SPECIFICATIONCigarette PacketsThis invention relates to packets, e.g. for cigarettes, and more especially to packets of the type generally termed "hinged-lid" (or, sometimes, "flip-top") packets, which have a lid integral with, and hinged to, a body; such packets will hereinafter be termed "hinged-lid packets".
Hinged-lid packets are conventionally made from a thin card blank, folded around a group or "bundle" of cigarettes. Before the packet is formed around the cigarettes the latter are usually wrapped in an inner wrapper, most commonly of metallic foil, and the completed packet is overwrapped with material such as "Cellophane" (R.T.M.) or transparent plastics film. The overwrapper is provided with a tear strip to simplify its removal when the packet is opened by a consumer.
The provision of inner and outer wrappers is thought necessary for the proper protection of various products such as cigarettes, but the application of three successive coverings to the cigarettes or other articles is expensive apart from the cost of materials, in that a three-stage packing/wrapping machine is required.
It is an object of the present invention to provide economy in the packing and wrapping of articles such as cigarettes.
According to the invention there is provided a composite blank for production of a hinged-lid packet by folding and sealing, in which the blank is of laminated material comprising a foundation layer of card carrying on one face a cover layer of overwrapper material such as transparent film, the foundation layer being provided with a slit along a line corresponding to separable edges of the body and lid in the finished packet, the cover layer being continuous over said slit, and a tear strip being provided on the cover layer along the line of said slit.
If as is usual it is desired to provide inner-wrap material such as foil adjacent to cigarettes or other articles to be packed, the inner-wrapper material is preferably embodied in the laminated material as a facing layer on the other face from said cover layer.
In the conventional formation of a hinged-lid packet from a blank, the separable edges of the body and lid of the finished packet are found at, or adjacent to, opposite ends of the blank. A blank embodying the present invention, in which said separable edges are held together by the cover layer and tear strip, necessarily is of different form and requires a different folding sequence.
Conveniently this sequence may be first to fold the blank along four longitudinal crease lines to form a rectangular-section tube with some overlap which is adhesively secured to complete the tube, then to tuck and fold projecting flaps at each end to close the packet, cigarettes or other articles being inserted through one end.
The invention also extends to packets formed from composite blanks as set out above.
In order that the invention may be well understood, preferred embodiments thereof will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:Figure 1 is a plan view of a packet blank embodying the invention;Figure 2 is a detail view, in section and on a larger scale, of part of the blank of Figure 1;Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1 of a slightly modified blank; andFigure 4 is a perspective view of a packet formed from the blank of Figure 1.
As shown in Figure 1, a blank of generally rectangular overall shape is divided by creases, shown in dashed line, and cuts, shown in solid line, into various panels and flaps. The panels include body panels 1,2, 3, 4, 6 and 9, and lid panels 11,12,13,14, 16 and 19. In the finished packet, panels 1, 11 form the front panels 4, 1 4 the back, panels 2, 3 the sides, panels 6, 9 the bottom and panels 16, 19 the top. The back panels 4, 14 have projecting side flaps 5, 1 5.
When right-angle folds have been formed along the crease 21 between panels 1, 11 and 2, 12 and the three parallel creases 22, 23, 24 the flaps 5, 1 5 are secured adhesively to the panels 2, 12 so that a rectangular-section tube is formed. The bottom is then closed by folding in flaps 7, 8, 9, 6 in that order, and finally the top is closed by folding flaps 17 and 18, then flap 19 and fiap 16; adhesive applied to said flaps in conventional manner serves to secure superposed flaps together and hence to hold the bottom and top closed. A crease 20 between panels 4 and 14 serves as a hinge on which the lid can be opened.
Cigarettes or other articles are inserted into the packet at a convenient stage during the aforesaid folding operations. For example, the articles may be inserted immediately before the folding of the flaps 17, 18, 19, 16 to close the top.
Alternatively, the articles may be inserted after the flaps 5, 1 5 have been secured to the panels 2,12 and before either the top or bottom have been closed, and then the top and bottom are closed simultaneously to give a finished packet as shown in Figure 4.
The adhesive securing of the flaps and panels may for example be obtained by providing heatsealable material on each of the areas to be secured together, and applying heat after the respective flaps and panels have been folded into overlapping positions.
The panels 1,2,3 of the body are separated from the panels 11,12, of the lid by a cut 10 which extends parallel to the top and bottom edges between the front panels 1, 11 and is inclined between the side panels 2, 3 and 12, 13.
The cut 10 does not, however, completely separate the panels. As seen in Figure 2, the blank is made of laminated material, comprising a foundation layer 30 of card, a facing layer 31 of metallic foil, a cover layer 32 of transparent film, and a tear strip 33. The cut 10 extends through the facing layer 31 and the foundation layer 30, but the cover layer 32 and the tear strip 33 bridge said cut 10 without interruption. The cover and facing layers 32, 31 are attached to the foundation layer 30 by adhesive; the tear strip 33 is not attached to the layer 30, so that on removal of the tear strip 33 from the finished packet, with overlying portion of the cover layer 32, damage to the adjacent surface of the foundation layer 30 is avoided.
The tear strip 33 as shown in Figure 1 is a narrow strip, applied between the foundation layer 30 and the cover layer 32, to lie symmetrically above the cut 10; however the application of the tear strip in this manner is not easy, due to the inclination of the cut 10 between panels 12, 17 and 13, 18. Figure 3 shows a blank similar to that of Figure 1 but with a different form of tear strip 133; the strip 133 is of a width greater than the lateral displacement of the cut 10, between the ends of its inclined portions between panels 2, 12 and 3, 13. The tear strip133 is therefore straight, and thus can be easily applied to the cover layer 32 in the manufacture of the laminated material of the blank.
Preferably, as shown in Figures 1 and 3, the tear strip 33 or 133 extends over the line of the hinge crease 20 so that when the tear strip is removed from the finished packet there is complete separation between the cover layer 32 upon the lid and the cover layer 32 upon the body. The end portion 34 (Figure 1) or 134 (Figure 3) of the tear strip, i.e. the portion over flaps 5, 15 and the overlying area of the cover layer 32 is cut free of adjacent areas of the layer 32, to provide (in the finished packet) a tab which may be gripped when the tear strip is to be removed.
It will be appreciated that the invention enables hinged-lid packets to be made on packing machines of less complex design than those commonly used, as no provision is needed for feeding, and applying to the cigarettes or other articles, the conventional inner wrapper e.g. of foil nor does the machine need to include mechanism for applying and sealing an overwrap e.g. of transparent film.
Various changes or modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the invention.
For example, hinged-lid packets commonly have a second small card blank, often termed an "inner frame", so formed and secured within the upper part of the body as to provide extensions of the front and side walls of the body for engagement by the inner faces of the corresponding walls of the lid when closed. In forming a packet from a blank embodying the invention, such an inner frame may be provided if desired; the inner frame may be inserted with the cigarettes or other articles, but preferably the articles and inner frame are placed on the blank at an early stage in the formation of the packet, when the blank has assumed a U-shape but before it has been formed into a rectangular-section tube.
The manufacture of blanks embodying the invention is not difficult. If the cover layer is applied to the foundation layer before the latter is cut and creased, there may be difficulty in making the slit in the foundation layer without affecting the cover layer. It is preferable therefore to cut and crease the foundation layer before application of the cover layer. The cover layer may be provided with its tear strip, and the foundation layer with a facing layer of foil or the like, before the application of the cover layer to the foundation layer. If the cover layer is transparent, it is desirabie to effect any desired descriptive and/or ornamental printing on the foundation layer before the cover layer is applied thereto.