HK1146261B - Cigarette package - Google Patents

Description

Cigarette packing box

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a cigarette package box for housing rod-shaped cigarette products such as filter cigarettes and cigarettes.

Background

In such cigarette packs, a hinge-lid type pack is often used. The hinge-lid package has a hinge lid that can be opened and closed. When the folding lid is opened, the consumer can take out the cigarette product from the package (for example, patent document 1).

Patent document 1: japanese unexamined patent publication No. 5-213340

Since the above-mentioned hinge-lid type package is used for a long time, consumers feel bored with the form of the package. Therefore, people are required to develop a new form of cigarette packing box which not only enhances the purchase desire of consumers, but also is suitable for saving resources.

Disclosure of Invention

The object of the present invention is to provide a new form of cigarette pack which enhances the desire of the consumer to purchase and which makes possible the reuse of the pack by refilling the cigarette products.

In order to achieve the above object, a cigarette pack of the present invention includes: an outer case having a thin rectangular parallelepiped shape and having an opening at one end; and a rectangular inner tray which is housed in the outer box so as to be able to be pulled out through the opening, and which has a housing position and a pulled-out position. The inboard tray still includes: a head portion formed at one end thereof, protruding from the opening when located at the housing position, and functioning as a handle portion for pulling out the inner tray; a tray surface disposed in the outer case at the housing position; and a plurality of holders formed on the tray surface and holding rod-shaped cigarette products.

According to the cigarette packing box, a consumer can grasp the head of the inner tray with fingers and pull out the inner tray from the outer box. Such pulling out of the inner tray can expose the tray surface of the inner tray, that is, the cigarette product from the outer box, and can pull out the cigarette product from the holding seat of the inner tray.

After all the cigarette products on the inner tray are taken out, the consumer can replenish the new cigarette products to the holding seats of the inner tray, so that the cigarette pack can be reused.

Preferably, the holding base is capable of holding the cigarette products in the pull-out direction of the inner tray, and is arranged side by side in the width direction of the inner tray. In particular, each retaining seat is a slot capable of accommodating a single cigarette product.

Since the holding seat, i.e., the groove, holds each cigarette product, even if the cigarette product is taken out from the inner tray, the arrangement of the remaining cigarette products on the inner tray is not disturbed.

Preferably, the opening of the outer box has a front edge which is wavy, and the head of the inner tray has a top surface which is wavy in the same manner as the waves of the front edge. In this case, the inner tray may further include an aligning device for aligning the cigarette products on the tray surface in a wavy manner along the front edge.

According to this cigarette pack, when the inner tray is pulled out from the outer box, not only the wavy shape of the front edge of the opening in the outer box but also the wavy shape of the top surface of the head portion and the arrangement of the cigarette products on the inner tray, that is, the wavy arrangement are exposed from the outer box, and these wavy and wavy arrangements provide an aesthetically pleasing open form of the cigarette pack. Therefore, the consumer has a profound impression of the opening state of the cigarette package of the present invention, and the consumer can increase the desire to purchase the cigarette package.

In particular, the aligning device further comprises a tail portion formed at the other end of the inner tray, opposite to the top surface of the head portion and having a bottom surface exhibiting the same undulation as the top surface, the cigarette products on the tray being sandwiched between the top and bottom surfaces. Preferably, the top surface has a rounded wave shape, and the bottom surface has a wave shape formed by a plurality of steps.

The inner tray and the holder are integrally formed of synthetic resin, and a flat elastically deformable region is left on a tray surface between the holder and the head. The field is intended to allow the depression of the head by this elastic deformation. Even if the cigarette product is sandwiched between the top surface and the bottom surface of the inner tray, the cigarette product is not related to the existence of the head by the pressing down of the head, so that the cigarette product is easy to take out from the inner tray.

The inner tray may further include a stopper portion for determining the pull-out position. The limiting part prevents the inner tray from being drawn out from the outer box.

Since the cigarette pack of the present invention provides an opening form largely different from that of a general hinge-lid pack, the purchase desire of consumers is enhanced. Moreover, the cigarette package box of the present invention can be reused, and contributes greatly to energy saving.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a cigarette pack of an embodiment in a closed state.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the cigarette pack of fig. 1 in an open state.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the inner tray of fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a side view of the inner tray of fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view showing a head portion of the inner tray.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view showing a tail portion of the inner tray.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view showing a groove of the inner tray.

Fig. 8 is a view showing a state where the head of the inner tray is pressed downward.

Fig. 9 shows a blank for forming the outer box of fig. 1, 2.

Description of reference numerals

10 outer box

12 opening

12a leading edge

14 inner side tray

14a tray surface

15 area

16 head

18 top surface

19 tail part

20 bottom surface

22 groove (holder)

26 fold piece

48 folded piece

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 and 2 show a cigarette packing box according to an embodiment.

The cigarette pack comprises an outer case 10, the outer case 10 being made of paper or synthetic resin. The outer case 10 has a thin rectangular parallelepiped shape and has one end and the other end apart from each other in the longitudinal direction. One end of the outer case 10 is formed as an opening 12, and the left and right of the other end of the outer case 10 have rounded corners (rounded corners), respectively.

Specifically, the opening 12 is defined by a front edge 12a, right and left side edges, and a rear edge, and the front edge 12a has a smooth wavy shape, that is, a shape close to a sine curve, and has one peak and one valley, respectively.

A rectangular inner tray 14 that can be pulled out is housed in the outer box 10. As shown in fig. 1, even when the inner tray 14 is housed, one end of the inner tray 14 has a head portion 16 protruding from the opening 12 of the outer cartridge 10. The head 16 functions as a lid for closing the opening 12 of the outer box 10 and a handle for pulling out the inner tray 14 from the outer box 10.

As shown in fig. 2, for example, 10 filter cigarettes (cigarette products) F are placed on the inner box 14. Each filter cigarette F has a mouth end Fa and a boundary Fb between tipping paper and the cigarette. The tipping paper is a connecting element for connecting the cigarette box and the filter plug to each other.

The filter cigarettes F on the inner tray 14 are arranged side by side in the width direction of the inner tray 14 and are arranged to undulate along the wave shape of the leading edge 12 a. That is, the mouth end Fa and the boundary Fb of the filter cigarette F on the inner tray 14 are placed on the wavy wave-shaped curve along the leading edge 12 a.

To achieve the above-described arrangement of the filter cigarettes F, the inner tray 14 has at its other end a tail 19 (see fig. 3) which, together with the head 16, clamps the filter cigarettes. In more detail, the head 16 has a top surface 18 facing into the outside cartridge 10, the top surface 18 exhibiting the same undulation as the leading edge 12 a. Therefore, as shown in fig. 1, when the inner tray 14 is housed in the outer box 10, the head 16 protrudes from the opening 12 of the outer box 10 in a state where the top surface 18 thereof is positioned in the outer box 10.

As shown in fig. 3, the tail portion 19 of the inner tray 14 has a bottom surface 20 opposite the top surface 18, the bottom surface 20 exhibiting a wave-like shape similar to the wave-like shape of the front edge 12a and the top surface 19. Specifically, unlike the front edge 12a and the top surface 19, the bottom surface 20 is not rounded but has many steps, and the steps are configured to be wavy.

Also, the inner tray 14 has a tray surface 14a for the cigarettes F between the head 16 and the tail 19, the tray surface 14a being formed by ten slots 22. These grooves 22 extend from the bottom surface 20 to the top surface 18 and along the longitudinal direction of the inner tray 14, i.e., the direction in which the inner tray 14 is pulled out from the outer box 10.

More specifically, as can be seen from fig. 3, the grooves 22 are adjacent to each other in the width direction of the inner tray 14, and form holding seats for receiving the cigarettes F. The length of each slot 22 is shorter than the length of a cigarette F and the tray surface 14a has a flat area 15 between the slot 22 and the top surface 18.

The inner tray 14 can be obtained by molding a synthetic resin material. More specifically, the inner tray 14 has hollow expansion portions 16a and 19a at both ends thereof. The expansion portions 16a and 19a open to the lower surface of the inner tray 14. The expanded portion 16a forms the head portion 16, and the expanded portion 19a forms the tail portion 19. The expansion portions 16a and 19a are connected to each other via a plate portion 21, and the plate portion 21 has the aforementioned groove 22 on the upper surface.

As shown in fig. 4, the expanded portion 16a has an inner end wall forming the top surface 18 and an outer end wall 17 along the inner end wall. A flap 24 extends integrally from the lower edge of the outer end wall 17. The flap 24 is bent toward the plate portion 21, and as is apparent from fig. 5, overlaps the lower surface of the plate portion 21. The plate portion 21 and the flap 24 are bonded to each other and cover the opening of the expansion portion 16 a. The flap 24 functions as a reinforcement member for improving the rigidity of the hollow expansion portion 16a, i.e., the head portion 16.

On the other hand, as is apparent from fig. 6, the expanded portion 19b also includes an inner end wall forming the bottom surface 20 and an outer end wall 23 along the inner end wall. A flap 26 extends integrally from the lower edge of the end wall 23. The flap 26 is also bent toward the sheet 21, as is the flap 24. Unlike the flap 24, the flap 26 is not bonded to the sheet 21. Thus, when the flap 26 is in the free state, the flap 26 is separated from the underside of the sheet 21. However, when the inner tray 14 is housed in the outer box 10, the flap 26 is sandwiched between the inner surface of the outer box 10 and the lower surface of the inner tray 14 along with the elastic deformation thereof, and at this time, the opening of the expanded portion 19b is covered with the flap 26.

As shown in fig. 7, the groove 22 is formed by a flat bottom 22a and left and right side walls 22b, and these side walls 22b are inclined in opposite directions to each other. The arrangement of these grooves 22 can improve the rigidity of the plate portion 21. However, since the flat region 15 of the plate portion 21 does not have the groove 22, the region 15 can be elastically deformed. Therefore, as shown in fig. 8, the region 15 can be warped in a direction intersecting the tray surface 14a of the inner tray 14 by its elastic deformation, and thereby the head 16 can be pushed down as seen from fig. 8.

Fig. 9 shows a blank for forming the outer box 10.

The blank has a back panel 28, side panels 30 and a front panel 32, the back panel 28 and the front panel 32 being connected to either side of the side panels 30 via fold lines, respectively. The back panel 28, side panels 30, and front panel 32 form the back wall, one side wall, and the front wall, respectively, of the outer box 10.

As can be seen from fig. 9, the upper edge of the front panel 32 has a wavy shape and forms the front edge 12a of the outer box 10. The lower edge of the front panel 32, the upper edge of the rear panel 28, and both ends of the lower edge are formed in arc shapes.

The inner side flap 34 and the outer side flap 36 are connected to the outer edges of the rear panel 28 and the front panel 32, respectively, by a fold line. These side flaps 34, 36 form the other side wall of the outer box 10. As can be seen from fig. 9, the inner bottom flaps 40 and the outer bottom flaps 42 are connected to the lower edges of the rear panel 28 and the front panel 32, respectively, by folding, and the bottom flaps 40 and 42 form the bottom wall of the outer box 10. Bands 44, 46 extend from the lower edges of the side panels 30 and the outer side flaps 36, respectively, and the bands 44, 46 form the two ends of the bottom wall in the outer box 10 on the aforementioned rounded corners. And flap 48 is connected to the upper edge of rear panel 28 via a fold line. In fig. 9, the broken line is indicated by a chain line.

Next, the folding procedure of the blank will be described.

First, flap 48 is folded toward back panel 28 along the fold line between flap 48 and back panel 28 and overlaps back panel 28. Thereafter, the inner tray 14 is placed on the rear panel 28 via the flap 48. At this time, the inner tray 14 holds the filter cigarettes F in the grooves 22.

When the inner tray 14 is placed on the back panel 28 in this way, the flap 26 and the flap 48 of the inner tray 14 are disposed at a predetermined interval from each other (see the two-dot chain line in fig. 9).

Thereafter, the panels and flaps other than rear panel 28 and flap 48 are folded and the corresponding side flaps are adhered to each other to form outer box 10 surrounding inner tray 14 outside of inner tray 14. In this case, a cigarette package as shown in FIG. 1 can be obtained.

The consumer can pull out the inner tray 14 from the outer box 10 by pinching the head 16 of the inner tray 14 between the fingers. At this time, flap 26 of inner tray 14 enters between flap 48 and the rear wall (rear panel 28) of outer box 10, and when the front end of flap 26 reaches the folding line between flap 48 and rear panel 28, the drawing of inner tray 14 is stopped. That is, the flaps 26, 48 act against each other to form a stopper. The stopper determines the maximum pull-out length of the inner tray 14.

According to the cigarette packing box, when the inner tray 14 is pulled out from the outer box 10, the filter cigarettes F can be taken out from the inner tray 14. This method of taking out the filter cigarettes F is greatly different from the method of taking out cigarettes in a general hinge-lid pack. Therefore, the cigarette package of the present embodiment provides a novel and unique package configuration and enhances the consumer's desire to purchase.

The filter cigarettes F on the inner tray 14 are held in the grooves 22. Therefore, even if filter cigarettes are taken out from the inner tray 14, the arrangement of the remaining filter cigarettes F on the inner tray 14 is not disturbed.

After all the filter cigarettes F on the inner tray 14 are taken out, the consumer can refill the grooves of the inner tray 14 with new filter cigarettes and reuse the cigarette pack. Therefore, the cigarette pack of the present invention is not disposable, and contributes greatly to resource saving.

The front edge 12a of the opening 12 in the outer box 10 and the top surface 18 of the inner tray 14 are each formed in a wavy shape, and the filter cigarettes F on the inner tray 14 are also arranged in a wavy (wavy) shape in a wavy and undulating manner along the front edge 12 and the top surface 18. Therefore, when the consumer pulls out the inner tray 14 from the outer box 10, people looking around the consumer will give a deep impression of the wavy shape of the leading edge 12a and the top wall 18 and the wavy arrangement of the filter cigarettes F identical to the wavy shape. This wavy and undulating arrangement has a great effect on enhancing the consumer's desire to purchase the cigarette package of the present invention.

The bottom surface 20 of the inner tray 14 is not smooth but stepped. Therefore, the end face of the cigarette in the filter-tipped cigarette F can be favorably brought into close contact with the bottom face 20, and the end face is favorably prevented from being deformed or the cut tobacco is favorably prevented from falling off from the end face. In this regard, the tip end of the filter cigarette F in contact with the top surface 18 of the inner tray 14, that is, the end surface of the filter, has higher mechanical strength than the end surface of the cigarette. Therefore, even if the nozzle end is in contact with the top surface 18, the nozzle end is not deformed.

The head portion 16 of the inner tray 14 as described above can be pushed down in accordance with the elastic deformation of the region 15 shown in fig. 8. Therefore, even if the filter-tipped cigarettes F on the inner tray 14 are sandwiched between the top surface 18 and the bottom surface 20, the consumer can easily take out the filter-tipped cigarettes F from the inner tray 14 by pressing down the head 16.

Since the drawing of the inner tray 14 is restricted, the inner tray 14 is not completely drawn out from the outer box 10, and the filter-tipped cigarettes F can be reliably prevented from falling off from the inner tray 14.

The invention is not limited to the one described above. For example, the bottom surface of the inner tray 14 may be a rounded wave shape similar to the top surface 18. Also, the leading edge 12a of the opening in the outer tray 10 and the top surface 18 of the inner tray 14 can have a wavy or other shape other than sinusoidal.

Claims (8)

1. A cigarette pack comprising:

an outer case having a thin rectangular parallelepiped shape and having an opening at one end;

a rectangular inner tray which is housed in the outer box so as to be able to be pulled out through the opening, and which has a housing position and a pulled-out position,

the inside tray further includes:

a head portion formed at one end of the inner tray, protruding from the opening when located at the housing position, and functioning as a handle portion for pulling out the inner tray;

a tray surface which is placed in the outside case when positioned at the housing position;

a plurality of holders formed on the tray surface and holding rod-shaped cigarette products,

the opening of the outer box has a front edge that is contoured,

the head of the inner tray has a contoured top surface that is the same as the contour of the leading edge,

the top surface of the head is disposed within the outer box when the inner tray is in the receiving position.

2. The cigarette pack according to claim 1, wherein the holder is configured to hold the cigarette product in a pull-out direction of the inner tray and arranged side by side in a width direction of the inner tray.

3. A cigarette pack as claimed in claim 2, wherein each said retaining socket is a slot capable of receiving a single said cigarette product.

4. The cigarette pack of claim 2,

the inner tray also includes an aligning device that aligns the cigarette products on the tray face in a wavy, undulating manner along the undulations of the leading edge.

5. The cigarette pack of claim 4, wherein,

the aligning apparatus further includes a tail portion formed at the other end of the inner tray, the tail portion being opposite to the top surface of the head portion and having a bottom surface exhibiting the same wave shape as the top surface, the cigarette products on the tray being sandwiched between the top surface and the bottom surface.

6. The cigarette package of claim 5,

the top surface has a rounded wave shape,

the bottom surface has a wave shape formed by a plurality of steps.

7. The cigarette package of claim 5,

the inner tray and the holder are integrally formed of synthetic resin,

the inner tray has a flat area that can be elastically deformed and is left on the tray surface between the holder and the head, and the flat area allows the head to be pressed down by the elastic deformation of the flat area.

8. The cigarette pack of claim 2, wherein the inner tray further comprises a stopper determining the pull-out position.