Patent Grant
7452316
The invention relates generally to a packing product and more particularly to a packing product providing improved cushioning and durability characteristics.
Various types of packing products heretofore have been used to pack articles in containers for shipment. The packing products have been used to block and brace bulky articles in the containers, to cushion one or more sides of the articles, to wrap articles to provide protection on all sides thereof and/or to fill voids around a contained article.
Crumpled paper products have been used for these various purposes. A particularly desirable crumpled paper product is produced by crumpling one or more plies of sheet stock material, such as kraft paper. The sheet stock material is crumpled and folded upon itself to form lateral pillow portions with a central band therebetween. This crumpled paper product provides advantages such as flexibility whereby the pad can be folded, coiled or otherwise shaped into different configurations, and space efficiency wherein a single roll of stock material may be converted into multiple crumpled paper products.
Sometimes a packing product with greater structural stability and/or load spreading capability is needed for packing particular articles. For example, it is known to pack articles in containers using a packing product having a sandwich construction consisting of one or more pieces of stiff or soft plastic foam between cardboard face sheets. One or both cardboard face sheets may be provided with a die cut opening for capture of the article being packed. One drawback of such type of packing product is its deleterious effect on our environment; the plastic foam is not biodegradable and thus is not environmentally friendly and safe.
Another type of packing product is a honeycomb panel. The honeycomb panel includes a honeycomb core sandwiched between a pair of face sheets. The core, which may be made from kraft paper, has cells with vertically extending walls that are adhesively secured at their ends to the face sheets so that the cell walls are restrained against lateral movement. The honeycomb panel provides advantages such as load distribution capability wherein the face sheets act to distribute a load over a large number of the cells of the honeycomb core. One variation of the honeycomb panel includes a honeycomb core that has a portion of the cell walls compressively deformed in order to make the honeycomb panel more resilient. However, such resiliency exists only over a modest degree of compression of the honeycomb panel, after which the honeycomb panel becomes quite stiff.
Thus, the inventors appreciated that a need exists for a packing product with greater structural stability and/or load spreading capability, while still affording a wide range of resiliency as may be desirable for many packing applications.
The present invention provides a packing product that has structural stability and/or load spreading capability, while still affording a wide range of resiliency as may be desirable for many packing applications. The packing product is a synergistic combination of a crumpled sheet material and one or more face sheets that enables the provision of packaging attributes heretofore not attainable by existing packing products.
According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a packing product comprising at least one face sheet and at least one crumpled sheet pad attached to the face sheet.
In a preferred embodiment, the at least one crumpled sheet pad is randomly crumpled. Also, preferably a crumpled surface of the at least one crumpled sheet pad is attached to the at least one face sheet.
In an embodiment, the crumpled sheet pad includes at least one ply of a continuous sheet material folded on itself and crumpled. The at least one crumpled sheet pad may be made of paper and preferably has a natural resilience. The at least one face sheet preferably includes a panel made of paper such as, for example, cardboard or corrugated cardboard.
In an embodiment, the at least one crumpled sheet pad is attached to the at least one face sheet by bonding, and preferably by an adhesive bonding. In another embodiment, the at least one crumpled sheet pad is attached to the at least one face sheet by stapling.
In yet another embodiment, the at least one crumpled sheet pad in transverse cross section has a width greater than its height, and the at least one crumpled sheet pad has the width thereof disposed parallel to the at least one face sheet. In another embodiment the width is disposed perpendicular to the at least one face sheet.
In still another embodiment, the at least one crumpled sheet pad includes a plurality of crumpled sheet pads.
In an embodiment, the at least one face sheet includes first and second face sheets and the at least one crumpled sheet pad is disposed therebetween and attached to the first and second face sheets. As is preferred, the first and second face sheets are substantially parallel to each other.
In an embodiment, the at least one face sheet and at least one crumpled sheet pad form a base wall portion, and the crumpled sheet pad extends beyond the at least one face sheet to form at least one hinge portion and at least one flap wall portion connected to the hinge portion, the hinge portion enabling the at least one flap wall portion to be folded over and into abutting or overlapping relation with the base wall portion. In a preferred embodiment, the at least one face sheet includes at least one upper face sheet and a lower face sheet and the at least one crumpled sheet pad is sandwiched therebetween, the lower face sheet corresponding in length to the at least one crumpled sheet pad and including a fold line to enable the lower face sheet to bend along the hinge portion of the at least one crumpled sheet pad. Still more preferably, the at least one upper face sheet includes two upper face sheets spaced apart by a gap, a portion of the at least one crumpled sheet spanning the gap to form the hinge portion. The upper face sheets may include one or more openings sized to receive one or more articles therein.
In another embodiment, the at least one face sheet includes an outer face sheet and a plurality of inner face sheets, and the at least one crumpled sheet pad includes a plurality of crumpled sheet pads sandwiched between and attached to the outer face sheet and the respective plurality of inner face sheets. The outer face sheet may form a plurality of outer face sheet walls to which the respective plurality of crumpled sheet pads are attached. In a preferred embodiment, the plurality of crumpled sheet pads are spaced apart from each other, and still more preferably the plurality of inner face sheets are spaced apart from each other. Also, the size of at least one inner face sheet may be different than the size of the other inner face sheets.
In an embodiment the outer face sheet is folded along fold lines to form a wrap around packing product having a plurality of outer face sheet walls to which the respective plurality of crumpled sheet pads are attached. In an embodiment, the wrap around packing product is placed in a container to maintain the plurality of outer face sheet walls in their folded states. At least one of the pads may provide a cushion characteristic different from that of another of the pads. In another embodiment, opposing edges of the plurality of outer face sheet walls are connected together by one or more tabs to maintain the plurality of outer face sheet walls in their folded states.
In an embodiment, the at least one crumpled sheet pad is coiled.
In still another embodiment, the at least one face sheet includes a base wall portion and at least one flap wall portion extending from a respective side of the base wall portion and weakened areas defining fold lines between the flap wall portion and the base wall portion. The base wall portion and at least one flap wall portion are folded to define an inside and outside of the packing product and, in one embodiment the at least one crumpled sheet pad faces the inside and, in another embodiment the at least one crumpled sheet pad faces the outside.
The at least one face sheet may include an opening for receiving an article therein. The opening may have a pattern corresponding to a shape of the article.
In another embodiment, the at least one crumpled sheet pad is folded upon itself, and in still another embodiment, folded upon itself in an accordion like manner.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of packaging an article, wherein the method includes the step of using a packing product to cushion the article, wherein the packing product includes at least one face sheet and at least one crumpled sheet pad attached to the face sheet. In an embodiment, the article and packing product are placed into a container. Alternatively, the packing product may surround the article.
According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of making a packing product including the step of attaching at least one crumpled sheet pad to at least one face sheet.
According to still another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of packaging an article, including the steps of positioning at least one crumpled sheet pad in a container, positioning a face sheet in the container adjacent to the crumpled sheet pad or pads, and positioning the article adjacent to the face sheet.
In an embodiment, the crumpled sheet pad or pads are attached to the face sheet. In another embodiment, the face sheet is provided with an opening having a pattern corresponding to a shape of the article.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a package including a container, one or more crumpled sheet pads positioned in the container adjacent to one or more walls of the container, one or more face sheets positioned in the container adjacent to the crumpled sheet pad or pads, the one or more face sheets being attached to the respective one or more crumpled sheet pads, and an article positioned in the container in at least partial abutting relation to the one or more face sheets.
According to still another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of packaging an article, including the steps of providing a face sheet having a multi-sided base and respective flaps extending from the sides of the base, positioning the crumpled sheet pad adjacent to an inside surface of the base and an opposing two of the flaps, positioning the article on the crumpled sheet pad, inwardly folding the opposing two flaps and the crumpled sheet pad toward the article so as to envelop the article by the crumpled sheet pad, inwardly folding the other flaps toward the article, and securing the flaps in their folded states.
In an embodiment, the crumpled sheet pad is attached to the inside surface of the base and the opposing two of the flaps. As is preferred, opposing ends of the two flaps are folded into abutting or overlapping relation. In an embodiment, the other flaps are folded to overlie the opposing ends of the two flaps. In another embodiment, opposing ends of the two flaps are folded to form opposing side walls and ends of the other flaps are folded to form other side walls at an angle relative to the opposing side walls formed by the two flaps. In still another embodiment, opposing ends of the two flaps are folded to form a top panel at an angle relative to the opposing side walls and other side walls formed by the two flaps and other flaps.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of packaging an article, including the steps of positioning a crumpled sheet pad in juxtaposition with a face sheet, positioning an article on the crumpled sheet pad, inwardly folding opposing ends of the face sheet and crumpled sheet pad toward the article so as to envelop the article by the crumpled sheet pad, and securing opposing edges of the face sheet together to maintain the face sheet and crumpled sheet pad in their folded states.
In a preferred embodiment, the crumpled sheet pad is attached to the face sheet. In an embodiment, the opposing ends of the face sheet are folded along a fold line located midway between the opposing ends. The opposing edges of the face sheet may be bent towards one another. As is preferred, the perimeter of the crumpled sheet pad is within the perimeter of the face sheet.
According to still another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of packaging an article including attaching a plurality of crumpled sheet pads to a respective plurality of outer face sheet walls, attaching a plurality of inner face sheets to the respective plurality of crumpled sheet pads, positioning the article on at least one of the inner face sheets, folding the plurality of outer face sheet walls inwardly towards the article so that the inner face sheets align with the respective sides of the article, and securing the plurality of outer face sheet walls to maintain the outer face sheet walls in their folded states.
In an embodiment, opposing edges of the plurality of outer face sheet walls are connected together by one or more tabs. In another embodiment, the folding of the outer face sheet walls forms a wrap around packing product which may be placed into a container.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a pad producing apparatus, including a dunnage supply machine supplying a strip of dunnage, a folding device for forming a fold line in and transverse to the strip of dunnage, and a capture chute for guiding and accumulating the folded strip of dunnage so that a first layer downstream of the fold line overlaps in parallel relation a second layer upstream of the fold line, thereby forming an accordion-like pad.
In an embodiment, the dunnage supply machine includes a cushioning conversion machine which converts sheet stock material into the strip of dunnage. Also, the pad producing apparatus may include a controller for synchronizing operation of the dunnage supply machine, the folding device, and the capture chute.
In an embodiment, the folding device includes opposed squeeze members on opposite sides of the path of travel of the strip of dunnage. The folding device may also include a swivelling chute with opposite side walls on which the respective opposed squeeze members are disposed. In an embodiment, the squeeze members are movable relatively towards one another (i.e., one squeeze member may be moved towards the opposed squeeze member, or both squeeze members may be moved towards one another) to create the fold line in the strip of dunnage. In yet another embodiment, the swivelling chute is moveable about a pivot axis to direct the strip of dunnage in a desired location in the capture chute to effect the guiding and accumulating of the folded strip of dunnage.
In still another embodiment, the capture chute includes a first pair of opposed walls spaced apart to accommodate a width dimension of the strip of dunnage. The first pair of opposed walls may be made moveable relative to one another to increase or decrease the spacing therebetween to facilitate accommodation of different width pads. The capture chute may also include a second pair of opposed walls spaced apart to accommodate a length dimension of the first and second layers of the strip of dunnage. The second pair of opposed walls may be made moveable relative to one another to increase or decrease the spacing therebetween to facilitate accommodation of different length pads.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of producing an accordion-like pad, including the steps of using a dunnage supply machine for supplying a strip of dunnage, using a folding device for forming a fold line in and transverse to the strip of dunnage, and using a capture chute for guiding and accumulating the folded strip of dunnage such that a first layer downstream of the fold line overlaps in parallel relation a second layer upstream of the fold line, thereby forming an accordion-like pad.
In an embodiment, the dunnage supply machine includes a cushioning conversion machine which converts sheet stock material into the strip of dunnage. Also, a controller may be used to synchronize operation of the dunnage supply machine, the folding device, and the capture chute.
In an embodiment, the folding device includes opposed squeeze members on opposite sides of a path of travel of the strip of dunnage, and the step of using the folding device includes moving the squeeze members relatively towards one another to create the fold line in the strip of dunnage. In another embodiment, the folding device includes a swivelling chute, and the step of using the folding device includes moving the swivelling chute about a pivot axis to direct the strip of dunnage in a desired location in the capture chute to effect the guiding and accumulating of the folded strip of dunnage.
In still another embodiment, the capture chute includes a first pair of opposed walls spaced apart to accommodate a width dimension of the strip of dunnage, and the step of using the capture chute includes guiding the strip of dunnage between the opposed walls. In an embodiment, the first pair of opposed walls may be moved relative to one another to increase or decrease the spacing therebetween to facilitate accommodation of different width pads. The capture chute may also, or alternatively, include a second pair of opposed walls spaced apart to accommodate a length dimension of the first and second layers of the strip of dunnage, the strip of dunnage being guided between the opposed walls. In an embodiment, the second pair of opposed walls may be moved relative to one another to increase or decrease the spacing therebetween to facilitate accommodation of different length pads.
In an embodiment, using the capture device includes using the capture device to resist movement of the first layer downstream of the fold line as the dunnage supply machine pushes the upstream layer towards the downstream layer, whereby the pushing by the dunnage supply machine bends the upstream layer relative to the downstream layer about the fold line which, in turn, urges together the upstream and downstream layers.
In an embodiment, the steps of using the folding device to fold the strip of dunnage and using the capture device to accumulate layers of the folded strip of dunnage are successively repeated until a desired amount of layers forming the accordion-like pad are obtained.
The foregoing and other features of the invention are hereinafter more fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the following description and the annexed drawings setting forth in detail illustrative embodiments of the invention, such being indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed.
Referring now in detail to the drawings,
As shown for example in
The packing products 10, 20 and 30 shown in
The face sheets 12 and 13 preferably act as load distributing members and for this purpose the face sheets comprise a stiff material such as cardboard or corrugated cardboard. Although less preferred, the face sheets 12 and 13 could be made of non-paper based materials such as thin metal sheets of aluminum or steel, or lighter materials such as plywood or plastic. The face sheets 12 and 13 are preferably planar although materials conforming to the shape of the article to be packaged, or the container in which the article is to be packaged, are also contemplated as being within the scope of the present invention.
The crumpled sheet pad or pads 14 are made of one or more plies of sheet material preferably having a natural resiliency and being biodegradable and recyclable, such as kraft paper.
In the exemplary crumpled sheet pad 14, a central band 56 separates the pillow portions 42. The central band 56 acts as a connecting portion to connect folded-over, or overlapping portions 44 and 46 of sheet stock material 48 and thereby prevent the same from unfolding. The connecting may be by deforming the sheet stock material 48 as by coining the overlapping layers in the central band, cutting tabs and slots therein and interconnecting the same, attaching adjacent layers thereof, for example, by bonding, taping, gluing or stapling, and/or by other methods.
The crumpled sheet pad 14 preferably is formed by a cushioning conversion machine of the type disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,103,040; 4,937,131; 5,403,259; 5,568,867; 5,573,491; 5,643,167; 5,712,020; 5,791,483; 5,882,767, all of which are owned by the assignee of the present invention and are hereby incorporated herein by reference. Of course, other crumpled sheet pads which include resilient crumpled portions may also be used in the packing product, and such pads are contemplated as falling within the scope of the present invention.
As mentioned above, the face sheet 12 of the packing product 10 preferably provides a load transferring function wherein a load acting thereon is distributed across the adjacently positioned crumpled sheet pad or pads 14. The face sheet 12 can distribute an otherwise concentrated load over a wider surface area thereby distributing the load over a larger portion of the crumpled sheet pad or pads 14. For example, a load acting on the center of the face sheet 12 may be distributed across the several crumpled sheet pads 14.
The crumpled sheet pad or pads 14 may be attached to the face sheets 12 and 13 and/or to each other, for example, by bonding, gluing, taping, stapling, or cutting tabs and slots therein and interconnecting the same. Preferably the attaching is effected by an adhesive commonly denoted by reference numeral 58 in
The packing product 10 of the present invention provides supportive strength and durability by making optimal use of the cushioning capabilities of the crumpled sheet pad 14. The face sheet 12 adds nominal weight and size to the overall packing product 10, characterizing the packing product 10 with lightweight and compact properties and therefore making it desirable for material handling and protective packaging applications.
It will be appreciated that the face sheet (or sheets) and the crumpled sheet pad (or pads) provide flexibility in forming a packing product tailored to the specific requirements of a packaging application. Among other things, the stiffness characteristic of the packing product can be varied by selection of the orientation of the pads relative to the face sheets, the number of pads used, the density of the individual pads, the collective density of the pads, the size of the pads, etc. For instance, the pads can be spaced apart to provide a low spring constant or closely packed together to provide a high spring constant.
The flexibility afforded by the present invention is further illustrated by the packing product shown in
The face sheets 62 and 63 may have a cross shape as illustrated although other shapes may also be suitable, for example, round or rectangular. The face sheets 62 and 63 extend to the outer diameter of the coiled crumpled sheet pad 64 and therefore bridge the overlapping layers that make up the pad 64. The resiliency of the crumpled sheet pad 64 can be controllably varied by varying the density of the winding of the pad 64. For example, a less resilient (stiffer) pad can be obtained by tightly winding the overlapping layers that form the pad and a more resilient pad can be obtained by loosely winding and/or forming gaps in between the overlapping layers of the pad. In a loosely wound pad, a load acting on the face sheets 62 and 63 in a location in which there is no crumpled sheet pad 64 directly adjacent thereto (i.e., the bridged portion) will be supported by the neighboring layers of the pad 64.
The face sheets 62 and 63 also prevent an article to be packaged from settling into any gaps 67 between overlapping portions of the coiled crumpled sheet pad 64. By attaching the face sheets 62 and 63 to the lateral edge portions 66, the face sheets 62 and 63 assist in maintaining the coiled configuration of the crumpled sheet pad 64 by preventing the coiled pad and particularly the trailing end 68 thereof from unwinding or otherwise separating from remaining portions of the coiled pad 64.
In
The base and flap wall portions 92a-f have crumpled sheet pads attached to the outer surfaces thereof. The pads 94 may be arranged, for example, by crossing a first pad with a second pad that underly (or overly) one another at the base wall portion 92a, in which case there would be two layers (or doubling up) of the pads 94 at the base wall portion. Alternatively and by way of further example, one long pad may be attached to the base and linearly disposed flap wall portions while separate pads are attached to the other flap wall portions to eliminate doubling up of the pads. The packing product 90 may be sized to correspond to the interior dimensions of a rectangular box shape container, for example the container C, so that when positioned therein the packing product 90 abuts each of the six sides of the container C and provides load distributed cushioning around an article (not shown) contained by the packing product 90.
The packing product of the present invention may also be sized according to the size and dimensions of the article to be packaged. For example,
In the packing product 110 of
The packing product of the present invention is also particularly useful in applications requiring stacking of articles one on top of the other. As shown for example in
The spaced upper face sheets 131, 132 and 133 are attached to the top of the crumpled sheet pads 144 and the lower face sheet 141 is attached to the underside of the crumpled sheet pads 144. The attachment between the face sheets 131-133 and 141 and the pads 144 maintains the juxtaposition of the pads 141. The upper face sheets 131, 132 and 133 are longitudinally spaced apart by gaps 151 and 152 which extend transverse to the pads 144. The lower face sheet 141, as shown in
Referring again to
In
The crumpled sheet pad 182 is attached to an inside surface 192 of the base 186 and two of the flaps, for example 188a and 188c in the illustrated embodiment. An article Z to be packaged is positioned on the crumpled sheet pad 182, for example as shown in
In the exemplary packing product 280, the crumpled sheet pads 303, 304, 305, 306, 307 and 308 are attached to an inside surface 313, 314, 315, 316, 317 and 318 of the respective face sheet walls 283, 284, 285, 286, 287 and 288. The crumpled sheet pads 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, and 308 may be coiled or straight as afore described. The inner face sheets 293, 294, 295, 296, 297 and 298 are attached to each of the respective crumpled sheet pads 303, 304, 305, 306, 307 and 308.
It will be appreciated that the crumpled sheet pads 303, 304, 305, 306, 307 and 308 and the corresponding inner face sheets 293, 294, 295, 296, 297 and 298 may be positioned relative to the respective face sheet walls 283, 284, 285, 286, 287 and 288 to achieve location-specific cushioning with respect to the particular article to be packaged. For example, if the article V to be packaged (
In packaging the article V, the article V is positioned on, for example, the inner face sheet 297 (i.e., the base portion) and then the outer face sheet 282 and more particularly the inner face sheets 293, 294, 295, 296 and 298 and the respective crumpled sheet pads 303, 304, 305, 306 and 308, are inwardly folded toward the article V along weakened areas corresponding to fold lines 320, 321, 322, 323 and 324. In so doing, each inner face sheet 293, 294, 295, 296, 297 and 298 and corresponding crumpled sheet pad 303, 304, 305, 306, 307 and 308 align relative to a respective wall of the article V to be packaged. It will be appreciated that each inner face sheet 293, 294, 295, 296, 297 and 298 functions substantially independently of other inner face sheets 293, 294, 295, 296, 297 and 298 as a load distributing member distributing loads acting thereon to its respective corresponding crumpled sheet pad 303, 304, 305, 306, 307 and 308. Together, each inner face sheet 293, 294, 295, 296, 297 and 298 and corresponding crumpled sheet pad 303, 304, 305, 306, 307 and 308 essentially function as a damper substantially independently of the other face sheets with corresponding crumpled sheet pads.
Once the face sheet walls 283, 284, 285, 286, 287 and 288 have been folded around the article V, the face sheet walls 283, 284, 285, 286, 287 and 288 may be attached together at their adjacent edges. In the illustrated exemplary embodiment, the outer face sheet 282 includes tabs 331, 332, 333, 334, 335, 336 and 337 which are folded along respective weakened areas corresponding to fold lines 341, 342, 343, 344, 345, 346 and 347 and attached to their respective interfacing face sheet wall. Thus, in the illustrated exemplary embodiment tabs 331 and 337 are attached to face sheet wall 283, tabs 333 and 334 are attached to face sheet wall 285, tab 332 is attached to face sheet wall 288, tab 335 is attached to face sheet wall 285 and tab 336 is attached to face sheet wall 283. The attaching may be done by gluing, adhesive tape, stapling or other attaching means.
Alternatively, as shown in
The packing products 280 and 360 may be particularly useful in applications requiring packaging of oblong or non-uniform shape articles since the inner face sheets and corresponding crumpled sheet pads may be positioned as desired to fill the voids between the walls of the article to be packaged and the respective face sheet walls of the outer face sheet or to otherwise cushion the article. Thus, for a relatively larger void, a relatively larger crumpled sheet pad can be used and for a relatively smaller void, a relatively smaller crumpled sheet pad can be used.
Referring now to
The x-axis of the graph represents the static load (measured in PSI) subjected to the packing product and the y-axis represents the acceleration or shock (measured in an average G) transmitted to the product through the packing product as a result of five sequential drops from a predetermined height, the average G being based on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th drops. As the graph in
Similar test results were obtained for packing products having straight pads, i.e., linearly arranged crumpled sheet pads, such as the packing product shown in
As shown in the
Referring again to
The test results shown in
At the 2nd and 3rd drops the honeycomb packing products become more resilient, that is, less stiff. As is shown in
Alternatively, as shown in the packing product 410 of
Referring now to
The folding device 476 is shown in greater detail in
In operation, the pinch members 496 and 498 are relatively moved towards one another to create a fold line 540 (
Referring now to
To facilitate accommodation of different length layers of pads, the capture chute 480 may include suitable means, such as a pair of respective actuators 604 and 606 on the opposed walls 594 and 596, to move the opposed walls 594 and 596 relative to one another to increase or decrease the spacing therebetween. Although a pair of actuators 604 and 606 is shown, a single actuator and a suitable linkage arrangement synchronizing the movements of the opposed walls 594 and 596 may be used in an alternative embodiment.
Similarly, the capture chute 480 may be adapted to accommodate different width pads. To this end, the capture chute 480 may include suitable means, such as a pair of respective actuators 614 and 616 on the opposed walls 584 and 586, to move the opposed walls 584 and 586 relative to one another to increase or decrease the spacing therebetween. It will be appreciated that the opposed walls 584 and 586 may be collapsible about hinge points 620, as shown in
Although the invention has been shown and described with respect to certain preferred embodiments, equivalent alterations and modifications will occur to others skilled in the art upon reading and understanding this specification and the annexed drawings. In particular regard to the various functions performed by the above described integers (components, assemblies, devices, compositions, etc.), the terms (including a reference to a “means”) used to describe such integers are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, to any integer which performs the specified function of the described integer (i.e., that is functionally equivalent), even though not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure which performs the function in the herein illustrated exemplary embodiment or embodiments of the invention. In addition, while a particular feature of the invention may have been described above with respect to only one of several illustrated embodiments, such feature may be combined with one or more other features of the other embodiments, as may be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application.
This application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/US01/16738 filed May 24, 2001 and published in English, which claims the benefit under 35 USC 119(e) of earlier filed U.S. provisional application, Ser. No. 60/206,684, filed May 24, 2000, both of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/US01/16738 | May 2001 | US |
| Child | 10303660 | US |
