This application is the National Phase of International Application PCT/IB01/02160 filed Nov. 15, 2001 which designated the U.S. and that International Application was published under PCT Article 21 (2 ) in English.
The present invention relates to a rigid wrapper with a hinged lid for tobacco products.
In the following specification, the term ‘rigid wrapper’ can be taken to mean both a carton containing a plurality of packets of cigarettes, and a single packet containing a group of cigarettes or tobacco products in general.
Generally considered, rigid wrappers of the type in question with a hinged lid are box-like wrappers of rectangular parallelepiped shape designed, in the case of a carton, to accommodate several packets of cigarettes assembled into a group, and in the case of the single packet, to accommodate an ordered group of cigarettes enveloped by an inner wrapper normally of metal foil paper.
The rigid wrapper comprises a container of cupped embodiment surmounted by a similarly cupped lid hingedly attached to a rear edge of the container and rotatable thus between positions in which the container is open and shut, respectively. Such a wrapper will normally present a top face, a bottom face, a rear face appearing as a continuous panel divided into two parts by a transverse hinge crease along which the lid is connected to the container, also a front face composed of two distinct portions coinciding respectively with the front of the container and the front of the lid, and two flank faces each composed of two distinct portions coinciding respectively with a flank of the container and a flank of the lid.
The container and the lid are fashioned typically by bending a single flat diecut blank of paperboard or similar material to the requisite shape.
Rigid wrappers of the type thus outlined are provided usually with a reinforcing frame also of paperboard or similar material, part of which is positioned internally of the container and disposed in contact with the relative inside faces of the front and flanks. The portion of the frame that projects from the container functions essentially as a supporting and restraining element for the lid when in the closed position.
Rigid wrappers of this type are manufactured conventionally by associating the groups of cigarettes, enveloped in their inner wrappers, with respective frames cut separately from a continuous strip of paperboard material other than the blank used to fashion the rigid wrapper, or alternatively by utilizing blanks with the frame incorporated.
In the latter instance, in particular, the prior art embraces the use of a flat diecut blank presenting a central panel that corresponds to the front of the rigid wrapper fashioned from the blank, and a frame associated with one end of this same panel by way of an intermediate panel, or alternatively, the frame can be attached at two points to the ends of two lateral panels corresponding to the flank faces of the rigid wrapper. A frame of this type is folded double during the process of erecting the wrapper, and fixed to the inside face of the central panel.
In the event that the frame is cut from a separate strip of paperboard as aforementioned and then united with the group of cigarettes, the packer machine must necessarily be equipped with two wrapping lines, one for the wrappers and one for the frames, synchronized in operation one with the other. In the examples mentioned previously, where the frame is incorporated as an integral part of the wrapper blank, the blank will tend to be somewhat complex and costly in terms of the quantity of wrapping material consumed, and moreover the packer machine must be equipped with a dedicated unit for folding the frame double against the central panel of the blank.
The object of the present invention is to provide a rigid wrapper with a hinged lid suitable for cartons and for packets of cigarettes, such as will be unaffected by the drawbacks described above.
The stated object is realized according to the present invention in a wrapper of rigid type with a hinged lid for tobacco products, substantially parallelepiped in shape and referable to a predominating longitudinal axis, with a front face, a rear face, two flank faces, a top end face and a bottom end face, comprising a container and a lid hinged together along a hinge line, also a reinforcing frame, and fashioned from a flat diecut blank, characterized in that the blank comprises a central panel, two lateral panels flanking the central panel and an end panel connected to the central panel by way of one of the lateral panels, all of which aligned along a first axis, also an appendage aligned with the central panel along a second axis perpendicular to the first, connected to the central panel and destined to form the lid, and in that the reinforcing frame is afforded by predetermined portions of the end panel and of the lateral panels.
The invention will now be described in detail, by way of example, with the aid of the accompanying drawings, in which:
With reference to
More particularly, the wrapper 1 presents a front face 7, a rear face 8, two side or flank faces 9, a top end face 10 and a bottom end face 11. The front face 7, rear faces 8 and flank faces 9 are joined one to the next by respective sharp corner edges 12 extending parallel to the longitudinal axis 2.
The wrapper 1 comprises a container 13 affording an open top end 14, surmounted by a lid 15 hinged to the container 13 along a relative hinge line 16 and rotatable thus between an open position (illustrated in
The container 13 presents a front 17 and a back 18, mutually opposed and parallel, two mutually opposed and parallel flanks 19 perpendicular to the front and back 17 and 18, and a bottom 20 coinciding with the bottom end face 11 of the wrapper 1.
The lid 15 presents a front 21 and a back 22, two flanks 23, and a top 24 coinciding with the top end face 10 of the wrapper 1.
The container 13 incorporates a frame 25 created by deforming the front 17 and the flanks 19, and more exactly by embossing a predetermined portion 17a of the front 17, delimited uppermost by an edge of U profile, and corresponding predetermined portions 19a of the flanks 19. These predetermined portions 17a and 19a are identifiable thus as embossed areas, denoted 26 and 27 respectively, delimited by respective embossed lines 28 and 29 which in turn combine to establish an edge 30 receding from the planes occupied by the front 17 and flanks 19 and affording a lip against which the lid 15 locates when in the closed position.
In the example of
In the example of
In particular, the carton 3 of
Referring to
The aforementioned main portion 40 presents four first precreased fold areas 49 disposed transversely to the first axis 38, serving to delimit the central panel 41, which coincides with the rear face 8 or back of the wrapper 1, the lateral panels 42 which coincide with the flanks 19 of the container 13, the end panel 43 which coincides with the front 17 of the container 13 and terminates uppermost in a top edge of U profile, and the end flap 44 which will be breasted with the inside face of the end panel 43 to seal the container 13 laterally. The main portion 40 also presents a first crease line 50 disposed parallel to the transverse axis 38, delimiting a first end fold 51 associated with the end panel 43, a second end fold 52 associated with the central panel 41 and two flaps 53 associated each with a respective lateral panel 42. The second end fold 52 and the flaps 53 will be breasted ultimately with and secured to the inside surface of the first end fold 51, combining with the latter to make up the bottom 11 of the wrapper 1.
The appendage 45 presents second, third and fourth crease lines denoted 54, 55 and 56 respectively, extending parallel to the first crease line 50 on the main portion 40. Of these, the second crease line 54 constitutes the line along which the appendage 45 is joined to the central panel 41 and combines with the third and the fourth crease lines 55 and 56 to delimit the first panel 46 constituting the top end face 10 of the wrapper 1, the second panel 47 constituting the front 21 of the lid 15, and the reinforcing flap 48 which will be folded double and flattened against the inside surface of the front 21.
The first panel 46 of the appendage 45 presents a first pair of lateral flaps 57 associated with the two edges of the panel 46 located on opposite sides of the second axis 39. The flaps 57 are joined to the panel 46 along respective crease lines 58 disposed transversely to the first axis 38, aligned on the aforementioned precreased fold areas 49 separating the central panel 41 from the two lateral panels 42 and extending parallel with the longitudinal second axis 39. Similarly, the second panel 47 of the appendage 45 presents a second pair of lateral flaps 59 delimited by second precreased fold areas 60 extending transversely to the first axis 38 and in alignment with the crease lines 58 mentioned previously.
As illustrated in
The two lateral panels 42, the end panel 43 and the end flap 44 of the main portion 40 are crossed by respective embossed lines denoted 65 in their entirety, departing from the opposite ends of the hinge crease line 61, which comprise two sections 66 extending from the ends of the crease line 61, angled toward the first axis 38 and occupying the two lateral panels 42, also two sections 67 and 68 extending parallel with the first axis 38 and occupying the end flap 44 and the end panel 43, respectively. More exactly, the three sections 66, 67 and 68 in question serve to delimit embossed areas on the lateral panels 42 coinciding with the relative embossed areas 27 of the wrapper 1, hence denoted by the same number 27, and an embossed area on the end panel 43 coinciding likewise with the relative embossed area 26 of the wrapper 1, hence denoted by the same number 26; these embossed areas 26 and 27 combine with an embossed area at the top of the end flap 44 to create the reinforcing frame 25.
In the example of
Similarly, the second precreased fold areas 60 consist in crease lines 69 appearing as sharp corner edges 12 on the lid 15 of the finished wrapper 1.
Accordingly, the first end fold 51 associated with the end panel 43 and the first panel 46 of the appendage 45 both present right angles at the four corners.
In the example of
Accordingly, the first end fold 51 associated with the end panel 43, the second end fold 52 and the first panel 46 of the appendage 45 present truncated angles at the four corners.
In the example of
Accordingly, the first end fold 51 associated with the end panel 43, the second end fold 52 and the first panel 46 of the appendage 45 present rounded angles at the four corners.
In the example of
Accordingly, the first end fold 51 associated with the end panel 43, the second end fold 52 and the first panel 46 of the appendage 45 present angles composed each of a sharp corner 75 and a curved portion 76 which in the finished wrapper 1 will be aligned respectively on the end of a corresponding crease line 72 and on the end of a corresponding plurality of crease lines 73.
It will be appreciated that the wrappers 1 illustrated as cartons 3 in
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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BO2000A0676 | Nov 2000 | IT | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/IB01/02160 | 11/15/2001 | WO | 00 | 5/20/2003 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO02/40379 | 5/23/2002 | WO | A |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20040035722 A1 | Feb 2004 | US |