Abstract:
The invention relates to a cigarette pack of the hinge-lid type comprising an opening ( 36 ) configured in the lower section of the front face, namely in a front wall ( 12 ) of the pack. A marking ( 38 ), applied to the inner wrapper for identifying the product, is visible through said opening.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   The invention relates to a cigarette pack comprising at least two blanks, namely an inner blank which surrounds a cigarette group preferably on all sides and an (outer) pack blank made of paper, (thin) cardboard or similar material, in particular for the formation of a hinge-lid pack. 
   Hinge-lid boxes are known by their construction and design as being the most common type of cigarette pack worldwide. A group of cigarettes as the pack&#39;s contents is surrounded by an inner blank (inner liner) made of paper, metal-coated paper (tin foil) or similar material to form a cigarette block. The actual pack (embodied as a hinge-lid pack) consists of (thin) cardboard forming a box part and a lid connected thereto. In addition, a collar made from a separate blank forms a part of this pack. The collar is anchored in the box part in the region of its front side and side walls. A hinge-lid pack is usually surrounded by an outer wrapper made of plastic film which is removed by means of a tear-off strip when the pack is used for the first time. 
   SUMMERY OF THE INVENTION 
   The object on which the invention is based is to achieve a further development in packs intended as consumer goods, especially cigarette packs in their hinge-lid embodiment, with respect to their outer design, specifically with the aim of achieving improved means of marking or identification. 
   To solve this object, the pack according to the invention is characterized by the following features: 
   a) the outer blank is provided with at least one opening in the region of at least one pack wall, 
   b) the inner blank has at least one printed and/or embossed area which in the finished pack lies at least partially in the region of the opening and which is visible through said opening. 
   The invention is based on the knowledge that pack blanks, in particular the typical blanks of a hinge-lid pack, are industrially pre-fabricated, also with respect to their exterior printed design, and usually delivered in stacks of blanks for processing in a packaging machine. 
   This makes it impossible to implement any further changes to the design in the region of the packaging machine or associated equipment. 
   In contrast, the packaging material for the inner wrapper, in particular tin foil, can be provided with a label, emblem, insignia or the like by means of printing or embossing in the region of the packaging machine, in particular by the appropriate embossing of the material. This particular element is positioned in the region of the opening, thus remaining visible even when the pack is closed. 
   The opening is placed preferably in the region of a front wall of the pack, in particular at a (lower) box front wall of a hinge-lid pack, with the printed or embossed area being correspondingly located in the region of an inner front wall of the inner blank. One special feature consists of placing the opening in the region of an in particular enlarged collar, with the collar and box front wall having openings which correspond to one another, preferably with a different geometric design. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
     Further details of the inventions will be described below in more detail on the basis of exemplary embodiments featured in the illustrations, which show: 
       FIG. 1  a perspective view of a hinge-lid pack with open lid, 
       FIG. 2  another exemplary embodiment of a hinge-lid box in a view corresponding to  FIG. 1 , 
       FIG. 3  a spread-out pack blank for a hinge-lid box pursuant to  FIG. 1 , 
       FIG. 4  a blank for a hinge-lid box pursuant to  FIG. 1 , 
       FIG. 5  a blank for a hinge-lid pack pursuant to  FIG. 2 , 
       FIG. 6  a collar for a hinge lid box pursuant to  FIG. 2 , 
       FIG. 7  a spread-out inner blank, 
       FIG. 8  another exemplary embodiment of a hinge-lid box in a view corresponding to  FIG. 1 , 
       FIG. 9  a hinge-lid box pursuant to  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 2  or  FIG. 8  in the closed position with an outer wrapper of plastic film. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   The exemplary embodiments shown in the drawings relate to hinge-lid boxes for cigarettes. This type of pack comprises a (lower) box part  10  and lid  11 . The pack parts consist of a common, single-piece blank pursuant to  FIG. 3 . The elongate blank forms successive regions for a box front wall  12 , base wall  13 , box rear wall  14 , lid rear wall  15 , end wall  16  and lid front wall  17 . Connected to the latter is a lid inner tab  18 , which is folded against the inner side of the lid front wall  17 . Box rear wall  14  and lid rear wall  15  are connected to each other by a line hinge  19 . Box side walls  20  and lid side walls  21  are comprised of side tabs  22 ,  23 , which overlap each other at least partially and which are connected to each other by adhesive bonding. 
   A hinge-lid pack also includes a collar made from a separate blank ( FIG. 4 ,  FIG. 6 ). The collar comprises a collar front wall  24  and lateral collar tabs  25 . The collar is positioned within the box part  10 , with the collar front wall  24  lying on the inner side of the box front wall  12  and connected thereto (by adhesive bonding). An upper part of the collar projects from the box part  10  and is surrounded by the latter when the lid  11  is in its closed position. 
   The contents of a pack, i.e. a cigarette group, is surrounded by an inner blank ( FIG. 7 ) made of paper or tin foil, i.e. metal-coated paper. The inner blank completely surrounds the pack contents, thus forming a cigarette block  26  with connecting regions of an inner front wall  27 , an inner base wall  28  and an inner rear wall  29 . Also present are lateral folding tabs  30 ,  31  which, by means of corresponding folding and partial overlapping, form side walls in the finished cigarette block  26 . 
   Accordingly, end tabs  32 ,  33  are provided which form a folded upper inner end wall. As usual, an upper part of the inner blank is configured on its front side as a detachable tab or flap  34 . This is delimited from the remaining part of the inner blank by a transverse perforation line.  35 . The flap  34  is severed by the user&#39;s gripping of the outer end tab  32  when opening the pack for the first time. 
   At least one pack wall is provided with an opening  36 ,  37 . This opening  36 ,  37  is preferably placed in the region of the box front wall  12 . The opening  36 ,  37  exposes a corresponding surface area of the inner blank, namely the inner front wall  27 . Accordingly, this is visible from the outside in the region of the opening  36 ,  37 . 
   The openings  36 ,  37 , which are formed by punching, can assume various geometric shapes, e.g. form a triangle ( FIG. 1 ) or a circular area ( FIG. 2 ,  FIG. 8 ). Other, even complex geometric shapes of the openings  36 ,  37  are also suitable. 
   In the region of the opening  36 ,  37 , the inner blank is provided with a marking  38 . This can take the form of a label, mark or logo. But it can also provide information or data for pack identification with respect to origin, place and date of manufacture. For an inner blank made of tin foil, the marking  38  is an embossing. This is preferably applied during the preparation of the packaging material for the inner blank, namely in the region of embossing rollers during the usual processing of a web of packaging material. For this purpose, the embossing rollers can be configured such that a circumferential part for embossing the marking  38  can be easily interchangeable in order to make a quick change in the marking  38  possible. For an inner liner of paper or similar material, the marker  38  is expediently applied by printing, likewise in the region of the packaging machine. The marking  38  is applied such that is appears approximately at the center of the opening  36 ,  37 . 
   The collar is adapted to the shape and position of the opening  36 ,  37 . In the exemplary embodiment according to  FIG. 1 , the collar, in particular collar front wall  24 , extends to a lower region of the box front wall  12 , namely to the base wall  13  or to the vicinity of the base wall  13 . The opening  36  is completely situated in the region of the collar front wall  24 . The latter is provided with a collar opening  39 . This can have the same geometric shape as the opening  36 ,  37 . Expediently, the collar openings  39  assume a circular shape, specifically with dimensions (diameter) that are slightly smaller than the openings  36 ,  37 . The collar openings  39  are positioned such that, when the specified relative position of the collar is assumed in the pack or in the box part, the collar opening  29  is situated at least partially, but preferably approximately centered in the region of the opening  36  or  37 . The marking  38  applied to the inner wrapper is accordingly visible from the outside through the two punched-out areas, namely the opening  36 ,  37  on one hand, and the collar opening  39  on the other. 
   In the exemplary embodiment according to  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4 , the opening  36  in the box front wall  12  is configured as a (equilateral) triangle. The collar opening  39  is configured as a circular area, in particular concentric to the (likewise) circular-shaped marking  38  and disposed in the lower region of the enlarged, or lengthened, collar front wall  24  in such a manner that the collar opening  29  lies completely and approximately centered within the opening  36 . 
   In the exemplary embodiment pursuant to  FIG. 2 ,  FIG. 5  and  FIG. 6 , the collar ( FIG. 6 ) is provided with a V-shaped protrusion  40  at the lower marginal region of the collar front wall  24 . Due to the predetermined relative position of the collar and its dimensions, a portion of said protrusion  40  projects into the opening  37  ( FIG. 2 ). This part of the collar, or collar front wall  24 , is therefore visible in the opening  37 . The relative position here has been selected so that the protrusion  40  also covers a portion of the marking  28 . 
   Another special feature is realized in the exemplary embodiment pursuant to  FIG. 8 ,  FIG. 9 . Here the opening  37  is positioned in the lower region of the box front wall  12 , and in any case completely below the collar and collar front wall  24 . The special feature here is that the opening  37  and marking  38  are covered until the pack is used for the first time, so that the consumer discovers the marking  38  upon opening the pack and can thereby assign its relevance to the pack. To this end, an outer wrapper  41  is provided, especially one made of plastic film. This outer wrapper  41  of transparent film commonly used for such a pack is provided in the region of the opening  37  or at least in the region of the marking  38  with a cover layer  42  which hides the marking  38  from view until the outer wrapper  41  is removed. The cover layer  42  can be a layer of colored coating or an adhesive label attached to the inside of the wrapper. 
   The combination of an opening in the pack, on one hand, and a marking on the inner wrapper, on the other hand, can also be positioned at another part of the pack, e.g. in the region of the lid  11 . In the embodiment pursuant to  FIG. 9  with its partially masked outer wrapper  41 , the cover layer  42  is positioned in the region of the lid  11 , i.e. in the region of a film cap  43 , which is severed from the outer wrapper when the pack is opened for the first time with a tear-open strip  44 . 
   The openings  36 ,  37  are expediently created by punching operations during the fabrication of the blanks, specifically in a common work cycle with the punching of the blanks themselves. 
   LIST OF DESIGNATIONS 
   
       
         10  box part 
         11  lid 
         12  box front wall 
         13  base wall 
         14  box rear wall 
         15  lid rear wall 
         16  end wall 
         17  lid front wall 
         18  lid inner tab 
         19  line hinge 
         20  box side wall 
         21  lid side wall 
         22  side tab 
         23  side tab 
         24  collar front wall 
         25  collar tab 
         26  cigarette block 
         27  inner front wall 
         28  inner base wall 
         29  inner rear wall 
         30  folding tab 
         31  folding tab 
         32  end tab 
         33  end tab 
         34  flap 
         35  perforations line 
         36  opening 
         37  opening 
         38  marking 
         39  collar opening 
         40  protrusion 
         41  outer wrapper 
         42  cover layer 
         43  film cap 
         44  tear-off strip