WO2019121799A1

WO2019121799A1 - Package for consumer articles with improved first article removal

Info

Publication number: WO2019121799A1
Application number: PCT/EP2018/085671
Authority: WO
Inventors: Chrystele HOUPHOUET-BOIGNY; Ross LANGE
Original assignee: Philip Morris Products SA
Current assignee: Philip Morris Products SA
Priority date: 2017-12-20
Filing date: 2018-12-18
Publication date: 2019-06-27
Anticipated expiration: 2020-06-20

Abstract

A package (10) comprises consumer articles (12, 24) wrapped in a liner (14) closed at the top by an envelope fold, a top wall (16) of the package (10) comprising folding tabs (18, 20) overlapping over an area (22) of overlap. A first article (24) is vertically displaced relative to a second group of articles, the first article (24) being in direct contact with one or more articles in the second group of elongate consumer articles. Thus, a top end surface (26) of the first article (24) lies in a plane parallel to and higher than a plane defined by top end surfaces of the articles in the second group. One or more lines of weakness (28) extend across the top wall (16) outside the area (22) of overlap and define a cover portion (30) at least partly separable from the remainder of the top wall (16) to form an access opening. The cover portion (30) at least partly overlies the top end surface (26) of the first article (24), which can thus be removed through the access opening.

Description

PACKAGE FOR CONSUMER ARTICLES WITH IMPROVED FIRST ARTICLE REMOVAL

The present invention relates to a package for consumer goods, which finds particular application as a container for elongate consumer goods items, such as smoking articles (for example, cigarettes).

It is known to package consumer articles in containers formed from folded laminar blanks. By way of example, elongate smoking articles, such as cigarettes and cigars, are often sold in rigid box shaped containers, such as hinged lid containers having a box portion and a lid connected to the box about a hinge line extending across the rear wall of the container. In use, the lid is pivoted about the hinge line to open the pack and so gain access to the consumer articles held in the box.

Such hinged lid containers are typically constructed from one-piece laminar cardboard blanks. In some cases, the container further comprises a inner frame at least partly wrapped around the consumer articles. This may provide further rigidity to the container and protect the consumer articles.

The bundle of smoking articles housed in the box portion is commonly wrapped in an inner liner, or inner package, of metallised paper, metal foil or other flexible sheet material. A sealed condition of the inner package is appreciated by consumers as proof that the goods inside the package are preserved in their original form at least until the first opening of the container.

Prior to being opened for the first time, such containers help preserve the consumer articles within the container under dry external conditions and may protect the consumer goods against moisture uptake in tropical climates. Further, the provision of the smoking articles in an inner liner helps prevent flavour loss and, in general, the ingress and egress of substances.

However, it may at times be difficult for the consumer to access the articles tightly wrapped within the liner. In particular, in the case of smoking articles, it is often difficult for the consumer to extract a first cigarette from the pack or to grab a single cigarette without touching other cigarettes in the pack.

It would, therefore, be desirable to provide a novel and improved package for consumer goods configured to make it easier for a consumer to remove a first article from the package. Further, it would be desirable to provide one such package for consumer goods that can easily be manufactured at high speed without requiring major modifications to existing equipment.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a package comprising a plurality of elongate consumer articles wrapped in a liner, the consumer articles being arranged with their longitudinal axes parallel to each other and parallel to a longitudinal axis of the package. The liner is folded around the back, bottom, front and sides of the plurality of elongate consumer articles, and is closed at the top of the plurality of elongate consumer articles by an envelope fold. Thus, a top wall of the package comprises two or more partially overlapping folding tabs. The top wall thus consists of a top wall portion of overlap, wherein the two or more partially overlapping folding tabs overlap, and of a top wall portion of no overlap formed by non-overlapping portions of the partially overlapping folding tabs.

A first article or group of articles in the plurality of elongate consumer articles is vertically displaced relative to a second group of articles in the plurality of consumer articles, the first article or group of articles being in direct contact with one or more articles in the second group of elongate consumer articles. Thus, a top end surface of the first article or top end surfaces of the articles in the first group lie in a plane substantially parallel to, and higher than, a plane defined by top end surfaces of the articles in the second group of elongate consumer articles.

The package comprises one or more lines of weakness extending at least partially across the top wall of the package, the one or more lines of weakness extending across the top wall solely across the top wall portion of no overlap. This means that the one or more lines of weakness may partially extend also across another wall of the package, such as the front wall of the package. However, the portion of the one or more lines of weakness extending across the top wall of the package only extends across the top wall portion of no overlap and not across the top wall portion of overlap. Thus, the one or more lines of weakness only extend over portions of the top wall of the package formed by a single layer of liner material.

The one or more lines of weakness define a cover portion of the package at least partly separable from the remainder of the top wall to form a first access opening at the upper end of the package. The cover portion at least partly overlies the top end surface of the first article or the first group of articles. Thus, following at least partial separation of the cover portion from the remainder of the top wall, the first article or at least one of the articles in the first group of articles can be removed through the access opening.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of packaging elongate consumer articles. The method comprises the steps of: providing a plurality of elongate consumer articles; arranging the consumer articles with their longitudinal axes parallel to each other, a first article or group of articles in the plurality of elongate consumer articles being longitudinally displaced relative to a second group of consumer articles in the plurality of consumer articles, the first article or group of articles being in direct contact with one or more articles in the second group of elongate consumer articles, such that a top end surface of the first article or top end surfaces of the articles in the first group of articles lie in a plane substantially parallel to and higher than a plane defined by top end surfaces of the remainder of the articles in the second group of elongate consumer articles; wrapping a liner around the group of consumer articles to form a package of consumer articles wherein the longitudinal axes of the consumer articles are parallel to a longitudinal axis of the package, the liner being folded around the back, bottom, front and sides of the plurality of elongate consumer articles, and closed at the top of the plurality of elongate consumer articles by an envelope fold, such that a top wall of the package comprises two or more partial!y overlapping folding tabs, the top wall consisting of a top wail portion of overlap, wherein two or more of the partially overlapping folding tabs overlap, and of a top wall portion of no overlap formed by non-overlapping portions of the partially overlapping folding tabs; and providing one or more lines of weakness in the liner, such that in the assembled package the one or more lines of weakness extend at least partially across the top wall of the package and solely across the top wall portion of no overlap; the one or more lines of weakness defining a cover portion of the package at least partly separable from the remainder of the top wall to form a first access opening at the upper end of the package; the cover portion at least partly overlying the top end surface of the first article or the first group of articles in the assembled package.

It will be appreciated that any features described with reference to one aspect of the present invention are equally applicable to any other aspect of the invention.

As used herein, the terms“front”,“back”,“upper”,“lower”,“top”,“bottom” and“side”, refer to the relative positions of portions of containers according to the invention and components thereof when the container is in an upright position an access opening of the container at the top of the container. When describing containers according to the present invention, these terms are used irrespective of the orientation of the container being described.

The term“longitudinal” refers to a direction from bottom to top or vice versa. The term “transverse” refers to a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction.

The term “longitudinally displaced” is used herein to describe a reference elongate consumer article in a plurality of elongate consumer articles having their longitudinal axes parallel to one another, wherein the reference elongate consumer article is arranged to effectively project out of the plurality of consumer articles at one end. In other words, an end surface of the reference elongate consumer article occupies a longitudinal position different from the longitudinal position of the end surfaces of the other articles in the plurality of consumer articles. By way of example, a top end surface of the reference consumer articles is at a height greater than a height of the top end surfaces of the other articles (that is, the reference consumer article is vertically displaced relative to the other articles).

The term“length” denotes the dimension of a component of the package or of a consumer article measured in the longitudinal direction. For example, it may be used to denote the dimension of an elongate consumer article, such as a smoking article, in the longitudinal direction.

The term“width” is used to describe the dimension of an element, such as a panel of a blank or a wall of a container as measured in the transverse direction. The term“height” is used to describe the dimension of one such element as measured in a direction perpendicular to the width of the element. When describing an element of the container, reference is generally made to the element in a flat state. The term“inner height” is used throughout the specification to refer to the height of the volume defined internally by the package. Thus, the“inner height” of the package will be substantially equal to the (external) height of the package minus the thickness of the top and bottom walls of the package.

The term“line of weakness” is used herein to describe a portion of a surface of the package (or the blank from which the package is formed) wherein the structural strength of the material, from which the package (or blank) is formed has been weakened by any suitable technique, for example with respect to bending, folding or tearing along the line of weakness. A line of weakness may be straight, curved, segmented or continuous or a combination thereof. Lines of weakness can be created by removal of material, by displacement of material, by compression of material, by locally reducing the forces that hold the material together, such as by breaking fibres in a fibrous material, as well as by combinations of all the above. For example, a line of weakness may be formed as a scoring line, a creasing line, an ablation line, or a perforation line.

The term“scoring line” is used to describe a line formed by partially cutting into the material of the blank. A scoring line may be formed by removing material from the blank, that is, by forming a groove or trough in the blank. As an alternative, a scoring line may be formed without removing any material from the blank. This would typically involve a partial sideways displacement and compression of material.

The term “creasing line” typically refers to a line formed by displacing a portion of the material substantially perpendicular to the plane of the blank, which results in the formation of a groove or trough in the blank. The displacement may involve compression and is typically achieved by means of a compression tool, such as a roller. Alternatively, or in addition, the material in the creasing line may be displaced so as to at least partially protrude from the opposite side of the blank. Generally, no material is removed when a creasing line is formed.

The term“ablation line” is used instead to describe a line formed by removing material from a surface of the blank to a predetermined depth by way of ablation, such as by means of a laser beam or a blade.

The term“perforated line” describes a line or sequence of discrete holes or slots formed in the blank. The holes may be formed by pushing an object through the blank, which may result in material being removed from the blank, for example by punching. Alternatively, the holes may be created without effectively removing material, the object being used to push material outwardly from a centre of the hole.

As briefly described above, a package for consumer goods in accordance with the present invention comprises a group of elongate consumer articles wrapped in a liner. The consumer articles are arranged with their longitudinal axes parallel to each other and to a longitudinal axis of the package. ln contrast to existing container, according the invention a first article or group of articles in the plurality of consumer articles may be regarded as a reference article or group of articles, and is arranged such as to project above a second group of articles - which may be the remainder of the articles in the plurality of consumer articles. Thus, a top end surface of the first article or top end surfaces of the articles in the first group of articles lie in a plane substantially parallel to and higher than a plane defined by the top end surfaces of the articles in the second group.

In addition, lines of weakness are formed at the upper end of the package at a location entirely outside of the area over which folding tabs of the liner overlap to form an envelope seal. In practice, because the top wall of the package comprises two or more overlapping folding tabs, the top wall of the package is effectively divided into two portions. In a first portion, the folding tabs overlap and so the top wall comprises two or more layers of liner material. In a second portion, there is no overlap of any folding tabs, and so the top wall comprises a single layer of liner material. In containers in accordance with the invention the lines of weakness are selectively formed only in the portion of the top wall comprising a single layer of liner material.

The one or more lines of weakness define a cover portion of the package at the upper end that is at least partly separable from the remainder of the package to form an access opening. The one or more lines of weakness are provided at a location and of a size and geometry such that the cover portion overlies the first article, or at least one article in the first group of articles. Thus, following at least partial separation of the cover portion from the remainder of the package, the first article or at least one article in the first group of articles can be removed through the access opening.

With packages in accordance with the present invention, the consumer is advantageously presented with a plurality of elongate articles wrapped in a liner in a configuration such that a predetermined one of the articles, or a predetermined group of articles in the package, is particularly easy to remove. This is achieved by ensuring that an end portion of the predetermined article or group of articles stands out, and that an at least partially removable portion of the liner immediately overlying said end portion of the article or group of articles can conveniently be separated from the remainder of the liner to form an access opening at the top of the package.

Accordingly, the consumer is effectively guided towards picking the predetermined article, or an article in the first group of articles, as the first one to remove from the package. Removal of the predetermined article from the package is easier than in existing containers for elongate consumer articles, because an end portion of the predetermined article can easily be held between the consumer’s fingertips. The access opening formed by separating the removable portion from the remainder of the liner can be conveniently used for subsequent removal of further articles from the container.

It is also advantageous that packages according to the invention are easy to manufacture and do not require any extensive modification of the existing apparatus. As described briefly above, in packages in accordance with the invention a plurality of elongate consumer articles is wrapped in a liner. The consumer articles are arranged with their longitudinal axes parallel to each other and to a longitudinal axis of the package. The liner is folded around the back, bottom, front and sides of the plurality of articles. Further, the liner is closed at the top of the plurality of articles by an envelope fold. In some embodiments, the liner is also closed at the bottom of the plurality of articles by another envelope fold.

Preferably, an inner height of the package is greater than a length of the articles in the second group, such that the top wall of the package lies in a plane substantially parallel to and higher than the plane defined by the top end surfaces of the articles in the second group. This is particularly advantageous when the liner is formed from a thicker or less flexible packaging material, since it is thus easier to maintain at all times a gap between the top wall of the package and the underlying top ends of the articles in the second group such that the first article or group of articles stands out and is particularly easier to extract for the consumer.

In some embodiments, a length of the first article or a length of the articles in the first group is greater than the length of the articles in the second group. This is advantageous in that the first article or the articles in the first group very easily stand out of the plurality of articles in the package.

Preferably, an inner height of the package is substantially equal to the length of the first article or the length of the articles in the first group.

In other embodiments, a length of the first article or a length of the articles in the first group is substantially equal to the length of the articles in the second group.

Preferably, in these embodiments the package further comprises a spacer element arranged between a bottom wall of the package and a bottom end surface of the first article or first group of articles. This is so the first article or group of articles projects over the top end surfaces of the articles in the second group or the remainder of the articles in the package without the need to provide articles having different lengths in the same package. Thus, this advantageously simplifies the manufacturing process.

In addition, or as an alternative, in these embodiments the package may comprise one or more lines of weakness extending across a bottom wall of the package and defining a weakened portion of the package at least partly separable from the remainder of the bottom wall to form a second access opening at the bottom end of the package, the weakened portion at least partly underlying the first article or group of articles such that, upon at least partial separation of the weakened portion from the remainder of the bottom wall, the first article or at least an article in the first group of articles can be moved through the access opening.

In practice, once the weakened portion at the bottom of the package is at least partially separated from the remainder of the package, the consumer can effectively push upward the first article or at least an article in the first group of articles, such that it projects above the articles in the second group of articles, or the remainder of the articles in the package. This advantageously makes it easy for the consumer to extract the first article or an article from the first group of articles from the package.

In some embodiments, the bottom wall of the package may comprise an envelope fold, such that the bottom wall of the package comprises two or more partially overlapping folding tabs. In practice, the bottom wall thus consists of a bottom wall portion of overlap, wherein two or more of the partially overlapping folding tabs overlap, and of a bottom wall portion of no overlap formed by non-overlapping portions of the partially overlapping folding tabs. In these embodiments, the one or more lines of weakness extend solely across the bottom wall portion of no overlap.

This means that the one or more lines of weakness may partially extend also across another wall of the package, such as the front wall of the package. However, the portion of the one or more lines of weakness extending across the bottom wall of the package only extends across the bottom wall portion of no overlap and not across the bottom wall portion of overlap. Thus, the one or more lines of weakness only extend over portions of the bottom wall formed by a single layer of liner material. In other embodiments, the bottom wall is entirely formed of a single panel of liner material. Thus, in one such bottom wall, the bottom wall area of non-overlap effectively extends to the entirety of the surface area of the bottom wall.

Preferably the plurality of elongate consumer articles comprises at least one row of consumer articles.

Preferably, the one or more lines of weakness are configured to define a cover portion overlying a first article occupying a central position in the at least one row of consumer articles. This makes removal of the first article from the package particularly easy for the consumer.

In an embodiment, the package may comprise a first line of weakness extending over a finite length in the side-to-side direction across the top wall of the package and outside of the top wall area of overlap. Further, the package may comprise a pair of second lines of weakness extending over a finite length substantially perpendicular to the first line of weakness across the top wall of the package and outside of the top wall area of overlap towards the front wall of the package. In practice, the second lines of weakness may extend from end points of the first line of weakness to form a U-shape delimiting a top wall portion of the cover portion.

A length of the first line of weakness may be at least about 7.5 mm, preferably at least 10 mm, even more preferably at least 15 mm. In addition, or as an alternative, a length of the first line of weakness may be less than about 30 mm, preferably less than 25 mm, even more preferably less than 20 mm.

The cover portion preferably has a substantially square shape. Alternatively, the cover portion may be shaped as a square with rounded corners. However, the cover portion may also have a different shape, as long as the cover portion has a size such that a cross-section of the first article or the cross-section of at least one article in the first group of articles can be entirely contained within the perimeter of the cover portion.

In any of the embodiments described above, the package is preferably filled with elongate smoking articles, such as, for example, cigarettes, cigars or cigarillos. It will be appreciated that through appropriate choices of the dimensions, packages according to the invention may be designed for different numbers of conventional size, king size, super-king size, slim or super-slim cigarettes. However, packages in accordance with the present invention can also be used with a variety of consumer goods other than smoking articles.

Through an appropriate choice of the dimensions thereof, packages according to the invention may be designed to hold different total numbers of smoking articles, or different arrangements of smoking articles. For example, through an appropriate choice of the dimensions thereof, packages according to the invention may be designed to hold a total of between ten and twenty smoking articles.

The smoking articles in the package may be arranged in different collations, depending on the total number of smoking articles. For example, the smoking articles may be arranged in a single row of six, seven, eight, nine or ten. Alternatively, the smoking articles may be arranged in two or more rows. The two or more rows may contain the same number of smoking articles. For example, the smoking articles may be arranged in: two rows of five, six, seven, eight, nine or ten; three rows of five or seven; or four rows of four, five or six. Alternatively, the two or more rows may include at least two rows containing different number of smoking articles to each other. For example, the smoking articles may be arranged in: a row of five and a row of six (5-6); a row of six and a row of seven (6-7); a row of seven and a row of eight (7-8); a middle row of five and two outer rows of six (6-5-6); a middle row of five and two outer rows of seven (7-5-7); a middle row of six and two outer rows of five (5-6-5); a middle row of six and two outer rows of seven (7- 6-7); a middle row of seven and two outer rows of six (6-7-6); a middle row of nine and two outer rows of eight (8-9-8); or a middle row of six with one outer row of five and one outer row of seven (5-6-7).

Packages according to the present invention may hold smoking articles of the same type or brand, or of different types or brands. In addition, both filter-less smoking articles and smoking articles with various filter tips may be contained, as well as smoking articles of differing length (for example, between about 40 mm and about 180 mm), diameter (for example, between about 4 mm and about 9 mm). In addition, the smoking articles may differ in strength of taste, resistance to draw and total particulate matter delivery. Preferably, the dimensions of the package are adapted to the length of the smoking articles, and the collation of the smoking articles. Typically, the outer dimensions of the package are between about 0.5 mm to about 5 mm larger than the dimensions of the group or groups of smoking articles housed inside the package. Preferably, packages according to the invention have a height of between about 60 mm and about 150 mm, more preferably a height of between about 70 mm and about 125 mm, wherein the height is measured from the top wall to the bottom wall of the package.

Preferably, packages according to the invention have a width of between about 12 mm and about 150 mm, more preferably a width of between about 70 mm and about 125 mm, wherein the width is measured from one side wall to the other side wall of the package.

Preferably, packages according to the invention have a depth of between about 6 mm and about 100 mm, more preferably a depth of between about 12 mm and about 25 mm wherein the depth is measured from the front wall to the back wall of the package.

Preferably, the ratio of the height of the package to the depth of the package is in between about 0.3 to 1 and about 10 to 1 , more preferably between about 2 to 1 and about 8 to 1 , most preferably between about 3 to 1 and 5 to 1.

Preferably, the ratio of the width of the package to the depth of the package is between about 0.3 to 1 and about 10 to 1 , more preferably between about 2 to 1 and about 8 to 1 , most preferably between about 2 to 1 and 3 to 1.

Packages in accordance with the invention may be received in an outer hinged-lid housing of the type commonly used for smoking articles. One such hinged-lid housing may be manufactured by folding a laminar blank made from any suitable materials including, but not limited to, cardboard, paperboard, plastic, metal, or combinations thereof. Preferably, the outer housing is formed from a folded laminar cardboard blank. Preferably, the cardboard has a weight of between about 100 grams per square metre and about 350 grams per square metre. In more detail, containers according to the invention will typically be assembled in the conventional way using standard manufacturing equipment, by folding one or more laminar blanks around the package of consumer articles and sealing overlying panels of the laminar blanks together in order to retain the container in the assembled shape. This may be achieved using conventional glues or adhesives.

Containers comprising a package according to the invention in an outer hinged-lid housing may be shrink-wrapped or otherwise over wrapped with a transparent polymeric film of, for example, high or low density polyethylene, polypropylene, oriented polypropylene, polyvinylidene chloride, cellulose film, or combinations thereof in a conventional manner. When present, one such outer wrapper may include one or more a tear tapes. In addition, the outer wrapper may be printed with images, consumer information or other data. The additional outer wrapper may advantageously protect the surface of the container for example against abrasion during handling.

Packages in accordance with the present invention may be manufactured according to a method of packaging elongate consumer articles according to another aspect of the invention, as described briefly above. In a first step of the method, there is provided a plurality of elongate consumer articles. In a second step, the consumer articles in the plurality of articles are arranged with their longitudinal axes parallel to each other. A first article or group of articles in the plurality of consumer articles is longitudinally displaced relative to a second group of consumer articles in the plurality of consumer articles, the first article or group of articles being in direct contact with one or more articles in the second group of elongate consumer articles. The elongate consumer articles may, in particular, be arranged with their axes arranged vertically. Thus, a top end surface of the first article or top end surfaces of the first group of articles lie in a plane substantially parallel to and higher than a plane defined by top end surfaces of the articles in the second group of elongate consumer articles.

In a third step, a liner is wrapped around the plurality of consumer articles to form a package of consumer articles wherein the longitudinal axes of the consumer articles are parallel to a longitudinal axis of the package. In more detail, the liner is folded around the back, bottom, front and sides of the plurality of elongate consumer articles. Further, the liner is closed at the top of the plurality of elongate consumer articles by an envelope fold, such that a top wall of the package comprises two or more partially overlapping folding tabs one another over. The top wall thus consists of a top wall portion of overlap, wherein two or more of the partially overlapping folding tabs overlap, and of a top wall portion of no overlap formed by non-overlapping portions of the partially overlapping folding tabs.

In a fourth step, one or more lines of weakness are provided in the liner, such that in the assembled package the one or more lines of weakness extend at least partially across the top wall of the package and solely across the top wall portion of no overlap. The one or more lines of weakness are for defining a cover portion of the package that is at least partly separable from the remainder of the top wall to form a first access opening at the upper end of the package. Further, the one or more lines of weakness are formed at a location and in such a way that in the assembled package the cover portion at least partly overlies the top end surface of the first article or the top end surface of at least one article in the first group of articles.

Preferably, the step of providing one or more lines of weakness in the liners is carried out prior to the step of wrapping the liner around the plurality of consumer articles.

Preferably, in the third step of wrapping the liner around the plurality of consumer articles, the liner is folded such that an inner length of the package is greater than a length of the remainder of the articles in the plurality of elongate consumer articles. Thus, the top end wall of the package lies in a plane substantially parallel to, and spaced from, a plane defined by top end surfaces of the articles in the second group of articles.

In some embodiments of the method, in the first step of providing the plurality of consumer articles, a length of the first article or a length of the articles in the first group of articles is greater than the length of the articles in the second group of articles. Preferably, in the third step of wrapping the iiner around the plurality of articles the liner is folded such that an inner length of the package is substantially equal to the length of the first article or the length of the articles in the first group of articles.

In other embodiments of the method, in the step of providing the plurality of consumer articles a length of the first article or the length of the articles in the first group of articles is substantially equal to the length of the articles in the second group of elongate consumer articles.

In these embodiments, the method may further comprise an additional step of providing a spacer element arranged between a bottom end wall of the package and a bottom end surface of the first article or first group of articles.

As an alternative, in these embodiments, the method may comprise an additional step of providing one or more second lines of weakness in the Iiner, such that in the assembled package the one or more second lines of weakness extend at least partially across the bottom wall of the package, such as to define a bottom cover portion of the package at least partly separable from the remainder of the bottom wall to form a second access opening at the bottom end of the package. The one or more second lines of weakness are provided at a location, and of a size and geometry, such that the bottom cover portion at least partly overlies the bottom end surface of the first article or the first group of articles in the assembled package. The bottom cover portion at least partly underlies the first article or group of articles such that, upon at least partial separation of the bottom cover portion from the remainder of the bottom wall, the first article or at least an article in the first group of articles can be moved upward through the second access opening.

In some of these embodiments, the third step of wrapping the Iiner around the plurality of consumer articles may comprise closing the Iiner at the bottom of the plurality of elongate consumer articles by an envelope fold, such that a bottom wall of the package comprises two or more partially overlapping folding tabs. Thus, the bottom wall of these packages consists of a bottom wall portion of overlap, wherein two or more of the partially overlapping folding tabs overlap, and of a bottom wall portion of no overlap formed by non-overlapping portions of the partially overlapping folding tabs. The one or more second lines of weakness are formed in the Iiner such that, in the assembled package, the one or more second lines of weakness extend at least partially across the bottom wall of the package and solely across the bottom wall area of no overlap.

The invention will now be further described with reference to the figures in which:

Figure 1 shows a schematic sectional view of an embodiment of a package in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 shows a schematic top view of the package of Figure 2;

Figure 3 shows a schematic bottom view of the package of Figures 1 and 2; and Figure 4 shows a schematic sectional view of another embodiment of a package in accordance with the present invention.

The package 10 shown in Figures 1 , 2 and 3 comprises a plurality of smoking articles 12 wrapped in a liner 14. In the package 10 the smoking articles 12 are arranged with their longitudinal axes parallel to each other and to a longitudinal axis of the package. The liner 14 is folded around the back, bottom, front and sides of the plurality of smoking articles 12, and closed at the top by an envelope fold, such that a top wall 16 of the package 10 (see Figure 2) comprises two folding tabs 18, 20 partially overlapping one another over a top wall area of overlap 22.

A first (reference) smoking article 24 is vertically displaced relative to the remainder of the smoking articles. The first smoking article 24 is in direct contact with adjacent smoking articles, and a top end surface 26 of the first smoking article 24 lies in a plane substantially parallel to and higher than a plane defined by top end surfaces of the remainder of the smoking articles in the package. As can be seen in Figure 1 , a length of the first smoking article 24 is greater than the length of the remainder of the smoking articles in the package. An inner height of the package 10 is greater than the length of the remainder of the smoking articles in the package and substantially equal to the length of the first smoking article 24.

As shown in Figure 2, the package 10 comprises lines of weakness 28 extending across the top wall 16 of the package and entirely outside of the top wall area of overlap 22. The lines of weakness 28 delimit a cover portion 30 of the package 10. The cover portion 30 is separable from the remainder of the top wall 16 to form an access opening at the upper end of the package 10. The cover portion 30 overlies the top end surface 26 of the first article 24. Following at least partial separation of the cover portion 30 from the remainder of the top wall 16, the first article can be removed through the access opening.

Figure 3 shows that the package 10 further comprises one or more second lines of weakness 32 extending across a bottom wall 34 of the package 10. The second lines of weakness 32 define a weakened portion 36 of the package 10, which is at least partly separable from the remainder of the bottom wall 34. Thus, a second access opening can be defined at the bottom end of the package 10. As illustrated in Figure 3, the weakened portion 36 underlies the first smoking article 24. Thus, upon at least partial separation of the weakened portion 36 from the remainder of the bottom wall 34, the first article 24 can be moved through the access opening.

The package 40 illustrated in Figure 4 is similar to the package 10 of Figures 1 , 2 and 3 and will be described below only in so far as it differs from the package 10, and using, wherever possible, the same reference numerals used above to describe the package 10. As shown in Figure 4, the package 40 essentially differs from the package 10 in that a length of the first smoking article 24 is substantially equal to the length of the remainder of the smoking articles in the package 10. The packages further comprises a spacer element 42 arranged between the bottom wall 34 of the package 10 and a bottom end surface of the first smoking article 24. An inner height of the package is substantially equal to the sum of the length of the first smoking article 24 and the height of the spacer element 42, the inner height of the package thus being greater than a height of the remainder of the smoking articles in the package 10.

Claims

1. A package comprising a plurality of elongate consumer articles wrapped in a liner, the consumer articles being arranged with their longitudinal axes parallel to each other and parallel to a longitudinal axis of the package, the liner being folded around the back, bottom, front and sides of the plurality of elongate consumer articles, and closed at the top of the plurality of elongate consumer articles by an envelope fold, such that a top wall of the package comprises two or more partially overlapping folding tabs, the top wall consisting of a top wall portion of overlap, wherein the two or more partially overlapping folding tabs overlap, and of a top wall portion of no overlap formed by non-overlapping portions of the partially overlapping folding tabs; wherein a first article or group of articles in the plurality of elongate consumer articles is vertically displaced relative to a second group of articles in the plurality of consumer articles, the first article or group of articles being in direct contact with one or more articles in the second group of consumer articles, such that a top end surface of the first article or top end surfaces of the articles in the first group lie in a plane substantially parallel to and higher than a plane defined by top end surfaces of the articles in the second group of elongate consumer articles; and

wherein the package comprises one or more lines of weakness extending at least partially across the top wall of the package and solely across the top wall portion of no overlap and defining a cover portion of the package at least partly separable from the remainder of the top wall to form a first access opening at the upper end of the package, the cover portion at least partly overlying the top end surface of the first article or the first group of articles such that, following at least partial separation of the cover portion from the remainder of the top wall, the first article or at least one of the articles in the first group of articles can be removed through the first access opening.

2. A package according to claim 1 , wherein an inner height of the package is greater than a length of the articles in the second group, such that the top wall of the package lies in a plane substantially parallel to and higher than the plane defined by the top end surfaces of the articles in the second group.

3. A package according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a length of the first article or a length of the articles in the first group is greater than the length of the articles in the second group.

4. A package according to claim 3, wherein an inner height of the package is substantially equal to the length of the first article or the length of the articles in the first group.

5. A package according to claim 1 or 2 wherein a length of the first article or a length of the articles in the first group is substantially equal to the length of the articles in the second group.

6. A package according to claim 5 wherein the package comprises a spacer element arranged between a bottom wall of the package and a bottom end surface of the first article or group of articles.

7. A package according to claim 5, wherein the package comprises one or more lines of weakness extending across a bottom wall of the package and defining a weakened portion of the package at least partly separable from the remainder of the bottom wall to form a second access opening at the bottom end of the package, the weakened portion at least partly underlying the first article or group of articles such that, upon at least partial separation of the weakened portion from the remainder of the bottom wall, the first article or at least an article in the first group of articles can be moved through the access opening.

8. A package according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the plurality of elongate consumer articles comprises at least a row of consumer articles.

9. A method of packaging elongate consumer articles comprising:

providing a plurality of elongate consumer articles;

arranging the consumer articles with their longitudinal axes parallel to each other, a first article or group of articles in the plurality of elongate consumer articles being longitudinally displaced relative to a second group of consumer articles in the plurality of consumer articles, the first article or group of articles being in direct contact with one or more articles in the second group of elongate consumer articles, such that a top end surface of the first article or top end surfaces of the first group of articles lie in a plane substantially parallel to and higher than a plane defined by top end surfaces of the articles in the second group of elongate consumer articles;

wrapping a liner around the plurality of consumer articles to form a package of consumer articles wherein the longitudinal axes of the consumer articles are parallel to a longitudinal axis of the package, the liner being folded around the back, bottom, front and sides of the plurality of elongate consumer articles, and closed at the top of the plurality of elongate consumer articles by an envelope fold, such that a top wall of the package comprises two or more partially overlapping folding tabs, the top wall consisting of a top wall portion of overlap, wherein two or more of the partially overlapping folding tabs overlap, and of a top wall portion of no overlap formed by nonoverlapping portions of the partially overlapping folding tabs;

providing one or more lines of weakness in the liner, such that in the assembled package the one or more lines of weakness extend at least partially across the top wall of the package and solely across the top wall portion of no overlap; the one or more lines of weakness defining a cover portion of the package that is at least partly separable from the remainder of the top wall to form a first access opening at the upper end of the package, the cover portion at least partly overlying the top end surface of the first article or the top end surface of at least one article in the first group of articles in the assembled package.

10. A method according to claim 9 wherein in the step of wrapping the liner around the plurality of articles the liner is folded such that an inner length of the package is greater than a length of the remainder of the articles in the plurality of elongate consumer articles, so that the top end wall of the package lies in a plane substantially parallel to, and spaced from, a plane defined by top end surfaces of the articles in the second group of articles.

1 1. A method according to claim 9 or 10 wherein in the step of providing the plurality of consumer articles a length of the first article or a length of the articles in the first group of articles is greater than the length of the articles in the second group of articles.

12. A method according to claim 1 1 wherein in the step of wrapping the liner around the plurality of articles the liner is folded such that an inner length of the package is substantially equal to the length of the first article or the length of the articles in the first group of articles.

13. A method according to claim 9 or 10 wherein in the step of providing the plurality of consumer articles a length of the first article or the length of the articles in the first group of articles is substantially equal to the length of the articles in the second group of elongate consumer articles.

14. A method according to claim 13 comprising providing a spacer element arranged between a bottom end wall of the package and a bottom end surface of the first article or first group of articles.

15. A method according to claim 13 wherein in the step of wrapping the liner around the plurality of consumer articles the liner is closed at the bottom of the plurality of elongate consumer articles by an envelope fold, such that a bottom wall of the package comprises two or more partially overlapping folding tabs, the bottom wall consisting of a bottom wall portion of overlap, wherein two or more of the partially overlapping folding tabs overlap, and of a bottom wall portion of no overlap formed by non-overlapping portions of the partially overlapping folding tabs; the method further comprising providing one or more second lines of weakness in the liner, such that in the assembled package the one or more second lines of weakness extend at least partially across the bottom wall of the package and solely across the bottom wall portion of no overlap, the one or more second lines of weakness defining a bottom cover portion of the package at least partly separable from the remainder of the bottom wall to form a second access opening at the lower end of the package; the bottom cover portion at least partly overlying the bottom end surface of the first article or the first group of articles in the assembled package.