Packaged Articles With Carrier Indicia Bearing Folded Strip

Abstract

A packaged unit, such as a package of cigarettes, including a plurality of articles arranged in a parallel epipedal configuration and held together within a package which is encased in a transparent sealed wrapper. A strip of indicia bearing material folded into discrete segments of a size less than the main panel of the packaged unit is captivated in overlaying relation of the central zone of one of the display panels of the package in a dished cavity between the display panel and the transparent wrapper being held in position by the converging surfaces of the display panel and wrapper.

Description

In the past, it has been known to secure single sheet premium coupons over one of the display panels of packaged articles such as cigarette packages between the cellophane wrapper and the display panel involved. Such coupons have often become misaligned by reason of jostling during shipment and often drift into an unappealing disarrayed attitude with respect to the major and minor access of the display panel detracting from the appearance of the package. Also, in the case of cigarette packages, certain information required to be displayed on the package, if printed on the particular panel involved, often becomes masked by the jostling requiring that the packages provided with coupons have such material displayed on other panels, which could otherwise more advantageously be used for other information and display.

The present invention provides a strip of material composed of segments folded back upon one another on transverse, preferably perforated fold lines into a stack form sized and configured to be carried in a predetermined captivated condition and attitude to substantially fill the cavity of the blister which is defined between the cellophane wrapper and the display panel with the margins of the stack being securely held in position, until the package is opened, by the convergence of the cellophane wrapper over the display panel from the area overlaying the central zone of the display panel to the margins thereof.

In this manner the heretofore available but substantially unused space on, for instance, cigarette packages is more fully employed with the folded pack or stack which is also confined in a predetermined position and orientation. In addition to these factors, the wide distribution which characterizes cigarette and like packages may be effectively utilized for advertising products substantially increasing the revenue for the manufacturer, the present invention providing a new and vast media not heretofore so employed.

A coupon may be confined within the stack or included as one of the segments of the strip to be detached for redemption purposes. The remaining panels or segments of the stack may be used to solicit orders for and otherwise advertise the availability of certain products and to describe the manner of using the segments to best advantage in obtaining the merchandise so advertised by the purchaser of the package.

It is an object of this invention to provide a packaged unit, such as a conventional cigarette package, in combination with a strip of printed matter folded into discrete segments in overlaying or stacked relation and captivated on the package in a predetermined position over the central zone of one of the display panels and intermediate the cellophane wrapper and the wrapped articles in sandwiched relation with the margins of the folded stack of segments snugly held by the wrapper material which converges to the surface of the display panel on which it is carried and with the stack substantially occupying most of the space between the wrapped articles and the cellophane wrapper, and adapted to be removed when the package is opened and unfolded to read advertising matter and other information carried on the strip.

It is a general object of this invention to provide means for widely distributing advertising materials for the purpose of soliciting orders and disseminating information, the said materials being printed on a strip folded into a stack or pack to be carried on a cigarette package or the like and held in a predetermined position over one of the panels of the package and substantially fully occupying the space between the outer cellophane wrapper and the packaged article.

It is a more specific object of this invention to provide an improved packaged unit including a strip of foldable material in a stack sized and configured to nestle within the cavity and substantially occupy the space between the cellophane wrapper of a cigarette package and the package to be carried thereby in a predetermined and oriented position, the segments of the strip being separated from one another by a perforated fold line and each of the segments being of a size relative to one another to accommodate folding in a stacked form and to present a smooth folded edge so that a plurality of such stacks may be serially dispensed from a dispensing machine in a wrapping operation for cigarette packages.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a packaged unit;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of an elongate advertising strip to be folded into stack form with the segments in overlaying relation;

FIGS. 3a, 3b, 3c and 3d are alternative embodiments illustrating folded arrangements for the stack form strips, FIG. 3d representing a preferred embodiment having a wraparound portion to confine the other segments of the strip, and

FIG. 4 is a view in cross section taken along the plane indicated by the line 4--4 of FIG. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to FIGS. 1 and 4, the package unit is generally designated by the numberal 12. It is seen that it includes a plurality of articles 14 of similar size arranged in a generally parallelepipedal configuration. The articles comprise cigarettes of a common length arranged in rows in close side-by-side relation, as seen in FIG. 4, in a generally parallelpipedal configuration. A folded package is provided to envelope and confine the articles in that configuration, the package being designated by the numeral 16 in FIG. 4. In the conventional cigarette packaged unit, the folded package or envelope is composed of a folded inner two ply layer 18 defining the article holding chamber 17 to protectively nest the cigarettes, the outermost ply is conventionally of metallic or light reflective material, and a folded outer layer 20 snugly jacketing the inner layer and confining it and the articles and including adhesive means to retain this relation. The outer surface of the package has a pair of opposing display panels 22 and 24, at least one of which 24 bears identifying indicia, such as the trademark of the manufacturer. The display panels are connected together to form the package by opposite sides 26 and 28 and a top 29 and bottom 30 along fold lines such as at 32 in a conventional arrangement.

The packaged unit further includes a pliable transparent wrapper 34 completely encasing the articles and the layers of the package. As is often preferred, the wrapper is of cellophane material folded closely about the package and sealed at the free ends as is generally indicated in FIG. 1; and it is provided with means to open the wrapper, preferably a thin ribbon 36 circumposed about the package adjacent the top 29 with a tab extending outwardly to initiate a tear of the wrapper for removing the upper portion thereof and gaining access to the top of the package for opening it and, as is now to be described, the cavity 38 of the blister formed thereby, which is defined between the main plane of the display panels and the confronting face of the wrapper.

In FIG. 4, this cavity is illustrated; and it is within this cavity that the advertising pack 40 or stack of indicia bearing segments is arranged and carried, as is seen in FIG. 1. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 4 it is seen that the display panel 22 is of an elongate rectangular size having a central zone 42 and a marginal portion 44 therearound, the edges of which are defined by the fold lines 42, 44, 46 and 48. The display panel lies substantially in a plane; the extent that the inner and outer layers are deformed or dished, if at all, in assembly by the snug, slightly tensioned jacketing of the wrapper is slight and is concave inwardly. On the other hand, the wrapping portion 50 over the surface of the display panel 24 is dished slightly outwardly, by reason of the radius of curvature at the fold lines 43, 45, 46 and 48 which bound it. It is thus seen that the cavity 38 is defined between the display panel 22 and the wrapper portion 50 and with more particularity, as illustrated in a slightly somewhat exaggerated condition as seen in FIG. 4, the central portion of the cavity is of its greatest thickness over the central zone of the display panel and tapers to merge and blend with the plane over the marginal edges of the display panel.

In the past premium coupons of thin single sheet form have been carried between the package and the wrapping; however, the amount of printed matter has been limited by the size of the single sheet and in shipment is jostled so as to become misaligned and out of position with respect to the central zone of the display panel involved, often masking information required to be displayed on the package so that it is required to be located on another surface of the package. It has been discovered that the relative dimensions of the cavity are such that a properly and relatively sized and folded strip 56 of discrete segments may be carried within the blister captivated in a predetermined location without substantial movement relative to the central zone by jostling in shipment and with much increased space for messages, advertising, or other symbols. The folded strip or pack which may include a single sheet coupon embraced within it, is captivated over the central zone because its over-all thickness is substantially equal to that of the cavity 38 and it is sized relative to the dimensions of the display panel such that the marginal edges of the pack are embraced by the converging stretched surface of the wrapper and the display panel along the marginal edges of it.

A strip 56 has discrete rectangular segments, such as 60 and 62 in FIG. 2 defined by transverse fold lines such as 64, whereby the strip is foldable into a pack or stack of discrete segments. The transverse fold lines are of a length less than that of the distance between the fold lines of the package between the line of juncture of it with the sides of the package and such that when the pack is captivated within the blister, the marginal edges are snugly embraced and held between the involved display panel and the overlaying wrapper to maintain it in a predetermined arrangement with respect to the panel.

In a preferred embodiment, the transverse fold lines are perforated as seen in FIG. 2 to provide a compact stack and to cause the segments to lie in close overlaying relation to one another in a normal relaxed condition after being folded. An accordian fold may be employed as illustrated in FIG. 3a; however, this arrangement is not as satisfactory as the fan fold arrangement illustrated in FIG. 3b, the opposite mating folded strips of FIG. 3c, or the compound fold of FIG. 3d, because multiple edges, 66, 68 and 70 and 66', 68' and 70' do not provide a finished single folded edge at the end of the segments, which in the packaging and assembly operation renders more difficult the dispensing operation of the packs and will not satisfactorily accommodate a captive single sheet or coupon therein, as indicated by the numerals 72 and 74 in FIGS. 3c and d. The fan folded embodiment of FIG. 3b includes a first and a second strip 76 and 78 folded as at 75 and 77 respectively into equal size segments, the somewhat shorter strip being received within the crotch of the other strip in the manner indicated. The embodiment of FIG. 3c also includes a first strip 80 and a somewhat shorter strip 78 each being folded into equal size segments along transverse fold lines 79 and 81 and drawing together in oppositely mating relation as indicated with the free ends of the shorter segment 78 being received within the crotch portion of the fold line 81 of the somewhat longer strip 80 and being adapted to nestle a single sheet piece or coupon 72 therebetween.

The embodiment indicated in FIG. 3 is a preferred embodiment and as illustrated is seen to include a pair of enclosed segments 90 and 92 of substantially equal size connected together at the preferably perforated fold line 94, with a flap segment 96 extending from the fold line 98 and reversely folded over its associated enclosed segment and preferably being somewhat longer in length between the fold line 98 and the free end than the length of the enclosed segment to define a single ply terminal end region 100. The other of the enclosed segments 92 is provided at the preferably perforated fold line 104 with a wrap-around portion 106 composed of two interconnected segments 108 and 110, which are of substantially equal size and slightly larger than the flap segment, the two wrap-around segments being interconnected at the fold line 112 when the embodiment of FIG. 3d is folded as illustrated in FIG. 3d with the wrap-around segment 108 overlaying the flap segment 96 and with the wrap-around segment 110 overlaying the enclosed segment 92, which may also enclose a single foreshortened sheet coupon. This arrangement provides a compact multisegmented strip of rectangular form which presents a smooth folded edge adapted for dispensing serially in an assembly line operation. Relatively inexpensive paper of newsprint paper thickness may be employed by this construction to provide a pack which includes five interconnected segments and when properly sized in the proportions indicated in FIG. 1 is adapted to be carried in the captivated relation described herein and as illustrated in FIG. 1 on a conventional cigarette package.

It is thus seen that this invention provides means for multiplying the available space for the distribution of advertising or other information by utilizing the wide distribution of cigarette packages and without requirement of the altering of the structure of such packages, providing a new important advertising and information distribution media.

The dimension of the transverse fold lines in a preferred embodiment is 11/2 inches centered on a display panel of about 2 inches and 21/4 inches to provide a margin of exposed display panel of about 1/4 inch along the edges of the stack and with the other right angularly disposed dimension being about 2 1/4 inches for use with a packaged article of a height of about 3 inches, the lowermost edge of the package being about 1/4 inch below the lower transverse edge of the pack and with the space at the top being somewhat greater to provide room for the opening of the package on tearing of the cellophane wrapper.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A packaged unit of generally parallelepipedal configuration including:

a. a plurality of similarly sized articles arranged in side-by-side relation in rows and in a generally parallelepipedal configuration;

b. a folded package enveloping and confining the articles in said configuration,

c. said package including, a pair of opposing main elongate generally rectangular display panels bearing identifying indicia of the articles, and opposing top and bottom and side surfaces;

d. a pliable transparent wrapper completely encasing said articles and package and having fold lines at the juncture of the bottom and side surfaces of one of the display panels defining a blister cavity over the display panel;

e. said cavity being bounded by said one of the display panels and the wrapper between said fold lines;

f. a strip of thin foldable indicia bearing material folded to a plurality of discrete generally rectangular segments along transverse fold lines, with the segments overlaying one another defining a folded rectangular pack, said segments being in facing relation with an adjacent segment and having substantially the entire surface of one face thereof in contact with said adjacent segment,

g. the length of the transverse fold lines being less than the distance between the line of juncture of the display panel and the opposing sides of the package and the distance between the other edges of the pack being less than the distance between the lines of juncture between the top and bottom of the fold lines of the display panel,

h. said pack of folded segments being arranged in the cavity in overlaying relation of the central zone of said one of the display panels in a position panel bounds the pack,

i. the blister cavity being slightly concave and extending outwardly of the surface of said one of the display panels a distance over said central zone substantially equal to the thickness of the pack and the wrapper portion overlaying said one of the display panels and having margins stretched and converging closely to the surface of the margin of said one of the display panels to said fold lines of the wrapper about said one of the display panels, snugly confining the pack to said position, and

j. said unit including means to open said wrapper to provide access to the folded package and the pack.

2. The unit as set forth in claim 1 wherein the transverse fold lines are perforated.

3. The unit as set forth in claim 1 wherein a single sheet of paper is nestled between the folded segments of the pack.

4. The unit as set forth in claim 1 wherein the strip includes a pair of substantially equal sized segments.

5. The unit as set forth in claim 4 wherein the strip is provided with a flap segment reversely folded into overlaying relation of the segments of equal size along a fold line.

6. The unit as set forth in claim 5 wherein the fold line is perforated.

7. The unit as set forth in claim 5 wherein the strip is further folded into additional segments, said additional segments being folded about said flap segment to enclose the latter and act as a wrap-around portion.

8. A packaged unit of generally parallelepipedal configuration including:

a. a plurality of similarly sized articles arranged in side-by-side relation in rows and in a generally parallelepipedal configuration;

b. a folded package enveloping and confining the articles in said configuration,

c. said package including, a pair of opposing main elongate generally rectangular display panels bearing identifying indicia of the articles, and opposing top and bottom and side surfaces;

d. a pliable transparent wrapper completely encasing said articles and package and having fold lines at the juncture of the top bottom and side surfaces of one of the display panels defining a blister cavity over the said display panel;

e. said cavity being bounded by said one of the display panels and the wrapper between said fold lines;

f. a strip of thin foldable indicia bearing material folded to a plurality of discrete generally rectangular segments along perforated transverse fold lines, with the segments overlaying one another defining a folded rectangular pack,

g. the length of the transverse fold lines being less than the distance between the line of juncture of the display panel and the opposing sides of the package and the distance between the other edges of the pack being less than the distance between the lines of juncture between the top and bottom of the fold lines of the display panel,

h. said pack of folded segments being arranged in the cavity in overlaying relation of the central zone of said one of the display panels in a position such that, as seen in elevation, the margin of the display panel bounds the pack,

i. the blister cavity being slightly concave and extending outwardly of the surface of said one of the display panels a distance over said central zone substantially equal to the thickness of the pack and the wrapper portion overlaying said one of the display panels and having margins stretched and converging closely to the surface of the margin of said one of the display panels to said fold lines of the wrapper about said one of the display panels, snugly confining the pack to said position, and

j. said unit including means to open said wrapper to provide access to the folded package and the pack.

9. A packaged unit of generally parallelepipedal configuration including:

a. a plurality of similarly sized articles arranged in side-by-side relation in rows and in a generally parallelepipedal configuration;

b. a folded package enveloping and confining the articles in said configuration,

c. said package including, a pair of opposing main elongate generally rectangular display panels bearing identifying indicia of the articles, and opposing top and bottom and side surfaces;

d. a pliable transparent wrapper completing encasing said articles and package and having fold lines at the juncture of the top bottom and side surfaces of one of the display panels defining a blister cavity over the said display panel;

e. said cavity being bounded by said one of the display panels and the wrapper between said fold lines;

f. a strip of thin foldable indicia bearing material folded to a plurality of discrete generally equal size rectangular segments along transverse fold lines, with the segments overlaying one another defining a folded rectangular pack, said strip being provided with a flap segment reversely folded into overlaying relation of the segments of equal size along a perforated fold line,

g. the length of the transverse fold lines being less than the distance between the line of juncture of the display panel and the opposing sides of the package and the distance between the other edges of the pack being less than the distance between the lines of juncture between the top and bottom of the fold lines of the display panel,

h. said pack of folded segments being arranged in the cavity in overlaying relation of the central zone of said one of the display panels in a position such that, as seen in elevation, the margin of the display panel bounds the pack,

i. the blister cavity being slightly concave and extending outwardly of the surface of said one of the display panels a distance over said central zone substantially equal to the thickness of the pack and the wrapper portion overlaying said one of the display panels and having margins stretched and converging closely to the surface of the margin of said one of the display panels to said fold lines of the wrapper about said one of the display panels, snugly confining the pack to said position, and

j. said unit including means to open said wrapper to provide access to the folded package and the pack.

10. A packaged unit of generally parallelepipedal configuration x including:

a. a plurality of similarly sized articles arranged in side-by-side relation in rows and in a generally parallelepipedal configuration;

b. a folded package enveloping and confining the articles in said configuration,

c. said package including a pair of opposing main elongate generally rectangular display panels bearing identifying indicia of the articles, and opposing top and bottom and side surfaces;

d. a pliable transparent wrapper completely encasing said articles and package and having fold lines at the juncture of the top bottom and side surfaces of one of the display panels defining a blister cavity over the said display panel;

e. said cavity being bounded by said one of the display panels and the wrapper between said fold lines;

f. a strip of thin foldable indicia bearing material folded to a plurality of discrete generally rectangular segments along transverse fold lines, with the segments overlaying one another defining a folded rectangular pack,

g. a single sheet of paper nested between the folded segments of said pack,

h. the length of the transverse fold lines being less than the distance between the line of juncture of the display panel and the opposing sides of the package and the distance between the other edges of the pack being less than the distance between the lines of juncture between the top and bottom of the fold lines of the display panel,

i. said pack of folded segments being arranged in the cavity in overlaying relation of the central zone of said one of the display panels in a position such that, as seen in elevation, the margin of the display panel bounds the pack,

j. the blister cavity being slightly concave and extending outwardly of the surface of said one of the display panels a distance over said central zone substantially equal to the thickness of the pack and the wrapper portion overlaying said one of the display panels and having margins stretched and converging closely to the surface of the margin of said one of the display panels to said fold lines of the wrapper about said one of the display panels, snugly confining the pack to said position, and

k. said unit including means to open said wrapper to provide access to the folded package and the pack.

11. The unit as set forth in claim 10 wherein the transverse fold lines are perforated.

12. The unit as set forth in claim 11 wherein the strip includes a pair of substantially equal sized segments and is provided with a flap segment reversely folded into overlaying relation of the segments of equal size along a fold line.

13. The unit as set forth in claim 12 wherein the fold line is perforated.

14. The unit as set forth in claim 12 wherein the strip is further folded into additional segments, said additional segments being folded about said flap segment to enclose the latter and act as a wrap-around portion.