1. Field of the Inventions
The present inventions are directed to a packaging system. In particular, the present inventions are directed to a suspension packaging system that includes a stretchable retention member having at least one pocket.
2. Description of the Related Art
Protective packaging devices are often used to protect goods from shocks and impacts during shipping or transportation. For example, when transporting articles that are relatively fragile, it is often desirable to cushion the article inside a box to protect the article from a physical impact with the inner walls of the box that might be caused by shocks imparted to the box during loading, transit, and unloading.
In most cases, some additional structure is used to keep the article from moving uncontrollably within the box. Such additional structures include paper or plastic packing material, structured plastic foams, foam-filled cushions, and the like. Ideally, the article to be packaged is suspended within the box so as to be spaced from at least some of the walls of the box, thus protecting the article from other foreign objects which may impact or compromise the outer walls of the box.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,675,973 discloses a number of inventions directed to suspension packaging assemblies which incorporate frame members and one or more retention members. For example, many of the embodiments of the U.S. Pat. No. 6,675,973 patent include the use of a retention member formed of a resilient material. Additionally, some of the retention members include pockets at opposite ends thereof
In several of the embodiments disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 6,675,973 patent, free ends of the frame members are inserted into the pockets of the retention member. The free ends of the frame member are then bent, pivoted, or folded to generate the desired tension in the retention member. Because the retention member is made from a resilient material, the retention member can stretch and thus provide a mechanism for suspending an article to be packaged, for example, within a box.
One aspect of at least one of the inventions disclosed herein includes the realization that a single piece of material can be configured to provide both a container defining a cavity and means for tensioning a resilient member around an article to be packaged within the cavity. This provides several advantages. For example, by forming such a device out of a single piece of material, the device can be transported in an unfolded and flat state as a single piece, thereby simplifying the storage, transportation, and use of such devices.
For example, when a packaging system using a somewhat rigid material, such as cardboard, is formed of two separate pieces, the two separate pieces need to be gathered at the location at which the system is assembled. For example, many of the embodiments shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 6,675,973 patent include one assembly for tensioning a resilient member around an article to be packaged and a box or other container for housing the first assembly. In a retail setting using such a device, the establishment would order equal numbers of the support members and the corresponding containers, which may be delivered to the retail establishment in different boxes. Generally, equal numbers of the boxes and support members will be stocked by the retail establishment. Difficulties can arise in stocking two different components of a single assembly. For example, one may not realize that a supply of one component has run out, even though the supply of the other component has not. Thus, by constructing the system from a single piece of material, it is less likely that a stocking error will occur.
Thus, in accordance with one embodiment, a packaging kit for packaging an article and maintaining the article in a position spaced from a wall of a container, comprises a resilient member comprising a body portion and first and second pockets disposed at opposite ends of the body portion. A substantially rigid member comprises a container portion comprising a plurality of foldable portions configured to form at least a bottom and first, second, third, and forth walls extending from a periphery of the bottom. An article securing portion comprises at least a support portion and at least first and second pivotable portions configured to be pivotable relative to the support portion, the pivotable portions configured to be insertable into the first and second pockets, respectively. The article securing portion is pivotably connected to the container portion.
In accordance with another embodiment, a packaging container for packaging an article and maintaining the article in a position spaced from a wall of the container comprises a resilient member comprising a body portion and first and second pockets disposed at opposite ends of the body portion. A substantially rigid member comprises a container portion comprising means for forming at least a bottom and first, second, third, and forth walls extending from a periphery of the bottom. The container also includes means for securing an article with the resilient member under tension, wherein the means for securing is pivotably connected to the means for forming.
For purposes of summarizing the inventions and the advantages achieved over the prior art, certain objects and advantages of the inventions have been described hereinabove. Of course, it is to be understood that not necessarily all such objects or advantages may be achieved in accordance with any particular embodiment of the inventions. Thus, for example, those skilled in the art will recognize that the inventions may be embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or a group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other objects or advantages as may be taught or suggested herein.
All of these embodiments are intended to be within the scope of the inventions disclosed herein. These and other embodiments of the inventions will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments having reference to the attached figures, the inventions not being limited to any particular preferred embodiments disclosed.
These and other features of the inventions are described below with reference to the drawings of several embodiments of the present packaging assemblies and kits which are intended to illustrate, but not to limit, the inventions. The drawings contain the following figures:
An improved packaging system is disclosed herein. The packaging system includes an improved structure which provides new alternatives to known suspension packaging systems.
In the following detailed description, terms of orientation such as “upper,” “lower,” “longitudinal,” “horizontal,” “vertical,” “lateral,” “midpoint,” and “end” are used here to simply the description in the context of the illustrated embodiments. Because other orientations are possible, however, the present inventions should not be limited to the illustrated orientations. Additionally, the term “suspension” is not intended to require that anything, such as an article to be packaged, is suspended above anything. Rather, the terms “suspended” as used herein, is only intended to reflect that such an article is held in a position spaced from another member, such as at least some of the walls of a container or box. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that other orientations of various components described herein are possible.
With reference to
A further advantage is provided where, as illustrated in
The member 10 can be constructed from various materials, including but without limitation, paper, cardboard, corrugated cardboard, plastic, and other appropriate materials. The chosen material for constructing the member 10 can be any substantially rigid but foldable material. It will be appreciated that, although denominated as rigid or substantially rigid, the chosen material would preferably have an amount of flexibility in the cases of extreme physical impact. In some embodiments, the material used to form the tray member 10 is a single wall corrugated C-flute cardboard.
In this embodiment, the member 10 includes a central base member 20. The designation as a “base member” does not impart any particular significance to the member 20. Rather, the base member 20, in this embodiment, simply forms a bottom or a top of the container, described in greater detail below. However, for ease of description, it is convenient to begin with the description of the base member 20.
The size of the base member 20 can be chosen by one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the desired amount of surface area of the bottom or top of the container formed by the member 10. In an exemplary but non-limiting embodiment, where the member 10 is intended to package a modem or a hard drive, the base member 20 can be about 10 inches square. However, this is merely an exemplary embodiment, and the base member 20 can have other dimensions for use in packaging modems or hard drives, or any other article that is to be packaged.
The container portion 12 can also include lateral wall portions 22, 24 and end wall portions 26, 28. Each of the lateral wall portions 22, 24 are configured to form a double wall portion when folded. For brevity, the construction of the lateral wall portion 22 will be described. However, it is to be understood that the lateral wall portion 24 also can include the same features.
The lateral wall portion 22 includes an outer panel 30 and an inner panel 32. Additionally, the lateral wall portion 22 can include at least one fold line defined between the inner panel 30 and the outer panel 32. In the illustrated embodiment, the lateral wall portion 22 includes an outer fold line 34 and an inner fold line 36.
The fold lines 34, 36 can be formed as perforations in the member 10, i.e., broken cut lines passing partially or completely through the material forming the member 10. In the alternative, or in addition, the fold lines can be crushed portions of the material forming the member 10. Of course, depending on the material used to construct the member 10, the fold lines can be formed as mechanical hinges, thinned portions, adhesive tape, or any other appropriate mechanical connection which would allow various portions of the tray member to be folded or rotated with respect to each other. These concepts apply to all the fold lines described herein, although this description will not be repeated with respect to the other fold lines described below.
In the illustrated embodiment, when the lateral wall portion 22 is folded upwardly and inwardly toward the base member 20, the inner panel 32 forms an inner wall of the container and the panel 30 forms an outer wall. The area between the fold lines 34, 36, identified generally by the reference numeral 38, will form an upper edge of the lateral wall portion 22.
The lateral wall portion 22 can also include means for securing the walls in place when folded. For example, in the illustrated embodiment, the inner panel 32 includes a projection 40 on its outermost edge 42. When the lateral wall portion 22 is completely folded, the projection 40 will rest against the base member 20 adjacent a fold line 44 defined at the boundary between the base portion 20 and the lateral wall portion 22.
The projection 40 is merely one type of configuration that can be provided for securing the lateral wall portion 22 in place. Optionally, lateral edges 46, 48 of the inner panel 32 can include projections similar to the projection 40. As such, the lateral edges 46, 48 will press against the end walls 28, 26, respectively, when in a folded state. Further, the base member 20 can include an aperture for receiving the projection 40.
In another embodiment, the inner panel 32 can be substantially narrower than the outer panel 30. For example, an optional outermost edge 42′ is illustrated in
This alternative provides a significant advantage because the inner panel 32 and the corresponding panel of the lateral wall portion 24 define the outermost extremes of one of the major dimensions of the member 10. Thus, by reducing the width of the panel 32 and the corresponding part of the lateral wall portion 42, the overall size and thus the waste of raw material used to form the member 10 can be reduced.
For example, as is well known in the arts using bulk cardboard, anything cut from cardboard begins as a large rectangular piece. The large rectangular piece must be at least as large, in every dimension, as the final product. Thus, by reducing the greatest dimensions of the finished piece, the size of the original raw material can be reduced, thus resulting in less wasted cardboard.
The end wall portion 26 can include a single wall panel 50 connected to the main panel along a fold line 52. The end wall portion 26 can also include corner flaps 54, 56, connected to the wall panel 50 along fold lines 58, 60. Optionally, the lid portion 16 can be connected to the end wall 50 along a fold line 62.
The lateral wall portion 26 is configured such that the panel 50 can be folded towards the base portion 20 along the fold line 52. Additionally, the corner flaps 54, 56 can be folded inwardly toward the panel 50, at about a right angle, for example, such that when the panel 50 is folded into an orientation being approximately perpendicular to the base portion 20, the corner flaps 54, 56 lie along or adjacent to the fold lines 44 between the lateral wall portions 22, 24 and the base portion 20. With the corner flaps 54, 56 in this orientation, the lateral wall portions 22, 24 can be folded over the corner flaps 54, 56. As such, for example, the corner flap 56 is sandwiched between the outer panel 30 and the outer panel 32.
The lid portion 16 can include a top panel portion 70 connected to the wall panel 50 along the fold line 62. The top panel 70 can be approximately the same size as the base panel 20. Additionally, the lid portion 16 can include a wall panel 72 and corner flaps 74, 76. The wall panel 72 is connected to the top panel 70 along a fold line 78. Additionally, the corner flaps 74, 76 are attached to the wall panel 72 along fold lines 80, 82.
The corner flaps 74, 76 are configured to be inserted into a space between the walls of the lateral wall portions 22, 24. For example, the corner flap 76 is configured to be inserted into a space between the outer wall 30 and the inner wall 32, described in greater detail below.
The end wall portion 22 can be configured substantially in the same manner as the end wall portion 26. Thus, the end wall portion 28 includes a wall panel 90 connected to the base portion 20 along a fold line 92. Additionally, the end wall portion 28 includes corner flaps 94, 96 attached to the wall panel 90 along fold lines 98, 100.
The suspension portion 14 is connected to the wall panel 90 along a fold line 102. The location of the fold line 102 defines a width of the panel 90. This width can be smaller than the width of the panel 50.
For example, the width of the panel 90 is identified by the reference numeral 104, and the width of the panel 50 is identified by the reference numeral 106. Generally, the width 106 of panel 50 is also the same as the width of the panel 30, the outer wall panel 30, and the corresponding outer wall of the lateral wall portion 24. Thus, the width 106 generally defines the maximum depth of the cavity formed by the container portion 12. The reduced width 104 of a portion of the wall 90 provides additional clearance for the suspension portion 14, illustrated in greater detail below with reference to
The suspension portion 14 can also include a tensioning portion 110 that is configured to interact with a resilient member to suspend an article to be packaged within the cavity defined by the container portion 12. In the illustrated embodiment, the tensioning portion 110 includes a support panel 112 and at least one foldable portion. In some embodiments, the tensioning portion 110 can include two foldable portions 114, 116.
The foldable portions 114, 116 are connected to the support panel 112 along fold lines 118, 120. In some embodiments, the foldable portions 114, 116 are configured to fit into pockets defined in a resilient member and to tension the resilient member by being folded along the fold lines 118, 120, described in greater detail below with reference to
Optionally, extreme ends of the fold line 102, identified generally by the reference numerals 122, 124, can be cuts extending completely through the material forming the member 10. As such, the panel 112 can be folded more easily relative to the panel 90 along the fold line 102. Additionally, as illustrated in
In this arrangement, the tensioning portion 110 can provide the dual functions of tensioning the resilient member so as to resiliently support an article to be packaged against the panel 112 and providing for a hinged folding movement of the article thus supported into the cavity defined by the container portion 12.
Optionally, the suspension portion 14 can further include a separator portion 130. The separator portion can be configured to define a separation, within the cavity defined by the container portion 12, and between the article to be packaged and a further open volume of space within the container.
In the illustrated embodiment, the separator portion 130 includes a wall panel 132, an anchor panel 134, and corner panels 136, 138. The wall panel 132 is connected to the support panel 112 along a fold line 140. The anchor panel 134 is connected to the wall panel 132 along fold line 142. The corner panel 136 is connected to both the foldable panel 114 and the wall panel 132 along fold lines 144, 146, respectively. Similarly, the corner panel 138 is connected to both the foldable portion 116 and the wall panel 132 along fold lines 148, 150.
As described in greater detail below, the wall panel 132, the anchor panel 134, and the corner panels 136, 138 can be folded relative to the tensioning portion 114 so as to define a separation between volumes of space within the cavity formed by the container portion 12.
With reference to
With reference to
In the illustrated embodiment, the pockets 174, 176 are formed of folds 178, 180 formed in the resilient body 172 which have been attached (e.g., heat sealed) along lateral opposite edges thereof. In this embodiment, the heat sealing process forms the heat sealing lines 182, 184, 186, 188. The heat sealing lines 182, 184, 186, 188 can be continuous or formed of a plurality of heat sealed points.
One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that there are numerous methods for forming pockets in a resilient sheet material such as the resilient body 172. However, it has been found that heat sealing is particularly advantageous as it does not require expensive adhesives in the time consuming steps required for using such adhesives. However, such adhesives can be used if desired.
The retention member 170 has a length L1 that is sized depending on the other devices with which the retention member 170 is to cooperate. Thus, the length L1 can be sized such that when the retention member is in its final state, e.g., engaged with the folding portions 114, 116, it generates the desired tension for the corresponding application. Thus, the length L1 will be smaller where a higher tension is desired and will be larger where a lower tension is desired. Additionally, the length L1 might be different for different sized articles that are to be packed. One of ordinary skill in the art can determine the length L1 for the corresponding application.
The retention member 170 can be formed of any resilient material. In some embodiments, the retention member 170 can be made of a polyethylene film. However, virtually any polymer, elastomer, or plastic film can be used to form the retention member 170. The density of the film can be varied to provide the desired retention characteristics such as overall strength, resiliency, and vibrational response. Preferably, the density of the retention member 170 is determined such that the retention member 170 is substantially resilient when used to package a desired article.
With reference to
For example, as shown in
With reference to
With reference to
As noted above, the width 104 of the portion of the front wall 90 which connects to the suspension portion 14 along the fold line 102 is less than the width 106 defined by the wall 50. The difference between the widths 106, 104 allows the suspension portion 14 to fold slightly more deeply into the cavity 162, thereby providing space for the additional thickness created by the folding portions 114, 116 when in the position illustrated in
The width 104 can be further decreased, in some embodiments, to provide additional clearance between the folding portions 114, 116 in the upper peripheral edge of the cavity 162 defined by the width 106. For example, as noted above, if it is desired to provide an additional shock absorbing effect by allowing the foldable portions 114, 116 to remain spaced from the support panel 112, the additional space required can be accommodated by making the width 104 smaller. As such, the suspension portion 14 can sit more deeply in the cavity 162, thereby allowing the foldable portions 114, 116 to remain spaced from the panel 112. Thus, when a lid is placed over the cavity 162 at the height defined by the width 106, the foldable portions 114, 116 can flex under the tension of the retention member 170 to absorb shocks and/or impacts made to a lid used to cover the upper opening of the cavity 162, such as the lid portion 116.
With continued reference to
In the illustrated embodiment, it is to be noted that the corner panels 138, 136 cooperate with the wall panel 132 to define a double wall divider between the cavity 210 and the cavity 212. However, this is merely an optional arrangement and the corner portions 136, 138 can be eliminated altogether. However, using the additional corner panels 136, 138 provides additional structural integrity to the suspension portion 14 and in particular, the retention of the folded shape of the suspension portion 14, as illustrated in
In some embodiments, the divider portion 130 can also include foldable portions similar to the foldable portions 114, 116 and a resilient member, similar to the retention member 170, for providing another suspension packaging arrangement in the cavity 212.
With reference to
In this arrangement, the member 10, which can be formed from a single piece of material, is used not only to define one or a plurality of internal cavities 162, 210, 212, but also to provide a suspension packaging arrangement using a tensioned resilient member as well as a lid. Thus, the member 10 can be shipped in the flat and unfolded state illustrated in
In either of these arrangements, the width 104 has been reduced to a width 104′ to thereby provide increased clearance for the optional arrangement of the foldable portions 114, 116.
In a further modification of the member 10, illustrated in
Although the present inventions have been described in terms of certain embodiments, other embodiments apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art also are within the scope of these inventions. Thus, various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventions. For instance, various components may be repositioned as desired. Moreover, not all of the features, aspects and advantages are necessarily required to practice the present inventions.
This application is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/943,514, which is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/022,135, filed Dec. 23, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,296,681, the entire contents of which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 11943514 | Nov 2007 | US |
Child | 13093789 | US | |
Parent | 11022135 | Dec 2004 | US |
Child | 11943514 | US |