PACKING MATERIAL
A packing member for packing an article, the packing member includes a medium accommodating portion accommodating medium; a non-return valve for passing the medium toward the medium accommodating portion along a longitudinal direction of the medium accommodating portion and for stopping the medium in an opposite direction away from the medium accommodating portion; and a flow path, formed by welding the non-return valve to the medium accommodating portion, for passing the medium, the flow path including a reference flow path portion extending in the longitudinal direction and an expanding flow path portion having a width larger than that of the reference flow path portion.
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The present invention relates to a packaging material for wrapping an object for shipment. More specifically, it relates to a packaging material having a check valve which allows cushioning medium to flow into the cushioning medium storage portions of the packaging material, but prevents the cushioning medium from flowing backward from the cushioning medium storage portions.
There have been designed various packaging materials, the cushioning medium storage portions of which are formed by welding together two or more flexible sheets. There have also been designed various check valves for these packaging materials. Some of these check valves are designed so that they allow the cushioning medium to flow into the cushioning medium storage portions, but, do not allow the cushioning medium to flow backward from the cushioning medium storage portions. (Japanese Laid-open Patent Application H11-216784).
The conventional check valves, such as those described above, are provided with a means for making complicated or narrow the passage, or passages, of the check valve to prevent the cushioning medium from flowing backward from the cushioning medium storage portion. Thus, these check valves are problematic in that they are low in the efficiency with which the cushioning medium is injected into the cushioning medium storage portions. As one of the means for preventing the provision of a check valve from losing the efficiency is to increase a check valve in size, and also, to increase in length. This means is problematic in that the employment of this means results in increase in the amount of the check valve material, which results in increase in the check valve cost.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThus, the primary object of the present invention is to provide a process cartridge packaging material, which is different from conventional process cartridge packaging materials in the pattern in which a check valve is welded to each of its cushioning medium storage portions, and also, is superior to conventional process cartridge packaging materials, in the efficiency with which cushioning medium can be injected into the cushioning medium storage portions.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a packing member for packing an article, said packing member includes a medium accommodating portion accommodating medium; a non-return valve for passing the medium toward said medium accommodating portion along a longitudinal direction of said medium accommodating portion and for stopping the medium in an opposite direction away from said medium accommodating portion; and a flow path, formed by welding said non-return valve to said medium accommodating portion, for passing the medium, said flow path including a reference flow path portion extending in the longitudinal direction and an expanded flow path portion having a width larger than that of said reference flow path portion.
These and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon consideration of the following description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Referring to
The first lengthwise end of each cushioning medium storage portion 3 is provided with a check valve 4, which is positioned across the border between the cushioning medium storage portion 3 and the corresponding cushioning medium entrance 5. This check valve 4 is for allowing the air to pass only in the direction to enter the cushioning medium storage portion 3. That is, once the air is introduced into the cushioning medium storage portion 3, the check valve 4 utilizes the air pressure in the cushioning medium storage portion 3 to prevent the air in the cushioning medium storage portion 3 from flowing backward, that is, toward the air entrance 5, as shown in
The details of the structure of the check valve 4 are as shown in
Referring again to
The lengthwise direction of the cushioning medium storage portion 3 is roughly the same as the direction in which the air passes through the check valve 4, enabling therefore the air to be efficiently introduced into the cushioning medium storage portion 3.
Next, referring to
(Detailed Description of Check Valve Structure)
Here, the welding areas 12a-12c, across which the top and bottom check valves 4a and 4b are thermally welded to the film 2 will be described regarding their shapes.
Referring to
The primary portion 20c of the cushioning medium passage 20 is formed in the direction parallel to the lengthwise direction of the cushioning medium storage portion 30. It is the cushioning medium passage for guiding air in the lengthwise direction of the cushioning medium storage portion, and is less in width than the check valves 4a and 4b. It is formed by the welded areas 12a1, 12a2, 12a6, and 12a10, and welding areas 12b1, 12b2, 12b6, and 12b10, respectively. Further, the wide portions 20a are formed of the portions 12a3-12a5, and portions 12a7-12a9, of the welded portion 12a, which extend in the direction intersectional to the lengthwise direction of the cushioning medium storage portion 3. Further, the wide portions 20b are formed of the portions 12a3-12b5, and portions 12b7-12b9, of the welded portion 12b, which extend in the direction intersectional to the lengthwise direction of the cushioning medium storage portion 3. The presence of these wide portions 20a and 20b ensures that the check valves 4a and 4b remain airtightly in contact with each other even after the entering of air into the cushioning medium storage portion 3, preventing thereby the air from flowing backward.
Referring to
(Method for Wrapping Cartridge with Packaging Material)
Hereafter, referring to
(1) Separation of Packaging Material S1 from Roll of Packaging Material S by Cutting
The packaging material S1, that is, a piece of packaging material S, which is wide enough to completely wrap (package) a process cartridge 35 (which will be described later), is cut away from a long roll of packaging material S, which is made up of multiple packaging units having the above described cushioning medium storage portion, check valve 4, and cushioning medium (air) entrance 5. In the case of the packaging material S in this embodiment, a pair of scissors K1 is used to cut the packaging material S to obtain the packaging material S1 with a proper width. However, a cutter, or a cutting apparatus dedicated to the cutting of the packaging material S, may be used to cut the packaging material S. There is a metallic rod K2 in the center of the roll of packaging material S, making it easier to unroll the roll of packaging material S by a necessary length, and also, to cut the packaging material S. Moreover, the presence of the metallic rod K2 makes it easier to set the roll of packaging material S in a preset position of the automatic cutting machine or the like, to cut the packaging material S.
(2) Processing of Packaging Material S1 into Pouch (
After the Cutting of the Packaging Material S1 away from the roll of the packaging material S, the packaging material S1 is folded in half roughly at the center line in terms of the lengthwise direction of the cushioning medium storage portion 3 so that the rear end portion 53 of the cushioning medium storage portion 3, in terms of the lengthwise direction of the cushioning medium storage portion 3, is placed in the position shown in
Then, the top and bottom layers of the folded packaging material S1 are thermally welded together along both edges (welding areas 12 and 13) in terms of the direction perpendicular to the lengthwise direction of the cushioning medium storage portion 3, as shown in
(3) Insertion of Cartridge 35 (Object to be Packaged) into Pouch Made of Packaging Material S1 (
Referring to
Then, the opening 18 is sealed by thermally welding the top and bottom layers of the packaging material S1 across the welding area 14, as shown in
(4) Injection of Cushioning Medium (
Thereafter, the air, which is the cushioning medium in this embodiment, is to be injected into all the cushioning medium storage portions 3 through the cushioning medium injection openings 11 of the cushioning medium (air) entrances 5; the air is introduced into each of the cushioning medium storage portions 3 through the corresponding check valve 4. The reason why the air is introduced after the placement of the cartridge 35 in the pouch made of the packaging material S1 is that the air introduction into each cushioning medium storage portion 3 inflates the cushioning medium storage portion 3, which in turn reduces the pouch in internal measurements, which in turn makes it virtually impossible to insert the cartridge 35 into the pouch. In other words, by injecting the air into the cushioning medium storage portions 3 after the insertion of the cartridge 35 into the pouch, the cartridge 35 is securely held in the pouch. Incidentally, in this embodiment, it is air that is introduced as the cushioning medium into the cushioning medium storage portions 3. However, the cushioning medium selection does not need to be limited to the air. That is, the cushioning medium may be nitrogen gas, oxygen gas, or the like. Nitrogen gas may be a good choice because nitrogen is large in molecular weight, being therefore unlikely to leak from the cushioning medium storage portion 3, which is made of plastic film or the like. Further, the cushioning medium may be a liquid or a fluid substance other than gaseous substances.
Next, referring to
In the first preferred embodiment, the check valve 4 had two portions, that is, the top and bottom check valves 4a and 4b. In this embodiment, however, the check valve 4 has only one valve 4d.
Referring to
More specifically, referring to
(Detailed Description of Check Valve Structure)
The welding areas 12a-12c, across which the check valve 4d is thermally welded to the film 2 are the same in shape as those in the first preferred embodiment. As the check valve 4d is thermally welded to the film 2 across the welding areas 12a-12c, a passage 20 for introducing the air into the cushioning medium storage portion 3 is formed between the check valve 4d and film 2. Referring to
In order to prevent the occurrence of this problem, the films 1 and 2 in this embodiment are welded to each other across the welding areas 12a3, 12a5, 12a7, 12a9, 12b3, and 12b5, 12b7, and 12b9 of each of the cushioning units of the cushioning material, as the films 1 and 2 in the first preferred embodiment are welded to each other as shown in
In the first preferred embodiment, there was only one cushioning medium passage 20. The third preferred embodiment is characterized in that each cushioning unit is provided with two cushioning medium passages 21 and 22. Referring to
To describe in more detail, the primary portion 21c of the passage 21 is created by welded portions 24a1, 24a2, 24a6, and 24a10, and welded portions 24b1, 24b2, 24b6, and 24b10. The primary portion 22c of the passage 22 is created by welded portions 24c1, 24c2, 24c6, and 24c10, and welded portions 24b1, 24b2, 24b6, and 24b10. Thus, in order to form this wide portion 21b of the passage 21, the welding area 24a is made up of portions 24a3-24a5, and portions 24a7-24a9, whereas the welding area 24b is made up of portions 24b3-24b5, and portions 24b7-24b9. Further, in order to form the wide portions 22b of the passage 22, the welding area 24c is made up of portions 24c3-24c5, and portions 24c7-24c9, and the welding area 24b is provided with portions 24b3-24b5, and portions 24b7-24b9.
Further, the check valve 4e is welded across the areas 23c1 and 23c2, which are on the downstream end sides of the primary portion 21c and 22c, respectively, creating a pair of cushioning medium flow regulating portions 23c1 and 23c2. The provision of two cushioning medium passages 21 and 22 improves each cushioning unit in cushioning medium injection efficiency. Incidentally, the number of the cushioning medium passages does not need to be limited to two; it may be three or more.
The other structural features of this embodiment of packaging material in accordance with the present invention are the same as those of the first preferred embodiment.
Embodiment 4 Packaging Material StructureThe reason why the check valve in this preferred embodiment is made up of a top check valve 4f and a bottom check valve 4g is the same as the check valve in the first preferred embodiment is made up of the top and bottom check valves 4a and 4b. Further, the manner in which the top and bottom check valves 4f and 4g are thermally welded in advance to the film 2 across the welding areas 12a-12c of the cushioning medium storage portion 3 is the same as the manner in which the top and bottom check valves 4a and 4b are thermally welded to the film 2 in the first preferred embodiment.
The fourth preferred embodiment is different from the first preferred embodiment only in that the packaging material in the fourth embodiment is not provided with a cushioning medium entrance passage, and that the top and bottom check valves 4f and 4g themselves have the function of the cushioning medium entrances. That is, the top and bottom check valves 4f and 4g are welded to the film 2 not only across the welding areas 34a-34c, but also, across the welding areas 34d-34e, being thereby provided with a cushioning medium (air) injection opening 34g. Thus, the air is directly injected into the top and bottom check valves 4g and 4g. Therefore, the packaging material in this embodiment is superior in cushioning medium injection efficiency to those in the preceding embodiments.
The shape of the cushioning medium (air) passage 34f is the same as that in the first embodiment.
Embodiment 5The fifth preferred embodiment is different from the preceding embodiments in the shape of the cushioning medium passage. The various shapes for the cushioning medium passage in the fifth embodiments are shown in
When manufacturing the packaging material for a process cartridge by welding two pieces of film together, devising in pattern the area, or areas, of one of the films, across which the check valve, or check valves, are welded, can make it difficult for the cushioning medium to leak from the cushioning medium storage portion, and also, can make it easier for the cushioning medium to be injected into the cushioning medium storage portion. Further, it makes it simpler to form the check valve.
While the invention has been described with reference to the structures disclosed herein, it is not confined to the details set forth, and this application is intended to cover such modifications or changes as may come within the purposes of the improvements or the scope of the following claims.
This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 241019/2008 filed Sep. 19, 2008, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Claims
1. A packing member for packing an article, said packing member comprising:
- a medium accommodating portion accommodating medium;
- a non-return valve for passing the medium toward said medium accommodating portion along a longitudinal direction of said medium accommodating portion and for stopping the medium in an opposite direction away from said medium accommodating portion; and
- a flow path, formed by welding said non-return valve to said medium accommodating portion, for passing the medium, said flow path including a reference flow path portion extending in the longitudinal direction and an expanded flow path portion having a width larger than that of said reference flow path portion.
2. A packing member according to claim 1, further comprising a regulating portion which is provided downstream of said flow path with respect to a flow direction toward said medium accommodating portion and which is formed by welding said non-return valve to said medium accommodating portion, said regulating portion having a width larger than that of said reference flow path portion, said regulating portion being effective to change a flow direction of the medium having passed through said flow path to a widthwise direction of said medium accommodating portion.
3. A packing member according to claim 1, wherein said non-return valve includes two flexible sheets and welded to said medium accommodating portion, and the medium is flowable between said two sheets.
4. A packing member according to claim 1, wherein said non-return valve includes one flexible sheet welded to said medium accommodating portion, and the medium is flowable between said flexible sheet and said medium accommodating portion.
5. A packing member according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of such said expanded flow path portions arranged in a direction crossing with the longitudinal direction in said flow path.
6. A packing member according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of such said expanded flow path portions arranged in the longitudinal direction in said flow path.
7. A packing member according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of such flow paths are arranged in a direction crossing with the longitudinal direction.
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 18, 2009
Publication Date: Mar 25, 2010
Applicant: CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA (Tokyo)
Inventors: Tai ji Watanabe (Toride-shi), Takeshi Narita (Toride-shi)
Application Number: 12/562,356
International Classification: B65D 81/03 (20060101);