WO2016083442A1

WO2016083442A1 - Container comprising a closed spacer

Info

Publication number: WO2016083442A1
Application number: PCT/EP2015/077625
Authority: WO
Inventors: Julie VEDANI
Original assignee: Philip Morris Products S.A.
Priority date: 2014-11-28
Filing date: 2015-11-25
Publication date: 2016-06-02
Also published as: EP3224148A1

Abstract

The container for consumer articles comprising a box portion and a spacer. The spacer is mounted within the box portion, is hollow, has a non-rectangular cross section and comprises at least one wall and a cap which is located at the top of the spacer and which closes the entire cross section of the spacer. The present invention is also directed to a blank for forming the spacer element and to a method of forming a container comprising a box portion and the spacer element.

Description

CONTAINER COMPRISING A CLOSED SPACER

The present invention relates to a novel container for housing consumer articles. The container of the present invention contains a spacer and finds particular application as a container for elongate consumer articles, such as smoking articles; in particular cigarettes.

It is known to package consumer articles in containers formed from folded laminar blanks. Elongate smoking articles, such as cigarettes and cigars, are commonly sold in rigid box shaped containers, such as hinged lid containers having a box portion and a lid connected to the box about a hinge line extending across the rear wall of the container. In use, the lid is pivoted about the hinge line to open the pack and so gain access to the smoking articles held in the box.

In some cases, there is the need to provide containers that are larger in size than the volume occupied by the consumer articles within the container. This may result in there being empty space within the container so that the consumer articles are more likely to be displaced or shaken within the container during transport.

In order to overcome this problem, GB 2 206 328 discloses a cigarette package comprising a planar spacer element which is located between the foil bundled cigarettes and the rear wall of the package to take up the space difference between the foil bundle and the box enclosure. The planar spacer has a thickness sufficient to take up the remaining space in the package and is as wide as the interior of the package. However, the planar spacer in GB 2 206 328 is not flexible, i.e. once the first cigarettes have been removed from the package by the consumer an empty space results. Thus, the remaining cigarettes can be displaced or shaken during the continued use of the package.

It would be desirable to provide an improved container for consumer articles such that the consumer articles are effectively held within a given portion of the internal volume of the container even after the removal of the first consumer articles.

In addition, it would be desirable to be able to provide a spacer which consumes less material for making same.

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a container for consumer articles, the container comprising: a box portion and a spacer wherein the spacer is mounted within the box portion. The spacer element is hollow. It comprises at least one wall. The cross section of the spacer is non-rectangular. The spacer further comprises a cap which is located at the top of the spacer and which closes the entire cross section of the spacer. The open construction of the spacer increases the flexibility of the container, because the walls of the spacer can extend to a certain degree after removal of the first consumer articles. Thus even after removal of the first consumer articles the remaining consumer articles are still prevented from free movement and displacement within the container.

The hollow structure of the spacer element ensures a lightweight construction with minimal material requirements. In this context the term "hollow" does not necessarily mean that the spacer completely surrounds an inner space. Instead some side walls of the hollow volume defined by the spacer may also be formed by the box portion of the container.

The spacer can be further used in order to transport information to the consumers, and to lend a pleasing design to the container. In particular the non-rectangular cross section of the spacer may enhance customer perception. At the same time the spacer may also accommodate the remaining collation of consumer goods. This is particularly advantageous when the consumer goods are rod shaped.

The cap covering the entire cross section of the spacer also enhances consumer perception. At the same time the cap may add to rigidity of the spacer and the container. Preferably the cap is hinged to the at least one wall of the spacer. By hingedly connecting the cap to one wall of the spacer, a single blank can be used as basis for the spacer, with minimal additional effort during manufacture of the container.

The angle between the cap and the at least one wall of the spacer is preferably about 90 degrees. Preferably all sides of the spacer can be closed. Alternatively the spacer can be open at least one of its sides.

Preferably the cross section of the spacer is triangular, circular or oval. Triangular cross sections of the spacer can easily be achieved by folding laminar blanks from sheet material, like paper or cardboard. Circular or oval structures may increase the appearance of the container.

In a further preferred embodiment one or more wings are attached to the at least one wall of the spacer. The wing structure increases flexibility of the spacer element, such that the stabilising effect of the spacer with respect to consumer articles remaining in the container is enhanced.

The spacer and the container can be formed from any suitable material including paper, cardboard, plastic, thermoformed plastic or molded plastic material. The material of the spacer and of the container can be identical. However, the material of the spacer can also be different from the material used for the container.

Preferably, the spacer covers about 10 volume percent to about 60 volume percent, more preferably about 20 volume percent to about 50 volume percent and in particular preferably about 25 volume percent to about 45 volume percent of the box portion.

The box portion of the container preferably comprises a box front wall, a box rear wall and two box side walls extending between the box front wall and the box rear wall and wherein the container optionally further comprises a lid portion comprising a lid front wall, a lid rear wall and two lid side walls extending between the lid front wall and the lid rear wall.

Preferably the height of spacer is larger than the width of the spacer. Further preferably the height of the spacer is the same as the height of the box portion of the container.

Preferably the consumer articles to be packages within the container are smoking articles.

The invention is also directed to a process for preparing a container for consumer articles, comprising the steps of:

(a) providing a main blank for forming a box portion,

(b) forming the box portion comprising a box front wall, a box rear wall, two box side walls extending between the box front wall and the box rear wall from the main blank,

(c) providing a spacer blank for forming a spacer,

(d) forming the spacer which is hollow, comprises at least one wall, has a non- rectangular cross section, comprises a cap which is located at the top of the spacer and which closes the entire cross section of the spacer from the spacer blank, and

(e) introducing the spacer into the box portion of the container.

The invention will now be further described with reference to exemplary embodiments as shown in the figures.

Figure 1 shows an embodiment of a blank for a spacer to be used with a container according to the invention;

Figure 2 shows an embodiment of a blank for a separate cap for a spacer element;

Figure 3 shows an embodiment of a blank for a spacer according to be used with a container according to the invention;

Figure 4 shows a cross section of a container for consumer articles comprising the spacer formed from the blank of Figure 3.

In Figure 1 a blank for forming a spacer 10 according to the present invention is depicted. The blank comprises four side wall elements 12, 14, 16 and 18 and a cap 20. The cap 20 is connected to side wall element 14 and comprises two lateral flaps 22, 24. The blank is folded at the folding lines between individual side walls 12, 14, 16, 18. Side wall elements 12 and 18 are overlapping and are preferably fixed to each other in order to maintain the spacer 10 in the desired shape with triangular cross section. The cap 20 is hingedly connected to side wall 14 and is folded by 90 degrees in order to close the entire upper open face of the spacer 10. The lateral flaps 22, 24 of the cap 20 can be used in order to fix the cap 20 at the sidewalls 12, 16 of the spacer 10.

In a further embodiment of the present invention the spacer is formed by two separate blanks. The first blank is similar to the blank shown in Figure 1 , with the exception that the triangular cap element is omitted. Thus the first blank exclusively consists of four side walls 12, 14, 16, 18. The blank is folded as the blank in Figure 1 , and overlapping side walls 12 and 18 may be fixed to each other. In this way a cylindrical spacer 10' with triangular cross section and two open ends is obtained.

The second blank is depicted in Figure 2 and is used for forming a cap 20 suitable for closing entirely one open end of the spacer. The cap 20 is formed from a triangular wall 20' having a cross section that corresponds to the cross section of the spacer 10. At each side of the triangular wall element flaps 22', 24' and 26' are provided. The flaps 22', 24' and 26' are folded by 90 degrees. The cap 20 is placed on the upper end of spacer 10 in order to act as closure for the spacer 10'. If desired the flaps 22', 24' and 26' can be fixed to the respective side walls of the spacer 10'.

In Figure 3 a further blank for forming a spacer element 10 of the present invention is depicted. The blank comprises again four sidewalls 12", 14", 16", 18" and a cap 20". The cap 20" is connected to side wall 14" and comprises two lateral flaps 22", 24". In Figure 4 a top view of the spacer 10 formed from the blank of Figure 3 is depicted. The blank is folded at the folding lines between individual side walls 12", 14", 16", 18". Side walls 14" and 16" and cap 20" are folded similar to the corresponding sections of the blank of Figure 1. Flap 22" is folded in a 90° angle with respect to the cap 20" and is fixed to the spacer side wall 16". The two outer side walls 12" and 18" of the spacer element are folded outwardly from the triangular base are of the spacer element and are aligned in the direction of the edge 28 of the cap 20". Thus, in this embodiment only side walls 14", 16" and the cap 20" form the closed hollow spacer, while the two side-walls 12", 18" define wings which extend from the volume of the spacer 10. When positioned in a container for smoking articles, the spacer is positioned such that the side walls 12", 18" lie adjacent to the back wall of the cigarette container as depicted in Figure 4.

Claims

1 . A container for consumer articles, the container comprising:

a box portion and

a spacer wherein the spacer

(i) is mounted within the box portion,

(ii) is hollow,

(iii) comprises at least one wall,

(iv) has a non-rectangular cross section, and

(v) further comprises a cap which is located at the top of the spacer and which closes the entire cross section of the spacer.

2. A container according to claim 1 wherein the cap is hinged to the at least one wall of the spacer.

3. A container according to claim 2 wherein the angle between the cap and the at least one wall of the spacer is about 90 degrees.

4. A container according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the spacer is open at at least one of its sides.

5. A container according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein all sides of the spacer are closed.

6. A container according to any one of the preceding claims wherein one or more wings are attached to the at least one wall.

7. A container according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the cross section of the spacer is triangular, circular or oval.

8. A container according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the spacer covers about 10 volume percent to about 60 volume percent, preferably about 20 volume percent to about 50 volume percent and in particular preferably about 25 volume percent to about 45 volume percent of the box portion.

9. A container according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the box portion comprises a box front wall, a box rear wall and two box side walls extending between the box front wall and the box rear wall and wherein the container optionally further comprises a lid portion comprising a lid front wall, a lid rear wall and two lid side walls extending between the lid front wall and the lid rear wall.

10. A container according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the height of spacer is larger than the width of the spacer.

11. A container according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the height of the spacer is the same as the height of the box portion.

12. A container according to any of the preceding claims wherein the consumer articles are smoking articles.

13. A blank for forming the spacer according to one of the preceding claims.

14. A process for preparing a container for consumer articles, comprising the steps of:

(a) providing a main blank for forming a box portion,

(c) providing a spacer blank for forming a spacer,

(e) introducing the spacer into the box portion of the container.