The present disclosure relates generally to a device for producing packing material, and more specifically, to a device for producing slit sheet packing material for wrapping articles for shipping.
When shipping an article from one location to another, the article is typically placed in a container such as a box or package along with protective packing material to fill the empty voids around the article and to cushion the article during shipping. For example, some commonly used void filling packing materials include cellular foam polystyrene (e.g., STYROFOAM®), packing peanuts, crumpled paper, and bubble wrap that are used to protect and cushion the articles while in transit.
However, these commonly used void-filling materials can have certain drawbacks. For example, plastic-based materials such as packing peanuts have certain ecological disadvantages such as not being easily biodegradable when in a landfill. Although these plastic materials can be recycled through reuse, recycling programs for such packaging materials have been met with limited success. Although a wide variety of products have been designed to provide a substitute for materials such as packing peanuts, each of these products have their own disadvantages. Bubble wrap is one common alternative that consists of numerous small pockets of air bubbles within a polymer substrate. However, bubble wrap is often very bulky due to these air bubbles and can easily cause storage problems, and is further expensive and difficult to transport due to its bulk. Crumpled paper may be used in some instances but providing enough crumpled paper to be used for void-filling purposes can require a significant amount of paper and can be economically problematic as a result.
In recent years, slit sheet packing material, sometimes typified as “honeycomb” packing material due to its distinctive shape, has been used as an alternative, ecologically-friendly material that provides certain benefits over prior products. Slit sheet paper packing material typically includes a durable paper such as kraft paper with consecutive rows of alternating slits cut into the paper. Once the slits have been formed, the material may be expanded or tensioned to stretch and open the sheet of material to provide honeycomb-like openings. When stretched in this manner, the thickness of the slit sheet paper packing material can increase by an order of magnitude, or more, relative to its original thickness. This increased thickness allows the expanded material to serve as a protective cushioning wrap for articles, as it is capable of filling a greater volume of space within a box or package.
Such slit-sheet packing material has historically been manufactured offsite from a typical packaging or shipping operation, and manufacturers of such material supply it as a continuous roll of pre-slit paper, which can then be expanded by the individuals using such material for packaging. These rolls of slit sheet material, however, may only be sold in specific sizes that may not be tailored to a variety of different packaging applications (e.g., packages of different sizes such that different widths of slit sheet packing material may be desired). As a result, it is not currently feasible for a company involved in packaging or shipping to easily obtain made-to-use custom sized slit sheet packing material for desired applications. In addition, the cutting mechanisms present in prior devices for forming slit sheet packing material are limited as only being able to cut certain materials, such as kraft paper, and do not provide users with options for forming different patterns as needed for different applications. Finally, such devices have historically been too large and bulky for a company involved in packaging to operate themselves; thus, the only option such companies have is to buy large rolls of pre-manufactured slit sheet packing material of a variety of different sizes as needed.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present disclosure. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted to facilitate a less obstructed view of the various embodiments. It will further be appreciated that certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required.
Generally, in accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, a device for producing various types of cut, slit, or scored packing material includes a housing having an entry opening for receiving a length of packing material, an internal chamber including a movable carriage having one or more rotary blades, and an exit opening. The packing material is advanced through the internal chamber in a machine direction, and a controller of the device is operably coupled to a motor for moving the carriage between a first position and a second position within the internal chamber transverse to the machine direction as the material is advanced therethrough. In response to receiving a user input at a user interface operably coupled to the controller, the controller is configured to cause the motor to facilitate movement of the carriage between the first and second positions such that the rotary blades thereof may engage with and cut and/or slit the packing material to produce various patterns of cuts, slits, or scores in the material as the material is advanced through the device.
In some embodiments, the carriage may include a plurality of rotary blades such as a first rotary blade and a second rotary blade. The first and second rotary blades may each have notches positioned about a circumference thereof to facilitate the cutting of slits in the material as the carriage moves between the first and second positions. The notches in each of the rotary blades may be of a same size or a different size such that the device may be configured to cut slits in the packing material having variable lengths. In one example, the rotary blades may be coaxial, and the notches of the rotary blades may be circumferentially offset from one another. So configured, adjacent rows of slits cut in the packing material transverse to the machine direction may be offset from one another and the resulting slit-sheet material may subsequently be expanded into a honey-comb like structure for use in packaging applications. By varying the type of rotary blades, the number of the rotary blades, the notches cut therein, and the configuration thereof, a user may be permitted to cut, slit, or score a variety of patterns in the material as it is advanced through the device.
In one aspect, the carriage, including the one or more rotary blades, is mounted on and configured to move along a track between the first and second positions in the housing. In some forms, the carriage may include one or more guide apertures that receive respective support rails of the track such that the carriage is slidable therealong. In addition, the carriage may include a drive bore having an internally threaded bushing that is configured to engage with a threaded, rotatable driveshaft. In some embodiments, the motor may be coupled to and configured to rotate the threaded driveshaft in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction so as to engage the threads of the bushing and cause the carriage to advance between the first and second positions along the track during a cutting operation.
The device may additionally include one or more powered drive rollers positioned proximate the entry opening that are configured to advance the packing material through the internal chamber from the entry opening to the exit opening. In some forms, the drive rollers may be at least partially contained within a lower portion of the housing such that only a portion extends into the internal chamber. The drive rollers may be powered by another motor that is operably coupled to the controller and may be operated intermittently to permit the carriage to cut, score, or slit a portion of the material before feeding additional packing material through the internal chamber.
In addition, one or more support rollers may be provided proximate the drive rollers that are configured to impinge upon the packing material so as to sandwich the material against the drive rollers. In some forms, the one or more support rollers may be pivoted between a disengagement position used for loading the packing material and an engagement position for engaging with and assisting in the feeding of the packing material through the internal chamber. The one or more support rollers may be pivoted between the engagement and disengagement positions using, for example, one or more linear actuators that are operatively coupled to the controller and/or the user interface.
Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly
As shown, the housing 102 may include various sub-portions including a cover 114 extending over and covering the components within internal chamber 112, a lower portion 116 extending at least partially below the internal chamber 112, and lateral portions 118, 120. Although the housing 102 is illustrated as including these various sub portions, it should be understood that the housing 102 may alternatively be formed in other variations including more or fewer sub-portions. A user interface 122 may be positioned on an outer surface 123 of the housing 102, such as on the lateral portion 118, for receiving user inputs to cause a controller 117 (
As shown in
A cutting plate 144 may be formed in or mounted on a guide surface 146 of the lower portion 116 of the housing 102 at least partially below and in a cutting path of the rotary blade 134 such that the rotary blade 134 at least partially engages the cutting plate 144 during a cutting operation. The cutting plate 144 is preferably formed of a hardened material, and in some forms, may have a differing surface area (e.g., a different width) to accommodate carriages having more or less rotary blades coupled thereto. In some forms, different cutting plates 144 of different materials or sizes may be interchangeable such that a user may replace or select a new cutting plate for different cutting applications. For example, if a carriage includes a larger number of rotary blades, a wider cutting plate to accommodate contact from each of the rotary blades may be selected.
Referring to
Referring now to
The support roller 128 is shown proximate the drive rollers 148 such that a length of packing material fed into the internal chamber 112 may be at least partially sandwiched therebetween. Although illustrated as an elongated cylinder, in other embodiments, the support roller 128 may include a plurality of individual support rollers. As shown, the support roller 128 is rotatably mounted to a pivoting support bar 150 via brackets 152, and the support roller 128 may be pivoted via the pivoting support bar 150 between an engagement position (shown in
As shown in
In another aspect, a linear actuator 154 is shown mounted on the sidewall 168 and includes a piston end 180 that is coupled to a lower portion 182 of a pivot bracket 184. As illustrated, the pivot bracket 184 is rotatably coupled to the sidewall 168 via a fastener 186 such as a threaded bolt such that the pivot bracket 184 is permitted to pivot around an axis of rotation P. The pivot bracket 184 further includes a fastener 188 or other coupling means extending through a slot 190 formed in the sidewall 168 that is coupled to the support bar 150. So configured, upon actuation of the linear actuator 154, the piston end 180 is configured to extend and push the lower portion 182 of the pivot bracket 184 so as to rotate the pivot bracket 184 about the axis P and cause the fastener 188 to slide within the slot 190 and pivot the support roller 128 coupled to the support bar 150 from the engagement position to the disengagement position. Upon retraction of the piston end 180, the support roller 128 may be pivoted back into the engagement position. In addition to the linear actuator 154 shown here in the lateral portion 120 of the housing 102, as shown in
In some embodiments, the support roller 128 may be made of a metal material and may include a sleeve 192 positioned therearound that is made of a plastic or rubber material for frictionally impinging upon the packing material moving through the device 100. The support roller 128 and sleeve 192 may be configured to accommodate packing materials having a variety of different thicknesses being fed through the device 100. In some forms, the sleeve 192 may include a plurality of laterally extending ridges or other contours for assisting in gripping of the packing material when feeding the packing material through the internal chamber 112. Alternatively, the support roller 128 itself may be formed of a plastic or rubber material.
The embodiment of the carriage 130 shown in
In still other forms, the one or more rotary blade coupled to the carriage 130 need not necessarily include thin, sharp blade edges extending about the circumference thereof, and may instead include one or more blade portions configured to cut a geometric pattern in the packing material being advanced through the device 100. For example, the rotary blade may include a plurality of blade edges arranged so as to cut or slit geometric patterns, such as a triangle, circle, square, a clam shell, or other shape in the packing material in a cookie-cutter like manner. Even further, in other forms, the rotary blade need not necessarily be formed as a monolithic blade, but may be formed of a rotating member having one or more blades coupled thereto in varying configurations or at various angles. For example, such attached blades may be arranged to cut slits in the material in a direction generally transverse to the machine direction M, or may be arranged at an angle relative to the direction of rotation of the rotating member such that the slits cut in the material may be angled relative to that transverse direction. In some forms, the slits cut in the packing material may be about 45 to 75 degrees relative to the transverse direction, or in other forms may be about 60 degrees relative to the transverse direction. It should be understood that cuts or slits that are cut into the packing material adjacent one another in the direction of movement of the carriage 130 as the rotary blade advances over the packing material another need not be identical or symmetrical, and the rotary blade may be configured to cut alternating or repeating patterns as it is advanced over the packing material (e.g., slit type A, slit type B, slit type A, slit type B, etc., or, slit type A, slit type B, slit type C, slit type A, etc.).
Similar to the carriage 130, the arms 1214 of the carriage 1130 may be loaded by a spring or other resilient component (not shown) such that the rotary blades 1134 are biased into engagement with the cutting plate 144. As illustrated, the rotary blades 1134 each include notches 1230 extending about a circumference thereof, and the notches 1230 of the two blades 1134 are circumferentially offset from one another. The blades 1134 may be held in this offset configuration by, for example, the keyed connection between the blades 1134 and the mounting shaft 1221 or via a keyed connection between the blades 1134 themselves. During a cutting operation, the cutting edge 1135 of each rotary blade 1134 is configured to cut slits or holes in packing material in the device 100 while the notched portions 1230 of the blades 1134 do not contact the material such that slits are not cut in the packing material by the notched portions 1230. So configured, as packing material is advanced into a cutting path of the carriage 1130, and the carriage 1130 is moved from one side of the internal chamber 112 to the other, the offset rotary blades 1134 are biased into engagement with the packing material via the loading thereof so as to cut two, adjacent rows of offset slits in the packing material.
An example rotary blade 1134 including notches 1230 is further shown in the plan view of
Upon receiving a user input at the user interface 122 indicating that the user desires to initiate a slitting operation at step 1704, the controller 117 of the device 100 may cause rotation of the drive rollers 148 via the first motor 162 to advance the packing material a predetermined distance in the machine direction M in step 1705. The predetermined distance may be determined, for example, based on a desired length between the rows of slits cut in the packing material via the rotary blades and may also be determined based on the number of rotary blades installed on the carriage 130 or the spacing between the rotary blades if multiple blades are attached. This distance may be preprogrammed into the controller 117 or may be adjusted by the user via the user interface 122 as desired.
In step 1706, once the packing material has been advanced the predetermined distance, the controller 117 is configured to cause operation of the second motor 164 to cause corresponding rotation of the threaded driveshaft 131 in the clockwise direction to drive the carriage 130 from a first position A on the track 132 proximate a first side of the packing material to a second position B on the track 132 proximate a second side of the packing material. As the carriage 130 is moved from the first position to the second position, the loaded rotary blades are biased into engagement with the cutting plate 144 and are configured to cut slits into the packing material while the carriage 130 is in motion.
In step 1707, the method may optionally include determining whether all of the packing material is finished being cut or slit before continuing. This may be determined, for example, using a sensor (not shown) operatively coupled to the controller 117 to detect whether any more packing material remains. For example, the sensor may be an optical sensor or the like. In addition, a user may be permitted to stop the process at any time using emergency stop button 124. If the controller 117 determines that all packing material has been cut, the device 100 may be stopped at step 1708. However, if the controller 117 determines that not all packing material has been cut, in step 1709, the controller 117 may cause rotation of the one or more drive rollers 148 via the first motor 162 to again advance the packing material the predetermined distance in the machine direction M.
Then, in step 1710, the controller 117 is configured to cause operation of the second motor 164 once again to cause corresponding rotation of the threaded driveshaft 131 in the counter-clockwise direction to drive the carriage 130 from the second position B on the track 132 proximate the second side of the packing material to the first position A on the track 132 proximate the first side of the packing material. As the carriage 130 is moved from the second position to the first position, the loaded rotary blades are biased into engagement with the cutting plate 144 and are configured to cut slits into the packing material while the carriage 130 is in motion. In step 1711, the method 1700 may optionally again determine if all of the packing material has been cut, and if not, may return to step 1705 in a loop until all material has been cut or the user decides to stop the device 100. So configured, the controller 117 of the device 100 may alternately control the first and second motors 162, 164 so as to intermittently feed the packing material in the machine direction M and cut slits in the packing material between such feeding.
In some embodiments, the controller 117 may be configured to cause the carriage 130 to move less than an entire distance along the track 132, such as if the user only desires to cut slits in a portion of the width of the packing material. The user may specify the start and stop points of the carriage 130 along the track 132 during a cutting operation via the user interface 122.
At step 1804, upon receiving a user input at the user interface 122 indicating that the user desires to initiate a sheeting operation, the controller 117 of the device 100 may cause rotation of the drive rollers 148 via the first motor 162 to advance the packing material a predetermined distance in the machine direction M in step 1805. The predetermined distance may be determined, for example, based on a desired sheet size of the packing material to be sheeted. This distance may be preprogrammed into the controller 117 or may be selected by the user via the user interface 122 as desired.
In step 1806, once the packing material has been advanced the predetermined distance, the controller 117 is configured to cause operation of the second motor 164 to cause corresponding rotation of the threaded driveshaft 131 in the clockwise direction in step 1706 to drive the carriage 130 from a first position A on the track 132 proximate a first side of the packing material to a second position B on the track 132 proximate a second side of the packing material. As the carriage 130 is moved from the first position A to the second position B, the one or more loaded rotary blades are biased into engagement with the cutting plate 144 and are configured to cut through the packing material while the carriage 130 is in motion so as to cut a sheet of the packing material.
The process may stop after sheeting one sheet of packing material. However, if additional sheets of packing material are desired, in step 1807, the controller 117 is configured to cause operation of the first motor 162 to again advance the packing material a predetermined distance in the machine direction M. Then, in step 1808, the controller 117 is configured to cause operation of the second motor 164 once again to cause corresponding rotation of the threaded driveshaft 131 in the counter-clockwise direction to drive the carriage 130 from the second position B on the track 132 proximate the second side of the packing material to the first position A on the track 132 proximate the first side of the packing material. As the carriage 130 is moved from the second position B to the first position A, the one or more loaded rotary blades are biased into engagement with the cutting plate 144 and are configured to cut through the packing material while the carriage 130 is in motion. If still more sheets are desired, the method may repeat steps 1805 through 1808 in a loop as desired.
It should also be understood that while certain features have been described with respect to certain embodiments, these features may be intermixed or interchanged with one another to form other embodiments as desired. All features disclosed herein are intended to be used in any of the embodiments disclosed herein either in lieu of similar features or in combination with other features. Uses of singular terms such as “a,” and “an,” are intended to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. The terms “comprising,” “having,” “including,” and “containing” are to be construed as open-ended terms. It is intended that the phrase “at least one of” as used herein be interpreted in the disjunctive sense. For example, the phrase “at least one of A and B” is intended to encompass only A, only B, or both A and B.
This detailed description refers to specific examples in the drawings and illustrations. These examples are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the embodiments set forth in the present disclosure. These examples also serve to illustrate how the disclosed subject matter can be applied to various purposes or embodiments. Other embodiments are included within the disclosed subject matter, as logical, mechanical, electrical, and other changes can be made to the example embodiments described herein. Features of various embodiments described herein, however essential to the example embodiments in which they are incorporated, do not limit the disclosed subject matter as a whole, and any reference its elements, operation, and application are not limiting as a whole, but serve only to define these example embodiments. This detailed description does not, therefore, limit embodiments of the disclosure, which are defined only by the appended claims. Each of the embodiments described herein are contemplated as falling within the disclosed subject matter, which is set forth in the following claims.
Those skilled in the art will recognize that a wide variety of modifications, alterations, and combinations can be made with respect to the above described embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention. For instance, the various aspects of the illustrated devices, such as the mounting portions of the carriages having various combinations of rotary blades, can be implemented individually or together in any combination. Such modifications, alterations, and combinations are to be viewed as being within the ambit of the present disclosure.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/245,500, filed Sep. 17, 2021, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/US2022/043888 | 9/16/2022 | WO |
Number | Date | Country | |
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63245500 | Sep 2021 | US |