CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This Patent Application claims priority from Italian Patent Application No. 102022000008255 filed on April 27, 2022, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a sealed break-open pack and to a corresponding production method thereof.

The present invention finds advantageous application to a sealed pack containing (at least) a pouch of snus (namely, a permeable pouch containing a prepacked dose of a moist nicotine-based product for oral use) , to which the following disclosure will make explicit reference without thereby loosing generality.

PRIOR ART

Currently, snus pouches are grouped together to form groups of 4-30 snus pouches, which are placed in containers made of plastic material (or more rarely made of metal material) ; some examples of snus containers are given in patent applications WO2014124939A1, EP2210508A1 and WO2016202594A1.

The snus pouches must maintain a relatively high humidity on the inside, as the product they contain has the expected organoleptic characteristics only if adequately moist. However, whenever a container containing a group of snus pouches is opened, its inner atmosphere mixes with the environment atmosphere inevitably losing some moisture; as a result, the snus pouches that are picked last tend to be too dry and therefore unsatisfactory for the final user.

To solve this drawback, a blister pack could be made for snus pouches. However, said solution is not feasible since in order to push a snus pouch out of its cell by breaking the aluminium wall it is necessary to apply a considerable pressure on the snus pouch which excessively deforms the snus pouch and could cause the same to lose part of its humidity.

Patent application W02022059042A1 describes a single-dose sealed break-open pack comprising: a first sheet of semi-rigid plastic material and a second sheet of flexible plastic material, which is arranged on top of and is sealed to the first sheet so as to form a sealed pocket which contains a dose of product. At least one incision is provided in the first sheet to guide, upon folding the sealed pack, the controlled breaking of the first sheet in the area of the incision, thereby causing the formation of an opening through the first sheet.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide a sealed breakopen pack and a corresponding production method which do not have the drawbacks described above and therefore allow particularly soft and deformable articles to be housed in individual pockets (cells) .

According to the present invention, a sealed break-open pack and a corresponding production method are provided, according to what is claimed in the attached claims.

The claims describe preferred embodiments of the present invention forming an integral part of the present description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

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

- Figure 1 is a perspective view and in a closed condition of a sealed break-open pack which houses a pouch of snus and is obtained according to the present invention; - Figure 2 is a perspective view and in an open condition of the sealed pack of Figure 1;

- Figures 3-6 are a top view, a front view, a side view and a bottom view of the sealed pack of Figure 1, respectively;

- Figures 7 and 8 are an unfolded view and a folded view, respectively, of a rigid sheet suited to obtain the sealed pack of Figure 1;

- Figure 9 is a sectional view of part of a rigid sheet of the sealed pack of Figure 1;

- Figure 10 is an unfolded view of a rigid sheet suited to obtain a plurality of sealed packs illustrated in Figure 1; and

- Figure 11 is an unfolded view of a blank suited to obtain an outer casing of the plurality of sealed packs of Figure 10.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

In Figures 1-6, number 1 denotes as a whole a single-dose sealed break-open pack. The single-dose sealed pack 1 comprises a rigid and substantially rectangular sheet 2 and a flexible and substantially rectangular sheet 3 (shown only in Figure 1) , which is arranged on top of and is sealed to the rigid sheet 2 so as to define a sealed pocket 4 that contains a product

(specifically a pouch of snus) 5.

It is important to note that the rigid sheet 2 is designed to be (substantially) more rigid than the flexible sheet 3; similarly, the flexible sheet 3 is designed to be (substantially) more flexible than the rigid sheet 2. Basically, when folded in a "U"-shape the rigid sheet 2 breaks (also due to a localized weakening as described in the following) while the flexible sheet 3 elastically deforms without being damaged.

The rigid sheet 2 has a substantially rectangular shape having two longer (longitudinal) bigger sides and two shorter (transversal) smaller sides; roughly, the bigger sides are twice as long as the smaller sides. The rigid sheet 2 centrally has a pre-weakened area 6 (better illustrated in Figure 6) , which is obtained in a central area of the rigid sheet 2 (in particular in a longitudinally centred area) in the area of the pocket 4 and guides a controlled breaking of the rigid sheet 2 so as to cause, following a "U"- shaped folding of the rigid sheet 2 (namely, of the pack 1) , the formation through the rigid sheet 2 of an opening for the product 5 to come out .

In other words, in order to open the sealed pack 1 (preferably single-dose) a user must grasp the sealed pack 1 with the fingers of one hand and fold the sealed pack 1 in a "U"-shape until the rigid sheet 2 is broken at the pre-weakened area 6 (as illustrated in Figure 2) . By breaking the rigid sheet 2 at the pre-weakened area 6, the product 5 can be extracted from the sealed pack 1 in a simple and hygienic way.

The pre-weakened area 6 comprises a single non-through incision 7 which is "U"-shaped and is obtained through a surface of the rigid sheet 2. According to a preferred embodiment (better illustrated in Figure 9) the incision 7 is obtained through an outer surface (namely, opposite the pocket 4) of the rigid sheet 2; according to an alternative embodiment, the incision 7 is obtained through an inner surface (namely, facing the pocket 4) of the rigid sheet 2. According to a further embodiment, the pre-weakened area 6 comprises an outer incision which is obtained through an outer surface (namely, opposite the pocket 4) of the rigid sheet 2 and an inner incision which is superimposed on the outer incision is transversely oriented and is obtained through an inner surface (namely, facing the pocket 4) of the rigid sheet 2.

The incision 7 partially surrounds the product housed in the pocket 4. In particular, the incision 7 surrounds and partially contains the product 5 housed in the pocket 4. In other words, the incision 7 is not superimposed on the product 5 but is arranged all around to product 5; in this way, by folding the rigid sheet 2 in a "U"-shape, the rigid sheet 2 becomes split, breaking along the incision 7, into an inner portion 8, which remains in contact with the product 5 (making up a sort of "tray" on which the product 5 remains positioned) , and an outer portion 9, which is distant from the product 5 (and from the inner portion 8) without touching (therefore deforming) the product 5 so as to open the pack 1 and allow the extraction of the product 5.

In other words, the incision 7 surrounds and contains the product 5 housed in the pocket and therefore the breaking of the rigid sheet 2 takes place around the product (outside the product) ; consequently, the outer portion 9 of the rigid sheet 2 moving away from the inner portion 8 of the rigid sheet 2 during the opening of the pack 1 does not touch (and therefore does not subject to mechanical stresses) the product 5.

According to a preferred embodiment better illustrated in Figures 3 and 6, the rigid sheet 2 has two pre-weakened folding lines 10 which guide (facilitate) the "U"-shaped folding of the rigid sheet 2 (namely, of the pack 1) , are aligned with one another, are arranged on opposite sides of the incision 7 and each originates from one end of the incision 7 in order to end in the area of an outer edge of the rigid sheet 2. In particular, the two pre-weakened folding lines 10 are formed by a weakening, without any cut, of the material making up the rigid sheet 2 and preferably consists of a creasing (namely, by an embossing which is carried out in order to facilitate the folding thereof and thus avoiding deformation and cracking) .

According to a preferred embodiment, the incision 7 is continuous, namely has no interruptions, along its entire extension. According to a preferred embodiment, the incision 7 has a constant depth along its entire extension. According to a preferred embodiment (illustrated in Figure 9) , the incision 7 has a depth that is equal to 50% of an overall thickness of the rigid sheet 2.

As illustrated in Figure 9, the rigid sheet 2 is made of polyethene coated paper and therefore comprises a supporting layer 11 (of greater thickness) made of paper (for example Kraft paper or the like) and a heat-sealable layer 12 (of a lesser thickness) made of extruded polyethylene. In particular, a monopolythene paper is used (namely, with the extruded polyethylene on one side only) . The supporting layer 11 is arranged on the outer side (that is, on the side opposite the pocket 4) and is affected by the incision 7 (which extends exclusively to the supporting layer 11) , whereas the heat-sealable layer 12 is arranged on the inside (namely, on the side of the pocket 4) as it is to be joined by heat sealing to the flexible sheet 3. An insulating or barrier layer can be provided between the supporting layer 11 and the heat-sealable layer 12 with the purpose of guaranteeing airtightness.

Alternatively, the rigid sheet 2 could be made of any material which allows the fixing (preferably by sealing) on the same of the flexible sheet 3 and the formation of the incision 7.

Preferably, the flexible sheet 3 is normally made of a heat- sealable plastic material.

According to a preferred embodiment better illustrated in Figures 7 and 8, the rigid sheet 2 has a main part 13 on which the flexible sheet 3 is fixed in order to define the pocket 4 and an (additional) reinforcement part 14, which is connected to the main part 13 along at least one pre-weakened folding line 15 (typically a creasing) and is folded by 180° against the main part 13 on the opposite side of the pocket 4. In other words, the reinforcement part 14 doubles the thickness of the rigid sheet 2 in one half (approximately) of the same rigid sheet 2 by being placed and glued to the main part 13 on the opposite side of the pocket 4. According to a preferred embodiment illustrated in the attached figures, the rigid sheet 2 has two folding lines 15 which are aligned with one another and are separated by a through cut 16 which is "U"-shaped; in this way, the through cut defines a small "protuberance" of the rigid sheet 2 which indicates where the user must grasp the rigid sheet 2 to proceed with the "U"- shaped folding of the rigid sheet 2 (namely, of the pack 1) and then open pack 1.

The reinforcement part 14 of the rigid sheet 2 does not overlap the incision 7 so as not to hinder the controlled breaking of the rigid sheet 2 along the incision 7 when the pack 1 is folded in a "U"-shape. According to a preferred embodiment illustrated in the attached figures, the reinforcement part 14 of the rigid sheet 2 has a through opening 17 which is "U"-shaped and surrounds the incision 7, namely, it is (slightly) wider than the incision 7 in order to enclose the incision 7 inside the same with little clearance.

In the embodiment illustrated in the attached figures, the reinforcement part 14 overlaps the main part 13 of the rigid sheet 2 at the movable area (half) , which is rotated when the pack 1 is folded in a "U"-shape; alternatively, the reinforcement part 14 overlaps the main part 13 of the rigid sheet 2 at the fixed area (half) , which is held in place when the pack 1 is folded in a "U"-shape. According to a further embodiment, the rigid sheet 2 comprises two different reinforcement parts 14 arranged at the opposite ends of the rigid sheet 2 and suited to reinforce both the movable area (half) and the fixed area (half) .

In the embodiment illustrated in Figures 1-8, the pack 1 is single, namely, it comprises a single pocket 4 that contains a single product 5. In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 10, a plurality of packs 1 are provided (in particular five packs 1) placed side by side and initially joined (possibly along respective tearable joining lines) ; in particular, Figure 10 illustrates a single blank 18 which allows to obtain five rigid sheets 2 placed side by side. The plurality of packs 1 can be inserted into an outer casing which is obtained by folding the blank 19 illustrated in Figure 11.

The production of the pack 1 described above provides for unwinding, from a reel, a continuous strip of flexible material that defines the flexible sheets 3 and for unwinding, from another reel, a continuous strip of rigid material which defines the rigid sheets 2. In particular, the continuous strip of rigid material that defines the rigid sheets 2 can be wound into a reel already comprising the incisions 7 or said incisions 7 can be obtained following the unwinding of the reel, for example by means of one or more incision knives for the continuous strip.

Subsequently, the continuous strip of flexible material which defines the flexible sheets 3 and the continuous strip of rigid material which defines the rigid sheets 2 are placed on top of one another and fixed together (in particular heat-sealed) so as to define a succession of pockets 4 open on one side between the two strips. Subsequently, the products 5 are inserted into the corresponding pockets 4 and finally the fixing (heatsealing) of the two strips is completed to seal (completely close) the pockets 4.

In particular, the step of fixing the two strips together so as to define the succession of pockets 4 open on one side can be performed by obtaining a bellow portion in the continuous strip of flexible material which defines the flexible sheets 3 so that, each pocket 4 can be widened before inserting the product 5 into the pocket 4. In other words, a bellows-like portion is made in the flexible sheet 3 (in the continuous strip of flexible material which defines the flexible sheets 3) so that the pocket 4 (open on one side) can be enlarged by extending the bellows; then, pocket 4 is widened before inserting product 5 inside pocket 4 (through the open side) and product 5 is inserted into pocket 4 after having widened the pocket 4. Obviously, the pocket 4 is sealed after having inserted the product 5. The pack 1 described above contains (at least) one product 5 consisting of a pouch of snus (namely, a tobacco-based product and of the tobacco processing industry) ; alternatively, the pack 1 described above could contain a different product of the tobacco processing industry or another type of product.

The embodiments described herein can be combined with one another without departing from the scope of the present invention .

The pack 1 described above has numerous advantages.

In the first place, the pack 1 described above allows a product 5 to be housed individually in a corresponding sealed pocket 4.

Furthermore, the pack 1 described above allows a very simple and quick opening to extract the product 5 and above all the opening of the pack 1 does not subject the product 5 to any type of stress (deformation or crushing) : as well illustrated in Figure 2, the opening of the pack 1 takes place all around the product 5 and without affecting the product 5 in any way. In other words, the opening of the pack 1 described above is made as easy as possible by requiring a single and simple gesture (the "U"- shaped folding of the pack) which forms an opening only on the rigid sheet 2 (rear) avoiding delaminating or cutting the flexible sheet 3 (front) ; furthermore, during the opening of the pack 1, crushing and pressure on the product 5 arranged inside the pocket 4 of the pack is avoided, as would instead occur in normal blisters.

Finally, the pack 1 described above is simple and inexpensive to produce since the production thereof requires a limited number of operations which can be eas ily automated .

LI ST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS OF THE FIGURES

1 pack

2 rigid sheet

3 f lexible sheet

4 pocket

5 product

6 pre-weakened area

7 incis ion

8 inner portion

9 outer portion

10 folding lines

11 supporting layer

12 heat-sealable layer

13 main part

14 reinforcement part

15 folding lines

16 through cut

17 through opening

18 blank

19 blank