A cigar tube (1) comprising a first tubular body (2) and a second tubular body (3), which are open at one end, and an intermediate tubular connection member (5), having a first end (5a) and a second end (5b) respectively engaged with the open ends of the first tubular body (2) and the second tubular body (3) with a slight press fit, to provide, with said tubular bodies (2, 3), an exact airtight form fit between complementary profiles.
The present invention relates to a cigar tube in accordance with the preamble of claim 1.
Valuable cigars are known to be individually packaged using tubes as described above.
One of the requirements to be met by cigar tubes is preservation of the physical integrity of the cigar held therein during transportation and until the moment of use. Furthermore, the tube should be able to protect the cigar contained therein from exposure to the environment, e.g. from moisture, and to preserve tobacco. Therefore, it is essential for the cigar tube both to have a rigid construction and to ensure a substantially airtight closure of its interior part.
As a result of the above requirements, currently available cigar tubes are rigid tubes, preferably made of metal, and have a screw cap.
Regarding prior art cigar tubes, the need of forming threaded parts both in the body of the tube and in the cap involves technical complications, as well as higher manufacturing costs per tube. This is highly prejudicial in terms of incidence of costs of each cigar tube, considering also that such cigar tube is designed for single use.
This invention is based on the issue of conceiving a cigar tube which has such structural and functional characteristics as to obviate the above mentioned drawbacks of prior art cigar tubes.
This problem is solved by the provision of a cigar tube according to claim 1.
Further features and advantages of the cigar tube of this invention will be apparent from the following description of one preferred embodiment thereof, which is given by way of illustration and without limitation with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:
Referring to the accompanying figures, numeral 1 generally designates a cigar tube according to the invention.
The cigar tube comprises a first tubular body 2 and a second tubular body 3 extending in a prevailing axial direction X-X, which are each open at one end.
Advantageously, the cigar tube 1 has an intermediate tubular connection member 5, having a first end (5a) and a second end 5b respectively engaged with the open ends of the first tubular body 2 and the second tubular body 3 with a slight press fit, to provide, with said tubular bodies 2, 3, an exact substantially airtight form fit between complementary profiles. As a whole, the first tubular body 2, the intermediate tubular connection member 5 and the second tubular body 3 form a closed cigar tube (Figures 1 and 4).
As shown in the figures, particularly in Figure 2, the second tubular body 3 defines a cap which is as long as about half the length of the first tubular body 2, which defines the base body proper of the cigar tube 1.
In a preferred aspect, a the press fit between the second end 5b of the intermediate connection member 5 and the second tubular body 3 is less than the press fit between the first end 5a of the intermediate connection member 5 and the first tubular body 2. As a result, as the cigar tube 1 is held in one hand and the first tubular body 2 and the second tubular body 3 are axially driven apart, i.e. when the cigar tube 5 is opened, the intermediate connection member 5 remains integral with the first tubular body 2, and the tubular body 3, i.e. the cap of the cigar tube will only be separated
In accordance with an advantageous aspect, the first end 5a and the second end 5b of such intermediate connection member 5 have respective smaller cross sections than the open ends of the first tubular body 2 and the second tubular body 3 respectively, so that it can fit into such open ends with a slight press fit.
The intermediate connection member 5 has an axial stop element 6 for setting predetermined insertion depths L1 and L2 of the first end 5a and the second end 5b respectively of the intermediate connection member 5 in the open ends of the first tubular body 2 and the second tubular body 3 respectively
In this embodiment, the axial stop element 6 comprises a ring that radially projects out of the wall of the intermediate connection member 5. Therefore, the axial stop element 6 acts as an axial abutment against which the free ends of the first tubular body 2 and the second tubular body 3 stop.
Advantageously, the first tubular body 2 and the second tubular body 3 have a substantially constant cross section.
According to a preferred embodiment, the first tubular body 2 and the second tubular body 3 have a circular cross section. Therefore, the intermediate connection member 5 also has a circular cross section.
The second end 5b of the intermediate connection member 5 terminates in a frustoconical leading portion 5d, which facilitates fitting of the second portion 5b into the open end of the second tubular body 3. In this example, the frustoconical leading portion 5d is a flare.
The first tubular body 2, the second tubular body 3 and the intermediate connection member 5 have such size and geometry as to assure exact airtight coupling therebetween. To achieve the above, preferably, the contacting surfaces of the first tubular body 2, the second tubular body 3 and the intermediate connection member 5 are substantially smooth and have little roughness, to facilitate contact adhesion therebetween.
The first tubular body 2 and the second tubular body 3 are made of aluminum and have an enameled outer surface. The intermediate connection member 5 may also advantageously be formed of aluminum.
According to an advantageous aspect, at said frustoconical leading end portion 5b, the intermediate connection member 5 has a plurality of bosses 4, radially projecting to a predetermined limiting length, e.g. equal to or less than 0.1 mm, from the wall of such frustoconical leading end portion 5d.
By way of example, there may be provided two diametrically opposite bosses, three bosses at 120° from each other or, like in the illustrated embodiment, four bosses at 90° from each other.
The bosses 4 axially extend along the wall of said frustoconical leading end portion 5d to a predetermined small distance from the free end of said frustoconical leading end portion 5d. The bosses 4 form limited contact areas, which provide a substantially equal or greater interference with the open end of said second tubular body 3 as compared with the interference provided by the second end 5b with the open end of the second tubular body 3.
As a mere example, the first end 5a of the intermediate connection member 5 fits into the open end of the first tubular body 2 through an axial section L1 whose length is of the order of 1 cm. Likewise, the second end 5b, 5d of the intermediate connection member 5 fits into the open end of the second tubular body 3 through an axial section L2 whose length is of the order of 1 cm.
Conveniently, the closed end of the tubular bodies 2 and 3 may be outwardly rounded, as shown, or in a different manner.
As clearly shown in the above description, the cigar tube of the present invention obviates the prior art drawbacks as set out in the introduction of this disclosure. Such cigar tube provides an airtight closure, in a simple and effective manner, without requiring any threaded parts or any other closure devices, whereby manufacturing costs therefore may be reduced.
Those skilled in the art will obviously appreciate that a number of changes and variants may be made to the cigar tube as described hereinbefore to meet incidental and specific needs, without departure from the scope of the invention, as defined by the following claims.