CUSHIONING MATERIAL

This application is based on and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-41261 filed on Feb. 28, 2012, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to a cushioning material that is used, when a relatively heavy product such as an electronic device is packed, to protect the side surfaces, the bottom surface and the top surface of the product.

Conventionally, as a method of packing an electronic device or the like, a method of arranging a cushioning material absorbing an impact and vibrations from the outside during transportation between an outer box such as a corrugated cardboard case and the electronic device (packed item) is generally used. As the cushioning material, a material that is obtained by folding a corrugated cardboard, a pulp-molded cushioning material that utilizes used paper as a material and that can be recycled or the like is used.

However, for the purpose of packing a heavy item, a cushioning material is widely used that includes: a base material which is formed with a corrugated cardboard and a sheet material made of a foamed resin; and a plurality of columnar support portions which are formed integrally with or fixed to the base material.

In the packing using the cushioning material described above, in general, the base material is in contact with the side surfaces of the packed item to be cushioned, the columnar support portions are arranged on portions, having a high strength, of the side surfaces of the packed item and the side surfaces of the packed item are received by the entire surface of the base material.

For example, a packing material is known in which a cross-shaped sheet formed with a corrugated cardboard sheet is wound, in a sleeve shape, around a fan attachment frame that is a packed item, and then they are bound with a binding material; a stacked core (columnar support portion) fitted to the holder surface of the cross-shaped sheet (base material) is used to hold the back surface of a flange portion of the fan attachment frame, and thus the resistance to a compression load is enhanced.

However, depending on the packed item, it is likely that a portion strong enough to have the columnar support portion arranged is not present on a surface to be cushioned or the area of a portion having a high strength is small, with the result that it may be impossible to arrange the cushioning material. In order to overcome this problem, it is necessary to cover the packed item with a foamed cushioning sheet or fill the gap between the packed item and an outer box with foamed resin chips, and thus the amount of cushioning material used is increased. Consequently, the packing cost is increased, and it is not preferable in terms of environment load.

One way is to increase the size of the base materials compared with the surface of the packed item to be cushioned and arrange the columnar support portion outside the outer edge portion of the packed item. However, when a load is applied to the columnar support portion, the base material is bent at a joint portion to the inner edge of the columnar support portion, and the columnar support portion falls to the side of the packed item, with the result that it is disadvantageously impossible to obtain a sufficient cushioning effect.

SUMMARY

An object of the present disclosure is to provide a cushioning material that can cushion an external force sufficiently and reduce the amount of cushioning material used even when a portion having a high strength is not present in the surface of a packed item to be cushioned.

A cushioning material according to a first aspect of the present disclosure includes a base material and columnar support portions, and is arranged between a packed item and an outer box. The base material includes a main body portion which is brought into contact with a cushioned surface of the packed item and a bending part which is formed integrally with the main body portion so as to be able to be bent through a hinge line, and is arranged opposite the packed item. The columnar support portions are arranged in a plurality of places on a surface on the opposite side to a surface in contact with the cushioned surface of the base material. At least one of the columnar support portions is fixed to or formed integrally with the bending part such that, when the bending part is bent substantially perpendicularly with respect to the main body portion so as to be brought into contact with another surface adjacent to the cushioned surface, all the columnar support portions protrude from the surface of the main body portion by substantially the same height.

Yet other objects of the present enclosure and specific advantages obtained by the present enclosure will be further obvious from the description of embodiments discussed below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cushioning material 1 according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state where a bending part 2b of the cushioning material 1 of the first embodiment is bent substantially perpendicularly with respect to a main body portion 2a;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state where the cushioning material 1 of the first embodiment bent as shown in FIG. 2 is fitted along the side surface 7a of an electronic device 7;

FIG. 4 is a partial side view when the cushioning material 1 of the first embodiment is fitted to the side surface 7a and the electronic device 7 packed into an outer box 10 is seen from the left direction of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state where the cushioning material 1 according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure is fitted along the side surface 7a of the electronic device 7;

FIG. 6 is a partial side view when the cushioning material 1 according to the second embodiment is fitted to the side surface 7a and the electronic device 7 packed into the outer box 10 is seen from the left direction of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a partial perspective view showing a variation of the cushioning material 1 of the first and second embodiments;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the cushioning material 1 according to a third embodiment of the present enclosure;

FIG. 10 is a partial side view of the vicinity of the bending part 2b of the cushioning material 1 shown in FIG. 9 and according to the third embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a partial side view of the vicinity of the columnar support portion 3a of the cushioning material 1 of the third embodiment bent as shown in FIG. 11.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present enclosure will be described below with reference to accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cushioning material 1 according to a first embodiment of the present disclosure. The cushioning material 1 is formed with: a base material 2 that is formed with a corrugated cardboard sheet and that is in contact with the side surface 7a (see FIG. 4) of an electronic device (packed item) 7; and columnar support portions 3a, 3b and 3c that are formed of a stacked corrugated cardboard and that are fixed to a plurality of places (here, four places) on a surface on the opposite side to the surface in contact with the side surface 7a of the base material 2. In the cushioning material 1, the base material 2 is bent to alleviate the transmission of an impact to the electronic device 7.

In an upper portion of the base material 2, a hinge line 6 is made that is formed with two bending lines 4 extending inwardly from left and right edges and a cut line 5 which connects the bending lines 4, which is convex inwardly (in a direction of a main body portion 2a) and which is U-shaped as seen in plan view. The base material 2 is divided into the main body portion 2a and a bending part 2b that can be bent along the hinge line 6 with respect to the main body portion 2a. Examples of the bending line 4 include a fold line, perforations and a half-cut line.

The columnar support portions 3a and 3b are arranged on the inner sides of the left and right edges of the main body portion 2a in an up/down direction; the columnar support portions 3c are arranged in two places of the bending part 2b, extending from the upper end to the lower end in the up/down direction. The columnar support portions 3a to 3c may be formed by stacking corrugated cardboard sheet parts vertically with respect to the base material 2 or may be formed by stacking corrugated cardboard sheet parts horizontally with respect to the base material 2. The base material 2 is formed with a corrugated cardboard sheet and the columnar support portions 3a to 3c are formed of a stacked corrugated cardboard, and thus it is possible to obtain the cushioning material 1 in which it is not necessary to separate the base material 2 and the columnar support portions 3a to 3c at the time of disposal, it is possible to recycle them and the amount of environment load is low.

A method of using the cushioning material 1 of the present embodiment will now be described. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state where the bending part 2b of the cushioning material 1 of the first embodiment is bent substantially perpendicularly with respect to the main body portion 2a. When the cushioning material 1 is used, as shown in FIG. 2, the bending part 2b is bent along the hinge line 6 such that the columnar support portions 3c face upwardly, and thus the base material 2 is L-shaped as seen from the side surface. In this way, in a lower end portion of the bending part 2b, its approximate center portion is cut to rise along the cut line 5 and protrudes in the same direction of the columnar support portions 3a and 3b. The end surfaces 3ca of the columnar support portions 3c fixed to the bending part 2b also protrude, together with the bending part 2b, in the same direction of the columnar support portions 3a and 3b. Here, the columnar support portions 3c protrude, from the surface of the main body portion 2a, by a distance substantially equal to the height of the columnar support portions 3a and 3b.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state where the cushioning material 1 of the first embodiment bent as shown in FIG. 2 is fitted along the side surface 7a of the electronic device 7; FIG. 4 is a partial side view when the cushioning material 1 of the first embodiment is fitted to the side surface 7a and the electronic device 7 packed into an outer box 10 is seen from the left direction of FIG. 3. Since, in the electronic device 7, a frame (not shown) is present in the vicinity of left and right side edge portions of the side surface (cushioned surface) 7a opposite the columnar support portions 3a and 3b, the strength thereof is high. On the other hand, the frame is not present in a region R (represented by hatching in FIG. 3) in the vicinity of the upper end portion of the side surface 7a, and the strength thereof is low. Hence, when the columnar support portions 3c are arranged opposite the region R whose strength is low, the region R may be deformed or damaged at the time of the application of an external force such as a load or an impact.

Hence, in the present embodiment, the bending part 2b of the cushioning material 1 is bent along a corner portion of the electronic device 7, which is the packed item, substantially perpendicularly with respect to the main body portion 2a such that the bending part 2b is arranged along the upper surface 7b of the electronic device 7, and thus the end surfaces 3ca of the columnar support portions 3c protruding from the surface of the main body portion 2a are brought into contact with the side plate 10a of the outer box 10. In this configuration, the columnar support portions 3c are arranged above the upper surface 7b (outside the side surface 7a) of the electronic device 7, and the columnar support portions 3c are not present in the position opposite the region R. Consequently, even when an external force is applied from the direction of the side plate 10a, since the external force is received through the columnar support portions 3a and 3b by the frame or is received by the bending portion between the main body portion 2a and the bending part 2b, the load is not applied to the region R. Thus, it is possible to prevent the deformation and the damage of the region R whose strength is low in the side surface 7a. Moreover, the columnar support portions 3a to 3c are arranged in the vicinity of the three edges, that is, the left and right side edges and the upper edges of the base material 2, and, when the cushioning material 1 is fitted along the side surface 7a, since the three edges, that is, the left and right side edges and the upper edges of the base material 2 are supported by the columnar support portions 3a and 3b and the end surfaces 3ca of the columnar support portions 3c, the base material 2 is not bend more than necessary.

Moreover, since the side portions of the columnar support portions 3c are arranged along the upper surface 7b adjacent to the side surface 7a, the columnar support portions 3c are prevented from falling inwardly (to the side of the electronic device 7). Furthermore, since the external force is applied to the columnar support portions 3c in a direction (the left/right direction of FIG. 4) parallel to a joint surface to the bending part 2b, the cushioning material 1 receives the external force by the entire area of the portion of the hinge line 6 of the base material 2. Thus, it is possible to reliably cushion a load or an impact applied to the side surface 7a without the area of the columnar support portions 3c being increased, and it is also possible to reduce the manufacturing cost of the cushioning material 1.

The amount of protrusion of the convex portion of the cut line 5 is made equal to the height of the columnar support portions 3a and 3b, and the edges of the columnar support portions 3c on the side of the cut line 5 are fixed to the bending part 2b along the convex portion of the cut line 5, and thus when the columnar support portions 3c, which are members separate from the base material 2, are adhered and fixed to the bending part 2b, it is possible to apply an adhesive to the entire back surface of the columnar support portions 3c, with the result that the workability of the assembly is enhanced.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state where the cushioning material 1 according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure is fitted along the side surface 7a of the electronic device 7; FIG. 6 is a partial side view when the cushioning material 1 according to the second embodiment is fitted to the side surface 7a and the electronic device 7 packed into the outer box 10 is seen from the left direction of FIG. 5. Since, in the electronic device 7 shown in FIG. 5, the frame (not shown) is present in the vicinity of the right side edge portion of the side surface 7a opposite the columnar support portion 3b, the strength thereof is high. On the other hand, the frame is not present in regions R (represented by hatching in FIG. 5) in the vicinity of the upper end portion and the right side edge portion, the strength thereof is low.

Hence, in the present embodiment, the bending parts 2b are provided in two places of the upper portion and the left side portion of the base material 2. Each of the bending parts 2b is bent substantially perpendicularly with respect to the main body portion 2a such that the bending parts 2b are arranged along the upper surface 7b and the side surface 7c of the electronic device 7. Thus, the end surfaces 3aa of the columnar support portions 3a and the end surfaces 3ca of the columnar support portions 3c protruding from the surface of the main body portion 2a are brought into contact with the side plate 10a of the outer box 10.

In this configuration, since the columnar support portions 3a and 3c are not present in the position opposite the regions R, even when an external force is applied from the direction of the side plate 10a, the load is not applied to the regions R. Thus, it is possible to prevent the deformation of the regions R whose strength is low in the side surface 7a. Moreover, since the three edges, that is, the left and right side edges and the upper edges of the base material 2 are supported by the columnar support portion 3b, the end surfaces 3aa of the columnar support portions 3a and the end surfaces 3ca of the columnar support portions 3c, the base material 2 is unlikely to be deformed as compared with a configuration in which only two opposite edges are supported.

Moreover, since the columnar support portions 3a are arranged along the side surface 7c and the columnar support portions 3c are arranged along the upper surface 7b, the columnar support portions 3a and 3c are prevented from falling inwardly (to the side of the electronic device 7). Furthermore, since an external force is applied to the columnar support portions 3a and 3c in a direction (the left/right direction of FIG. 6) parallel to a joint surface to the bending part 2b, the cushioning material 1 receives the external force by the entire ridge line of the portion of the hinge line 6 of the base material 2. Thus, as in the first embodiment, it is possible to reliably cushion a load or an impact applied to the side surface 7a without the area of the columnar support portions 3a and 3c being increased.

Although, in the present embodiment, the configuration in which the bending parts 2b are provided continually in the two places of the upper portion and the left side portion of the base material 2 has been described, even when the flame is not present in the vicinity of the right side edge portion opposite the columnar support portion 3b of the side surface 7a and the strength thereof is low, a bending part 2b where the columnar support portion 3b is arranged is preferably provided continuously on the right side portion of the base material 2.

FIG. 7 is a partial perspective view showing a variation of the cushioning material 1 of the first and second embodiments. In the cushioning material 1 shown in FIG. 7, the hinge line 6 between the bending part 2b and the main body portion 2a is formed with a straight bending line 4. In the columnar support portions 3c, only portions (represented by hatching in FIG. 7) extending from the upper end to the lower end of the bending part 2b are adhered, and the portions protruding beyond the hinge line 6 to the side of the main body portion 2a are not adhered.

FIG. 8 is a partial perspective view showing a state where the bending part 2b of the cushioning material 1 shown in FIG. 7 is bent substantially perpendicularly with respect to the main body portion 2a. When the cushioning material 1 is used, as shown in FIG. 8, the bending part 2b is bent along the hinge line 6 such that the columnar support portions 3c face upwardly, and thus the base material 2 is L-shaped as seen from the side surface. In this way, the end surfaces 3ca of the columnar support portions 3c that are not fixed to the main body portion 2a protrude, in the same direction as the columnar support portions 3a and 3b, by a distance substantially equal to the height of the columnar support portions 3a and 3b.

Since, in the configuration shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the hinge line 6 is formed continuously across the direction of the width of the side surface 7a and the contact area between the main body portion 2a and the side surface 7a is increased, a load and an impact are uniformly distributed over the side surface 7a, and thus it is possible to more reliably perform the cushioning. However, it is necessary to apply an adhesive to only the adhesion portions (the hatched portions in FIG. 7) of the back surface of the columnar support portions 3c, and thus an operation of applying the adhesive is complicated. The adherence area between the bending part 2b and the columnar support portions 3c is decreased. Hence, in terms of the workability of the assembly of the cushioning material 1 and the strength of the columnar support portions 3c, the configuration which is shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 and in which the adhesive can be applied to the entire back surface of the columnar support portions 3c is preferably used.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the cushioning material 1 according to a third embodiment of the present disclosure; FIG. 10 is a partial side view of the vicinity of the bending part 2b of the cushioning material 1 shown in FIG. 9. In FIG. 10, the bending part 2b on the left side of FIG. 9 is shown; the bending part 2b on the right side of FIG. 9 is configured as in FIG. 10 (bilateral symmetry). In the cushioning material 1 of the present embodiment, through the hinge line 6 formed with the cut line 5 that is convex in the direction of the main body portion 2a formed in the base material 2 made of a foamed resin and that is U-shaped as seen in plan view and the bending line 4 that is formed with half cut lines extending from both ends of the cut line 5 to two opposite sides (two sides in the up/down direction of FIG. 9) of the base material 2, the bending parts 2b are provided to continuous with two opposite sides (two sides in the left/right direction of FIG. 9) of the main body portion 2a. When the cushioning material 1 is used, the portion (the hatched portion of FIG. 10) sandwiched between the cut lines 5 serves as the columnar support portions 3a and 3b (see FIG. 11).

FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a state where the bending parts 2b of the cushioning material 1 of the third embodiment are bent substantially perpendicularly with respect to the main body portion 2a; FIG. 12 is a partial side view when the vicinity of the columnar support portion 3a of the cushioning material 1 of the third embodiment is seen from the plane of FIG. 11. When the cushioning material 1 is used, the bending parts 2b on both sides are bent substantially perpendicularly with respect to the main body portion 2a such that the cut sides of the bending lines (half cut lines) 4 face outwardly as shown in FIG. 11. Thus, both sides (the side of the main body portion 2a and the side of the bending parts 2b) of the bending line 4 are extended substantially perpendicularly, and the portion (the hatched portion of FIG. 12) covered by the cut line 5 is cut to rise, as the columnar support portion 3a, from the base material 2 in a direction indicated by an arrow B. Here, the bending parts 2b are connected to the main body portion 2a through regions S where the bending lines 4 are not formed, and the columnar support portions 3a and 3b protrude in the same direction (the upward direction of FIG. 11) by the substantially same height.

The cushioning material 1 formed as shown in FIG. 11 is fitted such that the main body portion 2a is brought into contact with the side surface 7a of the electronic device 7 (see FIG. 3) and that the bending parts 2b are arranged along the side surfaces (the side surface 7c and the opposite surface of FIG. 3) adjacent to the side surface 7a. Then, the electronic device 7 to which the cushioning material 1 is fitted is packed into the outer box 10 (see FIG. 4). Thus, since the columnar support portions 3a and 3b are not present in the position opposite the side surface 7a, even when an external force is applied from the direction of the side plate 10a, a load is not applied directly to the side surface 7a. Hence, it is possible to prevent the region R whose strength is low from being deformed in the side surface 7a.

Since the cushioning material 1 before use is formed in the shape of a flat plate as shown in FIG. 9, and a large number of pieces of cushioning material 1 can be stacked, the form of the transportation of the cushioning material 1 is made compact, and the storage space of the cushioning material 1 is reduced. When the cushioning material 1 is used, the bending parts 2b are bent along the hinge lines 6, and thus it is possible to easily assemble the cushioning material 1 having the base material 2 and the columnar support portions 3a and 3b as shown in FIG. 11.

Furthermore, even in the cushioning material 1 of the present embodiment, the bending parts 2b are provided on the three sides of the base material 2, and the bending parts 2b are bent, and thus it is possible to provide the columnar support portions 3a to 3c in the three places of the base material 2 as in the first and second embodiments. In this way, the base material 2 is prevented from being bent more than necessary, with the result that it is possible to obtain the cushioning material 1 having a higher cushioning effect.

As the material of the cushioning material 1, a foamed resin such as a foamed polystyrene or a foamed polyurethane is used. If the foamed resin forming the cushioning material 1 is a material, such as a foamed polystyrene, that has a low elasticity (flexibility), when the bending parts 2b are bent, it is likely that the half cut lines are torn more deeply and the regions S are broken. Even if the regions S are not broken at the time of the bending of the bending parts 2b, when the cushioning material 1 is placed between the electronic device 7 and the outer box 10, and thereafter an external force is applied to easily break the regions S, it is impossible to obtain a sufficient cushioning effect. Hence, when the cushioning material 1 is likely to receive a large external force, a foamed resin, such as a foamed polyurethane, that has an elasticity (flexibility) is preferably used.

The present enclosure is not limited to the embodiments described above; many modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the present enclosure. For example, the number, the size, the shape and the height of the bending parts 2b and the columnar support portions 3a to 3c arranged in the base material 2 and the positions where they are arranged in the base material 2 are preferably designed as necessary according to the weight of the electronic device 7, the arrangement of the frame on the cushioned surface and the like. Specifically, even in the cushioning material 1 of the first and second embodiments, as in the third embodiment, only the columnar support portions 3a and 3b can also be arranged on the two opposite sides of the base material 2 without the columnar support portion 3c being arranged. In this case, one or both of the columnar support portions 3a and 3b are preferably arranged on the bending parts 2b.

Although, in the above embodiments, the case where the cushioning material 1 is used for cushioning the side surface 7a of the electronic device 7 has been described, the cushioning material I of the present enclosure may be naturally used for cushioning the upper surface or the bottom surface of the electronic device 7.

The present enclosure can be utilized as a cushioning material formed with a base material and a plurality of columnar support portions. Even when a portion having a high strength is not present on the cushioned surface of a packed item, it is possible to provide, by utilizing the present enclosure, a cushioning material that sufficiently cushions an external force, with a simple configuration.

CUSHIONING MATERIAL

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Priority Claims (1)