CONTAINER FOR CONSUMER ARTICLES WITH A SPACER CONTAINING A CUT-OUT

Abstract

The present invention relates to a container (10) for consumer articles, the container (10) comprising a box portion wherein the box portion comprises a box front wall (14), a box rear wall (16), a box bottom wall and two box side walls (12) extending between the box front wall (14) and the box rear wall (16), and a spacer (20), wherein the spacer (20) is mounted within the box portion, the spacer (20) is mounted essentially perpendicular to the box bottom wall, the spacer (20) is partially projecting out at the upper end of the box front wall (14), and the spacer (20) comprises at least one spacer wall (26, 28, 30), the at least one spacer wall (26, 28, 30) has at least one spacer cut-out (32, 34, 36), and the at least one spacer cut-out (32, 34, 36) is located at the upper end of the at least one spacer wall (26, 28, 30). The container (10), further comprising an inner frame with an inner frame cut-out, wherein the inner frame is provided at the inner side of the box front wall (14) and is partially projecting out at the upper end of the box front wall (14). The present invention further relates to a method of preparing the container (10).

Claims

1. A container for consumer articles, the container comprising: a box portion, wherein the box portion comprises a box front wall, a box rear wall, a box bottom wall and two box side walls extending between the box front wall and the box rear wall, and a spacer, wherein: the spacer is mounted within the box portion, the spacer is mounted essentially perpendicular to the box bottom wall, the spacer is partially projecting out at the upper end of the box front wall, and the spacer comprises at least one spacer wall, the at least one spacer wall has at least one spacer cut-out, and the at least one spacer cut-out is located at the upper end of the at least one spacer wall, the container, further comprising an inner frame with an inner frame cut-out, wherein the inner frame is provided at the inner side of the box front wall and is partially projecting out at the upper end of the box front wall, and the spacer is a separate element that is mounted in the container.

2. The container according to claim 1 wherein at least a first portion of the spacer is bent to yield a circular, ellipsoid, oval, semi-circular, semi-ellipsoid or semi-oval or U-shaped cross-section of the first portion of the spacer.

3. The container according to claim 1 wherein at least a second portion of the spacer is folded to provide a number of spacer walls yielding a U-shaped, V-shaped, triangular, rectangular or trapezoid cross-section of the second portion of the spacer.

4. The container according to claim 1 wherein the spacer comprises one spacer wall formed to create a circular, ellipsoid, oval, semi-circular, semi-ellipsoid, semi-oval or U-shaped cross-section of the spacer, or two spacer walls formed to create a V-shaped cross-section of the spacer, or three spacer walls formed to create a U-shaped or triangular cross-section of the spacer, or four spacer walls formed to create a rectangular or trapezoid cross-section of the spacer.

5. The container according to claim 4 wherein the spacer has one spacer wall with two spacer cut-outs on opposing sides of the spacer or one spacer cut-out or three spacer cut-outs, or two spacer walls with one spacer cut-out or two spacer cut-outs, or three spacer walls with one, two or three spacer cut-outs, or four spacer walls with two spacer cut-outs on opposing sides of the spacer or four spacer cut-outs on opposing sides of the spacer or three spacer cut-outs.

6. The container according to claim 1 wherein the at least one spacer cut-out has the form of a triangle, a rectangle, a semi-circle, a semi-ellipse, a semi-oval or is U-shaped or V-shaped.

7. The container according to claim 1 wherein the cross-sectional area of the spacer is about 10 percent to about 60 percent of the cross-sectional area of the box portion.

8. The container according to claim 1 any one of the preceding claims wherein the outer depth of the spacer corresponds to the inner depth of the box portion or wherein the outer width of the spacer corresponds to the inner width of the box portion or wherein the outer depth of the spacer corresponds to the inner depth of the box portion and the outer width of the spacer corresponds to the inner width of the box portion.

9. (canceled)

10. The container according to claim 1 wherein the consumer articles are smoking articles.

11. The container according to claim 1 wherein the consumer articles are located within the box portion but not within the spacer or wherein the consumer articles are located within the spacer but not within the volume between the walls of the box portion and the spacer.

12. A container according to claim 1 wherein the container further comprises a lid portion comprising a lid front wall, a lid rear wall and two lid side walls extending between the lid front wall and the lid rear wall.

13. A container according to claim 1 wherein the height of the spacer corresponds to the inner height of the box portion.

14. A method for preparing a container for consumer articles according to any of the preceding claims, comprising the steps of: (a) providing a main blank for forming a box portion, (b) forming from the main blank the box portion comprising a box front wall, a box rear wall, a box bottom wall and two box side walls extending between the box front wall and the box rear wall, (c) providing a spacer blank for forming a spacer with at least one cut-out, (d) forming the spacer with the at least one spacer cut-out from the spacer blank, (e) introducing the spacer with the at least one spacer cut-out into the box portion of the container such that the spacer is mounted within the box portion, is mounted essentially perpendicular to the box bottom wall, and the spacer with the at least one spacer cut-out is partially projecting out at the upper end of the box front wall, (f) providing an inner frame blank for forming an inner frame with a cut-out, (g) forming the inner frame from the inner frame blank, and (h) mounting the inner frame at the inner side of the box front wall such that the inner frame is partially projecting out at the upper end of the box front wall, and the spacer is a separate element that is mounted in the container.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising the step of introducing consumer articles at an appropriate time into the container.

Description

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

[0062] FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a container according to the subject invention with the box portion, the at least one spacer with at least one spacer cut-out and several cigarettes placed in the box portion; and

[0063] FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of a blank for a spacer to be used with a container according to the subject invention.

[0064] The container 10 shown in FIG. 1 comprises a box portion, wherein the shown cross-section of the box portion is defined by the surrounding box side walls 12, the box front wall 14 and the box rear wall 16. A spacer 20 is mounted within the container 10. The spacer 20 has a triangular cross-section and is mounted in a way in the container 10 that spacer wall 28 of the spacer 20 is lying flat on the inner side of box front wall 14. The triangular cross-section of the spacer 20 divides the volume within the box portion into three different sections, wherein the present embodimentthe section within the spacer 20 is empty and the remaining two sections, i.e. the volume between spacer 20 and box walls 12, 14, 16, are filled with cigarettes 40.

[0065] FIG. 2 shows a blank from which the spacer 20 as used in FIG. 1 may be created. The blank is folded twice along edges 22, 24, thereby providing three spacer walls 26, 28, 30. In cross-sectional view, the folded blank will result in a triangular form. At the upper end of the blank, a portion of the blank is cut out from each spacer wall. Spacer walls 26 and 30 each show a triangular cut-out 32, 36, while spacer wall 28 shows a U-shaped cut-out 34. In another embodiment, spacer wall 28 may have no spacer cut-out 34, as long as the dimensions of the spacer 20 are chosen in a way that a person may easily grab a cigarette 40 by facilitating the space left by spacer cut-outs 32 and 36. When preparing the spacer 20, the step of cutting out the spacer cut-outs 32, 34, 36 may be performed before folding the spacer 20. After cutting the blank and folding the spacer 20 to a triangle form of its cross-section, the spacer 20 is mounted in container 10 by placing the lower end of the spacer 20 at the box bottom wall of the container 10 and by placing spacer wall 28 flat on the inner side of box front wall 14. Due to this arrangement of spacer 20 in container 10, cigarettes 40 may be easily grabbed despite the presence of the spacer 20, as the spacer cut-outs 32, 34, 36 provide a window for taking out a cigarette 40.