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(11) | EP 0 465 146 B1 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT SPECIFICATION |
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| (54) |
Package, particularly for sticks with cotton buds Verpackung für Wattestäbchen Emballage pour coton-tiges |
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| Note: Within nine months from the publication of the mention of the grant of the European patent, any person may give notice to the European Patent Office of opposition to the European patent granted. Notice of opposition shall be filed in a written reasoned statement. It shall not be deemed to have been filed until the opposition fee has been paid. (Art. 99(1) European Patent Convention). |
[0001] The present invention refers to a package, particularly for sticks having cotton buds, which comprises lower, upper, front, rear, and side walls and is made of paper, card-board, carton or similar material, with a cover portion being provided in one of the said walls. One of the sides of said cover portion defines a folding line, while the remaining sides are linked to the package material by means of a weakened line formed by a series of alternate slots and connecting bridges forming rupture points. The folding line is provided in a direction parallel to that in which the sticks are placed inside the package. A package of said type is known from US-A-3 219 181.
[0002] In this kind of package, when opening the package for the first time, the user should slightly press the region of the upper wall which is located nearly in the middle of the package width and close to the still closed cover portion. Due to that pressing, the bridges forming said rupture points are supposed to break off, releasing the cover to pivot around said folding line and making the sticks inside the package accessible to the user.
[0003] As it happens, in the packages known from the state of the art, the cover portion terminates a small distance from the side edges of the package. As a result, the following disadvantages are observed:
- by pressing the region which is indicated for the opening of the cover, there is only a partial rupture of said rupture points (the connecting bridges) in the cover portion in respect to the package wall, due to the fact that the cover portion tends to cave in together with the package wall, because there is no counter force which prevents the displacement of the cover portion in the direction of the pressing force, so that, in order to complete the opening operation, the user has to pull the cover portion upwards; and
- due to the fact that the cover portion does not extend up to the package sides, the dimension of the cover parallel to the sticks' length is a little shorter than the said sticks' length, making it difficult to remove the sticks from the package.
[0004] The objective of the present invention is to provide a package of the type described above which obviates the cited disadvantages, permitting a slight compression of the appropriate region of the package wall to result in the complete rupture of said connecting bridges of the cover portion.
[0006] By pressing the corresponding portion of the package wall where said cover portion is located, the package side walls prevent the cover portion to cave in together with the wall region which is being compressed, so that the cover portion and the region adjacent thereto tend to separate, thus resulting in the rupture of the connecting bridges. The opening operation can, therefore, be carried out in a single step and, besides, the package width now coincides with the cover width, making it easier to remove the sticks from the package.
[0007] The present invention will be described in more detail, reference being made to the attached drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of the package, with the cover portion still integrated with the package upper wall, in its closed position; and
Figure 2 is a perspective view of the package with the cover portion in its opened position, with the connecting bridges already torn off.
[0008] The parallelepipedal shaped package 1 has in its upper wall 2 a cover portion 3 which, on one of its sides, is linked to the wall 2 by means of a folding line 4, while in the remaining portion of its periphery, the cover portion 3 is linked to the wall 2 by means of a weakened line formed by alternate slots 10 and connecting bridges 5 defining rupture points.
[0009] The cover portion 3 includes a recess 9 centrally formed on its edge 11 opposite the said folding line 4. The transition from the ends of the transverse portion of the weakened line to the remaining portions of said weakened line of of said cover portion runs in at an angle.
[0010] By applying finger pressure on the region indicated by the reference 6 the upper wall 2 of the package 1 caves in, but the cover portion 3 does not because its sides are supported by the side walls 7 of the package, thus causing the rupture of said connecting bridges 5 and the opening of the cover portion 3.
[0011] As previously mentioned, besides hastening the opening of the cover portion, the proposed improvement will allow easy withdrawal of the sticks 8 from the interior of the package 1.
[0012] It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described with reference to the attached drawings, which is a mere example of the inventive concept intended to be protected. For example, the transition from the ends of the transverse portion of the weakened line to the remaining portions of said weakened line have been described as running in at an angle, but the same can have a different configuration, provided that the connecting bridges 5 are torn off when finger pressure is applied to the appropriate location of the upper wall of the package.
1. Package, particularly for sticks having cotton buds, comprising a lower wall, a upper
wall (2), a front wall, a rear wall and two side walls (7), the upper wall (2) including
a cover portion (3) linked, on one side, to the upper wall (2) by means of a folding
line (4) extending transversely to the side walls (7) and, in the remaining portion
of its periphery, by means of a weakened, rupturable line, the cover portion (3) extending
laterally to the side walls (7) of the package (1), said weakened line running transversely
across the package parallel to said folding line and along the side edges of the upper
wall and connecting there with the folding line.
2. Package, according to claim 1, wherein the package has a parallelepipedal configuration,
whereby the cover portion (3) has a recess (9) centrally on its edge, opposite to
the said folding line (4).
3. Package, according to any one of claims 1 or 2, wherein the transition from the ends
of the transverse portion of the weakened line to the remaining portions of said weakened
line of said cover portion runs in at an angle.
1. Packung, insbesondere für Wattestäbchen, bestehend aus einer unteren Wand, einer oberen
Wand (2), einer Vorderwand, einer Rückwand und zwei Seitenwänden (7), wobei die obere
Wand (2) einen Abdeckteil (3) umfaßt, der an einer Seite an die obere Wand (2) mittels
einer Faltlinie (4) angelenkt ist, die sich quer zu den Seitenwänden (7) und auf dem
übrigen Teil seines Umfangs mittels einer zerreißbaren Schwächungslinie erstreckt,
wobei der Abdeckteil (3) sich seitlich zu den Seitenwänden (7) der Packung (1) erstreckt,
die Schwächungslinie quer zu der Packung parallel zu der genannten Faltlinie und längs
der Seitenränder der oberen Wand verläuft und dort mit der Faltlinie verbunden ist.
2. Packung nach Anspruch 1 bei der die Packung eine parallelepipedische Konfiguration
hat, wodurch der Abdeckteil (3) eine Ausnehmung (9) in der Mitte seines Randes und
der genannten Faltlinie (4) gegenüberliegend hat.
3. Packung nach einem der Ansprüche 1 oder 2, bei der der Übergang von den Enden des
Querteils der Schwächungslinie zu dem übrigen Teil der Schwächungslinie des Abdeckteils
in einem Winkel verläuft.
1. Emballage, notamment pour des coton-tiges, comprenant un fond, une paroi supérieure
(2), une paroi frontale, une paroi arrière et deux parois latérales (7), la paroi
supérieure (2) comprenant une partie formant couvercle (3) rattachée, sur un côté,
à la paroi supérieure (2) par l'intermédiaire d'une ligne de pliage (4) s'étendant
transversalement aux parois latérales (7) et, dans la partie restante de sa périphérie,
par l'intermédiaire d'une ligne affaiblie et pouvant être rompue, la partie formant
couvercle (3) s'étendant latéralement aux parois latérales (7) de l'emballage (1),
ladite ligne affaiblie s'étendant transversalement à travers l'emballage parallèlement
à ladite ligne de pliage et le long des bords latéraux de la paroi supérieure et se
raccordant à cet endroit avec la ligne de pliage.
2. Emballage, selon la revendication 1, dans lequel l'emballage a une configuration de
parallélépipède, où la partie formant couvercle (3) comporte une encoche (9) située
au centre par rapport à son bord, à l'opposé de ladite ligne de pliage (4).
3. Emballage, selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 ou 2, dans lequel la transition
des extrémités de la partie transversale de la ligne affaiblie à la partie restante
de ladite ligne affaiblie de ladite partie formant couvercle fait un angle.