SUSPENSION PACKAGING SYSTEM AND METHOD
Disclosed is a method of packaging a curved product with a concave back surface that includes positioning the curved product in contact with a suspension pad that includes a notch on the top and bottom edges then stretch wrapping a stretch film around the curved product and the suspension pad with the wrap received in the first and second notches to secure the curved product to the suspension pad which bends the suspension pad to form a planar curve shape that conforms to the periphery of the back surface of the product and minimizes the distance between the product and the pad and increases the surface contact area between the product and the pad.
This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/117,376 filed May 8, 2008, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/653,318, filed Sep. 2, 2003, which are both incorporated by reference in their entirety.
BACKGROUNDThe present disclosure relates generally to packaging for shipment of products whose configurations have length and width that are large relative to depth, and more particularly to packaging such products which are made of materials or have construction features which are easy to break or otherwise damage in shipping operations.
Current bulk packaging of windshields for the automotive after-market trade is predominantly configured to hold twenty-five or more windshields. Such packaging involves construction of a wooden frame with corrugated fiberboard attached around the framing, along with several other packaging components to protect various fragile contact points of the individual windshields. A considerable amount of labor is required to configure the packaging for use by the manufacturer of the glass. The containers are required to be “pre-erected” and they present difficulties in the shipping and storage of empty containers.
For the purpose of promoting an understanding of the principles of the disclosure, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the disclosure is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated device, and such further applications of the principles of the disclosure as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the disclosure relates.
Referring now to
A curved windshield 18 is mounted to the pad 11 and is secured to the pad by film stretch wrapped around the pad and the windshield as at 19. The wrapping material can be wrapped by machine or by hand, and the pattern can be random as long as there is control of location of the windshield on the pad so that the entire perimeter 21 of the windshield is well within the bottom and top edges 13 and 17 of the pad and the side edges 22 and 23 of the pad. The film wrapping through the notches and around the edge of the windshield at the top and around the tabs at the bottom is important. It is preferable that the wrapping from top to bottom is performed across the majority of the width of the windshield. While the wrapping from top to bottom notches can be parallel on either the front as shown in
Referring now to
Referring now to
When the windshield has been positioned such that it matches the pattern of lines, the stretch wrap film 44 is stretch wrapped around the pad and the windshield, with the film being wrapped through notches 28 at the top and around and covering the tabs 33 and 34 at the bottom, securely locating the windshield on the pad. Stretch wrap is continued as needed or desired around the front of the windshield and the back of the pad. When the amount of stretch wrapping has been completed to provide the degree of attachment and protection desired, the wrap film can be cut, and the end portion of the film adhered to the portion already wrapped, using the benefit of the cohesive nature of the wrapping film. If desired, the amount of wrap shown on the front of the windshield at
Referring now to
Referring now to
Prior to closing the shipper, it is filled with window packages such as described above with reference to
Bottom notches 14 were mentioned with reference to the embodiment of
Packaging according to the present disclosure may be done by performing the stretch wrapping by hand. But various stretch wrapping machines are known. Examples are referenced in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,564,532 and 6,550,222, and the references cited therein. Another is the “Yellow Jacket 110” which is a horizontal stretch wrapping machine by Wiley Metal, of Marion Ind., U.S.A. So the product and pad can be stretch wrapped by machine, if desired.
The packaging of automotive window products individually and “collating” a number of the packages into a shipping container can have real advantages over conventional practices. It allows safer and easier handling of individual glass components, as the stretch wrapping can be extensive enough, if desired, to cover the entire perimeter of the glass and thereby preclude encounter of any edge of glass by a worker while loading the packages into a shipping container. Additionally, the cohesive properties of the stretch wrap film, as one-package nests against another, can lend stability to the bulk packs of multiple packages, by virtually eliminating the tendency of windshields to “shingle”, i.e. slide out of the bottom of current conventional packaging. It can also reduce the incidence of damage in transit.
In the foregoing description, the illustrated embodiments show forwardly and upwardly turned bottom tabs on the pad. The weight and application of the product to the pad can have a bearing on whether it is desirable or necessary to use tabs at the bottom or at the top (at the location of the notches 28) or both bottom and top, or not at all. If the glass or other product to be suspended to a pad according to the disclosure is relatively flat, it may be desirable to have notches in the side edges of the pad as well as in the top and bottom, and stretch wrap film around the product, not only in and through the notches in the top and bottom edges, but also in and through notches in the side edges.
It should be understood that the system described herein can be employed using suspension pad materials other than 350 pound, double walled corrugated fiberboard. It depends on the nature and weight of the product to be suspended. Since the space requirement of the suspended product is usually significantly greater in length and width, than in thickness, it is usually suspended such that the package will be packed on edge in the shipper. Therefore, the fiberboard will be oriented with the flutes running vertically to provide the needed vertical column strength. It is conceivable that a pad with only one facing secured to the corrugated media, might be sufficient in some applications.
It is also conceivable that the pad be made of material other than corrugated fiberboard. A plastic or metal might also be used. Desirability and height of stacking containers in warehouses or vehicles, weight and nature of the packaged product, and other considerations could dictate features of pads made of other materials, to provide the necessary column or top-to-bottom stacking strength of the pad. For example, if plastic were used, it might be necessary to have a corrugated component. Another consideration is the condition of the surface of the pad material, which is contacted by the product to be suspended. It cannot be abrasive, if abrasion of the product portion in contact would be detrimental to the needed appearance or performance of the product. Otherwise, it may be necessary to stretch wrap portions of the pad before placing the product on the pad, so that the stretch wrap film will protect the pad-engaging portions of the product from abrasion, and then wrap the product onto the pad. Alternatively, a non-abrasive coating can be provided on the front of the pad where the product will contact it.
The thickness of the wrap film used depends on what is necessary to get a snug covering of the product on the pad. Where the product will be machine-wrapped onto the pad, film selected will be dictated largely by optimum effectiveness of performance of the wrapping machine.
If, instead of bulk shipping of ten to thirty or more packages, only one package is to be shipped, a simple container can be employed. If the product is curved, as for a windshield or backlight (back window), the corners may appear to be more vulnerable than inboard portions of the window. Dunnage can be placed in the container if desired so that the corners of the pad remain properly situated in the corners of the container. The corners of the glass, being well inboard from the corners of the container, are well protected. If desired, instead of adding dunnage, pad extension panels or “wings” 26W (
In the description above, the packaged product has been made of glass. The packaging described herein is useful for the packaging and shipping of a variety of other products, where the product is three-dimensional but the x-axis and y-axis dimensions are significantly greater than the z-axis dimension. Frequently, for various reasons such as, for example, convenience in removal of a certain package from a group, or to avoid warp, it is preferred to pack, store and ship the products oriented on an edge, like books in a bookcase. In the above examples, the side-to-side (x-axis) and top-to-bottom (y-axis) dimensions are significantly greater for the curved windshield than is the maximum dimension on the front-to-back (z-axis) i.e. the distance between imaginary parallel planes, one of which touches the most forward point of the glass and the other of which touches the most backward point of the glass.
Another product having such high and wide relative to front-to-rear dimensional relationships is shown in
The pad for the package of
While the disclosure has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, the same is to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive in character, it being understood that only the preferred embodiment has been shown and described and that all changes and modifications that come within the spirit of the disclosure are desired to be protected. It should be understood that while the use of the word preferable, preferably or preferred in the description above indicates that the feature so described may be more desirable, it nonetheless may not be necessary and embodiments lacking the same may be contemplated as within the scope of the disclosure, that scope being defined by the claims that follow.
Claims
1. A method of packaging a curved product with a concave back surface, a top surface, a bottom surface, a height, and a width, the method comprising:
- positioning the curved product on a suspension pad that includes a front side, a rear side, a top edge, a bottom edge, a left edge, a right edge, a first notch along the bottom edge and a second notch along the top edge, wherein the suspension pad is taller than the height of the product, wherein a distance between the first and second notches is approximately equal to the height of the curved product, wherein the curved product is positioned in contact against the front side of the suspension pad with the bottom surface in close proximity to the first notch and with the top surface of the curved product in close proximity to the second notch;
- stretch wrapping a stretch film around the curved product and the suspension pad with the stretch film received in the first and second notches to secure the curved product to the suspension pad, thereby bending the suspension pad to form a planar curve shape that substantially conforms to an entire periphery of the concave back surface of the curved product thereby minimizing the distance between the concave back surface of the product and the suspension pad and increasing the surface contact area between the concave back surface and the suspension pad and wherein the stretch film is a stretchable material that exhibits elastic recovery when used as stretch film.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
- securing the suspension pad with the curved product secured to the suspension pad with the stretch film in a container such that no portion of the curved product contacts or is directly adjacent to the container.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the suspension pad with the curved product secured to the suspension pad and the container are constructed and arranged so that the suspension pad with the curved product secured to the suspension pad can be inserted and removed from the container as an intact unit without damaging the container.
4. The method of claim 2, wherein the suspension pad with the curved product secured to the suspension pad and the container are constructed and arranged to transport the suspension pad and the curved product in a vertical orientation.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein an entire area below the curved product within the container is free of bracing or support elements other than the suspension pad.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein, in the event the container is dropped while containing the curved product secured to the suspension pad in a vertical orientation, the suspension pad bent in a planar curve permits the curved product to slide along the suspension pad in a vertical direction restrained primarily by the stretch wrap and friction between the curved product and the suspension pad, wherein the stretch wrap exhibits elastic recovery.
7. The method of claim 5, wherein, when the suspension pad bends and forms the planar curve shape that substantially conforms to the entire periphery of the concave back surface of the curved product, the top edge of the suspension pad bends and forms a continuous curved shape.
8. The method of claim 1, further comprising stretch wrapping the stretch film around the curved product and the suspension pad with the stretch film received a third notch along the bottom edge and a fourth notch along the top edge.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the entire top edge of the suspension pad is substantially free of bends or creases that would impair said top edge from curving when said suspension pad bends and forms a planar curve.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein, when the suspension pad bends and forms the planar curve shape that substantially conforms to the entire periphery of the concave back surface of the curved product, the top edge of the suspension pad bends and forms a continuous curved shape.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the top edge of the suspension pad defines a straight shape before the curved product is secured on the suspension pad by the stretch wrapping film.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein, after stretch wrapping the stretch film around the curved product and the suspension pad, substantially the entire periphery of the concave back surface of the product abuts the suspension pad.
13. The method of claim 1, further comprising manually lifting the curved product secured to the suspension pad by the stretch film solely by a hand hole in the suspension pad positioned inside of the periphery of the concave back surface of the curved product.
14. A packaged curved product with a concave back surface, a top surface, a bottom surface, a height, and a width, the package made a process comprising:
- positioning the curved product on a suspension pad that includes a front side, a rear side, a top edge, a bottom edge, a left edge, a right edge, a first notch along the bottom edge and a second notch along the top edge, wherein the suspension pad is taller than the height of the product, wherein a distance between the first and second notches is approximately equal to the height of the curved product, wherein the curved product is positioned in contact against the front side of the suspension pad with the bottom surface in close proximity to the first notch and wherein the top surface of the curved product in close proximity to the second notch;
- stretch wrapping a stretch film around the curved product and the suspension pad with the stretch film received in the first and second notches to secure the curved product to the suspension pad, thereby bending the suspension pad to form a planar curve shape that substantially conforms to an entire periphery of the concave back surface of the curved product thereby minimizing the distance between the concave back surface of the product and the suspension pad and increasing the surface contact area between the concave back surface and the suspension pad, wherein the stretch film is a stretchable material that exhibits elastic recovery when used as stretch film.
15. The packaged curved product of claim 14, the process further comprising:
- securing the suspension pad with the curved product secured to the suspension pad with the stretch film in a container such that no portion of the curved product contacts or is directly adjacent to the container.
16. The packaged curved product of claim 15, wherein the suspension pad with the curved product secured to the suspension pad and the container are constructed and arranged so that the suspension pad with the curved product secured to the suspension pad can be inserted and removed from the container as an intact unit without damaging the container.
17. The packaged curved product of claim 15, wherein an entire area below the curved product within the container is free of bracing or support elements other than the suspension pad.
18. The packaged curved product of claim 17, wherein, in the event the container is dropped while containing the curved product secured to the suspension pad in a vertical orientation, the suspension pad bent in a planar curve permits the curved product to slide along the suspension pad in a vertical direction restrained primarily by the stretch wrap and friction between the curved product and the suspension pad, wherein the stretch wrap exhibits elastic recovery.
19. The packaged curved product of claim 14, wherein the entire top edge of the suspension pad defines a continuous curved shape when the suspension pad forms the planar curve shape that substantially conforms to the entire periphery of the concave back surface of the curved product.
20. The packaged curved product of claim 14, wherein substantially the entire periphery of the concave back surface of the product is in contact with the suspension pad after the stretch film is stretch wrapped around the curved product and the suspension pad.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 25, 2014
Publication Date: Nov 13, 2014
Inventor: Arch W. Carroll, JR.
Application Number: 14/340,994
International Classification: B65B 23/00 (20060101); B65D 85/48 (20060101); B65B 53/00 (20060101);