Cigarette Pack with Pivotable Cavity for Format Adaptation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cigarette packs require conversion to new formats when packing non-standard numbers or formats of cigarettes, leading to loose packaging and quality deterioration, and necessitate costly machine reconfiguration.
Innovation Solution
A cigarette pack design featuring a cavity on at least one side surface that can vary in position and orientation, allowing the pack to accommodate different numbers and formats of cigarettes without changing its external dimensions, using a pack blank with pivotable surfaces that can be locked to create different-sized receiving spaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the pack format is changed to accommodate a different number or format of cigarettes, then the cigarettes can be firmly enclosed, but the entire packaging machine has to be converted which is time-consuming and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The interior of the pack is segmented into a receiving space for cigarettes and one or more cavities. The cavities are formed by fold lines in the pack blank, creating separate compartments that can be adjusted independently. This segmentation allows the receiving space to be reconfigured without changing the overall pack external dimensions, enabling the pack to accommodate different cigarette quantities and formats while maintaining firm enclosure.
Solution Approach 2:
The pack design incorporates dynamic elements through the cavity structure defined by fold lines in the pack blank. These fold lines allow the pack interior to be reconfigured into different cavity patterns (e.g., two smaller cavities or one larger cavity) depending on the cigarette format. This dynamic reconfiguration capability enables the same pack blank to adapt to various cigarette arrangements without requiring machine conversion.
2Reliability
If the pack format is changed to accommodate non-standard cigarettes, then the packaging quality is maintained, but the packing machine must be reconfigured to new dimensions
Solution Approach 1:
The pack blank is designed with multiple fold lines that can create different cavity configurations within the same external pack dimensions. This universal design allows a single pack blank type to accommodate standard and non-standard cigarette formats by simply changing the fold line configuration, not the pack external size. The receiving space adapts to different cigarette arrangements while maintaining consistent packaging quality and avoiding machine reconfiguration.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the internal parameter configuration (cavity positions, sizes, and numbers) while keeping the external pack dimensions constant. By varying the fold line patterns in the pack blank, different internal cavity arrangements are created to suit different cigarette formats. This parameter change approach maintains packaging quality for non-standard cigarettes without requiring changes to the packing machine format.
3Length of stationary object
If the receiving space volume is reduced to accommodate fewer cigarettes, then the pack external dimensions remain the same, but the pack interior must be reconfigured
Solution Approach 1:
The pack interior is divided into the receiving space and one or more cavities using fold lines in the pack blank. This segmentation allows the receiving space volume to be adjusted by changing the cavity configuration while maintaining the same external pack dimensions. The fold lines create separable internal regions that can be reconfigured without altering the overall pack size.
Solution Approach 2:
The cavity structure is formed by utilizing the third dimension (depth/thickness) of the pack blank through folding. By creating fold lines that extend through the pack blank thickness, the invention adds vertical dimensionality to the cavity formation, allowing internal volume redistribution without changing the external length, width, or height of the finished pack.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2a
Figure 2b
AI summary
The invention relates to a pack for smoking articles, in particular cigarette pack, comprising a front surface (1), a rear surface (2) and two opposing lateral surfaces (3, 4), wherein a cavity (5) is formed in the interior of the pack on at least one lateral surface (3, 4), wherein said interior is delimited by these surfaces and the cavity extends between the lateral surface (3, 4) and the receptacle for the smoking article (6).