In the field of recreational board products that are fragile in nature in terms of transportation, namely surfboards, kiteboards, snowboards, and wakeboards, packaging has comprised one of the most expensive components of the supply chain due to their relatively large size, heavy weight, and easily damageable construction materials, namely foam cores and high graphic resin top coats. Up until now, there has not been any engineered standard for packaging these products; labor intensive efforts such as different methods of wrapping the product in bubble wrap, corrugated, and foam have been utilized but no custom, cost efficient designed package has been created that could been be used for OEM or retail shipments to buyers. The only custom, protective products that exist are made for airline or truck shipments for use by persons when using the product (i.e. for travel to a surf spot and back) but are far too expensive to ship as packaging to initially get the product to the consumer upon original purchase or to supply the retail chain in bulk. In addition, the packaging utilized today does not pass industry-shipping standards and is very labor intensive, unrecyclable, and not reusable. The surf industry trade, governed by SIMA (Surf Industries Manufacturing Association), has established packaging improvement as a priority for 2006 in their trade journal (SIMA magazine) and at their annual trade show in San Diego, Calif. in January.
SurfBoardPack is a custom-designed, fragility protective system that is expandable in shape to fit all of the potential sizes of board products made today. It is cost effective enough such that it is competitive to the cost of the packaging used today but provides labor and material savings, enhanced fragility protection that passes industry-shipping standards, and is reusable and recyclable.
Figure Descriptions
Number Description List
This invention includes the following components:
Internal components, when all used, work together to protect and hold board from impact and vibration seen in outer container. In addition, they support outer container and keep impact away from board. The outer container (90) provides structure for stacking, drop, vibration, etc. and is modifiable in size to accommodate multiple boards in one system. The outer container (80,90) may also be made in two (
Alternatively, the corrugated die-cut “caps” (40, 100) that fit onto the ends and middle of the boards can be any length, height, or width to accommodate any shape of board. The straps (60) which fasten the “caps” together can be made from a variety of materials, including but not excluded to, urethane or polyethylene films, other plastic films, corrugated pads by snap-lock or other fastening method including glue, tape, or staple, tape, or other flexible strapping material like rubber, neoprene, etc. The exterior box (80,90) can be RSC, HSC, DST, FOL, 5-panel folder or any other box structure designed to offer structure or stability. Corrugated materials themselves can be lessened or strengthened as weight or fragility considerations apply. Internal cushioning components like the foam pad (35) and corrugated stiffening pad (30) can be made out of various materials, including, but not excluded to, all types of foam, corrugated, plastic corrugated, cellulose paper, thermoformed plastic or foam, etc. In addition, extra foam (35) and corrugated pads (30) may be added to the end, nose, top, bottom, or side for increased fragility, shock, and vibration protection. The invention may be used with or without an outer carton. It can be used for many board types, including but not limited to snowboards, wakeboards, surfboards, kiteboards or any long, thin product in need of protection for shipping. It is also reusable and recyclable, which are voluntary considerations.
Cross-Reference Provisional Patent Application: 60/593,758; Filing Date: Feb. 10, 2005
Number | Date | Country | |
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60593758 | Feb 2005 | US |