Patent Application
20180029398
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for marking a package of articles, especially consumer articles, such as smoking articles including cigarettes or the like, or other consumables. The present invention also provides a marked package of articles obtained by such a method and/or apparatus.
The method and apparatus of the invention is especially suited to the processing and marking of packs of smoking articles, such as cigarette packs or the like, and particularly to the provision of a product code and/or product data, such as a batch number or expiry data specific to the packaged article(s). The package itself may typically take the form of a carton, container, or box, preferably made of paper or card, although other materials may also be contemplated. Importantly, however, it will be noted that the method and apparatus of the invention are not limited to this packaging application, but may be suited to, and employed for, marking a package of a range of other articles, especially consumer articles.
Conventionally, cigarette packs are separately or individually wrapped in a clear plastic or polymer film to seal and protect the packs against external influences, such as moisture and dust, and to maintain the freshness of the product therein. Furthermore, the individual cigarette packs are typically additionally grouped (e.g. into groups of 10) and then wrapped as a group in a clear plastic or polymer film prior to being packaged again as a group in a larger carton or box. As it is useful and desirable to mark not only individual cigarette packs, but collected or bundled groups of those packs as well, the present invention is directed to the task of providing a new and improved concept for a method and apparatus of marking packages that is particularly suited to packs of smoking articles. The marking concept should desirably be convenient and user-friendly and be adaptable to both individual packs and to collected or bundled groups of packs.
In accordance with the invention, a method of marking a package of one or more articles having the features as recited in claim 1 is provided. Further, the invention provides an apparatus for marking a package of one or more articles having the features as recited in claim 13. A number of preferred or advantageous features of the invention are recited in the dependent claims.
According to one aspect, therefore, the invention provides a method of marking a package of articles, especially consumer articles, such as cigarettes or the like, the method comprising:
In this way, the invention provides a method with which it is possible to perform the desired marking of the package, and particularly the enclosure or container of the package, after the package has been wrapped with the first wrapping material. In this regard, it will be appreciated that the step of wrapping the package with the first wrapping material comprises covering at least the region of the package to be marked with the first wrapping material, and typically substantially entirely covering and/or enclosing the package with the first wrapping material. Thus, the marking of the package enclosure occurs through the first wrapping material, in particular via the laser beam. The invention is also advantageous in enabling the marking of a package to occur after the wrapping step because after wrapping some packages may be rejected due to an inadequate quality of the wrapping. Thus, in the event the marking includes a code for tracking a package, such as a cigarette pack, from a production or manufacturing site to retail consumer, the inventive method allows a defective wrapped package to be removed prior to marking. This is significant as a database of tracking codes need not be amended or updated to record the fact that a package or pack pre-marked with a code has subsequently been rejected.
In a preferred embodiment, the region of the enclosure to be marked includes a surface or coating which is sensitive to irradiation with the laser beam, such that the light of the laser beam marks that region. Thus, the step of providing a marking on the region typically comprises irradiating the region to be marked in a particular pattern or design in order to inscribe, print or provide the marking with the desired information. In this regard, the laser beam may be moved over the region to trace or inscribe the desired information of the marking. Alternatively, the laser beam may be irradiated or projected as an image, e.g. through a stencil, diaphragm, or screen, which contains the desired marking. To this end, a surface of the region to be marked may preferably include a coating, such as an ink layer, that is sensitive to the laser beam. That is, the coating or surface may react to the light irradiated with laser beam to form a mark on the surface of the package. For example, the laser beam may act to remove an ink layer in the region to be marked to expose a substrate of a different colour below the ink, such that the contrast between the colour of the ink and the colour of the substrate provides a readily visible marking. The marking provided or formed with the laser beam may preferably comprise a code and/or data specific to the packaged article(s), such as a production batch number and/or expiry data.
In a preferred embodiment, the first wrapping material is substantially unaffected by the laser beam; that is, the first wrapping material is preferably neither burnt nor broken by the laser beam. Expressed another way, the laser beam is desirably selected such that it does not substantially affect the first wrapping material, e.g. such that it does not perforate or burn or cut the first wrapping material. In this regard, the first wrapping material is preferably a polymer film which comprises a material that is selected from the group consisting of polypropylene, polyethylene, polyester, polyvinylchloride, and bio-plastic, such as polylactic acid, cellulose acetate, and cellophane. In this regard, it will be appreciated that the first wrapping material is preferably a film laminate or a layered film in which one or more of the above materials is present and/or predominates. In a particularly preferred form, the first wrapping material is a film laminate comprising polypropylene (such as an oriented polypropylene) with one or more acrylic layers (such as an inner layer or coating and/or an outer layer or coating of acrylic). The first wrapping material is desirably provided in a sheet or web for wrapping the at least one package.
In a preferred embodiment, the package, and especially the enclosure or container of the package, comprises a material selected from the group consisting of: paper, card, and cardboard. Thus, the laser beam is preferably configured to mark the paper, card, or cardboard of the package through the first wrapping material. In an alternative embodiment, a plastic material could be contemplated for the package.
In a preferred embodiment, the laser beam with which the wrapped package is irradiated to provide the marking on the region of the enclosure has a wavelength in the range of 1000 to 1100 micrometres (μm), and particularly preferably of about 1062 micrometres (μm). Furthermore, the laser beam desirably has a power in the range of about 1 Watt to about 100 Watt, more preferably in the range of about 20 Watt to about 50 Watt, and most preferably of about 30 Watt. The laser beam is preferably irradiated onto the wrapped package via one or more wave guide, and especially via one or more optical fibre. In this regard, the laser is preferably a fibre laser.
In a particularly preferred embodiment, a plurality of the packages are provided and wrapped with the first wrapping material, especially individually or separately wrapped with the first wrapping material. The method may then further comprise:
In an alternative embodiment, however, the method may further comprise:
As discussed above in respect of the first wrapping material, the second wrapping material is preferably also substantially unaffected by the laser beam, in particular the second wrapping material may be neither burnt nor broken by the laser beam. In this regard, the second wrapping material is preferably a polymer film which comprises a material that is also selected from the group of polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), polyester, polyvinylchloride (PVC) and bio-plastic, such as polylactic acid (PLA), cellulose acetate, and cellophane. In this regard, it will be appreciated that the second wrapping material is preferably a layered film or a film laminate in which one or more of the above materials is present or predominates. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the second wrapping material is a laminate film comprising a layer of polypropylene (e.g. an oriented polypropylene) and one or more acrylic layers (e.g. an inner layer or coating of acrylic and/or an outer layer or coating of acrylic). Thus, the second wrapping material may optionally comprise the same material as the first wrapping material. The first wrapping material and the second wrapping material are typically transparent in the visible light spectrum to enable a consumer to see and read the marking through the wrapping material.
According to another aspect, the present invention provides a wrapped package of one or more articles, wherein the package comprises a laser marking obtained by a method according to any one of the embodiments described above, wherein the articles preferably comprise smoking articles, such as cigarettes or the like. In a preferred embodiment, the invention provides a plurality of wrapped packages that are grouped together and wrapped as a group, wherein each package comprises a laser marking obtained by the method of the invention described above.
According to a further aspect, the invention provides an apparatus for marking a package of articles, especially consumer articles, such as cigarettes or the like, the apparatus comprising:
In a preferred embodiment, the apparatus comprises a bundling unit for collecting and/or arranging a plurality of packages into a group and wrapping the group of packages in the wrapping material, as discussed above. The bundling unit is optionally comprised in the wrapping unit. Preferably, each of the plurality of packages is pre-wrapped with a first wrapping material that is substantially transparent to the laser beam, at least in the region to be marked; that is, each package may be individually or separately pre-wrapped with the first wrapping material. Thus, the bundling unit is preferably configured to wrap the group of packages in a second the wrapping material that is also substantially transparent to the laser beam, at least in the region to be marked. As discussed above, the first and second wrapping material is preferably a polymer film which comprises a material selected from the group consisting of polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), polyester, polyvinylchloride (PVC) and bio-plastic, such as polylactic acid (PLA), cellulose acetate, and cellophane. Thus, the second wrapping material may optionally comprise the same material as the first wrapping material.
Thus, in a preferred embodiment, the invention provides an apparatus for marking packages of articles, especially packs of consumer articles, such as cigarettes or the like, the apparatus comprising:
As noted already above, the laser generates a laser beam which preferably has a wavelength in the range of 1000 to 1100 micrometres, and particularly preferably of about 1062 micrometres. Furthermore, the laser preferably has a power in the range of about 1 Watt to about 100 Watt, more preferably in the range of about 20 Watt to about 50 Watt, and more preferably about 30 Watt.
For a more complete understanding of the invention and the advantages thereof, exemplary embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail in the following description with reference to the accompanying drawing figures, in which like reference characters designate like parts and in which:
The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the present invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate particular embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. Other embodiments of the invention and many of the attendant advantages of the invention will be readily appreciated as they become better understood with reference to the following detailed description.
It will be appreciated that common and well understood elements that may be useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are not necessarily depicted in order to facilitate a more abstracted view of the embodiments. The elements of the drawings are not necessarily illustrated to scale relative to each other. It will further be appreciated that certain actions and/or steps in an embodiment of a method may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrences while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. It will also be understood that the terms and expressions used in the present specification have the ordinary meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions with respect to their corresponding respective areas of inquiry and study, except where specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.
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Although specific embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a variety of alternate and/or equivalent implementations exist. It should be appreciated that the exemplary embodiment or exemplary embodiments are only examples, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration in any way. Rather, the foregoing summary and detailed description will provide those skilled in the art with a convenient road map for implementing at least one exemplary embodiment, it being understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements described in an exemplary embodiment without departing from the scope as set forth in the appended claims and their legal equivalents. Generally, this application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the specific embodiments discussed herein.
In this document, the terms “comprise”, “comprising”, “include”, “including”, “contain”, “containing”, “have”, “having”, and any variations thereof, are intended to be understood in an inclusive (i.e. non-exclusive) sense, such that the process, method, device, apparatus or system described herein is not limited to those features or parts or elements or steps recited but may include other elements, features, parts or steps not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Furthermore, the terms “a” and “an” used herein are intended to be understood as meaning one or more unless explicitly stated otherwise. Moreover, the terms “first”, “second”, “third”, etc. are used merely as labels, and are not intended to impose numerical requirements on or to establish a certain ranking of importance of their objects.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15154536.5 | Feb 2015 | EP | regional |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2016/052264 | 2/3/2016 | WO | 00 |
