The present invention relates to a rigid, hinged-lid package for tobacco articles.
The present invention may be used to particular advantage in a rigid cigarette packet, to which the following description refers purely by way of example.
Rigid, hinged-lid cigarette packets are currently the most widely marketed, by being easy to produce, practical and easy to use, and by effectively protecting the cigarettes inside.
A rigid, hinged-lid cigarette packet comprises a cup-shaped container having an open end; and a cup-shaped lid hinged to the container along a hinge to rotate, with respect to the container, between an open and a closed position opening and closing the open end respectively. A U-folded collar is normally fitted inside the container, and projects partly outwards of the open end to engage a corresponding inner surface of the lid when the lid is in the closed position.
The outer surface of packets of cigarettes is printed with the brand name and information required by law (e.g. place and date of manufacture, tobacco composition, and government health warnings). Recent regulations have greatly increased the surface area to be allotted to government health warnings, by also introducing photographs, thus greatly reducing the area available to the maker for the brand name and any other information (special offers, advertising of other products . . . ).
U.S. Pat. No. 6,193,060B1 describes a rigid cigarette packet comprising a cup-shaped, substantially parallelepiped-shaped container having a rear wall, a front wall, two lateral walls, a bottom wall, and an open top end; and a cup-shaped lid hinged to the container along a hinge on the rear wall of the container to rotate between an open and a closed position opening and closing the open end respectively, and having a rear wall, a front wall, two lateral walls, a top wall, and a bottom wall. When the lid is in the closed position, the front wall of the lid is positioned over, and completely covers, the front wall of the container, the lateral walls of the lid are positioned over, and partly cover, the lateral walls of the container, and the bottom wall of the lid is positioned over, and partly covers, the bottom wall of the container.
Having a larger lid, the packet described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,193,060B1 has a larger outer surface for printing on than a normal hinged-lid packet, but also has various drawbacks: in particular, it is difficult to produce, and is awkward to open and close, on account of the bottom wall of the lid having to overcome the bottom edge of the front wall of the container when rotating the lid. Moreover, being so large, the lid is not very rigid, and tends to deform when opened and closed, thus making the packet difficult to open and close, and resulting in the formation of unsightly creases.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a rigid package for tobacco articles, which is easier to use than known packages, has none of the aforementioned drawbacks, and, at the same time, is cheap and easy to produce.
According to the present invention, there is provided a rigid package for tobacco articles, as claimed in the accompanying Claims.
A number of non-limiting embodiments of the present invention will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Number 1 in
Packet 1 comprises a cup-shaped container 2 having an open top end 3; and a cup-shaped lid 4 hinged to container 2 along a hinge 5 to rotate, with respect to container 2, between an open position (
Container 2 is cup-shaped to house the orderly group of cigarettes (not shown for the sake of clarity), is parallelepiped-shaped, and comprises a rear wall 6, a front wall 7, two lateral walls 8, a bottom wall 9, and said open top end 3. Lid 4 is cup-shaped, is hinged to container 2 along hinge 5 on rear wall 6 of container 2, and comprises a rear wall 10, a front wall 11, two lateral walls 12, and a top wall 13.
When lid 4 is in the closed position (
In a different embodiment shown in
Lateral walls 12 of lid 4 are preferably shorter than front wall 11 of lid 4, so as to leave a bottom portion of front wall 11 laterally free.
Container 2 has four longitudinal edges 14 defined between lateral walls 8 and front wall 7 and rear wall 6; and four transverse edges 15 (two major and two minor) defined between bottom wall 9 and lateral walls 8, front wall 7, and rear wall 6. Lid 4 has four longitudinal edges 16 defined between lateral walls 12 and front wall 11 and rear wall 10; and four transverse edges 17 (two major and two minor) defined between top wall 13 and lateral walls 12, front wall 11, and rear wall 10.
Hinge 5 is normally located between rear wall 6 of container 2 and rear wall 10 of lid 4, and is parallel to the major transverse edges 15 and 17 of container 2 and lid 4. In a different embodiment shown in
Longitudinal edges 16 of lid 4 are normally the same shape and substantially the same size as longitudinal edges 14 of container 2, so that, when in the closed position, lid 4 adheres firmly to container 2 underneath.
In the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings, longitudinal edges 14 and 16 and transverse edges 15 and 17 are all square.
In different embodiments not shown, at least some of longitudinal edges 14 of container 2 and the corresponding longitudinal edges 16 of lid 4 are rounded or bevelled, or at least some of transverse edges 15 of container 2 or of transverse edges 17 of lid 4 are rounded or bevelled. For example, all the longitudinal edges 14 and 16 may be non-square, rounded or bevelled edges, or (as in the cigarette packet described in Patent Application EP-A1-0764595), some transverse edges 15 and 17 may be non-square, rounded or bevelled edges. Alternatively, some longitudinal edges 14 and 16 and some transverse edges 15 and 17 may be non-square, rounded or bevelled edges, so as to have both non-square, rounded or bevelled longitudinal edges 14, 16 and non-square, rounded or bevelled transverse edges 15, 17.
In a different embodiment not shown, packet 1 may resemble the cigarette packet described in Patent Application EP-A1-1066205; in which case, rear wall 6 of container 2, front wall 7 of container 2, rear wall 10 of lid 4, and front wall 11 of lid 4 are all outwardly convex, and each have a respective flat central portion, and two curved creased lateral bands connecting the flat central portion to lateral walls 8 or 12 at respective sharp, non-square longitudinal edges 14 or 16.
In the
In a different embodiment shown in
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
Blank 21 comprises two longitudinal fold lines 22, and a number of transverse fold lines 23 defining between the two longitudinal fold lines 22: panel 11′ forming an inner portion of front wall 11 of lid 4; panel 11″ forming an outer portion of front wall 11 of lid 4; a panel 13′ forming top wall 13 of lid 4; a panel 10′ forming rear wall 10 of lid 4; a panel 6′ forming rear wall 6 of container 2; a panel 9′ forming bottom wall 9 of container 2; and a panel 7′ forming front wall 7 of container 2.
Panel 11″ has two tabs 12′, which form lateral walls 12 of lid 4, are located on opposites sides of panel 11″, and are separated from panel 11″ by longitudinal fold lines 22. Panel 6′ has two tabs 8′, which form part of lateral walls 8 of container 2, are located on opposite sides of panel 6′, and are separated from panel 6′ by longitudinal fold lines 22. Panel 7′ has two tabs 8″, which form part of lateral walls 8 of container 2, are located on opposite sides of panel 7′, and are separated from panel 7′ by longitudinal fold lines 22.
Panel 10′ has two tabs 24, which reinforce the inside of lateral walls 12 of lid 4, are located on opposite sides of panel 10′, and are separated from panel 10′ by longitudinal fold lines 22. Each tab 24 has a tongue 25 for reinforcing the inside of top wall 13 of lid 4; and each tab 8″ has a tongue 26 for reinforcing the inside of bottom wall 9 of container 2.
In the
The
The
In a preferred embodiment, package 1 comprises a supporting member 29 having common lid 4, and to which containers 2 are glued. More specifically, supporting member 29 comprises a connecting strip 30 (
As shown in
Panel 11″ has two tabs 12′, which form lateral walls 12 of lid 4, are located on opposite sides of panel 11″, and are separated from panel 11″ by longitudinal fold lines 32. Panel 10′ has tabs 24, which reinforce the inside of lateral walls 12 of lid 4, are located on opposite sides of panel 101, and are separated from panel 10′ by longitudinal fold lines 32. Each tab 24 has a tongue 25 for reinforcing the inside of top wall 13 of lid 4. A different embodiment, not shown, also comprises further tabs 12″ shown in
Panel 34 is connected to a panel 35, which has double hinge 28 in the middle and is glued to a lateral wall 8 of both containers 2. Panel 35 of connecting strip 30 is connected to a panel 36, which is glued to front wall 7 of a container 2; and panel 36 of connecting strip 30 is connected to a panel 37, which is glued to a lateral wall 8 of a container 2. In the case of three containers 2, as shown in
As shown in
In a preferred embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings, blank 38 also comprises a panel 41′ and a panel 41″, which are superimposed and glued to each other to define a top wall 41 of container 2; in which case, container 2 has a tear-off portion 42 to permit withdrawal of the cigarettes through top end 3 of container 2.
Packet 1 as described above has several advantages. It is fast and easy to produce, has a larger outer surface for printing on than a normal hinged-lid packet, and is extremely easy to open and close. Moreover, forming front wall 11 of lid 4 by joining two superimposed panels 11′ and 11″, and lateral walls 12 of lid 4 by joining two superimposed tabs 12′ and 12″, makes for an extremely rigid lid 4 despite its size, so that lid 4 undergoes no noticeable deformation when opened and closed.
In view of the many advantages of packet 1 as described above, the form of packet 1 may also be applied integrally to the manufacture of other types of rigid packages for tobacco articles, such as a carton of packets of cigarettes or a cigar packet.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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B02005A000099 | Feb 2005 | IT | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/IB06/00366 | 2/23/2006 | WO | 00 | 7/21/2008 |