WO2016097748A1

WO2016097748A1 - A bundle of smoking articles

Info

Publication number: WO2016097748A1
Application number: PCT/GB2015/054063
Authority: WO
Inventors: Stephen Lewis; Isaak MUSTAFA
Original assignee: British American Tobacco (Investments) Limited
Priority date: 2014-12-18
Filing date: 2015-12-17
Publication date: 2016-06-23
Also published as: AR103179A1

Abstract

Bundle (13) comprising a charge (2) of smoking articles wrapped in a barrier layer (3). The barrier layer (3) has a top face (3a) extending across the ends of said smoking articles and a front face (3b) extending along the length of said smoking articles which meets the top face at a crease (14). A slit (21) in said barrier layer extends along a portion of said crease between the top and front faces.

Description

A Bundle of Smoking Articles

Field

The present invention relates to a bundle that comprises a charge of smoldng articles and a barrier layer wrapped about the charge. The invention also relates to a pack of tobacco industiy products containing the bundle according to the invention and to a method of manufacturing the bundle.

Background

A pack for smoking articles has a base and a hinged lid which covers an open end of the base. A charge of smoking articles wrapped in a barrier layer to form a bundle is received in the base so that it protrudes from an open end of the base. Access to the smoldng articles is obtained when the hinged lid is pivoted into its open position and at least part of the barrier layer is removed.

Summary

According to the present invention, there is provided a bundle comprising a charge of smoldng articles wrapped in a barrier layer that has a top face extending across the ends of said smoking articles, a front face extending along the length of said smoldng articles which meets the top face at a crease, wherein a slit is formed in said barrier layer that extends along a portion of said crease between the top and front faces.

Preferably, a line of weakness is provided in said top face that, together with the slit, defines a peripheiy of a section of the top face that is separable along said line of weakness.

In one embodiment, the slit has opposite ends and the line of weakness extends unbroken between said ends across the top face to form a closed figure and so that said section detaches completely when said line of weakness is broken along its full length.

In another embodiment, the slit has opposite ends and a line of weakness extending from each end across the top face that do not meet each other, so that said section remains partially attached when said lines of weakness are broken along their length. The barrier layer may be formed from a tearable material such that said section is torn out of the top face to form said extraction opening. In another embodiment, a recess is formed in the front face between a pair of adjacent smoking articles, said recess extending from said portion so that the top face protrudes beyond the front face over an end of the recess to enable a user to contact an underside surface of the top face to facilitate the detachment of a section of the top face to form opening therein for the extraction of smoking articles from the bundle.

Preferably, the barrier layer comprises a bottom face extending across the opposite ends of the smoldng articles parallel to and spaced from the top face, and the recess extends the full length of said front face between said top and bottom faces.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a pack comprising a base, a lid pivotally attached to the base, and containing a bundle according to the invention. An inner frame extends from said base and surrounds the bundle and the frame has a cut out region to enable a user to access said portion through said region.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a bundle according to the invention, comprising the step of cutting a slit in a barrier layer prior to wrapping it around a charge of smoldng articles so that, when wrapped, the slit extends along a portion of a crease between a top face of the barrier layer extending across the ends of said smoldng articles and a front face that extends along the length of said smoldng articles.

In a preferred embodiment, the method includes the step of deforming the front face, after the charge of smoking articles has been wrapped, to form a recess between a pair of adjacent smoking articles that extends from said portion so that the top face protrudes beyond the front face over an end of the recess.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a hinged-lid pack of smoking articles with the lid in a closed position according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 shows a perspective view of a bundle of smoking articles that is received within the pack of Figure 1, according to a first embodiment;

Figure 3 shows a perspective view of a bundle of smoking articles that is received within the pack of Figure 1, according to a second embodiment;

Figure 4 shows the hinged-lid pack of Figure 1 with the lid in an open position and with the bundle of Figure 3 received therein, and;

Figure 5 shows the hinged-lid pack of Figure 4 after removal of the barrier layer section from the top face of the barrier layer to form an extraction opening. Detailed Description

Figure 1 shows a hinged-lid pack 1. Pack 1 contains a charge 2 (see Figure 4) of tobacco industry products in the form of smoking articles or cigarettes. The charge 2 is wrapped in a flexible barrier layer 3, which may be formed from a paper or foil laminate, or from some other kind of protective wrapping material, to form a wrapped bundle 13, as shown in Figure 2. The barrier layer 3 has a top face 3 a, which extends across the ends of the smoking articles and, a front face 3b which extends over the side of the smoking articles to a bottom face 3c. The top and front faces 3a, 3b are separated by a crease 14 which is formed as a result of folding the barrier layer 3 around the charge of smoking articles 2. The smoking articles contained within the bundle 13 are arranged in rows surrounded by the barrier layer 3, which holds the smoking articles in position. For example, twenty smoking articles may be arranged in three rows (7-6-7). Alternatively, fourteen smoking articles maybe arranged in three rows (5-4-5) or twenty smoking articles may be arranged in two rows of ten smoking articles. The pack 1 has a base 4 with a front wall 5, a rear wall 6 parallel to the front wall 5 and spaced therefrom by opposing side walls 7, 8. A bottom wall 9 closes a lower end of the base 4. The charge 2 is preferably wrapped in the barrier layer 3 to form the bundle 13 so that the top face 3a of the barrier layer 3, i.e. the portion of the barrier layer 3 that extends over the upper end of the charge 2 of smoking articles, is continuous and without joined edges or folds.

A lid 10 is attached to the rear wall 4 and is pivotable about a hinge 11 between a closed position, as shown in Figure 1, and an open position, as shown in Figures 3 and 4. The lid 10 has walls that correspond to the base 4 so that, when the lid 10 is in a closed position, the walls of the lid 10 align with the walls of the base 4 and the lid 10 is separated from the base 4 by a shut-line 12. An inner frame 15 (see figure 3 and 4) is received within, and is attached to, the base 4 so that it protrudes from the open end of the base 4 and surrounds the wrapped bundle 13 of smoking articles. The inner frame 15 has a front wall 16 that extends partially over a front face 3b (see Figures 3 and 4) of the barrier layer 3, and two opposing side walls 17, 18 that extend rearwardly from either side of the front wall 13 so as to partially surround the wrapped bundle 13. It will be appreciated that, when the hinged lid 10 is closed, it covers the inner frame 15 as well as the bundle 13 of smoking articles protruding from the base 4. As shown, the inner frame 15 may extend beyond the plane occupied by the top face 3a of the barrier layer 3. This is particularly the case if the smoldng articles, and so the bundle 13, are shorter than the pack 1 in which the bundle 13 is received so that a space or void is formed between the top face 3b and an upper wall 10b of the lid 10 of the pack 1 when the lid 10 is closed. With reference to Figure 2 , it will be appreciated that the top face 3a of the barrier layer 3 has a removable section 19, whose periphery is defined by a line of weakening 20, and a slit 21 that extends along a portion of the crease 14 and along which the top face 3a meets the front face 3b. When the section 19 is removed, an extraction opening 25 (see Figure 4) is formed in the top face 3a of the barrier material 3 to enable one or more smoking articles of the charge 2 to be extracted through said extraction opening 25.

In the modified embodiment of Figure 3, the front face 3b of the barrier layer 3 is provided with a depression or recess 22 that extends from said crease 14 and, more particularly, from the slit 21 formed along a portion of the crease 14. The recess 22 preferably extends for the full length of the front face 3b, as will be apparent from Figure 2. The recess 22 is formed by forming or otherwise manipulating the barrier layer 3 after it has been wrapped about a charge of smoldng articles 2 so that it deforms into a space between a pair of adjacent smoking articles and conforms to the shape of the smoldng articles in this region.

As a result of forming the recess 22 in the front face 3a of the barrier layer 3, the top face 3b has a small area or region 23 that overhangs or extends over the end of the recess 22 formed in the front face 3b (region 23 is shown in Figure 4 where it can be seen that the top face 3b overhangs the end of the recess 22 which is shown in dashed lines where it is covered by region 23). This enables a consumer to engage the underside of the small area or exposed region 23 of the top face 3b by inserting a fingernail or part of a finger into the recess 22 in the front face 3b and drawing it upwardly towards the top face 3a to engage and lift the top face 3a, breaking a section of it along the line of weakness 20 to form the extraction opening 25. Alternatively, a consumer may be able to grip the exposed region of the top face 3b between their thumb and forefinger to enable them to lift the top face 3b and break the lines of weakness 20 to detach the section 19 and form the extraction opening 25.

It will be appreciated that the line of weakness 20 may form a closed shape, together with the slit 21 in the crease 14, so that the section 19 of the top face 3a is removed completely. However, in another embodiment, there may be a separate line of weakness 20 extending from the each end of the slit 21 which do not meet each other. The top face 3a may therefore tear or separate along each line of weakness 20 but remain attached to the remainder of the top face 3b of the barrier layer 3.

In another embodiment, there may be no lines of weakness 20 and the section 19 of the top layer 3a may simply tear in response to a lifting force applied to it.

The front wall 16 of the inner frame 15 may have a cut out 26 to enable a user to access the recess 22 through said cut out 26 in the inner frame 15.

A tobacco industry product refers to any item made in, or sold by the tobacco industry, typically including a) smoking articles, cigarillos, cigars, tobacco for pipes or for roll- your-own smoking articles, (whether based on tobacco, tobacco derivatives, expanded tobacco, reconstituted tobacco or tobacco substitutes); b) non-smoking products incorporating tobacco, tobacco derivatives, expanded tobacco, reconstituted tobacco or tobacco substitutes such as snuff, snus, hard tobacco, and tobacco heating devices; and c) other nicotine-delivery systems such as inhalers, aerosol generation devices including e-smoking articles, lozenges and gum. This list is not intended to be exclusive, but merely illustrates a range of products which are made and sold in the tobacco industiy.

As used herein, the term "smoldng article" includes smokeable products such as smoldng articles, cigars and cigarillos whether based on tobacco, tobacco derivatives, expanded tobacco, reconstituted tobacco or tobacco substitutes and also heat-not-burn products and other nicotine delivery product such as aerosol generation devices including e-smoldng articles. The smoking article may be provided with a filter for the gaseous flow drawn by the smoker.

In order to address various issues and advance the art, the entirety of this disclosure shows by way of illustration various embodiments in which the claimed invention(s) may be practiced and provide for superior bundle comprising a charge of smoking articles. The advantages and features of the disclosure are of a representative sample of embodiments only, and are not exhaustive and/or exclusive. They are presented only to assist in understanding and teach the claimed features. It is to be understood that advantages, embodiments, examples, functions, features, structures, and/or other aspects of the disclosure are not to be considered limitations on the disclosure as defined by the claims or limitations on equivalents to the claims, and that other embodiments may be utilised and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Various embodiments may suitably comprise, consist of, or consist essentially of, various combinations of the disclosed elements, components, features, parts, steps, means, etc. In addition, the disclosure includes other inventions not presently claimed, but which may be claimed in future.

Claims

Claims l. A bundle comprising a charge of smoking articles wrapped in a barrier layer that has a top face extending across the ends of said smoking articles, a front face extending along the length of said smoking articles which meets the top face at a crease, wherein a slit is formed in said barrier layer that extends along a portion of said crease between the top and front faces.

2. A bundle according to claim l, comprising a line of weakness in said top face that, together with the slit, defines a periphery of a section of the top face that is separable along said line of weakness.

3. A bundle according to claim 2, wherein the slit has opposite ends and the line of weakness extends unbroken between said ends across the top face to form a closed figure and so that said section detaches completely when said line of weakness is broken along its full length.

4. A bundle according to claim 2, wherein the slit has opposite ends and a line of weakness extending from each end across the top face that do not meet each other, so that said section remains partially attached when said lines of weakness are broken along their length.

5. A bundle according to claim 1, wherein said barrier layer is formed from a tearable material such that said section is torn out of the top face to form said extraction opening.

6. A bundle according to any preceding claim, comprising a recess in the front face between a pair of adjacent smoldng articles, said recess extending from said portion so that the top face protrudes beyond the front face over an end of the recess to enable a user to contact an underside surface of the top face to facilitate the detachment of a section of the top face to form opening therein for the extraction of smoking articles from the bundle.

7. A bundle according to claim 6, wherein the barrier layer comprises a bottom face extending across the opposite ends of the smoking articles parallel to and spaced from the top face, said recess extending the full length said front face between said top and bottom faces.

8. A pack comprising a base, a lid pivotally attached to the base, and the bundle of any of claims l to 7, protruding from said base, wherein an inner frame extends from said base and surrounds the bundle, the frame having a cut out region to enable a user to access said portion through said region.

9. A method of manufacturing a bundle according to any of claims 1 to 7, comprising the step of cutting a slit in a barrier layer prior to wrapping it around a charge of smoking articles so that, when wrapped, the slit extends along a portion of a crease between a top face of the barrier layer extending across the ends of said smoldng articles and a front face that extends along the length of said smoking articles.

10. A method according to claim 9, including the step of deforming the front face, after the charge of smoking articles has been wrapped, to form a recess between a pair of adjacent smoldng articles that extends from said portion so that the top face protrudes beyond the front face over an end of the recess.

11. A bundle substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.