The present invention relates to a container for consumer articles, which finds particular application as a container for elongate consumer good items, such as smoking articles (for example, cigarettes).

It is known to package consumer articles in containers formed from folded laminar blanks. By way of example, elongate smoking articles, such as cigarettes and cigars, are often sold in rigid box shaped containers, such as hinged lid containers having a box portion and a lid connected to the box about a hinge line extending across the rear wall of the container. Such packs are typically constructed from one-piece laminar cardboard blanks. In some cases, the container further comprises an inner frame at least partly wrapped around the consumer articles. This may provide further rigidity to the container and protect the consumer articles.

In use, the lid is pivoted about the hinge line to open the pack and so gain access to the consumer articles held in the box. In practice, in order to access the smoking articles, or other consumer goods, a consumer typically holds the box portion in one hand and uses the other hand to pivot the lid portion about the hinge line and to remove a smoking article from the box portion.

It is also known to package smoking articles and other consumer goods in containers comprising a box and a lid, wherein the box is slidably movable relative to the lid between a closed position. In these containers, in the closed position at least a portion of the box is received within the lid, such that a front wall of the lid overlies a front wall of the box to occlude an access opening of the container. To access the consumer articles in the container, the box portion is extracted from the lid to at least partly expose the access opening.

A need is generally felt for improving features and functions of containers for consumer articles with a view to facilitating a consumer's experience. In particular, it would be desirable to provide a novel and improved container for consumer articles, which makes it easy for the user to open the lid and access the articles in the box, even when holding the container with a single hand.

In addition, it would be desirable to provide a container for consumer articles that has a distinctive visual and tactile impact and that can easily be manufactured without requiring any major modification of existing packing apparatus. At the same time, it would also be desirable to provide a blank for manufacturing one such container that can be easily formed into an assembled container.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a container for consumer articles, the container comprising a box and a lid connected to the box and movable relative to the box between a closed position and an open position, wherein in the closed position a front wall of the lid at least partially overlies a front wall of the box. The container further comprises a spacer member provided on a surface of the container such that, in the closed position, the spacer member is between the lid front wall and the box front wall and at least at the bottom edge of the lid front wall a rim of the lid extends substantially parallel to and at a distance from the box front wall. The spacer member comprises one or more distance holding formations provided on at least one of an outer surface of the box front wall and an inner surface of the lid front wall, the distance holding formations comprising a varnish or lacquer applied on a surface of the container.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a laminar blank for forming a container for consumer articles. The blank comprises a box-defining blank portion for forming a box of the container and a lid-defining blank portion for forming a lid of the container. The box-defining blank portion comprises a back wall panel for forming a back wall of the container and the lid-defining blank portion depends from the box-defining blank portion along a lid hinge line extending across the back wall panel, such that, in the assembled container, when the lid is in a closed position, a front wall of the lid at least partly overlies a front wall of the box. The laminar blank comprises one or more distance holding formations comprising a varnish or lacquer applied on a surface of the blank and provided on at least one of a box front panel for forming the box front wall and a lid front panel for forming a lid front wall, such that, in the assembled container, the distance holding formations are provided on an outer surface of the box front wall or an inner surface of the lid front wall or on both.

It will be appreciated that any features described with reference to one aspect of the present invention are equally applicable to any other aspect of the invention. Advantages described in relation to one aspect of the invention may also apply to another aspect of the invention.

As used herein, the terms "front", "back", "upper", "lower", "top", "bottom" and "side", refer to the relative positions of portions of containers according to the invention and components thereof when the container is in an upright position with the lid in the closed position and the hinge line at the back of the container. When describing containers according to the present invention, these terms are used irrespective of the orientation of the container being described.

When describing a container in accordance with the present invention, the term "longitudinal" refers to a direction from bottom to top or vice versa, whereas the term "transverse" refers to a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. For example, a "longitudinal axis of the container" is an axis extending from bottom to top or vice versa.

The term "hinge line" refers to a line about which the lid may be pivoted in order to open the container. A hinge line may be, for example, a fold line in the panel forming the back wall of the container. The term "fold line" is used to describe any line of a blank about which the blank is folded. The fold line may be defined by a line of weakness to assist with the folding action. Alternatively, a fold can be formed without the presence of a weakening line, depending for example on the pliability of the blank material and other material characteristics. The term "width" is used to describe the dimension of an element, such as a panel of a blank or a wall of a container as measured in the transverse direction.

The term "panel" is used throughout this specification to refer to a portion of the blank that is used to form a wall in the assembled container. A panel may depend along one or more fold lines from one or more other panels. In this context, the term "fold line" refers to a fold between two adjacent panels. When forming the container, adjacent panels are folded along their common fold line, which may come to define an edge of the container or of a portion of the container. In the assembled container a "wall" may be formed of one or of several overlying panels. Where there are several overlying panels, these may be attached to each other, for example by means of an adhesive. Further, a wall may be formed from two or more abutting or overlapping panels.

The term "height" is used to describe the dimension of one such element as measured in a direction perpendicular to the width of the element. When describing an element of the blank, reference is generally made to the element in the flat state of the blank.

The term "inner surface" is used throughout the specification to refer to the surface of a component of the assembled container that is facing towards the interior of the container, for example towards the consumer goods, when the container is in the closed position. The term "outer surface" is used throughout the specification to refer to the surface of a component of the container that is facing towards the exterior of the container. For example, the front wall of the container has an inner surface that is facing the inside of the container and the consumer goods, and an outer surface facing away from the consumer goods. It should be noted that the inside or outside surface is not necessarily equivalent to a certain side of a blank used in the assembly of the container. Depending on how the blank is folded around the consumer goods, areas that are on the same side of the blank can either face towards the inside or the towards the outside of the container.

The term "thickness" is used to describe a height of the spacer member measured substantially perpendicularly to a surface of the container on which the spacer member is provided. In some embodiments, the spacer member comprises formations provided on a single surface of the container. Thus, a thickness of the spacer member corresponds to a height of the formations measured substantially perpendicularly to said single surface. In other embodiments, the spacer member comprises formations provided on two surfaces of the container which substantially face each other when the lid is in the closed position. Formations provided on surfaces of the container which face each other when the lid is in the closed position may have the same height or different heights. In either case, the thickness of the spacer member substantially corresponds to the sum of the heights of the formations provided on opposing surfaces where at least a formation on a given surface faces a corresponding formation on the opposing surface. The term "embossed" is used to describe a raised structure protruding from a surface beyond the plane defined by the portion of said surface surrounding the structure.

Containers according to the present invention comprise a box and a lid. The lid is connected to the box and movable relative to the box between a closed position and an open position, wherein in the closed position a front wall of the lid at least partially overlies a front wall of the box. In contrast to existing containers in accordance with the invention comprise a spacer member provided on a surface of the container, such that, in the closed position, the spacer member is arranged between the lid front wall and the box front wall. The spacer member comprises one or more distance holding formations provided on at least one of an outer surface of the box front wall and an inner surface of the lid front wall, the distance holding formations comprising a varnish or lacquer applied on a surface of the container. Thus, in the closed position, at least at the bottom edge of the lid front wall, a rim of the lid extends substantially parallel to and at a distance from the box front wall.

When a container according to the invention is in the closed position, by virtue of the spacer member, the lid front wall does not lie in its entirety against the box front wall. Thus, at least at the bottom edge of the lid front wall the rim of the lid protrudes from the front wall of the box. This gives the container a distinctive visual and tactile impact and makes it easier for the consumer to open the container. This improvement is especially noticeable for a consumer holding and opening the container with a single hand, since the lid can be pivoted about the hinge line by applying an opening force directed substantially longitudinally on the rim of the lid at the bottom edge of the lid front wall. It is advantageously easy to manufacture one such container, even from a single laminar blank.

In some embodiments the spacer member comprises distance holding formations provided on both the outer surface of the box front wall and the inner surface of the lid front wall. Preferably, in such embodiments, when the lid is in the closed position, at least some of the distance holding formations on the outer surface of the box front wall face and abut corresponding formations on the inner surface of the lid front wall. This is advantageous in that a predetermined thickness of the spacer member can be obtained by forming the container from a blank wherein the distance holding formations on both surfaces have a height less than the predetermined thickness. By way of example, the distance holding formations may have a height of substantially about half the predetermined thickness. This may advantageously make it easier for the blank to be handled by the packing apparatus.

Preferably, the lid comprises a lid reinforcing panel depending from the lid front wall and folded into the lid, the spacer member comprising one or more distance holding formations provided on an inner surface of the lid reinforcing panel. In the closed container, the reinforcing panel is arranged between the lid front wall and the box front wall, and so advantageously contributes to increasing the distance between the lid front wall and the box front wall. Further, distance holding formations on the outer surface of the box front wall and the inner surface of the reinforcing panel are provided on the same side of the blank for forming one such container. This facilitates the manufacturing and handling of the blank.

In some preferred embodiments the box comprises a housing portion and an inner frame received within the housing portion. The inner frame comprises an inner frame front wall, a top portion of the inner frame front wall extending above a top edge of a front wall of the housing portion. The inner frame advantageously increases the rigidity of the front of the box and further protects the consumer articles within the box.

Preferably, the spacer member comprises one or more distance holding formations provided on an outer surface of the inner frame front wall.

In containers in accordance with the invention, a thickness of the spacer member is preferably at least about 0.5 millimetres. More preferably, the thickness of the spacer member is at least about 1 millimetre. More preferably, the thickness of the spacer member is at least about 1 .5 millimetres. In addition, or as an alternative, the thickness of the spacer member is preferably less than about 5 millimetres. More preferably, the thickness of the spacer member is less than about 4 millimetres. Even more preferably, the thickness of the spacer member is less than about 3 millimetres.

As described briefly above, in containers and blanks in accordance with the present invention the distance holding formations comprise a varnish or lacquer applied on a surface of the container or blank.

This has the advantage that the provision of distance holding formations may be implemented in the manufacturing process as a printing operation, which may conveniently be conducted as part of a high-speed, automated process.

Further, this could effectively also result in the provision of a distinctive visual impact to containers in accordance with the invention. By way of example, the distance holding formations may be formed from a substantially transparent varnish or lacquer. The term "substantially transparent" is used herein to describe a material which allows at least a significant proportion of incident light to pass through it, so that it is possible to see through the material. In containers in accordance with the present invention, substantially transparent distance holding formations may allow sufficient light to pass through them so that the underlying surface of the container or blank may be visible for the consumer. The substantially transparent varnish or lacquer may be completely transparent. Alternatively, the substantially transparent varnish or lacquer may have a lower level of transparency while still transmitting sufficient light that the underlying surface of the container or blank is visible through the substantially transparent distance holding formations. As an alternative, the distance holding formations may be formed from a coloured varnish or lacquer, such as to provide, at the same time, visual indicia for the consumer. The distance holding formations may have different shapes, provided that the alter the profile of a surface of the container by protruding from said surface. By way of example, the distance holding formations may be rectangular, triangular or circular. As an alternative, the distance holding formations may be provided as any one of curved, wavy or straight lines or combinations thereof.

Preferably, the distance holding formations are provided in a pattern. By way of example, the distance holding formations may be arranged in rows or columns or both.

In some embodiments the lid is connected to the box along a hinge line extending a back wall of the container, the lid being pivotable about the hinge line between the closed position and the open position. In other embodiments the container lacks a hinge, and the lid and the box are not connected along a hinge line, but are movable linearly relative to one another (in contrast to the pivoting of the lid about a hinge line), as disclosed, by way of example, in EP 1626916. In such embodiments, the connection between the lid of the box is of an essentially permanent nature and may, for example, be established by mechanical means, such as by a tongue or a tongue-like part. Thus, during use, under regular and intended handling conditions, the lid and the box are not separated from each other when the lid is moved into the open position. Intended handling conditions include repeated opening and closing of the container until all contained articles are removed. The tongue has a sheet-like structure, that is, it is relatively thin and its width may substantially correspond to the width of the box or the lid. By way of example, the tongue may be made from the same material as the container. In preferred embodiments the tongue is integral with the lid.

In these embodiments, the lid and the box have preferably open meeting ends. Both the box and the lid define respective internal volumes and when the lid is moved into the closed position these internal volumes merge into one single volume. In the closed position the box and the lid are abutting against each other, that is, the free edges of the lid are substantially abutting against the opposed, correspondingly edges of the box along a predetermined mating line.

Containers according to the present invention can conveniently be manufactured by folding laminar blanks made from any suitable materials including, but not limited to, cardboard, paperboard, plastic, metal, or combinations thereof. Preferably, the container is formed from a laminar cardboard blank. More preferably, the cardboard from which the laminar blank is made has a weight of between about 100 grams per square metre and about 350 grams per square metre.

In more detail, containers according to the invention will typically be assembled in the conventional way using standard manufacturing equipment, by folding one or more laminar blanks around the consumer articles and sealing overlying panels of the laminar blanks together in order to retain the container in the assembled shape. This may be achieved using conventional glues or adhesives. A laminar blank forforming a containerfor consumer articles in accordance with the present invention comprises a box-defining blank portion for forming a box of the container and a lid- defining blank portion for forming a lid of the container. The box-defining blank portion comprises a back wall panel for forming a back wall of the container and the lid-defining blank portion depends from the box-defining blank portion along a lid hinge line extending across the back wall panel, such that, in the assembled container, when the lid is in a closed position, a front wall of the lid at least partly overlies a front wall of the box. The laminar blank comprises one or more distance holding formations comprising a varnish or lacquer applied on a surface of the blank and provided on at least one of a box front panel for forming the box front wall and a lid front panel for forming a lid front wall, such that, in the assembled container, the distance holding formations are provided on an outer surface of the box front wall or an inner surface of the lid front wall or on both.

Preferably, the lid-defining blank portion comprises a lid reinforcement panel depending along a fold line from the lid front panel, distance holding formations being provided on the lid reinforcement panel, such that, in the assembled container, the distance holding formations are on an inner surface of the lid reinforcement panel.

Containers according to the invention may comprise boxes in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped, with right-angled longitudinal and right-angled transverse edges. Alternatively, the box may comprise one or more rounded longitudinal edges, rounded transverse edges, bevelled longitudinal edges or bevelled transverse edges, or combinations thereof.

A container in accordance with the present invention may optionally comprise an outer wrapper, which is preferably a transparent polymeric film of, for example, high or low density polyethylene, polypropylene, oriented polypropylene, polyvinylidene chloride, cellulose film, or combinations thereof and the outer wrapper is applied in a conventional manner. The outer wrapper may include a tear tape. In addition, the outer wrapper may be printed with images, consumer information or other data.

Containers according to the invention find particular application as containers for elongate smoking articles such as, for example, cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos or other aerosol generators that rely on heating rather than burning tobacco, for example through an electrical heat source or carbon heat source. It will be appreciated that through appropriate choices of the dimensions thereof, containers according to the invention may be designed for different numbers of conventional size, king size, super-king size, slim or super-slim cigarettes. Alternatively, other consumer goods may be housed inside the container.

Through an appropriate choice of the dimensions, containers according to the invention may be designed to hold different total numbers of smoking articles, or different arrangements of smoking articles. For example, through an appropriate choice of the dimensions, containers according to the invention may be designed to hold a total of between ten and thirty smoking articles. The smoking articles may be arranged in different collations, depending on the total number of smoking articles.

The invention will now be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of a container for consumer articles in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a schematic side view of a detail of the container of Figure 1 ;

Figure 3 is a schematic top view of a blank for forming the container for consumer articles of Figure 1 ; and

Figure 4 is schematic top view of a blank for forming an inner frame of a container in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 1 shows a container 10 in accordance with the present invention. The container 10 shown is formed from a flexible laminar blank and is essentially rectangular parallelepiped in shape. In more detail, the container 10 is of the hinge lid type and comprises a box 12 and a lid 14 connected to the box 12 along a hinge line extending across a back wall of the container 10. The overall size and construction of the box 12 and lid 14 of the container 10 are substantially the same as that of a standard hinge lid cigarette pack. The box 12 comprises a box front wall 16, a box back wall, a box bottom wall, a box left side wall and a box right side wall. The lid portion 14 comprises a lid front wall 18, a lid back wall, a lid top wall, a lid left side wall and a lid right side wall. The lid portion 14 is pivotable about the hinge line between a closed position and an open position. In the closed position, as illustrated in Figure 1 , the lid 14 covers an access opening of the container 10 and the side walls of the lid 14 form extensions of the corresponding side walls of the box, whereas the lid front wall 18 partially overlaps the box front wall 16. In the open position (not shown), the lid 14 is pivoted to project backwardly from the box 12 and the access opening at the top end of the box 12 is fully uncovered.

The container 10 further comprises a spacer member comprising a plurality of distance holding formations 22 provided on an inner surface of the lid 14. In more detail, the lid 14 comprises (see Figure 2) a lid reinforcing panel 24 depending from the lid front wall 18 along an edge fold line. The lid reinforcing panel 24 is folded inwards into the lid and secured to the inner surface of the lid front wall 18 by means of adhesive 26. The distance holding formations 22 are provided on an inner surface of the lid reinforcing panel 24. Thus, in the closed position, the spacer member (that is, the distance holding formations 22) is between the lid front wall 18 and the box front wall 16 and a rim of the lid 14 at the bottom edge of the lid front wall 18 extends substantially parallel to, and at a distance from, the box front wall 16.

The box 12 and lid 14 of the container 10 can be formed together from the single flexible laminar blank 300 illustrated in Figure 3. The blank 300 may be folded and filled using standard apparatus. As can be seen from Figure 3, the laminar blank 300 comprises a box blank portion 302 for forming the box 12, and a lid blank portion 304 for forming the lid 14. The box blank portion 302 depends from the lid blank portion 304 along the hinge line 303.

The box blank portion 302 comprises a front wall panel 308, a back wall panel 312 and a bottom wall panel 309. Two side wall panels 310 extend from front wall panel 308, two side wall panels 31 1 extend from back wall panel 312, and two box dust flaps 313 extend from side wall panels 31 1. When the box portion of the container is assembled from the box blank portion 302, the front wall panel 308 forms the container front wall, the back wall panel 312 forms the container back wall, the side wall panels 310, 31 1 overlap to form left and right side container walls, and the box dust flaps 313 overlap the bottom wall panel 309 to form the container bottom wall. The side wall panels 310, 31 1 are substantially the same size and shape as each other. When the container is formed, the side wall panels 310, 31 1 directly overlie each other with their free edges substantially aligned, such that the inner side wall panel is barely visible. The box dust flaps 313 are smaller than the bottom wall panel 309. When the container is formed, the box dust flaps 313 lie inside the bottom wall panel 309. They provide additional structural support for the container bottom wall of the container but are not visible from the outside of the container.

The lid blank portion 304 comprises a front wall panel 314, a back wall panel 318 and a top wall panel 320. Two side wall panels 316 extend from the front wall panel 314, two side wall panels 317 extend from the back wall panel 318, and lid dust flaps 319 extend from the side wall panels 317. When the lid portion of the container is assembled from the lid blank portion 304, the front wall panel 314 forms the container front wall, the back wall panel 318 forms the container back wall, the side wall panels 316, 317 overlap to form right and left container side walls, and the lid dust flaps 319 overlap top wall panel 320 to form the lid top wall. The side wall panels 316, 317 are substantially the same size and shape as each other. When the container is formed, the panels 316, 317 directly overlie each other with their free edges substantially aligned, such that the inner side wall panel is barely visible. The lid dust flaps 319 are smaller than the top wall panel 320. When the container is formed, the lid dust flaps 319 lie inside the top wall panel 320. They provide additional structural support for the container (lid) top wall, but are not visible from the outside of the container.

Further, the lid blank portion 304 comprises a lid reinforcing panel 325 depending from the lid front wall panel along an edge fold portion 326. A plurality of distance holding formations 22 are provided on the surface of the lid reinforcing panel 325. The distance holding formations 22 are provided as a single row of embossed circular shapes and are such that a thickness of the spacer member is about 2 millimetres.

In the container 10, the box 12 comprises a housing portion and an inner frame received within the housing portion. The innerframe may be formed from the blank 400 illustrated in Figure 4. The innerframe blank 400 comprises an inner frame front panel 402 for forming an innerframe front wall and inner frame side panels 402, 404 for forming corresponding inner frame side walls. In the assembled container, a top portion of the inner frame front wall extends above a top edge of the box front wall 16. In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 4, distance holding formations 424 are provided on the inner frame front panel 402, such that, in the assembled container 10, the distance holding formations 422 face an inner surface of the lid front wall 18. In more detail, the distance holding formations 422 are arranged such that, in the assembled container, they face and abut corresponding distance holding formations 22 on the lid reinforcing panel 24.