CONTAINER FOR CONSUMER GOODS INCLUDING DISPENSING MEANS

Abstract

A container for consumer goods is provided, including a box to house the consumer goods, a top face of the box being open to provide a top access opening to access an interior of the box, a first box side wall including a side opening proximate the box bottom wall; a lid hingedly connected to the box back wall and movable between a closed lid position in which the lid covers the top access opening and an open lid position in which the top access opening is uncovered; and a dispenser including a tray portion to hold consumer goods and being mounted inside the box and slidable through the side opening between a closed position in which the tray portion is inside the box and a dispensing position in which a part of the tray portion protrudes through the side opening such that the consumer goods are removable.

Claims

1.-14. (canceled)

15. A container for consumer goods, the container comprising: a box configured to house the consumer goods, the box comprising a box front wall, a box back wall, a box bottom wall, a first box side wall, and a second box side wall, wherein a top face of the box is at least partially open to provide a top access opening providing access to an interior of the box, and wherein the first box side wall comprises a side opening proximate the box bottom wall; a lid hingedly connected to the box back wall and movable between a closed lid position in which the lid covers the top access opening and an open lid position in which the top access opening is uncovered; and a dispensing means for dispensing one or more consumer goods from the container, the dispensing means comprising a tray portion configured to hold the one or more consumer goods, the tray portion being mounted inside the box such that the tray portion is slidable through the side opening in the first box side wall between a closed position, in which the tray portion is inside the box, and a dispensing position, in which a part of the tray portion protrudes through the side opening such that the one or more consumer goods within the tray portion can be removed, wherein the tray portion comprises a tray bottom wall and a hinge line provided on the tray bottom wall, the hinge line extending between a front edge and a back edge of the tray bottom wall, and wherein when in the dispensing position, the hinge line is outside of the box such that an end part of the tray bottom wall protruding through the side opening is pivotable in a downwards direction relative to the box.

16. The container according to claim 15, wherein the tray portion further comprises a first tray side wall, and wherein in the closed position of the dispensing means, the first tray side wall covers the side opening of the box.

17. The container according to claim 15, wherein the tray portion further comprises a second tray side wall at a side of the tray portion that is opposite the side opening, and wherein in the open position of the dispensing means the second tray side wall remains inside the box to restrict movement of the one or more consumer goods on the tray portion of the dispensing means back into the box.

18. The container according to claim 15, wherein the dispensing means further comprises retention means for preventing movement of the tray portion beyond the dispensing position.

19. The container according to claim 18, wherein the tray portion further comprises a tray front wall and a tray back wall, wherein at least one of the tray front wall and the tray back wall comprises an increased height portion having a height that is larger than a height of the side opening, wherein the increased height portion is configured to move towards the first box side wall as the tray portion is moved towards the dispensing position, and wherein the increased height portion abuts the first box side wall when the tray portion reaches the dispensing position to prevent the movement of the tray portion beyond the dispensing position.

20. The container according to claim 15, wherein the dispensing means further comprises a pull tab extending from the tray portion such that in the closed position of the dispensing means, the pull tab protrudes through the side opening.

21. The container according to claim 15, wherein the side opening is provided at a bottom edge of the first side wall, and wherein the tray portion is slidable along an inner surface of the box bottom wall.

22. The container according to claim 15, wherein in the dispensing position, the tray portion protrudes through the side opening by a distance corresponding to at least one third of a distance between the first box side wall and the second box side wall.

23. The container according to claim 15, wherein the dispensing means is configured to dispense an individual consumer good.

24. The container according to claim 15, further comprising a separator element mounted within the box, wherein the separator element separates an internal volume of the box into an upper compartment, which is accessible through the top access opening and a lower compartment containing the consumer goods, and wherein the consumer goods are dispensed from the lower compartment by the dispensing means.

25. The container according to claim 24, wherein the separator element is slidable within the box to adjust relative volumes of the upper compartment and the lower compartment.

26. The container according to claim 24, wherein the separator element comprises a separator transverse wall extending across the internal volume of the box and a separator front wall, a separator back wall, and separator side walls, depending from the separator transverse wall, and wherein the separator front wall, the separator back wall, and the separator side walls lie against an inner surface of the box front wall, the box back wall, and the box side walls, respectively.

27. The container according to claim 26, wherein a barrier layer is provided on at least one surface of the separator transverse wall.

28. The container according to claim 15, wherein the box contains a plurality of aerosol-generating articles, wherein the plurality of aerosol-generating articles are transversely arranged, with a longitudinal axis of each aerosol-generating article extending horizontally, and wherein the dispensing means is configured to dispense an individual aerosol-generating article.

Description

[0065] The invention will now be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

[0066] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a container according to the invention with the lid in the closed lid position and the dispensing means in the dispensing position;

[0067] FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the container of FIG. 1, with a portion of the box front wall and the first box side wall cut away to show the inside of the box;

[0068] FIG. 3 shows a laminar blank suitable for forming the box and lid flap of the container of FIGS. 1 and 2; and

[0069] FIG. 4 shows a laminar blank suitable for forming the dispensing means of the container of FIGS. 1 and 2.

[0070] FIG. 1 shows a container 10 in accordance with the invention, comprising a box 12 and a lid flap 14 connected to the box 12 along a hinge line 16. The box 12 is a rectangular parallelepiped and comprises a box front wall 18, a box back wall, a first box side wall 22, a second box side wall and a box bottom wall. The top end of the box 12 is open to provide the top access opening of the container 10. A semi-circular cut out 24 is provided at the top edge of the box front wall 18, adjacent the top access opening. A side opening 26 is provided at the bottom of the first box side wall 22. The box 12 houses a plurality of aerosol-generating articles 28 which are arranged transversely within the box 12.

[0071] The lid flap 14 depends from the top edge of the box back wall and comprises a lid top wall 30 and a closure tab 32 extending from the front edge of the lid top wall 30. FIG. 1 shows the container with the lid flap 14 in the closed lid position, with the lid top wall 30 covering the top access opening of the box 12 and the closure tab 32 inserted behind the box front wall 18 to retain the lid flap 14 in place. The lid flap 14 can be readily moved into an open lid position by contacting the lid flap through the cut out 24 in the box front wall and pulling the lid flap 14 upwards and away from the box 12.

[0072] The box 12 and lid flap 14 are integrally formed from a single laminar blank. A suitable laminar blank 110 for forming the box 12 and lid flap 14 is shown in FIG. 3. In FIG. 3, the solid lines indicate cut lines and the dashed lines indicate fold lines.

[0073] The blank 110 comprises a box-defining portion 112 for forming the box 12 and a lid-defining portion 114 for forming the lid flap 14, wherein the lid-defining portion 114 is connected to the box-defining portion 112 along the hinge line 16. A first box side wall panel 122 extends from the side edge of each of the box front wall panel 118 and the box back wall panel 120. In the assembled container, the first box side wall panels 122 overlie each other to define the first box side wall 22. Each of the first box side wall panels 122 has a portion cut away from the bottom end to define the side opening in the box 12.

[0074] The container 10 further comprises a dispensing means 40 mounted inside the box 12. The dispensing means 40 comprises a tray portion 42 having a tray bottom wall 44 a first tray side wall 46, a second tray side wall (not visible), a tray front wall 48 and a tray back wall 50 extending upwards from the tray bottom wall 44. A hinge line 52 extends across the tray bottom wall 44 between the front edge and the back edge. A first portion of each of the tray front wall 48 and the tray back wall 50 extends along the edges of the tray bottom wall, from the first tray side wall 46 up to the hinge line 52. An increased height portion (not visible) extends from the hinge line 52 to the second tray side wall. The height of the increased height portion of each of the tray front wall 48 and the tray back wall 50 is greater than the height of the side opening in the first box side wall 22. The increased height portions therefore cannot pass through the side opening and prevent the tray portion 42 from being moved beyond the dispensing position shown in FIG. 2. A pull tab 54 extends outwards from the bottom edge of the tray side wall 46.

[0075] The tray portion 42 is adapted to support an individual aerosol-generating article 28 on the support surface provided by the tray bottom wall 44. The aerosol-generating articles 28 can therefore be dispensed from the container one at a time.

[0076] In the closed position, the dispensing means 40 is positioned fully inside the box 12, with the tray bottom wall 44 supported on the box bottom wall and the first tray side wall 46 covering the side opening 26 of the box. The pull tab 54 extends outwards from the side opening 26. In order to move the dispensing means 40 into the dispensing position shown in FIG. 1, the consumer pulls the pull tab 56 to slide the tray portion 42 outwards through the side opening 26. In the dispensing position, the tray portion 42 protrudes through the side opening 26 and the hinge line 52 is positioned just outside of the box. The end part of the tray portion 42 can therefore be pivoted downwards as shown, to expose the end of the aerosol-generating article 28. The aerosol-generating article 28 can then be removed from the container 10 by the consumer, or inserted directly into an aerosol-generating device.

[0077] For example, where the aerosol-generating article 28 is a heated aerosol-generating article, the exposed end of the aerosol-generating article 28 may be inserted into the heating chamber of an aerosol-generating device in a contactless manner, as described above. In particular, the aerosol-generating device can be brought towards the exposed end of the aerosol-generating article 28 and pushed towards the container to insert the aerosol-generating article into the heating chamber. The aerosol-generating article 28 is prevented from moving backwards into the box 12 by the second tray side wall. The presence of the aerosol-generating device adjacent the side opening prevents the end part of the tray portion from pivoting back up to its original position. Once the end of the aerosol-generating article 28 has been inserted into the heating chamber of the aerosol-generating device, the aerosol-generating device with the aerosol-generating article in place can be moved away from the container. This insertion of the aerosol-generating article into the aerosol-generating device can be carried out without the consumer touching the aerosol-generating article.

[0078] The dispensing means 40 can be assembled from a single laminar blank which is folded to form the tray portion 42, and then mounted inside the box 12, against the box bottom wall. A suitable laminar blank 140 for forming the tray portion 42 is shown in FIG. 4. In FIG. 4, the solid lines indicate cut lines and the dashed lines indicate fold lines.

[0079] As shown in FIG. 4, the laminar blank 142 comprises a tray bottom wall panel 144 comprising a fold line defining the hinge line 52. The laminar blank 142 includes first tray front wall panels 148a for forming the first portion of the tray front wall 48 and first tray back wall panels 150a for forming the first portion of the tray back wall 50, as described above. The laminar blank further includes second tray front wall panels 148b for forming the increased height portion of the tray front wall 48 and second tray back wall panels 150b for forming the increased height portion of the tray back wall 50, as described above. First tray side wall panels 146 are provided at one end of the tray bottom wall panel 144 for forming the first tray side wall 46 and second tray side wall panels 147 are provided at the opposite end of the tray bottom wall panel 144 for forming the tray second side wall.

[0080] As shown in FIG. 2, the container 10 further comprises a separator element 60 mounted inside the box 12. The separator element 60 comprises a separator transverse wall extending transversely across the inside of the box 12 and a separator front wall 62, separator back wall and separator side walls 64 extending downwards from the separator transverse wall. The separator element 60 separates the internal volume of the box 12 into an upper compartment 66 and a lower compartment 68. The upper compartment 66 is accessible through the top access opening, by opening the lid flap 14. The upper compartment 66 is initially empty and is intended for the storage of used aerosol-generating articles. The lower compartment 68 houses the plurality of aerosol-generating articles 28, which are dispensed from the lower compartment 68 by means of the dispensing means 40.

[0081] The separator element 60 has a transverse cross-section that substantially corresponds to the internal transverse cross-section of the box 12 and the separator element 60 therefore remains in place as a result of friction between the walls of the separator element 60 and the inner surfaces of the corresponding box walls. The separator element 60 is vertically slidable within the box 12 to adjust the relative volumes of the upper compartment 66 and the lower compartment 68. Therefore, the separator element 60 can slide downwards to reduce the size of the lower compartment 66 as the number of aerosol-generating articles 28 within the lower compartment 68 decreases. The size of the upper compartment 66 will accordingly increase so that an increasing number of used aerosol-generating article can be accommodated. The separator element 60 will automatically move downwards to adjust the relative sizes of the compartments as the consumer inserts used aerosol-generating articles into the upper compartment 66.