Patent Grant
11141948
The subject matter of the present disclosure refers generally to an automated case erector for erecting containers and a method of using the automated case erector for erecting containers that provide cushioned protection and temperature control for contents of the containers.
When shipping fragile or temperature-sensitive items, consumers generally have a limited number of container options that provide both insulation and cushioning sufficient to maintain and protect those items during transit. For spatially smaller shipments or mailings, paper envelopes lined with plastic bubble wrap are sometimes used. However, these envelopes generally provide limited impact protection and virtually no insulation and thus are often unsuitable for fragile and/or temperature-sensitive items. In some instances, rolls of bubble wrap may be utilized to wrap individual items, thereby equipping such items with an additional layer of padding during shipping. However, wrapping individual items in this manner may prove inconvenient, time-consuming, and costly—particularly for irregularly shaped items requiring shipment. Moreover, because mail carriers often do not permit the shipment of items encased in bubble wrap alone, items wrapped in bubble wrap generally must be placed within a container before the item can be shipped, which further increases the time, effort, and cost associated with shipping the item. For spatially larger items, containers, such as corrugated boxes, may be used. However, the corrugated walls of such boxes provide very little cushioning and, thus, generally cannot withstand significant impacts without the structural integrity of the container being compromised and the item stored therein being damaged. Additionally, because the corrugated boxes currently used in the field are generally corrugated in a manner such that the interior of a box's walls contains a substantial amount of air therein, corrugated boxes currently used in the field are generally poor insulators, and, as such, cannot be utilized in the shipment of temperature-sensitive items. Although boxes or other containers having expanded polystyrene inside the container may be used to help maintain temperature, expanded polystyrene provides limited cushioning and additionally is generally non-biodegradable.
In some instances, foam peanuts or plastic pillows inflated with air may be used in conjunction with certain shipping containers to minimize the empty space present within the container. However, because these packaging devices generally do not occupy the entirety of the internal volume of the container not occupied by the item being shipped, both the foam peanuts or inflated plastic pillows as well as the item being shipped may shift within the container during transit, often resulting in breakage of the shipped item. Moreover, because foam peanuts and inflated plastic pillows are generally not designed to insulate or resist temperature change, these packaging devices generally cannot be relied upon when shipping temperature-sensitive items, such as perishable food products.
Currently, thermal liners and a variety of refrigerants, such as ice packs or gel packs, are relied upon to regulate the temperature within a shipping container's interior volume. However, such liners and refrigerants are generally not components of the shipping container itself, but rather are separate elements designed to be placed or installed within a shipping container once the shipping container is fully constructed. Accordingly, to ship temperature-sensitive items using known containers, such as corrugated boxes, and liners and/or refrigerants, the container often must be manipulated from its generally flat template form into its constructed, three-dimensional box form and the liners and/or refrigerants subsequently installed within the interior volume of the box. Often, installation of the liners and/or refrigerants must be done by hand as such materials must be placed with precision to ensure the interior volume of the container exhibits proper thermal regulation. Accordingly, the step of installing or otherwise associating such liners and/or refrigerants with known shipping containers only after the container has been manipulated into a three-dimensional form often increases the time, effort, and costs associated with shipping temperature-sensitive items.
Accordingly, shippers who require cushioning and/or insulation for the shipment of fragile and/or temperature-sensitive items have a need for an improved, simplified, one-piece container that provides both cushioning and insulation for shipping such items. However, for large-scale commercial shippers who ship such containers in high volume, an additional need exists in the art for an automated case erector apparatus designed to erect such containers at a rate sufficient to meet the needs of such commercial shippers.
In accordance with the present disclosure, an automated case erector apparatus and a method of using the apparatus to erect cases with interior cushioned insulation are provided. The case erector is configured to erect a one-piece container having an exterior formed from a case blank and insulation disposed within the interior of the container. The insulation is secured to the generally flat case blank before erecting the case, and the case erector erects the container by simultaneously folding the case blank and insulation as a single unit into a three-dimensional container. The case erector comprises a case blank feeder configured to sequentially feed a series of flat case blanks onto a conveyor, an insulation securing station configured to secure an insulating member to a flat case blank, and a case erecting assembly configured to simultaneously fold portions of the flat case blank and corresponding portions of the insulating member secured thereto into an erected container that may be used for shipping items requiring cushioning and/or thermal insulation. Thus, the present automated case erector may be utilized to erect a container as a single unit without requiring a container to be formed from a case blank into a three-dimensional form before insulation material is associated therewith. The automated case erector may be used to construct a high volume of insulated containers in a single process by eliminating the necessity of manually installing insulation into a previously constructed shipping container prior to shipping items in the container.
The erected container is designed to provide a completely enclosed interior space within the container that is cushioned and insulated on all sides. The case blank is a template configured to transform from a generally flat configuration into a three-dimensional container by folding the case blank along defined fold lines. The insulation is provided as an insulation template designed to cushion and insulate an interior volume of the container once the container has been erected. The insulation template is secured to the case blank by the automated case erector while both are in a generally flattened state. The case erector then simultaneously folds both the case blank and corresponding portions of the insulation template to simultaneously transform both from a generally flat configuration into a three-dimensional container. The dimensions of the case blank and the insulation template may be adjusted to form containers of varying size and dimension. For instance, the dimensions of the case blank and the insulation template may be adjusted to correspond to standard sized cardboard boxes used by the United States Postal Service or other freight carriers, such as FedEx or UPS, for shipping items.
The insulation template comprises at least one insulating member. Each insulating member comprises a soft, flexible material that can be readily compressed and deformed to enable the template to conform to the shape formed by the case blank and to provide cushioning and insulation for items placed within the container. Each insulating member preferably comprises cotton fibers to act as a cushioning agent. In one embodiment, each insulating member may comprise a bi-component fiber including cotton fibers and another type of fiber, such as polyester fibers or polyethylene fibers, which may be present in an amount sufficient to hold the cotton fibers together in order to form a distinct, defined section of insulating material. The thickness of each insulating member may vary depending on the dimensions of the container and the desired amount of cushioning or insulation to be provided therein. Each insulating member is preferably encapsulated and sealed within a flexible plastic material such as a bag or a film. The encapsulating material ensures that the insulation is contained and isolated from the shipped contents in the interior of the container. The encapsulating material also facilitates gripping of the insulating members by the automated case erector, as well as securing the insulating members to the case blank prior to folding the combination of case blank and insulating members into a three-dimensional shape.
The foregoing summary has outlined some features of the apparatus, system, and method of the present disclosure so that those skilled in the pertinent art may better understand the detailed description that follows. Additional features that form the subject of the claims will be described hereinafter. Those skilled in the pertinent art should appreciate that they can readily utilize these features for designing or modifying other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the apparatus and system disclosed herein. Those skilled in the pertinent art should also realize that such equivalent designs or modifications do not depart from the scope of the apparatus, system and methods of the present disclosure.
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present disclosure will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:
In the Summary above and in this Detailed Description, and the claims below, and in the accompanying drawings, reference is made to particular features, including method steps, of the invention. It is to be understood that the disclosure of the invention in this specification includes all possible combinations of such particular features. For example, where a particular feature is disclosed in the context of a particular aspect or embodiment of the invention, or a particular claim, that feature can also be used, to the extent possible, in combination with/or in the context of other particular aspects of the embodiments of the invention, and in the invention generally.
The term “comprises” and grammatical equivalents thereof are used herein to mean that other components, steps, etc. are optionally present. For example, a system “comprising” components A, B, and C can contain only components A, B, and C, or can contain not only components A, B, and C, but also one or more other components.
Where reference is made herein to a method comprising two or more defined steps, the defined steps can be carried out in any order or simultaneously (except where the context excludes that possibility), and the method can include one or more other steps which are carried out before any of the defined steps, between two of the defined steps, or after all the defined steps (except where the context excludes that possibility).
In accordance with the present disclosure, an automated case erector apparatus 20 is provided.
The erected container 10 is designed to provide a completely enclosed interior space that is cushioned and insulated on all sides. The case blank is a template 100 configured to transform from a generally flat configuration, as shown in
Each insulation template 200 comprises at least one insulating member. In a preferred embodiment, each insulation template 200 may comprise two separate insulating members 200a and 200b. Each insulating member comprises a soft, flexible material that can be readily compressed and deformed to enable the template 200 to conform to the shape formed by the case blank 100 and to provide cushioning and insulation for items placed within the erected container 10. Each insulating member preferably comprises cotton fibers to act as a cushioning agent. In one embodiment, each insulating member may comprise a bi-component fiber including cotton fibers and another type of fiber, such as polyester fibers or polyethylene fibers, which may be present in an amount sufficient to hold the cotton fibers together in order to form a distinct, defined section of insulating material. The thickness of each insulating member may vary depending on the dimensions of the container and the desired amount of cushioning or insulation to be provided therein. Each insulating member is preferably encapsulated and sealed within a flexible plastic material such as a bag or a film. For instance, the insulating material of each insulating member may be encapsulated within polyethylene plastic or a polyester sheet. The external layer of each insulating member and/or the insulating material contained therein may be biodegradable. The encapsulating material ensures that the insulation is contained and isolated from the shipped contents within the interior of the container. The encapsulating material also facilitates gripping of the insulating members by the automated case erector 20, as well as securing the insulating members to the case blank 100 prior to folding the combination of case blank and insulating members into a three-dimensional shape.
The case blank feeder 300 is configured to sequentially feed a plurality of case blanks 100 stacked face-to-face. The stack may be replenished as needed by an operator using a forklift or similar means. In a preferred embodiment, as shown in
Once a case blank 100 is fed onto the conveyor 330, the case blank moves along a line of conveyance through a first adhesive application system, which is preferably a glue nozzle system 340, as shown in
As previously noted, the case blank 100 and insulation template 200 shown in
In the particular embodiment of case blank 100 described herein for the purpose of describing the case erector 20, the case blank 100 may preferably have a “T” shape and be divided into six sections 110, 120, 130a, 130b, 130c, and 130d, with each section corresponding to one of a top, a bottom, and four sides, respectively, of the container 10, as shown in
In a preferred embodiment, the section 110 that forms the bottom of the container has two opposing tabs 140a and 140b for securing the bottom section 110 to opposing side sections 130b and 130d. In addition, the section 120 that forms the top of the container preferably has three tabs 140e, 140f, and 140g attached to three respective sides of the top section 120. A fourth side of the top section 120 is directly attached to side section 130a. Side section 130a additionally has two opposing tabs 140c and 140d for securing side section 130a to opposing, adjacent side sections 130b and 130d. The tabs 140 preferably have beveled edges so that the tabs do not overlap once the case blank 100 has been formed into a three-dimensional box 10, as shown in
In addition, fold lines separate sections 110, 130a, and 120 from the tabs attached thereto to facilitate folding the tabs when forming the container. The tabs 140 are relatively narrow strips of material relative to the case blank sections to which the tabs are attached. Preferably, only enough material is used for the tabs 140 to adequately secure the container together, as discussed below, to achieve a desired container strength for holding a desired content weight without using excess material. In a preferred embodiment, the tabs 140 are each about 2 inches in width. In another preferred embodiment, the case blank sections are each about 12 inches in length and 12 inches in width.
In a preferred embodiment, the insulation template 200 comprises two insulating members 200a and 200b, as shown in
The insulation template 200 is sized, shaped, and secured to the case blank 100 such that when the case blank 100 is manipulated to form a box, the insulation template 200 cushions and insulates the top, bottom, and each side of the formed box, as best shown in
Once the insulating members 200 are secured to the case blank 100 by the insulation securing station 310, the case blank is moved by the conveyor 330 along the line of conveyance through a second adhesive application system, which is preferably also a glue nozzle system 350, as shown in
Once adhesive is applied to the tabs 140 by the second glue nozzle system 350, the unit case blank 100 with insulating members 200 secured thereto is moved by the conveyor 330 along the line of conveyance to the case erecting assembly 320. The case erecting assembly 320 is configured to receive each case blank 100 having a respective insulation template 200 secured to the case blank 100 and to simultaneously fold portions of each flat case blank 100 and corresponding portions of each insulation template 200 secured to the case blank 100 into an erected case 10. Thus, the case erecting assembly 320 is an automated system that forms the generally flattened combination of case blank and insulating members secured thereto into a three-dimensional container. Preferably, the case erecting assembly 320 may utilize a robotic arm 322 to pick up the combination and move it as a unit into the erecting assembly 320 for case forming. A variety of case erectors are currently known in the art for forming cases from blanks of varying shapes and sizes by folding the blanks along fold lines in a variety of configurations. It should be understood that the case erecting assembly 320 of the present case erector 20 may be adapted to form an insulating one-piece container from a variety of case blanks and associated insulation and still fall within the scope of the present disclosure.
Once each combination of case blank and insulating members reaches the case erecting assembly 320, the assembly preferably forms the case 10 by first folding sections 130b and 130d upward so that these sections are positioned at a 90-degree angle relative to section 130c. The conveyor 330 or robotic arm 322 may then move the combination over a forming mandrel for forming the case. The robotic arm 322 or a separate head associated with the case erecting assembly 320 may then push downward on section 110 to move the combination downward through the mandrel to form the case. This action folds the case blank so that sections 130c and 130a (and consequently 130b and 130d because they have already been folded to a 90-degree angle) are at a 90-degree angle to section 110, which forms the bottom of the container. When the case blank 100 is folded along the fold lines, the insulating members 200 are simultaneously folded along corresponding “lines” on the insulating members. To facilitate folding the insulating members, the insulating members may optionally be mitered along a corresponding fold line. For instance, a linear “V” cut may be made in each insulating member 200 along the line where the member is folded so that the insulating material contained within the encapsulating bag does not have to bend when folding the insulating members. Both insulating members 200a and 200b may have such mitering along all fold lines.
After all of the side sections 130 have been appropriately folded, the combination may be pushed farther down into the forming mandrel to fold tabs 140a and 140b upward to a 90-degree angle. Because adhesive has been applied to the tabs, this action secures bottom section 110 to side sections 130b and 130d. The case erecting assembly 320 may then fold tabs 140c and 140d each to a 90-degree angle to secure side section 130a to side sections 130b and 130d. Once these folds have been made, the container 10 is formed with the lid 120 open at a 90-degree angle, as shown in
The final step is to fold section 120, which forms the lid of the container, to close the container. Section 120 preferably has three tabs 140e, 140f, and 140g on three sides. Tabs 140e and 140f may be folded to secure the lid 120 to sidewall sections 130b and 130d, respectively, and tab 140g may be folded to secure the lid 120 to sidewall section 130c. Because items for shipping will later be placed into the container for shipping the items, the step of closing the lid is preferably done manually by a user at a later time. Thus, adhesive may optionally not be applied by the second glue nozzle system 350 to the tabs attached to the lid. In addition, to allow the user to open and close the lid for reuse, tabs 140e, 140f, and 140g may optionally have re-sealable adhesive strips secured thereto that allow repeated opening and closing of the lid. Alternatively, a user may use tape or a similar adhesive to secure the lid closed before shipping, and the tape may later be removed to open the container.
Once the top section 120 is folded to close the lid of the container, the container will be closed by a padded top wall, which is part of insulating member 200b. At this point, the container 10 defines a completely enclosed, padded interior volume in which items desired for shipment may be housed during transit. The size and shape of the insulating members 200a and 200b are adapted so that the members fit flush together and flush around the entire interior of the container to form a complete thermal envelope within the container. As used herein, this container is referred to as a “one-piece” insulating container, meaning that the exterior of the container (formed by the case blank 100) and the insulation disposed within the container are secured together to form a single unit that may be manipulated into a three-dimensional container using automated machinery as a unit or optionally manually as a unit. This differs from known shipping containers which require separate installation of insulating material after constructing or forming the shipping container.
The dimensions of each component of the container 10 described herein may be adjusted to form containers of varying dimensions. For instance, the case blank 100 and/or insulation template 200 discussed above may be shaped and sized to correspond to standard sized boxes or containers used by the United States Postal Service or other freight carriers, such as FedEx or UPS, for shipping fragile or temperature-sensitive items.
In a preferred embodiment, as shown in
The devices and methods shown and described herein are exemplary. Though certain characteristics of the present disclosure are described above, the description is illustrative only. It is understood that versions of the container disclosed above may come in different forms and embodiments. Additionally, it is understood that one of skill in the art would appreciate these various forms and embodiments as falling within the scope of the invention as disclosed herein.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/717,140, filed on Aug. 10, 2018, which application is incorporated herein by reference.
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