WO2016046803A1

WO2016046803A1 - Packet of smoking articles with laterally hinged lid

Info

Publication number: WO2016046803A1
Application number: PCT/IB2015/057395
Authority: WO
Inventors: Roberto Polloni; Luca Federici
Original assignee: GD SpA
Current assignee: GD SpA
Priority date: 2014-09-26
Filing date: 2015-09-25
Publication date: 2016-03-31
Anticipated expiration: 2017-03-26
Also published as: EP3197795A1; EP3197795B1; PL3197795T3; ES2697339T3

Abstract

Rigid packet (1) of smoking articles having: a container (2), which has a front wall (6), a rear wall (7), a top wall (8), a bottom wall (9) and two lateral walls (10), and is provided with an extraction opening (11); an inner package (4) enclosing a group (5) of smoking articles, is housed inside the container (2) and is transversely smaller than the container (2); a parallelepiped-shaped lid (3) which is hinged to the container (2) along a hinge (16) arranged at one longitudinal edge defined between the rear wall (7) and a lateral wall (10) of the container (2), and has a front wall (12), a top wall (13), a bottom wall (14), and two lateral walls (15); and a parallelepiped-shaped filler (17), which is located inside the container (2) alongside the inner package (4).

Description

PACKET OF SMOKING ARTICLES WITH LATERALLY HINGED LID

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention is related to a packet of smoking articles.

The present invention finds advantageous application to a packet of cigarettes to which the following description will make explicit reference without implying any loss of generality.

PRIOR ART

In the patent application WO2012131849A1, and in the patent US4570790A a packet of cigarettes is described, of the type commonly referred to as "Swinger" and comprising a container and a lid laterally hinged to the container itself.

Said packet of cigarettes offers a very high mechanical protection for the cigarettes contained inside thereof, as it is formed by two box-shaped members (the container and the lid) of similar size which are normally contained one inside the other (i.e. the container inside the lid) constituting in essence a double protective shell. In fact, said packet of cigarettes has a mechanical strength which is close to twice the mechanical strength of a traditional hinged lid type packet of cigarettes.

However, said packet of cigarettes is not very ergonomic when a group of cigarettes of a relatively small size is contained inside the latter; said situation can occur both when the group of cigarettes is composed of a limited number of cigarettes of standard sizes (for example, ten cigarettes instead of the traditional twenty cigarettes), and when the group of cigarettes is composed of small diameter cigarettes (so-called "slim" cigarettes) . In particular, when the group of cigarettes has a relatively small size the extraction opening of the container (formed in part through the top wall and in part through the front wall) inevitably has a reduced size and thus makes it more difficult to grip the cigarettes as it is difficult to insert the fingers through the extraction opening itself.

The patent applications JP2011062189A, WO2012168510A2 and DE102010035938A1 describe rigid packets of cigarettes, comprising a smaller container which houses an inner package containing a group of cigarettes, is cup-shaped and is completely open at the top, and a lid hinged to a rear wall of the bottom container; the inner package is transversely smaller with respect to the bottom container and a parallelepiped-shaped filler, which is located inside the container next to the inner package is provided.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention to provide a packet of smoking articles, which is free from the drawbacks described above and, in particular, is simple and inexpensive to produce .

According to the present invention a packet of smoking articles, as claimed in the attached claims is provided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate some non-limiting examples of embodiments, wherein:

- Figure 1 is a front perspective view and in a closed configuration of a packet of cigarettes according to the present invention;

- Figure 2 is a front perspective view and in an open configuration of the packet of cigarettes of Figure 1;

- Figure 3 is a top view and in an open configuration of the packet of cigarettes of Figure 1; - Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view and in an open configuration of the packet of cigarettes of Figure 1;

- Figure 5 is a plan view of a blank used to produce a container of the packet of cigarettes of Figure 1;

- Figure 6 is a plan view of a blank used to produce a lid of the packet of cigarettes of Figure 1;

- Figure 7 is a plan view of a blank used to produce a filler of the packet of cigarettes of Figure 1;

- Figure 8 is a front perspective view and in a closed configuration of a further packet of cigarettes according to the present invention;

- Figure 9 is a front perspective view and in an open configuration of the packet of cigarettes of figure 8;

- Figure 10 is a top view and in an open configuration of the packet of cigarettes of figure 8;

- Figure 11 is a cross-sectional view and in an open configuration of the packet of cigarettes of figure 8;

- Figure 12 is a plan view of a blank used to provide a container and a filler for the packet of cigarettes of figure 8; and

- Figure 13 is a plan view of a blank used to produce a lid of the packet of cigarettes of Figure 8.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

In Figures 1, 2 and 3 the number 1 indicates as a whole a packet of cigarettes of the type commonly referred to as "Swinger" .

The packet 1 of cigarettes comprises a parallelepiped-shaped container 2, a parallelepiped-shaped lid 3 which is laterally hinged to the container 2, and an inner package 4 which encloses a group 5 of cigarettes (illustrated in Figure 4) and is housed inside the container 2. Normally, the inner package 4 is formed by the group 5 of cigarettes wrapped in a packing sheet of metallized paper which is provided with a top tear- off portion removable at the first opening of the packet 1 of cigarettes .

The parallelepiped-shaped container 2 has a front wall 6, a rear wall 7 (parallel and opposite to the front wall 6) , a top wall 8, a bottom wall 9 (parallel and opposite to the top wall 8) and two lateral walls 10 (parallel and opposite to each other) . Furthermore, the container 2 is provided with an extraction opening 11 in part formed through the top wall 8 and in part through the front wall 6. Between the front 6 and 7 rear walls respectively and the lateral walls 10, four longitudinal edges are defined which are arranged parallel to the cigarettes of the group 5 of cigarettes.

The parallelepiped-shaped lid 3 has a front wall 12, a top wall 13, a bottom wall 14 (parallel and opposite to the top wall 13) and two lateral walls 15 (parallel and opposite to each other) . The lid 3 is cup-shaped, i.e. has one end completely open which faces and is opposite to the front wall 12 and allows the lid 3 to accommodate the container 2 inside thereof. Between the front wall 12 and lateral walls 15 two longitudinal edges are defined which are arranged parallel to the cigarettes of the group 5 of cigarettes.

In the embodiment illustrated in the attached figures the front longitudinal edges of the container 2 (i.e. the longitudinal edges delimiting the front wall 6 of the container 2) and the front longitudinal edges of the lid 3 (i.e. the longitudinal edges delimiting the front wall 12 of the lid 3) are rounded; according to other embodiments not illustrated and perfectly equivalent the front longitudinal edges of the container 2 and the front longitudinal edges of the lid 3 may be beveled or straight, (normally the shape and size of the front longitudinal edges of the lid 3 conform with the shape and sizes of the front longitudinal edges of the lid 3. The lid 3 is laterally hinged to container 2, i.e. along a hinge 16 which is arranged parallel to, and at, a longitudinal rear edge of the container 2 defined between the rear wall 7 and a lateral wall 10 of the container 2. The rotation of the lid 3 about the hinge 16 moves the lid 3 between a closed position (illustrated in Figure 1) in which the lid 3 completely envelops the container 2 (i.e. the container 2 is completely inserted into the lid 3) and an open position (illustrated in Figures 2, 3 and 4) in which the lid 3 is separated from the container 2 (i.e. the container 2 is arranged externally to the lid 3) . Obviously the lid 3 is slightly larger than the container 2 so as to allow the lid 3 to house the inner container 2 inside thereof (as illustrated in Figure 1) . When the lid 3 is in the closed position (illustrated in Figure 1) , the front wall 12 of the lid 3 rests on the front wall 6 of the container 2, the top wall 13 of the lid 3 rests on the top wall 8 of the container 2, the bottom wall 14 of the lid 3 rests on the bottom wall 9 of the container 2, and the two lateral walls 15 of the lid 3 rest on the lateral walls 10 of the container 2; consequently, when the lid 3 is in the closed position (illustrated in Figure 1) only the rear wall 7 of the container 2 remains visible from the outside. As illustrated in Figure 4, the inner package 4 (enclosing the group 5 of cigarettes) is transversely smaller than the container 2 and consequently inside the container 2 some space remains free (i.e. not occupied by the inner package 4) ; the packet 1 of cigarettes comprises a parallelepiped-shaped filler 17, which is located inside the container 2 alongside the inner package 4 so as to occupy the free space left by the inner package 4.

As clearly illustrated in Figure 3, at the top wall 8 of the container 2 the extraction opening 11 is shaped so as to allow the top wall 8 itself to completely cover the filler 17; in fact, the filler 17 is not visible from above as it is completely covered by the top wall 8 of the container 2.

In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 4, the filler 17 is interposed between the inner package 4 and the rear wall 7 of the container 2 and extends between the two lateral walls 10 of the container 2. In this embodiment, the filler 17 has a front wall 18 which is parallel to the front 6 and rear 7 walls of the container 2 and is arranged between the front 6 and rear 7 walls of the container 2 themselves, and two lateral walls 19 which rest and are glued to the lateral walls 10 of the container 2. According to a preferred but not limiting embodiment, the filler 17 also has a bottom wall 20 (illustrated in Figure 7) which rests and is glued to the bottom wall 9 of the container 2.

The container 2 illustrated in Figures 1-4 is obtained by folding a blank 21 about the inner package 4 (illustrated flat in Figure 5), while the lid 3 illustrated in Figures 1-4 is obtained by folding a blank 22 about the container 2 (illustrated flat in Figure 6) which is initially separated from and independent of the blank 21. The blank 22 has a connecting panel 23, which is hinged (at the hinge 16) to a lateral wall 15 of the lid 3 and is glued to the rear wall 7 of the container 2 so as to establish a mechanical connection between the lid 3 and the container 2. The connecting panel 23 may have the same size of the rear wall 7 of the container 2 (and therefore completely cover the entire rear wall 7 of the container 2) or may be smaller than the rear wall 7 of the container 2 (and therefore only partially cover the rear wall 7 of the container 2) .

In an alternative embodiment, not illustrated, the connecting panel 23 of the blank 22 is glued to a lateral wall 10 of the container 2. The filler 17 illustrated in Figure 4 is obtained by folding a blank 24 about the inner package 4 (illustrated flat in Figure 5) which is initially separate from, and independent of the blanks 21 and 22; preferably, the blank 24 is folded and coupled to the inner package 4 before folding the blank 21 about the inner package 4.

As illustrated in Figure 5, the blank 21 comprises a plurality of panels that will be marked with accented reference numbers equal to the reference numbers distinguishing the corresponding walls of the container 2. The blank 21 has two longitudinal fold lines 25 (which define the longitudinal edges of the container 2) and a plurality of transverse fold lines 26 defining, between the two longitudinal fold lines 25, a panel 6' forming the front wall 6 of the container 2, a panel 9' forming the bottom wall 9 of the container 2 and connected directly to the panel 6' along a transverse fold line 26, a panel 7' forming the rear wall 7 of the container 2 and connected directly to the panel 9' along a transverse fold line 26, and a panel 8' forming the top wall 8 of the container 2 and connected directly to the panel 7' along a transverse fold line 26. Corresponding to the panel 6' forming the front wall 6 of the container 2, a series of longitudinal fold lines 25 are provided close one to the other so as to allow the formation of rounded edges.

The blank 21 comprises two wings 10', which are located on opposite sides of the panel 6', are connected to the panel 6' along the two longitudinal fold lines 25, and form part of the lateral walls 10 of the container 2. The blank 21 comprises two wings 10'', which are located on opposite sides of the panel 7', are connected to the panel 7' along the two longitudinal fold lines 25, forming part of the lateral walls 10 of the container 2, and are glued to and superimposed on the corresponding wings 10' . Each wing 10'' comprises two tabs 27, which are located on opposite sides of the wing 10'' and rest on and are glued to the panel 9' and to the panel 8' respectively .

As illustrated in Figure 6, the blank 22 comprises a plurality of panels that will be marked with accented reference numbers equal to the reference numbers distinguishing the corresponding walls of the lid 3. The blank 22 has two longitudinal fold lines 28 (which define the longitudinal edges of the lid 3) and a plurality of transverse fold lines 29 defining, between the two longitudinal fold lines 28, a panel 13'' forming part of the top wall 13 of the lid 3, a panel 13' forming the remaining part of the top wall 8 of the lid 3 and is superimposed on and glued to the panel 8'', a panel 12' forming the front wall 12 of the lid 3, a panel 14' forming part of the bottom wall 14 of the lid 3, and a panel 14'' forming the remaining part of the bottom wall 14 of the lid 3 and is superimposed on and glued to the panel 14' . At the panel 12' forming the front wall 12 of the lid 3, a series of longitudinal fold lines 28 are provided close one to the other so as to allow the formation of rounded edges.

The blank 22 comprises two wings 15', which are located on opposite sides of the panel 12', are connected to the panel 12' along the two longitudinal fold lines 28, and form the lateral walls 15 of the lid 3. The blank 22 comprises a single wing 15'', which is located at one side of a wing 15', is connected to the wing 15' along a longitudinal fold line 25, forming part of a lateral wall 15 of the lid 3, and is glued to and superimposed on the wing 15' itself. The blank 22 comprises the connecting panel 23, which is arranged on one side of a wing 15' (on the opposite side of the wing 15'') and is connected to the wing 15' along a longitudinal fold line 25. Each wing 15' comprises two wings 30, which are located on opposite sides of the wing 15'' and rest on and are glued to the panel 13' and to the panel 14' respectively. As illustrated in Figure 7, the blank 24 comprises a panel 18' forming the front wall 18 of the filler 17, a panel 20' forming the bottom wall 20 of the filler 17, and two wings 19' which are located on opposite sides of the panel 18' and form the lateral walls 19 of the filler 17.

The packet 1 of cigarettes illustrated in Figures 8-11 is similar to the packet 1 of cigarettes illustrated in Figures 1-4 from which it differs for the shape and the sizes of the inner package 4 and, consequently, for the shape and sizes of the filler 17 and for the shape and the sizes of the extraction opening 11.

As illustrated in Figure 11, in the packet 1 of cigarettes illustrated in Figures 8-11 the filler 17 is interposed between the inner package 4 and a lateral wall 10 of the container 2 and extends between the front wall 6 and the rear wall 7 of the container 2. In this embodiment, the filler 17 has a front wall 18 which is parallel to and faces the front wall 6 of the container 2, a lateral wall 19 which is parallel to the lateral walls 10 of the container 2 and is located between the lateral walls 10 of the container 2 themselves, and a rear wall 31 which is parallel to and faces the rear wall 7 of the container 2. According to a preferred (but not binding) embodiment illustrated in the attached figures, the rear wall 31 of the filler 17 rests on and is glued to the rear wall 7 of container 2 while the front wall 18 of the filler 17 is located at a certain distance (other than zero) from the front wall 6 of the container 2.

As described above, the packet 1 of cigarettes illustrated in Figures 1-4 is produced by using three blanks 21, 22 and 24 (illustrated in Figures 5, 6 and 7 respectively) initially separate and independent; whereas, the packet 1 of cigarettes illustrated in Figures 8-11 is produced by folding only two blanks 21 and 22 (illustrated in Figures 12 and 13 respectively) initially separate and independent as the filler 17 is integrated in the blank 21, and therefore is produced together with and contextually to the container 2. The blank 21 shown in Figure 12 and intended to produce the container 2 and the filler 17 of the packet 1 of cigarettes illustrated in Figures 8-11 differs from the blank 21 illustrated in Figure 5 and is intended to produce the container 2 of the packet 1 of cigarettes illustrated in Figures 1-4 solely by the presence of the panels 18', 19' and 31' forming the filler 17. In particular, the filler 17 is connected to a wing 10'' of the blank 21 along a longitudinal fold line 25: the panel 18' is connected to the wing 10'' along a longitudinal fold line 25, the panel 19' is connected to panel 18' along another longitudinal fold line 25, and the panel 31' is connected to panel 19' along a further longitudinal fold line 25.

The blank 22 illustrated in Figure 13 and intended to produce the lid 3 of the packet 1 of cigarettes illustrated in Figures 8-11 is completely identical to the blank 21 illustrated in Figure 6 and intended to produce the lid 3 of the packet 1 of cigarettes illustrated in Figures 1-4. The packet 1 of cigarettes described above has numerous advantages .

In the first place, the packet 1 of cigarettes described above is particularly ergonomic when the group 5 of cigarettes (i.e. the inner package 4) has a relatively small size; said situation can occur both when the group 5 of cigarettes is composed of a limited number of cigarettes of the standard sizes (for example, ten cigarettes instead of the traditional twenty cigarettes), and when the group 5 of cigarettes is composed of small diameter cigarettes (so-called "slim" cigarettes) . In fact, also when the group 5 of cigarettes has a relatively small size the extraction opening 11 of the container 2 (formed in part through the top wall 8 and in part through the front wall 6) has in any case a relatively large size allowing an easy grip of the cigarettes.

Furthermore, the packet 1 of cigarettes described above can be produced in a fast and inexpensive way, as the blanks 21, 22 and 24 have regular shapes and are easily processable even by a substantially standard packing machine.

Because of the many advantages presented by the packet 1 of cigarettes described above, the shape of said packet 1 of cigarettes may be integrally copied also for the production of a packet of other types of smoking articles (such as cigars, electronic cigarettes, charging cartridges for electronic cigarettes, pieces of tobacco for electronic cigarettes) .

Claims

1. A rigid packet (1) of smoking articles comprising:

a parallelepiped-shaped container (2) having a front wall (6), a rear wall (7) , a top wall (8) , a bottom wall (9) and two lateral walls (10), and is provided with an extraction opening (11) formed partly through the top wall (8) and partly through the front wall (6) ;

an inner package (4) containing a group (5) of smoking articles and housed inside the container (2) ; and

a parallelepiped-shaped lid (3) which is hinged to the container (2) along a hinge (16) arranged parallel to a longitudinal edge defined between the rear wall (7) and a lateral wall (10) of the container (2), and has a front wall (12) resting on the front wall (6) of the container (2) ; a top wall (13) resting on the top wall (8) of the container (2) ; a bottom wall (14) resting on the bottom wall (9) of the container (2), and two lateral walls (15) resting on the lateral walls (10) of the container (2) ;

the packet (1) of smoking articles being characterized in that:

the inner package (4) is transversely smaller than the container (2 ) ;

a parallelepiped-shaped filler (17) is inserted inside the container (2) alongside the inner package (4) ; and

at the top wall (8) of the container (2) the extraction opening (11) is shaped so that the top wall (8) of the container completely covers the filler (17) .

2. The packet (1) of smoking articles according to Claim 1, wherein the filler (17) is interposed between the inner package (4) and the rear wall (7) of the container (2) and extends between the two lateral walls (10) of the container (2) .

3. The packet (1) of smoking articles according to Claim 2, wherein the filler (17) has a front wall (18) parallel to and between the front and rear walls (6, 7) of the container (2) ; and two lateral walls (19) resting on and glued to the lateral walls (10) of the container (2) .

4. The packet (1) of smoking articles according to Claim 3, wherein the filler (17) has a bottom wall (20) resting on and glued to the bottom wall (9) of the container (2) .

5. The packet (1) of smoking articles according to Claim 2, 3 or 4, wherein:

the container (2) is formed from a first blank (21) folded about the inner package (4) ;

the lid (3) is formed from a second blank (22) folded about the container (2) and which is initially separate from and independent of the first blank (21) ;

the second blank (22) has a connecting panel (23), which is hinged to a lateral wall (15) of the lid (3) and glued to the rear wall (7) of the container (2) ; and

the filler (17) is formed from a third blank (24) folded and coupled to the inner package (4) before the first blank (21) is folded, and which is initially separate from and independent of the first blank (21) and the second blank (22) .

6. The packet (1) of smoking articles according to Claim 1, wherein the filler (17) is interposed between the inner package (4) and a lateral wall (10) of the container (2), and extends between the front wall (6) and the rear wall (7) of the container (2) .

7. The packet (1) of smoking articles according to Claim 6, wherein the filler (17) has a front wall (18) which is parallel to and facing the front wall (6) of the container (2) ; a lateral wall (19) which is parallel to and between the lateral walls (10) of the container (2) ; and a rear wall (31) which is parallel to and facing the rear wall (7) of the container (2) .

8. The packet (1) of smoking articles according to Claim 7, wherein the rear wall (31) of the filler (17) rests on and is glued to the rear wall (7) of the container (2) .

9. The packet (1) of smoking articles according to Claim 7 or 8, wherein the front wall (18) of the filler (17) is a given distance of other than zero from the front wall (6) of the container (2) .

10. The packet (1) of smoking articles according to Claim 7, 8 or 9, wherein the front wall (18) of the filler (17) is hinged to a lateral wall (10) of the container (2) .

11. The packet (1) of smoking articles according to one of Claims 6 to 10, wherein:

the container (2) and the filler (17) are both formed from the same first blank (21) folded about the inner package (4) ;

the lid (3) is formed from a second blank (22) folded about the container (2) and which is initially separate from and independent of the first blank (21) ; and

the second blank (22) has a connecting panel (23), which is hinged to a lateral wall (15) of the lid (3) and is glued to the rear wall (7) of the container (2) .

12. The packet (1) of smoking articles according to one of Claims 1 to 10, wherein:

13. The packet (1) of smoking articles according to Claim 12, wherein the first blank (21) comprises:

a first panel (6') forming the front wall (6) of the container (2) ;

a second panel (9') forming the bottom wall (9) of the container (2) and connected directly to the first panel (6'); a third panel (7') forming the rear wall (7) of the container (2) and connected directly to the second panel (9') ; and a fourth panel (8') forming the top wall (8) of the container (2) and connected directly to the third panel (7') .

14. The packet (1) of smoking articles according to Claim 13, wherein the first blank (21) comprises:

two first wings (10'), which are located on opposite sides of the first panel (6') and which form part of the lateral walls (10) of the container (2) ; and

two second wings (10''), which are located on opposite sides of the third panel (7'), forming part of the lateral walls (10) of the container (2), and are glued to and superimposed on the corresponding first wings (10') .

15. The packet (1) of smoking articles according to Claim 14, wherein each second wing (10'') comprises two tabs (27), which are located on opposite sides of the second wing (10'') and rest on and are glued to the second panel (9') and to the fourth panel (8') respectively.

16. The packet (1) of smoking articles according to Claim 14 or 15, wherein the filler (17) is connected to a second wing

(10" ) .