The invention disclosed herein relates to a packaging material, particularly a cellular cushioning article having an arrangement of inflated cells projecting from a major surface of the article.
Cellular cushioning articles are used for packaging, for example, for wrapping items needing protection when mailing, shipping or stored in a container, on a shelf, etc. One type of cellular cushioning article comprises a polymeric backing and a top layer partially in contact with the backing such that a layer of discrete hemispherical bubbles are formed across a major surface of the article. A cellular cushioning article of this type is known as Bubble Wrap® manufactured by Sealed Air Corp. Cellular cushioning articles comprising layers of discrete hemispherical bubbles are available in different configurations with respect to the diameters and heights of the bubbles, and generally provide more cushioning as bubble size increases.
A cellular cushioning article is disclosed herein, the article comprising a polymeric film comprising first cells projecting from a major surface of the polymeric film, each first cell being surrounded by land area, wherein the first cells are arranged in rows substantially parallel to each other and substantially parallel to a length of the polymeric film, such that for two opposing polymeric films with the major surfaces facing each other, the total thickness of the two opposing polymeric films is less than twice the thickness of one polymeric film. The first cells may have any shape, for example, the first cells may be substantially hemispherical and have substantially the same diameter.
In some embodiments, the cellular cushioning article further comprises second cells projecting from the major surface and interspersed with the first cells in the rows comprising the first cells, wherein the second cells are substantially hemispherical and have substantially the same diameter, the diameter of the second cells being less than that of the first. Anywhere from a single second cell to as many as ten second cells may be disposed between adjacent first cells.
The cellular cushioning article may further comprise a plurality of fold zones comprising land area and being free of first cells. The fold zones extend across a width of the polymeric film, and are disposed between groups of the first cells. The cellular cushioning article may comprise two edge zones, each edge zone extending along an edge of the polymeric film and having a width of about two inches or less, the edge zones comprising land area and being free of first cells. The fold and/or edge zones may comprise second cells.
In general, the cellular cushioning article may be perforated across the width of the film. The cellular cushion article can be fan-folded to form a stack, and the stack can be disposed in a box or a bag. Stacks formed by fan-folding the cellular cushioning article disclosed herein can occupy much less volume as compared to stacks formed by fan-folding known cellular cushioning articles.
These and other aspects of the invention are described in the detailed description below. In no event should the above summary be construed as a limitation on the claimed subject matter.
The invention is further explained with reference to the following drawings which are intended to be merely illustrative and not limiting. The drawings are not necessarily to scale.
a shows a cross-sectional view of the exemplary cellular cushioning article shown in
b shows a cross-sectional view of two exemplary cellular cushioning articles shown in
c shows a plan view of the two exemplary cellular cushioning articles shown in
a-4b, 5a-5b, 6a-6c, 7a-7c and 8 show plan views of exemplary cellular cushioning articles disclosed herein.
Cellular cushioning articles have been known for many years, and many different types are available. One type of cellular cushioning article is illustrated in plan view in
It is to be understood that the cellular cushioning article disclosed herein may be formed in many different ways, and thus, the invention is not limited to articles constructed as shown in
Further, although first cells 22 are substantially hemispherical and have substantially the same diameter, the shapes and sizes of the first cells may be any shape or size, or combination of shapes and sizes, as long as two of the same articles can nest with each other. For example, the first cells may have hemispherical, oval, square, rectangular, triangular, hexagonal, polygonal or star shapes. For example,
In general, the cellular cushioning article of the invention can be characterized by the way in which the cells are arranged on a major surface of a polymeric film, in combination with the shapes and sizes of the cells. For two of the same cellular cushioning articles placed on top of one another, with the cells of each article facing each other, the cells “nest” with each other. Because of this nesting feature, the total thickness of the two nested articles can be less than the sum of the thicknesses for the two articles.
b shows a cross-sectional view of two exemplary cushioning articles 20 that are nested with each other to form stacked article 30.
The cellular cushioning article of the invention may be perforated such that a long sheet of the article can be separated into shorter sheets.
The first cells are generally arranged in a pattern, and the pattern may include periodic, repeating groups of cells as shown in
a shows a plan view of exemplary cushioning article 50 comprising first cells 51a-b arranged in identical groups (only portions of the groups are shown), with the first cells surrounded by land area 52a-b. Fold zone 53 separates the groups of first cells. In this embodiment, cellular cushioning article has two edge zones 54a-b at each edge of the polymeric film. Fold zone 53 and edge zones 54a-b are free of first cells 52a-b.
The cellular cushioning article may comprise more than one type of cell projecting from the major surface of the polymeric film.
Anywhere from 1 to 10 cells smaller than the first cells may be grouped together to form second cells. Preferably, there are 3, 5 or 7 cells grouped together to form second cells.
c shows an embodiment in which cellular cushioning article 70 comprises first cells 71 and seven small cells form second cells 72. Land area 73 is between the first and second cells. Cellular cushioning article 70 also comprises edge zones 74a-b.
The cellular cushioning article may comprise a nestable pattern in which the second cells have the same diameter as the first cells, but have less height relative to the first cells.
a is a plan view of another embodiment of the cellular cushioning article disclosed herein. Cellular cushioning article 75 comprises first cells 76a-b and second cells 77a-b interspersed with the first cells as shown. The first and second cells are arranged in identical groups (only portions of the groups are shown), with the first and second cells surrounded by land area 78a-b. Fold zone 79 separates the groups of first and second cells. In this embodiment, cellular cushioning article has two edge zones 81a-b at each edge of the polymeric film. Fold zone 79 and edge zones 81a-b are free of first cells 76a-b. In this embodiment, fold zone 79 comprises third cells arranged in columns 80a-b. The third cells may or may not be the same as the cells that form the second cells 77a-b.
The cellular cushioning article disclosed herein may comprise fourth cells disposed in rows in edge zones.
The embodiment shown in
The cellular cushioning article disclosed herein may be fan-folded into a stack with the major surfaces facing each other, and the stack is disposed in a box or a bag.
A cushion wrap article or roll with a plurality of multi-size bubbles for cushioning, wherein the bubbles are arranged in a pattern to provide reduced volume when folded. The lower bubbles nest with the larger bubbles when folded. A fan-folded option and a machine direction fold option are described. An improved bubble pattern for edge and perforation zones to reduce loss of cushioning at the edges is described.
This example illustrates an exemplary cellular cushioning article fan-folded into a stack wherein the volume of the stack is at least 30% less than that of a stack formed from a standard cellular cushioning article. A standard 25 foot roll of ½″ size bubble cushion wrap (
A 100 foot roll of standard 3/16″ bubble cushion wrap was fan-folded and placed in a box (12½″×12½″×12½″). Currently a standard 100 foot roll of 3/16″ cushion wrap is sold in a boxed configuration (roll placed inside a 15″×12⅜″×13½″ box). The fan-folded cushion wrap in a box is ˜22% smaller than the current roll in a box.
Several box designs were evaluated for dispensing performance of the fan-folded cushion wrap. A larger slot width performed better for the larger ½″ size bubble. This allows the folded sheet to more easily be pulled out when the box is full.
The smaller 3/16″ bubble was also evaluated for dispensability in a 2′ and 8″ width slot. Both slot widths dispensed the smaller bubble size although the 8″ width was preferred when the box was full.
A length of standard ½″ size Bubble Wrap® (from Sealed Air Corp.) was also modified to allow nesting, when folded length-wise, with the bubbles facing each other. The nesting pattern was achieved by deflating bubbles. The folded length of nested cushioning article was rolled up. The resulting folded roll was significantly smaller than the same length roll of standard ½″ cushion wrap.
Improved edge and perforation protection is illustrated by the following example. Current cushion wrap, in particular larger size bubbles such as ½″ bubble, damages or deflates bubbles with the perforation and slitting process. The perforation process currently deflates approximately 1 row every 11 rows of bubbles for ½″ bubble cushion wrap. In addition, the slitting process to convert wide master rolls to a 12″ width roll will deflate approximately ½ to 1 row of bubbles on each side. A further improvement to the cushion wrap would incorporate a unique bubble pattern to minimize the amount of deflated bubbles that currently occur during the perforation and slitting process by including a smaller size bubble pattern at the perforation and slitting locations. An example of this bubble pattern is in
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/358,630, filed Jun. 25, 2010, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
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61358630 | Jun 2010 | US |