EP0960831A1 - Package comprising a coupon and process for obtaining said package - Google Patents

Abstract

The package, e.g. a cigarette packet, has an outer film wrapper (2) which is removed by means of a tear-off strip (20) with an end tab (21). The package contains a coupon (3) inside the film wrapper which is also opened along a tear line (31) coinciding with that of the strip (20), so that when the package is opened the coupon is opened at the same time, giving immediate access to its contents. An Independent claim Is included for a method and machine for manufacturing the packaging.

Description

The present invention relates to a packaging provided with a coupon advertising or other on at least one of its external faces as well as process for manufacturing such packaging.

There are packaging, including but not limited to cigarette packs, fitted on one side with a coupon which can be opened to to be read, said coupon bearing advertising indications, a manual, indications for a competition or any other appropriate indications.

US-A-5,035,935 describes a cigarette packet provided with a such coupon placed under the transparent film covering the pack of cigarettes. Such an arrangement requires completely removing the transparent film before you can access the coupon. On the other hand, given the need for the film transparent, this arrangement cannot be adapted to packaging made of a single layer, i.e. without the outer transparent film, Another disadvantage of the proposed means is that it is not possible to simultaneously open the pack of cigarettes and coupon.

EP-A-0.803.450 also describes a pack of cigarettes provided with a tax coupon under the outer transparent film, Since the coupon is attached to the surface of the film strip which will lie against the package of cigarettes, it is necessary to provide an additional step when production of the film to arrange the tear tape allowing simultaneously opening the transparent film and tearing the coupon tax. Note that in this case the tax coupon is not intended to be read after opening the package.

A first object of the invention is therefore to provide packaging one or more packages or objects, provided on at least one of its outer sides of a closed coupon, the means of opening the packaging and of the coupon being coordinated in such a way that the opening of the packaging causes the coupon to open simultaneously.

A second object of the invention is to allow such a provision is suitable for all kinds of packaging, in particular but not exclusively to packages of cigarette packages, rigid type or soft comprising an outer packaging film or soft type consisting of only one thickness, ie without the outer film.

A third object of the invention is to allow such a layout is suitable for all kinds of coupons, for example coupons partially or completely covering one or two sides of the packaging, coupons of various shapes and sizes, coupons that may contain a interior insert unfoldable in any way, coupons can contain a detachable insert, etc.

These various purposes are obtained by a package having the Features of claim 1. Various embodiments or variants are described in claims 2 to 12.

Another object of the invention is to propose at least one method of production of such packaging.

Two different methods are described in claims 13 and 14, variants being described in claims 15 to 17.

La figure 1 représente une première forme d'exécution d'un emballage muni d'un coupon selon l'invention, à l'état fermé,

la figure 2 représente le même emballage que celui de la figure 1 lorsqu'une portion du film transparent a été retirée et que le coupon est ouvert,

la figure 3 représente une autre forme d'exécution d'un emballage muni d'un coupon,

la figure 4 représente encore une autre forme d'exécution d'un emballage muni d'un coupon,

la figure 5 représente encore une autre forme d'exécution d'un emballage muni d'un coupon,

les figures 6A et 6B sont des coupes transversales d'une première forme d'exécution d'un coupon, respectivement à l'état fermé et à l'état ouvert,

les figures 7A et 7B sont des coupes transversales d'une autre forme d'exécution d'un coupon, respectivement à l'état fermé et à l'état ouvert,

la figure 8 décrit schématiquement un premier procédé permettant d'obtenir un emballage muni d'un coupon, et

la figure 9 décrit schématiquement un autre procédé permettant d'obtenir un emballage muni d'un coupon.

Several particular embodiments of a packaging according to the invention or of a manufacturing process are described below, the description being to be considered with regard to the appended drawing comprising the figures where:

FIG. 1 represents a first embodiment of a package provided with a coupon according to the invention, in the closed state,

FIG. 2 represents the same packaging as that of FIG. 1 when a portion of the transparent film has been removed and the coupon is opened,

FIG. 3 represents another embodiment of a packaging provided with a coupon,

FIG. 4 represents yet another embodiment of a package provided with a coupon,

FIG. 5 represents yet another embodiment of a package provided with a coupon,

FIGS. 6A and 6B are cross sections of a first embodiment of a coupon, respectively in the closed state and in the open state,

FIGS. 7A and 7B are cross sections of another embodiment of a coupon, respectively in the closed state and in the open state,

FIG. 8 schematically describes a first method making it possible to obtain a packaging provided with a coupon, and

Figure 9 schematically describes another method for obtaining a package with a coupon.

Although the figures and the description which follow relate to a package of cigarettes, the concepts of package and packaging should be extended to any type of packaging of any product on which a coupon can be arranged in either of the ways described. The shape of the packaging may also not be parallelepiped as shown, but may be of different shape, for example circular cylindrical.

In Figure 1 we have a pack of cigarettes 1, for example of the type rigid, covered with a film 2 of a preferably transparent material such as cellophane, polypropylene or any other material commonly used in this effect. The package 1 is here provided with a coupon 3 arranged on one of its faces, outside the film 2. The outside face 30 of the coupon 3 is visible and can bear a logo, an advertising indication or any other indication. When sale of package 1, coupon 3 must be closed, opening it to read the information it contains or access its content should not be possible only when or after opening the package 1. The way coupon 3 is closed is described in detail below with regard to the explanations concerning the Figure 6A.

To open the package 1, the film 2 is provided here so conventional of a tear strip 20, integrated into the film 2 and making the around the side faces of the package 1, one end of the tear strip 20 being provided with a tear-off tab 21, shown here unfolded to be capture. The coupon 3 is provided with a line 31 whose mechanical resistance is weakened, for example by successive perforations, this line of weakened resistance 31 being arranged essentially parallel and in view of a portion of the tear strip 20. The resistance line weakened separates coupon 3 into two portions, a first portion 300, the most important, which is fixed to the portion 22 of the film 2 which will remain on the package 1 after opening, and a second portion 301 which is fixed to the portion 23 film 2 which will be removed when opening package 1 and then discarded. So, seen the correspondence of the line 31 on the tear strip 20, during the opening of package 1 by pulling on the tear strip 20 to remove the portion upper 23 of film 2, the coupon 3 is simultaneously opened allowing the user to access the information it contains.

Figure 2 shows the same package when the tear strip 20 and the upper portion 23 of the film 2 have been removed, leaving the lower portion 22 of film 2 on package 1, on which coupon 3 is attached. The part top 10 of package 1 can now be opened conventional to access cigarettes or other objects it contains. Simultaneously, the interior faces or pages 302 and 303 of coupon 3 previously unavailable when the packaging was closed, are now accessible by unfolding coupon 3 around a fold 32.

Figure 3 shows another embodiment of a package of cigarettes 1 whose packaging 4 is obtained in a single sheet of a single layer, as described for example in patent EP-B-0.633.201, Such packaging for a pack of soft cigarettes does not include film 2 of the previous packaging. Such packaging may be provided with a tear strip 40 and a pull tab 41. Coupon 3 is shown here in essentially circular form, but could also be of a different shape, including a fold 32 for the opening as previously as well as a weakened resistance line 31.

In the above embodiments, we note that the face top of package 1 includes folded film 2 closures for shape Figure 1, or the packaging blank 4 for the shape of execution of FIG. 3. Such an arrangement of a face prevents there arrange the tear strip considering the superposition of the folded layers. However, if you wish to have a coupon 3 on one side of the package 1 with folds of the film or the packaging sheet such as for example the upper side or lower side, it is possible to arrange the package 1 as shown in Figure 4, either by providing that the tear strip 20 is arranged near the periphery of the upper face and fixing the main portion 300 of the coupon 3 essentially on the upper face, while the portion 301 is folded down on a lateral face so that the weakened resistance line 31 is superimposed on a portion of the ribbon lifting 20.

Figure 5 shows yet another embodiment of a coupon 3 which here opens in two parts. Coupon 3 shown here covers essentially a whole side of the package 1. The tear strip 20 is not more arranged near a border of coupon 3 but in a more central, so that the coupon opens in two opposite flaps. In the example shown in the figure, the tear strip 20 has been removed, which tore the pre-weakened resistance line 31 of coupon 3 and allowed to open the two shutters. The two portions 300 and 301 of coupon 3 are of equal dimensions, one or the other of the two said portions may be larger than the other. Likewise it is not compulsory that the coupon 3 is arranged so that the opening line 31 is parallel to the fold line 32; by arranging these two lines with a certain angle between them, we can get the two shutters to have shapes different. The portion 301 attached to the portion 23 of the package which will be eliminated can for example adhere to it so that it can easily be partially or completely detached, or contain a self-adhesive insert 35 detachable. According to a variant of this embodiment, the portion 300 of the coupon is arranged on a front or side face of the package while the portion 301 is arranged on an upper face of the package, as shown in Figure 4. Such a variant is particularly well suited to a soft pack in a single layer as described above.

Figures 6A and 6B as well as 7A and 7B show, in section, two possible forms of execution of a coupon 3.

In FIG. 6A, the coupon 3 is formed of a sheet, folded around a fold line forming a fold 32, the portion 320 of the coupon 3 opposite the fold 32 being closed, for example by means of closure, for example a point or a line of glue 321 or by embossing, so as to keep the coupon closed before opening the packaging, It is also possible that instead of a leaflet folded we have two sheets assembled along line 32 as well as on the opposite portion 320. The line 31 of pre-weakened resistance, for example a pre-cut line arranged on the two superimposed portions of the sheet, is here arranged near this closing line 321, the line of weakened resistance 31 separating the coupon 3 into a main portion 300 and another portion 301. The face of this assembly, opposite the face 30 which is visible on the outside of package 1 is glued, at least partially on a corresponding portion of film 2 so that the resistance line pre-weakened 31 is parallel and approximately superimposed on a portion of the tear strip 20, that the main portion 300 of the coupon 3 is superimposed on the portion 22 of the film 2 which will remain later on the package 1 and that the other portion 301 of the coupon 3 carrying the closing line 321 is superimposed on the portion 23 of the film 2 which will be removed after opening the package 1. Preferably the face of the coupon 3 to be stuck on the film 2 is self-adhesive, but it is also possible to provide a few dots or lines of collage 33. For a good opening of the coupon 3 it is necessary that minus the portion 331 (see Figure 1) of coupon 3 carrying the end of the line of pre-weakened resistance 31 on which the opening of the coupon 3 is initiated, is well bonded by the bonding line 330 on the corresponding portion of the film 2 carrying the tear strip 20. In this way, when the user removes the tear strip 20, the corresponding portion of the coupon 3 remains attached to it and its opening is facilitated.

FIG. 6B shows the same coupon 3 after its opening, respectively the opening of the film 2. For this, the user pulled on the strip tear-off 20, separating the film 2 into its two portions 22 and 23. The portion main 300 of coupon 3 remains fixed on portion 22 of film 2 which remains on package 1, while portion 301 of coupon 3 is eliminated with the portion 23 of film 2. Given the opening of the pre-weakened resistance line, it now becomes possible to open coupon 3 by unfolding it around fold 32 and read the information contained on internal pages 302 and 303 of the coupon 3.

As indicated above with reference to FIG. 5, it is not necessary that the pre-weakened resistance line 31 is placed close of the 320 portion of the coupon, but it can be arranged in any place between this portion and fold 32.

FIG. 7A shows a coupon 3 according to another embodiment. Coupon 3 consists essentially of and is fixed exactly the same the way described just above, except that a second sheet 34 folded for example in accordion and fixed by a collage 340 on a portion of the face 303 of the first sheet close to the fold 32. The length of each folded page of sheet 34 is such that these pages do not intercept the pre-weakened resistance line 31 of the first sheet. Like before, after opening the package and coupon 3, it is possible to access the pages 341 to 346 of sheet 34 in addition to pages 302 and 303 of the first sheet.

Alternatively, it is possible to have a self-adhesive insert 35 on any of pages 341 to 346 or 302 and 303, this self-adhesive insert can represent points to collect, a voucher for participation in a contest or lottery or any other object of the same kind, said insert 35 can be peeled off when coupon 3 is open, Such an insert can obviously be provided on a coupon according to the first embodiment described.

The described embodiments of a coupon 3 placed on a film 2 are obviously also valid for the same coupon 3 placed on a sheet of packaging 4 as on the embodiment of the packaging of Figure 3.

Figures 6A and B as well as 7A and B show two shapes possible execution of a coupon 3 among many possibilities, in in particular coupon 3 may consist of more than two sheets, possibly folded or glued differently than what was shown, each sheet may contain a different number of pages from what has been described, the constitution of coupon 3 may be different, for example in the form of a small booklet rather than foldable pages in accordion. The length and width dimensions of coupon 3 are essentially determined by those of the face of package 1 on which the coupon 3 will be glued, We see in Figures 1 and 3 that the coupon covers a portion of a front face, while the coupon of FIG. 5 covers completely one side and that of Figure 4 partially covers two adjacent faces. Figure 3 shows that coupon 3 can be shaped different than square or rectangular. The weakened resistance line 31 can be of any suitable type, for example a tear strip, a perforated line or a locally reduced thickness line. So preferential, coupon 3 closed as indicated above and fitted with its pre-weakened resistance line 31, with or without an adhesion layer self-adhesive, is obtained as is from the coupon manufacturer to be applied to packaging as described below.

With regard to packaging, it has been clarified that it may be a hard or soft type packaging, whether or not covered with a protective film outside, not exclusively intended for packaging cigarettes or other tobacco industry products. In fact, from the above description, understands that a coupon 3, according to any of the embodiments described or possible, can be placed on the outermost layer of any type of packaging with a means of opening similar to a tear strip. It can be as described from the packaging of products from the tobacco industry, the food industry or whatever, the packaging in question here can be an outer packaging packing a plurality of packages or objects of any shape, such as for example a package of a carton of cigarettes. Ways possible opening of the packaging able to function as described may be slightly different from what has been described, for example the band tear-off 20 or 40 can be replaced by a tear-off wire arranged at inside the packaging and following the same path as described for tear strip. It can also be a resistance line pre-weakened, obtained for example by successive or more perforations generally by a decrease in mechanical tensile strength according to a line determined on the packaging, for example a local decrease the thickness of the packaging sheet obtained by any known means.

Several methods for obtaining such a package provided with a coupon 3 can be considered.

Figure 8 shows very schematically a first example of a process for obtaining a packaging provided with a coupon according to any one of the forms of execution or variants described. This process is based on the fact that coupon 3 is to be placed on the outside of the packaging and that it can therefore be placed on package 1 whose packaging is finished.

On a portion of machine 5 on which the packages 1 circulate for example on an endless belt 50 in the direction indicated by the arrow, there is a distributor 51, of known technique, provided with a reservoir 52 filled with coupons 3. A detector 53, for example a cell photoelectric, can detect the presence and position of a packet 1 within the operating range of the distributor 51 and, via the control 54, controls the actuation of the distributor 51 so that it deposits a coupon 3 on the detected package 1, according to a position calculated so as to match the pre-weakened resistance line of coupon 3 with that of the packaging of package 1. If the back of coupon 3 is self-adhesive it adheres directly on the packaging. Otherwise, a device complementary 55 for applying glue dots, glue lines or a glued surface is also controlled by control unit 54 in order to prepare the bonding on a package 1 before applying the coupon 3.

The advantage of this process is that the necessary equipment is very simple design, space-saving and can be installed on any which portion of a machine 5 where the packages 1 circulate as described. he can even be installed on a simple packet transfer installation 1.

Figure 9 also very schematically shows another example a process for obtaining a packaging provided with a coupon according to one any of the forms of execution or variants described. In this case, the coupon 3 is placed on the packaging portion before it is applied to the object or package to be packaged.

The portion of machine 6 represented here is for example the portion a machine for preparing a packaging from a strip 200 of the material intended to form the packaging, said strip being unwound from of a coil not shown in the figure. Training means, not more represented, drive the strip 200, in the direction indicated by the arrow. A cutting means, shown schematically by the rotary knife 61 and the counter-roller 610 sequentially cuts the strip 200 in order to form the blanks intended to become packaging 2. Knife actuation rotary 61 is controlled by the control unit 75. After cutting the strip 200, the blanks are treated in a known manner in order to constitute each one package 2. The first pre-weakened resistance line 20 a generally already made longitudinally on the strip 200.

The device described above is here supplemented with a laying arm 7 of known technique used here for installing coupons 3. The laying arm 7 comprises means for supporting a first reel 70 of a ribbon 71 on which coupons 3 adhere temporarily, being arranged one behind the others on ribbon 71, slightly spaced apart. The arm of pose 7 also includes means for supporting a second coil 72 responsible for winding the ribbon 71 after the coupons 3 have been detached therefrom in a known manner inside the laying arm 7. Each coupon 3 detached is then brought, by pneumatic or other means, to a finger pose 73 placed in the immediate vicinity of the portion of the strip 200 in movement immediately preceding the rotary knife 61, the laying finger 73 applying coupon 3 to said portion, so that the line of pre-weakened resistance 31 of the coupon is placed opposite the first line of pre-weakened resistance existing on the strip 200, by lateral wedging correct fitting finger 73 relative to the width of the strip 200. A planar bearing surface 74 may be provided on the other side of said portion so offer stable support during this operation. As before, the coupon 3 can be self-adhesive or means for applying glue similar to those described above can be provided to adhere the coupon 3 on the strip 200. The control unit 75 ensures synchronization of the action of the laying finger 73 with the rotary knife 61, so that each coupon 3 is correctly placed, respectively that its position laying along the strip 200 corresponds to the place corresponding to the face of the finished packaging on which it is to be placed.

This example of a method of fitting coupon 3 is only illustrative of a way to apply coupon 3 on a strip 200 of the product intended to constitute the packaging. Other tape processing devices 200 are known, all of which can generally be equipped with an arm pose 7, synchronized with any means of the machine so as to align the two pre-weakened resistance lines and position the coupon on the bandaged.

It is obviously also possible to equip an installation of transfer of packaged packets, as shown in Figure 8, from an arm pose 7 as shown in figure 9, just as it is also possible to equip the preparation facility with packaging from a strip, shown in FIG. 9, of a dispenser 51 as shown in FIG. 8.

Tests have shown that for good simultaneous opening of packaging and coupon, it is not absolutely necessary that both lines of pre-weakened resistance, coupon and packaging, either exactly superimposed, a certain lateral positioning tolerance of the order of 1 mm being admissible.

Claims (20)

Packaging of a package (1) or one or more objects, said packaging consisting in particular of an outer packaging sheet (2,4) provided with an opening means consisting in particular of a first line opening (20.40) disposed on at least one face of said packaging, characterized in that a closed coupon (3) is attached to at least a portion of at least at least one outer face of said outer packaging sheet, said coupon being provided with a second opening line (31) arranged so that that opening the packaging causes the coupon to open simultaneously Packaging according to claim 1, characterized in that the coupon (3) consists of at least one sheet folded along at least one fold line (32), the portion (320) of said sheet opposite the fold line being closed, said second opening line (31) being disposed between the fold line (32) and said opposite closed portion (320), the coupon (3) being attached to the package such that said second opening line (31) is arranged in parallel and in the immediate vicinity of at least a portion of said first opening line (20,40), said coupon comprising a first portion (300) disposed between the fold line (32) and the second opening line (31) and a second portion (301) disposed between the second opening line (31) and said opposite closed portion (320), said first portion (300) of the coupon being attached to a first portion (22) of the packaging while said second portion (301) of the coupon is fixed to a second portion (23) of the package. Packaging according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the first opening line consists of a tear strip (20.40). Packaging according to one of claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the first opening line consists of a first line of weakened mechanical strength as well as a tear-off wire superimposed on said opening line and arranged on the internal face of said packaging sheet outside. Packaging according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the second opening line (31) consists of a second line of weakened mechanical resistance. Packaging according to one of claims 4 or 5, characterized in what the first and / or second weakened resistance line is consisting of a perforated line. Packaging according to one of claims 4 or 5, characterized in what the first and / or second weakened resistance line is consisting of a line of reduced thickness. Packaging according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least a portion (300,301) of the coupon 3 is fixed on a side face of the packaging. Packaging according to claim 8, characterized in that a portion (300,301) of the coupon (3) is fixed to an end face of the packaging. Packaging according to one of the preceding claims characterized in that the coupon (3) comprises an interior insert (34) capable of be unfolded after opening the coupon, respectively from the packaging. Packaging according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the coupon (3) includes a detachable inner insert (35). Packaging according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least the portion (331) of the face of the coupon (3) applied against the packaging (2,4), including the end of the second line opening (31) on which the opening of the coupon will be glued on said packaging. Method for producing a packaging according to one of previous claims, characterized in that in one place of a machine (5) where the packets (1) packed circulate in a determined direction, a position detector (53) of a packet indicates to a means for applying a coupon (51, 7), placed opposite the package on which the coupon (3) is apply, apply said coupon on said packaged package. Method for producing a packaging according to one of Claims 1 to 12, characterized in that on a preparation machine packaging (6) on which a strip (200) of material intended to constitute said packaging circulates in a determined direction, an application means of a coupon (51,7) sequentially applies a coupon (3) on a portion corresponding of said strip (200), said application being controlled by a control unit (75) able to synchronize the application of the coupon (3) with any means from the packaging preparation machine (6). Method according to one of claims 13 or 14, characterized in what the means of applying a coupon is a coupon distributor (51). Method according to one of claims 13 or 14, characterized in what the means of applying a coupon is a laying arm (7) carrying a support strip (71) on which the coupons (3) are successively fixed not permanently, said laying arm being provided with means for detachment of the coupon from said support strip and application of said coupon Method according to one of claims 15 or 16, characterized in that an adhesive applicator (55) applies one or more points, one or several lines or a surface of glue on the packaging before applying the coupon (3) on said packaging or said strip (200). Cartridge packaging a plurality of packages of the tobacco industry provided with a packaging according to one of claims 1 to 12. Package of tobacco industry products with packaging according to one of claims 1 to 12. Packaging according to one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in what it is intended to pack one or more packages or products of the food industry.

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