SPACING SUPPORT FOR PACKS FOR ROD-SHAPED ARTICLES, CONTAINER COMPRISING A SPACING SUPPORT AND METHOD FOR ASSEMBLING A SPACING SUPPORT

Abstract

A spacing support for packs for rod-shaped articles, the spacing support comprising a pair of side walls extends from a bottom wall, thereby forming a housing for supporting and accommodating a plurality of packs arranged in two adjacent rows, the housing comprising an access aperture through which the packs may be introduced into and extracted from the housing. At least one of the side walls comprises a plurality of positioning elements projecting towards the inside of the housing, wherein the positioning elements are configured to delimit positioning sections in which the packs may be held, and wherein the positioning elements are made as one predefined strip connected with the at least one of the side walls and a further wall of the housing. Also disclosed is a container comprising a spacing support and a method for manufacturing a spacing support.

Claims

1. A spacing support for packs for rod-shaped articles, the spacing support comprising a pair of side walls extending from a bottom wall, thereby forming a housing for supporting and accommodating a plurality of packs arranged in two adjacent rows, the housing comprising an access aperture through which the packs may be introduced into and extracted from the housing; wherein at least one of the side walls comprises a plurality of positioning elements projecting towards an inside of the housing, wherein the positioning elements are configured to delimit positioning sections in which the packs may be held, wherein the positioning elements are made as one predefined strip connected with the at least one of the side walls and a further wall of the housing, and wherein positioning elements of the plurality of positioning elements are formed in a Z-shape.

2. The spacing support according to claim 1, wherein the predefined strips are connected with the spacing support at both of their longitudinal ends.

3. The spacing support according to claim 2, wherein one end of the longitudinal ends of the predefined strips is connected with the at least one side wall of the housing and another end of the longitudinal ends is connected with the bottom wall of the housing.

4. The spacing support according to claim 1, wherein each positioning element of the plurality of positioning element is formed in a Z shape.

5. The spacing support according to claim 1, wherein the Z-shaped positioning elements are asymmetric, wherein a first section and a last section of three sections forming the Z-shaped positioning element, have different lengths.

6. The spacing support according to claim 1, wherein the longitudinal ends of the predefined strips are formed integrally with the at least one side wall or the further wall of the spacing support.

7. The spacing support according to claim 1, wherein both of the side walls of the housing comprise a plurality of positioning elements, and wherein each of the plurality of positioning element is made as one predefined strip connected with the respective one of two side walls and the further wall of the housing.

8. The spacing support according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of positioning element projects inwards and extends into the housing less than half of a width of the bottom wall, wherein the width of the bottom wall extends perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the housing.

9. The spacing support according to claim 2, wherein the housing comprises two compartments arranged adjacent to each other, each compartment for accommodating one of the two rows of packs, wherein each compartment is formed by a pair of side walls extending from a portion of the bottom wall, wherein a side wall of each pair of side walls comprises a plurality of positioning elements.

10. The spacing support according to claim 9, wherein each one of the longitudinal ends of the predefined strips is connected with the side wall of the pair of side walls of the two compartments comprising the plurality of positioning elements and each other one of the longitudinal ends of the predefined strips is connected with the portion of the bottom wall of each compartment.

11. A container for packs for rod-shaped articles comprising a body accommodating a spacing support according to claim 1 and a plurality of packs for rod-shaped articles accommodated in the spacing support.

12. The container according to claim 11, wherein the positioning elements of the spacing support forms positioning sections along a longitudinal direction of the housing in which positioning section a pack is held, wherein the positioning elements are arranged at a fixed distance, which distance is greater than a size of the packs measured along the longitudinal direction of the housing.

13. The container according to claim 11, wherein a top wall of the packs projects beyond a top edge of the side walls of the spacing support at the access aperture.

14. A method for assembling a spacing support according to claim 1 with a plurality of packs for rod-shaped articles, comprising forming a housing for two adjacent rows of packs for rod-shaped articles by folding respective contiguous and adjacent walls of a blank of sheet material into a shape of a U along folding lines, the walls forming a bottom wall and two side walls extending from the bottom wall; introducing an aligned group of packs for rod-shaped articles into the housing; then pushing by pushing elements predefined strip portions of at least one side wall into an interior of the housing thereby forming Z-shaped positioning elements in between adjacently arranged packs.

Description

[0126] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a spacing support arranged inside a container;

[0127] FIG. 2 shows a perspective top view of the container according to FIG. 1 with a group of packs accommodated in the spacing support;

[0128] FIG. 3 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view of a positioning element and its forming process;

[0129] FIG. 4 is a perspective side view of a positioning element and its dimensions in a blank of sheet material;

[0130] FIG. 5 is a top plan view of a design of a prepared blank of sheet material for forming a spacing support;

[0131] FIG. 6 shows a schematic partial cross-sectional view of a variant of a positioning element and its forming process; and

[0132] FIG. 7 illustrates the group-wise insertion of a group of pairs of packs into a spacing support and formation of positioning elements.

[0133] FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show a spacing support 10 accommodated in a container in the form of a box-like carton 23. The carton 23 has a body 24 configured to receive the spacing support 10. In FIG. 1, the empty spacing support 10 is shown, while in FIG. 2, the spacing support 10 comprises a group of packs 100 accommodated in positioning sections 26 of the spacing support.

[0134] The carton 23 can be closed in a reclosable manner by a lid 25 consisting of two flaps 250, 251 hingedly connected with the body 24. The flaps 250, 251 can be opened to have access to the inside of the carton 23, for example, to collect the packs 100 or to perform on them one or more processes, such as the application of tax stamps. Subsequently, the flaps can be shut to close the box-like carton 23.

[0135] The filled spacing support 10 or filled box-like carton 23, respectively, comprises an array of ten packs 100 for aerosol-generating articles, for example articles for hand-held electronic devices where the articles are heated for aerosol generation. The array comprises two rows of packs with five packs 100 in each row.

[0136] Each pack 100 has a parallelepiped shape and comprises two opposite large primary side walls, two opposite small secondary side walls, a lower wall arranged adjacent the bottom wall 14 of the spacing support 10 and a top wall 102 opposite of the lower wall. The top wall 102 forms a front side in the transporting and collating process as described further below.

[0137] Preferably, the size of a pack 100 suitable for being supported by the spacing support 10 is equal to 15.5 mm48 mm, wherein these values correspond to the width and the length of the top walls 102. The width of the top wall 102 corresponds to the depth of a pack 100. The length of the top wall 102 corresponds to the width of a pack 100.

[0138] As shown in the example of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the spacing support 10 comprises two compartments 12 arranged adjacent with respect to one another. Each compartment 12 defines a chamber for a corresponding row of packs 100.

[0139] The compartments 12 extend in a longitudinal direction, which is indicated in the figures by reference numeral 700.

[0140] Each row comprises five packs for aerosol-generating articles 100.

[0141] Each compartment 12 comprises a bottom wall 14, and a pair of side walls 15, which extend from the bottom wall 14. The side walls 15 are adjacent to the bottom wall 14 and are joined to the bottom wall 14 by folding lines 16. The folding lines 16 extend parallel to the longitudinal direction 700.

[0142] Each wall of the compartments 12, that is the bottom wall 14 and the pair of side walls 15, is configured to come into contact with a respective wall of the packs 100.

[0143] The side walls 15 of the two compartments 12 arranged in the interior of the spacing support 10 form a pack spacer in the form of a middle wall 27 and come into contact with the large side walls of the packs 100. The bottom walls 14 come into contact with the lower walls of the packs 100. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the packs 100 accommodated in the spacing support 10 are oriented in a manner that a height of the pack is orthogonal with respect to the longitudinal direction 700. In addition, the packs 100 are oriented such that the top walls 102 are arranged opposite the bottom wall 14 of the spacing support 10.

[0144] The compartments 12 comprise an access aperture 17 through which the packs 100 can be introduced, accessed as well as extracted from the spacing support 10 and the container.

[0145] The bottom wall and side walls 14, 15 of the spacing support 10 are arranged one with respect to the others so that each chamber 12 has a shape represented by the letter U, where the open end of the U defines the access aperture 17. The packs 100 are oriented in such a way that the top wall 102 is arranged near the access aperture 17. In particular, the top wall 102 arranged on the opposite side with respect to the bottom wall 14 projects beyond an end edge 105 of the side walls 15. By this, the top wall 102 of the packs 100 remains exposed and easily accessible to perform the necessary processes on it, such as, for example, the application of the tax stamp. The top walls 102 of the packs may also be arranged at the same level than the end edge 105 of the spacing support 10. Thus, the top walls of the packs are protected by the spacing support 10.

[0146] Two side walls 15 comprise a plurality of positioning elements 18 projecting towards the interior of the spacing support 10. The positioning elements 18 are configured to delimit positioning sections 26, in which each of said packs 100 is stably arranged and held in a defined manner in the longitudinal direction 700 relative to the spacing support 10. By the positioning elements 18 a movement of the packs in the longitudinal direction 700 is prevented. By the side walls 15 and the middle wall 27 a movement or displacement in a width direction 701 perpendicular to the longitudinal direction 700 is prevented.

[0147] The packs 100 can be introduced and extracted with respect to the positioning sections 26 through the aforementioned access aperture 17.

[0148] The positioning elements 18 are made as predefined strips and are Z-shaped and integrated into the side wall 15 and into the bottom wall 14.

[0149] In FIG. 1, in which each compartment is intended to accommodate a row of five packs 100, four positioning elements 18 are provided. The four positioning elements 18 are interposed between two adjacent packs 100.

[0150] In another embodiment of the spacing support, two additional positioning elements 18 may be arranged at opposite ends of the side wall 15 (when seen in the longitudinal direction) so as to hold the outermost packs 100 arranged at the end of the rows.

[0151] An interspace separating two adjacent packs 100 is defined by the positioning elements 18. This interspace may be equal to, slightly greater than or slightly smaller than the width of the positioning elements 18, measured parallel to the longitudinal direction 700.

[0152] The two inner side walls 15 forming the middle wall 27 are not provided with positioning elements 18.

[0153] The inner surfaces of the side walls 15 facing towards the inside of the spacing support 10 are arranged according to a configuration of symmetry with respect to one another with reference to a centreline axis 920 of the bottom wall 14, which extends parallel to the longitudinal direction 700.

[0154] The spacing support 10 accommodates ten non-standard packs 100, having a smaller size than the standard size of traditional packs, in which a tax stamp must be applied to a group of packs for traditional smoking articles, without the spacing support 10 of the present invention.

[0155] The outlines of the spacing support 10 delimits an area, which is identical to the total area occupied by a group of traditional packs. In other words, the spacing support 10 is shaped and sized in such a way as to compensate for the smaller volumes occupied by the non-standard packs so that the latter, when received in the spacing support 10, substantially occupy the same volumes as a group of traditional packs.

[0156] The position of tax stamps remains unchanged. Due to the presence of the spacing support 10, the two-dimensional spatial coordinates in the longitudinal and transverse directions 700,701 of tax stamps to be applied to the packs 100, remain identical to the corresponding coordinates of the tax stamps applied on traditional packs for smoking articles.

[0157] Stamp distances are equal to a predetermined and constant value and is measured between a center of two tax stamps applied on two adjacent packs 100 in direction 700 or from a center on the top wall of one pack 100 to the center on the top wall of a neighbouring pack 100. Preferably, a stamp distance is equal to a width of a standard pack corresponding to 55.5 millimeter.

[0158] The positioning elements 18 are arranged one after the other, basically at a stamp distance. This distance is equal to a predetermined and constant value, so as to arrange and hold the packs 100 in their respective positioning sections 26 at a constant pitch with respect to each other.

[0159] It is evident that the shapes, the dimensional values and the thicknesses mentioned in the present description are merely illustrative, and can be modified, depending on the sizes and shapes of the packs for aerosol-generating articles to be accommodated in spacing support 10. In particular, the spacing support 10 has related sizes and thicknesses, in particular complementary to sizes and depth of the pack 100, which it must support, in order to maintain the same total volumes of a group of traditional packs and to arrange the packs in positions.

[0160] In FIG. 3 a part of the spacing support 10 is shown in a cross-sectional view at the position of a positioning element 18.

[0161] The compartment 12 is formed by the bottom wall 14 and two side walls 15 extending from the bottom wall forming the U-shaped compartment 12. A side wall 15 internal to the spacing support forms part of the middle wall 27 together with a side wall 15 of the other neighbouring compartment. The positioning element 18 is in the form of the letter Z. A single predefined strip formed by parts of the side wall 15 and the bottom wall 14 of the spacing support is deformed out of the planes of the side wall and bottom wall, respectively, and into the interior of the compartment 12 by a pushing element 3.

[0162] Each strip is joined to the side wall 15 or the bottom wall by a respective folding line 20. The strips are separated from the walls by cutting lines 21 (seen in the blanks shown in FIGS. 4 and 5). The folding lines 20 are parallel to each other and also parallel to the longitudinal direction 700. The cutting lines 21 are parallel to each other and perpendicular to the longitudinal direction 700.

[0163] Both ends 180 of the strips are connected with the spacing support, one end 180 to the side wall 15 and the other end 180 to the bottom wall 14, with the strips extending from said walls by respective folding lines 20. The Z is formed by three sections 181,182, 183. The three sections have different lengths. While the middle section 182 is the longest section, the first section 181 connected to and extending from the side wall 15 is shorter than the middle section 182 and longer than the third section 183. The third section 183 is the shortest of the three sections and is connected to and extends from the bottom wall 14. The first section 181 and the middle section 182 include a bend angle 184 of about 90 degree to 100 degree. A bend angle 185 between the third section 183 and the bottom wall 14 is about 45 degree.

[0164] A type of forming head 30 of the pushing element 3 for forming the positioning element 18 is shown in FIG. 3. The forming head 30 comprises a linear straight pushing edge 300 with a frontmost pushing end and a rearmost pushing end. The forming head 30 may be formed by a plate, wherein the frontmost pushing end is arranged at one lateral side of the pushing edge and the rearmost pushing end is arranged at the opposite lateral side of the pushing edge.

[0165] Upon forming the positioning element 18, the frontmost pushing edge touches the side wall 15 of the spacing support 10 first at the position of the predefined strip. The predefined strip preferably is a pre-cut strip. The position of the frontmost pushing edge defines the position of the transition of the first and second section 181, 182 defining the length of the first section 181 of the Z-shape of the positioning element 18. By pushing the portion of the side wall 15 forming the predefined strip inwards into the compartment 12, the predefined portion of the strip formed by the bottom wall defines the third section 183. The edge between side wall 15 and bottom wall 14 corresponds to the edge between the middle section 182 and the third section 183 of the Z-shaped positioning element 18.

[0166] In FIG. 4, the positioning element 18 is shown in a perspective side view from inside of an open compartment 12 for better visibility of the positioning element 18. Same reference numbers are used for the same or similar elements. On the left of the perspective view of positioning element 18, a portion of a blank of sheet material 13 with the dimensions of the strip in the blank of sheet material 13 is shown.

[0167] The positioning element 18 has been formed from a strip portion and formed into the Z shape having three sections 182,182,183. The first and second sections 181, 182 are formed from the side wall 15, while the third section 183 is formed from the bottom wall 14.

[0168] In a first example, the first section 181 has a length of 20 mm, the second section 182 has a length of 38.6 mm and the third section 183 has a length of 15.9 mm. Therein, the length of the third section 183 corresponds to the width of the portion of the bottom wall 14 of a compartment 12 (in direction 701). The distance of the first section 182 to the edge of the sheet blank is 15.5 mm with a height of a side wall of 74.1 mm. The small distance between the first section 181 and an edge of the sheet blank later corresponding to a top edge of a side wall of the spacing support leads to a positioning element formed out of the blank that extends over a major part of the side wall and close to the top edge. This is advantageous, as such positioning elements may prevent a tiling of a pack in a longitudinal direction, in particular also in an upper part of the pack.

[0169] In a second example, the first section 181 has a length of 20 mm, the second section 182 has a length of 31.6 mm and the third section 183 has a length of 15.9 mm. Therein, again the length of the third section 183 corresponds to the width of the portion of the bottom wall 14 of a compartment 12 (in direction 701). The distance of the first section 182 to the edge of the sheet blank is 22.5 mm with a height of a side wall of 74.1 mm.

[0170] Thus, in the second example, the total length of the strip forming the positioning element is 67.7 mm and shorter than the total length of the strip of the first example, where the total length of the strip is 74.5 mm. However, the width of a bottom wall and the height of a side wall remain the same and are adapted to accommodate the same type of packs.

[0171] FIG. 5 shows a blank of sheet material 13 to form a spacing support 10. In the example of FIG. 5 the two compartments 12 are integrated into a single body. Two side walls 15 of two compartments 12 are joined along a creasing line 22 defining a hinge around which each compartment 12 can rotate by a certain angle with respect to the other compartment 12.

[0172] The compartments 12 are made starting from the sheet material 13, for example paper, cardboard or paperboard having a suitable thickness to ensure the necessary mechanical strength.

[0173] Preferably, the blank 13 is corrugated cardboard, for example single wall board, having a homogeneous thickness of about 2.5 millimeter to about 3.3 millimeter. The blank 13 may also be made of materials other than those mentioned above, such as for example plastics.

[0174] The blank 13 is shown where positioning elements 18 are provided within the blank in order for the positioning elements to be arranged between packs 100 only.

[0175] In blank 13 exemplary sizes are indicated as follows:

Thickness or width 920 of the positioning elements: 7 millimeter
Extension 940 of blank in direction 700: 274.6 millimeter
Extension of blank in direction 701: 277 millimeter
Height 931 of side wall 15: 74.1 millimeter
Width 915 of portion of bottom wall 14: 15.9 millimeter
Pack sizes: 74.548.515.8 millimeter

[0176] Forming of the spacing support out of the blank 13 essentially comprises the following steps:

[0177] In a first step, the two compartments 12 are formed. In this step, the blank 13 is folded in opposite directions along folding lines 22 and 16. The side walls 15 are folded with respect to the bottom wall 14 along the folding lines 22 and 16 so as to obtain the shape of the two adjacent compartments in the shape of the letter U. The two inner side walls form the middle wall 27.

[0178] In a second step an ordered group of packs 100 is accommodated in the spacing support.

[0179] In a third step the positioning elements 18 are formed and the packs 100 secured in the spacing support 10 against displacement in longitudinal direction 700.

[0180] In a fourth step, the spacing support 10 is accommodated in the carton 23.

[0181] In FIG. 6 a pushing element 30 is shown with a pusher head 30 in the form of an asymmetric arrow. The tip of the arrow is the most protruding portion of the pusher head 30 and is displaced in a lateral direction of the pusher head 30. By the form of the pusher head 30, different Z-shaped forms of positioning elements may be formed. In the shown examples first 181 and third sections 183 have a same size. The length of the third section 183 is preferably defined by a width of the bottom wall 14 of the compartment. However, if the spacing support 10 is not provided with a middle wall 27, the third section of the Z-shaped strip may be longer, while still using the edge of bottom wall 14 and side 15 as one end of the third section 183.

[0182] In FIG. 7 a group 300 of packs 100 has been formed in a horizontal transport device 50 and transported to an insertion location 75. A block pusher 57 is arranged in the insertion location 75. The block pusher 57 comprises two identical plates 570 arranged above each other and extending over the horizontal extension of the group 300 of packs. Each plate comprises five pusher ends 571 separated by longitudinal recesses 572. The five upper packs of the group 300 are each pushed by the five pusher ends 571 of the upper plates 570 and the five lower packs of the group 300 are each pushed by the five pusher ends 571 of the lower plate 570 of the block pusher 57. All ten packs 100 are pushed simultaneously into an empty spacing support 10 previously formed and positioned in the insertion location 75 opposite the block pusher 57.

[0183] The block pusher is arranged at a horizontal and vertical level such that the pusher ends 571 each push one pack 100 of the group 300 of packs. The block pusher 57 is horizontally and linearly moveable to perform the pushing action.

[0184] The pusher ends 571 pass next to the space bars 510 of the horizontal conveyor belts 51. However, the recesses 572 in the plates 570 of the block pusher 57 guarantee that a pushing as well as a retracting action of the block pusher may be performed without interference of block pusher with space bars.

[0185] The space bars 510 serve as guiding means for the packs 100 and secure a horizontal spacing between the packs upon transfer of the packs into the empty spacing support 10.

[0186] The vertical distance between plates of the block spacer 57 allows the space bars 510 to extend in between the plates 570 without hindering the transfer process of the group 300 of packs.

[0187] The vertical spacing between the packs 100 is maintained by the middle wall 27 of the spacing support 10.

[0188] A strip former 70 is arranged vis--vis the block pusher 57, opposite the horizontal transport device 50. The strip former 70 comprises two counter rotating levers 71 (only an upper lever is shown in FIG. 7). Each lever comprises six pushing elements 30 with corresponding pusher heads 300, wherein the four pushing elements 30 in the center of the levers 71 are used for forming positioning elements 18 in the insert. The first and last pushing element 30 of the strip former 70, that is a pusher head arranged most upstream and most downstream when seen in the transport direction of the spacing support 10, is arranged next to the spacing support 10. Thus, the most upstream and most downstream arranged pushing elements 30 secure the most upstream and most downstream packs of the group 300 of packs accommodated in the spacing support 10 versus a horizontal displacement while the positioning elements 18 are formed.

[0189] Spacing supports 10 provided with the middle wall 27 but no positioning elements 18 having been formed, which spacing supports 10 have been folded from blanks of sheet material, are guided parallel to the conveyor belts 51 of the horizontal transport device 50 to the insertion location 75. An empty spacing support 10 in the insertion location 75 is supplied with the group 300 of packs. The positioning elements 18 are subsequently formed with the strip former 70. The so filled spacing support 10 are then transported further along to a carton station where the filled spacing support 10 are accommodated in a carton 23.

[0190] For the purpose of the present description and of the appended claims, except where otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing amounts, quantities, percentages, and so forth, are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term about. Also, all ranges include the maximum and minimum points disclosed and include any intermediate ranges therein, which may or may not be specifically enumerated herein. In this context, therefore, a number A is understood as A+5% of A. Within this context, a number A may be considered to include numerical values that are within general standard error for the measurement of the property that the number A modifies. The number A, in some instances as used in the appended claims, may deviate by the percentages enumerated above provided that the amount by which A deviates does not materially affect the basic and novel characteristic(s) of the claimed invention. Also, all ranges include the maximum and minimum points disclosed and include any intermediate ranges therein, which may or may not be specifically enumerated herein.