PREFORMED TOBACCO PACKAGE

EMBALLAGE DE TABAC PREFORME

English Abstract

The invention relates to a package for tobacco comprising a substantially rectangular bag, provided with a front side and a rear side fixedly interconnected on three lateral sides, and wherein the fourth side can form an opening, while on the rear side, at the location of the opening, a flap connects, characterized in that the front side and/or rear side consists of a preformed plastic sheet.

French Abstract

Cette invention porte sur un emballage pour le tabac comprenant un sac pratiquement rectangulaire avec paroi avant et paroi arrière reliées par trois parois latérales, et où la quatrième paroi peut former une ouverture, tandis qu'à l'arrière, à l'emplacement de l'ouverture, un rabat les relie, caractérisé par une paroi avant ou arrière en plastique préformé.

Claims

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Claims
1. A tobacco package comprising a substantially rectangular
receptacle portion having a front side and a rear side, said front
and rear sides being fixedly interconnected on three lateral sides
to define a receptacle with a fourth lateral side defining a
closure portion and a flap extending from said rear side beyond a
location of the closure portion, at least one of: i) said front
side and ii) said rear side comprising a plastic sheet, wherein
said plastic sheet is preformed into a tray-like shape.
2. The package according to claim 1, wherein each of said
front side and said rear side comprises a separate sheet, fixedly
interconnected on said three lateral sides to form said receptacle.
3. The package according to claim 1, wherein said front side
and said rear side are formed by a double folded plastic sheet.
4. The package according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
wherein said rear side comprises a laminate of at least two
plastics.
5. The package according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
wherein said closure portion is selectively openable and closable
to gain access to an inside of the receptacle.
6. The package according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
wherein at least one of: i) said front side and ii) said rear side
is preformed by vacuum forming the plastic sheet.

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7. The package according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
wherein said front side and said rear side are fixedly welded
together on three lateral sides thereof.
8. The package according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
wherein said package is provided, when filled, with a temporary
seal at a location of the closure portion.
9. The package according to claim 8, wherein said temporary
seal consists of one of: i) a layer of adhesive and ii) a hot weld.
10. The package according to any one of claims 1 to 9,
wherein at least one of: i) said front side and ii) said rear side
is provided with an embossing.
11. The package according to any one of claims 1 to 10,
wherein at least one of: i) said front side and ii) said rear side
consists of a plastic laminate.
12. The package according to any one of claims 1 to 11,
wherein said front side is manufactured from a plastic, which,
after forming, is less stiff than said rear side.
13. The package according to any one of claims 1 to 12,
provided with a closure.
14. The package according to claim 13, wherein said closure
is one of: i) an adhesive strip and ii) Velcro.TM..
15. The package according to any one of claims 1 to 14,
provided with means for attaching a packet of cigarette papers in
or on the package.

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16. The package according to any one of claims 1 to 15,
wherein said front side and the four lateral sides are preformed
into a tray-like shape.
17. The package according to claim 16, wherein the receptacle
portion of the rear side is not constituted by said preformed
plastic sheet.

Description

CA 02263245 1999-03-01
Title: Preformed tobacco package
The invention relates to a tobacco pouch made of
plastic or plastic laminate, comprising a bag consisting of a
front side and rear side interconnected at their lateral
sides, and a flap connecting to the rear wall.
In general, packages for cut tobacco, for instance for
pipe tobacco, tobacco for rolling one's own cigarettes or
chewing tobacco, are manufactured from synthetic materials.
Most conventionally, two different types of package are used,
viz. the wrapover bag and the side-fold or block-bottom bag.
The wrapover bag has the simplest form and consists of a
plastic film or plastic laminate folded up over a folding
seam, whereupon the lateral sides are sealed together. On the
rear wall, a flap connects that can be wrapped one or more
times around the bag and attached thereto, for instance with
an adhesive tape.
As the name already indicates, the side-fold bag or
block-bottom bag comprises folded sidewalls and a bottom, so
that the bag acquires a more or less block-shaped appearance.
Such bag, too, is manufactured from plastic film. In
practice, such a bag often consists of a double sheet with a
paper insert loosely provided between the sheets, which paper
insert may be printed.
Although both packaging systems for tobacco are very
common, there is nevertheless a need for an improved package
for tobacco. In particular when the package of the wrapover
bag type is used, it turns out that the filled package does
not connect neatly at the lateral sides. Because of the
filling, the lateral sides incline to draw inwards.
Hence, there is a need for an improvement of the
wrapover bag which does not entail this problem, without
directly requiring the construction of the block-bottom bag.
The invention is based upon the insight that it is
possible to obtain a suitable tobacco package by designing
the wrapover bag so that the portion where the tobacco is

CA 02263245 1999-03-01
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located is preformed, for instance as is often used for
packaging foodstuffs.
Hence, the invention relates to a package for tobacco
as pointed out in the introduction, comprising a
substantially rectangular bag, provided with a front side and
a rear side fixedly interconnected on three lateral sides,
and wherein the fourth side can form an opening, while on the
rear side, at the location of the opening, a flap connects,
characterized in that the front side and/or rear side
consists of a preformed plastic sheet.
In the basic embodiment of the invention, two versions
are possible. In the first version, the conventional wrapover
pouch, consisting of one single sheet which is folded double,
is modified in such a manner that the front side and/or rear
side is preformed in the central part thereof, for instance
by vacuum forming. The edges, which fixedly interconnect the
front side and rear side, are not deformed, but only the
central part. The central part has the shape of a kind of
tray.
Preferably, only the front side is deformed, as this
is the optimal embodiment. In each embodiment, it is
preferred that the bag be so designed that additional space
for taking out tobacco is created on the open side. This may
for instance be effected by preforming the front side in such
a manner that said tray-shaped central part has no wall on
one side.
In a second embodiment, the front side and rear side
consist of separate sheets, which, however, may in fact be
formed in the same manner as described hereinabove in
relation to the first variant.
In accordance with a specific embodiment, the front
side has a shape such that the opening displays a certain
widening, which simplifies the use of the package.
The package is manufactured from plastic sheets,
wherein materials can be used that are known for this type of
applications, while also taking into account the requirements

CA 02263245 2006-02-27
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in respect of appearance and moisture/oxygen barrier properties.
Examples of materials are polyesters, polyamides, polyethene,
polypropene and polystyrene. These materials can be applied as
such, or as coextrudate or laminate with other plastics. If
necessary, there may also be used additions for increasing the
water vapor proofness,, such as EVOH or aluminum.
More in particularly, suitable materials for the rear side of
the package are the various types of polypropene film, such as OPP
(for oriented polypropylene), CPP (for cast polypropylene) and the
like, but it is also possible to use laminates of various
materials. Also, use can be made of laminates of two layers of
plastic film having a printed layer, for instance of paper or
plastic, provided between them, as is customary in block-bottom
bags.
Such choices can also be made with regard to the front side.
The plastics that are used for the manufacture of the package
may be transparent, printed, colored or a combination thereof.
The package according to the invention may further comprise
all kinds of useful or embellishing aspects, such as a cover at the
end of the flap, for improving the stiffness thereof. If necessary,
the front side and/or rear side may be provided with an embossing,
for instance with a brand name or logo.
Another aspect is the provision of means for affixing a book
of cigarette papers to the package. In its simplest form, this may
be a strip of double-sided adhesive tape provided with a covering
strip. After removal of the covering strip, the book of cigarette
papers can be stuck thereto, so that it is always at hand. However,
it is also possible to apply more complicated systems, for instance
as described in Dutch patent application 1002375.
Conventional closures for such tobacco packages area adhesive
strips in the form of a strip of sellotapeTM. However, v this has
the drawback that after some use, the adhesive power decreases, due
to tobacco sticking to the glue. In the aforesaid Dutch patent

CA 02263245 2006-10-16
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application, this drawback is overcome. However, it is also
possible to use VelcroT" as closing means. In particular when this
is provided as an extended strip, transversely to the bottom fold,
this enables the package to be rendered smaller and smaller,
according as more tobacco has been taken therefrom.
To improve the preservability, more in particular the shelf-
life, it is preferred that in the factory, after the filling of the
package, a temporary seal be provided on the top side of the pouch,
for instance in the form of a layer of adhesive or a temporary hot
weld which can readily be opened by the user without damaging the
package.
In the closed form, the top of the front side will preferably
be folded inwards, as is also customary in a block-bottom bag.
The invention will now be explained with reference to Figure
1, which should not be considered a limitation of the invention.
In Figure 1, an example of a possible embodiment of the
package according to the invention is shown schematically.
The package consists of a rear side 1 comprising a bag part 2
and a flap part 3, the latter being folded around at its top side
4. The package also comprises a front side 5 whose central part 6
is shaped into a tray, while the edges 7', 7" and 7"' are
substantially undeformed. These edges are fixedly hot-welded to the
corresponding edges 8', 8" and 8"' of the rear side. The top side 9
of the front side 5 is fixed with a'light' weld to the rear side
1, at the location of the transition of the bag part 2 and the flap
part 3.
For attaching a book of cigarette papers, a length of double-
sided adhesive strip 11 may be provided on the central part 6 of
the front side 5, at 10.

CA 02263245 1999-03-01
Finally, it is further observed that the top side of
the front side may be folded inwards at the lateral sides, as
indicated by the arrows 12' and 12 ".

Representative Drawing