TOBACCO PACKAGE

Description

[0001] The present invention generally relates to a tobacco package and in particular, to a package suitable for storing and delivering tobacco to a cigarette making machine.

[0002] As an alternative to buying pre-manufactured cigarettes, a user may buy loose tobacco suitable for hand rolling and cigarette papers in order to roll cigarettes by hand. It is also possible for the user to purchase loose tobacco and ready made cigarette tubes, and to fill the cigarette tubes with the tobacco, commonly known as make-your-own (MYO) cigarettes.

[0003] Machines for making cigarettes from loose tobacco have been proposed in the past (see for example EP 1 911 361 A1).

[0004] Some machines use hoppers arranged to receive loose tobacco and deliver it to the machine for the filling of cigarette tubes while other machines use tobacco capsules for delivering bulk tobacco to the machine.

[0005] A major problem with all of these devices is that it is difficult to accurately divide the tobacco (contained in the hopper or capsule) into individual portions. This results in variations of the delivered tobacco amount from an optimum, i.e. standard, amount required for making a single cigarette. Consequently, cigarettes produced using such devices may vary in size (diameter), firmness (tightness of the filling) and distribution of the filling over the length of one cigarette. In turn, such variations lead to variable performance during smoking, i.e. differences in drawing, taste and time for consumption.

[0006] To address this problem, it has been proposed to use pre-portioned tobacco packages, however all of these solutions have associated drawbacks. For example, some known pre-portioned packages require the user to manually open the packages and transfer a tobacco portion to the cigarette making machine. This can be time consuming for the user and result in loose tobacco being lost in transfer.

[0007] Other known pre-portioned packages include tobacco portions or strands, the outer surface of which is formed by a sheath of material or casing which may be smokeable. The content of the casing may be pushed by a plunger axially out of the casing to be transferred to paper tubes via a nozzle.

[0008] Pre-portioned packages using pre-formed tobacco rods can have several disadvantages. Firstly, the machine may need to be configured to open and, in some cases, dispose of the sheath of material, thereby increasing the complexity and cost of the machine. Secondly, amounts of tobacco may be lost in transfer, for example being stuck to the casing or inside the nozzle.

[0009] The present invention seeks to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art.

[0010] According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a tobacco package for use in a cigarette making machine, the package comprising:

a cover; and

a retainer comprising a plurality of chambers to receive a plurality of tobacco portions, and being moveable relative to the cover between a first position, in which the tobacco portions are concealed by at least the cover to prevent the machine from accessing the tobacco portions, and a second position, in which at least one of the tobacco portions is accessible, such that differing degrees of relative movement of the cover relative to the retainer allow differing numbers of chambers to be opened.

[0011] According to a second aspect of the present invention there is also provided a method for making cigarettes comprising the steps of:

inserting a tobacco package according to the first aspect of the invention into the cigarette making machine; and

actuating the retainer of the tobacco package to extract a tobacco portion therefrom for use in a cigarette.

[0012] The tobacco package may also be referred to as a tobacco capsule or container. The tobacco package of the present invention is suitable for storing a plurality of tobacco portions including tobacco rods and delivering the tobacco portions to a cigarette making machine. The tobacco package of the present invention provides improved protection to the tobacco portions during transport and allows the tobacco portions to be released by movement of a cover relative to the retainer. For example, the cover may slide relative to the retainer. Such movement or sliding action may be carried out by a user and is also particularly suited to being actuated by an automatic machine. This opening action can be particularly suited to linear actuation by a device for filling cigarette tubes with use with a MYO cigarette making machine. The motion can include a rotation and/or a translation, generally in a plane of the cover.

[0013] The cover may be an outer cover and the retainer or tobacco portion holder may be moveable within the outer cover. This allows the outer cover to provide protection to the entire retainer. Further the retainer may be more efficiently manufactured, since its function is merely to hold the tobacco portions and it need not provide protection to the tobacco portions, which is provided by the outer cover instead. Accordingly, the retainer and the outer cover may be arranged for their respective functions and the overall complexity and/or related cost of the tobacco package may be reduced and manufacturing may be more efficiently achieved.

[0014] The package may be configured such that the tobacco portions can be accessed sequentially by the relative movement of the retainer and the cover, optionally one by one. Sequential revealing of the tobacco portions means that either individual portions or groups of tobacco portions can be revealed by the relative movement of the retainer and the cover.

[0015] The retainer may be provided with a plurality of dividers forming a plurality of chambers or receiving areas, each chamber may be arranged to receive a tobacco portion, or groups of tobacco portions, such that each chamber is located between two neighbouring dividers. This may facilitate the division of loose tobacco into portions, enabling the delivery of precise amounts of tobacco to a cigarette making machine. Furthermore, using chambers to hold individual portions of tobacco is a cheaper and more efficient way of pre-portioning the tobacco than known solutions. In addition, opening a chamber by moving the retainer relative the cover ensures a quicker and cleaner procedure of delivering precise amounts of tobacco to a cigarette making machine.

[0016] At least one of the chambers may be arranged to have a substantially part-cylindrical wall. This allows the chamber to support a cylindrical tobacco rod and to guide it and protect it from damage.

[0017] The tobacco portion may have a tobacco portion sleeve, which can be cylindrical. A wall of the chamber may comprise at least one gripping portion for releasably retaining the tobacco portion sleeve in the chamber receiving the tobacco portion. Using a tobacco portion sleeve provides structural support and protection to the tobacco portion, enabling the tobacco portion to be gripped and displaced in the chamber without deforming the tobacco portion.

[0018] Where the tobacco portion has a tobacco sleeve, the sleeve may be provided with an adaptor arranged to be engaged by the cigarette making machine. The chamber holding the tobacco portion may be provided with an opening arranged to allow engagement by the machine with the adaptor to pull out the tobacco portion of a side of the chamber. The opening may be in a longitudinal direction of the tobacco sleeve or chamber and the tobacco portion may be extracted or driven out by the adaptor in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of the retainer. In other words, the tobacco portion may be pulled or pushed out in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the chamber. Advantageously, this facilitates ejection of the tobacco portion from the retainer by sliding the tobacco portion using the adaptor and without deforming the tobacco portion.

[0019] The package may comprise engaging means for engaging with a cigarette making machine. In this way the package may be used in a cigarette making machine to deliver tobacco portions which may in turn be used to fill cigarette tubes for example. The engaging means may optionally comprise a step or a ridge or a recess on the package. This can allow a corresponding member of a cigarette making machine to engage with the step or ridge on the package, to retain the package on the machine. This can allow for the prevention or removal of the package, in particular during use of the package by the machine, so that operator intervention does not cause any damage to the machine or tobacco portions during extraction of the tobacco portions from the retainer.

[0020] The retainer may comprise a machine engagement portion, arranged to be engagable by a machine for filling cigarettes to displace the retainer relative to the cover. Providing engagement means on both the cover and the retainer allows the machine to actuate the package to displace the cover relatively to the retainer. In this way, the machine may release and extract tobacco portions from the package in a controlled and optionally automated manner. The engagement portion may be arranged such that the machine can pull a tobacco portion, or the retainer, relative to the cover. This can allow the cover to remain static relative to the machine, while the tobacco portion and/or the retainer can be drawn into or toward the machine to allow a tobacco portion in the retainer to be used by the machine. Additionally or alternatively, the machine engagement portion may be used to fine-position the package inside the machine and control the relative movement of the retainer to the cover.

[0021] The package may comprise locking means for locking the package in a closed position. This can ensure that the package does not unintentionally release tobacco portions or expose them to damage during transport and/or prior to use. Further, the locking means may be arranged such that they cannot be opened without specific tools or specific parts of a machine to actuate the locking means. This provides for the access to the package to be limited to either authorised individuals with specific tools and/or limited to a machine which will use the tobacco portions. This can prevent the wrong kind of tobacco portions being placed in the package by an unauthorised individual and can ensure that the tobacco portions are not inadvertently damaged by exposure by an unauthorised user. The locking means may further be arranged to be actuated by a release mechanism of a cigarette making machine to open the package.

[0022] The package may comprise at least one part which is formed of a substantially rigid material. This may be a thermoplastic or other plastics material, metal, carbon-fibre or other, generally rigid, synthetic or organic materials or metals. This part may provide the structural rigidity required in particular in the area in which the package is arranged to engage with a machine. For example, the engagement portion of the package and/or the retainer itself and/or the locking means may be formed from a substantially rigid material. Remaining parts of the package may be formed from a less rigid sheet of material, such as cardboard, sheet plastic, films or other more flexible material. This material may be folded from a blank to form the structural part of the package. In this way, the more expensive rigid materials, which are often more expensive to obtain and to manufacture, can be used only where necessary, while cheaper and more easily recyclable materials may be used for the general structural parts of the package.

[0023] A tobacco portion held in the retainer may be suitable for making a single cigarette. This enables a user or cigarette making machine to make individual cigarettes using the exact required amount of tobacco. In preferred embodiments the tobacco portions are tobacco rods. A tobacco rod may comprise tobacco wrapped in foil such as a non smokeable but tear resistant foil or paper thereby providing structural rigidity to the tobacco portion. Advantageously, using tobacco portions formed as tobacco rods instead of loose tobacco facilitates the tobacco portions to be accessed by a user or cigarette making machine, particularly when a machine engagement portion is used. Tobacco rods also enable a chamber of the retainer to hold the tobacco portions in place when a gripping portion is provided which can releasable hold the rigid rod. A further advantage is that the tobacco rods may be used to fill standard cigarette tubes having matching dimensions.

[0024] The cover may be profiled, for example by comprising additional walls to provide the tobacco package with a profiled shape for allowing insertion of the package in the cigarette making machine only in a correct orientation. Advantageously, this prevents wrong insertion of the package into the slot of the cigarette making machine, e.g. insertion into wrong slot or wrongly oriented insertion.

[0025] The invention further provides a system comprising a make-your-own (MYO) cigarette making machine and a tobacco package as described. Such a system allows tobacco portions to be used to make home cigarettes without the need for user intervention and protects the tobacco ensuring that the tobacco portions are provided to the machine in a suitable state for filling cigarette tubes for example. The invention may further provide a MYO cigarette making machine arranged to actuate the tobacco package as described herein to extract tobacco portions therefrom.

[0026] Specific examples of the invention will now be described with reference to the following figures in which:

Figures 1A to 1C schematically represent examples of tobacco packages in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 schematically represents a tobacco package in accordance with the invention inserted into a cigarette making machine;

Figure 3 is a schematic illustration of mechanisms for fine-positioning tobacco package in a cigarette making machine;

Figures 4A and 4B schematically show details of further examples of tobacco package in accordance with the present invention;

Figures 5A and 5B schematically show a further design of tobacco package in accordance with the present invention;

Figures 6A to 6F schematically represent a preferred embodiment of a tobacco package in accordance with the invention;

Figure 7 shows a detailed cut away of a locking mechanism of a package of the present invention;

Figure 8 illustrates a tobacco package of the present invention being actuated by an actuation mechanism of a machine;

Figure 9A illustrates a package of the present invention in engagement with a machine for actuating the package;

Figure 9B illustrates a detailed cut-away section of the arrangement of Figure 9A; and

Figure 9C shows a detailed cut-away section of a locking mechanism of the present invention in engagement with an actuation mechanism of a machine.

[0027] Figures 1A to 1C show components of a tobacco package 1 according to the present invention. In the illustrated example, the tobacco package 1 comprises a retainer 2 and a cover 3 which surrounds the retainer 2. The retainer 2 comprises a plurality of chambers 4, wherein each chamber 4 may hold a tobacco portion or tobacco rod (not shown). The tobacco portions therefore may have a generally cylindrical form, and may comprise a wrapper such as a tear resistant foil or paper in which the tobacco is wrapped. The wrapper may or may not be smokeable.

[0028] In this example, the cover 3 is a rectangular cuboid formed of two sets of opposing sides or vertical walls (3A;3A'), (3B; 3B'), with two opposing sides missing. Therefore the cover 3 has two open ends (in this example, an open top side and an open bottom side), thereby forming a sleeve.

[0029] It will be appreciated that the cover 3 may have other suitable shapes (e.g. cylindrical or other types of parallelepipeds) which allow a retainer 2 to be received in and moved through the cover 3. The retainer 2 and the cover 3 may be made of any suitable material such as cardboard or deep drawn plastics or may be moulded from another deformable material. For example, the cover may be made from a substantially air tight and/or moisture tight material to substantially preserve a level of relative humidity in the package when the package is in a closed configuration. The cover may be folded from a sheet of a relatively thin card, plastic or paper and cut through a blank and bonded to form the desired shape.

[0030] In general, the cover 3 receives the retainer 2 by sliding the retainer 2 inside the cover 3. It is desirable, therefore, that the dimensions of the retainer 2 generally match the dimensions of the cover's interior, in order to maximise the size of the retainer 2 which may be received inside the cover 3. The length L of the cover 3 may be between 5 and 11 cm, and the width w of the cover may be between 0.5 and 2 cm for example, so as to enable the retainer 2 to have a length matching that of a standard cigarette. The heights of the cover 3 and retainer 2 may depend for example on the number of tobacco portions held in the retainer. Typically, the heights of the over 3 and retainer 2 are between 5 and 15 cm, to house between five to twenty tobacco portions.

[0031] Figure 1A is a schematic view inside an exemplary tobacco package 1 in accordance with the present invention. The retainer 2 may comprise a plurality of parallel dividers 5, shaped as shelves in this example. In this example, each divider is provided between two side members 2A; 2A' of the retainer 2. The side members in this example are parallel side walls. As will be described below, a side member 2A may have any suitable shape such as a column, for example.

[0032] The side members 2A; 2A' are spaced from each other by a distance shorter than the length L of the cover 3 and the shelves 5 have a width which is shorter than the width w of the cover 3. The shelves 5 are used to divide the retainer 2 into chambers 4, wherein each chamber 4 is enclosed by two neighbouring shelves 5 and two opposing cover walls 3B; 3B'. Accordingly, in this example, the chambers 4 are separate and the retaining component 2 contains separate tobacco portions provided between the shelves 5.

[0033] Preferably, the shelves 5 are perpendicular to the cover walls 3A; 3B and the shelves 5 are equally spaced from each other in order to form equally sized chambers 4. Providing equally sized chambers 4 enables portioning of the tobacco into equal amounts (each amount being suitable for making a single cigarette, for example) when the chambers 4 are filled with tobacco.

[0034] Figure 1B illustrates the tobacco container 1 in a closed position wherein the retainer 2 is fully surrounded by the cover 3. In this position, each chamber 4 of the retainer 4 is closed on all sides. The height of the side members 2A; 2A' of the retainer 2 is greater than the highest walls of the cover 3 (i.e. greater than h2). Accordingly, two opposing walls 3A of the cover 3 (of height h1<h2) are shorter than the side members 2A;2A' in order to expose, in the closed position, parts of the side members 2A; 2A' (indicated by the ellipse). A sealing member or locking mechanism (not shown) may be used to seal or lock the container in the closed position.

[0035] Exposing parts of the side members enables the retainer 2 to engage with a cigarette making machine (now shown). For example the side members 2A;2A' may have a plurality of grooves 6 which may have the shape of a V, referred to as V-grooves, suitable for engaging with the cigarette making machine. As will be described in more detail below, the V-grooves may be used to fine position the retainer 2 within a slot in the machine, by engaging with pins provided inside the machine's slot.

[0036] A user may insert the package 1 into a suitable slot of a cigarette making machine (not shown) and manually push down the retainer 2 such that the retainer 2 moves relative to the cover 3 to an initial position illustrated in Figure 1C. In this initial position, a first chamber 4 (the chamber 4 located at the bottom of the retainer) is open on two opposing sides, exposing a tobacco rod or tobacco portion inside the chamber 4. Opening two opposing sides of the chamber 4 allows for the tobacco rod or portion inside the chamber 4 to be pushed from one side of the chamber and released through the other side by a quick and easy motion, for example by a compressor of the machine (not shown).

[0037] Preferably, the cover 3 and slot have matching shapes, to enable insertion of the package 1 into the slot. Accordingly, the cover 3 may be profiled such that is may only be inserted into the slot in a particular (i.e. correct) orientation. In other words, wrong insertion of the package 1 into the slot of the cigarette making machine (e.g. insertion into wrong slot or wrongly oriented insertion) is not possible.

[0038] The retainer 2 may move further relative to the cover 3, to a second position wherein a second chamber 4 (located above the first opened chamber) becomes open. Thus, a second tobacco portion may be delivered to the machine. This relative movement may be continued until all chambers 4 have been opened and the tobacco has been delivered to the machine.

[0039] Figure 2 is a perspective view of a tobacco package 1 in accordance with the present invention inserted into a cigarette making machine 7. In this illustrative example, the machine 7 is provided with pins 8 suitable for engaging with the retainer 2 in order to aid the positioning of the package 1 inside the machine. Two pins 8 are provided either side of the package 1 and fit into the grooves 6. The machine has a compressor 9 which pushes the tobacco portions out of the opened chamber 4, through the opened sides of the chamber 4. In this specific example the compressor 9 comprises a member that is arranged such that is can pass through the chamber 4 in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the chamber 4 to engage and move the tobacco portion out of the chamber 4.

[0040] Figure 3 is a detailed view of a package 1, showing a side member 2A of a retainer 2 comprising a plurality of V-grooves 6 engaging with pins 8.

[0041] The side members 2A of the retainer 2A may be provided with joints 10 suitable for receiving a divider 5, as shown in Figure 4A. The joints 10 are preferably made of elastic material such as rubber in order to allow a slight movement ('flapping') of the dividers 5 relative to the side members 2A. This movement enables adaptation of the shelves 5 to engage with the compressor 9, thereby enabling relative movement of the retainer 2 relative to the compressor 9 to fine position the retainer 2 with respect to the compressor 9. Furthermore, the dividers may be shelves 5 which have variable thickness along their width as shown in Figure 4B. In other words, the shelves 5 have a profile. The profiling of the shelves 5 enables further adaptation of the shelves 5 for engaging the tobacco compressor 9 which, in turn, allows the compressor to move the retainer 2 relative to the cover 3.

[0042] Figure 5A is a perspective view of a retainer 2A wherein the side members 2A of the retainer 2 are elongated members or columns 2A rather than walls. The columns 2A may be used for example to position the retainer 2 inside the cover 3 and/or machine 7. The columns 2A may also be used to lock the package 1 into the machine 7 by engaging the columns 2A with the machine 7. Figure 5B shows a top view of the retainer of Figure 5A.

[0043] Figures 6A to 6F show components of a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 6A, the cover 30 of a tobacco package 10 has a profiled shape, with an additional pair of opposing sides or vertical walls (30C; 30C'). All vertical walls of this cover 30 have the same height h3. The cover 30 has a closed top side 30D and an open bottom side 30E. Therefore, in contrast with the examples described above, in this embodiment the cover 30 has only one open end.

[0044] Each additional opposing wall (30C; 30C') is located at an angle α with the first pair of vertical walls (30A; 30A'), i.e. the front and back walls, and at an angle β with the second pair of vertical walls (30B; 30B'). In the preferred embodiment α is equal to β and is greater than 90°.

[0045] The cover 30 of the package 10 has a profiled shape, in that in addition to four generally rectanguloid side walls (30A, 30A', 30B, 30B'), which are arranged at substantially 90 degrees to one another, the package 10 is provided with an additional pair of substantially opposing sides or vertical walls 30C and 30C'. Such additional walls can provide the packet with an asymmetrical form, such that it can only be mounted in a cigarette tube filling machine in one orientation.

[0046] The cover 30 may be an outer cover which is arranged to substantially surround the retainer 20. The cover 30 may provide one, two or more walls for the package, but need not surround the entire contents of the inner package in the illustrated manner. The cover may alternatively be arranged to cover or surround only a portion of the remaining components of package 10. For example, an alternative retainer, arranged to interact with the cover 30, may comprise a first part of a protective outer body of package 10, while the cover 30 provides a second part of the outer covering. A substantially hollow body may therefore be provided, containing the package contents, while the cover may only form one, two or more sides of the package to substantially enclose the contents of the package when in a closed position.

[0047] In this embodiment, the cover 30 has a frame 35 which surrounds the bottom portion of the cover 30, adjacent to the open bottom side of the cover 30, as shown in Figure 6A for example. The frame 35 forms a step on the cover 30 representing engaging means suitable for engaging with a cigarette making machine 7. Preferably, the dimensions of the frame 35 match the dimensions of the cover 30 such that the frame 35 forms an outer sleeve on the bottom portion of the cover 30. Accordingly, the frame 35 may have the same number of side walls as the cover 30, having widths slightly bigger than the widths of the side walls (30A; 30A'), (30B; 30B'), and (30C; 30C') of the cover 30, while the height h4 of the frame 35 is smaller than the height h3 of the opposing walls.

[0048] The frame 35 may be substantially thicker and/or more rigid than the cover 30 to provide a degree of structural rigidity to the package adjacent to an opening for extracting inner components of the package 1. To this end, the frame 35 may be moulded from plastics material having greater stiffness than those used for the cover 30, or may simply be of a thicker wall construction to provide greater rigidity. The frame 35 may be formed from different materials from those used for cover 30. For example, the frame 35 (as well as the retainer 20) may be moulded from plastics and the cover 30 may be folded from a plastic sheet or card or a blank made from any other substantially-sheet like material.

[0049] In addition or alternatively to the frame 35, any general change in the outer dimensions of the cover may be implemented such that a corresponding portion of a machine engaging portion can engage with the engaging means of the package. Alternative engaging means may be provided, such as a notch, recess, hinge, protrusion, ridge or the like. The cigarette making machine may comprise a moveable member which can be moved into position to lock the tobacco package 10 in place during operation of the machine.

[0050] Figure 6B is a schematic view inside the tobacco package 10 according to the preferred embodiment. The retainer 20 comprises a plurality of chambers 40, wherein each chamber 40 has a hollow portion for receiving a tobacco portion, preferably a tobacco rod.

[0051] The tobacco portions generally have the form of tobacco rods for filling cigarette tubes to make cigarettes. The tobacco portions therefore may have a generally cylindrical form, comprising tobacco in a wrapper such as a tear resistant foil or paper. The wrapper of the tobacco portions may or may not be smokeable. In the case where the wrapper of the tobacco portions is not smokeable, only the tobacco enters the tobacco tube, which is provided with its own smokeable wrapper, to form a single wrapper cigarette. In the case where the wrapper of the tobacco portions is not smokeable, the tobacco portion including its wrapper are transferred to the tobacco tube, thereby forming a 'double wrapper cigarette'.

[0052] The tobacco rod may be made with standard cigarette making machinery. The length of the tobacco portion inside the tobacco tube may correspond to that of an empty filter tube length.

[0053] The tobacco portions may be held in the chambers 40 in tobacco portion sleeves (not shown) which are substantially hollow and surround the tobacco portions. The tobacco portion sleeves may be made of a substantially rigid material such as plastic to provide structural stability and enable gripping and displacement of the tobacco portions in the chambers of the retainer.

[0054] The retainer may be arranged with a plurality of dividers 50, arranged to support each tobacco portion on at least one side of the tobacco portion and possibly on both sides of each tobacco portion. The retainer 20 may comprise a closure portion 122, which is arranged to close the opening in the outer cover 30 of the package 10 when the package is in a closed configuration. In this closed configuration therefore the cigarette making machine is prevented from accessing the tobacco portions. Therefore, the overall outer structure of the package may be comprised partly of the cover 30 and partly of the closure portion 122 of the retainer 20. Alternatively, the package may be configured such that the cover 30 is configured to close an opening in a housing of the retainer. The package 10 may further be provided with locking means 70, which will be described in greater detail in relation to later figures.

[0055] Figure 6C illustrates a package 10 of the present invention in an open configuration. As can be seen in the figure, cover 30 has been displaced relative to the retainer 20 in a substantially linear fashion, from a closed position to an open position with respect to the arrangement of Figures 6B and 6C. As such, a movement of closure portion 122 of the retainer 20 relative to cover 30 allows chambers 40 holding tobacco portions to open and tobacco portions to be exposed.

[0056] In the preferred embodiment, the package 10 in a closed position is hermetically sealed or airtight so as to prevent humidity exchange between the tobacco portions and the environment. The package 10 may include a first permanent seal (not shown), for example by wrapping a sheet of plastic or polyethylene or other substantially hermetic wrapper as a seal around the retainer 20. An alternative or additional seal, which can be opened and closed repeatedly can be provided, such as for example an elastomer or other deformable seal located between the bottom part of the closure portion 122 and the cover 30 or between the cover 30 and the part of the cover 30 that is configured to close the opening in a housing of the retainer 20.

[0057] Figure 6D shows a cross-section through the package 10 illustrated in Figure 6C. As can be seen in Figure 6D, cover 30 has been displaced relative to the retainer in such a manner that a sub-set of six chamber 40 has been opened to thereby expose six tobacco portions, and a subset of four chambers remains substantially enclosed by the cover 30. Differing degrees of relative movement of cover 30 relative to the retainer 20 can allow differing numbers of chambers 40 to be opened, either individually, one by one, or as sub-groups. In particular, if tobacco portions were stored in the package 10 in a two-wide arrangement, sub groups of two tubes may be exposed by relative movement of the retainer 20 relative to cover 30 by a distance equal to the diameter of a single tobacco portion.

[0058] Figure 6E shows an example of a retainer 20. The retainer 20 comprises a slide 123 which is arranged for sliding engagement with a corresponding slide-engaging portion of the cover 30. Arranged along the slide is a plurality of chambers 40 or tobacco portion receiving areas for receiving tobacco portions such as tobacco rods. The chambers 40 are separated by dividers 50, which may be dividing walls. At least a portion of the dividing walls may have a substantially part-cylindrical form, which may correspond substantially to the cylindrical form of a tobacco rod, to provide support to the cigarette rod. The retainer may be provided with openings 41 at either side of the chamber, which correspond to the cigarette rod ends, to enable the cigarette rod to be extracted from the chamber by pushing the cigarette rod through the chamber. Additionally, a chamber may be provided with a longitudinal opening 42 along the chamber. The longitudinal opening 42 allows engaging means of the machine arranged to actuate the tobacco portion to move the tobacco portion along the chamber 40.

[0059] Where such longitudinal openings are provided, tobacco portion sleeves of tobacco portions may be provided with engaging means or adaptors which can protrude through the longitudinal opening and slide along the longitudinal opening to guide the tobacco portion along the chamber 40. The adaptors can engage with the cigarette making machine to move the tobacco portion through the chamber 40, for example by a clamp of a cigarette making machine. A known, 'tube-like' adaptor 93 is shown in Figure 6F, wherein a tobacco portion 90 comprises tobacco 91 and has a tobacco portion sleeve 92. The adaptor 93 is formed as a tubular extension of the sleeve 92 and the sleeve 92 has an outer diameter which matches the inner diameter of the adaptor 93.

[0060] The dividing walls 50 in this illustrated embodiment have gripping portions 43 which are preferably provided close to the slide 123 or towards the ends of the chambers 40. A gripping portion 43 may be a protrusion arranged to prevent longitudinal movement of the tobacco portion along a longitudinal axis of the tobacco portion, but may be sufficiently small such that the retaining force can be overcome with sufficient pressure or force applied to the tobacco portion. A sufficient pressure or force may be large enough to deform the tobacco sleeve or adaptor to pass the gripping portion, but small enough to do so without significant damage to the tobacco portion. Alternatively or additionally, a gripping portion may be arranged to prevent a tobacco portion from being dislodged from the retainer in a direction substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the tobacco portion.

[0061] Figure 7 illustrates a locking mechanism 70 which may be utilised in a package 10 of the present invention. The locking mechanism 70 comprises a recess 71 in a first part of the package 10 and a recessing engaging member 72 in a second part of the package 10 for engagement with the recess 71. The recess engaging member 72 may be a moveable pin, which may be displaceable to engage and disengage recess 71. The recess engaging member 72 may be biased into a recess engaging position by a biasing member 73, which may be a spring. By translation of the recess engaging member 72 between a recess engaging position and a recess disengaging position, the package 10 may be changed between a locked state and an unlocked state. The locking mechanism may be located substantially inside the package 10. The locking mechanism 70 may be substantially hidden from access from an outer side of package 10, such that the locking mechanism may not be actuated by a manual intervention by a hand or digit of a user. Therefore, the locking mechanism 70 is configured such that it can only be operated with a specific tool or by a machine having specific locking mechanism engagement means, arranged to actuate a locking mechanism 70, preferably where the locking mechanism 70 is substantially located on the inside of a package 10. There may therefore be a wall of package 10 and/or of retainer 20 located between the locking mechanism 70 and an outer side of package 10. An opening (not shown) may be located in the wall of the package, between the locking mechanism 70 and an outer side of the package.

[0062] Figure 8 illustrates the package 10 in engagement with a machine 80 having a mechanism for opening package 10. The machine 80 may be a cigarette tube filling machine, arranged to fill cigarette tubes with tobacco portions. Such machines have been proposed in the past and may therefore be adapted to operate a package of the present invention to extract tobacco portions therefrom.

[0063] Machine 80 may comprise a package engaging portion 81, which may be arranged to engage a machine engagement portion 101 of package 10. Machine engaging portion 101 of package 10 may comprise a ridge or a step or a general change in the outer dimensions of the package 10, such that a corresponding portion of the package engaging portion 81 of machine 80 can engage with the feature to hinder or prevent removal of the package 10 from the machine. The machine 80 may comprise a moveable member which can be moved into position to lock the tobacco package 10 in place during operation of the machine 80.

[0064] The machine 80 may be equipped with a retainer engagement portion 82 which is arranged to engage the retainer 20 and to move the retainer 20 relative to the cover 30 of package 10. As such, a machine 80 may cause relative movement of the cover 30 relative to the retainer 20 to expose tobacco portions for filling cigarette tubes.

[0065] In the illustrated examples, the tobacco package 10 is opened by linear movement of the cover 30 relative to the retainer 20. However, it is also possible to provide a retainer and cover arrangement which is opened by non linear movement, such as rotation of one of the cover and the retainer relative to the other or by a combination of rotation and translation of the cover relative to the remainder of the package. For example, a first part of cover 30 may be integral with retainer 20 to provide a first part of the covering function to enclose tobacco portions within the package 10 and a second portion of cover 30 may be rotatable relative to the first part of the cover to expose tobacco portions for use in a machine 80.

[0066] Figures 9A to 9C illustrate how the tobacco package 10 and machine 80 may be configured to allow a machine to unlock and open a tobacco package 10 of the present invention. Figure 9A shows a package 10, which is in a closed configuration and which is engaged with a machine 80.

[0067] Figure 9B illustrates the detailed section A of Figure 9A. The figure illustrates details of how a locking mechanism 70 of the present invention may be engaged by a locking means engaging device 82 of a machine 80.

[0068] Recess engagement means 72 of the locking mechanism 70 comprises a displacement portion 721 for engagement with a displacing member to displace the recess engagement means, or pin, 72. This displacement portion is located within the package 10 and behind a wall 74 of the package 1, so that no direct linear access to the displacement portion 721 is available to a user to actuate the recess engaging member 72. The wall 74, and opening 75 in the wall are configured such that a locking mechanism release member 83 must be introduced into opening 75 substantially in a first direction and then displaced in a second direction, substantially perpendicular to the first direction in order to release the locking mechanism. Accordingly, release member 83 of machine 80 must be introduced into opening 75 in a first direction, substantially in the direction of arrow 84 in the figure, and subsequently displaced in a direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction in a direction of arrow 85 in the figure, to displace the recess engagement means 72 via the displacement portion 721 to unlock the package 10 for opening.

[0069] Machine 80 may further comprise package engaging means 86. Package engaging means 86 may be a pin and may be manually actuated or may be actuated by the machine. The actuation may be in a substantially linear manner, as indicated by arrow 861, optionally by a rotary or linear motor or a solenoid, or any other substantially linear drive. Alternatively, package engagement means 86 may be rotated to engage the package 1 at machine engaging portion 101. This can be achieved by means such as a screw thread or by rotating the member 86 about a pivot.

[0070] The machine 80 may be configured such that the tobacco extraction and cigarette tube filling process is only initiated if the package engagement means 86 is in the package engaging position. This can prevent the user from removing the package during operation of the machine, which could otherwise damage the machine and/or the package. The machine may therefore comprise a controller, which may be coupled to either or both of: drive means for the package engagement means 86; and drive means for locking means engagement device 82, or cover engagement means for displacing the cover. The controller may be configured to only allow actuation of the displacement means and any further mechanisms for carrying out the tube filling process when the package is engaged by the machine, preferably via package engagement means 86.

[0071] Figure 9C shows the arrangement of Figure 9B, in which the locking mechanism 70 has been actuated to an unlocked position by movement of release member 83 of machine 80 in a direction of arrow 85. It can be seen in the figure that release member 83 has a displacement member engagement portion 86 which is configured to both displace the locking means to unlock the package 10 and further, by engagement with element 74 of the package, the member 86 can further engage the retainer 20 of the package 10 to cause relative displacement between those two components to open the package 10. There is therefore provided a machine having a release member configured to actuate a locking mechanism 70 of the package 10. The machine also comprises an actuation element arranged to engage the package to cause relative movement between a cover 30 and a retainer 20 of the package 10. The release member and the actuation element can be the same element in the illustrated example.

Claims

1. A tobacco package (1) for use in a cigarette making machine (7, 80), the package comprising:

a cover (3);

characterised by:

a retainer (2) comprising a plurality of chambers (4) to receive a plurality of tobacco portions, and being movable relative to the cover (3) between a first position, in which the tobacco portions are concealed by at least the cover (3) to prevent the machine (80) from accessing the tobacco portions, and a second position, in which at least one of the tobacco portions is accessible, such that differing degrees of relative movement of the cover (3) relative to the retainer (2) allow differing numbers of chambers (4) to be opened.

2. A tobacco package (1, 10) according to claim 1, wherein the cover (3, 30) is an outer cover and the retainer (2, 20) is moveable within the outer cover.

3. A tobacco package (1, 10) according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the retainer (2, 20) is configured such that the tobacco portions may be extracted from the cover sequentially, optionally one by one.

4. A tobacco package (1, 10) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the retainer (2, 20) is provided with a plurality of dividers (50) forming a plurality of chambers, each chamber arranged to receive a tobacco portion, such that each chamber is located between two neighbouring dividers.

5. A tobacco package (1, 10) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the tobacco portion has a tobacco portion sleeve and a wall of the chamber comprises at least one gripping portion for releasably retaining the tobacco portion sleeve in the chamber receiving the tobacco portion.

6. A tobacco package (1, 10) according to claim 5, wherein the tobacco portion sleeve has an adaptor for engaging with the cigarette making machine (80) and wherein the at least one chamber comprises an opening arranged to allow engagement with the adaptor to thereby pull out the tobacco portion of a side of the chamber.

7. A tobacco package (1, 10) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the tobacco portion is extracted in a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of the retainer (2, 20).

8. A tobacco package (1, 10) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the package comprises engaging means for engaging with the cigarette making machine (7, 80), the engaging means optionally comprising a step, a ridge or a recess on the package (1, 10).

9. A tobacco package (1, 10) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the retainer (2, 20) comprises a machine engagement portion, arranged to be engageable by the cigarette making machine (80) to displace the retainer (2, 20) relative to the cover (3, 30).

10. A tobacco package (1, 10) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the package (1, 10) comprises locking means (70) for locking the package (1, 10) in the first position, and the locking means (70) are arranged to be actuated by a release mechanism of the cigarette making machine (7, 80) to open the package (1, 10).

11. A tobacco package (1, 10) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the tobacco portion is a tobacco portion suitable for making a single cigarette.

12. A tobacco package (1, 10) according to any one of the preceding claims, the package (1, 10) comprising at least one tobacco portion received in the retainer and wherein the at least one tobacco portion has a tobacco portion sleeve.

13. A tobacco package (1, 10) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the cover comprises additional walls to provide the tobacco package with a profiled shape for allowing insertion of the package in the cigarette making machine (7, 80) only in a correct orientation.

14. A system comprising a make-your-own, MYO, cigarette making machine (7, 80) arranged to actuate the retainer of a tobacco package (1, 10) according to any one of the preceding claims to extract a tobacco portion therefrom.

15. A method for making cigarettes comprising the steps of:

inserting a tobacco package (1, 10) according to any one of claims 1 to 13 into the cigarette making machine (7, 80); and

actuating the retainer (2) of the tobacco package (1, 10) to extract a tobacco portion therefrom for use in a cigarette.

Ansprüche

1. Tabakverpackung (1) zur Verwendung in einer Zigarettenherstellungsmaschine (7, 80), wobei die Verpackung Folgendes umfasst:

eine Abdeckung (3);

gekennzeichnet durch:

einen Halter (2), der mehrere Kammern (4) umfasst, um mehrere Tabakmengen aufzunehmen, und bezogen auf die Abdeckung (3) zwischen einer ersten Position, in der die Tabakmengen durch wenigstens die Abdeckung (3) verdeckt sind, um zu verhindern, dass die Maschine (80) die Tabakmengen erreicht, und einer zweiten Position, in der wenigstens eine der Tabakmengen erreichbar ist, sodass verschiedene Grade einer Relativbewegung der Abdeckung (3) bezogen auf den Halter (2) ermöglichen, verschiedene Anzahlen von Kammern (4) zu öffnen, beweglich ist.

2. Tabakverpackung (1, 10) nach Anspruch 1, wobei die Abdeckung (3, 30) in einer Außenabdeckung ist und der Halter (2, 20) in der Außenabdeckung beweglich ist.

3. Tabakverpackung (1, 10) nach Anspruch 1 oder 2, wobei der Halter (2, 20) derart konfiguriert ist, dass die Tabakmengen aufeinanderfolgend, optional einzeln, aus der Abdeckung extrahiert werden können.

4. Tabakverpackung (1, 10) nach einem der Ansprüche 1 bis 3, wobei der Halter (2, 20) mit mehreren Teilern (50) versehen ist, die mehrere Kammern ausbilden, wobei jede Kammer angeordnet ist, eine Tabakmenge aufzunehmen, sodass sich jede Kammer zwischen zwei benachbarten Teilern befindet.

5. Tabakverpackung (1, 10) nach einem der vorhergehenden Ansprüche, wobei die Tabakmenge eine Tabakmengenhülse aufweist und eine Wand der Kammer wenigstens einen Greifabschnitt zum lösbaren Halten der Tabakmengenhülse in der die Tabakmenge aufnehmenden Kammer umfasst.

6. Tabakverpackung (1, 10), nach Anspruch 5, wobei die Tabakmengenhülse einen Adapter zum Eingreifen in die Zigarettenherstellungsmaschine (80) aufweist und wobei die wenigstens eine Kammer eine Öffnung umfasst, die angeordnet ist, um ein Eingreifen in den Adapter zu ermöglichen, um dadurch die Tabakmenge aus einer Seite der Kammer herauszuziehen.

7. Tabakverpackung (1, 10) nach einem der vorhergehenden Ansprüche, wobei die Tabakmenge in einer Richtung im Wesentlichen senkrecht zur Bewegungsrichtung des Halters (2, 20) extrahiert wird.

8. Tabakverpackung (1, 10) nach einem der vorhergehenden Ansprüche, wobei die Verpackung ein Eingriffsmittel zum Eingreifen in die Zigarettenherstellungsmaschine (7, 80) umfasst, wobei das Eingriffsmittel optional eine Stufe, eine Rippe oder eine Aussparung auf der Verpackung (1, 10) umfasst.

9. Tabakverpackung (1, 10) nach einem der vorhergehenden Ansprüche, wobei der Halter (2, 20) einen Maschineneingriffsabschnitt umfasst, der angeordnet ist, von der Zigarettenherstellungsmaschine (80) in Eingriff genommen werden zu können, um den Halter (2, 20) bezogen auf die Abdeckung (3, 30) zu verschieben.

10. Tabakverpackung (1, 10) nach einem der vorhergehenden Ansprüche, wobei die Verpackung (1, 10) Arretiermittel (70) zum Arretieren der Verpackung (1, 10) in der ersten Position umfasst und die Arretiermittel (70) angeordnet sind, durch einen Freigabemechanismus der Zigarettenherstellungsmaschine (7, 80) betätigt zu werden, um die Verpackung (1, 10) zu öffnen.

11. Tabakverpackung (1, 10) nach einem der vorhergehenden Ansprüche, wobei die Tabakmenge eine zum Herstellen einer einzelnen Zigarette geeignete Tabakmenge ist.

12. Tabakverpackung (1, 10) nach einem der vorhergehenden Ansprüche, wobei die Verpackung (1, 10) wenigstens eine im Halter aufgenommene Tabakmenge umfasst und wobei die wenigstens eine Tabakmenge eine Tabakmengenhülse aufweist.

13. Tabakverpackung (1, 10) nach einem der vorhergehenden Ansprüche, wobei die Abdeckung zusätzliche Wände umfasst, um die Tabakverpackung mit einer Profilform zu versehen, um ein Einführen der Verpackung in die Zigarettenherstellungsmaschine (7, 80) nur in einer richtigen Ausrichtung zu ermöglichen.

14. System, umfassend eine Zigarettenherstellungsmaschine (7, 80) zum Selbstherstellen (Make-Your-Own - MYO), angeordnet, den Halter einer Tabakverpackung (1, 10) nach einem der vorhergehenden Ansprüche zu betätigen, um eine Tabakmenge daraus zu extrahieren.

15. Verfahren zum Herstellen von Zigaretten, die folgenden Schritte umfassend:

Einführen einer Tabakverpackung (1, 10) nach einem der Ansprüche 1 bis 13 in die Zigarettenherstellungsmaschine (7, 80); und

Betätigen des Halters (2) der Tabakverpackung (1, 10) zum Extrahieren einer Tabakmenge daraus zur Verwendung in einer Zigarette.

Revendications

1. Emballage pour tabac (1) pour une utilisation dans une machine de fabrication de cigarettes (7, 80), l'emballage comprenant :

un couvercle (3) ;

caractérisé par :

un dispositif de retenue (2) comprenant une pluralité de chambres (4) pour recevoir une pluralité de portions de tabac, et qui est mobile par rapport au couvercle (3) entre une première position, dans laquelle les portions de tabac sont dissimulées au moins par le couvercle (3) afin d'empêcher la machine (80) d'accéder aux portions de tabac, et une seconde position, dans laquelle au moins l'une des portions de tabac est accessible, de sorte que des degrés différents de déplacement relatifs du couvercle (3) par rapport au dispositif de retenue (2) permettent l'ouverture de nombres différents de chambres (4).

2. Emballage pour tabac (1, 10) selon la revendication 1, dans lequel le couvercle (3, 30) est un couvercle extérieur et le dispositif de retenue (2, 20) peut être déplacé à l'intérieur du couvercle extérieur.

3. Emballage pour tabac (1, 10) selon la revendication 1 ou la revendication 2, dans lequel le dispositif de retenue (2, 20) est configuré de sorte que les portions de tabac puissent être extraites du couvercle de manière séquentielle, facultativement, une par une.

4. Emballage pour tabac (1, 10) selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 3, dans lequel le dispositif de retenue (2, 20) est doté d'une pluralité de cloisons (50) formant une pluralité de chambres, chaque chambre étant agencée pour recevoir une portion de tabac, de sorte que chaque chambre soit située entre deux cloisons voisines.

5. Emballage pour tabac (1, 10) selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans lequel la portion de tabac comporte un manchon de portion de tabac et une paroi de la chambre comprend au moins une partie de préhension pour retenir de façon libérable le manchon de portion de tabac dans la chambre recevant la portion de tabac.

6. Emballage pour tabac (1, 10) selon la revendication 5, dans lequel le manchon de portion de tabac comporte un adaptateur pour une mise en prise avec la machine de fabrication de cigarettes (80) et dans lequel l'au moins une chambre comprend une ouverture agencée pour permettre une mise en prise avec l'adaptateur pour retirer ainsi une portion de tabac d'un côté de la chambre.

7. Emballage pour tabac (1, 10) selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans lequel la portion de tabac est extraite dans une direction sensiblement perpendiculaire à la direction de déplacement du dispositif de retenue (2, 20).

8. Emballage pour tabac (1, 10) selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans lequel l'emballage comprend un moyen de mise en prise pour une mise en prise avec la machine de fabrication de cigarettes (7, 80), le moyen de mise en prise comprenant facultativement une marche, une strie ou un évidement sur l'emballage (1, 10).

9. Emballage pour tabac (1, 10) selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans lequel le dispositif de retenue (2, 20) comprend une partie de mise en prise de la machine, agencée pour pouvoir être mise en prise par la machine de fabrication de cigarettes (80) afin de déplacer le dispositif de retenue (2, 20) par rapport au couvercle (3, 30).

10. Emballage pour tabac (1, 10) selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans lequel l'emballage (1, 10) comprend un moyen de verrouillage (70) pour verrouiller l'emballage (1,10) dans la première position, et le moyen de verrouillage (70) est agencé pour être actionné par un mécanisme de libération de la machine de fabrication de cigarettes (7, 80) pour ouvrir l'emballage (1, 10).

11. Emballage pour tabac (1, 10) selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans lequel la portion de tabac est une portion de tabac convenant à la fabrication d'une seule cigarette.

12. Emballage pour tabac (1, 10) selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, l'emballage (1, 10) comprenant au moins une portion de tabac reçue dans le dispositif de retenue et dans lequel l'au moins une portion de tabac comporte un manchon de portion de tabac.

13. Emballage pour tabac (1, 10) selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, dans lequel le couvercle comprend des parois supplémentaires pour doter l'emballage pour tabac d'une forme profilée afin de permettre l'insertion de l'emballage dans la machine de fabrication de cigarettes (7, 80) uniquement dans une orientation correcte.

14. Système comprenant une machine de fabrication de cigarettes (7, 80) à faire soi-même (Make-Your-Own - MYO), agencée pour actionner le dispositif de retenue d'un emballage pour tabac (1, 10) selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes afin d'extraire une portion de tabac de celui-ci.

15. Procédé de fabrication de cigarettes comprenant les étapes :

d'insertion d'un emballage pour tabac (1, 10) selon l'une quelconque des revendications 1 à 13 dans la machine de fabrication de cigarettes (7, 80) ; et

d'actionnement du dispositif de retenue (2) de l'emballage pour tabac (1, 10) afin d'extraire une portion de tabac de celui-ci pour une utilisation dans une cigarette.

Drawing