U.S. patent application number 13/987315 was filed with the patent office on 2014-11-06 for electronic cigarette pack with living hinge.
The applicant listed for this patent is RAMON ALARCON. Invention is credited to RAMON ALARCON.
Application Number | 20140326623 13/987315 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 51840869 |
Filed Date | 2014-11-06 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140326623 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
ALARCON; RAMON |
November 6, 2014 |
ELECTRONIC CIGARETTE PACK WITH LIVING HINGE
Abstract
The disclosure provides a single piece electronic cigarette pack
that comprises a living hinge.
Inventors: |
ALARCON; RAMON; (Los Gatos,
CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
ALARCON; RAMON |
Los Gatos |
CA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
51840869 |
Appl. No.: |
13/987315 |
Filed: |
August 28, 2012 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
206/242 ;
264/328.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A24F 15/12 20130101;
A24F 47/008 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
206/242 ;
264/328.1 |
International
Class: |
A24F 15/12 20060101
A24F015/12; A24F 47/00 20060101 A24F047/00 |
Claims
1. An electronic cigarette pack as described herein.
2. A method of manufacturing an electronic cigarette pack as
described herein.
Description
FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0001] The present disclosure relates to an electronic cigarette
pack, and more particularly, an electronic cigarette pack with a
living hinge.
BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0002] Electronic cigarettes are a popular alternative to
traditional tobacco based cigarettes that must be burned in order
to generate smoke for inhalation. Electronic cigarettes provide a
vapor for inhalation, but do not contain certain byproducts of
combustion that may be harmful to human health. Electronic
cigarettes are frequently provided in or with a cigarette pack (or
case) that uses at least four parts, including a lid, a base
housing, and two or more pins that are pressed through holes formed
in the lid and housing to create a hinge.
[0003] FIG. 1 shows an example of a current state of the art
electronic cigarette pack, which includes four parts, including a
lid, a base housing, and two pins that pivotally connect the lid to
the base housing. The current state of the art pack design, which
relies on pins inserted into holes, is prone to breakage when it is
dropped or sat on, since the pins present a common failure point
during these types of events.
[0004] U.S. Pat. No. D613,903 to Jianyong Wu shows another example
of an electronic cigarette pack.
[0005] Current state of the art electronic cigarette packs require
a relatively labor-intensive assembly process that impacts the cost
of production. The present disclosure provides a novel electronic
cigarette pack with living hinge design that eliminates the costly
assembly process, including the likelihood of mal-assembly, while
reducing manufacturing costs and timelines. The present disclosure
also provides a pack design that is resistant to breakage when, for
example, the pack is dropped. The pack includes a living hinge that
distributes stresses, thereby reducing a likelihood of breakage
during events, such as, dropping of the pack to the floor.
SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0006] According to an aspect of the disclosure, a living hinge is
incorporated into the electronic cigarette pack to provide a single
piece structure. A hinge is formed at the union of the lid portion
and the main body portion of the pack. The hinge is formed by
shaping the geometry and injection molding process parameters. The
geometry is designed such that a thin web of material is created at
the union of the lid and the main body. The nominal wall thickness
of the lid and the main body are large relative to the thickness of
the web. By way of example, the nominal wall thickness of the main
body and lid may be 2.0 mm, whereas the thickness of the web is in
the range of 0.20 mm to 0.75 mm. The geometry of the transition
from the nominal wall thickness to the web may be contoured so as
to promote a smooth flow of molten plastic across the hinge during
the molding process. Injection gate location may be placed such
that the molten plastic flows uniformly through the hinge during
the molding processes. This may be important in order to ensure
that no stress concentrations are formed in the hinge area. Also
important to the performance of the hinge is the selection of
plastic material. Certain plastics such as, for example,
polypropylene and high density polyethylene demonstrate high
fatigue resistance and are thus suitable for living hinge designs.
The hinge should be kept thin enough to allow for easy opening and
closing of the lid. However, in order to promote tear resistance,
the hinge may be locally thickened at its edges in order to better
resist tear initiation without a significant increase in hinge
operation force.
[0007] Additional features, advantages, and embodiments of the
disclosure may be set forth or apparent from consideration of the
detailed description and drawings. Moreover, it is to be understood
that the foregoing summary of the disclosure and the following
detailed description and drawings are exemplary and intended to
provide further explanation without limiting the scope of the
disclosure as claimed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a
further understanding of the disclosure, are incorporated in and
constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of
the disclosure and together with the detailed description serve to
explain the principles of the disclosure. No attempt is made to
show structural details of the disclosure in more detail than may
be necessary for a fundamental understanding of the disclosure and
the various ways in which it may be practiced. In the drawings:
[0009] FIG. 1 shows an example of a current state of the art
electronic cigarette pack;
[0010] FIG. 2 shows an example of an electronic cigarette pack that
is constructed according to the principles of the disclosure;
and
[0011] FIG. 3 shows a close-up view of a hinge section of the
electronic cigarette pack shown in FIG. 2.
[0012] The present disclosure is further described in the detailed
description that follows.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0013] The disclosure and the various features and advantageous
details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the
non-limiting embodiments and examples that are described and/or
illustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in the
following description. It should be noted that the features
illustrated in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, and
features of one embodiment may be employed with other embodiments,
even if not explicitly stated herein. Descriptions of well-known
components and processing techniques may be omitted so as to not
unnecessarily obscure the embodiments of the disclosure. The
examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an
understanding of ways in which the disclosure may be practiced and
to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the
embodiments of the disclosure. Accordingly, the examples and
embodiments herein should not be construed as limiting the scope of
the disclosure. Moreover, it is noted that like reference numerals
represent similar parts throughout the several views of the
drawings.
[0014] The terms "including," "comprising," and variations thereof,
as used in this disclosure, mean "including, but not limited to,"
unless expressly specified otherwise.
[0015] The terms "a," "an," and "the," as used in this disclosure,
means "one or more," unless expressly specified otherwise.
[0016] Although process or method steps, or the like, may be
described in a sequential order, such processes or methods may be
configured to work in alternate orders. In other words, any
sequence or order of steps that may be described does not
necessarily indicate a requirement that the steps be performed in
that order. The steps of the processes or methods described herein
may be performed in any order practical. Further, some steps may be
performed simultaneously.
[0017] When a single device or article is described herein, it will
be readily apparent that more than one device or article may be
used in place of a single device or article. Similarly, where more
than one device or article is described herein, it will be readily
apparent that a single device or article may be used in place of
the more than one device or article. The functionality or the
features of a device may be alternatively embodied by one or more
other devices which are not explicitly described as having such
functionality or features.
[0018] FIG. 2 shows an example of an electronic cigarette pack that
is constructed according to the principles of the disclosure. As
seen, the electronic cigarette pack comprises a living hinge that
is incorporated into the electronic cigarette pack to provide a
single piece structure. The hinge is formed at the union of the lid
portion and the main body portion of the pack. The hinge may be
formed by shaping the geometry and injection molding process
parameters. The geometry may be designed such that a thin web of
material is created at the union of the lid and the main body. The
nominal wall thickness of the lid and the main body are large
relative to the thickness of the web. By way of example, the
nominal wall thickness of the main body and lid may be 2.0 mm,
whereas the thickness of the web is in the range of 0.20 mm to 0.75
mm.
[0019] The electronic cigarette pack may include one or more
electrical connections (not shown) to charge one or more electronic
cigarettes that may be contained in the pack. The pack may further
include a connector that is configured to receive power from an
external power supply. The pack may further include a battery,
which may be configured to be rechargeable.
[0020] The geometry of the transition from the nominal wall
thickness to the web may be contoured so as to promote a smooth
flow of molten plastic across the hinge during the molding
process.
[0021] During molding, an injection gate location (not shown) may
be placed such that the molten plastic flows uniformly through the
hinge during the molding processes. This may be important in order
to ensure that no stress concentrations are formed in the hinge
area.
[0022] Also important to the performance of the hinge is the
selection of plastic material. Certain plastics such as, for
example, polypropylene and high density polyethylene demonstrate
high fatigue resistance and are thus suitable for living hinge
designs. The hinge should be kept thin enough to allow for easy
opening and closing of the lid. However, in order to promote tear
resistance, the hinge may be locally thickened at its edges in
order to better resist tear initiation without a significant
increase in hinge operation force.
[0023] The pack of the present disclosure includes a living hinge
that allows for part count reduction by combining the function of
four or more discrete parts into a single part. This part count
reduction results in a simpler assembly process. By making assembly
simpler, the device can be manufactured at a lower cost and at a
higher level of quality. The living hinge can also be made to be
stronger than an equivalently sized "hole and pin" system. This
results in a more durable end product.
[0024] FIG. 3 shows a close-up view of the living hinge section of
the electronic cigarette pack, constructed according to the
principles of the disclosure.
[0025] As an alternative to the pack shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a pack
may be constructed using a two-part construction (not shown), which
includes a first part comprising a portion (e.g., a half) of a
hinge that is molded into a lid, and a second part comprising
another portion of the hinge that is molded into the main body. The
hinge may be complete when the two parts are snapped together
during assembly.
[0026] Another alternative design may include a two-part
construction that uses a magnetic hinge between the lid and body
(not shown).
[0027] While the disclosure has been described in terms of
exemplary embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that
the disclosure can be practiced with modifications in the spirit
and scope of the appended claims. These examples are merely
illustrative and are not meant to be an exhaustive list of all
possible designs, embodiments, applications or modifications of the
disclosure.
* * * * *