Patent Application
20170121043
This invention relates generally to the packaging of a flexible elongate element.
As used herein “flexible elongate element” includes a flexible or semi-flexible wire, strand, yarn, monofilament, cord, cable, tubing and pipe or any similar product, or combination thereof.
Diverse devices have been used for the packaging or storage of flexible elongate elements. These includes spools, reels, bobbins, doughnuts, carton and blister packages, shrink wrap, plastic bags and the like, and arrangements in which coils of the element are formed and then secured or restrained by means of tape, cable ties, twist ties or other restraining mediums in suitable rolls or reels.
Many of the materials which are used in conventional packaging are not reusable and, after use, are consigned to waste often without recycling taking place.
It is desirable for a packaging technique to be used which allows for direct dispensing of the flexible elongate element, from the package, according to requirement. Normally the packaging material which is used adds no value to the packaged product, and the cost of the packaging material is an expense to be borne by the consumer. If the packaging material is of a bulky nature the cost of transport and storage of the packaged product is increased and, at a retail outlet, additional demands are placed on display space. By way of example only, a monofilament line used, for example, in a grass cutter, may be wound, initially, into the form of a coil which is then secured by an operator, using one or more fasteners, such as a cable tie or the like. Thereafter the coil is placed inside a plastic bag which is sealed. Upon use, the plastic bag is opened and the fastener or fasteners on the coil are released. The coil windings are then no longer restrained and the line can become tangled, due to the resilience of the material from which the line is made, or as a result of handling or due to other factors, and the tangled coil would then be difficult to handle.
In another approach a coil is placed together with a backing sheet into a cavity of a blister pack to which a header card is attached. The end result is a packaged product of relatively large dimensions compared to the dimensions of the coil.
A survey of the prior art discloses a large number of approaches to the packaging of flexible elongate elements. Without being exhaustive these include U.S. Pat. No. 6,109,005, EP17148879, JP2000344285, U.S. Pat. No. 3,512,634, JPH10264938, U.S. Pat. No. 3,700,185, GB2085404, U.S. Pat. No. 8,230,995, U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,479, U.S. Pat. No. 4,396,165, U.S. Pat. No. 7,007,442, U.S. Pat. No. 3,313,194, U.S. Pat. No. 4,637,516, U.S. Pat. No. 4,111,089, US201309254, U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,479, U.S. Pat. No. 3,402,810, U.S. Pat. No. 1,154,212, U.S. Pat. No. 3,402,810, U.S. Pat. No. 7,007,442, WO9907630. A full analysis of these prior art techniques is not contained herein for, to a greater or lesser extent, in the applicant's view, these prior art techniques are typified by at least some of the disadvantages or drawbacks referred to hereinbefore (i.e. material wastage, bulky end-product, complicated packaging requirement, tangled line, difficult to dispense, etc.)
For example U.S. Pat. No. 6,109,005 discloses the use of a sealed plastic container which has an internal cavity. The container has an aperture formed into a backing sheet. A monofilament line is wound into a coil, in the container, by winding the line through the aperture to create a packaged product, with a desired length of line, which is held in coiled form by the package and not by a secondary means such as an adhesive tape. A benefit of this technique is that the line can be removed from the packaging by pulling on an exposed loose end of the monofilament, through the aperture in the backing sheet. Despite the benefits in U.S. Pat. No. 6,109,005 the packaging material which is required is still relatively expensive. The making of the packaging material calls for multiple steps, namely the forming of a container with a cavity, the production of a backing sheet with an aperture, the bonding of the cavity container to the backing sheet to provide a closed, preformed container with an aperture, and the dispensing of the monofilament line into the container. A disadvantage which can arise during use is that a loose end of the line may become located inside the cavity in which event it can be difficult to recover the loose end without breaking the container.
The present invention is concerned with a packaging method which, in broad terms, is intended to address, at least partially, the various drawbacks which have been identified by the applicant as being associated with prior art techniques.
In particular, one objective of the invention is to provide a simplified packaging method which is user-friendly and cost effective and which can be implemented using a minimal amount of packaging material. This reduces the weight and size of a packaged product, helps to combat transport and storage costs, and reduces the demand for an increased allocation of shelf space at a retail outlet.
Another objective is to provide a packaging method which does not require the use of two separately formed components which are bonded or otherwise secured to each other.
A further objective is allow for the packaging of a flexible elongate element into a container which does not have a preformed aperture for the element and which allows for the element to be dispensed with ease, for use, with a reduced likelihood that a loose end of the element can inadvertently be located inside the container, an event which normally means that the element can only be recovered with some difficulty, from the inside of the container.
The invention provides a method of packaging a flexible elongate element which has a leading end, the method including the steps of providing a container which has a wall, of flexible sheet material, which at least partly encloses a cavity of variable size, the wall including an inner surface which faces the cavity and an opposing outer surface, establishing a pressure differential between at least part of the inner surface and at least part of the outer surface thereby to tension at least a part of the flexible sheet material, directing said leading end into contact with a location on the tensioned part of the flexible sheet material thereby to form a hole at the location, in the wall, feeding said end through the hole into the cavity, restraining movement of the leading end, and forming a coil of the elongate flexible element inside the cavity by continuing to feed the flexible elongate element into the cavity.
The flexible elongate element may be of the kind referred to hereinbefore i.e. a flexible or semi-flexible wire, strand, yarn, monofilament, cord, cable, tube, pipe or any similar product or combination thereof. The flexible element should have a reasonable degree of stiffness so that sufficient force can be applied to it, in an axial direction, to penetrate the flexible sheet material and form the hole in the wall. Additionally the flexible elongate element should have a degree of resilience or a memory which causes the element to be coiled inside the cavity when the leading end is restrained against movement. The leading end may be restrained against movement while inside, or outside, the cavity.
The flexible sheet material is preferably an appropriate plastics material.
The container may be pre-formed.
In one form of the invention the container is one of a plurality of similar containers which are formed in succession from an elongate tubular member which is made from a plastics material. The member may be transported past a forming and sealing station which forms the member continuously into a plurality of containers in succession with each container being of a predetermined size.
Each container may be formed with at least one aperture which, when and as required, allows for a gas, eg. air to flow through the aperture, into or out of the cavity (of variable size) which is defined by the container i.e. which is enclosed by the flexible sheet material which makes up the container.
The container is preferably provided in a deflated form.
The container, in deflated form, may be positioned in contact with, or may subsequently be brought into contact with, at least one suitable support. The support may contact the container from one side, or the support, or multiple supports, may wholly or partially enclose the container.
The container defines a cavity of variable size. When the container is deflated the size of the cavity is effectively zero. However, as indicated, by creating a differential pressure between an inner surface of the flexible sheet material and an outer surface of the flexible sheet material the size of the container may be increased.
The pressure differential can be established in different ways. Use may be made of a gas, e.g. air, to inflate the cavity so that the size of the cavity is thereby enlarged. In a different approach a reduced pressure, ie. a vacuum is applied to the outer surface of the wall and a gas is allowed to flow into the cavity. Effectively a higher pressure then prevails inside the cavity than outside and, as a consequence, the size of the cavity is increased.
The flexible elongate element may be drawn from a coil or reel as required or, alternatively, directly from equipment which is used to manufacture or process the element.
The leading end of the elongate flexible element may be directed onto the wall of the container by applying sufficient force, to the element, in an axial direction of the element to allow the leading end to puncture the flexible sheet material and enter the cavity. The leading end of the element may be allowed to move inside the cavity until the leading end comes into contact with an appropriate location on the inner surface of the sheet material, or with a part of the sheet material which is backed by a suitable formation on a support. The leading end may be allowed to penetrate the sheet material again, and to exit the cavity, whereafter further movement of the leading end is restrained. The net effect is such that movement of the leading end inside or outside the cavity, as the case may be, is restricted and is effectively stopped.
Movement of the flexible element into the cavity is however continued by continuously applying force to the element in its axial direction. Such movement can only take place if the element can bend, inside the cavity. The element should have sufficient stiffness so that it can be directed into the cavity. It should also have a memory which allows it to take up a coiled form, automatically, as an additional quantity of the material is moved into the cavity.
The leading end of the element may be brought to a stop, inside the cavity, immediately before coiling of the element inside the container commences. The leading end may for example contact an inner surface of the flexible sheet material or a surface against which the flexible sheet material abuts. The coiling effect can however be initiated in a different way. Thus, as the leading end enters the container, in which coiling is to take place, the speed at which the leading end moves is reduced. This can be due to a frictional effect, as a result of an initial coiling action, or the like. However, the speed at which the flexible element is fed into the cavity inside the container is generally substantially constant due to the use of suitable handling equipment of a mechanised nature. Thus, the flexible element is fed into the cavity at a speed which is greater than the speed at which the leading end of the element can move (even if the leading end has not been stopped) and the additional material coming into the cavity can only be accommodated if the material takes up a coiled form inside the cavity.
To enable the leading end to penetrate the flexible sheet material an appropriate support can be used to secure the sheet material while the puncturing process takes place.
If a support is used to provide physical support for the flexible sheet material, the support can be shaped, permanently or temporarily, so that the flexible elongate element is guided in a specific direction as it enters the cavity.
In order to implement the method of the invention successfully it is necessary to evaluate a flexible elongate element to see whether it is suitable for packaging in accordance with the techniques described herein. Inter alia the memory of the material from which the element is made must be investigated to determine its ideal coil diameter. Puncture tests of different thicknesses of different types of flexible sheet material are performed with the element to determine the maximum thickness of the sheet material which can be used and to ensure that the element is capable of puncturing the packaging material. A selection is made of a suitable range of packaging materials and the thicknesses thereof, and then the required quantity of the flexible element is determined following a calculation of dimension and volume as appropriate. Different flexible elements are manufactured, handled, conveyed or formed in a diverse range of techniques. However a facility provided by the current invention is to allow for appropriate choices to be made so that a range of different flexible elements can be successfully packaged through a judicious determination of the parameters referred to.
The flexible sheet material can be in the form of one or more layers of plastic, elastomers, metal, metallised film, paper, carton, textiles, textile fabrics, or any suitable combination thereof. The packaging material (i.e. the sheet material) can be formed from a static or anti-static material, a natural or synthetic material, or from a combination thereof. The packaging can be biodegradable or compostable. The packaging material must however be such that the chosen flexible elongate element can puncture the material and enter the cavity, in the manner which has been described.
Use may be made of a guide, e.g. a tubular member, through which the flexible elongate element passes, to direct the leading end into contact with the flexible sheet material thereby to ensure that the leading end punctures the sheet material at the location.
Use may be made of a cutting mechanism to sever the flexible elongate element once a predetermined length thereof has been fed into the cavity. This may produce a trailing end of the elongate element which is positioned outside the cavity. This is desirable for it allows a user to grip the trailing end, when required, so that a length of the flexible element can be withdrawn from the cavity for use.
The invention is further described by way of examples with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
The apparatus embodies three workstations 12, 14 and 16 respectively which are used to process the product 20 which is to be packaged, and packaging material 22.
The packaging material, in this embodiment, includes a coil 24 of an elongate flexible tubular member 26, mounted for rotation about an axis 28. The tubular member 26 is made from flexible sheet material of any suitable kind, as referred to hereinbefore. The tubular member, in coil form, is deflated i.e. essentially pressed flat with opposing sections 30 and 32 respectively.
The workstation 12 includes components 12A and 12B respectively which are movable together, under the control of a suitable control mechanism 34, at regular intervals, in order to seal the sections 30 and 32 together. In this way sealed portions 36 are formed at regular intervals along the length of the tubular member as it is unwound from the coil 24. Simultaneously, opposed small apertures 38 and 40 are formed through the sections 30 and 32. This is done in any convenient way for example using a small punch or a heated element.
The control mechanism 34 also acts on a roller system 42 which is adjacent the third workstation 16 and which functions to draw the tubular member 26 from the coil 24 at a controlled and continuous rate.
The second workstation 14 includes a base support 46 and a cover support 48 which opposes the base support. The supports 46 and 48 have a space 50 between them and also define a mouth 52 to the space. A source 54 of a compressed gas e.g. air is connected to the workstation 14 via a tube 56. A valve 58, which is optionally used, is positioned in the tube and can be opened or closed by means of a suitable signal sent from the control mechanism 34.
The cover support 48 includes an elongate entry structure 60 which forms a guide 62 of generally tubular shape.
The product 20 is held in a suitable form adjacent the workstation 14. The product may for example be provided in coiled form, contained on the reel, in a suitable housing, or the like. Alternatively, the product is directly supplied from equipment (not shown) used to manufacture or process the product. The product comprises a flexible elongate element 64 generally of the kind described hereinbefore. The element 64 is directed by means of a suitable feed structure 66, e.g. a plurality of rollers, into a bore 68 of the guide 62.
The third workstation 16, which is positioned downstream of an exit port 70 from the space 50 contains a cutting device 72 to which product, emerging from the workstation 14, is presented. Another cutting device 76 is positioned at an entry to the guide 62. The cutting devices are controlled by the control mechanisms 34.
The working of the apparatus 10 is controlled by the control mechanism 34 which is a PLC, a microprocessor or the like. The invention is not limited in this respect.
The packaging material i.e. the tubular member 26 which is made from flexible sheet material, is drawn, in deflated form, from the coil 24 and then passes, to the workstation 12. At this workstation the member is sealed by the components 12A and 12B at regular intervals to form a succession of containers 80. As described hereinbefore, each container includes an opposed pair of apertures 38 and 40—see
The tubular member 26, still in deflated form, then passes to the second workstation 14 and a given container 80A enters the space 50.
At the workstation 14 the aperture 40 of the given container 80A is brought into register with an exit port 84 from the tube 56. The base support 46 and the cover support 48 may be moved towards each other so that they closely surround the container 80A which is still in a deflated form and which is in the space 50. This however is not essential. If the valve 58 is used this is opened by means of a signal from the controller 34. Compressed air from the source 54 then flows through the exit port 84 into the space 50. Most of the air flows through the aperture 40 into a cavity 88 of the container 80A. Prior to this taking place the size of the cavity 88, defined by the flexible sheet material, is effectively zero as the container is deflated. As the air rushes through the aperture 40 into the cavity 88 the size of the cavity is increased rapidly. Additionally, the sheet material which encloses and defines the cavity is placed under tension.
The feed structure 66 is activated, as required by the control mechanism 34, to direct the flexible elongate element 64 through the guide 62. A leading end 90 of the flexible elongate element is thereby brought into contact with an outer surface 92 of the container 80A. In accordance with parameters which have been discussed hereinbefore sufficient force is applied to the flexible elongate element 64, in its axial direction 96, to allow the leading end 90 to penetrate the sheet material and so form a hole 98 in a wall of the container 80A, see
The axially directed force (in the direction 96) is applied continuously to the flexible elongate element. The leading end 90 strikes an inner surface 100 of the container 80A (
The supply of compressed air to the aperture 40 is maintained to ensure that the cavity 88 remains enlarged to its maximum size. The leading end 90 is not capable of again penetrating the flexible sheet material which makes up the container 80A and, consequently, as feeding of the element continues, the element is formed into a coil 104 with a plurality of overlapping windings 106, as is shown in
The length of the flexible elongate element which is fed into the cavity 88 is monitored by the feed structure 66 and when a predetermined length has been coiled into the cavity the device 76 is operated to sever the flexible elongate element.
The roller system 42 is operated by the control mechanism 34 and the container 80A emerges from the workstation 14 with a coiled length of the flexible elongate element inside the container. A trailing end 108 of the element protrudes from the hole 98.
At the workstation 16 the cutting device 72 is operated and the container 80A is severed from the upstream flow of containers and falls into a receptacle, not shown, for further processing and distribution, as may be required.
In order to inflate the deflated container use is made of the compressed air source 54 while the deflated container is positioned at the workstation 14. In a variation of the invention the compressed air source 54 is replaced by a vacuum device which draws air through the tube 56 when the respective container, in deflated form, is positioned in the space 50. A volume 112 between the outer surface 92 of the container and an opposing inner surface of the cover support 48 is thereby partly evacuated and a reduced vacuum prevails in this volume. A portion of the section 32 of the deflated tubular member is drawn towards the guide structure 60. The pressure prevailing inside the cavity 88 of the container 80A is also reduced and, as a consequence, air flows through the aperture 38 into the cavity 88. Due to the pressure differential which is thereby established the cavity 88 is increased to some extent in size. A portion of section 32 is tensioned to some extent by the pressure differential and, in a manner similar to what has been described, the feed structure 66 is actuated to drive the leading end 90 of the flexible elongate element through a location on the wall section 32. Thereafter a coiling process which is similar to what has been described in connection with
Thus, in one embodiment, positive air pressure is used to enlarge the cavity. In another embodiment “negative” air pressure, exerted on one outer side of the cavity 88 is used in a controlled manner to cause the cavity to be enlarged.
The apparatus 10 shown in
The use of the cover support 48 is not essential. It is preferred though to make use of a guide to direct the leading end of the flexible elongate element to a predetermined location on the container. Similarly, if the container has significant strength when inflated, the use of the base support 46 is also not essential. With this type of arrangement the container which is to serve as the packaging device is preferably inflated with positive air pressure as opposed to using a vacuum source to produce a reduced pressure region around the container.
From the preceding description it is apparent that a flexible element can be packaged in a flexible container with ease and with minimal operator input. The packaging medium is smaller and more compact than most arrangements which are conventionally used. The quantity of packaging material which is used is also reduced. The packaging material is also normally of reduced weight compared to prior art arrangements. Retail or display space requirements are accordingly reduced. There is no need to form the container, in which the element is to be coiled, with a hole through which the element can be introduced into the cavity that is defined by the container. The leading end of the element automatically forms the hole at a desired location. The coiling of the element inside the cavity then takes place automatically as a predetermined length of the element is fed into the cavity.
Despite the aforegoing it is possible to take a packaged product which emerges from the workstation 16 and to place it in a housing 130 which is formed for the purpose (see
As described in connection with
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014/04406 | Jun 2014 | ZA | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/ZA2015/000043 | 6/17/2015 | WO | 00 |
