FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to packaging. More particularly, the present invention relates to bulk packaging for storing and dispensing consumable products and in particular confectionery products.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There is a need for attractive, effective and convenient packaging for consumable products in relatively large quantities or in bulk. It is also desirable to reduce manufacturing costs by reducing the cost of packaging material used in providing consumable products to the consumer. A need therefore exists for convenient bulk packaging that reduces the packaging materials used in packaging consumable products, and particularly confectionery products, which may, for example, include chewing gum, bubble gum, toffees, caramels, chocolates, or other hard or soft candies.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a package containing consumable products is provided. The package includes a container having a plurality of walls that includes a front wall, a rear wall and left and right side walls. The plurality of walls defines an opening which typically will be located in a top or generally upper portion of the container. A lid is provided and adapted to selectively cover the opening, typically being operable between open and closed positions. A plurality of bands are disposed inside the container, including a first band disposed adjacent and adhered to one of the walls, a second band disposed adjacent and adhered to another of the walls and at least one intermediate band disposed between the first and second bands. Each band has an at least substantially closed periphery and an open top facing the opening of the container, the bands being adhered to one another in a stacked or side-by-side configuration. As used herein, the term "side" means any surface that bounds or limits the article (e.g., a cube has six sides). A plurality of consumable products is contained in each band, the products arrayed in the band so that a consumer can grasp and separately remove each of the consumable products from the bands and the container. Typically, an adhesive will be employed to releasably adhere a plurality of consumable products that are contained in a respective band to an inner surface of that band. The adhesive may be a relatively weak adhesive such that each of the consumable products can be readily removed from the respective band by a consumer grasping one of the consumable products and pulling it from the band. However, the adhesive provides a sufficient retention force so that the consumable products will not fall from the container, such as by gravity and preferably will not fall from the container even if the container is inverted and shaken vigorously.

Each of the consumable products can be individually wrapped and may be, for example, a stick or tab of chewing gum.

The adhesive employed may be any suitable adhesive and can be, for example, a wax.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the lid of the container is connected to the container at a first hinge, which may be a fold line, the lid being configured to articulate about the first hinge between a closed position in which the lid covers the opening and an open position in which the lid does not cover the opening. Preferably, the lid includes a tab that is configured to be inserted into a slot located in the container to releasably retain the lid in the closed position.

The hinged lid can further include a second hinge and a third hinge, the first and second hinges defining a top lid segment and the second a third hinges defining a middle lid segment and a tab lid segment comprising the tab, with the tabbed lid segment being capable of articulation about the middle lid segment at the third hinge to allow the tab to be inserted into the slot at an oblique angle with respect to the front wall of the container.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the first band is disposed adjacent and adhered to the front wall. This can be conveniently accomplished by means of a suitable adhesive, which may be a hot melt and/or another type of adhesive as desired. It can be advantageous to use a hot melt adhesive to adhere the first band to the front wall to facilitate production of the package in accordance with the invention as described in more detail hereafter.

The second band can be disposed adjacent and adhered to the rear wall. Again, this is accomplished by means of a suitable adhesive.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the intermediate bands, which may comprise one, two, three or more bands, is adhered to the adjacent bands, which may be the first (i.e., front) and second (i.e., rear) bands. This prevents the intermediate bands and respective consumable product contained in the bands from unintended falling out of the package.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, each band contains a linear array of consumable products, which may be, for example, a plurality of consumable products in stick or tab form arrayed in a side-by-side relation. The plurality of consumable products contained in a band may be in a plurality as desired, such as two, three, four, five, six, seven or more, for example. Similarly, the number of bands may be three, four, five, six or more, as desired. Thus, packages may be constructed that contain a relatively large number of consumable product pieces that can be individually wrapped, such as, 6 (2 x 3), 9 (3 x 3), 12 (3 x 4 or 4 x 3), 15 (3 x 5 or 5 x 3), 16 (4 x 4), 18 (3 x 6 or 6 x 3), 20 (4 x 5 or 5 x 4), 21 (3 x 7 or 7 x 3), 24 (4 x 6 or 6 x 4), 25 (5 x 5), 27 (3 x 9 or 9 x 3), 28 (4 x 7 or 7 x 4), 30 (5 x 6 or 6 x 5), 32 (4 x 8 or 8 x 4), 33 (3 x 1 1 or 1 1 x 3), 35 (5 x 7 or 7 x 5), 36 (6 x 6 or 4 x 9 or 9 x 4), where the first number in the array is the number of bands and the second number in the array is the number of product pieces in a band. It will be appreciated that other product configurations and numbers of product pieces can result in a package in accordance with the invention, as desired. Thus, the invention provides a package and method for making such a package that has a desired number of consumable products that will be retained in the package until the consumer desires removal of one or more of the consumable products. It is also to be understood that the consumable products may each be the same type of product or can be composed of different products, which may include different flavors, sizes or other configurations. In the case of different product sizes, such as a gum tab or stick that is, for example, double wide, then the number of product pieces in a particular band would be adjusted accordingly. In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a side of each of the bands is adjacent and adhesively secured or adhered to the left side wall and/or the right side wall of the container. This helps to retain the bands and the consumable products within the container until a consumer desires removal of one or more of the consumable products from the container. In each of the foregoing embodiments, the band which provides an at least substantially enclosed lateral perimeter and an open top may be in the form of a band having an enclosed bottom and an open top. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a package in accordance with the invention including a container and a stack of bundles of consumable products, adapted to be adhered within the container according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of FIG. 1 and illustrating a stack of bundles, each bundle including a plurality of consumable products contained within a pouch.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a container blank adapted to be formed into a container.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a package in accordance with the invention and wrapped inside a clear overwrap to be provided to the consumer.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the package of FIG. 4 with the overwrap removed.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the package of FIG. 4, wherein the articulation of hinged lid for insertion of the tab into the slot is illustrated.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the package of FIG. 4, wherein the tab is inserted into the slot of the container.

FIG. 8 is a side view of a stack of bundles.

FIG. 9 is an exploded side view of the stack of bundles of FIG. 8, showing glue beads.

FIGS. 10-19 illustrate various glue configurations useful in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 20 is an exploded perspective view of a bundle, showing wax beads on an inner surface of a pouch.

FIG. 21 is an alternative arrangement of the invention, from the embodiment of FIG. 20, illustrating an exploded perspective view of a bundle, showing a layer of wax on an inner surface of a pouch in place of wax beads.

FIG. 22 is a perspective view of a stack of bundles, showing the location of wax beads relative to consumable products in the assembled bundles.

FIG. 23 is a perspective view of an alternative configuration of a stack of bundles, including a retention strip.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

An improved package for containing and dispensing a plurality of consumable products is described in this section. With reference to the Figures generally and particularly to FIGS. 1 -9, a consumable product package 10 is illustrated. Package 10 includes a container 12, container 12 having a hinged lid 14 configured to be inserted into a slot 16, and at least three bands or pouches, in this embodiment, five (5) bands or pouches 17a-e, contained within container 12. Each band or pouch 17a-e is configured to contain a plurality of, in this case seven (7), consumable products G, each band or pouch 17a-e containing seven (7) associated products G in respective bundles 18a-e. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a portion of the edges of bundles 18a-e, illustrating how each pouch 17a-e is configured from a sheet folded once around the bottom of products G and again at each end of bundle 18a-e to form edge folds 20a-e. As explained below in more detail, pouches 17a-e containing products G are adhered to one another in a stacked configuration to form a stack 22 of bundles 18a-e, as shown in perspective view in FIG. 1 and in side and exploded side views in FIGS. 8 and 9.

Referring to FIG. 3, a container blank 23 is shown, from which container 12 may be formed. Dotted lines C in FIG. 3 indicate creased fold lines, dot-dash lines P indicate perforated fold lines and S refers to score lines. The fold lines and perimeter of blank 23 define a plurality of regions and features of container 12, namely, a back face 24, a bottom face 26, bottom flaps 28, side faces 30, side flaps 32, top flaps 34, a front face 36, a first lid hinge 37, a lid top segment 38, a second lid hinge 39, a lid middle segment 40, a third lid hinge 41 , and tab 15 of hinged lid 14. Glue is applied as desired or needed to form package 10. In this embodiment, a bead of glue 42 is applied to back face 24 for adhering rear pouch 17e to back face 24, beads 44 to side faces 30 for adhering interior pouches 17b-d to side faces 30, and beads 46 to front face 36 for adhering side flaps 32 and front pouch 17e to front face 36. In this manner, bundle stack 22 is adhered to container 12. Additionally, in this embodiment beads 48 are applied to side faces 30 below beads 44, for adhering bottom flaps 28 to side flaps 30, and hot-melt glue beads 50 are applied to front face 36 below beads 46 for adhering front face 36 to side flaps 32. In this manner, container blank 23 retains its form as container 12. To facilitate forming completed package 10, hot-melt beads 50 are applied in addition to beads 46, which also adhere side flaps 32 to front face 36, because hot-melt glue typically sets more quickly than cold glue, thus quickly adhering side flaps 32 to front face 36 to generally retain the form of container 12 while the remaining glue beads are setting. Referring to FIGS. 4-7, various aspects and the functionality of package 10 is illustrated. In FIG. 4, a completed package 10 including overwrap 52 as shown may be transparent and can have printing thereon as desired. Overwrap 52 is wrapped around generally the entire package 10 to generally retain hinged lid 14 folded down over front face 36 of container 12 as shown in a closed configuration. In this manner, package 10 may be provided to the consumer in a tamper-evident, closed state without the need to adhere hinged lid 14 to front face 36. FIG. 5 is an illustration of package 10 after overwrap 52 has been removed by a consumer, allowing hinged lid 14 to swing open, exposing consumable products G and permitting the consumer to remove separately each individual consumable product G. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the three-hinge design of hinged lid 14 permits a consumer to articulate hinged lid 14 for easy insertion of tab 15 into slot 16, at an oblique angle with respect to front face 36, for reclosure of container 12. FIG. 7 is a depiction of container 12 in its reclosed state with tab 15 inserted into slot 16. With reference to FIGS. 8-19, in addition to being adhered to the inside of container 12, pouches 17a-e are adhered to one another to form a bundle stack 22. Thus, each pouch 17a-e is adhered to each adjacent pouch 17a-e. Stack 22 is shown in side elevation view in FIG. 8, and in exploded side elevation view in FIG. 9, revealing interior glue beads 54 applied to one side of all but one of pouches 17a-e, so that each pair of adjacent interior faces 56 may be adhered together. In another embodiment, interior glue beads 54 may be applied to each of the pouches 17a-e (not shown). In accordance with the present invention, glue beads 54 may be applied to any combination of interior faces 56, provided that at least one glue bead 54 corresponds to each pair of adjacent interior faces 56. However, applying glue beads 54 to the same side of all but one pouch 17a-e of stack 22 as shown in FIG. 9 is particularly advantageous in that it facilitates the mechanized manufacture of packages 10, as will be explained in more detail below with regard to the packaging method of the present invention. In addition, glue beads 54 may be applied to any suitable portion of the area of interior faces 56, in a sufficient quantity to maintain an adhesive bond between each interior face 56 and its adjacent interior face 56 throughout the normal useful life of package 10; that is, the period between purchase and when the last consumable product G has been removed from package 10. Moreover, hot-melt glue beads 58 may be applied in addition to glue beads 54 for faster adhesion. Referring to FIGS. 10-19, several examples of suitable sizes, shapes and orientations of glue beads 54, and where applicable, of hot-melt glue beads 58, on interior face 56 of a pouch according to the invention are shown in front elevation view.

In addition to adhering pouches 17a-e to one another and to container 12, the present invention provides for removably adhering a plurality of consumable products G to the inside of each pouch 17a-e. This allows a consumer to remove a consumable product G without inadvertently removing adjacent consumable products G, and generally prevents accidental spilling of consumable products G from container 12. To this end, preferably a relatively weak adhesive may be applied to inner surface 60 of each pouch 17a-e, including wax, for example, or any other suitable weak adhesive. Referring to FIG. 20, any suitable array of wax beads 62 may be applied to surface 60 so that at least one wax bead 62 removably adheres each consumable product G to surface 60, as illustrated in FIG. 21 with respect to pouch 17a. Alternatively, a generally uniform layer of wax or other suitable adhesive could be applied to surface 60 for removably adhering consumable products G. Referring to FIG. 21 , in one embodiment, in place of wax beads 62, substantially the entire sheet is coated with a thin layer of wax 62', except a perimeter portion 63 of the sheet is not coated with wax. The wax may be applied by any suitable method and apparatus, such as, for example, roller coating or spraying. Otherwise, the embodiment of FIG. 21 is similar to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 20. Referring to FIG. 22, it is within the scope of the present invention to include a retention band 64 that is wrapped around stack 22 to help retain bundles 18a-e in a compact configuration. Retention strip 64 may be included instead of or in addition to side glue beads 44 and 48.

In addition, a band (not shown) similar to band 64 may be substituted for each of pouches 17a-e, that encircles each group of seven (7) consumable products G. Bulk packages according to the present invention have several significant advantages over current packages for consumable products. For example, as compared to one current chewing gum package which includes a container housing two bundles similar to the bundles of the present invention, the illustrated package 10 including five bundles 18 achieves about a 40% reduction in mass of adhesive per gum stick, and about a 27% reduction in total mass of packaging material per gum stick, when consumable products G are gum sticks. Moreover, package 10 provides 150% more gum than the current two-bundle package, thus allowing the consumer to carry significantly more gum in a single convenient package. While the invention has been described with respect to certain preferred embodiments, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, it is to be understood that the invention is capable of numerous changes, modifications and rearrangements, and such changes, modifications and rearrangements are intended to be covered by the following claims.