Package for tobacco-related articles

• US 10,597,222 B2
• Filed: 07/22/2015
• Issued: 03/24/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 08/07/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Reemtsma Cigarettenfabriken GmbH (Imperial Tobacco Group PLC)
• Original Assignee: Reemtsma Cigarettenfabriken GmbH (Imperial Tobacco Group PLC)
• Inventors: Slavomir, Novak
• Primary Examiner(s): Bui, Luan K
• Application Number:
  US15/502,152
• Publication Number:
  US 20170225878A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,707 Days
• Field of Search: 206268, 206250, 206273, 206265, 206271, 229146, 2291601, 229225, 2291602
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 2203/12 Audible, olfactory or visual signalling means B65D51/248, B65D55/028, B65D79/02 and B65D81/24 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 5/6688 the container body sliding in an outer sleeve B65D85/1054 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 85/1048 characterized by the shape of the container

Abstract

A package for tobacco-related articles including an outer shell, a swivelable lid, and an inner shell adapted to accommodate a plurality of smoking or tobacco-related articles and mounted in the outer shell. The inner shell is moveable towards the top side of the outer shell from a retracted position to an advanced position, which enables access to the smoking articles. A sound-producing mechanism produces a sound when the inner shell is moved from the retracted position to the advanced position and/or in the other direction. The sound-producing mechanism includes at least one part arranged at the inner shell, which interacts in a sound-producing manner with a counterpart arranged at an inner face of the outer shell.

Claims

1. A package for tobacco-related articles, comprising:

an outer shell having a front wall, a rear wall, two lateral walls opposite to each other connecting the front wall and the rear wall, as well as a top side;

a lid adapted to close the top side of the outer shell when in a closed state, the lid being swivelably connected to the rear wall or one of the lateral walls of the outer shell at a hinge line and being swivelable about the hinge line for transfer from the closed state to an opened state;

an inner shell adapted to accommodate a plurality of tobacco-related articles and shiftably mounted in the outer shell, wherein the inner shell is moveable towards the top side of the outer shell from a retracted position to an advanced position, which enables access to the smoking articles; and

a sound-producing mechanism adapted to produce a sound when the inner shell is moved from the retracted position to the advanced position and/or from the advanced position to the retracted position,

wherein the sound-producing mechanism includes at least one part arranged at the inner shell, said part being adapted to interact in a sound-producing manner with a counterpart arranged at an inner face of the outer shell.

2. The package according to claim 1, wherein said part is a protrusion projecting towards a lateral wall of the outer shell.

3. The package according to claim 1, wherein the inner shell includes a bottom wall and said part is a protrusion configured as a tab projecting from the bottom wall.

4. The package according to claim 3, wherein the tab and the bottom wall comprise the same material, and the tab projects in a plane defined by the bottom wall.

5. The package according to claim 4, wherein a cantilever length of the tab is in part defined by two opposed cut lines in the bottom wall.

6. The package according to claim 3, wherein the tab includes a free end having at least one beveled or rounded edge.

7. The package according to claim 3, wherein the tab projects with respect to the bottom wall by a length in the range of from 0.5 mm to 2.5 mm and has a width, measured perpendicularly to said projecting length, in the range of from 2 mm to 8 mm.

8. The package according to claim 1, wherein said counterpart of the sound-producing mechanism includes at least one cut which is not visible from the outside of the package.

9. The package according to claim 2, wherein said lateral wall toward which the protrusion projects includes an inner layer covered by an outer layer and at least one cut acting as a counterpart for the protrusion.

10. The package according to claim 9, wherein the cut is configured as a cutout forming a depression at the inner face of said one lateral wall.

11. The package according to claim 9, wherein the cut distorts the material of the inner layer and produces a ridge protruding from the inner face of said lateral wall.

12. The package according to claim 1, wherein the sound-producing mechanism includes a plurality of said parts configured as protrusions, and the package includes a plurality of counterparts for the respective protrusions arranged in a staggered manner.

13. The package according to claim 1, wherein the inner shell is formed from a blank in which a front wall panel, a bottom wall panel and a rear wall panel are arranged along one axis and wherein lateral wall panels extend from the front wall panel and from the rear wall panel.

14. The package according to claim 13, wherein—

the part comprises a tab protruding from the bottom wall panel,

the blank of the inner shell includes a dust flap panel extending from a lateral wall panel, the dust flap panel including a pre-cut tab portion which, when assembled, overlays the tab protruding from the bottom wall panel forming a double-layer tab.

15. The package according to claim 1, wherein the outer shell is formed from a blank in which a front wall panel, a bottom wall panel and a rear wall panel are arranged along one axis, and wherein two lateral wall panels extend from the front wall panel and two lateral wall panels extend from the rear wall panel, and wherein adjacent pairs of said lateral wall panels are adapted to form inner layers and outer layers of the lateral walls of the outer shell.

16. The package according to claim 1, including:

a cutout in at least one wall of the front wall, the rear wall and the two lateral walls, the cutout being adapted to expose part of the inner shell and to enable transmitting a force onto the inner shell for moving the inner shell, and

a connector extending between a portion of the inner shell and the lid, the connector engaging the lid at a distance from the hinge line of the lid that is smaller than a dimension of the lid in a direction perpendicular to the hinge line and being adapted to push the lid into the opened state when the inner shell is moved into the advanced position and to pull the lid into the closed state when the inner shell is moved into the retracted position.

17. The package according to claim 16, wherein—

the lid includes a top wall having a front edge, a rear edge, two lateral edges and a bottom side and is adapted to close the top side of the outer shell when the lid is in the closed state, the hinge line being located at one of the rear edge and the lateral edges of the top wall,

the inner shell includes a wall having an upper edge selected from one of a rear wall and a lateral wall, the connector extending from said upper edge and having a first hinge line in the area of said upper edge and a second hinge line at the bottom side of the top wall, and

in the closed state of the lid, a ratio of distance between the first hinge line of the connector and the hinge line of the lid to a distance between the hinge line of the lid and the second hinge line of the connector is in the range from 0.5 to 1.0.

18. The package according to claim 17, wherein a beveled edge wall extends from at least one of said edges of the top wall of the lid opposite to the hinge line of the lid, and the beveled edge wall fits into the outer shell when the lid is in the closed state so that the beveled edge wall is accommodated in the outer shell and generally not visible.