Patent Application
20230083278
The present invention relates to a tobacco product packaging material and a tobacco product package.
Various packaging materials have been used to package tobacco products. Typical known examples of the packaging materials include hard packages and soft packages in which a prescribed number of (e.g., about 20) tobacco articles are bundled and packaged.
For example, one well-known form of the hard package is a hinged-lid package including an outer box and a lid connected to the outer box through a hinge so as to be openable and closable. Generally, tobacco products housed in the outer box are wrapped in an inner pack formed by folding a soft sheet material and then housed in the outer box. Typically, the soft package is formed by wrapping tobacco products in an inner pack formed by folding an inner packaging paper sheet and then wrapping the inner pack with a soft external packaging paper sheet.
In the various packages described above, folded edge portions of the inner pack that is used to wrap the tobacco products therein are not sealed, and it is therefore difficult for the inner pack itself to provide airtightness for the tobacco products. For example, tobacco products are typically shipped with the content of water vapor in the tobacco products controlled. Therefore, when the packaging material wrapping the tobacco products has no water vapor barrier property, the amount of water vapor in the tobacco products increases or decreases during, for example, distribution and storage of the tobacco products, and this may influence the smoke taste of the tobacco products. Moreover, when water vapor enters the packaging material from the outside, stains may be formed in rolling paper of the tobacco products wrapped with the packaging material. Specifically, when the water vapor barrier property of the packaging material is not high enough, the quality of the tobacco products wrapped with the packaging material may deteriorate.
Therefore, in each of the various conventional packages, the outer surface of the package is further covered with a transparent resin packaging film to seal the package. However, in recent years, it is preferable to omit the resin film externally covering the package, in terms of environmental consciousness and the need for resource conservation.
In connection with the above, PTL 1 discloses a technique for forming a package blank from a layered sheet prepared by stacking a plastic film such as a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film or a polyethylene (PE) film on a paper substrate.
PTL 2 discloses a technique that uses a package blank having a layer structure including: a base layer containing a fibrous cellulose-based material; a metal-containing layer provided on the outer side of the base layer; and a sealable layer containing a sealable polymer material and provided at least in a sealing region on the inner side of the base layer.
It is stated that, with the packages described in PTL 1 and PTL 2, the tobacco products can be sealed in the packages. However, the package described in PTL 1 uses the technique in which the plastic film is stacked on the paper substrate. Therefore, the thickness of the plastic film is large, and the environmental consciousness of the package may not be sufficient. The package disclosed in PTL 2 contains a polyolefin-based polymer and an acrylic-based polymer as polymer materials contained in the sealable layer of the package. In particular, the package disclosed contains polyethylene or polypropylene. However, the contents of the polymer materials are not specified. The present invention has been made in view of the foregoing circumstances, and it is an object to provide a tobacco product packaging material and a tobacco product package that can house tobacco products in a sealed manner. Moreover, the amount of the resin material used is small, so that the tobacco product packaging material and the tobacco product package are more environmentally conscious than the conventional products.
One aspect of the tobacco product packaging material according to the present invention is a sheet-shaped packaging material for forming a tobacco product package having a sealed internal housing portion that encloses a tobacco product. The tobacco product packaging material includes: a paper base layer containing a fibrous cellulose-based material; an aluminum-containing layer stacked on the paper base layer; and a heat-seal layer formed as an outer layer on at least one side of the packaging material by applying a heat-seal agent for heat-sealing together edge portions of the packaging material. The heat-seal layer has a thickness of from 0.5 μm to 5 μm inclusive.
The heat-seal layer may be formed only on one side of the packaging material. In this case, the heat-seal layer may be formed over an entire area on the one side of the packaging material. Alternatively, the heat-seal layer may be formed only in an outer edge portion on the one side of the packaging material.
The heat-seal layer may be formed on opposite sides of the packaging material. In this case, the heat-seal layer may be formed over entire areas on the opposite sides of the packaging material. Alternatively, the heat-seal layer may be formed only in outer edge portions on the opposite sides of the packaging material.
The present invention can also be specified as a tobacco product package formed from any of the tobacco product packaging materials described above. The package includes: a tobacco product housed in the internal housing portion sealed by the packaging material; and a heat-sealed portion formed by heat-sealing together edge portions of the packaging material.
In the tobacco product package according to the present invention, the heat-seal layer of the packaging material may be formed so as to form at least an inner surface of the package that faces the internal housing portion, and the heat-sealed portion may be formed as a fin seal in which bent edge portions of the packaging material are butted against each other. In this case, the aluminum-containing layer of the packaging material may be disposed on the inner surface side of the package, and the paper base layer may be disposed on the outer surface side opposite to the inner surface side. Moreover, the heat-seal layer may be stacked on the aluminum-containing layer.
In the tobacco product package according to the present invention, the heat-seal layer of the packaging material may be formed so as to form also an outer surface of the package that is opposite to the inner surface thereof. The heat-sealed portion formed as the fin seal may be folded over onto a portion close to the heat-sealed portion, and the outer surface of the heat-sealed portion and the outer surface of the portion close to the heat-sealed portion may be bonded together.
In the tobacco product package according to the present invention, the heat-seal layer of the packaging material may be formed so as to form an inner surface of the package that faces the internal housing portion and to form an outer surface of the package that is opposite to the inner surface, and the heat-sealed portion may be formed as a lap seal in which the heat-seal layer formed so as to form the inner surface in one edge portion of the packaging material and the heat-seal layer formed so as to form the outer surface in another edge portion of the packaging material are lapped together.
The means for solving the problems of the present invention may be used in any possible combination.
The tobacco product packaging material and the tobacco product package provided by the present invention can house tobacco products in a sealed manner. Moreover, the amount of the resin material used is small, so that the tobacco product packaging material and the tobacco product package are more environmentally conscious than the conventional products.
Embodiments of the tobacco product packaging material and the package according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The sizes, materials, shapes, and relative arrangements of components described in the embodiments are merely examples.
The outer sheath 3 of the package 1 is formed by folding the sheet-shaped packaging material 2 and heat-sealing edges of the packaging material 2 together to thereby seal the internal housing portion housing the tobacco products. In the example shown in
Numeral 31 shown in
As shown in
In the example shown in
The outer sheath 3 of the package 1 includes a separable section 34 extending from the tab 33. The separable section 34 is a strip-shaped section extending from a rear edge 35A of an upper surface 35 of the outer sheath 3 to a front surface 36 thereof and demarcated by a pair of first tear-off lines 37. The first tear-off lines 37 extend upward from the respective edges of the V-shaped tab 33 and across the upper surface 35 and reach the rear edge 35A. A second tear-off line 38 is provided on the front surface 36 of the outer sheath 3 at a position above the tab 33. The second tear-off line 38 extends in the width direction of the package 1. The first tear-off lines 37 and the second tear-off line 38 are composed of weakened portions. The “weakened portions” are part of the surface of the outer sheath 3 of the package 1 (or the packaging material 2 forming the outer sheath 3), and the strength of the weakened portions is weaker than that of the other portions. For example, the weakened portions may be formed by subjecting the packaging material 2 to thinning processing (e.g., half-cutting) such that the thickness of the weakened portions is smaller than that of the other portions. In the present embodiment, it is preferable not to use rows of perforations formed by perforating the packaging material 2 as the “weakened portions,” in order to ensure hermeticity of the package 1. Numeral 39 shown in
In the present embodiment, the aluminum-containing layer 22 is formed from an aluminum foil and has an excellent water vapor barrier property. The aluminum-containing layer 22 (aluminum foil) is bonded to the paper base layer 21 using an adhesive 24. In the packaging material 2, the heat-seal layer 23 is formed as an outer layer on at least one side. The heat-seal layer 23 is formed by coating a coating target with a heat-seal varnish containing a heat-seal agent used to heat-seal (heat-fuse) edge portions of the packaging material 2 together (to form the heat-sealed portions 31 shown in
The thickness of the aluminum-containing layer 22 is preferably about 1 μm or more and more preferably about 5 μm or more. In one exemplary mode, the thickness of the aluminum-containing layer 22 is less than about 15 μm and preferably less than about 10 μm. From the viewpoint of environmental consciousness, it is preferable that the upper limit of the thickness of the aluminum-containing layer 22 is specified as described above so that the thickness of the aluminum-containing layer 22 is not excessively large. From the viewpoint of preventing the formation of small holes in the aluminum-containing layer 22 to prevent leakage of water vapor through the small holes, it is preferable that the lower limit of the thickness of the aluminum-containing layer 22 is specified as described above so that the aluminum-containing layer 22 is not excessively thin.
In one exemplary mode, the thickness of the paper base layer 21 is about 15 μm or more. The thickness of the paper base layer 21 is preferably about 20 μm or more and more preferably about 30 μm or more. In one exemplary mode, the thickness of the paper base layer 21 is less than about 110 μm. The thickness of the paper base layer 21 is preferably less than about 90 μm and more preferably less than about 70 μm. By specifying the lower limit of the thickness of the paper base layer 21 as described above, the packaging material 2 can reliably have the required strength and the required stiffness. By specifying the upper limit of the thickness of the paper base layer 21, an excessive increase in the strength and stiffness of the packaging material 2 can be prevented, and a reduction in production suitability for bending etc. can be prevented.
In one exemplary mode, the basis weight of the paper base layer 21 is about 25 g/m2 or more. The basis weight of the paper base layer 21 is preferably about 35 g/m2 or more and more preferably about 40 g/m2 or more. In one exemplary mode, the basis weight of the paper base layer 21 is less than about 65 g/m2. The basis weight of the paper base layer 21 is preferably less than about 60 g/m2 and more preferably less than about 55 g/m2.
The ratio of the thickness of the aluminum-containing layer 22 to the thickness of the paper base layer 21 is preferably about 0.01 and more preferably about 0.2 or more. The ratio of the thickness of the aluminum-containing layer 22 to the thickness of the paper base layer 21 is preferably about less than 1 and more preferably less than about 0.6. In a particularly preferable mode, the ratio of the thickness of the aluminum-containing layer 22 to the thickness of the paper base layer 21 is about 0.2 to about 0.6.
In one exemplary mode, the paper base layer 21 contains the fibrous cellulose-based material in an amount of 30% by weight or more. The paper base layer 21 contains the fibrous cellulose-based material in an amount of preferably 50% by weight or more and more preferably 70% by weight or more. For example, the paper base layer 21 is formed substantially only of the fibrous cellulose-based material. When the content of the fibrous cellulose-based material in the paper base layer 21 is large, the ease of bending the packaging material 2 when the packaging material 2 is folded around the tobacco products increases, and the production process is simplified. Moreover, when the content of the fibrous cellulose-based material in the paper base layer 21 is large, the paper base layer 21 can be more easily decomposed, and therefore the package 1 provided is more environmentally conscious. Preferably, the paper base layer 21 is formed as coated paper with a coating layer containing calcium carbonate, kaolin, etc. formed on the surface thereof.
No particular limitation is imposed on the heat-seal agent contained in the heat-seal varnish forming the heat-seal layer 23. Preferably, the heat-seal agent has a melting point of about 100 to about 200° C. If the melting point of the heat-seal agent is lower than 100° C., the heat-seal agent may melt during time periods other than the production process. In this case, it is feared that the heat-seal agent may be bonded to the tobacco products. If the melting point of the heat-seal agent is higher than 200° C., it is time-consuming to melt the heat-seal agent during the production process, and it may be difficult to produce the packages at high speed. By setting the melting point of the heat-seal agent contained in the heat-seal varnish to about 100 to about 200° C. as described above, the occurrence of the problems described above can be preferably prevented. The heat-seal agent may be a water-based agent or may be a solvent-based agent. The heat-seal agent may be an emulsion-based agent or may be a non-emulsion-based agent. No particular limitation is imposed on the type of resin forming the heat-seal agent. Examples of the resin include ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) resins, acrylic resins, ionomer resins, and polyolefin-based resins.
The thickness of the heat-seal layer 23 is preferably from 0.5 μm to 5 μm inclusive. When the thickness of the heat-seal layer 23 is specified within the above range, edge portions of the packaging material 2 can be bonded together reliably when the packaging material 2 is folded to form the package 1 (the outer sheath 3), and the amount of the resin used can be reduced. Specifically, with the packaging material 2 provided, the package 1 (the outer sheath 3) can be produced with ease. Moreover, the packaging material 2 and the package 1 (the outer sheath 3) using the packaging material 2 are environmentally conscious.
Numeral 20A shown in
The mode shown in
As shown in
In the present embodiment, the heat-seal layer 23 formed as the outer layer on the second surface 20B side of the packaging material 2 is formed by coating the entire surface of the aluminum-containing layer 22 (the entire surface of the aluminum foil) with the heat-seal varnish containing the heat-seal agent so as to form the entire second surface 20B. However, the heat-seal layer 23 may be formed by coating part of the surface of the aluminum-containing layer 22 with the heat-seal varnish. For example, the heat-seal varnish may be applied to part of the surface of the aluminum-containing layer 22 (the surface of the aluminum foil) such that only edge portions of the packaging material 2 that are to be bonded to each other during production of the package 1 (the outer sheath 3) are pattern-coated with the heat-seal varnish. In this case, the heat-seal layer 23 is formed so as to form only part of the second surface 20B (one surface) of the packaging material 2. Although details will be described later, the heat-seal layer 23 may be formed so as to form opposite surfaces (the first surface 20A and the second surface 20B) of the packaging material 2. In this case, the heat-seal layer 23 may be formed so as to form the entire areas of the opposite surfaces (the first surface 20A and the second surface 20B) of the packaging material 2 or may be formed only in areas (edge portions) in which the heat-sealed portions 31 are to be formed.
As the tobacco products housed in the internal housing portion of the package 1 in the present embodiment, various types of products containing tobacco raw materials may be housed. For example, the tobacco products may be smoking articles such as cigarettes, cigars, or cigarillos or snuff such as snus. The tobacco products housed in the package 1 may be non-combustible smoking articles each including a carbonaceous heat source and an aerosol generation unit. The tobacco products may be tobacco sticks used for non-combustible tobacco articles. The above tobacco products are examples, and various other tobacco products containing tobacco raw materials may be housed in the package 1.
Referring next to
More particularly, the packaging material 2 has regions including a lower front surface region 64 that later becomes part of the front surface 36 of the outer sheath 3 and further including, in the following order on the upper side of the lower front surface region 64, a bottom surface region 80 that later becomes the bottom surface of the outer sheath 3, a back surface region 86 that later becomes the back surface of the outer sheath 3, an upper surface region 92 that later becomes the upper surface of the outer sheath 3, and an upper front surface region 98 that later becomes the rest of the front surface 36 of the outer sheath 3. Side surface regions 66, 82, 88, 94, and 100 that form side surfaces of the outer sheath 3 are located on the left and right sides of the regions 64, 80, 86, 92, and 98, respectively.
Notch portions 74 and 102 that form the V-shaped tab 33 are formed in a lower end portion of the lower front surface region 64 of the packaging material 2 and an upper end portion of the upper front surface region 98, respectively. In the lower front surface region 64, the upper front surface region 98, and the upper surface region 92, weakened portions 106 for forming the first tear-off lines 37 and weakened portions 76 for forming the second tear-off line 38 are provided to form the separable section 34 described above. Dash-dot lines in the side surface regions 82 and 94 of the packaging material 2 indicate that the packaging material 2 is to be gusseted in these side surface regions 82 and 94 when the packaging material 2 is folded. Lower edge portions 54a of the lower front surface region 64 and the side surface regions 66 (these portions are hatched in
The packaging material 2 having the structure described above is folded around the bundle of the tobacco products and forms the outer sheath 3 having the internal housing portion that houses the tobacco products in a sealed manner. To form the packaging material 2 into a package form, first, the bundle of the tobacco products is placed on, for example, the back surface region 86 of the packaging material 2, and then the regions of the packaging material 2 are folded successively along the fold lines. In this case, the lower edge portions 54a of the lower front surface region 64 and the side surface regions 66 and the upper edge portions 54b of the upper front surface region 98 and the side surface regions 100 are butted against each other and heat-fused (heat-sealed) together. Specifically, with the heat-seal layer 23 formed as the outer layer on the second surface 20B side folded upon itself, the overlapping edge portions of the packaging material 2 are heated and pressurized.
As a result, the heat-seal agent contained in the heat-seal layer 23 is heat-fused, and the lateral heat-sealed portion 31A is thereby formed. The lateral heat-sealed portion 31A is formed as a fin seal in which the second surface 20B of the packaging material 2 that forms the inner surface 30B of the outer sheath 3 is in contact with itself and the overlapping portions of the second surface 20B are bonded together (fin-sealed). With the lateral heat-sealed portion 31A, the influence of heat on the tobacco products during heat sealing can be smaller than that when a seal is formed by bonding together edge portions of the packaging material 2 that are lapped on each other such that the first surface 20A and the second surface 20B are in contact with each other.
Once the lateral heat-sealed portion 31A has been formed, the packaging material 2 forms rectangular portions protruding from opposite sides of the bundle of the tobacco products. These rectangular portions are gusseted in the side surface regions 82 and 94. Then the side surface regions 66, 82, 88, 94, and 100 are folded along fold lines so as to cover the side surfaces of the bundle of the products on the respective sides, and the side surfaces of the outer sheath 3 are thereby formed. The gussets in the side surface regions 82 and 94 are formed along the dash-dot lines in the side surface regions 82 and 94 shown in
The outer sheath 3 is formed from the packaging material 2 in the manner described above, and the formation of the package 1 with the tobacco products sealed in the internal housing portion is completed. The packaging material 2 in the present embodiment includes the paper base layer 21 containing the fibrous cellulose-based material, the aluminum-containing layer 22 stacked on the paper base layer 21, and the heat-seal layer 23 formed as an outer layer on at least one side of the packaging material 2 and produced by applying the heat-seal agent used to heat-seal the edges of the packaging material 2, so that the package 1 (the outer sheath 3) formed can have excellent sealing performance. Specifically, the package 1 provided can have excellent sealing performance without sealing the package with an additional exterior resin film. Therefore, an increase or decrease in the amount of water vapor in the tobacco products during the distribution process of the package 1 or during storage of the package 1 can be preferably prevented. Since the thickness of the heat-seal layer 23 of the packaging material 2 is from 0.5 μm to 5 μm inclusive, the edge portions of the packaging material 2 can be reliably bonded together when the packaging material 2 is folded to form the package 1 (the outer sheath 3), and the amount of the resin used can be reduced. Specifically, the package 1 (the outer sheath 3) can be produced with ease, and the packaging material 2 provided and the package 1 (the outer sheath 3) using the packaging material 2 are environmentally conscious. In the present embodiment, the thickness of the heat-seal layer 23, which is specified in the range of from 0.5 μm to 5 μm inclusive, means the dry thickness of the heat-seal agent. It is therefore preferable to adjust the amount of the heat-seal varnish applied such that the final thickness of the heat-seal layer 23 in the completed packaging material 2 (after the heat-seal agent has dried) is in the range of from 0.5 μm to 5 μm inclusive.
As shown in the enlarged illustration of region A in
As shown in the enlarged illustration of region B in
The layer structure of the packaging material 2 in the present embodiment is not limited to that described in
In the mode described in the above embodiment, the heat-seal layer 23 is formed so as to form the entire area of the second surface 20B of the packaging material 2 that forms the inner surface 30B of the outer sheath 3 in the package formed. However, the heat-seal layer 23 may be formed only in outer edge portions of the packaging material 2 for forming the heat-sealed portions 31, i.e., only in the lower edge portions 54a, the upper edge portions 54b, and the pair of outer side edge portions 50a (the hatched regions in
In modification 1 shown in
In modification 1 shown in
As described above, in the present modification, the heat-seal layer 23 is formed so as to form also the first surface 20A of the packaging material 2B that forms the outer surface 30A of the outer sheath 3. Therefore, each of the heat-sealed portions 31 formed as fin seals may be folded along a base end portion 310 (see
The package 1 formed using any of the packaging materials according to embodiment 1 and the modifications described above may be distributed in the form of a pillow package shown in
Next, a package 1A according to embodiment 2 will be described. In the present embodiment, the same components as those described in the modes described above are denoted by the same numerals, and their detailed description will be omitted.
In the example shown in
Numeral 34 in the figure represents an upper surface of the package 1A, and numeral 36 represents a front surface of the package 1A. Numeral 39 represents a side surface of the package 1A. The package 1A has a withdrawing opening 11 through which a tobacco product can be withdrawn from the inside of the outer sheath 3A, and the withdrawing opening 11 is covered with a cover flap 12. The cover flap 12 is attached to the surface of the outer sheath 3A using, for example, a weak adhesive glue and is a re-peelable cover. The cover flap 12 has a tab 12A. The user can withdraw a tobacco product housed in the internal housing portion by pinching the tab 12A, pulling up the cover flap 12, and peeling at least part of the cover flap 12 from the outer surface 30A of the outer sheath 3A to thereby open the withdrawing opening 11.
In the packaging material 2C, the heat-seal layer 23, the aluminum-containing layer 22, the paper base layer 21, and the heat-seal layer 23 are stacked in this order from the second surface 20B. In the packaging material 2C in the present embodiment also, the aluminum-containing layer 22 may be formed from an aluminum foil having an excellent water vapor barrier property. The aluminum-containing layer 22 is bonded to the paper base layer 21 using the adhesive 24. The heat-seal layer 23 formed as the outer layer on the first surface 20A side of the packaging material 2C is formed by applying a heat-seal varnish containing a heat-seal agent to the paper base layer 21. The heat-seal layer 23 formed as the outer layer on the second surface 20B side of the packaging material 2C is formed by applying the heat-seal varnish containing the heat-seal agent to the aluminum-containing layer 22. In this example, the heat-seal layer 23 is formed over the entire areas (entire portions) on opposite sides (the first surface 20A side and the second surface 20B side) of the packaging material 2C. However, as described later, the heat-seal layer 23 may be pattern-formed in part on the first surface 20A side and the second surface 20B side of the packaging material 2C. The paper base layer 21, the aluminum-containing layer 22, and the heat-seal layer 23 that form the packaging material 2C have already been described in embodiment 1, and their detailed description will be omitted. In the example described below, the packaging material 2C is folded into the form of the package 1A (the outer sheath 3A) such that the first surface 20A of the packaging material 2C faces the outside and forms the outer surface 30A of the outer sheath 3 and that the second surface 20B of the packaging material 2C faces the inner side (the internal housing portion side, the tobacco product side) and forms the inner surface 30B of the outer sheath 3.
To assemble the package 1A, first, the packaging material 2C is folded along the fold lines (not shown) into a U-shape so as to surround tobacco products TA as shown in
Next, protruding portions of the packaging material 2C that protrude from opposite side surfaces of the bundle of the tobacco products TA are gusseted to form trapezoidal flaps 43 to 46 as shown in
As described above, the packaging material 2C in the present embodiment and the package 1A formed using the packaging material 3C have the same effects as those of the packaging materials and the packages according to embodiment 1 and the modifications described above. Specifically, the tobacco products TA can be sealed without sealing the package 1A with a separate external resin film. Moreover, the amount of the resin material used can be reduced, so that the packaging material 2C and the package 1A provided are more environmentally conscious than conventional products.
The packaging material 2C in the present embodiment may have a layer structure in which the paper base layer 21 and the aluminum-containing layer 22 are exchanged with each other.
In the exemplary modes described in embodiment 2 and modification 3, the heat-seal layer 23 is formed so as to form the entire areas (entire portions) of opposite surfaces (the first surface 20A and the second surface 20B) of the packaging material 2C, 2D, but this is not a limitation. For example, since the heat-sealed portions 31 are to be formed in outer edge portions of the first surface 20A and the second surface 20B of the packaging material 2C, 2D, the heat-seal layer 23 may be formed only in these outer edge portions. In this manner, the amount of the resin used to form the package 1A (the outer sheath 3A) can be further reduced.
The embodiments and modifications of the tobacco product packaging material according to the present invention and the package formed using the tobacco product packaging material have been described. The modes disclosed in the present description can be combined with any other features disclosed in the present description.
This application is a continuation application of International Application PCT/JP2020/031301 filed on Aug. 19, 2020 and designated the U.S., the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/JP2020/031301 | Aug 2020 | US |
| Child | 17993531 | US |
