PACKAGING FILM AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SAME

Abstract

The present invention provides a packaging film (1) for use in packaging a consumer product, especially a pack of smoking articles, comprising: an area or expanse (2) of film material configured to cover the consumer product; and opening means (3) formed in the area or expanse (2) of the film material to assist or promote opening or removal of the film when it covers the product in order to access the product, the opening means (3) including at least two frangible seams (5) which extends across at least a portion of the area or expanse (2) of the film material, wherein the at least one frangible seam (5) comprises at least two lines of weakness (7) that extend generally parallel and together define a single, desirably substantially linear, tear path (P).

Claims

1. A packaging film for packaging a consumer product, such as a pack of smoking articles, comprising: an area or expanse of a film material for covering the consumer product; and opening means formed in the area or expanse of the film material to promote opening or removal of the packaging film when it covers the consumer product to access the consumer product; wherein the opening means comprises a pair of frangible seams spaced apart and defining a tear strip there-between, and wherein each frangible seam extends across at least a portion of the area or expanse of the film material and comprises two lines of weakness that extend substantially parallel and together define a single tear path.

2. A packaging film according to claim 1, wherein the single tear path defined by the two lines of weakness is substantially linear.

3. A packaging film according to claim 1, wherein the lines of weakness of the frangible seams are adjacent one another and spaced in the range of 0 mm to 5 mm apart, preferably in the range of 1 mm to 2 mm, and more preferably in the range of 0.5 mm to 1 mm.

4. A packaging film according claim 1, wherein the tear strip has a width of between about 5 mm and 15 mm, preferably about 10 mm.

5. A packaging film according claim 1, wherein each of the lines of weakness comprises a score line or a line of perforations formed in the film, wherein the perforations in the respective lines of weakness are preferably at least partially offset from one another along the tear path they define.

6. A packaging film according claim 1, wherein the frangible seams extend on opposite sides of the tear strip substantially parallel to one another, wherein the tear strip preferably or optionally includes a tear tape bonded thereto.

7. A packaging film according to claim 1, wherein the opening means includes a tab or flap to be gripped and drawn by a user for activating the at least two frangible seams.

8. A packaging film according to claim 7, wherein the tab or flap is provided in or connects to the sheet of the packaging film at a position between two lines of weakness, and preferably between the lines of weakness of two frangible seams.

9. A packaging film according to claim 1, wherein the film comprises a flexible, preferably transparent sheet formed of cellophane, polypropylene, or another polymer or synthetic material, the area or expanse thereof being generally rectangular.

10. A method of manufacturing a packaging film for use packaging a consumer product, such as a pack of smoking articles, the method comprising: providing a sheet of film material; defining at least one area or expanse of the polymer film material for wrapping around a product to be packaged; and forming an opening means in the area or expanse of the film material to promote opening or removal of the film material from the product, the opening means comprising two frangible seams defining a tear strip there-between, such that the two frangible seams extend on opposite sides of the tear strip, wherein the step of forming each of the frangible seams comprises forming two lines of weakness that extend generally parallel and together define a single tear path.

11. A method according to claim 10, wherein the two lines of weakness of the at least one frangible seam are forming adjacent one another and spaced in the range of 0 mm to 5 mm apart, preferably in the range of 1 mm to 2 mm, and more preferably in the range of 0.5 mm to 1 mm.

12. A method according to claim 10, comprising forming a tear strip having a width of between about 5 mm and 15 mm between the two frangible seams, preferably a width of about 10 mm.

13. A method according to claim 10, wherein the step of forming the lines of weakness comprises scoring or perforating the line of weakness across the area or expanse of the polymer film material, wherein the perforations in the respective lines of weakness are preferably at least partially offset from one another along the tear path they define.

14. A method according to claim 13, further comprising the step of forming a tab or flap to be gripped and drawn by a user for operating the tear strip.

15. A packaged consumer product, such as a pack of smoking articles, comprising a packaging film according to claim 1 as an outer wrapping.

16. A packaged consumer product, such as a pack of smoking articles, comprising a packaging film according to claim 10 as an outer wrapping.

Description

[0031] For a more complete understanding of the invention and the advantages thereof, exemplary embodiments of the invention are explained in more detail in the following description with reference to the accompanying drawing figures, in which like reference characters designate like parts and in which:

[0032] FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a flat sheet of a packaging film for use packaging a pack of smoking articles according to one particular embodiment; and

[0033] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram that schematically illustrates a method according to a preferred embodiment.

[0034] The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the present invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate particular embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. Other embodiments of the invention and many of the attendant advantages of the invention will be readily appreciated as they become better understood with reference to the following detailed description.

[0035] It will be appreciated that common and well understood elements that may be useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are not necessarily depicted in order to facilitate a more abstracted view of the embodiments. The elements of the drawings are not necessarily illustrated to scale relative to each other. It will further be appreciated that certain actions and/or steps in an embodiment of a method may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrences while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. It will also be understood that the terms and expressions used in the present specification have the ordinary meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions with respect to their corresponding respective areas of inquiry and study, except where specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.

[0036] Referring to drawing FIG. 1, a packaging film 1 according to a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown as a flat, generally rectangular sheet S having a predefined area or expanse 2 which is specifically designed or configured to be wrapped around a generally rectangular pack (not shown) of cigarettes, cigarillos or other such smoking articles by a wrapping device. In this regard, FIG. 1 identifies those regions or portions of the packaging film area or expanse 2 which correspond to the “front” and “back” faces of the pack of smoking articles. Furthermore, a peripheral outer region R of the packaging film sheet S (i.e. which is cross-hatched or shaded) denotes the portions or regions of the sheet S that overlap for bonding to one another after the pack has been wrapped with the film 1.

[0037] The individual sheet S of the packaging film 1 illustrated in FIG. 1 of the drawings may be provided as one of a series of sheets in a continuous roll of packaging film material 1. That is, the roll may include a plurality of such sheets S joined to one another in series along respective leading and trailing edges thereof L, T with reference to a travel direction (as indicated by the arrow “D”) for the film being fed from a bulk roll into a wrapping device of a packaging apparatus (not shown). Typical dimensions for the sheet S of packaging film 1 in FIG. 1 for application to a typical pack of smoking articles are about 113 mm width and 170 mm length. However, it will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that such dimensions are merely indicative of one particular embodiment of the invention and that these dimensions may differ in other embodiments without having any influence on the inventive concept. The packaging film 1 in this specific example is desirably comprised of a transparent polypropylene material.

[0038] As seen in FIG. 1, the sheet S of packaging film 1 includes an opening means 3 comprising a tear strip 4 having a width of about 10 mm formed between two frangible seams 5.

[0039] The opening means 3 further includes a tab or flap 6 is provided at one end region of this tear strip 4 as an activation means for a user to grasp and pull for activating the tear strip 4 so as to break or tear the packaging film 1 along the two frangible seams 5. Each of the frangible seams 5 defines a tear path P from the tab or flap 6 to the other end of the tear strip 4. Furthermore, each of the frangible seams 5 comprises a pair of lines of weakness 7 that together define the tear path P and are spaced apart in parallel by a distance of in the range of about 3 mm to 5 mm. Each of the lines of weakness 7 is preferably pre-formed in the film material by laser perforation and/or by laser scoring. Such perforation and/or scoring to form the lines of weakness 7 advantageously allows generation of a sound upon activating the opening means 3 along the frangible seams 5. Such sound generation provides proper indication of a correct opening of the film along the tear paths P.

[0040] The width of the tear strip 4 between the two frangible seams 5 is preferably be comprised between about 5 mm and 15 mm to provide a large tearing band in the film 1. Such larger band provides increased strength to the tear strip 4 in its longitudinal direction defined as the direction of extension of said tearing strip 4 parallel to the tear paths P defined by the frangible seams 5. This advantageously provides for easier and more controlled opening of the film as described later.

[0041] The packaging film 1 may further include a tear-tape in the tear strip 4 between the frangible seams 5; i.e. between the lines of weakness 7 of each of the frangible seams 5, and in particular those defining the longitudinal edges of the tear strip 4. Preferably, the tab or flap 6 is formed such that it is provided in the sheet S of packaging film at a position between lines of weakness 7, and especially between the pairs of lines of weakness 7 of the two frangible seams 5. Such an intermediate arrangement of the tab or flap 6 is particularly advantageous to ensure that the opening means 3 is activated for opening the packaging film 1 along the frangible seams 5, the sheet S being cut by default along at least one of the lines of weakness 7 of each of the frangible seams 5.

[0042] Referring now to FIG. 2 of the drawings, a flow diagram is shown that schematically illustrates the steps in a method of manufacturing a packaging film 1 according to the embodiment of the invention described above with respect to FIG. 1. In this regard, the first box I of FIG. 2 represents the step of providing a sheet S of film material, such as cellophane, polypropylene, or another polymer material. The sheet S may, for example, be elongate and be in the form of a roll of film material. The second box II then represents the step of defining at least one area or expanse 2 of the polymer film material for wrapping around a product to be packaged, such as a pack of smoking articles. In this regard, the area or expanse 2 may be specifically shaped and dimensioned for the particular consumer product of interest. The third box III represents the step of forming an opening means 3 in the area or expanse 2 of the film material to promote opening or removal of the packaging film from the product, the opening means 3 comprising a first frangible seam 5 which extends across at least a portion of each area or expanse 2 of the film material. In this regard, forming the first frangible seam 5 comprises the step of forming two lines of weakness 7 that extend generally parallel to one another and together define a single tear path P. The final box IV in FIG. 2 of the drawings represents the additional step in the formation of the opening means 3 of forming a second frangible seam 5 comprising two lines of weakness 7 that extend parallel to one another and together define another tear path P; i.e. of this second frangible seam 5. In this embodiment, therefore, the method produces a tear strip 4 defined between the first and second frangible seams 5, said tear strip 4 having a width of about 5 mm to 15 mm, preferably about 10 mm. That is, the two frangible seams 5 extend substantially parallel to one another on opposite sides of the tear strip 4.

[0043] Although specific embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a variety of alternative and/or equivalent implementations exist. In this regard, it will be noted that the shape of the item to be packaged is not critical to the invention. Cigarette packs will typically have a rectangular shape, but other shapes are also conceivable. It should be appreciated that the exemplary embodiment or exemplary embodiments are only examples, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration in any way. Rather, the foregoing summary and detailed description will provide those skilled in the art with a convenient road map for implementing at least one exemplary embodiment, it being understood that various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements described in an exemplary embodiment without departing from the scope as set forth in the appended claims and their legal equivalents. Accordingly, this application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the specific embodiments discussed herein.

[0044] Also, it will be appreciated that in this document, the terms “comprise”, “comprising”, “include”, “including”, “contain”, “containing”, “have”, “having”, and any variations thereof, are intended to be understood in an inclusive (i.e. non-exclusive) sense, such that the process, method, device, apparatus or system described herein is not limited to those features or parts or elements or steps recited but may include other elements, features, parts or steps not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Furthermore, the terms “a” and “an” used herein are intended to be understood as meaning one or more unless explicitly stated otherwise. Moreover, the terms “first”, “second”, “third”, etc. are used merely as labels, and are not intended to impose numerical requirements on or to establish a certain ranking of importance of their objects.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0045] 1 packaging film [0046] 2 area or expanse of the film material [0047] 3 opening means [0048] 4 tear strip [0049] 5 frangible seam [0050] 6 tab or flap [0051] 7 line of weakness [0052] 8 tear tape [0053] S sheet [0054] P tear path [0055] R edge regions for overlap and bonding [0056] D travel direction of barrier film sheet [0057] L leading edge of barrier film sheet [0058] T trailing edge of barrier film sheet