1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a packaging, and more particularly to a package arrangement in which a die cut insert is fittedly disposed in a fiberboard carton for substantially and securely supporting a container within that carton.
2. Description of Related Arts
Cartons have widely been used for transportation of industrial products. As a matter of conventional practices, a particular kind of goods is first contained in a specifically-designed holder. That holder, with the goods contained therein, is ultimately packed into the cartons for transportation. The primary reason for utilizing the specifically-designed holder is to avoid unwanted movement of the goods inside the carton during transportation, thus minimizing unwanted damages of the goods upon arriving to the receiving side.
Under this particular background, there exists a pressing problem for transporting goods contained in a substantially cylindrical and fragile container, such as glass wine bottles, because it is rather difficult to constraint movements of cylindrical container inside the carton.
One way of doing that is to give up fiberboard carton altogether and utilize a styrofoam rack having a plurality of storage compartments for receiving the cylindrical containers. While styrofoam racks generally achieve satisfactory performance in reducing unwanted damages of the containers, they inevitably increase the logistic cost and the ultimate selling price of the relevant goods.
Moreover, the use of plastic racks is definitely not environmentally friendly because the papers used for making the fiberboard cartons can usually be recycled, whereas it is more difficult to deal with the used styrofoam racks.
A main object of the present invention is to provide a package arrangement for a container, wherein the package arrangement is capable of withstanding unwanted impact directed towards the container, and resisting unwanted movement of the container within a carton during transportation.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a package arrangement in which a die cut insert is detachably disposed in a carton for substantially and securely supporting a container within that carton, so as to prevent unwanted damage of the container.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a package arrangement comprising a die cut insert which can be manufactured by folding a piece of fiberboard in a predetermined manner so as to minimize a manufacturing cost and procedure of the die cut insert. In other words, the fiberboards can be overlappedly stacked up for minimizing the storage space and for transportation while the fiberboard is folded to form the die cut insert at the time for packaging the container.
Accordingly, in order to accomplish the above objects, the present invention provides a package arrangement for storing a container, comprising:
These and other objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims.
Referring to
The means for enclosing and protecting is a rigid enclosure to engage the means for protecting and guiding very closely. Accordingly, the means for enclosing and protecting comprises a carton 10 having a receiving cavity 11. The carton 10 is preferably made from a flat sheet of rigid single or multiple layer fiber board which was scored, slotted, and glued together. This carton usually has four means for top enclosing and four means for bottom enclosing together with four means for protecting and enclosing board carton walls horizontally and vertically enclose the means for protecting and guiding with means for absorbing top impact, means for absorbing bottom impact with the bottles or cans secured in it.
The means for protecting and guiding is preferably made of rigid materials such as a single or multiple layer or corrugated plastic board which was die-cut through a steel rule die, it was scored with folding lines, punched with coaxial cavities, and folded to form four sided vertical walls with the means for top and bottom protecting and guiding and framing spaced apart horizontally. Four vertical walls engage the inner walls of the means for protecting and enclosing very securely so that the movement in between is eliminated.
According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the means for protecting and guiding comprises means for top protecting, guiding and framing; means for bottom protecting, guiding and framing; means for upward standing, supporting and framing; means for downward standing, supporting and framing; means for adjusting and lifting; means for top positioning spacing and guiding; means for bottom positioning spacing and balancing; means for inner right side reinforcing; means for inner left side reinforcing; means for inner right side reinforcing, holding, locking; means for inner left side reinforcing, holding, locking; means for outer left side reinforcing, forming; means for outer right side reinforcing, forming; means for inserting; means for locking; means for tucking, reinforcing; means for front reinforcing holding; means for rear reinforcing, holding; means for supporting horizontally; means for supporting downward; means for cushion; holding; means for balancing the upper side impact, and means for absorbing top or bottom impact.
Specifically, the means for protecting and guiding comprises a die cut insert 20 comprising a top panel 21 having at least a top panel cavity 211, and a bottom panel 22 having at least a bottom panel cavity 221 coaxially aligned with the first through retention cavity 211 of the top panel 21, wherein the die cut insert 20 is adapted for substantially retaining the container 70 in the carton 10 when the container 70 is slidably inserted into the die cut insert 20 through the top panel cavity 211 and the bottom panel cavity 221 at a position that an upper portion of the container 70 is encirclingly supported by the top panel 21, and a lower portion of the container 70 is encirclingly supported by the bottom panel 22, such that the die cut insert 20 is adapted for absorbing an unwanted impact to the container 70 so as to prevent the container 70 from being damaged by the unwanted impact on the container 70.
Referring to
According to the preferred embodiment, the die cut insert 20 is embodied as a box body defining the top panel 21, the bottom panel 22, a front panel 23 a rear panel 24, a right panel 29, and a left panel 291, and having a cross section fittedly corresponding with a cross section of the receiving cavity 11 of the carton 10 such that the die cut insert 20 is adapted to be detachably disposed in the receiving cavity 11.
Referring to
As a result, the portion of the top panel 21 and the bottom panel 22 between the top panel cavity 211 and the bottom panel cavity 221 to the inner walls of the carton 10 will effectively absorb the relative impact force imparted to the container 70 and also absorb the dropping impact from the ground.
The die cut insert 20 further comprises a plurality of joined flaps 25 movably extended from corresponding side edges of the top panel cavity 211 and the bottom panel cavity 221 to selectively cover the top panel cavity 211 and the bottom panel cavity 221, in such a manner that the joined flaps 25 can be folded to move downwardly or upwardly with respect to the top panel 21 and the bottom panel 22 for the container 70 to pass therethrough.
In other words, the joined flaps 25 are adapted to fold downwardly for substantially holding the container 70 when the container 70 is slidably inserted into the top and bottom panel cavities 211, 221 so as to retain the container 70 within the receiving cavity 11 in position.
Moreover, the die cut insert 20 further comprises a left upward flap 212 and a right upward flap 213 foldably extended from a top left side edge and a top right side edge of the top panel 21 for fictionally attaching against the corresponding inner walls of the carton 10 in order to prevent the inner die cut insert from moving upwardly within the receiving cavity 11 and loosing its position.
In other words, each of the left upward flap 212 and the right upward flap 213 has an outer engaging surface 214 adapted to fictionally engage with the corresponding inner walls of the carton 10 when the left upward flap 212 and the right upward flap 213 are upwardly folded to attach against the corresponding walls of the carton 10, such that a lateral upward movement between the die cur inset 20 and the carton 10 can be substantially constrained by the relevant frictional force.
In order to further retain the die cut insert 20 in position, it further comprises a front downward flap 222 and a rear downward flap 223 extended from a bottom front side edge and a rear bottom side edge of the bottom panel 22 in a foldably movable manner for being foldably moved to fictionally attach against the corresponding inner walls of the carton 10, and to stand in the carton 10, in order to prevent the die cut insert from moving downwardly within the receiving cavity 11 and loosing its position. According to the preferred embodiment, the front and the rear downward flaps 222, 223 were hinged type cut out from the front and rear panel 23, 24 of the inner die cut insert.
Referring to
Moreover, the front downward flap 222 and the rear downward flap 223 have first and second hinge hole 2221, 2231 formed thereon to define two lower die cut handles for the user to pull the front downward flap 222 and the rear downward flap 223 for slidably adjusting a position of the die cut insert 20 within the carton 10.
Referring to
Specifically, each of the top cushion 30 and the bottom cushion 40 is a piece of the flat, U shaped or soft cap parts, preferably made by semi-rigid foam, U-shaped folded fiber board paper board or plastic materials. The top cushion 30 is placed between the top of the container 70 and underneath a top flap of the carton 10 for to absorbing an impact force from an upper portion of the container 70.
On the other hand, the bottom cushion 40 is placed between a bottom of the container 70 and a bottom flap of the carton 10 for absorbing an impact at the lower portion of the container 70 while supporting the container 70 above the bottom cushion 40.
In order to facilitate convenient folding of the various flaps, referring to
Thus, the plurality of rib sections 26 is formed along connecting edges of the left and right upwards flaps 212, 213 and the front and rear downward flaps 222, 223 respectively, wherein the perforated holes are spacedly formed along the connecting edges to allow easy folding of the left and right upwards flaps 212, 213 and the front and rear downward flaps 222, 2232 with respect to the top and bottom panels 22, 23.
Accordingly, each of the rib sections 26 has a plurality of non perforated portions between each two adjacent perforated holes so as to form a connecting line which supports the respective flap to maintain and reinforce its required respective position due to materials memory. In other words, the non perforated portion of the rib section 26 is adapted to retain a predetermined rigidity of the respective rib section 26 so as to retain the respective in a predetermined position until it is folded or unfolded.
Furthermore, the top panel 21 further has a plurality of first slit holes 215 formed thereon, wherein the first slit holes 215 are formed at a position surrounding the top panel cavity 211 for reinforcing the top panel 21 in such a manner to resist unwanted bending thereof. Similarly, the bottom panel 22 further has a plurality of second slit holes 224 formed thereon, wherein the second slit holes 224 are formed at a position surrounding the bottom panel cavity 221 for reinforcing the bottom panel 22. Thus, the first and second slits holes 215, 224 are adapted to reinforce the top and bottom panels 21, 22 to resist an unwanted bending movement thereof.
In addition, the first and the second slit holes 215, 224 provide a predetermined amount of resilient effect to the die cut inset 20 while enhancing a resistance to deformation of the top panel 21 the bottom panel 22, such that the overall effect would be to enhance an overall strength of the die cut insert 20.
Referring to
Furthermore, it has to be appreciated that when the container is disposed into the top panel cavity 211 and the bottom panel cavity 221 those remaining cutting rings would serve as a cushion for absorbing vibration so as to provide additional cushioning effect to the container which is disposed in the top panel cavity 211 and the bottom panel cavity 221.
Referring to
Referring to
Moreover, the bottom panel 22 further has a left and a right inner tray lock in panel hole 225 formed on a right and a left side edge of the bottom panel 22 respectively, wherein two inner tray lock in panels 226, each having an inner tray lock in panel front 2261 and formed at two sides of the die cut insert 20, are folded to engage the inner tray lock in panel front 2261 with the respective inner tray lock in panel holes 225 and sandwich the respective inner trap flaps 227 to form a tri-wall structure on the right and left side of the inner die cut insert 20.
In other words, the fiberboard is folded to form the die cut insert 20 that the front panel 23 has a double wall structure and each of the two side panels 29, 291 has a triple wall structure to enhance a strength of the die cut insert 20.
The bottle/can is usually made by brittle glass, soft tin plastic or metal cans. The bottle may contain alcohol, oil, acids, ink, paint and other flammable liquids or flammable gas.
From the forgoing descriptions, it can be shown that the means for top protecting, guiding and framing protects the bottles upper portion (horizontally) comprises the top panel 21, whereas the means for bottom protecting, guiding and framing comprises the bottom panel 22. Moreover, the means for top positioning spacing and guiding contains top panel cavity 211 and the respective joined flaps 25 extended on the top panel cavity 211, whereas the means for bottom positioning spacing and guiding contains the bottom panel cavity 221 and the respective joined flaps 25 extended on the bottom panel cavity 221.
Moreover, the means for upward standing, supporting and framing comprises the left upward flap 212 and the right upward flap 213, whereas the means for downward standing, supporting and framing comprises front downward flap 222 and the rear downward flap 223.
On the other hand, the means for supporting horizontally comprises the right and the left horizontal flap 27 respectively, whereas the means for balancing the upper side impact comprises the top panel 21 having the slit holes 215 formed surrounding the top panel cavity 211.
The means for absorbing top/bottom impact comprises the upper cushion 30 and the bottom cushion 40 received in the carton 10. As such, the means for absorbing bottom impact was placed between the bottom of the means for holding liquid and the bottom flaps of the means for protecting and enclosing to absorb the impact from the bottles bottom part.
Referring to
Accordingly, the means for absorbing top/bottom impact contains a plurality of folding ribs 53 formed in between each two edge flips 52 for easy allowing folding or trimming of the relevant edge flips 52. Moreover, the means for absorbing top/bottom impact further has a plurality of tearing edges 55 formed between each two folding ribs 53 such that the user is allowed to tear alone the tearing edges 55 into a suitably sized upper or lower cushion 30, 40. Therefore, the upper cushion 30 and the lower cushion 40 can be formed by trimming the edge flips 52 from the main cushion portion 51 of the upper cushion 30 or the lower cushion 40.
Referring to
Alternatively, the upper cushion 30 and the lower cushion 40 may be formed by trimming the edge flips 52 from the main cushion portion 51 so as to achieve a suitable size for receiving into the carton 10, as shown in
Obviously, the means for holding liquid comprises the container 70 which is usually made by brittle glass, soft thin plastic or metal cans. The means for holding liquid may contain alcohol, oil, acids, ink, paint, and other flammable liquids or flammable gas.
The means for front reinforcing, holding comprises the front overlap panel 28 forming the double wall structure of the front side of the die cut insert 20.
The means for upper/lower impact balancing surround the means for top positioning, spacing and guiding and means for bottom positioning, spacing and balancing. It can soften the means for upper/bottom cushion holding and to gain the spring effect result.
The rib section 26 of the means for upward standing, supporting and framing, the means for downward standing, supporting and framing, the means for top positioning spacing and guiding, the means for downward standing, supporting and framing, and means for top positioning spacing and guiding, the means for bottom positioning spacing and balancing and the means for supporting horizontally are a non perforated portion of the connecting lines which will support the folding flaps to maintain and reinforce its required holding position because of the material memory.
In other words, owning to materials memory inherent in the fiberboard which forms the die cut insert 20, when the left upward flap and the right upward flap 212, 213 are slightly folded to receive in the receiving cavity 11 of the carton 10, they would automatically unfold to bias against the respective sidewall of the carton 10 so as to fictionally engage with the carton for securing supporting the container 70 within the receiving cavity 11.
It is also worth mentioning at this point that the fiberboard is preferably embodied as forming a flute structure for allowing a predetermined amount of cushioning effect for the fiberboard. Thus, where the fiberboard is utilized to form the upper cushion 30 and the lower cushion 40, the flute structure is adapted to provide additional cushioning effect to the container 70 due to the cushioning effect originated from the flute structure.
Referring to
In performance testing, six glass bottles filled with olive oil were packed into six cavities of the inner die cut insert, placed with one inch thick EPS as top and bottom cushion 30, 40 and packed into a double wall carton 10. The package was tested according to the International Safe Transit Association Industry standard test procedures (ISTA-1A); ten free fall drops were done on the same package from different directions as required. The test results showed no damages occurred.
Referring to
One skilled in the art will understand that the embodiment of the present invention as shown in the drawings and described above is exemplary only and not intended to be limiting.
It will thus be seen that the objects of the present invention have been fully and effectively accomplished. It embodiments have been shown and described for the purposes of illustrating the functional and structural principles of the present invention and is subject to change without departure from such principles. Therefore, this invention includes all modifications encompassed within the spirit and scope of the following claims.
This application is a regular application of a provisional application, having an application No. 60/606,375 and a filing data of Aug. 31, 2004.
Number | Date | Country | |
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60606375 | Aug 2004 | US |