1 and 2. The window (14) is arranged to match the position of the tongue (10) when the cover (7) rests on the access opening. The tongue (10) is located in an open space formed by the window (14). The tongue (10) is visible through the window (14) even when the lid (4) is closed.

The window (14) is preferably rectangular and has a long side oriented across the width of the container, i.e., laterally across the front of the container. The angles of the window (14) can be rounded. The tongue (10) is also substantially rectangular, preferably with rounded corners with a long side extending laterally.

The window (14) preferably extends laterally at a distance that is smaller than the width of the external body (3). The window (14) preferably extends laterally at a distance that is greater than the width of the tongue (10). The vertical extension of the window (14), that is, in a longitudinal direction of the container (1), is preferably greater than the vertical extension of the tongue (10). The window (14) preferably has a width of between 10 mm and 80 mm and preferably has a width of between about 20 and 50 mm, preferably about 30 mm. The window (14) preferably has a vertical extension of at least 3 mm and preferably between 3 mm and 15 mm.

The tongue (10) is preferably configured to be entirely within the area of the window (14). As an alternative, only a part of the tongue (10) can be located inside the window (14). In particular, only a part of the tongue (10) that is distal of the cover (7) can be located within the window (14).

The tongue (10) is located in a free space when the hinged lid (4) is closed. Therefore, the tongue (10) is not forced against the underlying barrier material (15) which causes a consumer to easily grip the tongue (10) when the lid is open. The window (14) is an opening aligned with the tongue, so that the tongue is not constricted by the container. The container does not press the tab (10) against the underlying barrier material. All or at least one part and preferably a substantial part of an outer surface of the tongue (10) is visible through the window (14).

The outer surface of the tab (10) is continuous with an outer surface of the remainder of the cover and preferably also the rest of the barrier material (15). A continuous surface does not extend across an edge. The outer surface of the tongue (10) may be different than the inner surface of the tongue (10). The exterior surface may have a surface with a shiny finish and the interior surface may have an opaque finish. The cover (7) and the barrier material (15) preferably also have an exterior surface with a glossy finish and an interior surface with an opaque finish. The continuity of the external surfaces of the tab (10), the cover (7) and preferably the barrier material (15) means that the finished surface of each one faces outwards and is visible to the user. The continuity of the external surfaces means that the same side of the tongue (10) and the cover (7) face outwardly from the load (2). Therefore, the tab (10) does not fold 180 ° which would result in different sides facing outwards. The outer surface of the tongue (10) may have a logo or printed script that is visible through the window (14).

The tongue (10) does not need to extend through the window (14) in order to be visible or to be placed in the free space and thus the tongue (10) can be provided with a defined orientation that is independent of the window (14) and the body (3) and can be separated and / or angled with respect to the barrier material underlying. The tab (10) may be pre-inclined during manufacture to be positioned at a small angle to the underlying barrier material (15). The angle is preferably equal to 90 ° or less with respect to the barrier material and more preferably less than 45 ° with respect to the barrier material. The window (14) provides a free space in which the angle of the tongue (10) can be maintained, even when the hinged lid (4) is closed and the package (1) is distributed to the user.

Alternatively or additionally, an amount of adhesive material can be applied between the tab (10) and the underlying barrier material (15). The adhesive is arranged to deflect the tongue (10) away from the surface of the load (2) and make it easier for the user to hold the tongue (10). The tongue (10) can be held at an angle to the barrier material (15) by means of a point of adhesive or that is separate and parallel to the barrier material. A suitable adhesive is a hot melt adhesive which can be applied at a point or points to the barrier material (15). The tongue (10) preferably does not extend beyond the outer front surface of the container. Alternatively, the tongue (10) can extend beyond the outer front surface of the container.

The container is formed from a punch, which is preferably made of cardboard or a similar folding material. The package (1) is shaped in such a way that the tongue (10) is not constrained by the surrounding container. The tongue (10) is visible and accessible to a user when the hinged lid is closed. The container can be wrapped with a separable layer, for example cellophane.

The window (14) allows the tab (10) to be easily held because the tongue (10) is not pressed against the enclosure of barrier material. In addition, the window (14) allows the tongue to be freely angled or separated from the barrier material. This window also allows a user to see the tab (10) before the container is opened.

In order to extract a cigarette, the user first opens the lid (4). Then, the user grasps the tab (10) and pulls it to open the cover (7) to expose the access opening. Then, the user can extract the cigarette through the access opening. The user closes the container (1) by pulling the tab (10) towards the barrier material (15) to close the cover (7) and then closes the lid (4). Alternatively, the user can pull the tab (10) to simultaneously open the lid and cover.

The container may contain two separate enclosures, each containing a load of cigarettes. Each enclosure has an independent cover with a tongue. Alternatively, the container may contain a single enclosure having two separate covers with tabs. A single, wide window in the container can be aligned with both tabs. Alternatively, the container can define two separate windows, each aligned with a tab.

The window is described as defined by a cutout on the edge (16) of the external body. As an alternative, the window can be formed by means of a cutout on the lower edge (17) of the lid and a straight upper edge (16) of the body. As an alternative, the window can be shaped by means of a cutout in the upper right edge of the external body and by a cut in the lower edge of the lid.

The tongue was described as folded at an angle less than 90 ° or as an alternative, it can be folded at any required angle. The tongue can be folded by approximately 180 °. The folding can be carried out at the time the cover / label is applied or during the wrapping process. For example, the package can be wrapped (for example, with cellophane, as conventionally known) with the tongue folded 180 °, so that when the consumer opens the cellophane, the tongue (10) will be at an angle to of the underlying barrier material and it will protrude from the package so that a user can easily hold it. Additional details are specified in EP1102712.

The window (14) was described as defined between the lid (4) and the body (3). Alternatively, the window can be formed as an opening completely inside the lid (4). All sides of the window will be defined by the lid. Then, the window is independent of the lower edge of the lid (4) and the upper edge of the body (3). As an alternative, the window can be completely formed with the body (3). The lid was described as articulated with the body. The lid can be movable on the body in any way and, in particular, the lid can be non-articulated and can slide on the body.

The tongue was described as having an area smaller than the window and having a width less than the width of the window. Alternatively, the tongue may have an area larger than the area of the window and / or a lateral width greater than the width of the window and / or a height greater than the height of the window.

The window (14) was described on a front surface of the container. Alternatively, the window may be on a side surface of the container or on a rear surface of the container.

Claims

1. A container for tobacco products comprising: a container; an enclosure of barrier material for confining a cargo of tobacco products, wherein the enclosure of barrier material is located in the container and defines an access opening, a movable cover extending over the access opening and having a clamped tab; wherein the container defines a window that is above the tongue.

2. A container for tobacco products according to claim 1, wherein the tab is visible through the window when the lid is closed.

3. A container for tobacco products according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the container comprises a body and a lid, wherein the window is defined by an edge of the body and a facing edge of the lid.

4. A container for tobacco products according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the window is defined by a cutout on an edge of the body.

5. A container for tobacco products according to claim 4, wherein the window is further defined by a straight edge of the container lid facing the body.

6. A container for tobacco products according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the container comprises a body and a lid and the window is defined by a cutout on one edge of the lid.

7. A container for tobacco products according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein an outer surface of the tab visible through the window is continuous with an outer surface of the cover.

8. A container for tobacco products according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the tab is separated and / or angled from the underlying barrier material.

9. A container for tobacco products according to claim 8, wherein the tab (10) is pre-inclined to extend at a predetermined angle with respect to the underlying barrier material.

10. A container for tobacco products according to claim 8, wherein at least a portion of the tab is separated from the underlying barrier material by means of an adhesive.

11. A container for tobacco products according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the window has an area larger than an area of the clamped tab.

12. A container for tobacco products according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the tab is located at least in part within an area of the window and preferably entirely within an area of the window.

13. A container for tobacco products according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the cover is a flap attached to the enclosure of barrier material or integrally formed therewith.

14. A container for tobacco products according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the enclosure of barrier material surrounds an internal structure.

15. A package for tobacco products according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the barrier material enclosure contains a tobacco product and preferably contains cigarettes.

16. A container for tobacco products according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the lid is articulated with the body.

17. A container for tobacco products according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the window is substantially rectangular with a long side oriented along a width of the container.

18. A container for tobacco products according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the window extends over a length less than the width of the container.

19. A blank for forming the container according to any one of the preceding claims.

20. A container for tobacco products as previously described and shown, with reference to any one of the attached figures.