Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02798114 2012-10-31
WO 2011/147655 PCT/EP2011/056625
1
Wrapped Bundle of Smoking Articles
Description
The present invention relates to a wrapped bundle of smoking articles and to a
bundle of smoking articles received within a pack.
Smoking articles such as cigarettes are typically stored in cuboidal-shaped
packs and
the overall function of the packs is to store and protect the cigarettes from
mechanical and environmental damage. Various configurations of cigarette packs
are known from the prior art including hinged-lid and shell packs with
slidable
inserts. Irregular shaped packs are also known, for example, US5584389
discloses a
pack having a base extending at an oblique angle relative to the side walls of
the
pack such that the two rows of cigarettes held in the pack are held offset to
one
another in a longitudinal direction so that the back row is slightly higher
than the
front row, thereby making it easier to remove a smoking article from the pack.
A problem with the stepped configuration known from US5584389 is that the
lower
end of the smoking articles only make edge contact with the angled base of the
pack
thereby exposing the smoking articles to concentrated pressure points which
may
result in damage to the smoking articles. Therefore, this storage
configuration does
not fulfil its protective function as well as, for example, a standard hinged-
lid pack
in which the entire end of the smoking article lies in contact with, and rests
upon,
the base wall of the pack.
US5584389 seeks to overcome the problem referred to above by providing a
supporting structure in the pack which comprises a wall extending across the
pack
that has recesses in it to receive the smoking articles. The recesses are only
slightly
larger than the diameter of a smoking article so that each smoking article
extending
through a recess is a snug fit in that recess. The smoking articles are
thereby held
and supported within the pack and with their ends spaced at a short distance
above
the base wall of the pack.
CA 02798114 2012-10-31
WO 2011/147655 PCT/EP2011/056625
2
A disadvantage of the pack known from US5584389 is that the supporting
structure
means additional complexity in the assembly and manufacture of the pack, as
well as
using additional material to form the support wall, thereby increasing
manufacturing
costs. Furthermore, it is much harder to insert a bundle of smoking articles
into the
pack as each smoking article needs to be carefully aligned with its recess
prior to
being inserted therethrough.
The present invention seeks to provide a wrapped bundle of smoking articles
and to
a pack containing said wrapped bundle, which overcomes or substantially
alleviates
the problems mentioned above.
According to the present invention there is provided a bundle of smoking
articles
for insertion into a smoking article pack, said smoking articles being
arranged in
rows with their longitudinal axes parallel to each other, wherein the bundle
is
enclosed in a sheet of wrapping material such that a portion of said wrapping
material that extends over an end of the smoking articles lies in a plane at
an
oblique angle relative to the longitudinal axes of the smoking articles.
Preferably, each row of smoking articles is offset in a longitudinal direction
from its
adjacent row.
In one embodiment, the portion of the wrapping material lying in a plane at an
oblique angle relative to the longitudinal axes of the smoking articles
extends over
one end of the smoking articles. Said one end may be a lower end for insertion
into
a smoking article pack.
In another embodiment, the portion of the wrapping material lying in a plane
at an
oblique angle relative to the longitudinal axes of the smoking articles
extends over
both ends of the smoking articles.
Preferably, said portion of wrapping material extending over one end of the
smoking articles is parallel to said portion of the wrapping material
extending over
the other end of the smoking articles.
CA 02798114 2012-10-31
WO 2011/147655 PCT/EP2011/056625
3
The sides of the wrapped bundle extending between the ends may have a
parallelogram shape.
Preferably, the portion of the wrapping material extending over one end of the
smoking articles is angled relative to the said portion of the wrapping
material
extending over the other end of the smoking articles.
The wrapped bundle may be rhomboid shaped.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a
bundle of
smoking articles, said bundle being received within a smoking article pack
comprising upper and lower walls extending across the ends of the smoking
articles,
said upper and lower walls lying in a plane parallel to the plane of the
adjacent
wrapping material that extends over the ends of the smoking articles.
Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example
only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure la shows a perspective view of a wrapped bundle of smoking articles
according to the present invention;
Figure lb shows a cross-sectional view through the wrapped bundle shown in
Figure 1 a and in which two smoking articles can be seen;
Figure 2a shows a shows a perspective view of another wrapped bundle of
smoking
articles according to the present invention;
Figure 2b shows a cross-sectional view of the wrapped bundle of Figure 2a and
in
which two smoking articles can be seen;
Figure 3a shows a perspective view of another embodiment of a wrapped bundle
according to the present invention;
Figure 31) shows a cross-sectional view of the embodiment of Figure 3a in
which
two smoking articles can be seen;
Figure 4a shows a perspective view of yet another embodiment of wrapped bundle
according to the present invention;
CA 02798114 2012-10-31
WO 2011/147655 PCT/EP2011/056625
4
Figure 4b shows a cross-sectional view of the wrapped bundle shown in Figure
4a in
which two smoking articles can be seen;
Figure 5 shows a perspective view of a pack for receiving the bundle of
smoking
articles shown in Figures la and 1b;
Figure 6 shows a perspective view of a pack for receiving the bundle of
smoking
articles shown in Figures 2a and 2b;
Figure 7 shows a perspective view of a pack for receiving the bundle of
smoking
articles shown in Figures 3a and 3b;
Figure 8 shows a perspective view of a pack for receiving the bundle of
smoking
articles shown in Figures 4a and 4b; and
Figure 9 shows a blank for forming a rhomboid smoking article pack as
illustrated
in Figure 5.
Referring now to the drawings, there is shown in Figures 1a and lb a bundle of
smoking articles 1 wrapped in a material 2 for insertion into a smoking
article pack.
The wrapping comprises a sheet of material, such as foil, which encloses the
bundle
of smoking articles 3 such that said smoking articles are arranged in rows
with the
longitudinal axis of each smoking articles being parallel to one another as
can be
appreciated from Figure lb showing a cross-sectional view of the wrapped
bundle
of smoking articles.
The sheet of wrapping material 2 covers the longitudinal surfaces and the ends
5a,
5b of the smoking articles 3. As can be appreciated from Figures la and lb
portions
of the wrapping material 2 extend over the ends 5a, 5b of the smoking articles
3 in a
plane at an oblique angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the smoking
articles 3.
This configuration maintains one row of smoking articles to be offset relative
to the
other row in the longitudinal direction of said smoking articles 3, and so
enables a
user to easily retrieve a smoking article 3 from the raised row of smoking
articles.
Furthermore, when the bundle of smoking articles 3 wrapped in the sheet of
material 2 is located in a corresponding rhomboid shaped smoking article pack
5,
the ends 5a, 5b of the smoking articles are exposed to less concentrated
pressure
points compared to the pack described in the introduction as there is less
edge
contact of the smoking articles with the angled base of the pack. This effect
is
CA 02798114 2012-10-31
WO 2011/147655 PCT/EP2011/056625
achieved by friction between the smoking articles 3 themselves and between the
smoking articles 3 and the sheet of material 2 and so potential damage to the
smoking articles is reduced.
5 It should be understood that the scope of the present invention further
includes
alternative embodiments as shown in Figures 2a to 4b which also provide the
advantages described with reference to the above embodiment. For example, the
portion of the material 2 extending over the lower end 5b of the smoking
articles 3
may lie in a plane at an oblique angle relative to the longitudinal axis of
the smoking
articles 3 whereas the portion of material 2 covering the upper end 5a is
perpendicular to the longitudinal axis as can be appreciated from Figures 2a
and 2b.
Similarly to the embodiment described with reference to Figures 1a and lb, one
row
of smoking articles 3 is offset relative to the other row of smoking articles
3 so as to
enable a user to more easily retrieve a smoking article 3 than if the two rows
of
smoking articles were vertically aligned. In a further embodiment as shown in
Figure 3a and 3b, the portion of material 2 extending over the upper ends 5a
of the
smoking articles is at an oblique angle relative to the longitudinal axis of
the
smoking articles 3 whereas the portion of material 2 covering the lower end 5b
is
perpendicular to the longitudinal axis. Although this configuration would
generally
bundle the smoking articles 3 so that the two rows of smoking articles 3 are
vertically aligned, friction between the smoking articles 3 themselves and
between
the smoking articles 3 and the wrapping material 2 initially holds one row of
smoking articles 3 offset relative to the other row of smoking articles 3 in
the
longitudinal direction of said smoking articles 3.
In an alternative embodiment as illustrated in Figures 4a and 4b, the profile
of the
wrapped bundle of smoking articles 3 have an overall trapezium shape. In this
embodiment, the portions of material 2 extending over opposite ends 5a, 5b of
the
smoking articles 3 lie in planes substantially perpendicular to one another at
an
oblique angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the smoking articles 3.
Similarly to
the previously described embodiments, the two rows of smoking articles are
offset
from one another and the stress concentration at the lower end 5b of the
smoking
articles is reduced.
CA 02798114 2012-10-31
WO 2011/147655 PCT/EP2011/056625
6
The material used for wrapping the bundle of smoking articles is preferably
foil,
however it should be appreciated that alternative materials can be used which
protect the smoking articles from environmental damage and reduce the stress
concentration on the ends of the smoking articles.
It is envisaged that the aforementioned wrapped bundle of smoking articles 3
may
be inserted into a variety of differently shaped rhomboid or trapezium shaped
packs
11, 12, 13, 14 whilst providing the advantage of reducing the concentrated
contact
/0 points on the end of the smoking articles and protecting the smoking
articles from
environmental damage. Therefore, the overall shape and profile of the wrapped
bundle of smoking articles, in which at least one smoking article 3 is offset
relative
to the remaining smoking articles, may vary so as to fit the overall irregular
shape of
the pack.
Examples of rhomboid shaped packs 11, 12, 13, 14 in which the above described
wrapped bundle of smoking articles 1, 8, 9, 10 can be inserted, are shown in
Figures
5 to 8. The wrapped bundle of smoking articles 1 described with reference to
Figures 1a and 1b are envisaged to be inserted into the rhomboid shaped pack
11
illustrated in Figure 5 and the other three embodiments of the wrapped bundle
of
smoking articles 8, 9, 10 are to fit into the packs 12, 13, 14 illustrated in
Figures 6, 7
and 8 respectively, so that the profile of the wrapped bundle of smoking
articles
matches the profile of the pack.
An example of a blank 15 for forming any of the smoking article packs 11, 12,
13,
14 illustrated in Figures 5 to 8 is shown in Figure 9. The blank 15 can easily
be
modified by changing the angles denoted `A', `B', `E' and `F' so as to achieve
an
overall rhomboid or trapezium shape of the pack. Furthermore, the angles
denoted
`A' and `B' can be altered independently of the angles denoted `E' and `F' and
vice
versa, such that the top and lower end of the pack 11, 12, 13, 14 can be
changed
independently of each other and so one end of the pack 11, 12, 13, 14 can
extend
perpendicular across the end of the wrapped bundle of smoking articles
relative to
CA 02798114 2012-10-31
WO 2011/147655 PCT/EP2011/056625
7
the longitudinal axis of the smoking articles whereas the opposing end may be
formed to lie in a plane oblique to the longitudinal axis.
Although embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it will
be
appreciated by those persons skilled in the art that the foregoing description
should
be regarded as a description of preferred embodiments only and that other
embodiments that fall within the scope of the appended claims are considered
to
form part of this disclosure.
