This invention relates to packaging tobacco industry products, for example smokeable tobacco products such as cigarettes.
Conventional cigarette box packaging consists of a bundle of cigarettes wrapped in a paper/metal foil laminate sheet, received in a container typically formed of carton board. The container usually has a hinged lid to provide access to the cigarette bundle. The container is often formed from a pre-printed blank of SBS board stock which is folded and wrapped around the cigarette bundle. The container is wrapped in a heat sealable clear film, most commonly polypropylene with an embedded tear tape to assist in easy opening.
Of these packaging components, only the outermost film contributes in a significant manner to the shelf life stability of the packaged cigarettes. The plastics film acts as a moisture barrier but its effectiveness is highly dependent upon obtaining adequate seals in the folded, overlapped areas of the film wrap. Nevertheless, the low moisture barrier transmission rate through the plastics film helps maintain the starting moisture and other volatile components of the cigarettes as manufactured, when the packaged cigarettes are exposed to environments that have either a higher or lower relative humidity than the internal humidity of the cigarette pack. Whilst polypropylene film has commonly been employed as the outer wrapping, other film materials have been used which offer reduced moisture transmission rates, for example vacuum metallised plastics films but these materials are still highly dependent upon achieving a proper seal of the folded, overlapped areas of the film when wrapped around the container.
Alternative packages have been proposed to replace the interior wrapping or the SBS board with materials and structures that provide the requisite moisture barrier properties, thereby eliminating the need for an exterior film of plastics material as an over-wrap. Examples include rigid, injection moulded plastic packs with integral seals. However, these approaches are not suitable for use with conventional, carton board containers produced in high volume by mass production techniques.
In one aspect, the invention provides a package comprising a closed container that contains tobacco industry products, and a coating of plastics material that has been applied to the container in a layer that provides an air tight seal between the interior and exterior of the container.
By applying the plastics material as a coating, a continuous layer can be provided over the entire exterior of the container avoiding the need to provide sealed joints, and thereby providing an improved seal between the interior and exterior of the container.
A valve may be provided to allow a pressure differential to be established between the interior and exterior of the container. The pressure differential may comprise an increased pressure within the container, created for example with an inert gas such as nitrogen.
An interior wrapping may be provided between the container and the tobacco products, which can be bio-degradable.
The container may be fabricated of air-permeable material such as carton board, for example SBS, and the plastics layer may extend over the entire exterior surface of the container to provide the airtight seal. The plastics layer may comprise a polymer for example polypropylene or polyethylene, and may include an additive to facilitate decomposition of the plastics material and/or an additive to enhance the airtight seal provided by the plastics material.
The container may have a main body and a lid that can be opened to provide access the tobacco products, the layer of plastics material providing a seal between the main body and the lid.
A line of weakness may be provided in the layer of plastics material to facilitate opening of the lid, in the form of a tear strip or a line of reduced thickness in the plastics layer.
The invention also includes a method of packaging tobacco industry products, comprising applying a coating of plastics material to a container containing the tobacco products, to render the container airtight.
The invention further provides apparatus for packaging tobacco industry products, the apparatus including a packaging device operable to pack tobacco industry products into a container, and a coating device to coat the container with a plastics material in a layer that provides an airtight seal.
In a further aspect the invention provides a package comprising a container, and tobacco products within a flexible hermetically sealed bag, within the container.
A valve may be provided in the bag to allow a pressure differential to be established between the interior and exterior of the bag. Means for rupturing the hermetically sealed bag may be provided to allow access to the tobacco industry products.
In order that the invention may be more fully understood embodiments thereof will now be described by way of illustrative example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
The container 1 may be made from carton board such as SBS by folding from a pre-printed blank in a manner known per se. The inner wrapping 5 may be formed of paper and need not include a metal foil laminate, and so is bio-degradable.
As shown clearly in
A one-way valve 8 is fitted into a wall of the container 1. The valve allows the pressure differential to be established between the interior and exterior of the container. Conveniently, the valve can permit an over-pressure to be created within the container, which does not dissipate significantly over time due to the provision of the airtight, sealed coating 6 on the exterior of the container. The valve 8 comprises a unit which can be push-fitted into a small aperture in a side wall of the container either before or after application of the coating 6. If applied after application of the coating 6, the valve 8 may bond with the coating 6 as it hardens. In the example shown in
The coating 6 applied to the container 1 may be a polymer such as polypropylene or polyethylene with desired physical and barrier properties. The coating is selected such that it readily adheres to the surface of the container 1 and preferably solidifies so as to be substantially transparent in order that printed surfaces of the container 1 remain visible through the coating. The plastics coating 6 may be selected to give a particular tactile feel or visual impression on the exterior surface. Depending on the plastics material selected, it may be desirable to use clear lacquered or varnished ink coating to aid in bonding the plastic coating 6 to printed areas of the container 1.
The plastics material may incorporate an additive material for causing the plastics coating 6 to decompose easily in a compost or landfill environment. In this way, the interior wrapping 5, which need not include metallic foil, along with the container 1 and the plastics coating 6 are all biodegradable and may be certifiable as a degradable or biodegradable structure. The additive material of a used decomposition may be selected from products offered by EPI Environment Plastics Inc (Vancouver, BC) or other similar available products.
The plastics coating 6 may also include an additive material for improving the air barrier properties of the coating without interfering with its optical transparency. One such material is Nanolock™ marketed (by InMat Inc., Hillsboro, N.J., USA). This additive greatly improves the shelf stability of the resulting package to a near hermetic level so as to improve the shelf life and freshness of the tobacco product for the user.
Thereafter, the pressurised containers 1 may be passed from the conveyor 13 to a packing station (not shown) to be packed into larger containers for transport. In order to improve the seal provided by the one-way valve 8, the exterior of the valve, which may be formed in plastics material, may be heated in order to partially melt the plastics material and close the central opening 10.
An alternative embodiment of the coating station 16 is shown in
Another embodiment of a cigarette pack in accordance with the invention is illustrated in
Many modifications and variation to the described embodiments will be evident to those skilled in the art. For example, the plastics material can be applied by methods other than those described, for example dipping. Also, whilst the described packages are for tobacco industry products in the form of cigarettes, they may also be used for other such products and as used herein the term “tobacco industry product” refers to any item made in, or sold by the tobacco industry, typically including a) cigarettes, cigarillos, cigars, tobacco for pipes or for roll-your-own cigarettes, (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 heat-not-burn products; and c) smoking cessation aids and other nicotine-delivery systems such as adhesive patches, inhalers, 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 industry.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2007-335780 | Dec 2007 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/EP08/66246 | 11/26/2008 | WO | 00 | 2/28/2011 |