Patent Grant
11148862
Not applicable.
The present invention relates to improvements in the construction and configuration of a shipping container for rolled goods, particularly a shipping container for product packaging containing trash bags provided in a rolled configuration.
With the rise of Internet commerce, it has become more commonplace to ship individual consumer products direct from a distribution center or a manufacturer's warehouse to a consumer's home. Such products include relatively heavy and rigid rolled goods such as trash bags. Thirteen-gallon kitchen trash bags are known to be sold in a single box with a quantity of up to 200 bags, with the box typically containing two rolls, each roll containing up to 100 bags. Such a box of packaged trash bags can weigh over ten pounds. Such products are typically sold in a rectangular prismatic box constructed of corrugated cardboard. These boxes have been designed with enough strength to protect the product and maintain the integrity of the product packaging for palletizing, being shipped via a pallet, and being placed on a store shelf. However, this packaging typically does not have the necessary strength to withstand the rigors of being shipped by itself via a commercial courier to a consumer's home.
Rolled goods such as trash bags are relatively heavy; however, they are also relatively stiff and rigid. With such rolled goods being generally cylindrical in shape, the goods, having a certain amount of stiffness, help to reinforce and support the container where the rolled goods are in contact with the product enclosure. However, the relatively stiff rolled goods fail to make contact with the corners of the product packaging; therefore, the corners of the typical rectangular shaped product enclosure have a tendency to become damaged if such enclosure is shipped by itself in its packaging typically used for sale at retail. Therefore, it would be advantageous to provide novel methods to reinforce existing retail packaging for rolled goods such as trash bags to enable a reliable and economical means of shipping such goods directly to a consumer.
In view of the considerations discussed above, the invention disclosed herein is particularly advantageous when rolled goods packaged in a rectangular box are shipped. The following disclosure addresses such invention in detail.
The present invention comprises a shipping container for one or more rolled goods. In certain embodiments of the present invention the shipping container can comprise a product enclosure. The product enclosure can comprise opposing vertical first and second side panels, opposing vertical front and rear panels, and opposing horizontal top and bottom panels. At least a first rolled good can be enclosed within the product enclosure. The first rolled good can be rolled about a first vertical axis to form a generally cylindrical shape. A generally flat top of the first rolled good can support the top panel and a generally flat bottom of the first rolled good can rest on the bottom panel.
The shipping container can further comprise a first reinforcing tray. The first reinforcing tray can comprise opposing horizontal top and bottom walls, opposing vertical front and rear walls, and a vertical outer wall at first ends of the top, bottom, front, and rear walls. The outer wall can extend between the top and bottom walls and between the front and rear walls. An opening can extend between opposite second ends of the first end of the top, bottom, front, and rear walls. The first reinforcing tray can receive a first side end of the product enclosure through its opening, wherein the first side end comprises the first side panel and a partial width of the front and rear panels and a partial width of the top and bottom panels of the product enclosure. Additionally, a flexible outer wrap can be placed around an outer surface of the first reinforcing tray. The flexible outer wrap can encapsulate the product enclosure and the first reinforcing tray.
In certain embodiments of the present invention, the product enclosure of the shipping container may comprise a rectangular prism and the first reinforcing tray may comprise a rectangular vessel. Furthermore, the flexible outer wrap may comprise a single continuous web of polymeric film. In additional embodiments, the flexible outer wrap may comprise more than one web of polymeric film. The flexible outer wrap may also comprise shrink wrap film. The shrink wrap film may be in intimate contact with the first reinforcing tray and the product enclosure. Furthermore, in certain embodiments the flexible outer wrap may have a perforation in it to assist the recipient of the shipping container in removing the container from the product enclosure.
Additionally, in certain embodiments of the present invention, the shipping container may comprise a second reinforcing tray. The second reinforcing tray may comprise opposing horizontal top and bottom walls, opposing vertical front and rear walls, and a vertical outer wall at first ends of the top, bottom, front, and rear walls. An outer wall of the second reinforcing tray may extend between the top and bottom walls and between the front and rear walls. An opening may extend between second opposite ends of the top, bottom, front, and rear walls. The second reinforcing tray may receive a second side end of the product enclosure with the second side end opposite from the first side end. The second side end may comprise the second side panel and a partial width of the front and rear panels and partial widths of the top and bottom panels of the product enclosure. The flexible outer wrap of the shipping container may be placed around an outer surface of the second reinforcing tray and encapsulate the second reinforcing tray with the first reinforcing tray and the product enclosure.
The shipping container may further comprise a second rolled good within the product enclosure. The second rolled good may be rolled about a second vertical axis to form a generally cylindrical shape. A generally flat top of the second rolled good may support the top panel and a generally flat bottom of the second rolled good may rest on the bottom panel. Additionally, the product enclosure of shipping container may comprise corrugated cardboard. The first and second reinforcement trays may also comprise corrugated cardboard. The corrugated cardboard of the reinforcement trays may be of equal or greater thickness than the corrugated cardboard of the product enclosure. Rather than corrugated cardboard or some other material, the first and second reinforcement trays may comprise a generally rigid polymeric material.
While the present invention is applicable to a variety of products in a roll configuration, in certain embodiments of the present invention, the at least one rolled good is a roll of trash bags. Moreover, in some specific embodiments, the at least one rolled good may be a coreless roll of trash bags.
It is contemplated that the present invention may be utilized in ways that are not fully described or set forth herein. The present invention is intended to encompass these additional uses to the extent such uses are not contradicted by the appended claims. Therefore, the present invention should be given the broadest reasonable interpretation in view of the present disclosure, the accompanying figures, and the appended claims.
A full and complete understanding of the present invention may be obtained by reference to the detailed description of the present invention and certain embodiments when viewed with reference to the accompanying drawings. The drawings can be briefly described as follows.
The present disclosure illustrates several embodiments of the present invention. It is not intended to provide an illustration or encompass all embodiments contemplated by the present invention. In view of the disclosure of the present invention contained herein, a person having ordinary skill in the art will recognize that innumerable modifications and insubstantial changes may be incorporated or otherwise included within the present invention without diverging from the spirit of the invention. Therefore, it is understood that the present invention is not limited to those embodiments disclosed herein. The appended claims are intended to more fully and accurately encompass the invention to the fullest extent possible, but it is fully appreciated that certain limitations on the use of particular terms are not intended to conclusively limit the scope of protection.
Referring initially to
Now briefly turning to
In certain embodiments, product enclosure 101 and first and second reinforcement trays 102 and 104 are made using the same material, such as a rigid cardboard material including paperboard, chipboard, or corrugated fiberboard. However, in other embodiments, the reinforcement trays 102 and 104 may be made with distinct materials from the product enclosure 101, which may be selected from any suitable material including, but not limited to, rigid polymers. The specific material selection is driven by the need to provide sufficient rigidity for the shipping container 100 as a whole based upon the expected utilization and the various conditions container 100 may be subjected to when being shipped by commercial couriers such as the United States Postal Service, Federal Express, and UPS, from a product distribution center or warehouse to a consumer.
In certain embodiments, flexible outer wrap 106 is a polymer film, particularly a shrink-wrap or shrink film. When flexible outer wrap 106 is a heat-activated shrink-wrap material, the flexible outer wrap 106 can be shrunk to surround at least a portion or all of the top panel 102 and bottom panel 104. The force of the shrunken flexible outer wrap keeps the reinforcement trays 102 and 104 in close contact with product enclosure 101. As seen in the depicted embodiment, the flexible outer wrap 106 completely surrounds and encapsulates the assembly of product enclosure 101 and reinforcement trays 102 and 104. Thus, in the depicted embodiment, the shrink-wrap flexible outer wrap 106 securely sandwiches product enclosure 101 between the first and second reinforcement trays 102 and 104.
In certain embodiments of the present invention, the flexible outer wrap 106 can comprise a single continuous web of polymeric film. In further embodiments, the flexible outer wrap 106 can comprise more than one web of polymeric film. Additionally, the flexible outer wrap 106 can have a perforation in it to assist the recipient of the shipping container 100 in removing the wrap 106 from shipping container 100 and product enclosure 101. The perforation can extend from the first reinforcement tray 102 to the second reinforcement tray 104. In further embodiments, the perforation can extend in general from a top to a bottom of shipping container 100.
Use of reinforcement trays 102 and 104 for the shipping of heavy rolled goods 120, 122, such as coreless rolls of trash bags, is particularly advantageous with respect to the present invention. Rolled goods are not square or rectangular, but rather are generally cylindrical in shape. Traditional cardboard packaging is generally a rectangular prism, resulting in unsupported space in the corners of the container when enclosing cylindrical rolled goods. The rolled goods help to reinforce and support the container where the rolled goods are in contact with the product enclosure. However, with the relatively stiff rolled goods not making contact with the corners of the product packaging, reinforcement trays can provide adequate strength to these sections of the packaging while conserving the use of material versus the use of an overall thicker product enclosure. Additionally, use of a heavy duty flexible overwrap serves to maintain reinforcement trays on the product enclosure 101 and further reinforce shipping container 100 from damage.
As mentioned above, the present invention is advantageous when used with certain rolled goods such as coreless rolled trash bags. Such goods provide strength and rigidity in one or more directions. Tightly rolled, larger rolls of trash bags are generally rigid along the perimeter of the cylindrical roll, i.e. it is difficult to indent the roll of trash bags along the cylindrical wall when pushed toward the central axis of the roll. Additionally, a roll of trash bags when placed upright, i.e. the central axis running up and down, is capable of supporting a great deal of weight in the vertical direction. Thus, the addition of reinforcement trays 102 and 104 provide for additional shipping container strength where needed while minimizing use of materials for the shipping container.
As best shown by
Now turning to
In at least certain embodiments of the present invention, first and second end sections 136 and 138 can have a length of approximately a ⅛ width of product enclosure 101. Furthermore, in one particular example, product enclosure 101 can have a width of approximately 12 inches, a height of approximately nine inches and a depth of approximately 6.5 inches. With such dimensions, first and second end sections 136 and 138 have a length of approximately 1.5 inches.
The specific embodiments depicted herein are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Indeed, it is contemplated that any number of different embodiments may be utilized without diverging from the spirit of the invention. Therefore, the appended claims are intended to more fully encompass the full scope of the present invention.
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