This invention relates generally to a packaging system and method, and more particularly to a packaging system and method using a stock material having a cohesive on a surface thereof to form a wrappable packaging product.
In the process of transporting an article from one location to another a protective packaging material typically is placed in a container around the article to fill any voids or to cushion the article or both during the transportation process.
One type of cushioning protective packaging material is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,558,923, and includes superimposed paper courses that form a package padding material. The padding includes a pleated course bounded by a pair of courses mechanically joined to the pleated course by punchings therethrough. Such a package padding material can be used as a cushion or a wrap or void fill.
Another cushioning protective packaging material is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,017,299 which advances a sheet stock material through a series of assemblies that cooperate to crumple the stock material with an arrangement of folds that can form a herringbone pattern. This cushioning product is relatively flat and has the flexibility to wrap around an object, yet still functions to cushion and/or protect the object.
The present invention provides a packaging system and method using a stock material having a cohesive on at least one surface thereof to form a packaging product. The packaging product comprises a first layer of randomly crumpled stock material and a second layer of uncrumpled stock material, wherein the first layer and the second layer are attached to each other by a cohesive disposed on at least a portion of each of mutually facing surfaces of the first layer and the second layer.
More particularly, the present invention provides an apparatus for converting a stock material into a packaging product comprising at least one crumpling assembly that can advance a stock material and cause the stock material to randomly crumple, and a joining assembly that can bring the crumpled stock material together with uncrumpled stock material. The crumpled stock material and the uncrumpled stock material each have a cohesive on at least a portion of mutually facing surfaces to secure the crumpled stock material to the uncrumpled stock material.
The present invention also provides a method of making a packaging product that includes the steps of: randomly crumpling a stock material having a cohesive material on at least one surface thereof, and attaching the crumpled stock material and an uncrumpled sheet stock material, each having a cohesive material on at least one surface. The crumpled stock material and the uncrumpled stock material are attached by bringing at least one cohesive portion of the crumpled stock material together with at least one corresponding cohesive portion of the uncrumpled stock material.
The present invention also provides a packaging product produced by a process that includes the following steps: randomly crumpling a stock material having a cohesive material on at least one surface thereof to form a crumpled stock material, and combining the crumpled stock material with an uncrumpled stock material having a cohesive material on at least one surface thereof by bringing the respective cohesive portions together.
The foregoing and other features of the invention are hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of the invention, these embodiments being indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the invention can be employed.
The present invention provides a packaging system and method for making a packaging product from a stock material having a cohesive on at least one surface thereof. The cohesive provides benefits in converting the stock material into a packaging product, using the packaging product to wrap or otherwise pack one or more articles, or enhances one or more properties of the packaging product to provide different performance characteristics in comparison to a packaging product without the cohesive material.
Referring initially to
The supply of stock material 12 generally includes a sheet stock material, such as paper or plastic, having one or more plies, with a cohesive on a surface of at least one ply. The stock material can be provided as a continuous roll or fan-folded stack, or as discrete sheets. A cohesive, unlike an adhesive, only attaches to itself and generally will not stick to other items, such as non-cohesive-coated portions of the stock material or a converting apparatus. No heat or supplementary closure materials, such as adhesive glue, mechanical staples, tape or other bonding strips, for example, are necessary to hold the crumpled and uncrumpled stock material together in view of the cohesive.
The cohesive on the stock material can stiffen the stock material and the resulting packaging product and can increase its strength. The cohesive can be selected to enhance one or more properties in the packaging product, however, such as the aforementioned stiffness of the packaging product or portion of the packaging product, enhanced strength, etc. The cohesive also can provide benefits in the use of the resulting packaging product, such as to hold multiple packaging products or portions thereof together in a particular orientation, such as a pouch.
Turning to
Both the crumpling assembly 44 and the joining assembly 46 generally include laterally-spaced pairs of rotating members 54 that cooperate to crumple, advance, and join the stock material therebetween. To cause the lateral crumpling mentioned above, respective laterally outer pairs of rotating members 54 can include a staggered arrangement of flat faces on the rotating members that will cause the stock material to be advanced alternately from each side of its longitudinal axis, instead of being pulled only axially. This advance by successive pulls from one side and then the other side back and forth makes it possible to have at the center of the stock material a surplus of stock material with respect to its flat sheet configuration, this surplus being generated by a rib on one rotating member fitting in a mating groove in an opposing rotating member of the pair. This results in lateral crumpling of the stock material.
With particular reference to
The joining assembly 46, located proximate the downstream end of the crumpling assembly 44, brings the crumpled stock material 64 together with uncrumpled stock material 66. Similar to the crumpling assembly 44, the joining assembly 46 generally includes upper and lower pairs of rotating members 68 configured to advance the stock material therebetween. The joining assembly 46 is configured to compressively engage the crumpled stock material with the uncrumpled stock material, pressing together respective cohesive portions of the crumpled and uncrumpled stock material, whereupon the cohesive portions become bound together and thereby secure the crumpled stock material 64 to the uncrumpled stock material 66.
The resulting packaging product 42 generally includes a first layer of randomly crumpled stock material 70 attached by the respective cohesive portions to a second layer of uncrumpled stock material 72. The uncrumpled stock material thus secured to the crumpled stock material tends to hold the uncrumpled stock material in its crumpled state. The crumpled stock material can be secured to the uncrumpled stock material in any suitable orientation. For example, the crumpled stock material can be centered on the uncrumpled stock material or offset such that at least one laterally outer edge of the uncrumpled stock material extends beyond a respective laterally outer edge of the crumpled stock material. As noted below, the crumpled stock material, for example, can be free of cohesive in some applications.
Turning to
Turning to
In
For example, as shown in
Similarly, in
A pouch or other enclosure also could be formed from multiple sections of the packaging product 116 of
As another alternative, a single ply of cohesive stock material can be used to form a dunnage product. The cohesive in this instance is placed on a surface of the stock material such that upon randomly crumpling the stock material different portions of the stock material having cohesive thereon come together, whereupon the cohesive portions bind together to hold the stock material in its crumpled state.
As should be apparent by now, the cohesive can be applied to the stock material in any manner that facilitates the conversion process or provides desired qualities in the resulting packaging product. The cohesive generally is placed on a surface of the stock material such that upon crumpling different portions of cohesive can be brought together whereupon they bind together to secure the crumpled stock material in its crumpled state. Alternatively, the cohesive can be applied to an uncrumpled stock material whereby the cohesive portions can be brought together to entrap a cohesive-free crumpled stock material and an article therebetween. A wide variety of arrangements of cohesive on the stock material are possible. The cohesive can be provided across an entire surface of the stock material or strategically applied in regularly or irregularly spaced, sized, oriented or shaped strips or patterns of cohesive on one or more surfaces of the stock material.
The present invention thus provides a system and method using a cohesive stock material to make and use the improved packaging product of the present invention. The cohesive can improve characteristics of the packaging product, help to maintain the crumpled stock material in its crumpled state, or help to maintain a configuration of the packaging product relative to itself or other packaging or dunnage products.
Although the invention has been shown and described with respect to certain illustrated embodiments, equivalent alterations and modifications will occur to others skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the specification and the annexed drawings. In particular regard to the various functions performed by the above described integers (components, assemblies, devices, compositions, etc.), the terms (including a reference to a “means”) used to describe such integers are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, to any integer that performs the specified function (i.e., that is functionally equivalent), even though not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure that performs the function in the herein illustrated embodiments of the invention. In addition, while a particular feature of the invention might have been described above with respect to only one of several illustrated embodiments, such a feature can be combined with one or more other features of another embodiment, as might be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application.
This application claims the benefit of International Patent Application No. PCT/US2006/002786, filed Jan. 26, 2006, published in English as Publication No. WO 2006/081356 A1, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/647,114, filed Jan. 26, 2005, both of which are hereby incorporated herein.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/US2006/002786 | 1/26/2006 | WO | 00 | 7/26/2007 |
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WO2006/081356 | 8/3/2006 | WO | A |
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Entry |
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International Search Report of International Application No. PCT/US2006/002786, published on Aug. 3, 2006 as International Publication No. WO 2006/081356 A1. |
International Search Report of International Application No. PCT/US2006/002792; published on Aug. 3, 2006 as International Publication No. WO 2006/081630 A2. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20080011749 A1 | Jan 2008 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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60647114 | Jan 2005 | US |