A POUCH-SHAPED PACKAGE FOR AROMATIC PRODUCTS, IN PARTICULAR TOBACCO

Abstract: A pouch-shaped package for aromatic products, in particular tobacco commodities is produced from a single sheet (10) of a semi-rigid, foldable and moisture-tight foil material punched in a rectangular plane form having a first pair of opposite side edges (11, 12) and a second pair of opposite side edges (13, 14). By stamping symmetrically from both sides of the sheet about a central axis (15) parallel to the first pair of side edges (11, 12) folding lines are provided, along which the sheet is folded or bent so as to obtain a substantially box-like container with a bottom (1), two opposite end walls (2, 3) and two opposite side walls (4, 5). By means of further oblique folding lines (6, 7) in the end walls (2, 3) the container may be collapsed in a flat condition by folding one side wall (4) over the bottom (1) of the container followed by overlapping bending of the second side wall (5).

Description: A pouch-βhaped package for aromatic products, in particular tobacco. The invention relates to a pouch-shaped package for aromatic products in pressed, cut, granulated or powdered condition, in particular tobacco. Such packages, particularly used as sales packages for smoking tobacco, are generally produced from a rectangular paper sheet inserted between two soft flexible blanks of plast foil, both of which extend a little beyond the paper sheet on all sides thereof. After the foil blanks have been welded along all edges, a section corresponding to about one third of the length of the paper sheet is folded in over the remaining portion and edge-welded on two sides. The tobacco is then filled into the flat filling space pro¬ vided by the folding operation which is permanently closed at the bottom produced by the folding operation proper and sealed along the side edges by the edge weldings, following which the product may be withdrawn from the package through the rather narrow opening between the closing flap and the free end of the bent section of the initially sheet-shaped blank. The known packages function satisfactorily with respect to preserving the aroma of the commodity and they also afford a good security against drying of the product while being stored as well as after being opened for use. As regards production, the prior packages suffer, however, from the drawback that use is made of three separate blanks, viz. the paper sheet, the out¬ side of which serves as label, and the two foil blanks corresponding thereto, necessitating two welding opera¬ tions, viz. before and after folding. Moreover, the fact that the final tobacco pouch has only a comparatively narrow opening at one side of two edge-welded sheet blanks entails that the package is frequently considered less attractive in use as a pocket package, because it has a tendency to crumple already after relatively short use. In addition, the comparatively narrow opening makes the package less fitted for tobacco pressed in block or sheet form. The object of the invention is to provide a new design of a package of the above type In which the outlined drawbacks as regards production and use have been substantially overcome and the quality of the package with respect to protection against loss in aroma and drying is simultaneously kept on a level with or even superior to the quality of prior packages. In order to obtain this, the pouch-shaped package according to the invention is characterized in that it is produced rom a single sheet of a semi¬ rigid, foldable and moisture-tight sheet material punched in a rectangular plane form having a first pair of opposite side edges and a second pair of opposite side edges, folding lines being provided in the sheet by stamping from both sides symmetrically about a central axis parallel to the first pair of side edges, the sheet being folded or bent along said folding lines so as to obtain the shape of an upwards open, substan¬ tially box-like container with a bottom, two opposite end walls and two opposite side walls, additional folding lines being provided in the end walls to enable the container also after opening and put to use to be closed aroma-tight in a flat condition by folding at least part of the side walls over the bottom of the container. As regards production, the package according to the invention offers the advantage that it is formed from a single, rectangular sheet-shaped starting blank, e.g. a paper product with a metal foil layer on one side, the inside of the final package, and a plastic coating on the other side. The design of said container is obtained by simple folding operations without the need of cutting away any part of the blank, and by a simple welding operation, thereby sealing the end walls of the con¬ tainer by pressing along said first pair of side edges in one working operation. Moreover, in its open condition the package pre- sents a considerably larger opening for filling and removing the product than do the known packages. In particular, this provides for a considerable relief when filling the product, and the package according to the invention is well fitted for use in connection with automatic product weighing or dosing machines, in that the manufacture of the package proper may constitute an integral part of the entire operation of packaging the product. Also the withdrawal of product portions is relieved by the considerably larger opening, in par¬ ticular as regards tobacco pressed in block or sheet form which together with the production of the package from a semi-rigid material further involves a smaller risk of crumpling. In its closed condition, the package offers the same good preservation of the aroma and natural moist¬ ure of the product as prior packages. In use where the package is gradually emptied of its content, the package can easily be further folded due to.the folda- bility of the material. In preferred embodiments of the invention the stamping provides for a) firstly, folding lines parallel to the second pair of side edges for dividing the sheet into a center section and a first and a second outer section to pro¬ duce the bottom and the two sidewalls of said con¬ tainer, respectively, b) secondly, folding lines substantially paral¬ lel to the first pair of side edges for defining edge zones at both sides adjacent said side edges of all three sections and folding lines for defining relative- ly narrow weld or adhesion zones at least along half the length of said side edges for the provision of the end walls of said container by welding or adhering the edge zones of the sections at either side along said weld or adhesive zones, c) thirdly, folding lines extending from the corner points between the center section and the first outer section and the edge zones associated with said sections to the points positioned centrally of each of said edge zones of the stamped folding lines for defining the weld and adhesive zones, and folding lines extending from the two other corner points of the center section in the associated edge zones to the points positioned centrally of the edge zones of the center section of said weld or adhesive zone defining folding lines, thereby providing for folding the edge zone of the center section at either side to form a substantially triangular flap that is welded or adhered on the outer side of the end walls in order to make it possible to fold the final package from open to closed condition. The invention will now be explained in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figs 1 and 2 illustrate a first embodiment of a pouch-shaped package according to the invention in open and closed condition, respectively, Fig. 3 is an unfolded plan view of a rectangular foil sheet material for making out the embodiment illustrated in Figs 1 and 2 and with drawn folding lines, Figs 4 and 5 show a second embodiment, and Fig. 6 is a plan view of a foil material sheet for making out the embodiment in Figs 4 and 5. As illustrated 1 Fig. 1, the complete package has the form of a mainly box-like container with a bot¬ tom 1, two opposite end walls 2 and 3 and two opposite sidewalls 4 and 5. By means of oblique, inwards directed folding lines 6 and 7 In either of end walls 2 and 3 the container may according to the embodiment in Fig. 1 be collapsed to the condition shown in Fig. 2, by bending the one sidewall 2 over bottom 1, following which sidewall 5 is folded so as to superpose the already bent sidewall 4. By said bending, sidewall 5 is, as explained in the following, folded to form a triangular closing flap 8 the point of which Is inserted under a closing strip 9 adhered on the out- side of sidewall 4. The sheet-shaped rectangular starting blank 10 shown in Fig. 3 for manufacturing the package consists of a semi-rigid, foldable and moisture-tight foil material, e.g. a paper sheet, which on the one side facing towards the interior of the final package is metallised and has a plast foil coating, and which on the opposite external side may be coated with a lacquer so as to obtain a fat- and dirty-repellent surface. The figure shows the folding lines necessary for making the foldlngf and bending operations, by which the package obtains the shape illustrated in Fig. 1, the folding lines shown In solid lines being provided by stamping from the side of the sheet 10 which in the final package has to face inwards, while the dashed folding lines are provided by stamping from the oppo¬ site, outwards facing side of the sheet. In view of the fact that the sheet has a first pair of opposite side edges 11 and 12 and a second set of opposite side edges 13 and 14, all folding lines are stamped so that they are symmetrical about a central axis 15 shown in dot-and-dash lines and parallel to side edges 11 and 12. By said stampings from both sides of the sheet the following folding lines are provided: a) parallel to the side edges 13 and 14 folding lines 16 and 17 are made which divide sheet 10 into a first outer section 18, a center section 19 and a second outer setion 20 for the provision of sidewall 4, bottom 1 and sidewall 5, resp., of the complete package as illustrated in Fig. 1, b) parallel to side edges 11 and 12 folding lines 21 and 22 are provided in sections 19 and 20 for defining edge zones 19a to 19b and 20a to 20b at either side of said sections 19 to 20 and in extension of said lines folding lines 21a and 22a are provided in section 18 for defining edge zones 18a, 18b, said latter folding lines converging slightly towards side edge 13, whereby the edges of side wall 4 of the complete package as illustrated in Fig. 2 are slightly drawn in upon opening the package, thereby ensuring that the opening is covered in its full width by closing flap 8. At a short distance from side edges 11 and 12 and parallel thereto and across half the length of the sheet between side edge 13 and a central axis 25 through section 19 there are further provided folding lines 23 and 24 for defining relatively narrow adhesive and weld zones 18c to 18d and 19c to 19d along side edges 11 and 12. Zones 18a and 20a of the above edge zones serve to obtain end wall 3 and zones 18b and 20b serve to obtain end wall 2, sheet 10 being welded or adhered at either side after folding about axis 25, c) From corner points 26 and 27 of center section 19 at the first outer section 18 there are provided oblique folding lines extending to folding lines 23 and 24 centrally of the two adjacent edge zones, and from the two other corner points 28 and 29 of center section 19 folding lines are provided 7 in a similar manner which extend to end points of folding lines 23 and 24 centrally of edge zones 19a to 19b pertaining to center section 19. Thus, folding lines 30 and 31 extend from corner point 26 to the points 36 and 37 on folding line 23 In edge zones 18a and 19a of sections 18 and 19, from corner point 27 corresponding folding lines 32 and 33 extend to points 38 and 39 on folding line 24 in edge zones 18b, 19b of sections 18 and 19, from corner point 28 folding line 34 extends to point 37 in edge zone 19a of section 19, and from corner point 29 folding line 35 extends to point 39 in edge zone 19b of section 19. Each folding line 30 to 35 thus extends to the adhesive or weld zone defining folding line 23 and 24, resp., in a point thereof centrally of the edge zones of the Individual sections. Folding lines 31, 33, 34 and 35 of the obliquely extending folding lines 30 to 35 allow for folding each of edge zones 19a and 19b of center section 19 so as to form a substantially triangular flap as illustrated by 40 in Fig. 1, said flap being bent up and welded or adhered on to the end wall concerned. The remaining folding lines 30 and 32 form part of folding lines 6 and 7 shown in Fig. 1 which are used when the final package has to be closed from the condition shown in Fig. 1 to the con¬ dition shown in Fig. 2, d) Parallel to and at short distance from side edges 13 and 14 there are provided folding lines 41 and 42 for defining edge reinforcing zones along end wall 4 and 5 and the edges of end walls 2 and 3 at the free opening of the package, e) From corner points 28 and 29 of the center section at the second outer section 20 the folding lines 43 and 44 are provided to extend to a common crossing point 45 in which folding line 42 8 intersects central axis 15. Said folding lines allow to fold section 20 to form closing flap 8 illus¬ trated in Fig. 2, f) For the provision of the parts of folding lines 6 and 7 illustrated in Fig. 1 that extend in edge zones 20a and 20b of the second outer section 20 there are provided folding lines 46 and 47, g) In the points such as 37 to 39 and 45 from which oblique or edge parallel folding lines extend to folding lines 23, 24 and 41, 42, resp., defining the adhesive or weld zones and edge rein¬ forcing zones, resp., folding lines extending to the side edges concerned are stamped transversely of the actual zones. Said folding lines 16', 16", 21', 21", 22', 22", 30', 31', 32', 33 » , 23', 24', 41', 41", 43', 44', 46* and 47' are stamped complemen- tarily in proportion to the folding lines they are axially aligned on, thereby overlapping the actual folding lines after the respective zones have been bent. However, the lines 31' and 33' positioned in center axis 25 extend perpendicular to side edges 11 and 12. From the total number of folding lines the parts of lines . 16 and 17 located between lines 21 and 22, the parts of lines 21 and 22 extending through sections 18 and 19 and lines 31, 33, 34 and 35 and lines 41, 42, 43 and 44 together with folding lines 16', 16", 21", 22", 23', 24', 30', 31', 32', 33', 41', 41", 46' and 47' through the weld or ad- hesive zones and the edge reinforcing zones by stamping from the side of sheet 10 which in the complete pack¬ age becomes the inside. The remaining folding lines, i.e. the parts of lines 16 and 17 positioned between neighbouring edge zones, the parts of lines 21 and 22 extending through section 20, lines 23, 24, 30 and 32 and lines 46, 47 together with lines 21', 9 22', 43' and 44' extending through the edge rein¬ forcing zones are obtained by stamping from the opposite side facing outwards in the completed state of the package. The following steps may be followed In the pro¬ vision of the container illustrated in Fig. 1 from the sheet 10 in Fig. 3, stamped with folding lines. At first, the above described stamping s carried out in one operation from the Internal and external sides of the sheet material. Sheet 10 Is then, folded along central axis 25 and welded along weld zones 18c to 19c and 18d to 19d, following which the weld zones are bent on lines 23 and 24. The sheet now forms a pocket with openings along the aligning side edges 13 and 14. Folding is then effected along the diagonal lines 31, 34 and 33, 35, resp., causing the partβ of lines 16 and 17 positioned in the edge zones to be placed above the parts of lines 21 and 22 positioned in center section 19. The flaps 40 thus formed by the edge zones o center section 19 are now folded and adhered 1st points 37 and 38 to end walls 2 and 3, thereby inherently obtaining the container form illustrated in Fig. 1. The following folding along lines 43 and 44 now forms closing flap 8, thereby causing the parts and lines 21 and 22 positioned in section 20 to follow line 17. The folding on lines 6 and 7 cor¬ responding to lines 30, 46 and 32, 47, resp., now provides for collapsing the package to the closed con- dition in Fig. 2 and from this condition for opening it to the condition shown in Fig. 1. The embodiment in Figs 4 and 5 differs mainly from the embodiment in Figs 1 and 2 in the manner in which the package is closed from the condition illus- trated in Fig. 4 to the condition illustrated in Fig/. 5. Also according to this design the package has in its open condition substantially the form of a box- shaped container with a bottom 101, two opposite end walls 102 and 103 and two opposite sidewalls 104 and 105. Sidewalls 104 and 105 are upon closing, however, only bent along half their height in over bot¬ tom 101 by means of folding lines 106 and 107 formed for that purpose at either of endwalls 102 and 103. By means of parallel folding lines 108 and 109 extending in parallel to the free upper edges of walls 102 to 105 the upper halves of sidewalls 104 and 105 and the interposed parts of end walls 102 and 103 are bent to form a closing flap 100 throughout the width of the package. For making the embodiment in Figs 4 and 5 use is made of a starting blank 110 as illustrated in Fig. 6, in which lines and points corresponding to lines and points in the embodiment in Fig. 3 have the same refer¬ ence numerals, however increased by 100. In the same manner as in Fig. 3, solid lines are obtained by stamping from the internal side of the foil sheet material, while the dashed lines are obtained by stamping from the external side. The deviations from the sheet shape in Fig. 3 are mainly the following. In all three sections 118, 119 and 120 the folding lines 121 and 122 extend parallel to the side edges 111 and 112 and are provided throughout its length by stamping from the internal side of the sheet. Folding lines 43, 44, 45, 46 and 47 shown in Fig. 3 do not occur in Fig. 6. In the first outer section parallel to the side edge 113, there is provided a single folding line 148 11 corresponding to part of the folding line 108 in Fig. 4. Between folding line 121 and 122 folding line 148 is provided by stamping from the Internal side while in the edge zones 118a and 118b it is pro- vided by stamping from the external side. Correspondingly, the second outer section 120 is provided with two folding lines 149 and 150 parallel to the side edge 114 and corresponding to folding lines 108 and 109 in Fig. 4. Said folding lines are both complementarily stamped in relation to folding line 148. It is observed that also the first outer section may include two parallel folding lines, but only the illustrated line 148 is necessary, a folding line corresponding to line 109 in Fig. 4 being inherently formed upon closing the package. By stamping from the external side minor folding lines 153 and 154 are provided from the corner points 128 and 129 between center section 119 and the second outer section 120 and the associated edge zones and towards side edges 111 and 112 to points 151 and 152 on the folding line 150 at a short distance from the individual side edges. The container in Fig. 4 is obtained from the stamped sheet in Fig. 6 substantially in the same manner as described above with respect to the embodi¬ ment in Figs 1 to 3.

Claims: 12 P A T E N T C L A I M S 1. A pouch-shaped package for aromatic products in pressed, cut, granulated or powdered condition, in particular tobacco, characterized in that it is pro¬ duced from a single sheet (10; 110) of a semi-rigid, foldable and moisture-tight sheet material punched in a rectangular plane form having a first pair of opposite side edges (11,12; 111,112) and a second pair of oppo¬ site side edges (13,14; 113,114), folding lines being provided in the sheet by stamping from both sides sym- metrically about a central axis (15; 115) parallel to the first pair of side edges (11, 12; 111,112), the sheet being folded or bent along said folding lines so as to obtain the shape of an upwards open, substantial¬ ly box-like container with a bottom (1,101), two oppo- site end walls (2,3; 102,103) and two opposite side walls (4,5; 104,105), additional folding lines (6,7; 106,107) being provided in the end walls (2,3; 102,103) to enable the container also after opening and put to use to be closed aroma-tight in a flat condition by folding at least part of the side walls over the bottom of the container. 2. A pouch-shaped package as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said stamping provides for a) firstly, folding lines (16, 17; 116, 117) parallel to the second pair of side edges (13,14; 113,114) for dividing the sheet into a center section (19,119) and a first and a second outer section (18,20; 118,120) to produce the bottom (1,101) and the two sidewalls (4,5; 104,105) of said container, respective- ly, b) secondly, folding lines (21,22; 121,122) substantially parallel to the first pair of side edges (11,12; 111,112) for defining edge zones (18a-b, 19a-b, 20a-b; H8a-b, 119a-b, 120a-b) at both sides adjacent said side edges (11,12; 111,112) of all three sections 13 (18-20; 118-120) and folding lines (23,24; 123,124) for defining relatively narrow weld or adhesion zones (18c-d; 118c-d, 119c-d) at least along half the length of said side edges (11,12; 111,112) for the provision of the end walls (2, 3, 102, 103) of said container by welding or adhering the edge zones (18a-20a, 18b-20b; 118a-120a, 118b-120b) of the sections (18,19,20; 118, 119, 120) at either side along said weld or adhesive zones, c) thirdly, folding lines (30-33; 130-133} extending from the corner points (26,27; 126,127) between the center section (19; 119) and the first outer section (18; 118) and the edge zones associated with said sections to the points (36-39; 136,139) posi- tioned centrally of each of said edge zones of the stamped folding lines (23,24; 123,124) for defining the weld and adhesive zones and folding lines (34,35; 134,135) extending from the two other corner points (28,29; 128,129) of the center section In the asso- elated edge zones to the points (37,39; 137,139) posi¬ tioned centrally of the edge zones of the center sec¬ tion of said weld or adhesive zone defining folding lines, thereby providing for folding the edge zone (19a-b; 119a-b) of the center section (19; 119) at either side to form a substantially triangular flap (40; 140) that is welded or adhered on the outer side of the end walls (2,3; 102,103) in order to make It possible to fold the final package from open to closed condition. 3. A pouch-shaped package as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the folding lines (21,22; 121,122) stated under item b) for defining said edge zones (18a-b, 19a-b; 118a-b, 119a-b) in the first outer section (19; 119) together with the portion of the folding lines (16, 17; 116, 117) stated under item a) and interposed therebetween and the folding lines (31,33,34,35; 131,132,134,135) stated under item c) and extending from the corner points (26-29; 126-129) of the center section to said central points (37,39; 137,139) of the edge zones (19a,b; 119a,b) of the center section (19; 119) are obtained by stamping from the internal side of the foil sheet material (10; 110), while the portions of the folding lines (16,17; 116,117) stated under item a) and positioned between adjacent edge zones and the folding lines (30,31; 130,132) stated under item c) extending from the corner points (26,27; 126,127) of the center section at the first outer section (18; 118) to said central points (36-38; 136,138) of the edge zones of said outer sec¬ tion are obtained by stamping from the external side of the foil sheet material. 4. A pouch-shaped package as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that the folding lines (21-24) men¬ tioned under item b) in claim 2 for defining edge zones (20a-b) in the second outer section (20) and for defining said weld and adhesive zones are obtained by stamping from the external side of the foil sheet material (10). 5. A pouch-shaped package as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that by stamping from the internal side of the foil sheet material there are provided further folding lines (43,44) from said two other corner points (28, 29) of the center section (19) to a common crossing point (45) on said central axis (15) at or in the vicinity of the side edge (14) perpendicular thereto of the second outer section (19) for folding said section to form a triangular closing flap (8) which after the sidewall (4) formed by the first sec¬ tion (18) has been folded over the bottom of the box- shaped container is bent in so as to overlap said sidewall. 6. A pouch-shaped package as claimed in claims 3 , 4 or 5 , char ac ter ized in that the parts ( 21a, 22a) 15 extending through the first outer section of the folding lines (21, 22) mentioned under item b) in claim 2 for defining the edge zone converge in the direction towards the free side edge (13) of said outer section (18). 7. A pouch-shaped package as claimed In claim 3, characterized in that the folding lines stated under item b) in claim 2 and the folding lines (121-124) men¬ tioned under item c) for defining edge zones (120a-b) in the second outer section (120) and for defining said weld and adhesive zones are obtained by stamping from the internal side of the foil sheet material (110). 8. A pouch-shaped package as claimed in claim 7, characterized in that it is includes folding lines (108, 109) provided parallel to and at a distance from the edges (113, 114) of the foil sheet material defining the box-shaped opening of the container, thereby obtaining a bent closing flap (100) throughout the length of the package. 9. A pouch-shaped package as claimed in any of claims 3 to 8, characterized in that folding lines (41,42; 141,142) are provided by stamping from the internal side of the foil sheet material parallel to and at a comparatively short distance from said second pair of opposite side edges (13,14; 113,114), thereby obtaining edge reinforcing zones. 10. A pouch-shaped package as claimed in any of claims 3 to 9, characterized by providing folding lines through said weld or adhesive zones (18c-d, 19c-d; 118c-d, 119c-d) and said edge reinforcing zones, said folding lines extending from the crossing points of the zones defining folding lines (23, 24, 41, 42; 123, 124, 141, 142) intersecting other folding lines and to the respective side edges of the foil sheet material, said folding lines being complementarily stamped in propor¬ tion to the folding lines from which they extend.

Inventors: MADSEN CONNIE, SCHMIDT PALLE, MADSEN, CONNIE, SCHMIDT, PALLE
Applicants: SCHURPACK HARRISLEE GMBH & CO, SCHURPACK HARRISLEE GMBH & CO. KG
Application year: 1989
Main classification: B65D30
IPC codes: B65D30