Patent Publication Number: US-2006006078-A1

Title: Container for tobacco articles and relative production method

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD  
      The present invention relates to a container for tobacco articles.  
      More specifically, the present invention relates to a container for tobacco articles, e.g. a cigarette packet or carton, of the type formed by folding sheet material, normally a blank, and comprising at least one double-layer wall defined by an inner portion and an outer portion of sheet material superimposed on each other, at least part of the inner portion being covered by a corresponding part of the outer portion.  
      The present invention is particularly advantageous for producing hinged-lid packets of cigarettes, to which the following description refers purely by way of example.  
     BACKGROUND ART  
      In the tobacco industry, hinged-lid packets of cigarettes, i.e. packets comprising a body and a lid hinged to each other along a hinge line, are known to be produced by folding a flat, substantially rectangular blank, on which two preformed longitudinal fold lines or strips, parallel to each other and to a longitudinal axis of the blank, define a central body divided by a number of preformed transverse fold lines and by said hinge line into a succession of panels normally comprising a first front panel of the body, a second bottom panel of the body, a third rear panel of the body, a fourth rear panel of the lid connected to the third panel along said hinge line, a fifth top panel of the lid, a sixth front panel of the lid, and a seventh reinforcing panel of the sixth panel.  
      Outwards of the central body, the preformed longitudinal fold lines or strips define two first flaps connected to respective longitudinal edges of the first panel; two second flaps connected to respective longitudinal edges of the third panel; two third flaps connected to respective longitudinal edges of the fourth panel; and two fourth flaps connected to respective longitudinal edges of the sixth panel.  
      When folding the blank, each of the above flaps is folded squarely with respect to the relative panel and superimposed on another flap to form a relative portion of a lateral wall of the packet. More specifically, each first flap is placed on and gummed to the outer surface of a corresponding second flap, and each fourth flap is placed on and gummed to the outer surface of a corresponding third flap, to form, on the packet, two opposite lateral walls, on each of which the free edges of the outer flaps are visible.  
      The fact that the free edges are visible has both aesthetic and functional drawbacks. That is, the free edges, on the one hand, are normally the natural colour of the cardboard from which the blank is made, as opposed to the same colour/s as the adjacent outer surface of the packet, and, on the other, are rough, so that the packet is apt to catch, in use, on surrounding materials, and any transparent overwrapping material is prevented from adhering perfectly to the outer surface of the packet.  
      U.S. Pat. No. 4,526,317 discloses a parallelepiped container for cigarettes formed by bending and folding a single blank of a suitably cut sheet of paperboard, cardboard or other stiff, resilient and foldable material. The container carries a boxlike lid hinged along its rear wall; the inner sides of the lid carry lid guide panels, spaced from the lid sides, with the side portions of certain corner posts slidably positioned between the lid sides and the lid guide panels. In a modification, the corner posts and the upper portion of the front of the main body portion of the container are debossed.  
      U.S. Pat. No. 5,197,935 discloses a liquids package having side walls as well as upper and lower walls serving as top and bottom respectively, a side wall and the top having a sealing seam extending along edges of adjacent wall panels; so that the package may have a smooth outer surface in the region of sealing seams, without the formation of synthetic plastics beads or the like, the outer surface of the two wall panels which are connected to each other by the sealing seam are disposed to merge steadily into each other via the gap along at least one end face of an edge which belongs to the relevant wall panel so that the other surfaces are flush in cross-section, and in that the sealing seam is masked on the inside of the package by a synthetic plastics bead.  
     DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION  
      It is an object of the present invention to provide a container for tobacco articles, designed to eliminate the aforementioned drawbacks.  
      According to the present invention, there is provided a container for tobacco articles, as claimed in Claim  1  and, preferably, in any one of the following Claims depending directly and/or indirectly on Claim  1 .  
      The present invention also relates to a method of producing the container for tobacco articles as defined above. According to the present invention, there is provided a method of producing a container for tobacco articles, as claimed in Claim  6  and, preferably, in any one of the following Claims depending directly and/or indirectly on Claim  6 . 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      A number of non-limiting embodiments of the present invention will be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:  
       FIG. 1  shows a cross section in perspective of a first preferred embodiment of the container according to the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  shows a side view of a variation of the  FIG. 1  container;  
       FIG. 3  shows a flat blank from which to produce the  FIG. 1  container;  
      FIGS.  4  to  6  show, schematically, respective methods of producing the  FIG. 3  blank;  
      FIGS.  7  to  9  are similar to  FIG. 1 , and show further embodiments of the container according to the present invention. 
    
    
     BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION  
      Number  1  in  FIG. 1  indicates as a whole a hinged-lid packet containing a group of cigarettes A enclosed in an inner wrapping B. Packet  1  comprises a body  2  and a lid  3  hinged to each other along a hinge line  4  ( FIG. 3 ), and comprises a front wall  5 , a rear wall  6 , and two minor lateral walls  7  perpendicular to and connected to front and rear walls  5  and  6  by rounded longitudinal edges  8 .  
      As shown in  FIG. 3 , packet  1  is formed by folding a flat, substantially rectangular blank  9 , on which two preformed longitudinal fold strips  10 —parallel to each other and to a longitudinal axis  11  of blank  9 , and for forming rounded edges  8 —define a central body  12  divided by a number of preformed transverse fold lines  13  and by hinge line  4  into a succession of panels comprising a front panel  14  of body  2 ; a bottom panel  15  of body  2 ; a rear panel  16  of body  2 ; a rear panel  17  of lid  3  connected to panel  16  along hinge line  4 ; a top panel  18  of lid  3 ; a front panel  19  of lid  3 ; and a reinforcing panel  20  of panel  18 .  
      Outwards of central body  12 , preformed longitudinal fold strips  10  define two flaps  21  extending along respective longitudinal edges of front panel  14 ; two flaps  22  extending along respective longitudinal edges of rear panel  16 ; two flaps  23  extending along respective longitudinal edges of rear panel  17 ; and two flaps  24  extending along respective longitudinal edges of front panel  19 .  
      When folding blank  9  to form packet  1 , flaps  21 - 24  are folded squarely with respect to relative panels  14 ,  16 ,  17 ,  19 ; each flap  21 ,  24  is superimposed at least partly on relative flap  22 ,  23 , and is placed on and gummed to the outer surface of relative flap  22 ,  23 ; and each pair of corresponding flaps  22  and  23  defines, together with the relative flaps  21  and  24  superimposed on them, a relative lateral wall  7 , the opposite longitudinal edges of which are connected respectively to front wall  5  and rear wall  6  by two rounded edges  8 , each defined by a respective preformed fold strip  10 .  
      As shown in  FIG. 3 , a draw line  25  is formed along each pair of flaps  22  and  23 , extends parallel to longitudinal axis  11 , and, as shown in  FIG. 1 , divides each flap  22 ,  23  into a raised portion  26  adjacent to and on a level with an outer edge of relative preformed fold strip  10 , and into a depressed portion  27 .  
      Depressed portion  27  of each flap  22 ,  23  rests on a corresponding flap of an inner collar  28 , has a free edge  29 , and is connected to relative raised portion  26  by a shoulder  30 , which defines an inner edge of relative flap  22 ,  23 , is of a height substantially equal to the thickness of blank  9 , extends along relative draw line  25 , and is positioned facing, adjacent to, and coplanar with a free edge  31  of relative flap  21 ,  24 .  
      In the  FIGS. 1 and 3  example, each draw line  25  is straight, and is formed practically along the outer edge of relative preformed fold strip  10 , so that raised portions  26  of relative flaps  22  and  23  have a relatively small surface. In variations not shown, however, each draw line  25  is located further away from the outer edge of relative preformed fold strip  10 , with a corresponding reduction in the width of relative flaps  21  and  24 , and/or is defined, as in the example shown in the  FIG. 2  variation, by a draw line  25   a  of any curvilinear and/or mixtilinear shape, to obtain a relative lateral wall  7  with a perfectly flat outer surface  7   a  with no steps or exposed free edges  31 , and, at the same time, a particularly attractive effect.  
      Draw lines  25 ,  25   a  can be formed using various methods, the choice of which depends on the shape and location of draw lines  25 ,  25   a,  and on the nature of blanks  9  being used.  
      To form straight draw lines  25  extending lengthwise of blanks  9  extracted from a stack (not shown) and fed axially in continuous manner or in steps, each draw line  25  is preferably formed using two rollers  32  ( FIG. 4 ) rotating about respective axes  33 , crosswise to longitudinal axis  11 , and positioned contacting relative depressed portion  27 , and two rollers  34  offset with respect to rollers  32 , rotating about respective axes  35  parallel to axes  33 , and positioned contacting relative raised portion  26 .  
      If blanks  9  ( FIG. 5 ) are fed in steps in any direction, e.g. crosswise to longitudinal axes  11 , draw lines  25  or  25   a  are preferably formed using a die  36  and counter-die  37  moving crosswise to blanks  9  and having respective facing, complementary surfaces  38  and  39 .  
      If blanks  9  are connected laterally ( FIG. 6 ) to form a continuous strip  40  fed continuously or in steps in a direction  41  crosswise to longitudinal axes  11 , draw lines  25  or  25   a  are preferably formed using two substantially tangent rollers  42  and  43  located on opposite sides of strip  40 , and rotating about respective axes  44  and  45  parallel to each other and to longitudinal axes  11 , and crosswise to direction  41 . Rollers  42  and  43  respectively comprise at least one peripheral projection  46  and at least one corresponding cavity  47 , which are brought into contact with respective opposite surfaces of depressed portions  27  of two adjacent blanks  9 .  
      Draw lines  25 ,  25   a  may obviously be formed either when producing blanks  9  or on the user packing machine.  
      The above description relative to packet  1  also applies to any rigid package for tobacco articles, having one wall formed by superimposing two layers of sheet material.  
      For example,  FIG. 7  shows a packet  48  with bevelled edges  49 , i.e. an octagonal packet  48 , the edges  49  of which are each defined by a longitudinal strip  50  at a 45° angle to the adjacent lateral wall  7 , and connected to lateral wall  7  along a longitudinal edge  51 . Draw lines  25  (or  25   a ) of packet  48  are preferably formed on relative flaps  22  and  23  adjacent to relative rear edges  51 .  
      By way of a further example,  FIG. 8  shows a rectangular-section packet  52 , wherein each lateral wall  7  is connected to front wall  5  and rear wall  6  along straight edges  53 , and each draw line  25  (or  25   a ) is preferably formed on relative flaps  22  and  23  adjacent to the relative rear edge  53 .  
      By way of a further example,  FIG. 9  shows a “PILLOW” packet  54 , wherein each of the opposite lateral portions of each of front and rear walls  5  and  6  is defined by a transversely curved preformed longitudinal fold strip  55  connected to relative lateral wall  7  along a relative sharp edge  56 , and each draw line  25  (or  25   a ) is preferably formed on relative flaps  22  and  23  adjacent to the relative rear edge  56 .