EP2367735A1

EP2367735A1 - Package for smoking articles

Info

Publication number: EP2367735A1
Application number: EP09760135A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Paul Hodges
Original assignee: British American Tobacco Investments Ltd IFI; British American Tobacco Co Ltd
Current assignee: British American Tobacco Investments Ltd IFI
Priority date: 2008-11-26
Filing date: 2009-11-17
Publication date: 2011-09-28
Also published as: KR20110093914A; ZA201103499B; BRPI0921901A2; RU2011125994A; WO2010060829A1; MX2011005349A; JP2012509822A; GB0821581D0; CA2743235A1

Abstract

A package (100) for containing smoking articles comprising first, second and third substantially parallelepiped containers (300,500,700) joined together by first and second portions (1110,1120) of a panel (1100), each of said containers having a front wall (301,501,701), a rear wall (302,502,702), a first side wall (303,503,703) and a second side wall (304,504,704), wherein each of the front walls and rear walls is larger than each of the side walls and at least one of the front wall or rear wall of each of said containers comprises said panel.

Description

Package for Smoking Articles

Description

The present invention relates to a package. Particularly, but not exclusively, the invention relates to a package for smoking articles comprising first, second and third containers joined together by portions of a panel.

As used herein, the term "smoking article" includes smokeable products such as cigarettes, cigars and cigarillos whether based on tobacco, tobacco derivatives, expanded tobacco, reconstituted tobacco or tobacco substitutes and also heat-not- burn products.

Conventionally, packages for smoking articles have been in the form of a rigid box with a hinged lid. The box generally contains a plurality of smoking articles, for example twenty cigarettes, wrapped in a sealed packet of metal foil paper. In order to remove a smoking article from an unopened package, a user breaks the seal of the metal foil packet to access the smoking articles inside. However, breaking the seal of the packet immediately exposes all of the smoking articles in the box to the atmosphere, causing the smoking articles to begin to lose their freshness.

There have been attempts to solve this problem by providing packages which include more than one box, such that the smoking articles are divided among a plurality of sealed metal foil packets. In these multi-box packages, fewer smoking articles are contained in each metal foil packet and thus the number of smoking articles which are exposed to the atmosphere when the seal of a particular metal foil packet is broken is reduced.

The provision of such packages has been problematic for a number of reasons. For example, multi-box packages have often lacked durability due to their individual boxes being prone to becoming detached from the rest package. Furthermore, the provision of several boxes has often resulted in the packages being relatively flimsy and fragile, meaning that the packages quickly become worn with use. This has made multi-box packages difficult to use, and has led to a higher likelihood of the cigarettes inside the packages being damaged when compared with a conventional rigid box. In addition, the use of a plurality of boxes means that a multi-box package is more structurally complex than a conventional package, leading to corresponding complexities in the manufacturing process. In particular, the complexity of multi-box packages has made the printing of information on the surfaces of such packages both time-consuming and expensive.

According to the invention, there is provided a package for containing smoking articles comprising first, second and third substantially parallelepiped containers joined together by first and second portions of a panel, each of the containers having a front wall, a rear wall, a first side wall and a second side wall; wherein each of the front walls and rear walls is larger than each of the side walls; and at least one of the front wall or rear wall of each of the containers comprises the panel.

The panel may comprise third, fourth and fifth portions forming an exterior surface of the front wall or rear wall of each of the first, second and third containers.

The panel may form an exterior surface of both the front wall and the rear wall of at least two of the containers.

The package may be formed from a single panel.

Each of the containers may comprise a portion of the panel and a substantially parallelepiped box joined to the panel.

At least one of the front wall or rear wall of each of the containers may further comprise a section of one of the substantially parallelepiped boxes.

The boxes may be self-contained units and a face of each of the boxes may be adhered to a surface of the panel.

At least one of the containers may contain a plurality of smoking articles. Information may be provided on the panel for viewing by a user of the package.

The package may be moveable into a compact configuration in which the first, second and third containers are stacked so as to form a parallelepiped.

According to the invention, there is further provided a blank for the package.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective illustration showing a front view of an example of a package for smoking articles in an open configuration, the package comprising first, second and third containers joined together by portions of a panel.

Figure 2 is a perspective illustration showing a rear view of the package for smoking articles in the open configuration of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a perspective illustration showing a front view of the package for smoking articles in semi open configuration, in which the first container is aligned with the second container so as to face the second container and form a mini stack.

Figure 4 is a perspective illustration showing a front view of the package for smoking articles in a compact configuration, in which the first, second and third containers are all aligned with each other so as to face each other and form a stack.

Figure 5 is perspective illustration of the package for smoking articles in a compact configuration, in which side walls of the first, second and third containers are overlapped by a panel portion.

Figure 6 is a perspective illustration of the package for smoking articles in a compact configuration, in which side walls of the first and second containers are overlapped by a panel portion. - A -

Figure 7 is a perspective illustration of a first view of a substantially parallelepiped box for containing smoking articles and for forming a part of one of the first, second or third containers of the package for smoking articles.

Figure 8 is a perspective illustration of a second view of a substantially parallelepiped box for containing smoking articles and for forming a part of one of the first, second or third containers of the package for smoking articles.

Figure 9 is a plan view showing the open ends of a first example of the first, second and third containers when the package is in a compact configuration, and the joins between the faces of the first, second and third boxes and the panel.

Figure 10 is a plan view showing the open ends of the first example of the first, second and third containers when the package is in an open configuration, and the joins between the faces of the first, second and third boxes and the panel.

Figure 11 is a plan view showing the open ends of a second example of the first, second and third containers when the package is in a compact configuration, and the joins between the faces of the first, second and third boxes and the panel.

Figure 12 is a plan view showing the open ends of the second example of the first, second and third containers when the package is in an open configuration, and the joins between the faces of the first, second and third boxes and the panel.

Figure 13 is a plan view showing the open ends of a third example of the first, second and third containers when the package is in a compact configuration.

Figure 14 is a plan view showing the open ends of the third example of the first, second and third containers when the package is in an open configuration.

Figure 15 a perspective illustration showing a front view of the package for smoking articles in an open configuration, in which the package includes a foldable lid in an open position. Figure 16 is a perspective illustration showing a front view of the package for smoking articles in a compact configuration, in which the package includes a foldable lid in a closed position.

Figure 17 is an illustration of a side view of the package for smoking articles, in which the foldable lid includes a tongue and the front wall of the third container includes a slot for receiving the tongue.

Figures 1 and 2 show front and rear views of a package 100 for smoking articles.

The package 100 is shown in an open configuration and comprises first, second and third containers 300, 500, 700, each being suitable for containing a plurality of smoking articles 900. In the following example the package 100 will be discussed in the context of a cigarette package. However, it will be appreciated that the package 100 is also suitable for containing other types of smoking articles such as those listed above, or non-smokeable tobacco industry products such as snuff or snus.

In this example, each of the containers 300, 500, 700 is substantially parallelepiped in appearance and includes a front wall 301, 501, 701, a rear wall 302, 502, 702, a first side wall 303, 503, 703, a second side wall 304, 504, 704 and a base wall 305,

505, 705. Each of the containers 300, 500, 700 may also include an open end 306,

506, 706 for inserting and removing smoking articles 900 from the container 300, 500, 700. The containers 300, 500, 700 are joined together by portions 1110, 1120 of a panel 1100, which traverses the rear of the cigarette package 100 when the package 100 is in the open configuration shown in Figures 1 and 2. The panel portions 1110, 1120 allow the containers 300, 500, 700 to move with respect to one another, thus meaning that the package 100 is able to assume both open and compact configurations.

More specifically, as exemplified by Figures 1 and 2, the first and second containers 300, 500 are connected by a first portion 1110 of the panel 1100 and the second and third containers 500, 700 are connected by a second portion 1120 of the panel 1100. In this example, these first and second panel portions 1110, 1120 hingedly connect the containers 300, 500, 700 such that each of the first and third containers 300, 700 is able to pivot about the second container 500. Similarly, the first and second panel portions 1110, 1120 allow the second container 500 to pivot about each of the first and third containers 300, 700. As is shown by the dotted lines in Figure 2, the panel 1100 may include hinge lines about which the first and second panel portions 1110, 1120 and the first to third containers 300, 500, 700 are able to pivot with respect to each other. The pivotable nature of the containers 300, 500, 700 allows the containers 300, 500, 700 to be folded together into a stack, for example as shown by Figures 3 to 6, permitting the package 100 to assume a compact configuration. In the compact configuration, the external shape of the package 100 resembles that of a conventional cigarette package consisting of a single rigid box.

In this example, referring to Figures 4, 5 and 6, when the package 100 is in a compact configuration, the first container 300 is sandwiched between the second container 500 and the third container 700. For instance, when the package 100 is oriented as shown in Figures 5 and 6, the second container 500 lies at the base of a stack of the containers 300, 500, 700, with the first container 300 lying on top of the second container 500 and the third container 700 lying on top of the first container 300. In the stack, the front wall 301 of the first container 300 faces the front wall 501 of the second container 500, and the front wall 701 of the third container 700 faces the rear wall 302 of the first container 300.

Referring back to Figures 1 and 2, the width of the first panel portion 1110, which connects the first container 300 to the second container 500, is substantially less than the width of the second panel portion 1120, which connects the second container 500 to the third container 700. In more detail, in this example, the width of the first panel portion 1110 is approximately two thirds of the width of the second panel portion 1120. The width of the first panel portion 1110, 1120 corresponds with the distance between the rear wall 502 of the second container 500 and the rear wall 302 of the first container 300 when the package 100 is in the compact configuration shown in Figures 4 to 6. As such, the width of the first panel portion 1100 is substantially equal to the sum of the widths of the first side wall 303 of the first container 300, the second side wall 504 of the second container 500 and the first side wall 703 of the third container 700.

Similarly, the width of the second panel portion 1120 corresponds with the distance between the rear wall 502 of the second container 500 and the rear wall 702 of the third container 700 when the package 100 is in the compact configuration shown in Figures 4 to 6. Therefore, in this example, the width of the second panel portion 1120 is substantially equal to the sum of the widths of the second side wall 304 of the first container 300 and the first side wall 503 of the second container 500. In this way, the different widths of the first and second panel portions 1110, 1120 aid with the folding of the containers 300, 500, 700 into a stacked configuration by providing a spacer of the correct distance between the edges of the containers 300, 500, 700 when the containers 300, 500, 700 are folded together.

The first and second panel portions 1110, 1120 may be substantially equal in length, although it will be appreciated that embodiments of the package 100 in which the first and second panel portions are of different lengths are equally possible. In this example, the length of each of the first and second panel portions 1110, 1120 is substantially equal to the length of the side walls 303, 503, 703, 304, 504, 704 of the containers 300, 500, 700 to which the panel portions 1110, 1120 are connected.

As is shown by Figure 2, the first and second panel portions 1110 and 1120 are sections of a continuous panel 1100 which traverses the rear of the package 100 when the package 100 is in its open configuration. In addition to the first and second panel portions 1110, 1120 discussed above, the continuous panel 1100 also comprises third, fourth and fifth portions 1130, 1140, 1150 which form the exterior surface of the rear walls 302, 502, 702 of each of the containers 300, 500, 700.

In one example, the structure of the containers 300, 500, 700 is formed solely from the panel 1100, as shown in Figures 13 and 14. However, in this example, each of the containers 300, 500, 700 comprises a self-contained, substantially parallelepiped box 350, 550, 750 having a cavity 360, 560, 760 for containing smoking articles. An example of such a parallelepiped box is shown in Figures 7 and 8. Each of the boxes 350, 550, 750 has a front face 351, 551, 751, a rear face 352, 552, 752, a first side face 353, 553, 753, a second side face 354, 554, 754, an end face 355, 555, 755 and an open end 356, 556, 756 for accessing the cavity 360, 560, 760. The rear face 352, 552, 752 of each of the boxes 350, 550, 750 is joined to one of the third, fourth or fifth portions 1130, 1140, 1150 of the panel 1100, as is shown by Figures 9 to 12. More specifically, in this example, the rear face 352 of the first box 350 is joined to the third portion 1130 of the panel 1100, the rear face 552 of the second box 550 is joined to the fourth portion 1140 of the panel 1100 and the rear face 752 of the third box 750 is joined to the fifth portion of the panel 1150 so that the panel 1100 traverses the rear faces 352, 552, 752 of all of the parallelepiped boxes 350, 550, 750 when the package 100 is in its open configuration.

The panel 1100 may be joined to the rear face 352, 552, 752 of each of the boxes 350, 550, 750 using a joining means 1300 comprising, for example, a suitable adhesive. In this example, the third to fifth portions 1130, 1140, 1150 of the panel 1100 cover substantially the entire rear faces 352, 552, 752 of the boxes 350, 550, 750. This allows joining adhesive to be applied over a large area of the faces 352, 552, 752 so as to provide a secure and reliable fixing between the boxes 350, 550, 750 and the portions 1130, 1140, 1150 of the panel 1100. Fixing the boxes 350, 550, 750 to the panel 1100 in this manner provides the package 100 with a high level of durability and reduces the likelihood of the boxes 350, 550, 750 becoming detached from the panel 1100 with use.

As shown in Figures 9 to 12, the third, fourth and fifth portions 1130, 1140, 1150 of the panel 1100, together with the rear faces 352, 552, 752 of the parallelepiped boxes 350, 550, 750, respectively make up the rear walls 302, 502, 702 of the containers 300, 500, 700 of the package 100. The third to fifth panel portions 1130, 1140, 1150 form an exterior surface of each of the rear walls 302, 502, 702 of the containers 300, 500, 700, meaning that information can be printed on the surfaces of these panel portions 1130, 1140, 1150 for display to a user without the need to print on the boxes 350, 550, 750. Referring to Figures 9 to 12, the panel 1100 may further comprise sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth portions 1160, 1170, 1180, 1190 to form the exterior surfaces of the first side wall 303 of the first container 300, the front wall 301 of the first container 300, the second side wall 701 of the third container 700 and the front wall of the third container 700 respectively. Indeed, the exterior surfaces of all of the walls of all of the containers 300, 500, 700 may be formed from the panel 1100.

Any of the first to ninth portions 1130, 1140, 1150, 1160, 1170, 1180, 1190 of the panel 1100 can be printed on so as to present information to a user. The information is visible when the pack is in both the compact and open configurations referred to above. As such, the provision of such information does not require the printing of information onto the surfaces of the self-contained boxes 350, 550, 750.

The panel 1100 thus both increases the rigidity and sturdiness of the package 100 and reduces the number of components of the package 100 upon which information must be printed during manufacture.

For the purposes of clarity, the above described examples of the package 100 are discussed and shown in Figures 1 to 14 without a lid. However, all of the examples of the package 100 discussed in relation to Figures 1 to 14 may include a lid 1500 as shown in Figures 15 and 16. The lid 1500 may be formed from the panel 1100 and may include a tongue 1510 adapted to be received by a slot 1155 in the rear wall 702 of the third container 700 to hold the lid 1500 in position when the lid 1500 is closed. The slot 1155 for receiving the tongue 1510 may be made in the fifth portion 1150 of the panel 1100.

The package 100 may be formed from material such as plasticised cardboard, cardboard and/or suitable plastics, although it will be appreciated that a number of other materials would also be suitable. The invention includes further modifications and variations falling within the scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A package (100) for containing smoking articles comprising: first, second and third substantially parallelepiped containers (300, 500, 700) joined together by first and second portions (1110, 1120) of a panel (1100), each of said containers having a front wall (301, 501, 701), a rear wall (302, 502, 702), a first side wall (303, 503, 703) and a second side wall (304, 504, 704); wherein each of the front walls and rear walls is larger than each of the side walls; and at least one of the front wall or rear wall of each of said containers comprises said panel.

2. A package according to claim 1, wherein said panel comprises third (1130), fourth (1140) and fifth (1150) portions forming an exterior surface of the front wall or rear wall of the first, second and third containers respectively.

3. A package according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the panel forms an exterior surface of both the front wall and the rear wall of at least two of the containers.

4. A package according to any preceding claim, wherein the package is formed from a single panel.

5. A package according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein each of said containers comprises: a portion of the panel; and a substantially parallelepiped box (350, 550, 750) joined to the panel.

6. A package according to claim 5, wherein at least one of the front wall or rear wall of each of said containers further comprises a section of one of said substantially parallelepiped boxes.

7. A package according to claim 5 or 6, wherein said boxes are self-contained units and a face of each of said boxes is adhered to a surface of said panel.

8. A package according to any preceding claim wherein at least one of said containers contains a plurality of smoking articles.

9. A package according to any preceding claim, wherein information is provided on said panel for viewing by a user of the package.

10. A package according to any preceding claim, wherein the package is moveable into a compact configuration in which the first, second and third containers are stacked so as to form a parallelepiped.