Cohesive Packaging Material in a Shipping Container and Method
A method of making a package for shipping an article comprises the step of attaching to a shipping container (22) a flexible material (24) with a cohesive (30) on at least a portion thereof, such that a portion of the flexible material (24) having the cohesive (30) material can be pressed to a cohesive (32) on a surface of at least one of another portion of a flexible material (24) and the shipping container (22). Thus the flexible material (24) is connected to the container (22) such that the cohesive portion can be readily secured to another cohesive portion to hold an article in a desired position in the container.
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This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/647,304, filed Jan. 26, 2005, which is hereby incorporated herein.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates generally to a packaging system and method, and more particularly to a packaging system and method using a flexible material to hold an article in a container for shipment.
BACKGROUNDIn general, it is desirable to securely position an article in a container to keep it from moving about in the container during shipment, which could lead to damage. One method of securing an article in a container is to fill the void in the container around the article with a dunnage material, such as that produced by a dunnage conversion machine. Exemplary dunnage conversion machines that convert a stock material into a relatively less dense dunnage product are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,968,291; 5,123,889; and 6,676,589. The entire disclosures of these patents are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Another method of securing an article in a container includes placing a heat-shrinkable plastic over the article in the container, securing the plastic relative to the container, and applying heat to shrink the plastic against the article or the container to hold the article in place.
SUMMARYThe present invention provides a packaging system and method characterized by a flexible material with a cohesive portion on a surface thereof. The flexible material is connected to a container such that the cohesive portion can be readily secured to another cohesive portion to hold an article in a desired position in the container.
More particularly, a packaging system in accordance with the present invention includes a shipping container and a flexible material connected to the shipping container, where the flexible material has a connecting portion connected to the container and a securing portion extending from a wall of the shipping container. The securing portion has a cohesive on a surface thereof for adhering to a cohesive at a different location on the connecting portion, the securing portion, some other part of the flexible material or some other part of the packaging system to hold an article relative to the shipping container.
A method of making a package for shipping an article includes the step of attaching to a shipping container a flexible material with a cohesive on at least a portion thereof such that a portion of the flexible material having the cohesive on a surface thereof can be pressed to a cohesive on a surface of at least one of another portion of a flexible material and the shipping container.
A method of securing an article in a container for shipment includes the steps of placing the article in the shipping container, and securing the article in the shipping container by pressing a portion of a flexible material having a cohesive on a surface thereof to a cohesive on a surface of at least one of another portion of a flexible material and the shipping container, where the flexible material is connected to the container before the securing step.
The foregoing and other features of the invention are hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the following description and the annexed drawings setting forth in detail plural illustrative embodiments of the invention, such being indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed.
Referring now to the drawings in detail, and initially to the schematic
A cohesive, unlike an adhesive, only attaches to itself and generally will not stick to other items, such as non-cohesive portions of the flexible material or the container. Notably, heat or supplementary closure materials, such as glue, mechanical staples, tape or other bonding strips, for example, are not necessary in view of the cohesive.
The flexible material 24, on a surface of which the cohesive material is supplied, can include a sheet material, such as plastic or paper, kraft paper being an exemplary sheet material. The flexible material can include a plurality of superimposed sheets with a cohesive on an exposed surface of at least one sheet. The flexible material also can include a crumpled sheet material or a crumpled sheet material and an uncrumpled sheet material. The crumpled material can act as a cushioning layer to further protect the article. Other types of cushioning products can be used in place of or in addition to the crumpled sheet material, such as air pillows, foam padding or bubble pack.
The container 22 to which the flexible material is connected is typically a cardboard box. The container is not limited to a container made of cardboard, however, and can be made of metal, wood, other types of paper or plastic. In addition, the container does not need to be a rectangular box, but may have other shapes, such as spherical, tubular, octagonal or a bag-shape, for example. The container does not necessarily define a closed volume, and could have one or more openings. Moreover, the container to which the flexible material is connected is not necessarily rigid and could be made of a flexible substance.
The flexible material 24 can be connected to the container 22 in a variety of configurations. The connecting portion 26 of the flexible material 24 can be affixed to a side wall of the shipping container or a bottom wall of a shipping container, for example. The flexible material can have multiple segments, each of which has a connecting portion connected to the container and a securing portion extending therefrom. Furthermore, the connecting portion 26 of the flexible material 24 can be proximate an end of the flexible material or proximate a central region of the flexible material, as will be seen in the following examples.
In addition, the flexible material 24 can be connected to the container 22 directly or indirectly, and the connecting portion can 26 be fixed in place with a variety of connecting means, including adhesive, mechanical fasteners, tapes, or even corresponding cohesive portions.
Turning now to several specific examples of ways in which the concepts provided by the present invention can be employed,
As shown in
Although in
The cohesive typically is provided at the distal ends of the flexible material so that the ends of the flexible material can be brought together to hold the article therein. The flexible material can have a cohesive spread across an entire surface, which could be beneficial in providing cohesive portions that can be attached together when the article to be packed is relatively small as well as to accommodate relatively large articles for shipment in a common container. Other arrangements of cohesive on the stock material also are possible. The cohesive can be provided in regularly or irregularly spaced, sized, oriented or shaped strips or patterns of cohesive on one or more surfaces of the stock material.
Turning now to
Sometimes, it is desirable to space the article to be packaged from a wall of the container. One way of accomplishing this is to provide a dunnage product between the article and a portion of the flexible material, as shown in
Another packaging method for spacing an article from a wall of the container can be referred to as hammocking. Referring now to
As shown in
Yet another method of supporting an article at a location spaced from a wall of a container is to use a relatively inflexible frame fitted inside the container. Such a frame 120 is shown in
Still another packaging system 150 in accordance with the present invention is shown in
As is apparent from the above description, a method of making a package for shipping an article in accordance with the invention includes the step of attaching to a shipping container a flexible material with a cohesive on at least a portion thereof such that a portion of the flexible material having a cohesive on the surface thereof can be pressed to a cohesive on a surface of at least one of another portion of the flexible material and the shipping container itself. This can include crumpling a sheet material before attaching the crumpled sheet material to the shipping container. This can also include the step of attaching the crumpled sheet material to an uncrumpled sheet material before attaching the assembled multi-layered flexible material to the shipping container.
From an operator's standpoint, a method of securing an article in a container for shipment using such a package in accordance with the present invention includes the step of placing an article in the shipping container and securing the article in the shipping material by pressing a portion of a flexible material having a cohesive on a surface thereof to a cohesive on a surface of at least one of another portion of a flexible material, the shipping container or other component of the packaging system, such as the frame described above. Typically, at least one portion of the flexible material is connected to the container at the start and the operator simply has to place the article in the container and secure the article by pressing the cohesive portions together.
Referring now to yet another embodiment in accordance with the present invention,
In use, the flexible material 172 is temporarily secured to the container 178 with the releasable adhesive 184. The article 180 to be packaged is placed in the container 178 on the flexible material 172. The distal ends of the flexible material 172 are then pulled free of the releasable adhesive 184, and the cohesive portions 182 are brought together to bind to one another and hold the article 180 in the container 178. The releasable adhesive 184 can be removed from the container 178 if desired.
Although the invention has been shown and described with respect to certain illustrated embodiments, equivalent alterations and modifications will occur to others skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the specification and the annexed drawings. In particular regard to the various functions performed by the above described integers (components, assemblies, devices, compositions, etc.), the terms (including a reference to a “means”) used to describe such integers are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, to any integer that performs the specified function (i.e., that is functionally equivalent), even though not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure that performs the function in the herein illustrated embodiments of the invention. In addition, while a particular feature of the invention might have been described above with respect to only one of several illustrated embodiments, such a feature can be combined with one or more other features of another embodiment, as might be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application.
Claims
1. A packaging system comprising a shipping container and a flexible material connected to the shipping container, the flexible material having a connecting portion connected to the container and a securing portion extending from a wall of the shipping container, the securing portion having a cohesive on a surface thereof for adhering to a cohesive at a different location on another part of the flexible material or some other part of the packaging system to hold an article relative to the shipping container.
2. A packaging system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the connecting portion of the flexible material is affixed to a side wall of the shipping container.
3. A packaging system as set forth in claim 1, wherein the connecting portion of the flexible material is affixed to a bottom wall of the shipping container.
4. A packaging system as set forth in any previous claim, wherein the connecting portion of the flexible material is proximate an end of the flexible material.
5. A packaging material as set forth in any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the connecting portion is between a pair of securing portions.
6. A packaging system as set forth in any previous claim, wherein the flexible material includes a sheet material.
7. A packaging system as set forth in any previous claim, wherein the flexible material includes a crumpled sheet material.
8. A packaging system as set forth in any previous claim, wherein the flexible material includes a plurality of sheets.
9. A packaging system as set forth in any previous claim, wherein the flexible material includes a plurality of superimposed sheets.
10. A packaging system as set forth in any previous claim, wherein the flexible material includes a crumpled sheet material and an uncrumpled sheet material.
11. A packaging system as set forth in any previous claim, wherein the flexible material has a cohesive at a distal end thereof.
12. A packaging system as set forth in any previous claim, wherein the flexible material includes paper or plastic.
13. A packaging system as set forth in any previous claim, wherein the flexible material is kraft paper.
14. A packaging system as set forth in any previous claim, wherein the container is metal, wood, paper or plastic.
15. A packaging system as set forth in any previous claim, further including a frame within the container to space a support surface for an article from a wall of the container.
16. A packaging system as set forth in claim 15, wherein the connecting portion of the flexible material is affixed to the frame.
17. A packaging system as set forth in any previous claim, wherein the flexible material includes a first sheet connecting opposing side walls to define a support surface for an article and a second sheet extendable over at least a portion of the first sheet, the second sheet having a cohesive portion that is connectable to a cohesive portion on at least one of the first sheet, another location on the second sheet and another portion of the system.
18. A packaging system as set forth in any previous claim, further including a dunnage product connected to the flexible material to space an article to be secured from a wall of the container.
19. A packaging system as set forth in claim 18, further comprising a relatively stiff material connected to the flexible material or the dunnage product.
20. A method of securing an article in a container for shipment comprising the steps of placing the article in the shipping container; and securing the article in the shipping container by pressing a portion of a flexible material having a cohesive on a surface thereof to a cohesive on a surface of at least one of another portion of a flexible material and the shipping container, where the flexible material is connected to the container before the securing step.
21. A method of making a package for shipping an article comprising the step of attaching to a shipping container a flexible material with a cohesive on at least a portion thereof such that a portion of the flexible material having the cohesive on a surface thereof can be pressed to a cohesive on a surface of at least one of another portion of a flexible material and the shipping container.
22. A method as set forth in claim 21, further comprising the step of crumpling the flexible material before attaching the crumpled sheet material to the shipping container.
23. A method as set forth in claim 22, further comprising the step of attaching the crumpled sheet material to an uncrumpled sheet material before attaching the assembled sheet material to the shipping container.
24. A method as set forth in claim 21, further comprising the step of detaching a portion of the flexible material from a releasable adhesive or the container before pressing cohesive portions of the flexible material together.
Type: Application
Filed: Jan 26, 2006
Publication Date: Sep 4, 2008
Applicant: RANPAK CORP. (Concord Township, OH)
Inventor: Robert C. Cheich (Independence, OH)
Application Number: 11/814,872
International Classification: B65D 5/50 (20060101);