Patent Application
20080128301
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to European Application No. 06125140.1, filed Nov. 30, 2006, the entire content of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
The present invention relates to an improved slide and shell container that finds particular application as a pack for elongate smoking articles such as cigarettes.
It is known to pack smoking articles and other consumer goods in containers comprising an outer shell or sleeve and an inner slide or drawer mounted in the outer shell for slidable movement relative thereto. To access goods housed in the inner slide of such “slide and shell” containers, a consumer pushes or pulls the inner slide from an initial closed position, in which the inner slide is surrounded by the outer shell, to an open position, in which a portion of the inner slide projects outwardly from the outer shell in order to expose an open end or side of the inner slide through which the goods may be removed.
Containers of this type are known for example from U.S. Pat. No. 4,646,960 which discloses a slide and shell container comprising an outer shell with an u-shaped stopper flap on the inside of the rear wall of the outer shell. The inner slide of the slide and shell container comprises a box portion and a lid portion hinged to another at the rear wall of the inner slide. The inner slide further comprises a u-shaped stopper flap on the rear wall of the box portion of the inner slide which is aligned in an opposite direction then the stopper flap on the inside of the rear wall of the outer shell. When the outer shell and the inner slide are moved relative to each other, the two opposing stopper flaps engage with each other and stop the opening movement at a predetermined position. However, because of the additional stopper flaps known high-speed manufacturing machines cannot readily be used for the production of these known containers without a complicated and expensive adaptation, if such an adaptation is possible at all. As a consequence these containers are made by hand which is a severe limitation, in particular when high quantities of these types of containers are required.
It would be desirable to provide a container which may at least partially be manufactured on common high-speed manufacturing machines with no or only minor adaptation of these machines.
According to the invention there is provided a container comprising an outer shell, wherein the outer shell comprises a outer shell front wall, a outer shell rear wall, left and right outer shell side walls and an outer shell stopper flap, and wherein the outer shell at least partially embraces an inner slide, wherein the inner slide comprises a box portion, wherein the box portion of the inner slide comprises a box bottom wall, a box front wall and a box rear wall and a inner slide stopper flap, wherein the inner slide further comprises a lid portion, wherein the lid portion of the inner slide comprises a lid top wall, and wherein the lid portion of the inner slide is hinged to the box portion of the inner slide at the box rear wall and wherein the outer shell stopper flap and the inner slide stopper flap interact with each other and limit the movement between the outer shell and the inner slide when opening the container, wherein the box front wall comprises the inner slide stopper flap and the outer shell front wall comprises the outer shell stopper flap.
Preferably, the box portion of the inner slide further comprises left and right box side walls. Preferably, the lid portion of the inner slide further comprises also left and right lid side walls and a lid front wall. Preferably, the outer shell further comprises a shell bottom wall.
The container according to the present invention allows for the preparation of the inner slide on known manufacturing machines. For example, conventional blanks for making hinge-lid cigarette containers can be modified by simply reducing the size of the flap forming the box front wall, for example by about 2, 3 or 4 centimeters. In a container according to the present invention the box front wall serves as the inner slide stopper flap and its upper edge can interact with the outer shell stopper flap. Irrespective of this modification of the conventional blank of a hinge-lid container regular machinery can still be used.
During the opening of the container and the movement of the outer shell and the inner slide the inner slide stopper flap and the outer shell stopper flap move towards each other until their edges engage, stopping the opening movement. Under normal handling conditions the outer shell is movable relative to the inner slide but is not separable therefrom.
Preferably, the lid portion of the inner slide comprises lateral extension flaps of the lid top wall. These improve the grip on the lid portion of the inner slide and thus facilitate the opening of the container. In this embodiment the shell side walls may or may not cover the lid side walls. The grip on the inner slide may further be improved by a suitable surface treatment of the lid portion of the inner slide that enhances friction, for example locally applied anti-slipping varnish or suitable embossed patterns or any combination thereof.
Instead or in addition to the above-described means to improve the grip on the inner slide of the container, it is also possible to provide means allowing pushing the box portion of the inner slide out of the outer shell in order to open the container. For that purpose at least one of the outer shell front wall, the outer shell rear wall, the left outer shell side wall, the right outer shell side wall and the outer shell bottom wall has a cut-out. For example, a cut-out may be in the outer shell bottom wall with a rectangular, circular or ellipsoidal shape and a size allowing insertion of one or more of the consumer's fingers to open the container. In a further preferred embodiment there are provided cut-outs in the outer shell rear wall and in the outer shell front wall or cut-outs in each of the outer shell side walls, each having a width corresponding roughly to the width of a finger and a length which is adapted to the distance of the opening movement. Thus, the width of these cut-outs is preferably about 1 cm to about 2 cm and in particular about 1.5 cm and the length is preferably about 2 cm to about 4 cm, in particular about 3 cm. In a third preferred embodiment there are cut-outs in the outer shell bottom wall and the outer shell front wall which are connected to each other so that one single cut-out extending from the outer shell bottom wall into the outer shell front wall results. It is also possible to provide cut-outs in the outer shell bottom wall and the outer shell rear wall.
The box rearwall may be hinged directly to the lid top wall. Alternatively, the lid portion of the inner slide contains in addition to the lid top wall also a lid rear wall and preferably also lid side walls and a lid front wall and the box rear wall is then hinged to the lid rear wall. In this preferred version the combined box and lid portions correspond to a regular hinge-lid container as it is commercially available in particular for cigarettes, however, with the box front wall being reduced in size.
Preferably, the box portion of the inner slide has left and right box side walls and the lid portion of the inner slide has left and right lid side walls. It is then further preferred that the size and shape of these side walls are adapted to each other such that when closing the lid the lower edges of the lid side walls lie directly on the upper edges of the box side walls and thus form the combined side walls of the inner slide. In an alternative preferred embodiment the width of the lid front wall slightly exceeds that of the box front wall so that as a consequence the lid side walls partially embrace the box side walls. In order to avoid an increased thickness of the lid in the closed position compared to that of the box, the front edges of the box side walls have cut-outs. These cut-outs are adapted in size to the lid front wall. Thus, the length of the cut-outs along the edge of the box side walls corresponds to the length of the lid front wall in the same direction. The depth of these cut-outs corresponds preferably to the thickness of the lid wall and the thickness of the blank used for making the inner slide or, if an enforcement flap is provided on the inside of the lid front wall, preferably to twice the thickness of the lid front wall.
Preferably, the container further comprises an inner frame between the outer shell and the inner slide attached to the inner slide. Preferably the inner frame extends into the lid portion of the inner slide to improve the closure of the inner slide. Preferably the inner frame comprises a cut-out at the upper edge to facilitate the access to the cigarettes or other consumer goods housed inside the inner slide.
Preferably, the container is a container for elongate smoking articles such as cigarettes. Preferably, the cigarettes inside the container are bundled in an inner wrapper. Preferably, the container houses one single bundle, two bundles or three bundles. If two separate cigarette bundles are present one may contain 13 cigarettes and the other may contain 7 cigarettes for a container housing 20 cigarettes. If three separate cigarette bundles are present one may contain 6 cigarettes and the other two may each contain 7 cigarettes for a container housing 20 cigarettes. Each bundle may contain elongate smoking articles of a different type.
Elongate smoking articles of a different type are for example, cigarettes, cigars or cigarillos comprising different types of tobacco having unique characteristic flavours and aromas, such as Burley, Oriental and Virginia tobacco, which are used alone or in varying amounts in tobacco blends to produce brands of cigarettes having different characteristic flavours. In addition, both plain cigarettes and cigarettes having many different types of filter tips are available as well as cigarettes of differing length and circumference, for example cigarettes of conventional size, king size, super-king size, slim size or super-slim size. Additionally, cigarette types may differ in strength of flavour, total particulate matter delivery and nicotine delivery. Furthermore, cigarettes containing flavourings such as menthol are also available.
Where the inner slide of a slide and shell container according to the present invention houses one or more bundles of cigarettes or other smoking articles, the smoking articles are preferably wrapped in an inner liner of, for example, metal foil, plastic or metallised paper. Preferably, the inner liner may be formed from a material with a high barrier property to enhance the retention of flavor inside the bundle. This may be especially suitable for mentholated cigarettes. Additionally, the inner liner may comprise a means to reclose or reseal the bundle.
The dimensions of the outer shell correspond to the above-described dimensions of the container provided the outer shell completely covers the box front, rear and bottom wall and the lid front and rear wall. However, it is also possible that the outer shell, in addition to only a partial coverage of the lid side walls, does not cover or only partially cover the lid front or the lid rear wall or both. Finally, it is also possible that the outer shell does not cover any lid wall and only partially covers the box front, rear and side walls. The dimensions of the outer shell are then correspondingly reduced compared to the dimensions of the container as detailed above.
Preferably, the external dimensions of the inner slide of the container according to the present invention are substantially the same as the internal dimensions of the outer shell thereof. In use, frictional forces generated between inner surfaces of the outer shell that overlie and abut outer surfaces of the inner slide resist slidable movement of the inner slide within the outer shell between the closed position and the open position, thereby advantageously preventing opening and closing of the slide and shell container without the application of a positive force by a consumer.
The outer shell and the inner slide of slide and shell containers according to the invention may be formed from the same or different materials. The outer shell and the inner slide of containers according to the invention may, for example, be formed from cardboard, paperboard, plastic, metal or combinations thereof of from any other suitable material.
Preferably, the outer shell and the inner slide are formed from folded laminar blanks, more preferably from folded laminar cardboard blanks.
The outer or inner surface of the outer shell or the inner slide of slide and shell containers according to the present invention may be printed, embossed or otherwise embellished (for example, using labels or stickers) with manufacturer or brand logos, trade marks, slogans or other consumer information and indicia or any combination thereof.
The outer shell and the inner slide of slide and shell containers according to the invention may have right-angled longitudinal edges, right-angled transverse edges, rounded longitudinal edges, rounded transverse edges, beveled longitudinal edges, beveled transverse edges or any suitable combination thereof.
For example, by scoring in a known manner laminar cardboard blanks from which the outer shell and the inner slide are erected, a “rounded-corner” slide and shell container of smoking articles or other consumer goods according to the invention may be formed. Additionally, the inner slide may be formed like any existing hinge-lid container with a modified box front wall such as a hinge-lid container with a triangular, rectangular, square, trapezoidal, hexagonal, octagonal, oval, circular, semi-circular, ellipsoid or any other cross section.
Slide and shell containers of elongate smoking articles or other consumer goods according to the present invention may be shrink wrapped or otherwise over wrapped with a transparent polymeric film of, for example, polyethylene or polypropylene in a conventional manner. Where slide and shell containers according to the invention are over wrapped, the over wrapper may include a tear tape.
The invention will be explained in more detail in the following. There are shown in:
To produce the inner slide 10, 20 the side-surface flaps 113 and 114 are folded upwards by 90 degrees. Then flaps 112, 117 and 111 are each folded upwards by 90 degrees and attached to the respective side-surface flaps 113 and 114 to provide the final box part 10. Similarly the lid portion 20 is formed. In addition, strengthening flap 140 is bent inwardly and attached to flap 122.
Extension flaps 141 serve to provide a constant thickness or depth of the final inner slide 10, 20. When the blank is folded as described above, flap 112, 117 forming the box front wall 12 reaches exactly to the lower edge 142 of extension flap 141. When the blank is folded as described above, flap 122 (including the inwardly bend strengthening flap 140) forming the lid front wall 22 reaches exactly to the upper edge 143 of extension flap 141. The thickness of the extension flaps 141 corresponds about to the thickness of the box front wall 12 and the lid front wall 22 so that the missing side wall thickness between the upper edge of the box front wall 12 and the lower edge of the lid front wall 22 is compensated by extension flaps 141.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 06125140.1 | Nov 2006 | EP | regional |
