Abstract
A hinge lid pack (100) of smoking articles comprising a bundle (104) of smoking articles having a plurality of faces wrapped in a wrapper (106) of flexible sheet material, a housing (102) comprising a pack body (108) and a pack lid (110) hinged to the pack body. Free edge margins of the generally inside surface of the wrapper are adhered together over a first (face 114) of the bundle to form a fin seal (112) that is adhered to the wrapper over a second face of the bundle.
Claims
1. A container of smoking articles comprising: a bundle of smoking articles having a plurality of faces wrapped in a wrapper of flexible sheet material, free edge margins of the generally inside surface of the wrapper being adhered together over a first face of the bundle to form a fin seal that is joined to the rest of the wrapper along a fold line; and an outer housing around the wrapped bundle, in which the fin seal is folded around an edge of the bundle that is parallel to the fold line, and the fin seal is adhered to the wrapper over a second face of the bundle.
2. A container according to claim 1 in which a second fin seal is provided over a face of the wrapped bundle opposite the said first face and in which the second fin seal is adhered to another face of the wrapped bundle.
3. A container according to claim 1 in which the second fin seal is adhered to the said second face of the wrapped bundle.
4. A container according to claim 1 further comprising a fin seal retention panel adhered to a face of the wrapped bundle and extending over and being adhered to at least part of the wrapper over at least one of the first and second faces of the bundle to secure the fin seal thereto.
5. A container according to claim 4 in which the wrapped bundle is a cuboid and the fin seal retention panel is generally cruciform and is adhered to the second face and to the four faces abutting the second face.
6. A container according to claim 4 in which a second fin seal is provided over a third face of the wrapped bundle opposite the said first face and in which the fin seal retention panel is adhered to the said third face to secure the second fin seal thereto.
7. A container according to claim 1 in which the first face abuts the second face.
8. A hinge lid pack according to claim 1 in which the hinge is across the rear wall of the pack and the fin seal is formed over a side wall of the pack.
9. A hinge lid pack according to claim 8 including two fin seals, one over each side wall of the pack.
10. A hinge lid pack according to claim 1 in which second face of the bundle is the rear face.
11. A method of making a container of smoking articles according to claim 1 comprising: providing a bundle of smoking articles; wrapping the bundle in a wrapper of flexible sheet material to form a wrapped bundle of smoking articles having a plurality of faces; bringing together free edge margins of the generally inside surface of the wrapper over a first face of the bundle; adhering the said free edge margins together to form a fin seal; folding the fin seal onto a second face of the wrapped bundle; adhering the fin seal to the said second face; and providing an outer housing around the wrapped bundle.
12. A method according to claim 11 in which the step of providing an outer housing around the wrapped bundle comprises providing a blank for a hinge lid pack.
13. A method according to claim 11 in which the step of providing an outer housing around the wrapped bundle comprises wrapping a blank for the housing around the wrapped bundle and in which the fin seal is folded onto the second face as the housing blank is wrapped around the wrapped bundle.
14. A method according to claim 11 of making a container of smoking articles further comprising: providing a fin seal retention panel; adhering the fin seal retention panel to a face of the wrapper and to at least part of the first or the second face of the wrapper to secure the fin seal thereto; and providing an outer housing around the wrapped bundle.
15. A method according to claim 11 in which a further fin seal is provided on a face of the bundle opposite the said first face.
Description
(1) The invention will be further described, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, in which:
(2) FIG. 1 shows an isometric view from the front and one side of a container according to the second aspect of the invention; and
(3) FIG. 2 shows an isometric view of the bundle of the pack of FIG. 1 with the housing of FIG. 1 not shown from the rear and one side (with reference to the orientation of the bundle in FIG. 1), with the housing of FIG. 1 not shown; and
(4) FIG. 3 shows an isometric view from the front and one side of a container according to the first aspect of the invention.
(5) The containers of FIGS. 1 and 3 are hinge lid packs, the outer housings of which are of similar design and construction, and like elements are shown by the same reference numerals in both figures. The packs 100, 300 each comprise an outer housing 102 of card and a wrapped bundle 104, 304 of cigarettes (not visible is the figures) surrounded by a wrapper 106, 306 of metallised polymeric film. The outer housing 102 comprises a pack body 108 and a pack lid 110 hinged to the body along a hinge line (not visible in the figures) across the rear wall of the housing, each having opposed front and rear walls and opposed side walls; the pack body 108 has a bottom wall (not visible in the figures) and the pack lid 110 has a top wall (not visible in the figures).
(6) The wrapper 106 of the bundle 104 of the pack 100 of FIG. 1 is wrapped around the cigarettes and a vertical fin seal 112 is formed over a side face 114 of the bundle. The fin seal 112 extends from the rest of the wrapper 106. The fin seal 112 extends from the rest of the wrapper 106 along a fold line 116. The fin seal is joined to the rest of the wrapper 106 along a vertical fold line 116 down the side face 114 of the bundle. A similar fin seal 112 is formed over the other side wall, seen in FIG. 2. Each fin seal 112, 112 is formed of free edge margins of the inside surfaces of the wrapper 106. These are brought together and heat sealed together to form the fin seal. In other embodiments, the edge margins can be sealed together with adhesive. Each fin seal comprises a sealed portion 116, 116 extending from the free edge of the seal toward the bundle and an unsealed portion 118 that extends from the sealed portion to a fold line 120 in the wrapper 106 that extends vertically down the side face 114 over which the seal is made. Preferably, the sealed portion extends between about 0.6 cm and about 2 cm from the free edges of the wrapper and the overall length of the seal is between about 2 cm and 4 cm.
(7) Each fin seal 112, 112 of the pack 100 of FIG. 1 is folded tightly around the respective edge between the respective side face 114 and the rear wall 120 of the wrapped bundle 104, and adhered to the bundle wrapper 106. This retains the fin seals tightly against the bundle wrapper, which assists on retaining the shape of the bundle 104 and ensures that the seal does not impede operation of the lid 110.
(8) In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the bundle wrapper 106 is self sealing. The bundle wrapper has an opening 124 in its top and front faces that provides access to the cigarettes in the bundle 104 that is closed by a closure panel 126 slightly larger than the opening 124 and having a resealable adhesive around its margins 128 that overlie the bundle wrapper 106 when the pack is closed. The lower (when the pack is closed) edge of the closure panel 126 is firmly fixed to the inside of the lower front edge of the pack lid 110. When the pack is opened, the movement of the lid causes the closure panel to be peeled off the wrapper 106 to expose the opening 124 in the wrapper and so give access to the cigarettes in the pack. As the lid is closed, the closure panel is brought onto the wrapper over the opening and sealed to it by the resealable adhesive.
(9) In the manufacture of the hinge lid pack 100 of FIG. 1, a bundle of cigarettes is provided from a hopper of cigarettes. Typically, this is a bundle of twenty cigarettes in a 7-6-7 formation, but other numbers of cigarettes and other formations may be provided. A sheet of metallised polymeric film or other wrapper material is wrapped over the top of the bundle; in the case of a self sealing bundle as shown in FIG. 1, the wrapper will have an opening 124 in it and the closure panel 126 will be in place over the opening. Fin seals are formed over each of the two side walls and the bottom wall of the bundle by bringing the free edge margins of the sheet together over these walls and heat sealing or otherwise adhering them together to form fin seals as described above. The wrapped bundle 106 is then wrapped with a hinge lid pack blank. As the blank is wrapped around the bundle 106, the fin seals 112, 112 are swept back and folded against the side walls 114 of the bundle along fold lines 120, around the edges between the side walls 114 and the rear wall 122 of the bundle and adhered to the rear wall. The wrapping of the bundle with the hinge lid pack blank is completed and the lower edge of the closure panel is fixed to the lower edge of the lid to form the finished pack, which may be overwrapped in a conventional manner.
(10) In the pack of FIG. 3, the wrapper 106 of the bundle 104 of the pack 100 is wrapped around the cigarettes and a vertical fin seal 312 is formed over each of the side faces 314 of the bundle (one of which is visible in FIG. 3). The fin seals 312 are of the same construction as those of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2. Each fin seal 312 can be long enough to be folded onto the rear or front wall of the wrapped bundle 304 or short enough to be folded only onto the side face 314 over which it is formed. The fin seals 312 of the bundle are held tight against the wrapped bundle 314 by a cruciform seal retention panel 316. The retention panel is a sheet of flexible material of, for example, high density polyethylene (HDPE), low density polyethylene (LDPE) biaxially oriented polyproplyene (BOPP), nylon, polystyrene, cellulosic films such as Cellophane? and cellulose acetate, polyvinylchloride (PVC), paper (for example, paper made from hemp fibre), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), metallised plastics film and mixtures of the foregoing. The retention panel is advantageously between about 40 ?m and about 120 ?m thick. The retention panel is a sheet of in the form of a cross; the central portion of the cross, where the arms of the cross meet, is slightly smaller in side to side width and front to back depth than the top face of the wrapped bundle 304, and the arms of the cross extend a short way down the front, rear and side faces of the bundle. The retention panel 316 is adhered to the top face of the bundle and the front, rear and side and holds the fin seal against the side face of the bundle, minimizing the extra side to side width provided by the fin seal. In embodiments in which the fin seal 312 is long enough to be folded onto the front or rear face of the wrapped bundle, the retention panel holds the fin seal against that wall as well. In other embodiments, the retention panel is not cruciform, but extends only over the faces of the bundle onto which the fin seal is folded and an adjacent face.
(11) In the embodiment shown if FIG. 3, a line of weakness 318, for example a score line, extends across the top and front faces of the wrapped bundle 304 to assist in opening the bundle to gain access to the cigarettes.
(12) The manufacturing process for a pack of the embodiment of FIG. 3 is similar that for the pack of FIG. 1. As the wrapped bundle is wrapped in the hinge lid blank, the fin seals 312 are swept back to fold onto the side faces 314 of the wrapped bundle 306. The seal retention panel 316 is applied to the top, front, rear and side walls of the wrapped bundle to retain the seals 312 in place against the bundle, and wrapping of the bundle with the hinge lid blank is completed. The pack may be overwrapped in a conventional manner.
(13) It will be appreciated that in containers according to the invention, the fin seal can be over any face of the bundle, and that the bundle may have one, two, three or more fin seals, any or all of which are held against the bundle in accordance with the first or second aspect of the invention, or both.
(14) Ensuring that the fin seal is held tightly against the bundle allows the bundle to be wrapped in the outer housing on conventional packaging machinery at normal packaging speeds. It also ensures that the lid of a hinge lid pack can open and shut without fouling the fin seal, and contributes to a desirable appearance to the open container.
