U.S. patent application number 14/770755 was filed with the patent office on 2016-01-14 for a blank of wrapping material.
The applicant listed for this patent is BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO (INVESTMENTS) LIMITED. Invention is credited to Paul Hodges.
Application Number | 20160009483 14/770755 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 48092157 |
Filed Date | 2016-01-14 |
United States Patent
Application |
20160009483 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Hodges; Paul |
January 14, 2016 |
A Blank of Wrapping Material
Abstract
A blank of wrapping material (3) foldable about a tobacco
industry product (1) having a peripheral edge is disclosed. At
least part of the peripheral edge has a non-linear profile and when
the blank of wrapping material (3) is folded about a tobacco
industry product the at least part of the edge having a non-linear
profile overlaps another part of the peripheral edge.
Inventors: |
Hodges; Paul; (London,
GB) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO (INVESTMENTS) LIMITED |
London |
|
GB |
|
|
Family ID: |
48092157 |
Appl. No.: |
14/770755 |
Filed: |
February 21, 2014 |
PCT Filed: |
February 21, 2014 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/GB2014/050530 |
371 Date: |
August 26, 2015 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
206/271 ;
229/87.05; 229/87.13 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 85/1045 20130101;
B65D 85/1027 20130101; B65D 85/10 20130101; B65D 85/1018 20130101;
B65D 71/06 20130101 |
International
Class: |
B65D 85/10 20060101
B65D085/10; B65D 71/06 20060101 B65D071/06 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Feb 27, 2013 |
GB |
1303445.9 |
Claims
1. A blank of wrapping material foldable about a tobacco industry
product having a peripheral edge, wherein at least part of the
peripheral edge has a non-linear profile, and when the blank of
wrapping material is folded about a tobacco industry product, the
at least part of the edge having a non-linear profile overlaps
another part of the peripheral edge.
2. The blank of wrapping material according to claim 1, wherein the
at least part of the edge having a non-linear profile is uppermost
when the blank of wrapping material is folded about a tobacco
industry product.
3. The blank of wrapping material according to claim 1, wherein the
blank of wrapping material comprises a portion that is separable
from a remainder of the blank of wrapping material and at least an
edge of the removable portion has a non-linear profile.
4. The blank of wrapping material according to claim 1, where the
non-linear profile is in the form of a zigzag.
5. A bundle of smoking articles for insertion into a smoking
article pack comprising a charge of smoking articles and a wrapping
material enclosing the charge of smoking articles, the wrapping
material having overlapping edges, wherein at least one edge has a
non-linear profile.
6. The bundle of smoking articles according to claim 5, wherein the
wrapping material comprises a portion that is separable from a
remainder of the wrapping material and at least an edge of the
removable portion has a non-linear profile.
7. The bundle of smoking articles according to claim 5, where the
non-linear profile is in the form of a zigzag.
8. The smoking article pack having a bundle of smoking articles
according to claim 5 received therein, the pack comprising a body
and a lid that closes over an edge of the wrapping material having
a non-linear profile.
9-10. (canceled)
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present invention relates to a blank of wrapping
material for enclosing a tobacco industry product. A blank of
wrapping material for enclosing a charge of smoking articles and a
bundle of smoking articles received in a pack are also
disclosed.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Smoking articles such as cigarettes, cigars or cigarillos,
are typically bundled together and wrapped in a sheet of material,
for example, a sheet of paper laminated with metal foil. The sheet
of material helps to preserve the freshness and the aroma of the
tobacco in the smoking articles. The wrapped bundle of smoking
articles is further stored in a pack which protects the cigarettes
from mechanical and environmental damage. The pack can be enclosed
in an outer transparent plastic film so as to further ensure that
the smoking articles are protected from any environmental
impact.
[0003] To access the smoking articles, a user pulls on a tab of the
plastic film such that the plastic film tears open. Thereafter, the
user opens a lid of the pack such that the laminated paper is
exposed. The paper is typically formed with a line of weakness,
such as perforations, so that a user can easily separate a portion
from the remainder of the paper by tearing it along the line of
perforations so as to gain access to the smoking articles held
within.
SUMMARY
[0004] According to the present invention, there is provided a
blank of wrapping material foldable about a tobacco industry
product having a peripheral edge, wherein at least part of the
peripheral edge has a non-linear profile, and when the blank of
wrapping material is folded about a tobacco industry product, the
at least part of the edge having a non-linear profile overlaps
another part of the peripheral edge.
[0005] In one embodiment, the at least part of the edge having a
non-linear profile is uppermost when the blank of wrapping material
is folded about a tobacco industry product.
[0006] In one embodiment, the blank of wrapping material comprises
a portion that is separable from a remainder of the blank of
wrapping material and at least an edge of the removable portion has
a non-linear profile. The non-linear profile may be in the form of
a zigzag.
[0007] According to the present invention, there is also provided a
bundle of smoking articles for insertion into a smoking article
pack comprising a charge of smoking articles and a wrapping
material enclosing the charge of smoking articles, the wrapping
material having overlapping edges, wherein at least one edge has a
non-linear profile.
[0008] In one embodiment, the wrapping material comprises a portion
that is separable from a remainder of the wrapping material and at
least an edge of the removable portion has a non-linear
profile.
[0009] The non-linear profile may be in the form of a zigzag.
[0010] According to yet another aspect of the invention, there is
provided a smoking article pack having a bundle of smoking articles
as described above received therein, the pack comprising a body and
a lid that closes over an edge of the wrapping material having a
non-linear profile.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] FIG. 1 shows a transparent front view of a wrapped bundle of
smoking articles according to the present invention;
[0012] FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the wrapped bundle of
smoking articles shown in FIG. 1;
[0013] FIG. 3 shows a top view of the wrapped bundle of smoking
articles shown in FIG. 2;
[0014] FIG. 4 shows a blank of wrapping material for wrapping a
charge of smoking articles;
[0015] FIG. 5 shows a top view of another embodiment of the wrapped
bundle of smoking articles according to the present invention;
and
[0016] FIG. 6 shows a pack for receiving a wrapped bundle of
smoking articles according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0017] Embodiments of the present invention will now be described
by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying
drawings.
[0018] The present invention relates to a sheet or a blank of
wrapping material 3 for enclosing or being folded about a tobacco
industry product, for example, a charge of smoking articles.
[0019] Referring now to the drawings, there is shown in FIGS. 1 and
2 a charge of smoking articles wrapped in a wrapping to form a
bundle for insertion into a smoking article pack. The wrapping
comprises an elongate sheet or blank of wrapping material 3, as
illustrated in FIG. 4, which encloses the charge of smoking
articles 1 such that said smoking articles are arranged in rows
with the longitudinal axis `A` of each smoking article being
parallel to one another. The elongate sheet of material 3 may be
formed from foil or paper laminated with foil.
[0020] The sheet or blank of material 3 encloses the charge of
smoking articles 1. It is folded about the charge of smoking
articles such that it forms a front wall 4 and a rear wall (not
shown), wherein the front 4 and rear walls are parallel to the
longitudinal axis `A` of the smoking articles. The sheet of
material 3 also forms a bottom wall 5 facing the combustible end 6
of the smoking articles. Furthermore, the sheet of material forms
side walls 8, 9 and atop wall 11 of the wrapped bundle of smoking
articles 2 as will now be described.
[0021] The side walls 8, 9 comprises side flaps 4a, 4b (only right
side flaps are visible in FIG. 2) that extend from the front 4 and
rear walls towards the sides of the bundle and that are folded
around onto the sides of the smoking articles. The flaps 4a
extending from the front wall 4 overlap the flaps 4b extending from
the rear wall.
[0022] Similarly, top flaps 14a, 14b, 14c, 14d extending from the
front wall 4, rear wall and the two side walls 8, 9 in an opposite
direction to the bottom wall 5 are folded across the mouth end 7 of
the smoking articles so as to form the top wall 11. The top flaps
14c, 14d extending form the side walls 8, 9 are folded first,
thereafter the top flap 14b extending from the rear wall is folded
and lastly the top flap 14a extending from the front wall 4 is
folded such that it overlaps all the other top flaps 14b, 14c,
14d.
[0023] The sheet of material 3 comprises a line of weakness 12.
This line can be scored, perforated or punctured so as to form a
weakened line. The line of weakness 12 extends between opposite
long edges of the sheet of material 3 such that it defines a
portion 13 of the sheet of material. When the sheet of material 3
encloses the charge of smoking articles 1, the line of weakness 12
is located on the front wall 4 and on its corresponding side flaps
4a (only one flap is visible in FIG. 2) which forms part of the
side walls 8, 9 of the bundle. Thus, the portion 13 forms an upper
end of the wrapped charge of smoking articles.
[0024] To remove the portion 13 from the wrapped charge of smoking
articles, a user pulls on the top flap 14a extending from the front
wall 4 of the wrapped charge of smoking articles 2 such that
wrapping tears or separates along the line of weakness 12. The user
pulls in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis `A` of the
smoking articles which is represented by an arrow ('B') in FIGS. 2
and 3. This direction is referred to as a first direction.
[0025] The top flap 14a extending from the front and forming part
of the top wall comprises a leading edge 14e as is best seen in
FIG. 3. The leading edge 14e has a zigzag shaped profile such that
the leading edge is longer than in a conventional wrapped charge of
smoking articles where the corresponding leading edge is straight
or linear. The general direction of the leading edge is parallel to
the front 4 and rear walls of the wrapped charge of smoking
articles 2. Advantageously, the zigzag shaped longer edge 14e
increases the friction between the bundle of smoking articles 2 and
the smoking article pack in which it is received reducing the risk
of lid of the smoking article pack from accidentally opening.
[0026] In an alternative embodiment, the leading edge 15 of the
flap 14a extending from the front wall 4 is curved as seen in FIG.
5.
[0027] The leading edge of the top flap 14a that lies uppermost is
not limited to following the paths or be formed into the shapes
described above. It should be appreciated that the scope of the
invention includes any configuration where at least a portion of
the leading edge of the uppermost top flap is configured to follow
a non-linear path. For example, the leading edge of the uppermost
top flap 14a, 14b may alternatively follow a wavy or an oscillating
path.
[0028] The present invention is not limited to the top flap 14a
extending from the front wall 4 lying uppermost. It should be
appreciated that the top flap 14b extending from the rear wall may
lie uppermost. Thus, in this embodiment, the top flap 14b extending
from the rear wall comprises a leading edge having at least a
portion which is configured to follow a non-linear path.
[0029] In yet another un-illustrated embodiment, the uppermost side
flap 4a, 4b which extends from the front and/or rear wall comprises
a leading edge which has at least a portion which follows a
non-linear path. Thus, the side flap(s) extending from the front
and/or rear wall which lies uppermost comprises a leading e which
may follow a zigzag, curved, wavy or oscillating path as described
above. It should be appreciated that the leading edge of the
uppermost side flaps and the top flap may follow a particular
path.
[0030] The bundle of smoking articles is receivable in a smoking
article pack. Preferably, the smoking article pack 20 comprises a
body 21 and lid 22 as seen in FIG. 6, wherein the lid 22 can be
opened and closed so as to provide access to the bundle of smoking
articles.
[0031] In the embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2,
the leading edge of the uppermost flap extending from the front
wall 4 is concealed when the pack is closed, and visible when the
lid is opened.
[0032] It should be appreciated that the bundle of smoking articles
2 as described above is not limited to the pack described herein.
The bundle of smoking articles can be inserted into any pack which
enables a charge of smoking articles to be wrapped in a wrapping
having a removable portion so as to access smoking articles held
therein.
[0033] As used herein, the term "smoking article" includes
smokeable products such as cigarettes, cigars and cigarillos
whether based on tobacco, tobacco derivatives, expanded tobacco,
reconstituted tobacco or tobacco substitutes and also heat-not-burn
products. The smoking article may be provided with a filter for the
gaseous flow drawn by the smoker.
[0034] Furthermore, the blank of wrapping material according to the
present invention can be folded about any tobacco industry product
and so is not limited to enclosing a charge of smoking
articles.
[0035] A tobacco industry product refers to any item made in, or
sold by the tobacco industry, typically including a) cigarettes,
cigarillos, cigars, tobacco for pipes or for roll-your-own
cigarettes, (whether based on tobacco, tobacco derivatives,
expanded tobacco, reconstituted tobacco or tobacco substitutes); b)
non-smoking products incorporating tobacco, tobacco derivatives,
expanded tobacco, reconstituted tobacco or tobacco substitutes such
as snuff, snus, hard tobacco, and heat-not-burn products; and c)
other nicotine-delivery systems such as inhalers, lozenges and gum.
This list is not intended to be exclusive, but merely illustrates a
range of products which are made and sold in the tobacco
industry.
[0036] A tobacco industry pack refers to any pack that can contain
and/or receive a tobacco industry product.
[0037] In order to address various issues and advance the art, the
entirety of this disclosure shows by way of illustration various
embodiments in which the claimed invention(s) may be practiced and
provide for superior bundle of smoking articles or superior blanks
of wrapping material. The advantages and features of the disclosure
are of a representative sample of embodiments only, and are not
exhaustive and/or exclusive. They are presented only to assist in
understanding and teach the claimed principles. It should be
understood that they are not representative of all claimed
inventions. As such, certain aspects of the disclosure have not
been discussed herein. That alternate embodiments may not have been
presented for a specific portion of the invention or that further
undescribed alternate embodiments may be available for a portion is
not to be considered a disclaimer of those alternate embodiments.
It will be appreciated that many of those undescribed embodiments
incorporate the same principles of the invention and others are
equivalent. Thus, it is to be understood that other embodiments may
be utilized and modifications may be made without departing from
the scope and/or spirit of the disclosure. As such, all examples,
implementations, and/or embodiments are deemed to be non-limiting
throughout this disclosure. Also, no inference should be drawn
regarding those embodiments discussed herein relative to those not
discussed herein other than it is as such for purposes of reducing
space and repetition. Various embodiments may suitably comprise,
consist of, or consist essentially of, various combinations of the
disclosed elements, components, features, parts, steps, means, etc.
Some of the disclosed features, elements, implementation, etc., may
be mutually contradictory, in that they cannot be simultaneously
present in a single embodiment. Similarly, some features are
applicable to one aspect of the icy disclosure, and inapplicable to
others. In addition, the disclosure includes other inventions not
presently claimed. Applicant reserves all rights in those presently
unclaimed inventions including the right to claim such inventions,
file additional applications, continuations, continuations in part,
divisions, and/or the like thereof. As such, it should be
understood that advantages, embodiments, examples, function,
features, structural, and/or other aspects of the disclosure are
not to be considered limitations on the disclosure as defined by
the claims or limitations on equivalents to the claims.
* * * * *