WO2017072730A1

WO2017072730A1 - Pack for tobacco articles with re-stick sealing flap and tobacco article pull-up tape

Info

Publication number: WO2017072730A1
Application number: PCT/IB2016/056530
Authority: WO
Inventors: Roberto Polloni; Alver Tacchi; Luca Federici
Original assignee: G.D Società per Azioni
Priority date: 2015-10-28
Filing date: 2016-10-28
Publication date: 2017-05-04
Also published as: ITUB20155268A1

Abstract

Pack (1) for tobacco articles having: a group (14) of tobacco articles; a folded wrap (3) that encloses the group (14) of tobacco articles and has an upper and front extraction opening (15) of the smoking articles closed by a re-sticking sealing flap (16); and a pull-up tape (27) that is coupled to at least a tobacco article (28) of the group (14) of tobacco articles and has an upper end (29), which protrudes from an upper wall of the group (14) of tobacco articles at the extraction opening (15) of the folded wrap (3), is designed to be pulled to raise the tobacco article (28) and is secured to the re-sticking sealing flap (16).

Description

PACK FOR TOBACCO ARTICLES WITH RE-STICK SEALING

FLAP AND TOBACCO ARTICLE PULL-UP TAPE

Technical field

The present invention relates to a pack for tobacco articles with re-sticking sealing flap.

The present invention finds advantageous application to a pack of cigarettes, to which the following description will make explicit reference without loss of generality.

Prior art

Rigid hinged-lid cigarette packs are currently the most widely marketed packs of cigarettes, since they are easy to manufacture, practical to use and offer a good protection of the cigarettes.

A rigid hinged-lid pack of cigarettes comprises an inner package formed by a group of cigarettes wrapped in a foil sheet and a rigid outer casing housing the inner package; the inner package is initially completely closed and has a tearing removable upper portion, which is removed at the first opening of the pack of cigarettes to allow the extraction of the cigarettes contained in the inner package. The outer casing is formed by a cup-shaped container having an open upper end and by a lid, which is also cup-shaped and hinged to the container to rotate, relative to the container, between an open position and a closed position of the open end. In the rigid hinged-lid pack of cigarettes described in the patent applications WO2008142540A1 and WO2012147073A1, the inner package is waterproof and has a cigarette extraction opening, which is closed by a re-sticking sealing flap; in other words, the sealing flap is provided with a re- sticking adhesive, which does not dry and allows to stick several times the sealing flap in a position closing the cigarette extraction opening. To simplify the opening and closing of the pack of cigarettes, namely for opening and closing at the same time the lid of the outer package and the sealing flap of the inner package with a single manoeuvre, a portion of the sealing flap is permanently and non-removably glued to an inner surface of a front wall of the lid so that, by opening or closing the lid, the sealing flap is simultaneously open and closed as well.

The inner package and the outer casing often exert a certain side compression on the group of cigarettes enclosed in the inner package; when the pack of cigarettes is new, i.e. when the group of cigarettes is intact and complete, the side compression exerted on the group of cigarettes by the inner package and by the outer casing can be sufficiently high to hinder the extraction of the first cigarette from the group of cigarettes due to the friction between the first cigarette and the surrounding cigarettes. To ease the extraction of the first cigarette from the group of cigarettes, a pull-up tape secured to at least one cigarette of the group of cigarettes and having one graspable end, which protrudes from an upper wall of the group of cigarettes and can be pulled to lift the cigarette, has been proposed.

The patent application EP2366638A1 discloses a pack of cigarettes with a pull-up tape, which is coupled to at least one cigarette of the group of cigarettes and has one graspable end that protrudes from an upper wall of the group of cigarettes at the extraction opening of the inner package and can be pulled to lift the cigarette; the pull- up tape is folded in a U-shape around a lower base of the cigarette arranged in the inner package and is completely independent of the inner package, therefore moving freely relative to the inner package.

However, the graspable end of the pull-up tape often tends to adhere to the upper wall of the group of cigarettes, thus getting difficult to be grasped and rendering useless the pull-up tape.

The patent application EP2746190A1 discloses a pack of cigarettes with a pull-up tape, which is coupled to a cigarette of the group of cigarettes and has an upper end that is secured (glued) to a removable portion of the inner packing, which is removed by tearing at the first opening of the pack of cigarettes. Description of the invention

The object of the present invention is to provide a rigid pack for tobacco articles with a hinged lid and with a pull-up tape of the first cigarette, which pack is free from the aforesaid drawbacks and is, at the same time, inexpensive and easy to manufacture.

In accordance with the present invention, it is provided a rigid pack for tobacco articles with a hinged lid and with a pull-up tape of the first cigarette as claimed in the appended claims.

Brief description of the drawings

The present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which show some non-limiting embodiments, wherein:

- Figure 1 is a front perspective view in a closed configuration of a pack of cigarettes in accordance with the present invention;

- Figure 2 is a rear perspective view of the pack of cigarettes of Figure 1 in a closed configuration;

- Figure 3 is a front perspective view of the pack of cigarettes of Figure 1 in an open configuration;

- Figures 4, 5 and 6 are three schematic side views of a lid of the pack of Figure 1, respectively in a closed position, in a partially open position and in a completely open position; - Figure 7 is a front perspective view of an inner package of the pack of Figure 1 in a closed configuration;

- Figure 8 is a front perspective view of a group of cigarettes enclosed in the inner package of Figure 4 ;

- Figure 9 is a front perspective view of the group of cigarettes of Figure 8 during the extraction of the first cigarette ;

- Figure 10 is a front perspective view of the group of cigarettes of Figure 8 during the extraction of the first cigarette and with the removal of the first cigarette for clarity' s sake ;

- Figure 11 is a side view of a pull-up tape coupled to the first cigarette to be extracted from the group of cigarettes of Figure 8;

- Figure 12 is a front perspective view of the group of cigarettes enclosed in the inner package of Figure 4 with a different embodiment of an upper end of the pull-up tape of Figure 11;

- Figure 13 is a side view of the pull-up tape of Figure 12;

- Figure 14 is an extended view of a sealing flap of the inner package of Figure 7 highlighting the glue areas on the sealing flap;

- Figure 15 is a plan view of a heat-sealable folded wrap used to make the inner package of Figure 7; - Figure 16 is a front perspective view of a different embodiment of the pack of cigarettes of Figure 1 in an open configuration; and

- Figure 17 is a front perspective view of an inner package of the pack of cigarettes of Figure 16.

Preferred embodiments of the invention

In Figures 1, 2 and 3, the number 1 indicates as a whole a rigid pack of cigarettes. The pack 1 of cigarettes comprises an outer container 2 made of cardboard or rigid cardboard and cup-shaped and a sealed package 3 (better shown in Figure 7) housed in the container 2.

The outer container 2 has an open upper end 19 and is provided with a lid 4, which is cup-shaped and is hinged to the outer container 2 by means of a hinge 5 (shown in Figure 2) to rotate, relative to outer container 2, between an open position (shown in Figure 3) and a closed position (shown in Figures 1 and 2) of the open upper end 19. The outer container 2 substantially is a rectangular parallelepiped, oriented along a prevalent development direction, is cup-shaped and has the open upper end 19, a lower wall 6 opposite to the open upper end 19, a front wall 7 and a rear wall 8 (where the hinge 5 is formed) which are parallel and opposite, and two parallel and opposite side walls 9. Between the front wall 7, the rear wall 8 and the side walls 9 of the outer container 2 four longitudinal edges are defined, while between the walls 7, 8 and 9 and the lower wall 6 of the outer container 2 four transverse edges are defined.

The lid 4 substantially is a rectangular parallelepiped, is cup-shaped and has an open lower end (facing the open upper end 19 of the outer container 2 when the lid 4 is in the closed position) , an upper wall 10 (which is parallel and opposite to the lower wall 6 of the outer container 2 when the lid 4 is in the closed position), a front wall 11 (which is parallel to and aligned with the front wall 7 of the outer container 2 when the lid 4 is in the closed position) , a rear wall 12 (which is parallel to and aligned with the rear wall 8 of the outer container 2 when the lid 4 is in the closed position and is hinged to the rear wall 8 of the outer container 2 by means of the hinge 5) and two parallel and opposite side walls 13 (which are parallel and aligned, in particular coplanar and adjacent, to the side walls 9 of the outer container 2 when the lid 4 is in the closed position) . Four longitudinal edges are defined between the front walls 11, the rear wall 12 and the side walls 13 of the lid 4, while four transverse edges are defined between the walls 11, 12 and 13 and the upper wall 10 of the lid 4. The longitudinal edges and the transverse edges of the lid 4 are parallel and aligned with the corresponding longitudinal and transverse edges of the outer container 2 when the lid 4 is in the closed position. According to the embodiment shown in the attached Figures, the pack 1 of cigarettes lacks a collar; according to a different embodiment not shown, the pack 1 of cigarettes comprises a collar, which is folded in a U-shape and fastened (normally by gluing) to the outer container 2 to project partly out of the open upper end 19, thus engaging a corresponding inner surface of the lid 4 when the lid 4 is in the aforementioned closed position; the collar is preferably provided with closing elements (e.g. a pair of sidely protruding rivets) to keep the lid 4 in the closed position .

The package 3 encloses a group 14 of cigarettes (partially shown in Figure 3 and completely shown in Figures 8, 9 and 10) having a parallelepiped shape; moreover, the package 3 has an upper and front cigarette extraction opening 15 closed by a re-sticking sealing flap 16.

The sealing flap 16 is fastened to the package 3 by means of repositionable glue 17 that does not dry (shown in Figure 14), which is applied to the inner surface 18 of the sealing flap 16 (i.e. the surface of the sealing flap 16 facing the package 3) and is arranged around the extraction opening 15 to enable the sealing flap 16 to be opened several times (i.e. at each opening of the pack 1 of cigarettes) partially separated from the package 3 and then stuck again to the package 3 (at each closing of the pack 1 of cigarettes) .

The sealing flap 16 is provided with a connecting tab 20, which is permanently and non-removably glued to the inner surface of the front wall 11 of the lid 4 by means of the permanent glue 21 (shown in Figure 14), which is applied to the outer surface 22 of the sealing flap 16 (i.e. the surface of the sealing flap 16 facing the outside, i.e. opposite relative to the package 3) . In this way, by opening or closing the lid 4, also the sealing flap 16 is simultaneously opened and closed, as shown in Figures 4, 5 and 6. According to a possible (but not limiting) embodiment, the connecting tab 20 is connected to the remaining part of the sealing flap 16 by a folding line 23 (schematically shown in Figures 7, 14 and 15) .

In the embodiment shown in the attached Figures, the outer surface of the connecting tab 20 of the sealing flap 16 is permanently and non-removably glued to the inner surface of the front wall 11 of the lid 4 by means of the permanent glue 21. According to a different and perfectly equivalent embodiment not shown, the connecting tab 20 of the sealing flap 16 is folded in a U-shape (i.e. is folded at 180°) around the folding line 23 so that the inner surface of the connecting tab 20 of the sealing flap 16 is permanently and non-removably glued to the inner surface of the front wall 11 of the lid 4 by means of the permanent glue 21.

As shown in Figure 14, the connecting tab 20 of the sealing flap 16 is provided only with permanent glue 21 and is completely free of repositionable glue 17. According to a preferred embodiment shown in Figure 14, the permanent glue 21 is arranged at a nonzero distance Dl from the folding line 23, i.e. the permanent glue 21 does not touch the folding line 23 and then there is an intermediate space free of permanent glue 21 close to the folding line 23. Analogously, according to a preferred embodiment shown in Figure 14, the repositionable glue 17 is arranged at a nonzero distance D2 from the folding line 23, i.e. the repositionable glue 17 does not touch the folding line 23 and then there is an intermediate space free of repositionable glue 17 close to the folding line 23. In this way, a region of the sealing flap 16 arranged astride the folding line 23 is entirely free of glue on both sides (free of both the repositionable glue 17 and the permanent glue 21) .

According to a possible embodiment shown in Figure 14, the sealing flap 16 is connected to the package 3 also by means of the permanent glue 24, which is arranged at a rear wall of the package 3, i.e. at a region where the separation between the sealing flap 16 and the package 3 should never occur. The presence of the permanent glue 24 ensures a higher and surer adhesion between the sealing flap 16 and the package 3 and therefore avoids any risk of complete (and hence undesired) separation of the sealing flap 16 from the package 3.

As shown in Figure 15, the package 3 is obtained by folding a heat-sealable folded wrap 25, which has a rectangular shape, is folded around the group 14 of cigarettes and once folded is stabilized by heat sealing (i.e. superimposed portions of the folded wrap 25 are stably connected by heat sealing) . The folded wrap 25 has an incision 26 that is U- shaped and defines the extraction opening 15 of the package 3; moreover, the folded wrap 25 is glued to the sealing flap 16, which completely covers the incision 26 (i.e. the extraction opening 15) . Between the sealing flap 16 and the folded wrap 25 it is interposed a pressure-sensitive (i.e. that does not dry) repositionable adhesive 17, which allows separating the sealing flap 16 from the folded wrap 25 and then sticking again the sealing flap 16 to the folded wrap 25, even after a long time and for several times.

The presence of the pressure-sensitive (i.e. that does not dry) repositionable adhesive 17 between the sealing flap 16 and the folded wrap 25 determines the permanent sticking (i.e. never separated, even in use) of the portion of the folded wrap 25 enclosed in the incision 26 (i.e. at the extraction opening 15) to the sealing flap 16; then, when the sealing flap 16 is raised from the folded wrap 25, the portion of the sealing flap 16 enclosed in the incision 26 (i.e. at the extraction opening 15) is raised with the sealing flap 16, thus freeing the extraction opening 15 (as shown in Figure 3) . Moreover, the presence of the pressure- sensitive (i.e. that does not dry) repositionable adhesive 17 between the sealing flap 16 and the folded wrap 25 causes a temporary gluing (i.e. separated in use) between the portion of the folded wrap 25 surrounding the incision 26 (i.e. surroundings the extraction opening 15) and the sealing flap 16 to keep the sealing flap 16 in contact with the folded wrap 25 for closing (sealing) the extraction opening 15.

Preferably, the package 3 comprises a reinforcing element, which is made of cardboard or rigid cardboard (very similar to the cardboard or rigid cardboard constituting the outer container 2), is U-shaped and is arranged in the package 3 in contact with the group 14 of cigarettes. The reinforcing element comprises a rectangular front wall arranged, on the one side, in contact with a front wall of the group 14 of cigarettes and, on the opposite side, in contact with the front wall of the package 3, and a pair of side walls, which are connected to the opposite sides of the front wall and are, on the one side, in contact with the side walls of the group 14 of cigarettes and, on the opposite side, in contact with the side walls of the package 3. The front wall of the reinforcement element has a recess that is arranged at the top, is U-shaped and eases the extraction of the cigarettes from the group 14 of cigarettes, as it leaves exposed an upper area of the front wall of the group 14 of cigarettes at the extraction opening 15.

As shown in Figures 8, 9 and 10, it is provided a pull-up tape 27 (similar to the pull-up tape described in the patent application EP2366638A1 ) , which is coupled to a cigarette 28 of the group 14 of cigarettes and has an upper end 29, which protrudes from an upper wall of the group 14 of cigarettes at the extraction opening 15 of the package 3 and is secured (glued) to the sealing flap 16 so as to be pulled by the sealing flap 16, due to the opening of the lid 4, thus lifting the cigarette 28. According to what better shown in Figure 11, the pull-up tape 27 is folded in a U-shape around a lower base 30 of the cigarette 28 in the package 3; moreover, the pull-up tape 27 is completely free from the package 3 (except for the connection between the upper end 29 and the sealing flap 16) and can therefore freely move relative to the package 3; in other words, the pull-up tape 27 has no mechanical connection (except the connection between the upper end 29 and the sealing flap 16) with the package 3 and therefore all the parts of the pull-up tape 27 can freely slide relative to the package 3. According to what is better shown in Figure 11, the pull-up tape 27 comprises a vertical wall 31, which ends with the upper end 29 glued to the sealing flap 16 and is in contact with a cylindrical side wall 32 of the cigarette 28. Furthermore, the pull-up tape 27 comprises a horizontal wall 33, which is perpendicular to the vertical wall 31 and is in contact with the lower base 30 of the cigarette 28. Finally, the pull-up tape 27 comprises another vertical wall 34, which terminates with a lower end 35 of the pull- up tape 27 opposite to the upper end 29 glued to the sealing flap 16, is parallel to and facing the vertical wall 31 and is in contact with the cylindrical side wall 32 of the cigarette 28 on the opposite side of the cigarette 28 relative to the vertical wall 31.

In the embodiment shown in Figures 8-13, the vertical wall 34 of the pull-up tape 27 is facing and adjacent to the front wall 7 of outer container 2.

According to a preferred embodiment shown in Figures 8, 9 and 10, the vertical wall 34 of the pull-up tape 27 has a wider portion 36 having a width (i.e. a transverse dimension) larger than the remaining part of the pull-up tape 27 (and in particular relative to the horizontal wall 33) . The wider portion 36 is wider than the diameter of a cigarette (its width being preferably comprised between twice and thrice the diameter of a cigarette) and the remaining part of the pull-up tape 27 is narrower than the diameter of a cigarette. In other words, the pull-up tape 27 is formed by a narrow portion that extends from the upper end 29 glued to the sealing flap 16 and by a wider portion 36 that extends from the lower end 35 opposite to the upper end 29 and is wider than the narrow portion.

At the first opening of the pack 1 of cigarettes, the user opens the lid 4 for the first time by rotating the lid 4 about the hinge 5; this movement of the lid 4 also raises the sealing flap 16 (which is glued to the lid 4) and the sealing flap 16 pulls up the upper end 29 of the pull-up tape 27 (that is connected to the sealing flap 16), thus lifting the cigarette 28 coupled to the pull-up tape 27. Thanks to the fact that the connecting tab 20 of the sealing flap 16 is permanently integral with the inner surface of the front wall 11 of the lid 4 and to the fact that the upper end 29 of the pull-up tape 27 is permanently integral with the sealing flap 16 (and hence, indirectly, to the lid 4), it is obtained the simultaneous lifting of both the sealing flap 16 and the pull-up tape 27, together with the lid 4.

When the sealing flap 16 pulls up the pull-up tape 27, it determines a vertical movement of the pull-up tape 27 that moves upwards together with the cigarette 28 (as shown in Figures 3, 6 and 9) ; the cigarette 28 is vertically raised together with the pull-up tape 27 relative to the rest of the group 14 of cigarettes (as shown in Figures 3, 6 and 9) and therefore can be easily extracted through the extraction opening 5 of the package 3.

The wider portion 36 of the pull-up tape 27 has a double function .

First, the wider portion 36 avoids that, when the upper end 29 of the pull-up tape 27 is pulled up, this does not cause the desired lifting of the pull-up tape 27 with the cigarette 28 but a sliding of the pull-up tape 27 relative to the cigarette 28 (i.e. that the pull-up tape 27 moves while the cigarette 28 remains stationary, thus determining a needless extraction of the pull-up tape 27 from the group 14 of cigarettes) . In other words, if as a result of the traction applied by the sealing flap 16 to the upper end 29 glued to the sealing flap 16, the pull-up tape 27 started sliding relative to the cigarette 28 (i.e. started coming out of the group 14 of cigarettes), the wider portion 36 should deform to pass under the group 14 of cigarettes, but due to the size of the wider portion 36 this deformation would require a force greater than the one required to lift the pull-up tape 27 together with the cigarette 28. As a result, any possible sliding of the pull-up tape 27 relative to the cigarette 28 would stop when the wider portion 36 deformed to pass under the group 14 of cigarettes due to the high strength necessary to such deformation .

Furthermore, the wider portion 36 contributes to keep the pull-up tape 27 in the correct position around the cigarette 28 during the lifting of the cigarette 28, thus avoiding undesirable side (transverse) displacements of the pull-up tape 27; in other words, the wider portion 36 confers a high stability to the pull-up tape 27 during the lifting of the cigarette 28, thus avoiding undesirable side (transverse) displacements of the pull-up tape 27.

As previously mentioned, at least the horizontal wall 33 of the pull-up tape 27 is narrower than the diameter of a cigarette; this constraint is necessary to allow the pull- up tape 27 to lift only the cigarette 28, since if the horizontal wall 33 of the pull-up tape 27 were wider than the diameter of a cigarette, the horizontal wall 33 would be in contact not only with the cigarette 28, but also with the two cigarettes adjacent to the cigarette 28. Furthermore, the wider portion 36 of the pull-up tape 27 is wider than the diameter of a cigarette and this constraint is necessary to allow the wider portion 36 to be in contact with the cigarette 28 and with the two cigarettes adjacent to the cigarette 28, as shown in Figures 8, 9 and 10. According to a preferred embodiment, the wider portion 36 of the pull-up tape 27 is between twice and thrice wider than the diameter of a cigarette; it is thus guaranteed that the wider portion 36 is in contact with three, and only three, cigarettes: namely the cigarette 28 and the two cigarettes adjacent to the cigarette 28. If the wider portion 36 of the pull-up tape 27 were (significantly) narrower than twice the diameter of a cigarette, it would not provide an adequate stability to the pull-up tape 27, while if the wider portion 36 of the pull-up tape 27 were (broadly) wider than thrice (or, at most, four times) the diameter of a cigarette, it could cause an excessive resisting friction force during the lifting of the cigarette 28.

The upper end 29 of the pull-up tape 27 is glued to the sealing flap 16. In the embodiment shown in Figures 1-11 and when the lid 4 is closed, the upper end 29 of the pull- up tape 27 is arranged astride the upper transverse front edge of the package 3 and therefore has a panel that is vertically in contact with a front wall of the sealing flap 16 and another panel that is horizontally in contact with an upper wall of the sealing flap 16; consequently, when the lid 4 is closed, the upper end 29 of the pull-up tape 27 takes an L-shape formed by two perpendicular panels. According to the embodiment shown in Figures 12 and 13, the two panels of the upper end 29 of the pull-up tape 27 are superimposed (i.e. folded at 180° one above the other), thus taking a U-shape; in this case, only the outer panel of the upper end 29 of the pull-up tape 27 is glued to the upper wall of the sealing flap 16. When the lid 4 is closed, the two panels of the upper end 29 of the pull-up tape 27 are superimposed, as shown in Figure 13; when the lid 4 is opened, the outer panel of the upper end 29 of the pull-up tape 27 follows the movement of the upper wall of the sealing flap 16 (to which it is glued), dragging also the inner panel and then the remaining part of the pull-up tape 27. The embodiment shown in Figures 12 and 13 allows to close better (namely more simply, with less effort) the sealing flap 16 when the lid 4 is closed, but on the other hand has a shorter lifting stroke of the cigarette 28; accordingly, this embodiment is more suitably used when the pull-up tape 27 raises more than one cigarette 28 and is therefore used several times (i.e. on multiple opening/closing cycles of the lid 4) .

According to a different embodiment, the upper end 29 of the pull-up tape 27 has a single panel that, when the lid 4 is closed, is vertically in contact with a front wall of the sealing flap 16 or, alternatively, is horizontally in contact with an upper wall of the sealing flap 16 (bent forward as shown in Figures 8-11, or bent backward as shown in Figures 12 and 13) .

According to an embodiment not shown, the vertical wall 31 of the pull-up tape 27 is facing and adjacent to the front wall 7 of the outer container 2.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 15, the folded wrap 25 constituting the package 3 has a through hole 37, which is arranged at the sealing flap 16 and at the upper end 29 of the pull-up tape 27; the upper end 29 of the pull-up tape 27 is thus directly in contact with the inner surface 18 of the sealing flap 16 and then sticks to the inner surface 18 of the sealing flap 16 because of the repositionable glue 17. In other words, out of the through hole 37, the repositionable glue 17 applied to the inner surface 18 of the sealing flap 16 determines a gluing between the sealing flap 16 and the folded wrap 25, while in the through hole 37 the repositionable glue 17 applied to the inner surface 18 of the sealing flap 16 determines a gluing between the sealing flap 16 and the upper end 29 of the pull-up tape 27. It is thus possible to glue the upper end 29 of the pull-up tape 27 to the sealing flap 16 without having to apply any further glue. According to a different embodiment not shown, the folded wrap 25 constituting the package 3 lacks the through hole 37 and therefore it is provided a further permanent glue that sticks the upper end 29 of the pull-up tape 27 to the part of the folded wrap 25 arranged in the incision 26 and then permanently integral with the sealing flap 16; in other words, in this embodiment, the upper end 29 of the pull-up tape 27 is not directly fastened to the inner surface 18 of the sealing flap 16, but is directly fastened to the part of the folded wrap 25 arranged in the incision 26, which is permanently integral with the sealing flap 16.

According to a different embodiment not shown, the pull-up tape 27 simultaneously raises several cigarettes 28 of the group 14 of cigarettes; for example, the pull-up tape 27 could simultaneously raise two or three cigarettes 28 or could simultaneously raise all cigarettes 28 in the same row of cigarettes (e.g. as described in the patent application W02012127446A1 ) .

In the embodiment shown in Figures 1-15, the package 3 is integral with the outer container 2 (i.e. it does not move relative to the outer container 2 and is normally glued to the outer container 2) .

In the alternative embodiment shown in Figures 16 and 17, the pack 1 of cigarettes comprises an inner container 38 of the rigid type (visible in Figure 17), which houses the package 3 and is arranged inside the outer container 2 to slide longitudinally relative to the outer container 2 and move with a linear translation movement between a lowered position, where the inner container 38 is completely inserted in the outer container 2, and an extracted position (shown in Figure 16), where the inner container 38 is partially extracted from the outer container 2 to ease the access to the package 3.

As shown in Figure 17, the inner container 38 is U-shaped and has an open upper end, a lower wall 39 opposite to the open upper end and parallel to the lower wall 6 of the outer container 2, a front wall 40 parallel to the front wall 7 of the outer container 2 and a rear wall 41 parallel to the rear wall 8 of the outer container 2.

As previously mentioned, the inner container 38 slides relative to the outer container 2 with a linear translation parallel to the longitudinal edges between a lowered position, where the inner container 38 is completely inserted in the outer container 2 and the lower wall 39 of the inner container 38 rests (i.e. is in contact with) on the lower wall 6 of the outer container 2, and an extracted position (shown in Figure 16), where the inner container 38 is partially extracted from the outer container 2 and the lower wall 39 of the inner container 38 is at a certain nonzero distance from the lower wall 6 of the outer container 2 (this distance corresponding to the lifting of the inner container 38 relative to the outer container 2) . The rear wall 12 of the lid 4 is permanently and mechanically connected to the rear wall 41 of the inner container 38 by means of a connecting tab 42 that constitutes a longitudinal moving mechanism for the inner container 38. The rear wall 12 of the lid 4 is connected to the rear wall 41 of the inner container 38 only and solely by means of the connecting tab 42, i.e. out of the connecting tab 42, the rear wall 12 of the lid 4 is completely separate and independent of the rear wall 41 of the inner container 38.

The connecting tab 42 constitutes the longitudinal moving mechanism for the inner container 38 and "automatically" controls (i.e. without the user having to touch the inner container 38), by exploiting the rotation movement of the lid 4, the axial translation (i.e. the sliding) of the inner container 38 relative to the outer container 2 between the lowered position and the extracted position and vice versa; in other words, the connecting tab 42 uses the rotation movement of the lid 4 to "automatically" (i.e. without the user having to touch the inner container 38) activate the axial translation (i.e. the sliding) of the inner container 38 relative to the outer container 2 between the lowered position and the extracted position and vice versa. Consequently, thanks to the connecting tab 42 that mechanically connects the rear wall 12 of the lid 4 to the rear wall 41 of the inner container 38, when the lid 4 rotates relative to the outer container 2 from the closed position to the open position, the inner container 38 is "automatically" (i.e. without the user having to touch the inner container 38) pushed by the lid 4 from the lowered position to the extracted position; analogously, thanks to the connecting tab 42 that mechanically connects the rear wall 12 of the lid 4 to the rear wall 41 of the inner container 38, when the lid 4 rotates relative to the outer container 2 from the open position to the closed position, the inner container 38 is "automatically" (i.e. without the user having to touch the inner container 38) pushed by the lid 4 from the extracted position to the lowered position. In this way, the user only has to apply the necessary thrust to rotate the lid 4 relative to outer container 2 without having to touch the inner container 38, whose translation is "automatically" controlled.

On the one side, the rigid connecting tab 42 is directly hinged to the rear wall 41 of the inner container 38 and is integral with the rear wall 12 of the lid 4 (typically, the connecting tab 42 is superposed and glued to the rear wall 12 of the lid 4) . Preferably (but not necessarily) it is also provided a rigid reinforcing tab 43 that is hinged to the connecting tab 42 and is superimposed and glued to the connecting tab 42 to reinforce (strengthen, stiffen) the connecting tab 42. The reinforcing tab 43 is not strictly indispensable, since it has no role on the functioning of the connecting tab 42 (which would work anyway, even without the reinforcing tab 43); the reinforcing tab 43 only has the function of reinforcing (strengthening, stiffening) the connecting tab 42 to improve (but not substantially alter) the operation of the connecting tab 42.

Other mechanisms for lifting the inner container 38 are e.g. described in the Italian patent application BO2014A000576.

In the embodiments shown in Figures 1-17, the connecting tab 20 of the sealing flap 16 is permanently and non- removably glued to the inner surface of the front wall 11 of the lid 4 by means of the permanent glue 21 so that the movement of the lid 4 also determines the movement of the sealing flap 16 and of upper end 29 of the pull-up tape 27 integral with the sealing flap 16. According to different embodiments not shown and perfectly equivalent, the connecting tab 20 of the sealing flap 16 is not glued to the lid 4 and thus the movement of the lid 4 is fully independent of the movement of the sealing flap 16; in this embodiment, the user grips with the fingers the connecting tab 20 (which, in this embodiment, becomes to all effects a gripping tab) to raise or lower the sealing flap 16 (and therefore also to operate the pull-up tape 27 secured to the sealing flap 16) .

In the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings, the longitudinal and transverse edges are straight; alternatively, the longitudinal and/or transverse edges may be rounded or bevelled.

In the embodiments shown in the accompanying Figures, the pack 1 of cigarettes contains a group 14 of cigarettes; alternatively, the pack 1 of cigarettes may contain any other type of tobacco articles such as cigars, electrical or electronic cigarettes (i.e. cigarettes generating an aerosol without combustion) , cartridges and refills for electronic cigarettes, cigarettes of new generation.

The pack 1 of cigarettes as described above has numerous advantages .

First of all, in the aforesaid pack 1 of cigarettes, when at the first opening the sealing flap 16 is raised to access to the group 14 of cigarettes, the cigarette 28 automatically rises (thanks to the pull-up tape 27 secured to the sealing flap 16), thereby making extremely easy the extraction of the cigarette 28. To lift the cigarette 28 the user does not need any further gesture with respect to those normally made with a conventional pack 1 of cigarettes, since the lifting of the sealing flap 16 is used to raise the cigarette 28.

Moreover, the pack 1 of cigarettes as described above can be easily manufactured in a standard packing machine (which requires only a few changes of modest extent) and then its manufacture does not require the use of a costly special packing machine (i.e. specially designed for this type of packs of cigarettes) .

Claims

1. A pack (1) for tobacco articles comprising:

a group (14) of tobacco articles; and

a package (3), which encloses the group (14) of tobacco articles and has a tobacco article extraction opening (15) closed by a re-sticking sealing flap (16);

the pack (1) for tobacco articles being characterised in that it comprises a pull-up tape (27), which is coupled to at least one tobacco article (28) in the group (14) of tobacco articles and has an upper end (29), which projects from an upper wall of the group (14) of tobacco articles at the extraction opening (15) of the package (3), is designed to be pulled to raise the tobacco article (28) and is secured to the re-sticking sealing flap (16) .

2. A pack (1) for tobacco articles according to claim 1, wherein :

the package (3) consists of a folded wrap (25) having an incision (26) which defines the extraction opening (15) and is completely covered by the sealing flap (16);

a re-sticking adhesive (17) is interposed between the sealing flap (16) and the wrap (25); and

the package (3) has a through hole (37), which is formed at the sealing flap (16) and at the upper end (29) of the pull-up tape (27), so that the upper end (29) of the pull- up tape (27) is directly in contact with an inner surface (18) of the sealing flap (16), thus sticking to the inner surface (18) of the sealing flap (16) thanks to the re- sticking glue (17) .

3. A pack (1) for tobacco articles according to claim 1, wherein:

the sealing flap (16) is fastened to the package (3) by a re-sticking glue (17) which is applied to an inner surface (18) of the sealing flap (16); and

the package (3) has a through hole (37), which is formed at the sealing flap (16) and at the upper end (29) of the pull-up tape (27), so that the upper end (29) of the pull- up tape (27) is directly in contact with the inner surface (18) of the sealing flap (16), thus sticking to the inner surface (18) of the sealing flap (16) thanks to the re- sticking glue (17) .

4. A pack (1) for tobacco articles according to claim 1, wherein :

a re-sticking adhesive (17) is interposed between the sealing flap (16) and the folded wrap (25); and

the upper end (29) of the pull-up tape (27) is glued to the part of the folded wrap (25) arranged inside the incision (26), on the opposite side relative to the sealing flap (16) .

5. A pack (1) for tobacco articles according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein the pull-up tape (27) is folded in a U- shape around a lower end (30) of the tobacco article (28) .

6. A pack (1) for tobacco articles according to claim 5, wherein the pull-up tape (27) comprises:

a first vertical wall (31), which ends with the upper end

(29) and is in contact with a cylindrical side wall (32) of the tobacco article (28);

a horizontal wall (33), which is perpendicular to the first vertical wall (31) and is in contact with the lower end

(30) of the tobacco article (28); and

a second vertical wall (34), which ends with a lower end (35) of the pull-up tape (27), which is opposite to the upper end (29) , is parallel to and facing the first vertical wall (31) and is in contact with the cylindrical side wall (32) of the tobacco article (28) on the opposite side of the tobacco article (28) relative to the first vertical wall (31) .

7. A pack (1) for tobacco articles according to claim 6, wherein the second vertical wall (34) of the pull-up tape (27) has a wider portion (36), which is at least wider than the horizontal wall (33) of the pull-up tape (27) .

8. A pack (1) for tobacco articles according to claim 7, wherein the wider portion (36) of the second vertical wall (34) of the pull-up tape (27) is wider than the diameter of a tobacco article (28) .

9. A pack (1) for tobacco articles according to any one of claims 1-8, wherein, when the lid (4) is closed, the upper end (29) of the pull-up tape (27) takes an L-shape, is arranged astride the upper transverse front edge of the package (3), thus having a panel which is vertically in contact with a front wall of the sealing flap (16) and another panel which is horizontally in contact with an upper wall of the sealing flap (16) .

10. A pack (1) for tobacco articles according to any one of claims 1-8, wherein:

the upper end (29) of the pull-up tape (27) has two panels which, when the lid (4) is closed, are superimposed; and only one outer panel of the upper end (29) of the pull-up tape (27) is glued to an upper wall of the sealing flap (16) .

11. A pack (1) for tobacco articles according to any one of claims 1-10 comprising:

a cup-shaped outer container (2) housing the package (3) and having: an open upper end (19), a lower wall (6) opposite to the open upper end (19), a front wall (7) and a rear wall (8), which are parallel and opposite to one another and two side walls (9), which are parallel and opposite to one another; a cup-shaped lid (4), which is hinged to the outer container (2) to rotate, relative to the outer container (2), between an open position and a closed position of the open upper end (19) and has: an open lower end, an upper wall (10), a front wall (11) and a rear wall (12), which are parallel and opposite to one another, and two side walls (13), which are parallel and opposite to one another; wherein the sealing flap (16) comprises a connecting tab (20), which is permanently and non-removably glued to the front wall (11) of the lid (4) by a permanent glue (21), so that by opening and closing the lid (4) the sealing flap (16) simultaneously opens and closes as well.

12. A pack (1) for tobacco articles according to claim 11 and comprising an inner container (38), which houses the package (3) and is arranged inside the outer container (2) to longitudinally slide relative to the outer container (2) and move, with a linear translation movement, between a lowered position, where the inner container (38) is completely inserted in the outer container (2), and an extracted position, where the inner container (38) is partially extracted from the outer container (2) .

13. A pack (1) for tobacco articles according to claim 12, wherein the rear wall (12) of the lid (4) is connected to a rear wall (41) of the inner container (38) by means of a connecting tab (42) constituting a longitudinal moving mechanism for the inner container (38) .

14. A pack (1) for tobacco articles according to claim 13, wherein the connecting tab (42) is, on one side, directly hinged to the rear wall (41) of the inner container (38) and is integral with the rear wall (12) of the lid (4) .

15. A pack (1) for tobacco articles according to claim 12, 13 or 14, wherein the inner container (38) has: an open upper end, a lower wall (39) opposite to the open upper end and parallel to the lower wall (6) of the outer container (2), a front wall (40) parallel to the front wall (7) of the outer container (2) and a rear wall (41) parallel to the rear wall (8) of the outer container (2) .