FOLDING TYPE PACKAGE

Abstract

A folding type package includes a body including first and second parts to face each other when the body is folded to enclose a product, at least one product housing part formed at the body, and a buffer part extending from the product housing part to secure a buffer space to buffer a shock applied to the product.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2012-0011976, filed on Feb. 6, 2012, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The present general inventive concept generally relates to a folding type package, and more particularly, to a folding type package that is fabricated as one sheet formed of a single material and includes a buffer part to buffer a shock applied to a product.

2. Description of the Related Art

If a small electronic product having a predetermined fragility, e.g., a notebook computer, a table PC, touchpad, tablet-reader, etc., is packaged by a manufacturer or a retailer within a conventional package, the conventional package typically includes a paper package box formed from cardboard or another type of paper product, and which is made to be larger than the small electronic product. Additionally, a buffer member is provided inside the paper package box and formed of a sponge-like material, Styrofoam, etc., to support the small electronic product or enclose an auxiliary part of the small electronic product (e.g., a power cable, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) cable, etc.) therein.

In the above-described conventional packaging method, the paper package box has an appearance of a basic six-sided paper box, is easily torn or damaged by external shocks or scratches, and may be stained or damaged due to external changes of moisture, temperature, and humidity. Therefore, the paper package box must be stored and transported carefully.

In addition, even if the paper package box is damaged without a product stored therein being damaged, the product is often returned to the manufacturer due to the damage to the paper package box. When the product is returned to the manufacturer or retailer due to damage to the paper package box, personnel costs increase due to extraneous labor required to ship/re-ship the product, material costs increase due to a new paper package box being utilized, and a burden to consumers increases due to an inconvenience of returning the product.

Also, the buffer member included in the paper package box is formed of a different material (e.g., a synthetic resin foam) from the paper package box. As described above, the conventional package cannot be formed of a single material (e.g., paper) to safely package a product and thus requires a combination of two or more kinds of materials (e.g., paper, a synthetic resin foam, etc.). In the conventional package including two or more kinds of materials, the paper package box and the buffer member are formed by different apparatuses, and several elements are combined when packaging the product. In other words, the conventional package includes the buffer member to encase the product therewithin in order to protect the product from an outside shock, as well as the paper box to house the product encased within the buffer member. Therefore, packaging the product in multiple materials is complicated and inefficient, thereby increasing labor, production, and material costs.

SUMMARY

The present general inventive concept provides a folding type package that is fabricated as one sheet formed of a single material and includes a buffer part to buffer a shock applied to a product.

Additional features and utilities of the present general inventive concept will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the general inventive concept.

The foregoing and/or other features and utilities of the present general inventive concept are achieved by providing a folding type package, including a body including first and second parts to face each other when the body is folded to enclose a product, at least one product housing part formed at the body, and a buffer part extending from the product housing part to secure a buffer space to buffer a shock applied to a product.

The product housing part may include first and second housing grooves respectively formed in the first and second parts to face each other when the body is folded in order to secure a space for housing the product.

The body may further include a combination groove part including one of the first and second housing grooves so that the first and second parts are detachably combined with each other, and a combination projection part including the other one of the first and second housing grooves and is detachably combined with the combination groove part.

The combination projection part may have a buffer space along an edge thereof.

A cross-section of the edge of the combination projection part may have a groove shape.

The buffer part may include first and second projection parts which are respectively comprised in the first and second housing grooves, wherein the first and second projection parts may project outside the body when the body is folded.

The body may further include a handle including first and second insertion holes adjacent to ends of the handle facing each other when the body folded and correspond to each other, and first and second grip parts formed along the ends of the handle facing each other when the body is folded.

The first and second grip parts may project outside the body when the body is folded.

Cross-sections of the first and second grip parts may have arc shapes.

The body may further include at least one pair of auxiliary combination parts which are adjacent to both sides of the handle.

The auxiliary combination parts may be combined with each other.

The body may be formed of a transparent or semitransparent material.

The body may include an opaque shield which is formed on a part of a surface of the body.

The opaque shield may be printed on the surface of the body.

The body may be formed of a plastic resin or may be an elastic body.

The foregoing and/or other features and utilities of the present general inventive concept may also be achieved by providing a folding type package to prevent a product from experiencing a shock, including a first part to house a portion of the product and including a first buffer part extending from the first part to absorb the shock applied to the first part, and a second part coupled to the first part to house another portion of the product not housed by the first part and including a second buffer part to mirror the first buffer part.

The first part and the second part may further include a first housing groove and a second housing groove respectively to house the product when the folding type package is in a folded position.

The first buffer part and the second buffer part may extend outwardly from respective portions of the first housing groove and the second housing groove.

The first housing groove and the second housing groove may be formed to immovably secure the product within the folding type package.

The folding type package may further include a combination groove part formed in the first part and including the first housing groove, and a combination projection part formed in the second part and including the second housing groove, to couple to the combination groove part when the folding type package is in the folded position.

The combination projection part may include a buffer space to prevent an edge of the product from experiencing a shock.

The first part may further include a plurality of first housing grooves to each house a portion of a plurality of respective products, and the second part may further include a plurality of second housing grooves to mirror each respective one of the plurality of first housing grooves to each house another portion of the plurality of respective products not housed by the plurality of first housing grooves.

The foregoing and/or other features and utilities of the present general inventive concept may also be achieved by providing a folding type package formed as a single unit, including first and second parts foldably coupled together and including a plurality of housing grooves to encase a product therein, and a plurality of buffers to protect the product from an external shock and extending outwardly from a plurality of sides of the first and second parts.

The plurality of buffers may extend outwardly from at least one of the plurality of housing grooves and top and bottom portions of the folding type package.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other features and utilities of the present general inventive concept will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a folding type package according to an exemplary embodiment of the present general inventive concept;

FIG. 2 is a view illustrating the folding type package in an unfolded state;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the folding type package taken along a line III-III of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a part IV of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating a plurality of shields to be applied to the folding type package according to an exemplary embodiment of the present general inventive concept.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present general inventive concept, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain the present general inventive concept while referring to the figures.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a folding type package 100 that is folded to package a product, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present general inventive concept. FIG. 2 is a view illustrating the folding type package 100 in an unfolded position.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the folding type package 100 includes a body 100 that is fabricated as one sheet formed of a single material. The body 110 includes a product housing part 130, a first buffer part 150, a second buffer part 160, and a handle 170.

The body 110 may be formed of a transparent material, a semitransparent material, or an opaque material, such as a plastic resin (e.g., a polystyrene resin, a polyethylene resin, etc.). Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, when the body 110 is formed of the transparent material or the semitransparent material, a product 10 and accessories 11 and 12 that are housed within the product housing part 130 can be seen from outside the folding type package 100 when the folding type package 100 is closed, thereby allowing a user to view what is inside the folding type package 100 without opening the folding type package 100.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 5, when the body 110 is formed of the transparent material or the semitransparent material, a predetermined shield 191, 192 or 193 may be formed on a surface of the body 110 to selectively expose the product 10 or the accessories 11 and 12. For example, the shield 193 may be formed only to cover a product body housing part 131 that houses the product 10, thereby covering the product 10 and leaving only the accessories 11 and 12 visible to a user. The shields 191, 192, and 193 may be printed on the body 110 through a predetermined printing apparatus, attached onto the surface of the body 110 like a sticker, or provided as a snap-on case-like structure to individually attach to each of the product body housing part 131 or first and second accessory housing parts 132 and 133. Also, the shields 191, 192, and 193 may be combined or coupled together to cover all three of the product 10 and accessories 11 and 12 simultaneously.

Referring to FIG. 2, two sides of the body 110 are coupled together at bottom portions thereof, respectively, to form two halves of the body 110. As such, the two sides of the body 110 are defined as first and second parts 111 and 112. The first and second parts 111 and 112 are formed in the approximately same sizes. When the first and second parts 111 and 112 are folded towards each other to close the body 110, the product 10 may be housed in a fixed state between the first and second parts 111 and 112, as illustrated in FIG. 3.

At least one or more product housing parts 130 may be respectively formed in groove shapes within the first and second parts 111 and 112. Referring to FIGS. 1 through 3, the product housing parts 130 are divided into three parts, i.e., the product body housing part 131 and the first and second accessory housing parts 132 and 13, respectively.

The product body housing part 131 includes first and second housing grooves 131a and 131b, which are respectively formed in the first and second parts 111 and 112. If the first and second parts 111 and 112 are folded to face each other in order to package the product 10 within the product body housing part 131, the first and second housing grooves 131a and 131b are set in positions in which the first and second housing grooves 131a and 131b face each other. Therefore, a side portion of the product 10 is inserted into the first housing groove 131a, and another side portion of the product 10 is inserted into the second housing groove 131b.

The first and second housing grooves 131a and 131b may be formed in shapes and sizes corresponding to respective edges of the product 10. This is to remove a gap between the product 10 and the first and second housing grooves 131a and 131b in order to stably fix and secure the product 10 within the first and second housing grooves 131a and 131b when the product 10 is housed within the product body housing part 131.

Similar to the product body housing part 131, the first and second accessory housing parts 132 and 133 include first and second housing grooves 132a, 132b, 133a, and 133b, respectively, which correspond to each other in the first and second parts 111 and 112. Referring to FIG. 3, Accessories 11 and 12 may include a touch pen, a video cable, a power cable, a USB cable, etc., but are not limited thereto, and may be respectively housed in the first and second accessory housing parts 132 and 133.

The body 110 includes a combination groove part 121 formed in the first part 111 to receive therein a combination projection part 122 formed in the second part 112, thereby allowing the first and second parts 111 and 112 to be detachably coupled together when the body 110 is in a folded position.

The combination groove part 121 is formed to be large enough to include all of the housing grooves 131a, 132a, and 133a of the first part 111. Referring to FIG. 2, the combination groove part 121 has a rectangular shape including four rounded corners. The combination projection part 122 is formed to be large enough to include all of the housing grooves 131b, 132b, and 133b of the second part 112, and has a size that is slightly smaller than the combination groove part 121 to allow it to fit snugly within the combination groove part 121 when coupled thereto.

Referring to FIGS. 2-4, edges of combination projection part 122 are inserting within the combination groove part 121 to allow coupling therebetween. The combination groove part 121 and the combination projection part 122 are wide enough to respectively include the housing grooves 131a and 131b, 132a and 132b, and 133a and 133b. The combination groove part 121 and the combination projection part 122 may be formed in various shapes, such as polygonal, circular, elliptical, etc., but are not limited to, in order to account for varying numbers or shapes of additional housing grooves.

The combination projection part 122 may have a buffer space 122a, which is formed along an edge thereof, as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. In this case, a cross-section of the edge of the combination projection part 122 has a groove shape. Therefore, the buffer space 122a formed by the combination projection part 122 may buffer shocks applied to the product 10 and the accessories 11 and 12, along with the first and second buffer parts 150 and 160. More specifically, if the folding type package 100 is dropped on its top or bottom edge/end, the buffer space 122a will prevent the product 10 from experiencing a shock.

The first buffer part 150 secures (i.e., forms) a buffer space to buffer and/or absorb shocks applied to the product 10 when it is packaged within the product housing part 130. In detail, the first buffer part 150 includes first and second projection parts 151 and 152 that are respectively formed at the first and second housing grooves 131a and 131b.

The first and second projection parts 151 and 152 respectively have smaller sizes than the first and second housing grooves 131a and 131b. The first and second projection parts 151 and 152 project outward from the folding type package 100 and perpendicular to the first and second housing grooves 131a and 131b when the body 110 is in the folded position, such that the first and second parts 111 and 112 face each other. Therefore, buffer spaces 151a and 152a are formed within the first and second projection parts 151 and 152, and are located beside two respective sides of the product 10 when it is inserted into the first and second housing grooves 131a and 131b when the body 110 is in the folded position.

The buffer spaces 151a and 152a may prevent external shocks from being directly transmitted to the product 10 if the folding type package 100 is dropped on its side. As described above, the folding type package 100 may be fabricated as a single body 110 without an additional cushion member, and includes the first and second projections 151 and 152 that perform a buffer function to protect the product 10 from an outside shock when the body 110 is in the folded position.

The second buffer part 160 includes first and second projection parts 161 and 162 which are respectively formed to extend outwardly from a pair of housing grooves 132a and 132b of the first accessory housing part 132. Like the first and second projection parts 151 and 152 of the first buffer part 150, the first and second projection parts 161 and 162 respectively secure/form buffer spaces 161a and 162a beside two respective sides of the accessory 11 housed in the first accessory housing part 132. The first accessory housing part 132 may house an accessory having low shock resistance, such as a touch pen.

The handle 170 includes first and second insertion holes 171a and 171b and first and second grip parts 172a and 172b.

The first and second insertion holes 171a and 171b are formed to be close to ends of the first and second parts 111 and 112, which contact each other when the body 110 is in the folded position. Also, the first and second insertion holes 171a and 171b are set in positions in which the first and second insertion holes 171a and 171b face each other.

The first and second grip parts 172a and 172b are formed along top ends of the first and second parts 111 and 112, respectively, and project outwardly from the body 110 when the body 110 is in the folded position. Sides of the first and second grips 172a and 172b may have arc shapes, but are not limited thereto. As a result of the formation of the first and second grips 172a and 172b on the body 110, a user may more easily grip the handle 170.

The body 110 may include a pair of auxiliary combination parts 180 which are adjacent to both sides of the handle 170, in order to improve a coupling force between the first and second parts 111 and 112. The auxiliary combination parts 180 include projections 181a and 182a formed at the first part 111 and grooves 181b and 182b formed in the second part 112. The projections 181a and 182a are respectively inserted into the grooves 181b and 182b to perform the coupling between the first and second parts 111 and 112.

A number of auxiliary combination parts 180 may be set according to a size of the folding type package 100. As such, a larger folding type package 100 may require more auxiliary combination parts 180 to securely couple the first part 111 to the second part 112.

As described above, the folding type package 100 may be fabricated in a blister molding method, but is not limited thereto. A material of the body 110 is not limited to a plastic resin (a transparent, semitransparent, or opaque material), and thus the body 110 may be formed of urethane having a higher elastic force than the plastic resin.

Also, the folding type package 100 may include a single body formed of a single material, thus improving production efficiency of the folding type package 100. As a result, a packaging of the product 10 is simplified to improve labor and production efficiency, while decreasing labor, production, and material costs.

Although a few embodiments of the present general inventive concept have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the general inventive concept, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A folding type package, comprising:

a body comprising first and second parts to face each other when the body is folded to enclose a product;

at least one product housing part formed at the body; and

a buffer part extending from the product housing part to secure a buffer space to buffer a shock applied to the product.

2. The folding type package of claim 1, wherein the product housing part comprises first and second housing grooves respectively formed in the first and second parts to face each other when the body is folded in order to secure a space for housing the product.

3. The folding type package of claim 2, wherein the body further comprises:

a combination groove part comprising one of the first and second housing grooves so that the first and second parts are detachably combined with each other; and

a combination projection part comprising the other one of the first and second housing grooves and is detachably combined with the combination groove part.

4. The folding type package of claim 3, wherein the combination projection part has a buffer space along an edge thereof.

5. The folding type package of claim 4, wherein a cross-section of the edge of the combination projection part has a groove shape.

6. The folding type package of claim 1, wherein the buffer part comprises first and second projection parts respectively comprised in the first and second housing grooves,

wherein the first and second projection parts project outside the body when the body is folded.

7. The folding type package of claim 1, wherein the body further comprises a handle,

wherein the handle comprises: first and second insertion holes adjacent to ends of the handle facing each other when the body folded and correspond to each other; and first and second grip parts formed along the ends of the handle facing each other when the body is folded.

8. The folding type package of claim 7, wherein the first and second grip parts project outside the body when the body is folded.

9. The folding type package of claim 8, wherein cross-sections of the first and second grip parts have arc shapes.

10. The folding type package of claim 1, wherein the body further comprises at least one pair of auxiliary combination parts which are adjacent to both sides of the handle.

11. The folding type package of claim 10, wherein the auxiliary combination parts are combined with each other.

12. The folding type package of claim 1, wherein the body is formed of a transparent or semitransparent material.

13. The folding type package of claim 12, wherein the body comprises an opaque shield which is formed on a part of a surface of the body.

14. The folding type package of claim 13, wherein the opaque shield is printed on the surface of the body.

15. The folding type package of claim 12, wherein the body is formed of a plastic resin.

16. The folding type package of claim 1, wherein the body is an elastic body.

17. A folding type package to prevent a product from experiencing a shock, comprising:

a first part to house a portion of the product and comprising a first buffer part extending from the first part to absorb the shock applied to the first part; and

a second part coupled to the first part to house another portion of the product not housed by the first part and comprising a second buffer part to mirror the first buffer part.

18. The folding type package of claim 17, wherein the first part and the second part further comprise a first housing groove and a second housing groove respectively to house the product when the folding type package is in a folded position.

19. The folding type package of claim 18, wherein the first buffer part and the second buffer part extend outwardly from respective portions of the first housing groove and the second housing groove.

20. The folding type package of claim 18, wherein the first housing groove and the second housing groove are formed to immovably secure the product within the folding type package.

21. The folding type package of claim 18, further comprising:

a combination groove part formed in the first part and comprising the first housing groove; and

a combination projection part formed in the second part and comprising the second housing groove, to couple to the combination groove part when the folding type package is in the folded position.

22. The folding type package of claim 21, wherein the combination projection part comprises a buffer space to prevent an edge of the product from experiencing a shock.

23. The folding type package of claim 17, wherein:

the first part further comprises a plurality of first housing grooves to each house a portion of a plurality of respective products; and

the second part further comprises a plurality of second housing grooves to mirror each respective one of the plurality of first housing grooves to each house another portion of the plurality of respective products not housed by the plurality of first housing grooves.