IMPROVED PACKAGE FOR RESEALABLE CONTAINER OF CONSUMER ARTICLES

Abstract

There is provided a resealable container for consumer articles comprising a package of consumer articles, the package having an access opening through which consumer articles can be removed; and a resealable panel covering the access opening of the package and extending beyond the periphery of the access opening of the package. The package is formed by folding a blank of flexible sheet material having a thickness around a group of consumer articles such that a first end portion of the blank overlaps a second end portion of the blank. An area of a surface of the first end portion of the blank is sealed to an area of a surface of the second end portion of the blank. One of the first and second end portions comprises non-printed indicia at a predetermined location relative to an edge of the end portion.

Claims

1. A resealable container for consumer articles comprising: a package of consumer articles, the package having an access opening through which consumer articles can be removed; and a resealable panel covering the access opening of the package and extending beyond the to periphery of the access opening of the package; the package being formed by folding a blank of flexible sheet material having a thickness and a first and a second end portion around a group of consumer articles, at least one of the first and second end portions comprising non-printed indicia at a predetermined location relative to an edge of the end portion; the blank being folded such that the blank first end portion overlaps the blank second end portion, an area of a surface of the blank first end portion being sealed to an area of a surface of the blank second end portion of the blank to form a fin seal.

2. A container according to claim 1, wherein the non-printed indicia are at a location within the sealed areas of the blank.

3. A container according to claim 1, wherein the non-printed indicia are at a location between the sealed areas and the edge of the end portion.

4. A container according to claim 1, wherein both the first and the second end portions of the blank comprise non-printed indicia.

5. A container according to claim 1, wherein the non-printed indicia comprise one or more processed zones having a residual thickness that is less than the thickness of the blank sheet material.

6. A container according to claim 5, wherein the one or more processed zones are ablated zones.

7. A container according to claim 5, wherein the one or more processed zones comprise one or more holes formed through the blank sheet material.

8. A container according to claim 7, wherein the one or more holes have a diameter of at least about 10 micrometres.

9. A container according to claim 7, wherein the one or more holes have a diameters of less than about 1 millimetre.

10. A container according to claim 5, wherein the blank comprises at least a first and a second layers of flexible sheet material, the first and the second layers of flexible sheet materials having a first and a second thickness, respectively; and wherein the one or more processed zones comprise one or more zones wherein material has been removed from the first layer of flexible sheet material or the second layer of flexible sheet material, such that a residual thickness of the blank in the one or more processed zones is substantially equal to the thickness of the other one of the first layer of flexible sheet material and the second layer of flexible sheet material.

11. A container according to claim 4, wherein the one or more processed zones are aligned along a longitudinal direction of the package or along a transverse direction of the package.

12. A container according to claim 4, wherein the one or more processed zones form a pattern.

13. A container according to claim 1, wherein the group of consumer articles is a group of smoking articles.

14. A blank of flexible sheet material for forming a package for consumer articles, the blank comprising: a cut line defining an access opening of the package through which consumer articles can be removed from the assembled package; and a first end flap and a second end flap such that, when the blank is folded about a group of consumer articles, the first flap rests against a wall of the group, whereas the second flap is folded over the wall of the group to form a tubular wrapping; wherein the second flap overlaps the first flap, and an area of a surface of the first flap being sealed to an area of a surface of the second flap to form a fin seal; and wherein one of the first and second flaps comprises non-printed indicia at a predetermined location relative to an edge of the end portion, the indicia being applied to the one of the first and second flaps prior to forming the fin seal.

15. A method of making a package of consumer articles according to claim 1 comprising: providing a group of consumer articles; providing a blank of flexible sheet material; wrapping the group in the blank to obtain the package; wherein the step of wrapping the group in the blank comprises bringing together a first and a second end portions of the blank over a wall of the group; and adhering an area of a surface of the first end portion to an area of a surface of the second end portion to form a fin seal of the package; the method further comprising: forming a cut line extending across a portion of a blank top panel to define an access opening of the package through which consumer articles can be removed from the assembled package; and forming non-printed indicia in one of the first and second end portions at a predetermined location relative to an edge of the end portion prior to forming the fin seal.

Description

[0061] The invention will be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the drawings of the accompanying Figures, wherein:

[0062] FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic side view of a blank of flexible sheet material forming a fin seal;

[0063] FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic side view of a blank of flexible sheet material forming a tap seal;

[0064] FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic top view of a blank of flexible sheet material for forming a container in accordance with the present invention.

[0065] Reference numeral 100 in FIG. 3 identifies a blank 100 for forming a container for consumer articles in accordance with the present invention. In FIG. 3, solid lines indicate cut lines and dashed lines indicate fold lines.

[0066] The blank 100 is formed from a substantially rectangular portion of a flexible sheet material and is suitable for wrapping a plurality of consumer articles grouped together, for example, in a bundle, to form a package of consumer articles. The blank 100 comprises a cut line 102 defining an access opening of the package through which consumer articles can be removed from the assembled package. Further, the blank 100 comprises a first end flap 104 and a second end flap 106 such that, when the blank 100 is folded about a group of consumer articles, the first flap 104 rests against a wall of the group, whereas the second flap is folded over the wall of the group to form a tubular wrapping. In the assembled packages, the second flap 106 overlaps the first flap 104, and an area 108 of a surface of the first flap 104 is sealed to an area 110 of a surface of the second flap 106. The first flap 104 comprises non-printed indicia 112 at a predetermined location relative to an edge 114 of the first flap 104. The non-printed indicia 112 comprise 4 processed zones having a residual thickness less than about 70 percent of the thickness of the blank sheet material.