Cigarette package

Abstract

An assembled container for smoking articles includes an outer sleeve that includes a front wall, a rear wall, a right side wall, and a left side wall. Packets of cigarettes are positioned within the outer sleeve. For example, two packets, each containing ten cigarettes, are positioned within the outer sleeve. The packets, and the outer sleeve, may include mechanisms that interact during movement of the individual packets within the outer sleeve.

1 . A container for smoking articles, the container comprising:
 a generally rectilinear outer sleeve member having front, left side, right side, and rear walls forming a cavity open at least at a first cavity end;   at least two generally rectilinear packet members configured for containing smoking articles and positioned adjacent each other at least partially within the cavity; and   a catch mechanism configured to prevent the at least two packets from being fully removed from the outer sleeve cavity.   
   
   
       2 . The container of  claim 1 , wherein the catch mechanism comprises:
 a first retention flap that is continuous with a wall of the outer sleeve member, said first flap being biased at least slightly into the outer sleeve cavity; and   a first tab that is continuous with and extending at least slightly outwardly from a surface of a first one of the at least two packet members;   wherein the first tab is configured to engage the first retention flap when the first packet member is moved in a first direction relative to the outer sleeve, and wherein the engagement prevents movement in the first direction beyond a first pre-determined position.   
   
   
       3 . The container of  claim 2 , wherein the first pre-determined position is set such that the first packet member extends out of the first cavity end of the outer sleeve by less than the full length of the first packet member. 
   
   
       4 . The container of  claim 2 , the catch mechanism further comprising:
 a second retention flap that is continuous with a wall of the outer sleeve member, said second flap being biased at least slightly into the outer sleeve cavity; and   a second tab that is continuous with and biased slightly outwardly from a surface of a first one of the at least two packet members;   wherein the second tab is configured to engage the second retention flap when the first packet member is moved in a second direction relative to the outer sleeve, and wherein the engagement prevents movement in the second direction beyond a second pre-determined position.   
   
   
       5 . The container of  claim 4 , wherein the second pre-determined position is set such that the first packet member extends out of a second end of the outer sleeve cavity by less than the full length of the first packet member. 
   
   
       6 . The container of  claim 2 , wherein a first of the at least two packet members comprises a front wall, a bottom wall, left and right side walls, a rear wall, and an openable lid portion. 
   
   
       7 . The container of  claim 6 , wherein the first tab is substantially co-planar with at least one of the front wall, bottom wall, left side wall, right side wall, or rear wall. 
   
   
       8 . The container of  claim 7 , wherein the first tab is oriented at substantially perpendicular to an other of the front wall, bottom wall, left side wall, right side wall, or rear wall. 
   
   
       9 . The container of  claim 6 , wherein the first tab is biased outwardly at an acute angle relative to a plane defined by one of the front wall, bottom wall, left side wall, right side wall, or rear wall. 
   
   
       10 . The container of  claim 1 , further comprising a wrapping material substantially covering a first of the at least two packets. 
   
   
       11 . The container of  claim 10 , wherein the wrapping material comprises a generally transparent material. 
   
   
       12 . The container of  claim 10 , wherein the catch mechanism comprises:
 a first retention flap that is continuous with a wall of the outer sleeve member, said first flap being biased at least slightly into the outer sleeve cavity; and   a first tab that is attached to and extending at least slightly outwardly from a surface of the wrapping material;   wherein the first tab is configured to engage the first retention flap when the first packet member is moved in a first direction relative to the outer sleeve, and wherein the engagement prevents movement in the first direction beyond a first pre-determined position.   
   
   
       13 . The container of  claim 1 , further comprising a wrapping material substantially enclosing the container. 
   
   
       14 . The container of  claim 1 , wherein a first of the at least two generally rectilinear packet members contains a plurality of cigarettes that differ in at least one property from a plurality of cigarettes contained in a second of the at least two generally rectilinear packet members. 
   
   
       15 . A smoking article container system, the system comprising:
 a container comprising
 a generally rectilinear outer sleeve member having front, left side, right side, and rear walls forming a cavity open at least at a first cavity end; 
 at least two generally rectilinear packet members, said packets positioned adjacent each other at least partially within the cavity; and 
 a catch mechanism configured to prevent the at least two packets from being fully removed from the outer sleeve cavity; and 
   a plurality of smoking articles contained within each of the at least two generally rectilinear packet members.   
   
   
       16 . The smoking article container system of  claim 15 , wherein the plurality of smoking articles contained within a first of the at least two generally rectilinear packet members differ in at least one property from the plurality of smoking articles contained within a second of the at least two generally rectilinear packet members. 
   
   
       17 . The smoking article container system of  claim 15 , wherein the catch mechanism comprises:
 a first retention flap that is continuous with a wall of the outer sleeve member, said first flap being biased at least slightly into the outer sleeve cavity; and   a first tab that is continuous with and extending at least slightly outwardly from a surface of a first one of the at least two packet members;   wherein the first tab is configured to engage the first retention flap when the first packet member is moved in a first direction relative to the outer sleeve, and wherein the engagement prevents movement in the first direction beyond a first pre-determined position.   
   
   
       18 . The smoking article container system of  claim 17 , wherein the first pre-determined position is set such that the first packet member extends out of the first cavity end of the outer sleeve by less than the full length of the first packet member. 
   
   
       19 . The smoking article container system of  claim 17 , wherein the catch mechanism further comprises:
 a second retention flap that is continuous with a wall of the outer sleeve member, said second flap being biased at least slightly into the outer sleeve cavity; and   a second tab that is continuous with and biased slightly outwardly from a surface of a first one of the at least two packet members;   wherein the second tab is configured to engage the second retention flap when the first packet member is moved in a second direction relative to the outer sleeve, and wherein the engagement prevents movement in the second direction beyond a second pre-determined position.   
   
   
       20 . A container for smoking articles comprising:
 an outer sleeve defining an open cavity and having four side walls, with an abutment extending from at least one side wall into the open cavity;   at least two packet members configured for containing smoking articles and slidably contained within the outer sleeve; the at least two packet members each comprising a tab that engages the abutment to stop a sliding movement of each packet member at a predetermined position when that packet member is slid toward a substantially open end of the outer sleeve.   
   
   
       21 . The container of  claim 20 , wherein for a first of the at least two packet members, the tab is disposed on a first side wall of the first packet member and is defined by a cut-out region of the first side wall around three sides of the tab. 
   
   
       22 . The container of  claim 21 , wherein the tab extends at least slightly out of a plane defined by the first side wall of the first packet member. 
   
   
       23 . The container of  claim 21 , wherein the tab is generally coplanar with a plane defined by the second side wall of the first packet member that is substantially perpendicular to the first side wall of the first packet member. 
   
   
       24 . The container  claim 20 , further comprising a plurality of smoking articles contained in each of the at least two packet members, wherein the plurality of smoking articles contained within a first of the at least two packet members differ in at least one property from the plurality of smoking articles contained within a second of the at least two packet members. 
   
   
       25 . The container of  claim 24 , further comprising a wrapping material substantially enclosing at least one of the at least two packet members. 
   
   
       26 . The container of  claim 20 , further comprising a wrapping material substantially enclosing the container. 
   
   
       27 . The container of  claim 20 , further comprising a bottom wall in a plane substantially perpendicular to the four side walls and opposite the substantially open end of the outer sleeve. 
   
   
       28 . The container of  claim 27 , wherein the bottom wall covers less than a total area bordered by the four side walls, thereby providing at least one open space configured to allow manipulation of at least one of the at least two packet members. 
   
   
       29 . The container of  claim 28 , wherein the at least one open space is located near a center region of the area bordered by the four side walls. 
   
   
       30 . The container of  claim 28 , wherein the at least one open space comprises two open spaces located at opposite ends of the area bordered by the four side walls. 
   
   
       31 . The container of  claim 28 , wherein at least one of the four side walls is truncated such that a border of the at least one open space is out of the plane of the bottom wall. 
   
   
       32 . The container of  claim 31 , further comprising a lid member that is at least partially continuous with one of the four side walls and that is operable to cover the substantially open end of the outer sleeve. 
   
   
       33 . The container of  claim 20 , further comprising a lid member that is at least partially continuous with one of the four side walls and that is operable to cover the substantially open end of the outer sleeve. 
   
   
       34 . The container of  claim 33 , wherein the side wall with the abutment is opposite the side wall that is at least partially continuous with the lid member. 
   
   
       35 . The container of  claim 33 , wherein the side wall that is at least partially continuous with the lid member is a rear side wall, and a front side wall includes an opening providing for access to the lid member when the lid member is in contact with the front side wall. 
   
   
       36 . A smoking article container system, the system comprising:
 a container comprising
 a generally rectilinear outer sleeve member having front, left side, right side, and rear walls forming a cavity having at least one opening at a first cavity end; 
 at least two generally rectilinear packet members, said packets positioned adjacent each other at least partially within the cavity; and 
 a plurality of smoking articles contained within each of the at least two generally rectilinear packet members. 
   
   
   
       37 . The smoking article container system of  claim 36 , further comprising at least one opening on the front wall of the outer sleeve member. 
   
   
       38 . The smoking article container system of  claim 36 , wherein the at least one opening at a first cavity end extends at least partially to at least one of the front wall and the rear wall.