This invention relates to packaging materials, and more particularly to a body of energy absorbing foam material which can be configured for two distinct uses. In accordance with this invention, the body of material is used in two distinct steps of shipping electronic products, thereby saving in cost of packaging materials and waste of such materials which would otherwise be used once and discarded.
It is conventional practice to use packaging materials, sometimes also called dunnage, to cushion electronic products being shipped against shock imposed on the packaged products. Most consumers are familiar with the molded soft plastic inserts configured to engage consumer electronic products and provide a layer of protection between the product and the carton in which the product is packaged for shipment. In this usage, the packaging materials are single use, and are conventionally discarded by the end user who unpacks the product.
On a different level of commerce, certain types of electronic products, of which server blades are one, are conventionally manufactured in one location, packaged in bulk for shipment to a break bulk point remote from the manufacturing facility, and repackaged for shipment as individual single units. Heretofore, such packaging has involved the use of one form of packaging material or dunnage as the products are packaged for bulk shipment and another form as the product is are repackaged for single unit shipment. This causes additional effort at both the manufacturing site and the break bulk site. Manufacture of dunnage is duplicated, and the bulk packaging materials must be discarded and disposed of at the break bulk point.
With the foregoing in mind, it is a purpose of this invention to reduce the effort and expense involved in moving electronic products from a bulk shipment environment to a single unit shipment environment. In pursuing this purpose, packaging materials have been developed which are reconfigurable into two different shipping configurations: one for bulk shipment of electronic products, and one for individual shipment of the same electronic products.
Some of the purposes of the invention having been stated, others will appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:
While the present invention will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown, it is to be understood at the outset of the description which follows that persons of skill in the appropriate arts may modify the invention here described while still achieving the favorable results of the invention. Accordingly, the description which follows is to be understood as being a broad, teaching disclosure directed to persons of skill in the appropriate arts, and not as limiting upon the present invention.
Referring to the accompanying drawings, two forms of packaging for electronic products are there shown (in
It is contemplated here that a server blade or similar product will be manufactured at one location and shipped in a bulk package (
In manufacture of electronic products of the types with which this invention is concerned, “high touch” manufacturing is typically done in a country where direct labor costs may be relatively low. “Low touch” final steps in manufacturing are typically done in other countries where technical skills—and labor costs—may be higher. While server blades are here given as an illustrative example, as initial assembly is a “high touch” endeavor while final configuration is a “low touch” endeavor, the same characteristics of manufacture are found in innumerable other products. It is to be understood that the concepts of the present invention will find use in such processes independently of the specific type of product being manufactured in multiple steps completed in differing locations.
In accordance with this invention, packaging methods include receiving a plurality of electronic products packaged for bulk shipment in which a plurality of configurable bodies of energy absorbing foam material are disposed as top and bottom or end caps in pairs, each engaging a corresponding one electronic product, with the pairs of bodies and corresponding electronic products being interleaved with others of like electronic products; unpacking the electronic products; and then reconfiguring a single pair of the configurable bodies to engage a single one of the electronic products as a pair of top and bottom, end or side caps and to provide three dimensional projecting portions which cushion the engaged electronic product against shock loads. The engaged single electronic product and reconfigured bodies are then packaged for shipment to an end user. These steps will become more clear in connection with consideration of the accompanying drawings.
It is to be understood that, while
In the preferred embodiment, the reconfiguring of each body involves folding the body about the fold lines 16a, 16b formed therein (see
When in the bulk packaging configuration, the body 11 serves with a like companion body as one of a pair of top and bottom, end, side or corner caps engaging an electronic product which is then interleaved among a plurality of similarly capped electronic products packaged for bulk shipment. The plurality of products are enclosed within a suitable carton 18 (
When in the single unit shipment configuration, the body 11 serves with a like companion body as one of a pair of top d bottom, end, side or corner caps engaging an electronic product and providing three dimensional projecting portions which cushion against shock loads when the engaged electronic product and the reconfigured body are packaged as a single unit for shipment to an end user. The individual product is enclosed within a suitable carton 19 (
In the drawings and specifications there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention and, although specific terms are used, the description thus given uses terminology in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.