Patent Application
20220177182
The present invention relates to packaging articles, and more particularly to improved packaging articles for shipping fragile items.
Articles for shipping fragile items such as glass bottles, cans, and other beverage containers need to provide adequate protection for the shipped items. Thus, the shipping articles should be able to dampen vibration and absorb shock from any angle. Ideally, such shipping articles should also be durable, lightweight, affordable, environmentally friendly, and easy-to-use. Once shipped items arrive at their destination, it should also be easy for the recipient to remove the shipped articles without damaging them.
Implementation of the invention provides improved shipping articles that satisfy the needs for shipping of fragile items such as glass bottles, cans, and other beverage containers. Such shipping articles are filled and inserted into a secondary shipping container, such as an external box, for shipping of the items with adequate protection for the fragile items. The fragile items are protected from vibration and shock during shipping.
Certain implementations of the invention provide an improved shipping article including a single piece of substantially planar material with parallel scores formed therein thereby defining six substantially planar sections of the shipping article, the six planar sections of the shipping article defining, when the piece of substantially planar material is folded along the parallel scores, a first pair of opposing, substantially parallel, spaced-apart sides, a second pair of opposing, substantially parallel, spaced-apart sides that are substantially perpendicular to the first pair of sides, and a pair of dividing walls located adjacent each other and dividing a compartment formed by the first and second pairs of sides into two sub-compartments. Each of the planar sections defining the dividing walls includes a top extension sized and shaped to fold down to form a top of one of the sub-compartments. Each of the top extensions includes a hole therein sized to receive a human finger or thumb to facilitate lifting of the shipping article by the top extensions during insertion of or removal of the shipping article from a secondary shipping container.
In some implementations, the parallel scores further define a seventh substantially planar section of the shipping article. When the piece of substantially flat material is folded along the parallel scores, two of the planar sections of the shipping article jointly form one of the two of the first pair of opposing, substantially parallel, spaced-apart sides. A single third planar section of the shipping article forms the other of the first pair of opposing, substantially parallel, spaced-apart sides. In some of such implementations, the sub-compartments have a substantially rectangular cross-section when taken substantially perpendicular to the material of the sides. In some of such implementations, the sub-compartments have a substantially square cross-section when taken substantially perpendicular to the material of the sides. In some of such implementations, each of the planar sections defining the dividing walls further includes a bottom extension sized and shaped to fold up to form a bottom of one of the sub-compartments. The substantially planar material further includes a plurality of slits extending between adjacent sides of the first and second pairs of sides separating portions thereof above and below the top and the bottom of the sub-compartments, thereby permitting the portions above and below the top and the bottom of the sub-compartments to be inwardly displaced after the piece of substantially planar material is folded and the tops and the bottoms of the sub-compartments are folded down and up, respectively, to hold the tops and the bottoms of the sub-compartments in place. In some of such implementations, the piece of substantially planar material includes two of the plurality of slits for each top and for each bottom of the sub-compartments.
In some implementations, each of the planar sections defining the dividing walls further includes a bottom extension sized and shaped to fold up to form a bottom of one of the sub-compartments. The substantially planar material further includes a plurality of slits extending between adjacent sides of the first and second pairs of sides separating portions thereof above the tops and below the bottoms of the sub-compartments, thereby permitting the portions above the tops and below the bottoms of the sub-compartments to be inwardly displaced after the piece of substantially planar material is folded and the tops and the bottoms of the sub-compartments are folded down and up, respectively, to hold the tops and the bottoms of the sub-compartments in place.
In some implementations, one or more of the sides of the first pair of opposing sides or the second pair of opposing sides includes an item-separating shelf formed as a portion of the single piece of substantially planar material detached from its respective side except along a line substantially perpendicular to the parallel scores, whereby the shelf is adapted to fold into one of the sub-compartments to separate such sub-compartment into vertically spaced sub-sub-compartments. In some of such implementations, the shipping article includes item-separating shelves such as two item-separating shelves separating the two sub-compartments into four sub-sub-compartments, four item-separating shelves separating the two sub-compartments into six sub-sub-compartments, six item-separating shelves separating the two sub-compartments into eight sub-sub-compartments.
In some implementations, the single piece of material includes or is corrugated cardboard. In some implementations, the sub-compartments are sized to receive items such as wine bottles, aluminum beverage cans, beverage bottles, beverage growlers, beverage crowlers, and beverage bombers. In some implementations, when the shipping article is folded, the shipping article contains and protects two or more items in the sub-compartments between the tops and bottoms formed by bottom extensions sized and shaped to fold up from the planar sections defining the dividing walls. When the shipping article is located within an external box that encloses the shipping article, the external box and the shipping article form a first crush void above the tops, and a second crush void below the bottoms, the first and second crush voids being defined by portions of the first and second pairs of opposing sides that extend beyond the bottoms and the tops.
According to some implementations, an improved shipping article includes a single piece of substantially planar material with parallel scores formed therein thereby defining seven substantially planar sections of the shipping article, the seven planar sections of the shipping article defining, when the piece of substantially planar material is folded along the parallel scores, a first pair of opposing, substantially parallel, spaced-apart sides, one of the first pair of sides being formed of a single of the planar sections and the other of the first pair of sides being formed of two other of the planar sections, a second pair of opposing, substantially parallel, spaced-apart sides that are substantially perpendicular to the first pair of sides, and a pair of dividing walls located adjacent each other and dividing a compartment formed by the first and second pairs of sides into two sub-compartments. Each of the planar sections defining the dividing walls includes a top extension sized and shaped to fold down to form a top of one of the sub-compartments, and a bottom extension sized and shaped to fold up to form a bottom of one of the sub-compartments.
In some implementations, each of the top extensions includes a hole therein sized to receive a human finger or thumb to facilitate lifting of the shipping article by the top extensions during insertion of or removal of the shipping article from a secondary shipping container. In some implementations, the sub-compartments have a substantially square cross-section when taken substantially perpendicular to the material of the sides. In some implementations, the substantially planar material further includes two slits for each bottom of the sub-compartments and for each top of the sub-compartments, the slits extending between adjacent sides of the first and second pairs of sides separating portions thereof above and below the top and the bottom of the sub-compartments, thereby permitting the portions above the tops and below the bottoms of the sub-compartments to be inwardly displaced after the piece of substantially planar material is folded and the tops and the bottoms of the sub-compartments are folded down and up, respectively, to hold the tops and the bottoms of the sub-compartments in place.
In some implementations, one or more of the sides of the first pair of opposing sides or the second pair of opposing sides includes an item-separating shelf formed as a portion of the single piece of substantially planar material detached from its respective side except along a line substantially perpendicular to the parallel scores, whereby the shelf is adapted to fold into one of the sub-compartments to separate such sub-compartment into vertically spaced sub-sub-compartments. In some of such implementations, the shipping article includes item-separating shelves such as two item-separating shelves separating the two sub-compartments into four sub-sub-compartments, four item-separating shelves separating the two sub-compartments into six sub-sub-compartments, six item-separating shelves separating the two sub-compartments into eight sub-sub-compartments.
In some implementations, the single piece of material includes or is corrugated cardboard. In some implementations, the sub-compartments are sized to receive items such as wine bottles, aluminum beverage cans, beverage bottles, beverage growlers, beverage crowlers, and beverage bombers. In some implementations, when the shipping article is folded, the shipping article contains and protects two or more items in the sub-compartments between the tops and bottoms formed by bottom extensions sized and shaped to fold up from the planar sections defining the dividing walls. When the shipping article is located within an external box that encloses the shipping article, the external box and the shipping article form a first crush void above the tops, and a second crush void below the bottoms, the first and second crush voids being defined by portions of the first and second pairs of opposing sides that extend beyond the bottoms and the tops.
According to some implementations, an improved shipping article includes a single piece of substantially planar material with parallel scores formed therein thereby defining six substantially planar sections of the shipping article, the six planar sections of the shipping article defining, when the piece of substantially planar material is folded along the parallel scores, a first pair of opposing, substantially parallel, spaced-apart sides, a second pair of opposing, substantially parallel, spaced-apart sides that are substantially perpendicular to the first pair of sides, and a pair of dividing walls located adjacent each other and dividing a compartment formed by the first and second pairs of sides into two sub-compartments. Each of the planar sections defining the dividing walls includes a top extension sized and shaped to fold down to form a top of one of the sub-compartments and a bottom extension sized and shaped to fold up to form a bottom of one of the sub-compartments. One or more of the sides of the first pair of opposing sides or the second pair of opposing sides includes an item-separating shelf formed as a portion of the single piece of substantially planar material detached from its respective side except along a line substantially perpendicular to the parallel scores, whereby the shelf is adapted to fold into one of the sub-compartments to separate such sub-compartment into vertically spaced sub-sub-compartments.
In some implementations, the parallel scores further define a seventh substantially planar section of the shipping article, wherein when the piece of substantially flat material is folded along the parallel scores, two of the planar sections of the shipping article jointly form one of the two of the first pair of opposing, substantially parallel, spaced-apart sides, and a single third planar section of the shipping article forms the other of the first pair of opposing, substantially parallel, spaced-apart sides. In some of such implementations, the sub-compartments have a substantially square cross-section when taken substantially perpendicular to the material of the sides. In some of such implementations, each of the planar sections defining the dividing walls further includes a bottom extension sized and shaped to fold up to form a bottom of one of the sub-compartments. The substantially planar material further includes a plurality of slits extending between adjacent sides of the first and second pairs of sides separating portions thereof above and below the top and the bottom of the sub-compartments, thereby permitting the portions above and below the top and the bottom of the sub-compartments to be inwardly displaced after the piece of substantially planar material is folded and the tops and the bottoms of the sub-compartments are folded down and up, respectively, to hold the tops and the bottoms of the sub-compartments in place. In some of such implementations, the piece of substantially planar material includes two of the plurality of slits for each top and for each bottom of the sub-compartments.
In some implementations, each of the top extensions includes a hole therein sized to receive a human finger or thumb to facilitate lifting of the shipping article by the top extensions during insertion of or removal of the shipping article from a secondary shipping container. In some implementations, the substantially planar material further includes a plurality of slits extending between adjacent sides of the first and second pairs of sides separating portions thereof above the tops and below the bottoms of the sub-compartments, thereby permitting the portions above the tops and below the bottoms of the sub-compartments to be inwardly displaced after the piece of substantially planar material is folded and the tops and the bottoms of the sub-compartments are folded down and up, respectively, to hold the tops and the bottoms of the sub-compartments in place.
In some implementations, the shipping article includes item-separating shelves such as two item-separating shelves separating the two sub-compartments into four sub-sub-compartments, four item-separating shelves separating the two sub-compartments into six sub-sub-compartments, six item-separating shelves separating the two sub-compartments into eight sub-sub-compartments.
In some implementations, the single piece of material includes or is corrugated cardboard. In some implementations, the sub-compartments are sized to receive items such as wine bottles, aluminum beverage cans, beverage bottles, beverage growlers, beverage crowlers, and beverage bombers. In some implementations, when the shipping article is folded, the shipping article contains and protects two or more items in the sub-compartments between the tops and bottoms formed by bottom extensions sized and shaped to fold up from the planar sections defining the dividing walls. When the shipping article is located within an external box that encloses the shipping article, the external box and the shipping article form a first crush void above the tops, and a second crush void below the bottoms, the first and second crush voids being defined by portions of the first and second pairs of opposing sides that extend beyond the bottoms and the tops.
The objects and features of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are, therefore, not to be considered limiting of its scope, the invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:
A description of embodiments of the present invention will now be given with reference to the Figures. It is expected that the present invention may take many other forms and shapes, hence the following disclosure is intended to be illustrative and not limiting, and the scope of the invention should be determined by reference to the appended claims.
Certain embodiments of the invention provide an improved shipping article including a single piece of substantially planar material with parallel scores formed therein thereby defining six substantially planar sections of the shipping article, the six planar sections of the shipping article defining, when the piece of substantially planar material is folded along the parallel scores, a first pair of opposing, substantially parallel, spaced-apart sides, a second pair of opposing, substantially parallel, spaced-apart sides that are substantially perpendicular to the first pair of sides, and a pair of dividing walls located adjacent each other and dividing a compartment formed by the first and second pairs of sides into two sub-compartments. Each of the planar sections defining the dividing walls includes a top extension sized and shaped to fold down to form a top of one of the sub-compartments. Each of the top extensions includes a hole therein sized to receive a human finger or thumb to facilitate lifting of the shipping article by the top extensions during insertion of or removal of the shipping article from a secondary shipping container.
In some embodiments, the parallel scores further define a seventh substantially planar section of the shipping article. When the piece of substantially flat material is folded along the parallel scores, two of the planar sections of the shipping article jointly form one of the two of the first pair of opposing, substantially parallel, spaced-apart sides. A single third planar section of the shipping article forms the other of the first pair of opposing, substantially parallel, spaced-apart sides. In some of such embodiments, the sub-compartments have a substantially rectangular cross-section when taken substantially perpendicular to the material of the sides. In some of such embodiments, the sub-compartments have a substantially square cross-section when taken substantially perpendicular to the material of the sides. In some of such embodiments, each of the planar sections defining the dividing walls further includes a bottom extension sized and shaped to fold up to form a bottom of one of the sub-compartments. The substantially planar material further includes a plurality of slits extending between adjacent sides of the first and second pairs of sides separating portions thereof above and below the top and the bottom of the sub-compartments, thereby permitting the portions above and below the top and the bottom of the sub-compartments to be inwardly displaced after the piece of substantially planar material is folded and the tops and the bottoms of the sub-compartments are folded down and up, respectively, to hold the tops and the bottoms of the sub-compartments in place. In some of such embodiments, the piece of substantially planar material includes two of the plurality of slits for each top and for each bottom of the sub-compartments.
In some embodiments, each of the planar sections defining the dividing walls further includes a bottom extension sized and shaped to fold up to form a bottom of one of the sub-compartments. The substantially planar material further includes a plurality of slits extending between adjacent sides of the first and second pairs of sides separating portions thereof above the tops and below the bottoms of the sub-compartments, thereby permitting the portions above the tops and below the bottoms of the sub-compartments to be inwardly displaced after the piece of substantially planar material is folded and the tops and the bottoms of the sub-compartments are folded down and up, respectively, to hold the tops and the bottoms of the sub-compartments in place.
In some embodiments, one or more of the sides of the first pair of opposing sides or the second pair of opposing sides includes an item-separating shelf formed as a portion of the single piece of substantially planar material detached from its respective side except along a line substantially perpendicular to the parallel scores, whereby the shelf is adapted to fold into one of the sub-compartments to separate such sub-compartment into vertically spaced sub-sub-compartments. In some of such embodiments, the shipping article includes item-separating shelves such as two item-separating shelves separating the two sub-compartments into four sub-sub-compartments, four item-separating shelves separating the two sub-compartments into six sub-sub-compartments, six item-separating shelves separating the two sub-compartments into eight sub-sub-compartments.
In some embodiments, the single piece of material includes or is corrugated cardboard. In some embodiments, the sub-compartments are sized to receive items such as wine bottles, aluminum beverage cans, beverage bottles, beverage growlers, beverage crowlers, and beverage bombers. In some embodiments, when the shipping article is folded, the shipping article contains and protects two or more items in the sub-compartments between the tops and bottoms formed by bottom extensions sized and shaped to fold up from the planar sections defining the dividing walls. When the shipping article is located within an external box that encloses the shipping article, the external box and the shipping article form a first crush void above the tops, and a second crush void below the bottoms, the first and second crush voids being defined by portions of the first and second pairs of opposing sides that extend beyond the bottoms and the tops.
According to some embodiments, an improved shipping article includes a single piece of substantially planar material with parallel scores formed therein thereby defining seven substantially planar sections of the shipping article, the seven planar sections of the shipping article defining, when the piece of substantially planar material is folded along the parallel scores, a first pair of opposing, substantially parallel, spaced-apart sides, one of the first pair of sides being formed of a single of the planar sections and the other of the first pair of sides being formed of two other of the planar sections, a second pair of opposing, substantially parallel, spaced-apart sides that are substantially perpendicular to the first pair of sides, and a pair of dividing walls located adjacent each other and dividing a compartment formed by the first and second pairs of sides into two sub-compartments. Each of the planar sections defining the dividing walls includes a top extension sized and shaped to fold down to form a top of one of the sub-compartments, and a bottom extension sized and shaped to fold up to form a bottom of one of the sub-compartments.
In some embodiments, each of the top extensions includes a hole therein sized to receive a human finger or thumb to facilitate lifting of the shipping article by the top extensions during insertion of or removal of the shipping article from a secondary shipping container. In some embodiments, the sub-compartments have a substantially square cross-section when taken substantially perpendicular to the material of the sides. In some embodiments, the substantially planar material further includes two slits for each bottom of the sub-compartments and for each top of the sub-compartments, the slits extending between adjacent sides of the first and second pairs of sides separating portions thereof above and below the top and the bottom of the sub-compartments, thereby permitting the portions above the tops and below the bottoms of the sub-compartments to be inwardly displaced after the piece of substantially planar material is folded and the tops and the bottoms of the sub-compartments are folded down and up, respectively, to hold the tops and the bottoms of the sub-compartments in place.
In some embodiments, one or more of the sides of the first pair of opposing sides or the second pair of opposing sides includes an item-separating shelf formed as a portion of the single piece of substantially planar material detached from its respective side except along a line substantially perpendicular to the parallel scores, whereby the shelf is adapted to fold into one of the sub-compartments to separate such sub-compartment into vertically spaced sub-sub-compartments. In some of such embodiments, the shipping article includes item-separating shelves such as two item-separating shelves separating the two sub-compartments into four sub-sub-compartments, four item-separating shelves separating the two sub-compartments into six sub-sub-compartments, six item-separating shelves separating the two sub-compartments into eight sub-sub-compartments.
In some embodiments, the single piece of material includes or is corrugated cardboard. In some embodiments, the sub-compartments are sized to receive items such as wine bottles, aluminum beverage cans, beverage bottles, beverage growlers, beverage crowlers, and beverage bombers. In some embodiments, when the shipping article is folded, the shipping article contains and protects two or more items in the sub-compartments between the tops and bottoms formed by bottom extensions sized and shaped to fold up from the planar sections defining the dividing walls. When the shipping article is located within an external box that encloses the shipping article, the external box and the shipping article form a first crush void above the tops, and a second crush void below the bottoms, the first and second crush voids being defined by portions of the first and second pairs of opposing sides that extend beyond the bottoms and the tops.
According to some embodiments, an improved shipping article includes a single piece of substantially planar material with parallel scores formed therein thereby defining six substantially planar sections of the shipping article, the six planar sections of the shipping article defining, when the piece of substantially planar material is folded along the parallel scores, a first pair of opposing, substantially parallel, spaced-apart sides, a second pair of opposing, substantially parallel, spaced-apart sides that are substantially perpendicular to the first pair of sides, and a pair of dividing walls located adjacent each other and dividing a compartment formed by the first and second pairs of sides into two sub-compartments. Each of the planar sections defining the dividing walls includes a top extension sized and shaped to fold down to form a top of one of the sub-compartments and a bottom extension sized and shaped to fold up to form a bottom of one of the sub-compartments. One or more of the sides of the first pair of opposing sides or the second pair of opposing sides includes an item-separating shelf formed as a portion of the single piece of substantially planar material detached from its respective side except along a line substantially perpendicular to the parallel scores, whereby the shelf is adapted to fold into one of the sub-compartments to separate such sub-compartment into vertically spaced sub-sub-compartments.
In some embodiments, the parallel scores further define a seventh substantially planar section of the shipping article, wherein when the piece of substantially flat material is folded along the parallel scores, two of the planar sections of the shipping article jointly form one of the two of the first pair of opposing, substantially parallel, spaced-apart sides, and a single third planar section of the shipping article forms the other of the first pair of opposing, substantially parallel, spaced-apart sides. In some of such embodiments, the sub-compartments have a substantially square cross-section when taken substantially perpendicular to the material of the sides. In some of such embodiments, each of the planar sections defining the dividing walls further includes a bottom extension sized and shaped to fold up to form a bottom of one of the sub-compartments. The substantially planar material further includes a plurality of slits extending between adjacent sides of the first and second pairs of sides separating portions thereof above and below the top and the bottom of the sub-compartments, thereby permitting the portions above and below the top and the bottom of the sub-compartments to be inwardly displaced after the piece of substantially planar material is folded and the tops and the bottoms of the sub-compartments are folded down and up, respectively, to hold the tops and the bottoms of the sub-compartments in place. In some of such embodiments, the piece of substantially planar material includes two of the plurality of slits for each top and for each bottom of the sub-compartments.
In some embodiments, each of the top extensions includes a hole therein sized to receive a human finger or thumb to facilitate lifting of the shipping article by the top extensions during insertion of or removal of the shipping article from a secondary shipping container. In some embodiments, the substantially planar material further includes a plurality of slits extending between adjacent sides of the first and second pairs of sides separating portions thereof above the tops and below the bottoms of the sub-compartments, thereby permitting the portions above the tops and below the bottoms of the sub-compartments to be inwardly displaced after the piece of substantially planar material is folded and the tops and the bottoms of the sub-compartments are folded down and up, respectively, to hold the tops and the bottoms of the sub-compartments in place.
In some embodiments, the shipping article includes item-separating shelves such as two item-separating shelves separating the two sub-compartments into four sub-sub-compartments, four item-separating shelves separating the two sub-compartments into six sub-sub-compartments, six item-separating shelves separating the two sub-compartments into eight sub-sub-compartments.
In some embodiments, the single piece of material includes or is corrugated cardboard. In some embodiments, the sub-compartments are sized to receive items such as wine bottles, aluminum beverage cans, beverage bottles, beverage growlers, beverage crowlers, and beverage bombers. In some embodiments, when the shipping article is folded, the shipping article contains and protects two or more items in the sub-compartments between the tops and bottoms formed by bottom extensions sized and shaped to fold up from the planar sections defining the dividing walls. When the shipping article is located within an external box that encloses the shipping article, the external box and the shipping article form a first crush void above the tops, and a second crush void below the bottoms, the first and second crush voids being defined by portions of the first and second pairs of opposing sides that extend beyond the bottoms and the tops.
The Figures illustrate various embodiments of improved shipping articles 10.
In certain embodiments, the substantially planar material 12 is a paperboard or a plastic board product. In some exemplary embodiments, the substantially planar material 12 is a corrugated paperboard product such as 40 edge crush test (40 ECT) or some other strength corrugated board. The strength of the substantially planar material 12, in some embodiments, is selected to allow the shipping article 10 to support the weight load of the anticipated contents of the shipping article 10. The shipping article 10 may be formed of any desired substantially planar material 12 as long as the shipping article 10 so formed satisfies desired strength, durability, weight, cost, and/or other characteristics, and one of ordinary skill in the art will be able to determine appropriate materials or alternate materials for the substantially planar material 12.
In some embodiments, the material 12 is pre-readied for being formed into the shipping article 10 by a process of cutting, perforating, scoring and/or pre-folding the material 12. In other embodiments, the shipping article 10 formation process also includes a step of forming the substantially planar material 12, which may include a first step of cutting or forming the substantially planar material 12 in the overall shape of the finished shipping article 10, which is then further formed by cutting, perforating, scoring, creasing, and/or folding the material. In certain embodiments, the material 12 is formed into the shipping article 10 at a manufactory while retaining its substantially planar configuration. The shipping article 10 is then transported (e.g., shipped) to an end user (e.g., as a stack of substantially planar shipping articles 10). The end user then folds the material 12 along pre-formed score lines 14 or creases to form the folded shipping article 10 ready to receive contents for shipping.
The score lines 14 formed in the material 12 define substantially planar sections of the shipping article 10 that are formed when the material 12 is folded by the end user. A series of substantially parallel score lines 14 divide the material 12 into sides and dividing walls of the shipping article 10 in the embodiment of
When the shipping article 10 is in its folded configuration, the two dividing walls 20 are located immediately adjacent to each other within the enclosed volume. The dividing walls 20 extend between opposite corners of the shipping article 10 such that the dividing walls 20 divide the enclosed volume (generally shaped as a rectangular prism) along its length into two sub-volumes that, in this embodiment, have a general shape of a triangular prism.
When the material 12 is initially formed, one or more locking tabs 22 (two are illustrated in the embodiment of
The shipping article 10, as originally formed in its substantially planar state, also includes score lines 14 on each of the dividing walls 20 that are substantially perpendicular to the series of parallel score lines 14 discussed previously. These perpendicular score lines 14 delineate end portions of the dividing walls that form a top extension 26 and a bottom extension 28 of each dividing wall 20. The top extensions 26 and the bottom extensions 28 serve to be folded to form tops and bottoms, respectively, of each of the sub-compartments, as shown in top-down perspective view of
In some embodiments, as illustrated in
In certain embodiments, as also illustrated in
The secondary shipping container serves to provide further protection to the contents of the shipping article 10. In particular, two layers of protection are formed around all outer sides of the sub-compartments, and there are two layers of protection between the sub-compartments provided by the dividing walls 20. Furthermore, the top extensions 26 and the bottom extensions 28 forming the tops and bottoms of the sub-compartments, respectively, provide a space above and below the sub-compartments within the secondary shipping container. Accordingly, the contents of the sub-compartments are further protected against impacts to the secondary container, especially at the corners thereof, where damage is most likely to occur.
The shipping article 10 as illustrated in
Alternate embodiments of the shipping article 10 are adapted to receive more than two items for shipping while still providing separation and protection to all items contained in the shipping article. In particular,
The sub-compartment separation into sub-sub-compartments is achieved by way of item-separating shelves 40 that are formed from the unitary sheet of material 12 and are cut along all but one edge 42 thereof so to be separated from the respective first side 16 or second side 18 where they are located. A score or crease is optionally formed at the remaining edge 42 to facilitate folding of each shelf 40 into the sub-compartment. When the shelf 40 is folded into the sub-compartment, as shown in the cross-sectional view of
As may be appreciated by comparing the embodiment of
While the embodiment of
While 1-6 illustrate embodiments of the shipping article 10 having certain numbers and relative sizes of sub-sub-compartments, it should be understood that embodiments of the shipping article 10 are not limited to the embodiments illustrated in the Figures. Some embodiments of the shipping article 10 have differing numbers of sub-sub-compartments for each sub-compartment. Some embodiments of the shipping article 10 have only a single sub-compartment on one side, and multiple sub-sub-compartments on the other side. Other embodiments of the shipping article 10 have more than the six sub-sub-compartments illustrated in
The embodiments of the shipping article 10 illustrated in
Another style of shipping article 10 is illustrated in
In the embodiment illustrated in
Accordingly, when the shipping article 10 of this embodiment is folded into its folded position, the first and second sides 16, 18, and the dividing walls 20 form encompass a volume shaped in the general form of a rectangular prism and divide it into two sub-compartments each having a shape of a rectangular prism, as shown in the top-down cross-sectional view of
While the embodiment of
While one of ordinary skill in the art will be readily able to select and vary specific sizes of dimensions for the various parts of the various embodiments of the shipping article 10, illustrative dimensions of aspects of specific embodiments of the illustrated embodiments are now provided by way of example only, and not by way of limitation. In particular, turning to
Turning to
Turning to
Turning to
In each of the foregoing specifically-illustrated embodiments, the thickness of the material 12 is approximately ⅛ inch (approximately 0.1 inches or approximately 0.3 cm). As mentioned previously, the material 12 may be 40 ECT corrugated box material.
The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims, rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.
