Container with adhesive label

Abstract

The present invention relates to a container of consumer goods comprising an outer housing having a box and a lid hinged to the box. An inner package of consumer goods is disposed within the outer housing and has an access opening through which consumer goods can be removed. An adhesive label is provided with a resealable adhesive on a first portion of an inner surface of the adhesive label and an opposed outer surface of the adhesive label is permanently attached to an inner surface of a front wall of the lid of the outer housing. The outer surface of the adhesive label is permanently attached to the inner surface of the front wall of the lid of the outer housing such that the adhesive label is inwardly concave throughout movement of the lid between a closed position and the open position.

Claims

1. A container of consumer goods comprising: an outer housing comprising: a box; and a lid hinged to the box along a hinge line extending across a back wall of the outer housing, the lid comprising a front wall; an inner package enclosing the consumer goods having an access opening; and an adhesive label, wherein a resealable adhesive is provided on a first portion of an inner surface of the adhesive label and an opposed outer surface of the adhesive label is permanently attached to an inner surface of the front wall of the lid of the outer housing such that movement of the lid of the outer housing moves the adhesive label between a closed position and an open position simultaneously with the lid, and wherein the outer surface of the adhesive label is permanently attached to the inner surface of the front wall of the lid of the outer housing by an adhesive portion extending at least 50 percent of a total height of the front wall from a lower edge of the front wall, such that the adhesive label is inwardly concave throughout its movement.

2. A container according to claim 1 wherein the curvature of the adhesive label relative to the lid of the outer housing is substantially constant throughout movement between the closed position and the open position.

3. A container according to claim 1 wherein a lower end portion of the outer surface of the adhesive label is permanently attached to a lower end portion of the inner surface of the front wall of the lid.

4. A container according to claim 1 wherein the ratio of the height of the hinge line of the outer housing to the height of the inner package is between about 0.95 and about 1.00.

5. A container according to claim 4 wherein the height of the hinge line of the outer housing is substantially equal to or greater than the height of the inner package.

6. A container according to claim 1 wherein a second portion of the inner surface of the adhesive label located at the lower end of the adhesive label is substantially free of adhesive.

7. A container according to claim 1 wherein the inner package comprises one or more lines of weakness defining an access portion and wherein an additional portion of the inner surface of the adhesive label is attached to the access portion of the inner package such that first opening of the lid of the outer housing at least partially separates the access portion of the inner package from the remainder of the inner package along the one or more lines of weakness to create the access opening in the inner package.

8. A container according to claim 7 wherein the access portion of the inner package is partially separated from the remainder of the inner package along the one or more lines of weakness on first opening of the lid of the outer housing such that the access portion of the inner package remains attached to the remainder of the inner package during subsequent opening and closing of the lid of the outer housing.

9. A container according to claim 7 wherein the resealable adhesive provided on the first portion of the inner surface of the adhesive label extends about substantially the entire periphery of the access portion of the inner package.

10. A container according to claim 1 wherein in the closed position the resealable adhesive provided on the first portion of the inner surface of the adhesive label extends about substantially the entire periphery of the access opening of the inner package.

11. A container according to claim 1 further comprising an inner frame within the inner package.

12. A container according to claim 11 wherein the inner frame is a U-shaped inner frame having a front wall and a pair of opposed side walls.

13. A container according to claim 1 wherein the consumer goods are smoking articles.

14. A container according to claim 2 wherein the outer surface of the adhesive label is permanently attached to the front wall of the lid of the outer housing by an adhesive portion extending at least 80 percent of the total height of the lid front wall.

15. A container according to claim 8 wherein the resealable adhesive provided on the first portion of the inner surface of the adhesive label extends about substantially the entire periphery of the access portion of the inner package.

16. A container according to claim 2 wherein a lower end portion of the outer surface of the adhesive label is permanently attached to a lower end portion of the inner surface of the front wall of the lid.

17. A container according to claim 1 wherein a lower end portion of the outer surface of the adhesive label is permanently attached to a lower end portion of the inner surface of the front wall of the lid.

18. A container according to claim 7 further comprising an inner frame within the inner package.

19. A container according to claim 18 wherein the inner frame is a U-shaped inner frame having a front wall and a pair of opposed side walls.

20. A container of consumer goods comprising: an outer housing comprising: a box; and a lid hinged to the box along a hinge line extending across a back wall of the outer housing, the lid comprising a front wall having a lower edge and an upper edge and a total height extending from the lower edge to the upper edge; an inner package enclosing the consumer goods having an access opening; and an adhesive label, wherein a resealable adhesive is provided on a first portion of an inner surface of the adhesive label and an opposed outer surface of the adhesive label is permanently attached to an inner surface of the front wall of the lid such that movement of the lid of the outer housing moves the adhesive label between a closed position and an open position simultaneously with the lid, and wherein the outer surface of the adhesive label is permanently attached to the inner surface of the front wall of the lid by an adhesive extending from a first height to a second height, the first height being at 30 percent of the total height from the lower edge, and the second height being at 80 percent of the total height from the lower edge, such that the adhesive label is inwardly concave in the closed position and the open position.

Description

(1) The invention will be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a representation of a container according to the present invention;

(3) FIG. 2 shows a side view of a container according to the present invention with the lid in an open position;

(4) FIG. 3 shows a side view of a container according to the present invention with the lid in the closed position;

(5) FIG. 4 shows the inner side of an adhesive label according to the present invention;

(6) FIG. 5 shows the outer side of an adhesive label according to the present invention;

(7) FIG. 6 shows the inner side of an alternative embodiment of an adhesive label according to the present invention; and

(8) FIG. 7 shows the outer side of an alternative embodiment of an adhesive label according to the present invention.

(9) FIG. 1 shows a container 100 comprising a box 102 (the bottom section of the box is not shown) and a lid 104. An inner package 106 is contained within the box. The consumer goods, such as smoking articles, are contained within the inner package 106. The inner package 106 may be permanently attached to the inner surfaces of the box to retain the inner package in the box during use of the container.

(10) The adhesive label 108 is positioned such that a lower portion of the outer surface is permanently attached to the inner surface 110 of the lid 104. The remainder of the outer surface of the adhesive label is not attached to any portion of the container. An upper portion of the inner surface of the adhesive label is attached to the inner package at the top of the back wall of the inner package and at a back portion of the top wall of the inner package. Resealable adhesive is positioned around the periphery of the inner surface of the adhesive label such that the adhesive label can be sealed and unsealed to the inner package.

(11) The access opening of the inner package is provided with an access portion that, before the first opening of the container, is attached to the periphery of the access opening at lines of weakness. A portion of the inner surface of the adhesive label is provided with permanent adhesive to permanently attach the adhesive label to the access portion of the inner package. Therefore, on first opening the label acts to separate the access portion from the inner package at the lines of weakness providing access to the inside of the inner package through the access opening. As described above, the inner package is subsequently sealed by the label when the lid is in the closed position.

(12) To enable the consumer to open the lid more easily, an adhesively neutralised portion 112 is provided on a lower portion of the inner surface of the adhesive label. As used herein, the term adhesively neutralised refers to adhesive that has been neutralised to remove the adhesiveness of the adhesive. Alternatively, the term adhesively neutralised refers to a portion of the adhesive label within which no adhesive has been applied. By providing an adhesively neutralised portion, the force required to initially open the lid is reduced since the area of resealable adhesive on the adhesive label is reduced.

(13) FIG. 2 shows a side view of container 100 shown in FIG. 1. As can be seen the adhesive label 108 is permanently attached to the inner surface of the front wall of the lid 104 by the permanent adhesive 200. The dimensions of the permanent adhesive portion 200 are such that the adhesive label 108 remains inwardly concave throughout movement of the lid from the closed position to the open position. As can be seen, the adhesive portion 200 extends at least 50 percent of the height of the front wall from the lower edge of the lid. As shown in FIG. 3 when the lid is in the closed position the adhesive label is placed in contact with the inner package 106 and the resealable adhesive attaches the adhesive label to the inner package. The label contacts the inner package on both the top wall of the inner package and on a portion of the front wall of the inner package. The access opening of the inner package is covered by the label and in this way a sealed inner package is formed. The seal acts to protect the consumer goods, such as smoking articles, contained within the inner package.

(14) In addition to the neutralised area 112, to ensure that the lid can be opened easily by the user the hinge line 300 is located at a height that is equal to the position of the top of the inner package. Locating the hinge line at this height, or above this height, ensures that there is no sliding movement between the lid and the inner package. Therefore, the adhesive label is peeled from the inner package which requires less force than sliding the label from the inner package.

(15) FIG. 4 shows the inner surface of the adhesive label 108. The inner surface has a portion 400 of permanent adhesive. As described above, the portion 400 of permanent adhesive is adapted to permanently attach the label to the access portion of the inner package. A portion 402 is provided with resealable adhesive and is positioned around the periphery of the permanent adhesive portion 400. As described above the resealable adhesive portion 402 is adapted to removably adhere to the inner package 106. The lower edge of the adhesive label 108 is provided with an adhesively neutralised portion 112 to enable the user to more easily open the container.

(16) FIG. 5 shows the outer surface of the adhesive label 108. The outer surface has a portion 200 of permanent adhesive. As described above, the portion 200 of permanent adhesive is adapted to permanently attach to the inner surface of the front wall of the lid. The dimensions of the portion 200 are such that the adhesive label remains attached to the lid in such a way that the label remains inwardly concave throughout movement of the lid from the closed position to the open position. A portion 500 of the outer surface of the adhesive label does not have adhesive.

(17) FIG. 6 shows an alternative example 600 of the inner surface of an adhesive label. The adhesive label 600 is similar to that shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, and comprises a portion 602 of permanent adhesive adapted to permanently attach the label to the access portion of the inner package. Furthermore, label 600 also comprises a portion 604 of resealable adhesive adapted to seal and reseal the label to the inner package, and a neutralised portion 606 to enable the consumer to more easily open the container. In addition to these features, label 600 comprises a portion 608 surrounding the portion of resealable adhesive 604. The portion 608 is provided with permanent adhesive, and in use is permanently attached to the inner package. The additional portion 608 provides additional rigidity to the inner package, and may enable a more secure seal to be provided between the label and the inner package. The width of label 600 is substantially equal to the width of the front wall of the inner package, and this may enable the label to be positioned more easily and accurately during manufacture. The semi-circular cuts 610 are provided to reduce the risk that the portion of the label 600 attached to the lid does not tear with respect to the portion of the label 600 that is attached to the inner package during opening of the lid.

(18) FIG. 7 shows the outer surface of the label 600. The portion 700 is provided with permanent adhesive to permanently attach a portion of the label 600 to the lid of the container. As described above, the dimensions of the portion 700 are such that the label remains inwardly concave during movement of the lid from the closed to the open position. The remainder of the outer surface does not have adhesive, and is not attached to the container.

(19) In all figures, the dashed lines represent “fold” lines, and the solid lines represent “cut” lines.