WO2016132379A1

WO2016132379A1 - Method of making a package for packaging of one or more cigarettes and a package made therefrom

Info

Publication number: WO2016132379A1
Application number: PCT/IN2016/000044
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ashok Chaturvedi
Original assignee: Ashok Chaturvedi
Priority date: 2015-02-20
Filing date: 2016-02-18
Publication date: 2016-08-25

Abstract

The present invention relates to method for providing a package (10) for packaging one or more cigarettes (300) and a package (10) made therefrom. The method comprises forming a flexible tube encapsulating a casing (200) therein. One or more cigarettes (300) are placed in the casing (200). The package (10) comprises a flexible sleeve (100) encapsulating the casing holding the cigarettes (300). The flexible sleeve comprises a front panel (101) and a rear panel (102). The flexible sleeve (100) is optionally provided with a perforated line at predetermined location to facilitate easy tearing of the package (10) so as to access the cigarettes placed therein.

Description

METHOD OF MAKING A PACKAGE FOR PACKAGING OF ONE OR MORE CIGARETTES AND A PACKAGE MADE THEREFROM;

FIELD OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method of making a package for packaging one or more cigarettes and a package thereof.

BACKGROUND

Generally cigarette packets available in the markets contain 10 or 20 cigarettes therein. The cigarette packets are available in cuboids shape in different sizes which may have soft or hard body. Sale of loose cigarettes is becoming more popular owing to the ever increasing prices. Further, a cigarette vendor often having wet and dirty hands, dispense loose cigarettes to the customers. The resultant cigarette most often than not is stained or wet and dirty. It has been further observed that the consumer purchasing one or two cigarettes is not generally offered an empty cigarette pack to keep the loose cigarettes. Thus the consumer usually either holds the spare cigarette in his hands or places them in his shirt or pant pockets. In both cases, the cigarette tends to get damaged, bent and looses its aroma. Another drawback of the situation is that the loosely sold and stored cigarettes absorb moisture that spoils the taste and potency of its tobacco leaves. In view of the above facts, a smoker who would prefer to buy one or two cigarettes ends up purchasing a large quantity and eventually smokes more cigarettes. As is well known, cigarette smoking is injurious to the health and the above scenario only aggravates the situation.

Therefore, there is a need for a method of packing cigarettes in small quantity packs so that the end user or smoker may purchase only those many cigarettes at a time as he desires. There is also a need for such a packaging to have sufficient strength and protection from atmosphere so as to preven damage to the cigarette and retain the aroma and flavour of the cigarette.

l It has been attempted previously to pack one or more cigarette in pockets formed on a string of flexible polymer film. The Indian patent no. 218299 discloses a method for packaging at least an individual cigarette at regular intervals between two flexible sheets of laminate. Thereafter, both the sheets are sealed along their edges and in between the regularly spaced cigarettes to form flexible air tight packages. However, as the cigarette is made from paper, therefore there is high probability that the cigarette may break within the package. This patent neither provides solution to the problem of breaking of the cigarette nor suggest for safe handling of the cigarette. Therefore, there is a need to provide such an innovative solution which can overcome above mentioned problems.

OBJECTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The main object of the present invention is to provide packaging for one or more cigarette while at the same time protecting the aroma of the cigarette and preventing damage to the cigarette.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a packaging for one or more cigarette that is economical and easy to use.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

The advantages and features of the present invention shall be better understood with reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein like elements are identified with like symbols and in which :

Fig. 1 illustrates a perspective view of the package of the present invention according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 illustrates a perspective view of the package with an opening portion parted away to open the package of the present invention according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 3 illustrates a perspective view of a semi rigid / rigid casing for placing cigarettes in the package according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 illustrates a perspective view of the casing holding the cigarettes therein according to an embodiment of the present invention. Like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the description of several views of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

For a thorough understanding of the present invention, reference is to be made to the following detailed description in connection with the above-mentioned drawings. Although the present invention is described in connection with exemplary embodiments, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the specific forms set forth herein. It is understood that various omissions and substitutions of equivalents are contemplated as circumstances may suggest or render expedient, but these are intended to cover the application or implementation without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Further, it will nevertheless be understood that no limitation in the scope of the disclosure is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications in the figures and such further applications of the principles of the present invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. Further, reference herein to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, characteristic, or function described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. Furthermore, the appearances of such phrase at various places herein are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. The terms "a" and ^wan" herein do not denote a limitation of quantity, but rather denote the presence of at least one of the referenced item. Referring to figure 1, the package (10) comprises a flexible sleeve (100), a semi rigid / rigid casing (200) for holding one or more cigarettes (300) therein. The said casing is placed in the flexible sleeve (100).

In various exemplary embodiments, the flexible sleeve (100) may be made by using various kind of films, laminate structures, single layer substrate, including but not limited to, fibrous substrate, multi-layer paper - polymer laminate, paper - Aluminum laminate, polymeric laminate, single or multilayer polymeric films, film - metal foil laminate, metalized film or laminate etc.

Fibrous substrate may include a natural fiber substrate like coated or uncoated paper, paperboard, and semi-rigid / rigid non-woven substrate.

Further, single or multilayer polymeric films may include one of or combination of Polyethylene (PE), Biaxially-Oriented Polypropylene (BOPP) film, Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) film, Cast Polypropylene (CPP) film, Biaxially-Oriented Polyethylene Terephthalate (BoPET), Polyamide (PA), Acrylic (Polymethyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA) or any other suitable polymer.

Metal foil may include foil of Aluminum, Copper or any other suitable metal or alloy whereas metalized layer may be of Aluminum, Aluminum Oxide, zinc sulphide, Silicon Oxide, Silver, Gold, Copper, Chrome, silicon monoxide, silicon dioxide, magnesium fluoride, titanium dioxide, tin tungsten oxide and indium tin oxide or any other suitable metal.

The casing (200) may made of fibrous material for example a natural fiber substrate like coated or uncoated board, semi-rigid / rigid non-woven, substrate. In an embodiment, the casing (200) may be made of a thick polymeric film or laminate typically having thickness of 300 micron or more The casing (200) may be formed by creasing of fibrous or polymeric material at predetermined locations. In another embodiment the casing (200) may be made by injection molding out of polymeric material or it can be a thermoformed tray. The flexible sleeve (100) consists of a first panel or front panel (101) and a second panel or rear panel (102). The first and second panels (101, 102) may be made of a single web. The web is folded and the longitudinal edges of the web are sealed (104) along the length of the web thereby forming a flexible tube. Across sealing is also performed and the casing (200), holding the cigarettes (300) therein, is positioned inside the said flexible tube and another cross sealing makes the package.

In another embodiment, the flexible sleeve (100) may be made of two separate webs sealed along their longitudinal edges (104), not shown in the figures. The said webs thereby form the first panel (101) and the second panel (102). The casing (200) along with cigarette (300) is placed in between the first and second panel (101, 102). Subsequently, the transverse edges of the flexible sleeve (100) are sealed (103a, 103b) so as to provide an airtight package (10) for the cigarette. The flexible sleeve (100) is provided with a laser scoring or perforated line (105) around the cross-section of the package (10), at predetermined location near first end (103a) of the flexible sleeve (100). This perforated line (105) facilitates easy tearing / opening of the package (10) from the first end (103a) leaving rest of the package (10) intact. The user may open the package by pulling and tearing along the said perforated line (105) to access the cigarettes (300) placed in the package as shown in Figure 2. The user may push out or pull out the casing (200) from the flexible sleeve (100), pick out the desired number(s) of the cigarette (300) and then push the casing (200) back into the flexible sleeve (100). It may be apparent by the figures that the flexible sleeve (100) encapsulates the casing (200) firmly providing minimal clearance surrounding the casing (200) so as to allow a firm sliding of the casing inside the package. Consequently, the casing itself may not slide out of the flexible sleeve (100) on its own which prevents the undesirable movement of the casing (200). The package (10) may be provided with a punched hole or slot where a string can be inserted to hang the package. Referring to Figs 3 and 4, the casing (200) for holding one or more cigarettes (300) is depicted. The casing (200) comprises a surface (204) surrounded by at least two upwardly extended side walls i.e. left and right side walls (203a, 203b) and one or more end walls (201, 202) at first and second ends of the surface (204). The end walls (201, 202) are upwardly extended (201a, 202a) and then folded (201b, 202b) from a predetermined height horizontally, facing each other as shown in the figure 3. In this way, the end walls (201, 202) may be a combination of vertical portion (201a, 202a) and then folded portion (201b, 202b) which lies horizontally covering the cigarette (300) ends. The side walls (203) support and restrict the movement of the cigarettes (300) from sides whereas the end walls (201, 202) support and hold the cigarettes (300) at their ends. The horizontal fold (201b, 202b) at the ends restricts the movement of the cigarettes (300) to remain in one plane in the package (10). As the casing (200) is pulled out from the flexible sleeve (100), the user may pull the first end wall (201) to pick the desired numbers of the cigarettes (300) from the casing (200). After accessing the casing (200) or picking out the cigarettes, the first end wall (201) may be pushed back to hold the remaining cigarettes in their predefined location. It may be apparent that the first end wall (201) also acts as protecting wall when the package (10) is open. The first end wall (201) protects the cigarettes (300) from sliding out or coming into the direct contact to the environment outside the package (10). This may prevents the damage to the cigarette and retain the aroma flavour of the cigarettes up to certain extent.

The casing (200) depicted in the figures 3 and 4 is presented for mere an exemplary purpose. The shape of the casing (200) may be modified with 'n' number of combinations such as surface with side walls (203a, 203b), surface with side walls and one or more end walls (201, 202) etc. The structure of side walls (203a, 203b) and the end walls (201,202) are not limited to the structure as depicted in the figures 3 and 4. The side wall (203) may be a vertical wall made from a single layer of material extending from the surface or may be made by folding the said layer outwardly or inwardly. The side wall (203) may have a predetermined angle with surface (204) of the casing. The side wall (203) may be a vertical wall and then folded horizontally etc. Similarly, the end walls (201, 202) may be provided in various combinations such as vertical wall (201a, 202a) or vertical wall portion (201a, 202a) and then folded horizontally (201b, 202b).

A method for forming the package (10) comprises steps of providing one or more webs for forming a flexible tube, providing one or more cigarettes (300) placed in the casing (200) which is being made at same or separate station by any of the method as disclosed herein. The web(s) may optionally be provided with the laser scoring or perforated line (105) around the cross-section of the flexible tube, at the predetermined location so as to facilitate a weaken portion for tearing / opening of the package (10). The web encapsulates the casing (200), holding the cigarette (300) therein, by folding longitudinal edges of the web over the sides of the casing (200) according to an embodiment of the present invention. The longitudinal edges of the web are sealed (104) after encapsulating the casing (200) thereby forming the flexible tube. In an embodiment the casing is placed between the webs. The longitudinal edges of the webs are sealed with each other encapsulating the casing and thereby forming the flexible tube. The ends of the flexible tube are sealed (103a, 103b) after a predetermined interval thereby forming the package (10) comprising a front panel and a rear panel. At the first end (103a) of the package, a scoring line may be provided to separate one package from the other. The web(s) may be printed or unprinted. In another embodiment, one or more sheets of the web may be provided to form a flexible sleeve (100). The sheets may be sealed leaving at least one open side. The casing (200) can be placed thereafter in the flexible sleeve (100) and subsequently the open side can be sealed. The sheets may optionally be provided with the laser scoring or perforated line around the cross-section of the flexible sleeve (100), at predetermined location so as to facilitate a weaken portion for tearing / opening of the package (10).

Claims

I Claim:

1. A package (10) for packaging one or more cigarettes comprising-

- a casing (200) with side and end walls to place one or more cigarettes(300);

- a flexible sleeve (100) formed from at least one web to encapsulate the casing;

- a score line at predetermined location at first end (103a) of the flexible sleeve to facilitate tearing/opening of the package.

2. The package (10) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the casing (200) comprises a surface (204) surrounded by at least two upwardly extended side walls i.e. left and right side walls (203a, 203b) and one or more end walls (201, 202) forming first and second ends of the surface (204).

3. The package (10) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the end walls (201, 202) are a combination of vertical portion (201a, 202a) and then folded portion (201b, 202b) which lies horizontally covering the cigarette (300) ends .

4. The package (10) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the casing (200) is made of natural fibre substrate like coated or uncoated board, semi-rigid / rigid non- woven substrate, a thick polymeric film or laminate typically having thickness of 300 micron or more, or creasing of fibrous or polymeric material at predetermined locations, and by injection molding out of polymeric material or a thermoformed tray.

5. The package (10) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flexible sleeve consists of a first panel or front panel (101) and a second panel or rear panel (102) made of a single web.

6. The package (10) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flexible sleeve (100) consists of a first panel or front panel (101) and a second panel or rear panel (102) made of two separate webs.

7. The package (10) as claimed in claims 5 or 6, wherein the longitudinal edges (104) of the web are sealed after encapsulating the casing (200) thereby forming the flexible tube.

8. The package (10) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the flexible sleeve (100) is made using one of films, laminate structures, single layer substrate, fibrous substrate, multi-layer paper - polymer laminate, paper - Aluminum laminate, polymeric laminate, single or multilayer polymeric films, film - metal foil laminate, metalized film or laminate.

9. A method for forming the package (10), the method comprising steps of: a. providing a casing (200) with side and end walls to place one or more cigarettes

b. providing a flexible sleeve (100) from one at least one web to encapsulate the casing (200);

c. providing a score line at predetermined location at first end of the flexible sleeve to facilitate tearing/opening of the package.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the longitudinal edges of the web are sealed (104) after encapsulating the casing (200) thereby forming the flexible tube.

11. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the ends of the flexible tube are sealed (103a, 103b) after a predetermined interval thereby forming the package (10) comprising a front pane! and a rear panel.

12. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein one or more sheets of the web may be provided to form a flexible sleeve (100).

13. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the steps can be interchanged as per the configuration and availability of machine.

14. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the web is sealed leaving at least one open side.

15. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the casing (200) is placed thereafter in the flexible sleeve (100) and subsequently the open side can be sealed.