PRIORITY CLAIM

This application claims priority from Italian Patent Application No. 102017000020954 filed on February 24, 2017, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a pack of smoking articles. In particular, the present invention relates to a pack of smoking articles comprising a wrapping provided with a closing label . PRIOR ART

A pack of smoking articles (such as cigarettes, cigars, or cartridges for electronic cigarettes) is known from document W09822367A1 (or from document WO02066341A1 or from document W02016020032A1 ) , comprising: a group of smoking articles; a wrapping which is flexible, which contains the group of smoking articles and which comprises an extraction opening for extracting the smoking articles from the wrapping; a closing label for closing the extraction opening of the wrapping; a rigid container, of the hinged-lid type, which contains the wrapping and the group of smoking articles.

The wrapping is made of a flexible sheet and has a substantially parallelepiped shape which can be obtained according to known methods (for example, by soap-fold or by flow-pack method as described in the document WO9849072A1) . In any case, the wrapping has a top wall in which the extraction opening is obtained and a pair of lateral sides connected to the upper wall at respective edges. The closing label comprises a first portion which is removably fixed to the wrapping in order to be able to open and close the extraction opening so as to allow and prevent access to the group of smoking articles through the extraction opening.

Moreover, said closing label comprises a second portion which is irremovably fixed to the wrapping at the upper wall thereof and which is connected to the second portion at weakening lines: in this way, when the first portion of the closing label is detached from the wrapping in order to allow access to the smoking articles, said first portion remains fixed to the upper wall of the wrapping by means of the second portion.

However, since the wrapping is made of a flexible sheet, the aforementioned pack of smoking articles has inaccuracies at the upper wall of the wrapping, particularly near the aforementioned edges. Said inaccuracies are more evident when the wrapping is obtained with the flow-pack method.

Said inaccuracies result in an unpleasant aesthetic impact which, in some cases, may result in the rejection of the pack of smoking articles.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide a pack of smoking articles with wrapping provided with a closing label which overcomes the aforesaid drawbacks.

The aforesaid object was obtained by means of a pack of smoking articles with wrapping provided with a closing label according to the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

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

- Figures 1 and 2 are perspective views of a pack of smoking articles, object of the present invention; - Figures 3 and 4 are perspective views of a frame and a of group of smoking articles contained in the wrapping of the pack of Figure 2, respectively;

- Figure 5 is a plan view of the flexible sheet with a closing label for obtaining the wrapping of the pack of Figure 2 ;

- Figures 6-9 are perspective views of different folding steps of the flexible sheet of Figure 5;

Figures 10 and 11 are perspective views of a further embodiment of the wrapping of a pack of smoking articles, object of the present invention;

- Figure 12 is a plan view of a flexible sheet with a closing label for obtaining a further embodiment of the wrapping;

- Figure 13 is a view of part of the flexible sheet with a closing label of Figure 12 in which the glue mapping of the closing label has been highlighted;

- Figure 14 is a view similar to that of Figure 13, wherein a different embodiment of the closing label is provided.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

With reference to the attached figures, a pack of smoking articles, with wrapping 2 provided with a closing label 3, object of the present invention, has been generically denoted with the numerical reference 1. The wrapping 2 can be obtained starting from a flexible sheet 2' (for example of aluminium) which can be folded according to known processes, such as, for example, the soap-fold or the flow-pack method (described in document WO9849072) . With reference to Figures 1-9, a first embodiment of the pack of smoking articles 1 object of the present invention is described in the following.

The pack of smoking articles 1 comprises: a group of smoking articles 4; the wrapping 2 that is flexible, which encloses the group of smoking articles 4 and which comprises an extraction opening 5 for extracting the smoking articles 4 from the wrapping 2; a container 6 which contains the wrapping 2 and the group of smoking articles 4; the closing label 3 which comprises a first portion 30 which is removably fixed to the wrapping 2 in order to be able to open and close the extraction opening 5 so as to allow and prevent access to the group of smoking articles 4 through the extraction opening 5.

The wrapping 2 has an upper wall 20 in which the extraction opening 5 is obtained and a pair of opposite lateral sides 21 (the lateral sides 21 are not adjacent to one another) . The pair of lateral sides 21 are connected to the upper wall 20 at respective edges 22. Moreover, the closing label 3 comprises a second portion 31 which is irremovably fixed to the wrapping 2 at the upper wall 20 of the wrapping 2 and at the lateral sides 21 so as to cover the aforementioned edges 22. Advantageously, due to the fact that the second portion 31 of the closing label 3 covers the edges 22 between the upper wall 20 and the lateral sides 21 of the wrapping, the proposed pack of smoking articles 1 has a smooth and optimally finished upper wall 20 also near the edges 22. In other words, the upper wall 20 of the wrapping 2 does not show folds even near the edges 22.

Preferably, the second portion 31 of the closing label 3 partially covers the lateral sides 21 of the wrapping 2; i.e. the second portion 31 of the closing label 3 covers a limited part of each lateral side 21 of the wrapping 2 arranged at a mentioned edge 22, leaving a remaining part of the lateral side 21 of the wrapping (2) uncovered. As a consequence, the closing label 3 has a reduced development while thus covering the edges 22. Advantageously, the material used for making the closing label 3 is reduced.

In detail, the second portion 31 of the closing label 3 covers part of the upper wall 20 of the wrapping 2 and part of the lateral sides 21 of the wrapping 2 (Figure 9) .

With particular reference to Figure 9, the second portion 31 of the closing label 3 comprises a first part 31a and a second part 31b each covering one of the mentioned edges 22.

The first part 31a is connected to the first portion 30 of the closing label 3 at a first weakening line 32 and the second part 31b is connected to the first portion 30 of the closing label 3 at a second weakening line 33.

Advantageously, said first weakening line 32 and second weakening line 33 facilitate the separation of the first portion 30 of the closing label 3 from the second portion 31 when the extraction opening 5 of the wrapping 2 is opened for the first time.

The first weakening line 31 and the second weakening line 32 can be identified in cutting lines of the closing label 3; said cutting lines can be completely cut-through or can be cut-through in segments.

In this regard, the closing label 3 can comprise an opening tab 35 which is connected to the first portion 30 of the closing label 3 and which can be grasped for opening and closing the extraction opening 5. In other words, the opening tab 35 is free, that is, it is not glued to the wrapping 2: to open the extraction opening 5, the opening tab 35 is grasped and the first portion 30 is detached from the wrapping 2 with consequent opening of the extraction opening 5. The first weakening line 32 and the second weakening line 33 can be parallel to one another. Advantageously, the detachment of the first portion 30 of the closing label 3 from the second portion 31 is simplified.

Preferably, the first weakening line 32, the second weakening line 33 and the mentioned edges 22 are parallel to one another . The first portion 30 of the closing label 3 can be removably fixed to the wrapping 2 at the edge of the extraction opening 5 of the wrapping 2. Consequently, the pack of smoking articles 1 can comprise non-dry, re-stick glue between the first portion 30 of the closing label 2 and the wrapping 2 at the edge of the extraction opening 5.

The second portion 31 of the closing label 3 can be fixed to the wrapping 2 with re-stick glue or with permanent glue. In any case, the second portion 31 of the closing label 3 is not intended to be separated from the wrapping 2.

The wrapping 2 comprises a front wall 23 and a rear wall 24 opposite (and preferably parallel) to the front wall 23 (e.g. the wrapping can have a parallelepiped shape) . The closing label 3 can comprise a third portion 34 which is fixed to the wrapping 2 at the rear wall 24 and which is connected at least to the first portion 30 or to the second portion 31.

Advantageously, when the extraction opening 5 is opened, the first portion 30 of the closing label 3 still remains connected to the wrapping 2 (at least by means of the third portion 34) . The third portion 34, furthermore, could be connected both to the first portion 30 and to the second portion 31 (Figure 5) .

Preferably, the third portion 34 is fixed to the wrapping 2 with permanent glue.

With particular reference to Figures 1 and 2, the container 6 comprises: a containment portion 60 which is cup shaped, which contains the wrapping 2 and the group of smoking articles 4 and which has an upper open end 60a; a lid 61 which is hinged to the containment portion 60 for opening and closing the upper open end 60a of the containment portion 60. The wrapping 2 protrudes from the upper open end 60a of the containment portion 60.

The container 6 can be rigid. For example, the container 6 can be made of cardboard. Preferably, the closing label 3 has a thickness greater than the thickness of the wrapping 2.

In particular, the thinner the wrapping 2, the more difficult it is to obtain a wrapping 2 with a pleasing good aesthetic finishing near the edges 22. Advantageously, the greater thickness of the closing label 3 ensures to obtain a smooth wrapping 2 and without folds also near the edges 22.

The closing label 3 can be made of a plastic material.

Preferably, the closing label 3 has a thickness comprised between 70 μπι and 100 μπι.

The wrapping 2 can be made of a heat-sealable material and/or of a multilayer material.

Preferably, the wrapping 2 is made of a sheet of material having a thickness comprised between 25 μπι and 50 μπι (e.g. 35 μπι) .

With particular reference to Figures 5-9, the wrapping 2 is obtained by folding a flexible sheet 2' of heat-sealable material according to the flow-pack method, wherein the closing label 3 is fixed to the flexible sheet 2' before its folding .

With further reference to Figure 5, the various parts of the flexible sheet 2' have been marked, where possible, with accented reference numbers equal to the reference numbers distinguishing the corresponding parts of the wrapping 2.

The flexible sheet 2' has a rectangular shape, with a longitudinal development, and is provided with two longitudinal pre-folding lines 8 which are parallel to the development direction of the sheet 2' and which delimit two longitudinal end areas 80 at which the hot-sealing is then performed. Moreover, the flexible sheet 2' is provided with six transversal pre-folding lines 9, parallel to one another and perpendicular to the longitudinal pre-folding lines 8 which delimit two transverse end areas 90 which will be heat- sealed one to the other.

In order to obtain the wrapping 2, the flexible sheet 2' is folded around the group of smoking articles 4 which are housed in a frame 7 (Figures 3-4) .

It is specified that the mutual arrangement of the smoking articles 4 illustrated in Figure 4 is only one of the possible arrangements and that other embodiments are possible without departing from the scope of the invention. This is also valid for the frame structure 7 illustrated in Figure 3.

With reference to Figures 10-11, the wrapping 2 was obtained by folding a flexible sheet 2' of heat-sealable material according to the flow-pack method, wherein the closing label 3 is fixed to the wrapping 2 after folding the flexible sheet 2'. In other words, the flexible sheet 2' (without closing label 3) is folded according to the flow-pack method so as to obtain the wrapping 2 of Figure 10 and, subsequently, the closing label 3 is fixed to the wrapping 2 (Figure 11) . With reference to Figure 12, a flexible sheet 2 is illustrated similar to that of Figure 5 wherein the closing label 3 has a different shape. In particular, the closing label 3 illustrated in Figure 12 is such that the second portion 31 is irremovably fixed to the wrapping 2, as well as to the upper wall 20 and to the side walls 21, also at the front wall 23 and at the rear wall 24.

With reference to figure 13, a part of the flexible sheet 2' of Figure 12 is illustrated with the glue mapping of the closing label 3 highlighted: the first portion 30 of the closing label 3 is fixed to the flexible sheet 2' with non- dry, re-stick glue (light gray in Figure 13) at and around the edge of the extraction opening 5 of the wrapping 2 and with permanent glue inside the edge of the extraction opening 5 of the wrapping 2 (dark gray in Figure 13); the second portion 31 and the third portion 34 of the closing label 3 are fixed to the flexible sheet 20 with permanent glue (dark gray in Figure 13); the opening tab 35 is free. Furthermore, again with reference to Figure 13, the first weakening line 32 and the second weakening line 33 are identified in partially through-cutting lines: consequently, in order to lift the closing label 3, a force must be exerted so as to overcome the strength of the re-stick glue and to break the segments of the first weakening line 32 and of the second weakening line 33 without a through-cut.

With reference to Figure 14, a part of the flexible sheet 2' of Figure 12 is illustrated with a different embodiment of the closing label 3. In particular, Figure 14 highlights the glue mapping of the closing label 3: the first portion 30 of the closing label 3 is fixed to the flexible sheet 2' with non- dry, re-stick glue (light gray in Figure 14) ; the second portion 31 and the third portion 34 of the closing label 3 are fixed to the flexible sheet 20 with permanent glue (dark gray in figure 14) ; the opening tab 35 is free.

In addition, again with reference to Figure 14, the first weakening line 32 and the second weakening line 33 are identified in through-cutting lines: consequently, in order to lift the closing label 3 it is necessary to exert a force such as to overcome only the strength of the re-stick glue.