Packaging of cigarettes

Claim 1

Packaging of smaller than standard-size cigarette packages in a carton adapted for transport along a travel path through a tax marking machine designed for tax marking standard-size cigarette packages contained in a standard-size carton and in which opposed machine feed rollers engage opposite sides of said carton at a predetermined height above said travel path for advancing the carton through said machine, comprising in combination a carton formed from a single blank of material having parts thereof defining carton end wall structure at opposite ends of said carton, a pair of carton side walls, a carton bottom wall and carton top wall structure, said parts being joined along fold lines in said blank with the blank being erected by folding the parts along said fold lines to form an elongated box-like enclosure, the end wall structure at opposite ends of said carton comprising a pair of end parts in said blank integral respectively with an end of one of said side walls, each said pair of end wall parts being folded transversely of said carton side walls in overlapped secured together arrangement, each pair of parts extending transversely from one carton side wall to the other carton side wall, a plurality of smaller than standard-size cigarette packages received in said box-like enclosure and arranged upright therein in two co-extensive rows with the packages in each row extending in side-by-side alignment and being paired with a corresponding package in the other row, said end wall structure and said side walls being dimensioned such that the two rows of packages are coextensive with the lateral expanse of said enclosure to snugly engage the side walls thereof, but are coextensive with only a portion of the longitudinal expanse of the same, spacer means removably disposed at opposite ends of at least one pair of the packages in said rows of packages and filling the remainder of the longitudinal expanse of said enclosure, and lateral stiffening means associated with said end wall structure for stiffening said end wall structure to prevent flexure of the same on passage of said carton through said feed rollers, said stiffening means extending upwardly from the bottom wall of said carton adjacent said end wall structure to a height which includes an appreciable portion of the vertical expanse in which said feed rollers engage said carton and comprising reinforcing tab parts integral with opposite ends of said carton bottom wall part and folded upwardly therefrom adjacent the overlapped end wall parts of said end wall structure, said reinforcing tab parts being substantially transversely coextensive with said end wall structure.