U.S. patent application number 14/770769 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 | 20160009484 14/770769 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 48092151 |
Filed Date | 2016-01-14 |
United States Patent
Application |
20160009484 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Hodges; Paul |
January 14, 2016 |
A Blank of Wrapping Material
Abstract
A blank of wrapping material foldable about a tobacco industry
product (1) is disclosed. The blank of wrapping material is formed
with a line of weakness (12) to enable a portion of said blank of
wrapping material to be separated from the remainder of the blank
of wrapping material along said line of weakness (12). At least a
section of the line of weakness (12) follows a non-linear path.
Inventors: |
Hodges; Paul; (London,
GB) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
British American Tobacco (Investments) Limited |
London |
|
GB |
|
|
Family ID: |
48092151 |
Appl. No.: |
14/770769 |
Filed: |
February 21, 2014 |
PCT Filed: |
February 21, 2014 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/GB2014/050533 |
371 Date: |
August 26, 2015 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
206/271 ;
229/87.05; 229/87.13 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 85/1027 20130101;
B65D 85/1045 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 |
1303439.2 |
Claims
1. A blank of wrapping material foldable about a tobacco industry
product, the blank of wrapping material is formed with a line of
weakness to enable a portion of said blank of wrapping material to
be separated from the remainder of the blank of wrapping material
along said line of weakness, wherein at least a section of the line
of weakness follows a non-linear path.
2. The blank of wrapping material according to claim 1, wherein
said section of the line of weakness follows a zigzag pattern.
3. The blank of wrapping material according to claim 1, wherein
said section of the line of weakness follows an oscillating
path.
4. The blank of wrapping material according to claim 1, wherein
said section of the line of weakness follows an arcuate path.
5. The blank of wrapping material according to claim 1, wherein
said section of the line of weakness follows a v-shaped path.
6. A bundle of smoking articles for insertion into a smoking
article pack, comprising a charge of smoking articles enclosed in a
sheet of wrapping material having a front and rear wall separated
by side walls, the wrapping material including a line of weakness
having a section that extends across the front wall to enable a
portion of said wrapping material to be separated from the
remainder of the wrapping material along said line of weakness to
provide access to the charge of smoking articles, wherein said
section of the line of weakness that extends across the front wall
follows a non-linear path.
7. The bundle of smoking articles according to claim 6, wherein
said section of the line of weakness follows a zigzag pattern.
8. The bundle of smoking articles according to claim 6, wherein
said section of the line of weakness follows an oscillating
path.
9. The bundle of smoking articles according to claim 6, wherein
said section of the line of weakness follows an arcuate path.
10. The bundle of smoking articles according to claim 6, wherein
said section of the line of weakness follows a v-shaped path.
11. A smoking article pack containing a bundle of smoking articles
according to claim 6, comprising a body and a lid configured so
that said section of the line of weakness is concealed to a user
when the lid is opened.
12.-13. (canceled)
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present invention relates to a blank of wrapping
material for being folded about a tobacco industry product. The
present invention also relates to a bundle of smoking articles
comprising a charge of smoking articles and a wrapping material
enclosing the charge of smoking articles, and a bundle of smoking
articles received in a pack.
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 charge 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 wrapping
material is exposed. The wrapping material is typically formed with
a line of perforations so that a user can easily separate a portion
of the wrapping material to gain access to the smoking articles
held within.
SUMMARY
[0004] According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a
blank of wrapping material foldable about a tobacco industry
product, the blank of wrapping material is formed with a line of
weakness to enable a portion of said blank of wrapping material to
be separated from the remainder of the blank of wrapping material
along said line of weakness, wherein at least a section of the line
of weakness follows a non-linear path.
[0005] The section of the line of weakness may follow a zigzag
pattern, an oscillating path, an arcuate path or a v-shaped
path.
[0006] According to another aspect of the invention, there is
provided a bundle of smoking articles for insertion into a smoking
article pack, comprising a charge of smoking articles enclosed in a
sheet of wrapping material having a front and rear wall separated
by side walls, the wrapping material including a line of weakness
having a section that extends across the front wall to enable a
portion of said wrapping material to be separated from the
remainder of the wrapping material along said line of weakness to
provide access to the charge of smoking articles, wherein said
section of the line of weakness that extends across the front wall
follows a non-linear path.
[0007] The section of the line of weakness may follow a zigzag
pattern, an oscillating path, an arcuate path or a v-shaped
path.
[0008] According to yet another aspect of the invention, there is
provided a smoking article pack containing a bundle of smoking
articles comprising any of the features mentioned above, the pack
comprising a body and a lid configured so that said section of the
line of weakness is concealed to a user when the lid is opened.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIG. 1 shows a transparent front view of a wrapped bundle of
smoking articles according to the present invention;
[0010] FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the wrapped bundle of
smoking articles shown in FIG. 1;
[0011] FIG. 3 shows a front view of a wrapped bundle of smoking
articles received in a pack according to the present invention;
and
[0012] FIG. 4 shows a blank of wrapping material according to the
present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0013] Embodiments of the present invention will now be described
by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying
drawings.
[0014] Referring now to the drawings, there is shown in FIGS. 1 and
2 a charge of smoking articles 1 wrapped in a wrapping for
insertion into a smoking article pack 15. The wrapping comprises an
elongate sheet or blank of wrapping material 3 as shown in FIG. 4.
The sheet or blank of wrapping material 3 may be formed form as
foil or paper laminated with foil. The blank of wrapping material
encloses the charge of smoking articles to form a bundle 2 and such
that said smoking articles are arranged in rows with the
longitudinal axis `A` of each smoking article being parallel to one
another.
[0015] 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 a top wall n of the wrapped charge of smoking
articles 2 as will now be described.
[0016] The side walls 8, 9 comprises side flaps 4a, 4h (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.
[0017] 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.
[0018] 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 as seen in figure 4. When the
sheet of material 3 encloses the bundle of smoking articles It, 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 bundle of smoking
articles.
[0019] To remove the portion 13 from the bundle of smoking
articles, a user pulls on the top flap 14a extending from the front
wall 4 of the bundle 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 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.
[0020] The line of weakness 12 follows a path that is at an oblique
angle relative to the first direction. The line of weakness 12
therefore has a longer length than is known in the art.
Advantageously, such a configuration requires a greater force to
separate the portion 13 from the wrapping compared to a wrapping
comprising a line of weakness which is at a right angle relative to
the direction of pulling force. Thus, the wrapping according to the
present invention has an improved strength compared to the prior
art.
[0021] Due to the increased stability of the wrapping, the sheet of
material 3 can be made thinner than the sheets of material used for
wrapping a bundle of smoking articles known from the prior art. For
example, the sheet of material according to the present invention
can have a thickness of 0.1 mm or less without reducing its
strength, whereas a conventional wrapping wherein the line of
weakness is at a right angle relative to the direction of pulling
force cannot be made thinner than 0.1 mm because the line of
weakness or any other part of the sheet of material could
accidentally tear.
[0022] As the sheet of material can be made thinner without
compromising the strength of the wrapping material, it is a more
cost effective material than those known from the prior art.
[0023] The line of weakness 12 according to the embodiment shown in
FIGS. 1 to 4, forms a zigzag pattern, however the scope of the
present invention includes any pattern or path wherein at least a
section extends at an oblique angle relative to the first
direction. For example, the line of weakness 12 may have first and
second sections, wherein the first section extends at a first angle
relative to the first direction and the second section extends at a
second angle to the first direction, and the second angle is
different to the first angle. Thus, the line of weakness may follow
a zigzag pattern as previously described, or a sinus curve, an
oscillating path or any other random path comprising first and
second sections of different angles that are oblique to the first
direction.
[0024] It is also envisaged that the scope of present inventions
includes a line of weakness that extends across the front wall 4 of
the wrapped bundle of smoking articles along an arcuate or a
v-shaped path.
[0025] Referring now to FIG. 3, a transparent front view of a pack
15 is shown, with a frame 16 and the bundle of smoking articles 2
received in the pack 15. The frame 16 and the bundle of smoking
articles 2 are shown in dashed lines. The pack 15 comprises a body
17 and a lid 18, wherein the body 17 is formed with an upper edge
19 that abuts a corresponding edge of the lid 18 when the pack is
closed.
[0026] When the bundle of smoking articles 2 is received in the
pack 15, the line of weakness 12 is located below the upper edge 19
of the body 17 such that when a user opens the lid 18 and removes
the portion 13 of the bundle of smoking articles 2, a distinct edge
is formed on the portion 13 that is visible to the user. The
corresponding distinct edge formed on the remainder of the bundle
of smoking articles 2 is concealed to the user as it is located
below the upper edge 19 of the body 17 of the pack 15.
[0027] 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 used with any pack which
enables a charge of smoking articles to be wrapped in a wrapping
having a removable portion.
[0028] 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.
[0029] Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to smoking
articles. It shall be envisaged that the blank or sheet of wrapping
material can be used for enclosing or being folded about any
tobacco industry product.
[0030] 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.
[0031] A tobacco industry pack refers to any pack that can contain
and/or receive a tobacco industry product.
[0032] 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 bundles of smoking articles. 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 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.
* * * * *