HK1158155B - Package for smoking articles - Google Patents

Description

Package for smoking articles

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a package for smoking articles such as cigarettes.

Background

Packages of the so-called soft cup type are well known in the art and are particularly popular in certain markets. Soft cup packages generally comprise three different layers consisting of flexible sheet material, namely: (i) an inner coating in the form of a metal paper folded at both ends to accommodate the smoking article; (ii) an outer paper coating surrounding the inner coating and on which printed indicia may be provided; and (iii) a transparent outer cover, constructed of, for example, cellophane, heat sealed over the outer coating to seal the pack against the ingress of contaminants and thereby preserve the freshness and humidity of the smoking articles prior to opening.

Conventional soft cup packs have an outer coating that is open at one end, allowing the consumer to remove a portion of the exposed inner coating to access the smoking articles and provide a permanent opening to remove the cigarettes from the pack once the transparent outer cover is removed. Indeed, this opening means has become a habit in some consumers and is therefore a significant contributor to the popularity of soft cup packages.

Once the soft-cup cigarette package is opened and one or more cigarettes are removed, there is unoccupied space in the package and the remaining cigarettes are only loosely retained in the package. There is therefore a risk that the remaining cigarettes fall out of the pack.

It is desirable to provide a package of cigarettes which is capable of retaining the remaining cigarettes in an open package after at least one cigarette has been withdrawn from the package.

GB2263275A describes a package, for example for cigarettes, having a sticker applied across two edges of the longitudinal dimension of the package. By being applied along the line of contact between the box body and the lid, the sticker can perform a sealing function to prevent the package from being opened without tearing the sticker. The sticker may be provided with a line of weakness. However, the size of the sticker and its location on the pack (almost at the corners) may make such a sticker unsuitable for reducing the size of the opened pack.

WO89/06629 describes a soft cup cigarette pack provided with a self-adhesive opening seal covering a line of weakness on its side edges and top face. The package is opened by pulling the seal open and temporarily closed by replacing it. However, since the tag is located at the opening, it is not suitable for reducing the size of the packing box.

US5301804 describes a soft cup cigarette pack provided at the rear with a longitudinal seal provided with an adhesive strip which may be attached to the front of the pack to allow opening and reclosing of the pack. The side seal may additionally be opened to allow for more convenient withdrawal of the cigarette. However, such packages provide adhesive labels that are not suitable for reducing the size of the package.

US2109100 describes a soft cup cigarette pack provided at the rear with a tax stamp having two longitudinal adhesive strips which can be adhered to the front of the pack to allow reclosing.

The invention defined below seeks to solve the above problems.

Disclosure of Invention

According to the present invention, there is provided a deformable package for smoking articles comprising a smoking article access portion and a closure element capable of holding the package in a deformed state in use, thereby allowing the internal dimensions of the package to be reduced once the package has been opened and the contents removed, wherein the closure element does not cover the smoking article access portion.

The pack of the present invention provides a means of reducing the size (particularly the width and/or depth) of the pack once the cigarettes have been withdrawn from the pack. The access opening is reduced in size and the contained articles are held together in the portion of the pack that exits the access opening, thereby preventing the cigarettes from falling out of the pack. The reduced size of the package also allows the consumer to more conveniently store/carry the package in, for example, a pocket.

The package of the present invention is suitable for containing smoking articles such as cigarettes, cigars and cigarillos, loose tobacco, or so-called self-wrapping tobacco, as well as smokeless tobacco products such as chewing tobacco products. For convenience and brevity, these smoking articles will be referred to hereinafter as cigarettes.

The package of the present invention may be made of any deformable material, examples including paper, card, metal foil material, and any other suitable material. Preferably the pack is formed from a paper material surrounding an inner metal paper as is commonly used in soft cup cigarette packs. The package may be formed in a manner known to those skilled in the art.

The pack may have any suitable shape, preferably an overall shape suitable for storing elongate articles such as cigarettes. Examples of suitable shapes include cylinders and parallelepipeds, again preferably parallelepipeds, for example cuboids. The package may be of any shape known in the art and may for example have rounded or bevelled edges.

The package is provided with an access portion from which the contained item can be withdrawn. The access portion is typically provided at the top of the package and suitably comprises a portion of a metal paper which is torn away by the consumer to create an opening, thereby exposing the contained item and allowing the item to be removed from the package.

The package of the present invention is provided with a closure element at a location remote from the opening. Preferably the closure comprises a self-adhesive label. Alternatively, however, the closure element may also comprise a band or clip applied to the package.

In contrast to the closures for packages described in the prior art, since the closure element of the present invention is applied at a position remote from the opening of the package, it does not cause the opening to be covered. Instead, the closure element is applied to the outer surface of the package, the position of which on the package is such that it is able to keep the package in a deformed state, thereby allowing the internal dimensions of the package (in particular the transverse dimensions such as its width and/or depth) to become smaller once the package is opened. Once the article is withdrawn from the package, the package is allowed to more closely fit the remaining articles contained therein, thereby making it more difficult for the article to fall off after the package is opened.

Suitably, when the package is opened at the top, the closure element is applied at a position in the longitudinal dimension of the package, either on one face (e.g. the front or the back) or across one or more edges shared by two or more longitudinal faces. The closure element may be applied at a position transverse to the package opening. Preferably the closure element is applied around the midpoint of one or more longitudinal faces of the package.

The closure element should be suitably flexible to allow it to be attached to the package and temporarily (partially or fully) detached, so that when more articles have been withdrawn from the package, the closure element can be reattached in a different position, so that it covers further additional deformation of the package. When the closure element comprises a label, the label is preferably provided on one face by a permanently tacky adhesive to allow such attachment and detachment. The label may be provided with permanent adhesive on only a portion of its surface and may be provided with permanent adhesive on a portion to permanently adhere a portion of the label to the package and allow only a portion of the label to be separated and reattached as desired.

Preferably the closure element is provided with means to facilitate its attachment and detachment to and from the package. When the closure element comprises a self-adhesive label, such means typically comprise a non-adhesive tab at one end of the label. The consumer can then grasp the non-adhesive tab of the label to separate the label from the package and reapply the label to the package as desired.

The closure element of the present invention may suitably be applied to any layer of material constituting the package. Preferably the closure element is applied to the outer surface of the paper outer coating layer of the package.

The package may comprise two or more closure elements. Suitably, the pack may comprise two closure elements, each of which may be attached to opposite sides of the pack so that the pack may be reduced from both sides and the remaining cigarettes held only in a central portion of the pack (under the embossing). Alternatively, the length of a single closure element may be sufficient to allow it to be used to maintain both sides of the package in a folded/reduced arrangement.

The closure element may suitably comprise printed indicia on a surface thereof. The printed indicia or other graphics may be the same as the printed indicia or graphics on the underlying packaging and may also include legislative requirements such as health warning information. Suitably, the closure element may be transparent, or at least partially transparent, to allow the underlying packaging to be seen through the closure element. This is particularly important if the closure element is applied over printed indicia on the package, such as a trademark or health warning.

Drawings

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a package according to the present invention; and

figure 2 shows the package according to the invention in use, wherein a label is applied to the folded portion of the package to reduce the width of the package.

Detailed Description

Figure 1 shows a soft cup cigarette package 1 according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. The package has an access portion at the top, covered by a portion 3 of the metal paper inner coating layer. The package is initially closed and includes a decal 4 extending over the top surface of the package.

The package is further provided with a closure element 5 comprising a self-adhesive label. The label 5 is applied to the front of the package around the mid-point of the longitudinal dimension of the package. The label 5 has a non-adhesive pull tab 6 to allow it to be easily detached from and attached to the package by hand.

Figure 2 shows the pack of the invention in use, in which several cigarettes have been withdrawn from the pack. The portion 3 of the inner coating of metal paper at the access portion of the top of the pack has been removed to expose the cigarettes 7 contained in the pack 1. The sides of the package have been folded inwardly to form a narrowed package. The tag 5 has been at least partially detached from the front of the pack and reattached such that the tag 5 holds the pack in a folded condition, thereby reducing the size compared to its original unopened condition, allowing the pack to more tightly hold the remaining cigarettes 7 and preventing the remaining cigarettes 7 from falling out of the pack.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that various changes may be made to the embodiments described above. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

Claims (13)

1. A deformable package for smoking articles having an outer face, a smoking article access portion and a closure element comprising a releasable adhesive label attached to one face of the package, the closure element being configured to be reapplied to the package to retain the package in a deformed state, thereby allowing the internal dimensions of the package to be reduced once the package has been opened and the contents removed, wherein the closure element does not cover the smoking article access portion.

2. A package according to claim 1, wherein the closure element is applied to the front of the package.

3. The package according to claim 1, wherein the closure element is configured to be applied across one or more edges shared by two or more sides of the package.

4. A package according to any of claims 1 to 3 wherein a closure element is applied around the mid-point of one or more faces of the package.

5. A package according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the package has a longitudinal axis and the closure element is arranged in a direction transverse to said longitudinal axis.

6. A package according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the label is provided with a non-adhesive pull tab to facilitate attachment and detachment from the package.

7. A package according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the smoking article access portion is in a top face of the package.

8. A package according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the package is a soft cup cigarette pack.

9. A package according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the closure element is capable of retaining the package in a reduced width form.

10. A package according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the closure element is capable of holding a side of the package in a folded state.

11. A package according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the package contains cigarettes.

12. A method of reducing the size of a deformable package containing smoking articles, the package having an outer face, a smoking article access portion and a closure element comprising a releasable adhesive label attached to one face of the package, the method comprising: after removing one or more smoking articles from the package, the label is reapplied to the package without covering the smoking article access portion and maintaining the package in a deformed state, thereby reducing the internal dimensions of the package.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the label is attached to a front face of the package, and said reapplying the label comprises placing the label across one or more edges shared by two or more faces of the package.