CONTAINER WITH CUSTOMISABLE OPENING-AND-CLOSING MECHANISM OF INNER PACKAGE

Abstract

A container for consumer goods comprises an outer housing having a box and a lid (103) hinged to the box along a hinge line and pivotable about the hinge line between an open position and a closed position. Further, the container comprises an inner package (104) of consumer goods within the outer housing comprising an access opening (105) for removing consumer goods when the lid is in the open position. The container further comprises a reclosable flap (106) occluding the access opening and at least one activatable adhesive element (107) provided on a surface of the reclosable flap, on a surface of the lid or on both. The adhesive element can be selectively activated, and the reclosable flap can be affixed to the lid by the activated adhesive element, such that upon opening the lid the reclosable flap is lifted off the inner package to at least partly reveal the access opening.

Claims

1. A container for consumer goods comprising: an outer housing comprising: a box; and a lid hinged to the box along a hinge line and pivotable about the hinge line between an open position and a closed position; an inner package of consumer goods within the outer housing comprising an access opening through which consumer goods can be removed when the lid of the outer housing is in the open position; and a reclosable flap occluding the access opening of the inner package; wherein the container comprises at least one activatable adhesive element provided on a surface of the reclosable flap, on a surface of the lid or on both; and wherein the at least one adhesive element can be selectively activated and the reclosable flap can be affixed to the lid by the at least one activated adhesive element, such that upon opening the lid the reclosable flap is lifted off the inner package to at least partly reveal the access opening; wherein the inner package is received in a first portion of the volume internally defined by the outer housing; and wherein the container comprises a further inner package of consumer goods within a second portion of the volume internally defined by the outer housing adjacent the first volume portion, the further inner package comprising an access opening through which consumer goods can be removed when the lid of the outer housing is in the open position, and a reclosable flap occluding the access opening of the further inner package, the reclosable flap of the further inner package in the second volume portion being permanently affixed to the lid of the outer housing.

2. A container according to claim 1, wherein the flap is defined by separation lines in the inner package, such that the flap is at least partly separable from the remainder of the package, wherein upon separation from the remainder of the package the flap is pivotable about a hinge line between an open position and a closed position.

3. A container according to claim 1, wherein the flap comprises a reclosable portion covering the access opening of the inner package and extending beyond the periphery of the access opening of the inner package.

4. A container according to claim 3, wherein the reclosable portion is provided as a self-adhesive reclosable sticker; the self-adhesive reclosable sticker being at least partially releasably affixed to the inner package by a removable adhesive provided on a first area of the inner surface of the self-adhesive reclosable sticker.

5. A container according to claim 1, wherein the at least one activatable adhesive element is provided on the inner surface of the lid.

6. A container according to claim 1, wherein the at least one activatable adhesive element is provided on the outer surface of the reclosable flap.

7. A container according to claim 3, wherein the at least one activatable adhesive element is provided on a portion of the inner surface of the reclosable flap not affixed to the inner package.

8. A container according to claim 1, wherein the at least one activatable adhesive element is protected by a layer of backing material and the layer of backing material can be removed to expose and thereby activate the at least one adhesive element.

9. A container according to claim 1, wherein the at least one activatable adhesive element is at least one of a pressure-sensitive adhesive, a moisture-sensitive adhesive or a heat-activatable adhesive.

10. A container according to claim 1, wherein the at least one activatable adhesive element is a permanent adhesive element.

11. (canceled)

12. (canceled)

13. A container according to claim 1, wherein the reclosable flap of the further inner package comprises a self-adhesive reclosable sticker covering the access opening of the further inner package and extending beyond the periphery of the access opening of the further inner package; and wherein the self-adhesive reclosable sticker is at least partially releasably affixed to the further inner package by a removable adhesive provided on a first area of the inner surface of the self-adhesive reclosable sticker.

14. A container according to claim 1, wherein the container comprises a partition element at least partly separating the first and the second portions of the volume internally defined by the outer housing.

15. A container according to claim 1, wherein the container comprises two distinct, independently pivotable, lids, each of which closes a respective one of the first and second volume portions, so that adjacent side walls of the two lids define a partition element separating the two volumes and the first and the further inner packages received in the two volumes.

16. A container according to claim 1 wherein the consumer goods are smoking articles.

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 schematic perspective view of a first embodiment of a container in accordance with the present invention, seen upon opening the container for the first time, with the activatable adhesive element in a non-active state;

[0063] FIG. 2 shows a schematic perspective view of the container of FIG. 1, seen with the activatable adhesive element in an active state and used to attach the reclosable flap to the lid;

[0064] FIG. 3 shows a schematic perspective view of a second embodiment of a container in accordance with the present invention comprising two inner packages in a first use configuration; and

[0065] FIG. 4 shows a schematic perspective view of the container of FIG. 3 in a second use configuration.

[0066] The container 100 of FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises a conventional hinge-lid outer housing 101 comprising a box 102 and a hinge lid 103 depending from the box 102 along a hinge line extending across a back wall of the housing 101. The overall size and construction of the box 102 and lid 103 of container 100 are substantially the same as that of a standard hinge lid cigarette pack.

[0067] As illustrated in FIG. 1, which shows the container 100 being opened for the first time, the container 100 comprises an inner package 104 of consumer goods within the outer housing 101. The inner package 104 comprises an access opening 105 (not shown in FIG. 1, but visible in FIG. 2) through which consumer goods can be removed when the lid 103 of the outer housing 101 is in the open position. Further, the inner package 104 comprises a reclosable flap 106 occluding the access opening 105. In more detail, the flap 106 comprises a reclosable portion that is provided as a reclosable sticker that covers the access opening 105 of the inner package 104 and extends beyond the periphery thereof. The reclosable sticker is at least partly releasably affixed to the inner package 104 by a removable adhesive provided on a first area of the inner surface of the self-adhesive reclosable sticker.

[0068] An activatable adhesive element 107 is provided on the outer surface of the reclosable flap 106. In more detail, the adhesive element 107 is provided as a protected adhesive element comprising a layer of adhesive covered by a layer of backing material. The layer of backing material can be removed to expose and thereby activate the adhesive element 107.

[0069] As illustrated in FIG. 2, the reclosable flap 106 may be affixed to the lid 103 by the activated adhesive element. Thus, upon opening the lid 103 the reclosable flap 106 is lifted off the inner package 104 to at least partly reveal the access opening 105.

[0070] The container 200 of FIGS. 3 and 4 comprises a hinge-lid outer housing 201 comprising a box 202 and a hinge lid 203 depending from the box 202 along a hinge line extending across a back wall of the housing 201. The overall size of the box 202 and lid 203 of container 200 is substantially twice as that of a standard hinge lid cigarette pack. In more detail, the container 200 has substantially the same height and depth of the container 100 of FIGS. 1 and 2, but it is twice as wide, so that it can contain twice as many consumer articles, for example like cigarettes.

[0071] A first inner package 204A of consumer is received in a first portion of the volume internally defined by the outer housing 201. A second inner package 204B is received in a second portion of the volume internally defined by the outer housing 201. In practice, the first and the second inner packages are adjacent within the outer housing 201. Both inner packages 204A and 204B have respective access openings 205A, 205B through which consumer articles can be removed when the lid 203 is in an open position. Respective reclosable flaps 206A, 206B occlude the access openings 205A, 205B.

[0072] Both reclosable flaps 206A, 206B are provided as reclosable stickers that cover the access openings 205A, 205B of the inner packages 204A, 204B and extend beyond the respective peripheries of the access openings. The reclosable stickers are at least partly releasably affixed to the inner packages 204A, 204B by a removable adhesive provided on the inner surface of the self-adhesive reclosable stickers.

[0073] Respective activatable adhesive elements 207A, 207B are provided on the outer surface of the reclosable flaps 206A, 206B. In more detail, the adhesive elements are provided as protected adhesive elements, each of which comprises a layer of adhesive covered by a layer of backing material, wherein the layer of backing material can be removed to expose and thereby activate the underlying adhesive element. Thus, the consumer may choose to attach one (as illustrated in FIG. 3) or both (as illustrated in FIG. 4) of the reclosable flaps 206A, 206B to the lid 203.