Patent Application
20070235364
The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way.
The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, application, or uses. It should be understood that throughout the drawings, corresponding reference numerals indicate like or corresponding parts and features.
The present disclosure provides a carton and method for bulk packing pistons, or other similar products that may be deformed as a result of being closely packaged within a shipping carton, which improves the fill efficiency of the product without increasing the risk of damaging a percentage of the packaged product. In the various embodiments, the rectangular prismatic carton for bulk-packed pistons comprises a carton having length l, width w, and height h, such that h is greater than l and w, the top and a bottom being formed by overlapping flaps. In one embodiment, the rectangular prismatic carton has a ratio of the opening perimeter of the carton to the height of the carton is less than about 2.75. The various embodiments of a rectangular prismatic carton have a reduced cross-section that provides for improved fill efficiency when filling the carton with product and leaving a volume of unfilled space remaining within the carton.
Where pistons or other similar products are randomly loaded into the interior volume of a carton to a height at or near the top of the carton opening, some of the randomly loaded product may inadvertently extend above the plane of the opening, such that closing the carton by overlapping the flaps will subject a force to a certain percentage of the product within the carton. This force can cause deformation or ovalization of a piston or other similar product, which deformation will prevent the product's proper operation and lead to a given scrap rate of product that cannot be used. In the case of the piston product described herein, this scrap rate can be as much as 10 percent of the packaged product.
Referring to
To avoid causing ovalization and/or other damage to the pistons or other similar products that are loaded into the carton, the manufacturer or shipper of the product must leave a clearance space at the top of the carton 100 as shown in
In the various exemplary embodiments, a rectangular prismatic enclosure is provided for bulk packing pistons, and is shown in
In one embodiment, the prismatic carton 200 has length l, width w, and height h, such that h is greater than l and w, the top and a bottom being formed by overlapping flaps. The height h of the carton 200 is preferably less than 36 times the height H of the piston product. Alternatively, the rectangular prismatic carton 200 may preferably have a height h of the carton is less than 36 times the diameter D of the pistons. The piston product preferably has a height in the range of about 1 to 2.5 inches, and a diameter in the range of about 1 to 2.2 inches. The length l of the carton is preferably less than 24 times the height H of the piston product. Alternatively, the length l of the carton may preferable be less than 24 times the diameter D of the piston product. The width w of the carton is preferably less than 15 times the height H of the piston product. Alternatively, the width w of the carton may preferably be less than 15 times the height H of the piston product.
In the preferred embodiment, the prismatic carton 200 preferably has an arithmetic product of the length l and the width w is less than 240 times the transverse cross sectional area of the pistons (πD2/4). Alternatively, the prismatic carton 200 preferably has an arithmetic product of the length l and the width w is less than 55 times the longitudinal cross sectional area of the pistons (H×D). In one preferred embodiment, the rectangular prismatic carton has a width of about 8½ inches, a length of about 16 inches, and a height of about 24 inches. In another embodiment, the rectangular prismatic carton has a width of about 16 inches, a length of about 16 inches, and a height of about 24 inches. The various embodiments of a carton may be filled with randomly oriented pistons up to within a predetermined distance from the open top, so as to leave an unfilled space remaining at the top. The volume of unfilled space remaining within the interior of the carton is preferably reduced by providing a carton having a ratio of opening perimeter length P to carton height H that is less than about 2.75. This reduced carton cross-section provides for improved fill efficiency when filling the carton with product and leaving a volume of unfilled space remaining within the carton for minimizing potential damage to the product.
In another aspect of the present invention, various embodiments of a method of bulk packing a piston product is provided that improves the fill efficiency of the pistons without increasing the risk of damage or deformation of the pistons when the carton is closed. In one embodiment, a method of bulk packing pistons in rectangular prismatic cartons is provided that comprises dropping the pistons into the rectangular prismatic carton though an opening in one of the two smallest faces of the rectangular prismatic carton. In another embodiment of a method of bulk packing pistons in rectangular prismatic cartons, the method comprises providing a rectangular prismatic carton having length l, width w, and height h, such that h is greater than l and w, the top and a bottom formed by overlapping flaps; dropping the pistons into the carton through the open top; and, closing the carton by overlapping the flaps. In yet another embodiment of a method of bulk packing pistons in rectangular prismatic cartons, the method comprises providing a rectangular prismatic carton having a height h that is greater than both the length l and width w of an open end in the carton, and filling the carton with randomly oriented pistons to within a predetermined distance from the plane of the opening in the carton to provide a volume of unfilled space remaining within the interior of the carton. The volume of unused space remaining within the interior of the carton is reduced by providing a carton having a ratio of opening perimeter length P to carton height H that is less than about 2.75.
Certain terminology is used herein for purposes of reference only, and thus is not intended to be limiting. For example, terms such as “upper”, “lower”, “above”, and “below” refer to directions in the drawings to which reference is made. Terms such as “front”, “back”, “rear”, “bottom” and “side”, describe the orientation of portions of the component within a consistent but arbitrary frame of reference which is made clear by reference to the text and the associated drawings describing the component under discussion. Such terminology may include the words specifically mentioned above, derivatives thereof, and words of similar import. Similarly, the terms “first”, “second” and other such numerical terms referring to structures do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context.
The description of the invention is merely exemplary in nature and, thus, variations that do not depart from the gist of the invention are intended to be within the scope of the invention. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/790,140, filed Apr. 7, 2006, entitled “Cartons For Pistons and Method Of Packaging Pistons In Cartons”.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60790140 | Apr 2006 | US |
