Patent Application
20130213842
The present invention relates to boxes, and more specifically, to boxes formed from paper board.
Boxes formed from corrugated paper are used for a variety of storage and transport purposes. A typical corrugated paper box is formed from a corrugated paper blank that is folded into the box form. The blanks can be configured to into open-top boxes, such as so-called “banker boxes”, which have separate lids, or closed-top boxes, such as those used for moving and storage of household items. The advantages of corrugated paper boxes include a favorable strength to weight ratio, the ease of manufacturing and construction, and the ease of transport in the unassembled form.
Another advantage of corrugated paper boxes is that they may, at least in some degree, be adapted to special uses. One such special use is for the payout of cabling in construction and renovation sites. In particular, it is known in the electrical industry to store and move wound or coiled cable in a corrugated paper box. At the installation site, the cable (or other wound material) is fed through an opening in the box. The installer thereafter pulls the wound material through the opening for pay out and installation. As the material is pulled through, the coil of material rotates within the box, either as a standalone coil, or on a specially made axle mounted in the box.
A drawback to the use of corrugated paper boxes for pay out of cabling at installation site is the coordination of multiple boxes for multiple cables to be installed in the same area. For example, there exist installation circumstances in which as many as six to ten cables may be installed as a bundle within a space of a facility. It is known to stack multiple cable pay out boxes to allow for simultaneous payout of several cables. However, due to the friction forces present in the payout process, the cable pulling process can lead to movement and falling of boxes from the stack.
There is a need, therefore, for a system and associated box design that allows for payout of multiple cables simultaneously without the aforementioned drawbacks.
Embodiments of the present invention address the above-described need, as well as others, by providing a corrugated paper container configured to interconnect with other corrugated paper containers using integrally formed features of the corrugated paper containers.
A first embodiment is a container system that includes a first corrugated paper container and a second corrugated paper container. The first corrugated paper container has a slot formed in a first side thereof. The second corrugated paper container is disposed vertically adjacent to the first corrugated paper container. The second corrugated paper container has a retaining tab formed from a side of the second corrugated paper container. The retaining tab extends into the slot of the first container so as to couple the first corrugated paper container to the second corrugated paper container.
A second embodiment is a corrugated paper container that includes a plurality of sides integrally formed from a corrugated paper blank. The container includes a retaining tab and a slot. The retaining tab is formed from a first side such that the first side includes a void having a shape substantially the same as a shape of the retaining tab. The slot is aligned with and spaced from the retaining tab, the slot configured to receive a corresponding retaining tab of another corrugated paper container.
The above-described features and advantages, as well as others, will become more readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by reference to the following detailed descriptions and accompanying drawings.
Each of the corrugated paper containers 110, 112 is configured to contain wound or coiled media, not shown in
The first corrugated paper container 110 includes a void or opening 124 on a second side 128 through which the media may be fed. Similarly, the second corrugated paper container 112 includes a void or opening 122 on a second side 126 through which the media may be fed.
As will be discussed below in detail, the retention of the retaining tab 118 within the slot 114 helps retain the second corrugated paper container 112 in position atop the first corrugated paper container 110. The system 100 is scalable to accommodate additional stacked containers, not shown. To this end, the second corrugated container 112 includes a slot 130 configured to receive a retaining tab of another container, not shown, that may be stacked atop the second corrugated paper container 112. In
Similarly, the first corrugated paper container 110 includes its own retaining tab 132 which may be inserted into a corresponding slot, not shown, of another container, not shown, disposed below the first corrugated paper container 110. The retaining tab 132 is integrally formed with the side 116 of the first container 110.
a and 2b show different perspective views of the first corrugated paper container 110 apart from the system 100 of
As shown in
In any event, the retaining tab 132 has a first end 144 integrally coupled to (i.e. formed as a continuous part of) the first side 116 and a second end 146. The retaining tab 132 in this embodiment comprises a body portion 148 and a head portion 150. The body portion 148 includes a first end defined by the first end 144 of the retaining tab 132, and a second end 152 at which is coupled the head portion 150. The head portion 150 has a central portion 174 disposed between a set of wings or tabs 176, 178. The central portion 174 of the head portion 150 is defined by the width of the body portion 148. The tabs 176, 178 extend outward from the central portion 174 such that the width of the head portion 150 exceeds that of the body portion 148.
The retaining tab 132 may suitably be formed by providing a first set of perforations defining the periphery of the retaining tab 132, other than the first end 144 which remains attached to the first side 116. Further details regarding such perforations are discussed below in connection with
It will be appreciated that when the retaining tabs such as the tab 132 are stated to be “extending from”, it shall be without regard to whether the subject retaining tab has been pulled out of the side from which it was formed. Thus for example, the retaining tab 132 extends from the first side 116 in both of
As discussed above, the head portion 150 has a width that exceeds a width of the body portion 148. However, as will be discussed below in detail, the head portion 150 need only be wider than a part (proximate the second end 152) of the body portion 148 that is adjacent to the head portion 150 to aid in the retention of the head portion 150 in the slot of another stacked container, not shown.
As shown in
As discussed above in connection with
Moreover, as will be discussed below in further detail, the corrugated paper container 110 preferably includes a second retaining tab 154 and corresponding vertically displaced second slot 156, both shown in
It will be appreciated that the retaining tabs 132, 154 and slots 114, 156 are disposed on a portion of their corresponding sides 116, 140 that is distant from the edges 116a, 140a that couple those sides 116, 140 to the second side 128 on which the opening 124 is located. In other words, if the second side 128 on which the opening 124 is located is considered to be the “front” of the container 110, then the retaining tabs 132, 154 and slots 114, 156 are disposed closer to the “rear” of the container 110. Such positioning assists in the retention of the containers when stacked, and when media is drawn therefrom.
In this embodiment, the corrugated container 110 further includes a third retaining tab 158, and a corresponding third vertically displaced slot 160 to facilitate connection to another container that is displaced horizontally adjacent to the corrugated container 110. In particular, it is often advantageous to not only stack two or more corrugated containers vertically, such as shown in
Moreover, to provide balanced and complementary coupling the corrugated container 110 in this embodiment further includes a fourth retaining tab, not shown, and corresponding vertically spaced slot, not shown, on the fourth side 136 of the container 110. In particular, the fourth retaining tab is intended to couple to a slot, not shown, of another container disposed adjacent to the sixth side, while the fourth slot is configured to receive a retaining tab of a container disposed adjacent to the first side 116. The fourth retaining tab preferably has the same construction and a similar shape as that of the first retaining tab, but is disposed on fourth side 136 of the corrugated paper container 110. The fourth slot has a structure that is analogous to that of the slot 114.
The second corrugated container 112 of
As discussed above, the corrugated paper containers 110 and 112 may be formed from a corrugated paper blank. For example,
The crease lines 302 represent pre-creased borders between structures such as the sides 116, 128, 134, 136, 138 and 140. The perforation lines 304 indicate pre-cut sets of perforations that are used to make structures that may be separate (at least in part) by the user. Any suitable method of perforating for the purpose of creating user removable structures may be employed. As also shown in
To construct the container 110, the blank is folded along the crease lines 302 in a known manner to form the box like structure of
After the container 110 and others like it are assembled, they may be outfitted with wound media such as electrical cable. In some cases, a reel of wound cable, or a quantity of coiled cable, not shown, is inserted into a finished container through an open end, such as the unassembled fifth side 138. In other embodiment, the container 110 itself is assembled around the cable reel, or reel coil.
After the container 110 and others like it are outfitted with cable, multiple containers of the design of the container 110 may then be used at the installation site to pay out and install multiple cables.
Discussion of the use of the completed container and assembly of multiple containers into vertically and horizontally interconnected groups is made in reference to
In order to allow for simultaneous payout of the cables 166, 168, 170 and 172, the user stacks the containers 110a-110d such that the second container 110b is atop (vertically adjacent to) the first container 110a, and the fourth container 110d is atop (vertically adjacent to) the third container 110c. The first container 110a and the third container 110c are horizontally adjacent. Similarly, the second container 110b and the fourth container 110d are horizontally adjacent. It will be appreciated that the containers 110a-110d may be stacked differently, and that more or fewer similar containers may be stacked to heights of three or more, and or three or more horizontally adjacent.
Referring again to the exemplary configuration of
To perform the interconnection of the first container 110a and the second container 110c, the user first pulls the head portion (not shown) of the retaining tab 132b of the second container 110b by inserting a finger or tool in the access cutout (analogous to access cutout 143 of
The user thereafter inserts the head portion of the retaining tab 132b (not visible but analogous to head portion 150 of
The above-described process is then repeated to insert the retaining tab, not shown, on the opposite side of the second container 110b into the slot, not shown, on the opposite side of the first container 110a. In that position, the first container 110a and the second container 110b are securely interconnected. The third and fourth containers 110c and 110d may be interconnected in the same way. Moreover, the same process is used to insert the tab 158b of the second container 110b into the slot 160d of the fourth container 110d. The same processes may be used to connect a tab, not shown, on the first container 110a (similar to 158 of
The cables 166, 168, 170 and 172 may then be payed out simultaneously through the respective openings 124a, 124b, 124c and 124d.
Another embodiment of the exemplary embodiment described herein is that the payout boxes may be non-destructively disconnected for subsequent use. In particular, for example, the tab 132b may be removed from the slot 114a by compressing the containers 110a, 110b to allow the use to fit the head portion through entry slot 117a. When the other retaining tabs are removed in a similar manner, the corrugated paper containers 110a-110d are all disconnected and can be readily moved or reused. In addition, the retaining tabs (e.g. retaining tab 132b) may be replaced into their corresponding voids (e.g. void 142b).
It will be appreciated that the above-describe embodiments are merely exemplary, and that those of ordinary skill in the art may readily devise their own implementations and adaptations that incorporate the principles of the present invention and fall within the spirit and scope thereof. For example, the exact location of the retaining tabs and slots on the container 110 may vary. For example, the second retaining tab 154 need not be in the same position opposite the first retaining tab 132. However, it is advantageous if that the tabs and corresponding slots are vertically aligned with (and spaced apart from) one another. Such alignment allows for predictable alignment of the containers when they are stacked and interconnected. In another example, the shape of the body portion 148 and head portion 150 need not be as shown, as long as a head portion 150 extends to a greater width than an area near the second end 152 of the body portion 148. The exact size and shape of the container 110 will also be a design variant. Other design variations will become readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art.
