A Blank of Wrapping Material

Abstract

A blank of wrapping material foldable about a tobacco industry product (1) is disclosed. The blank of wrapping material is formed with a line of weakness (12) to enable a portion of said blank of wrapping material to be separated from the remainder of the blank of wrapping material along said line of weakness (12). At least a section of the line of weakness (12) follows a non-linear path.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a blank of wrapping material for being folded about a tobacco industry product. The present invention also relates to a bundle of smoking articles comprising a charge of smoking articles and a wrapping material enclosing the charge of smoking articles, and a bundle of smoking articles received in a pack.

BACKGROUND

Smoking articles such as cigarettes, cigars or cigarillos, are typically bundled together and wrapped in a sheet of material, for example, a sheet of paper laminated with metal foil. The sheet of material helps to preserve the freshness and the aroma of the tobacco in the smoking articles. The wrapped charge of smoking articles is further stored in a pack which protects the cigarettes from mechanical and environmental damage. The pack can be enclosed in an outer transparent plastic film so as to further ensure that the smoking articles are protected from any environmental impact.

To access the smoking articles, a user pulls on a tab of the plastic film such that the plastic film tears open. Thereafter, the user opens a lid of the pack such that the laminated wrapping material is exposed. The wrapping material is typically formed with a line of perforations so that a user can easily separate a portion of the wrapping material to gain access to the smoking articles held within.

SUMMARY

According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a blank of wrapping material foldable about a tobacco industry product, the blank of wrapping material is formed with a line of weakness to enable a portion of said blank of wrapping material to be separated from the remainder of the blank of wrapping material along said line of weakness, wherein at least a section of the line of weakness follows a non-linear path.

The section of the line of weakness may follow a zigzag pattern, an oscillating path, an arcuate path or a v-shaped path.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a bundle of smoking articles for insertion into a smoking article pack, comprising a charge of smoking articles enclosed in a sheet of wrapping material having a front and rear wall separated by side walls, the wrapping material including a line of weakness having a section that extends across the front wall to enable a portion of said wrapping material to be separated from the remainder of the wrapping material along said line of weakness to provide access to the charge of smoking articles, wherein said section of the line of weakness that extends across the front wall follows a non-linear path.

The section of the line of weakness may follow a zigzag pattern, an oscillating path, an arcuate path or a v-shaped path.

According to yet another aspect of the invention, there is provided a smoking article pack containing a bundle of smoking articles comprising any of the features mentioned above, the pack comprising a body and a lid configured so that said section of the line of weakness is concealed to a user when the lid is opened.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a transparent front view of a wrapped bundle of smoking articles according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the wrapped bundle of smoking articles shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a front view of a wrapped bundle of smoking articles received in a pack according to the present invention; and

FIG. 4 shows a blank of wrapping material according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 a charge of smoking articles 1 wrapped in a wrapping for insertion into a smoking article pack 15. The wrapping comprises an elongate sheet or blank of wrapping material 3 as shown in FIG. 4. The sheet or blank of wrapping material 3 may be formed form as foil or paper laminated with foil. The blank of wrapping material encloses the charge of smoking articles to form a bundle 2 and such that said smoking articles are arranged in rows with the longitudinal axis ‘A’ of each smoking article being parallel to one another.

The sheet or blank of material 3 encloses the charge of smoking articles 1. It is folded about the charge of smoking articles such that it forms a front wall 4 and a rear wall (not shown), wherein the front 4 and rear walls are parallel to the longitudinal axis ‘A’ of the smoking articles. The sheet of material 3 also forms a bottom wall 5 facing the combustible end 6 of the smoking articles. Furthermore, the sheet of material forms side walls 8, 9 and a top wall n of the wrapped charge of smoking articles 2 as will now be described.

The side walls 8, 9 comprises side flaps 4a, 4h (only right side flaps are visible in FIG. 2) that extend from the front 4 and rear walls towards the sides of the bundle and that are folded around onto the sides of the smoking articles. The flaps 4a extending from the front wall 4 overlap the flaps 4b extending from the rear wall.

Similarly, top flaps 14a, 14b, 14c, 14d extending from the front wall 4, rear wall and the two side walls 8, 9 in an opposite direction to the bottom wall 5 are folded across the mouth end 7 of the smoking articles so as to form the top wall 11. The top flaps 14c, 14d extending form the side walls 8, 9 are folded first, thereafter the top flap 14b extending from the rear wall is folded and lastly the top flap 14a extending from the front wall 4 is folded such that it overlaps all the other top flaps 14b, 14c, 14d.

The sheet of material 3 comprises a line of weakness 12. This line can be scored, perforated or punctured so as to form a weakened line. The line of weakness 12 extends between opposite long edges of the sheet of material 3 such that it defines a portion 13 of the sheet of material as seen in figure 4. When the sheet of material 3 encloses the bundle of smoking articles It, the line of weakness 12 is located on the front wall 4 and on its corresponding side flaps 4a (only one flap is visible in FIG. 2) which forms part of the side walls 8, 9 of the bundle. Thus, the portion 13 forms an upper end of the bundle of smoking articles.

To remove the portion 13 from the bundle of smoking articles, a user pulls on the top flap 14a extending from the front wall 4 of the bundle of smoking articles 2 such that wrapping tears or separates along the line of weakness 12. The user pulls in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the smoking articles which is represented by an arrow (‘B’) in FIGS. 2 and 3. This direction is referred to as a first direction.

The line of weakness 12 follows a path that is at an oblique angle relative to the first direction. The line of weakness 12 therefore has a longer length than is known in the art. Advantageously, such a configuration requires a greater force to separate the portion 13 from the wrapping compared to a wrapping comprising a line of weakness which is at a right angle relative to the direction of pulling force. Thus, the wrapping according to the present invention has an improved strength compared to the prior art.

Due to the increased stability of the wrapping, the sheet of material 3 can be made thinner than the sheets of material used for wrapping a bundle of smoking articles known from the prior art. For example, the sheet of material according to the present invention can have a thickness of 0.1 mm or less without reducing its strength, whereas a conventional wrapping wherein the line of weakness is at a right angle relative to the direction of pulling force cannot be made thinner than 0.1 mm because the line of weakness or any other part of the sheet of material could accidentally tear.

As the sheet of material can be made thinner without compromising the strength of the wrapping material, it is a more cost effective material than those known from the prior art.

The line of weakness 12 according to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, forms a zigzag pattern, however the scope of the present invention includes any pattern or path wherein at least a section extends at an oblique angle relative to the first direction. For example, the line of weakness 12 may have first and second sections, wherein the first section extends at a first angle relative to the first direction and the second section extends at a second angle to the first direction, and the second angle is different to the first angle. Thus, the line of weakness may follow a zigzag pattern as previously described, or a sinus curve, an oscillating path or any other random path comprising first and second sections of different angles that are oblique to the first direction.

It is also envisaged that the scope of present inventions includes a line of weakness that extends across the front wall 4 of the wrapped bundle of smoking articles along an arcuate or a v-shaped path.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a transparent front view of a pack 15 is shown, with a frame 16 and the bundle of smoking articles 2 received in the pack 15. The frame 16 and the bundle of smoking articles 2 are shown in dashed lines. The pack 15 comprises a body 17 and a lid 18, wherein the body 17 is formed with an upper edge 19 that abuts a corresponding edge of the lid 18 when the pack is closed.

When the bundle of smoking articles 2 is received in the pack 15, the line of weakness 12 is located below the upper edge 19 of the body 17 such that when a user opens the lid 18 and removes the portion 13 of the bundle of smoking articles 2, a distinct edge is formed on the portion 13 that is visible to the user. The corresponding distinct edge formed on the remainder of the bundle of smoking articles 2 is concealed to the user as it is located below the upper edge 19 of the body 17 of the pack 15.

It should be appreciated that the bundle of smoking articles 2 as described above is not limited to the pack described herein. The bundle of smoking articles can be used with any pack which enables a charge of smoking articles to be wrapped in a wrapping having a removable portion.

As used herein, the term “smoking article” includes smokeable products such as cigarettes, cigars and cigarillos whether based on tobacco, tobacco derivatives, expanded tobacco, reconstituted tobacco or tobacco substitutes and also heat-not-burn products. The smoking article may be provided with a filter for the gaseous flow drawn by the smoker.

Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to smoking articles. It shall be envisaged that the blank or sheet of wrapping material can be used for enclosing or being folded about any tobacco industry product.

A tobacco industry product refers to any item made in, or sold by the tobacco industry, typically including a) cigarettes, cigarillos, cigars, tobacco for pipes or for roll-your-own cigarettes, (whether based on tobacco, tobacco derivatives, expanded tobacco, reconstituted tobacco or tobacco substitutes); b) non-smoking products incorporating tobacco, tobacco derivatives, expanded tobacco, reconstituted tobacco or tobacco substitutes such as snuff, snus, hard tobacco, and heat-not-burn products; and c) other nicotine-delivery systems such as inhalers, lozenges and gum. This list is not intended to be exclusive, but merely illustrates a range of products which are made and sold in the tobacco industry.

A tobacco industry pack refers to any pack that can contain and/or receive a tobacco industry product.

In order to address various issues and advance the art, the entirety of this disclosure shows by way of illustration various embodiments in which the claimed invention(s) may be practiced and provide for superior bundles of smoking articles. The advantages and features of the disclosure are of a representative sample of embodiments only, and are not exhaustive and/or exclusive. They are presented only to assist in understanding and teach the claimed principles. It should be understood that they are not representative of all claimed inventions. As such, certain aspects of the disclosure have not been discussed herein. That alternate embodiments may not have been presented for a specific portion of the invention or that further undescribed alternate embodiments may be available for a portion is not to be considered a disclaimer of those alternate embodiments. It will be appreciated that many of those undescribed embodiments incorporate the same principles of the invention and others are equivalent. Thus, it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and modifications may be made without departing from the scope and/or spirit of the disclosure. As such, all examples, implementations, and/or embodiments are deemed to be non-limiting throughout this disclosure. Also, no inference should be drawn regarding those embodiments discussed herein relative to those not discussed herein other than it is as such for purposes of reducing space and repetition. Various embodiments may suitably comprise, consist of, or consist essentially of, various combinations of the disclosed elements, components, features, parts, steps, means, etc. Some of the disclosed features, elements, implementation, etc., may be mutually contradictory, in that they cannot be simultaneously present in a single embodiment. Similarly, some features are applicable to one aspect of the disclosure, and inapplicable to others. In addition, the disclosure includes other inventions not presently claimed. Applicant reserves all rights in those presently unclaimed inventions including the right to claim such inventions, file additional applications, continuations, continuations in part, divisions, and/or the like thereof. As such, it should be understood that advantages, embodiments, examples, function, features, structural, and/or other aspects of the disclosure are not to be considered limitations on the disclosure as defined by the claims or limitations on equivalents to the claims.

Claims

1. A blank of wrapping material foldable about a tobacco industry product, the blank of wrapping material is formed with a line of weakness to enable a portion of said blank of wrapping material to be separated from the remainder of the blank of wrapping material along said line of weakness, wherein at least a section of the line of weakness follows a non-linear path.

2. The blank of wrapping material according to claim 1, wherein said section of the line of weakness follows a zigzag pattern.

3. The blank of wrapping material according to claim 1, wherein said section of the line of weakness follows an oscillating path.

4. The blank of wrapping material according to claim 1, wherein said section of the line of weakness follows an arcuate path.

5. The blank of wrapping material according to claim 1, wherein said section of the line of weakness follows a v-shaped path.

6. A bundle of smoking articles for insertion into a smoking article pack, comprising a charge of smoking articles enclosed in a sheet of wrapping material having a front and rear wall separated by side walls, the wrapping material including a line of weakness having a section that extends across the front wall to enable a portion of said wrapping material to be separated from the remainder of the wrapping material along said line of weakness to provide access to the charge of smoking articles, wherein said section of the line of weakness that extends across the front wall follows a non-linear path.

7. The bundle of smoking articles according to claim 6, wherein said section of the line of weakness follows a zigzag pattern.

8. The bundle of smoking articles according to claim 6, wherein said section of the line of weakness follows an oscillating path.

9. The bundle of smoking articles according to claim 6, wherein said section of the line of weakness follows an arcuate path.

10. The bundle of smoking articles according to claim 6, wherein said section of the line of weakness follows a v-shaped path.

11. A smoking article pack containing a bundle of smoking articles according to claim 6, comprising a body and a lid configured so that said section of the line of weakness is concealed to a user when the lid is opened.

12.-13. (canceled)