PROTECTIVE PACKAGING STRUCTURE AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE SAME

Abstract

A packaging structure for at least one article includes a pair of generally rectangular support structures with front, side, rear, and interior walls. The walls divide the rectangular support structure into a plurality of triangular sections. The front and interior walls contain a least one opening configured to correspond with the configuration of the article to hold and secure the article in place. The packaging structure is created from a rectangular blank made of foldable material that has a plurality of spaced vertical fold lines, panels, and aligned openings each configured to correspond with the configuration of the article. The packaging structure is formed by folding the blank along the fold lines and securing the blank in the folded condition. The blanks are formed first within computer aided design software by determining the dimensions and profile of a packaging structure, forming openings for an article in a packaging structure, unfolding the packaging structure within the design software into a flat pattern to form a master blank, and using the master blank to create cutting dies for forming additional blanks.

Claims

1. A packaging structure for at least one article, comprising a pair of generally rectangular support structures each including a front wall, a pair of side walls connected with said front wall, a rear wall connected with said side walls and interior walls connected with opposite edges of said side and rear walls to divide said rectangular support structure into a plurality of triangular sections, said front and interior walls containing a least one opening to define at least one three-dimensional compartment configured to correspond with the configuration of the article, whereby when the article is placed within said compartments of said support structures and said support structures are aligned with said front walls in contiguous relation, the article is retained within said support structures.

2. A packaging structure as defined in claim 1, wherein said structure is configured as a right rectangular prism.

3. A packaging structure as defined in claim 1, wherein said front and interior article holding walls comprise two wall layers.

4. A packaging structure as defined in claim 3, wherein said side and rear walls comprise at least two wall layers when said structure is placed in a shipping container or box.

5. A blank for forming a packaging structure for at least one article, comprising a rectangular piece of foldable material containing a plurality of spaced vertical fold lines which define a sequence of rectangular panels, a plurality of aligned openings each configured to correspond with the configuration of the article, said blank including a central panel containing at least one opening and a pair of said fold lines at each side, and a pair of elongated portions extending outwardly from each side of said central panel, each elongated portion including a plurality of fold lines, a plurality of panels, and at least one opening bridging a fold line extending into adjacent panels, whereby when the end panels of said cardboard elongated portions are folded inwardly toward said central panel, said fold lines of said elongated portions define a series of panels resulting in a rectangular packaging structure including side, front, interior and rear walls which define triangular sections, said openings bridging a fold line being arranged in said packaging structure interior walls, and said central panel opening being on said front wall, wherein said openings are for receiving at least one article.

6. A blank as defined in claim 5, wherein said fold lines on opposite sides of said central panel contain at least one opening and wherein said foldable material further comprises at least one projection at the outer ends of said elongated portions which interlocks with at least one fold line opening to retain the packaging structure in a folded condition.

7. A blank as defined in claim 5, wherein said foldable material comprises one of cardboard, fiberboard, or corrugated plastic.

8. A method for forming a blank for forming packaging structure from foldable material for at least one article, comprising the steps of: a) determining the dimensions and profile of a packaging structure in accordance with the dimensions and profile of the article and the desired distance between the article and an inner surface of an outer shipping container or box; b) forming openings in said foldable material that correspond in configuration with the shape of the article; c) unfolding said packaging structure to form at least one master blank of foldable material as an industry standard flat pattern; and d) creating cutting dies for manufacturing additional blanks corresponding to said master blank.

9. A method as defined in claim 7, wherein said dimensions and profiles determining step comprises: a) measuring the height, width, and depth of the article; b) determining the minimum distance of the article from the walls of the shipping container or box so that the article is protected during shipping; and c) determining the packaging structure height, width, and depth according to the following formulas:
PH=AH+2(MD)
PW=AW+2(MD)
PD=AD+2(MD) where PH is the packaging structure height, AH is the article height, MD is the minimum distance, PW is the packaging structure width, AW is the article width, PD is the packaging structure depth and AD is the article depth.

10. A method for developing cutting dies as defined in claim 8, wherein the article has rotational symmetry and said opening forming step comprises the following steps: a) importing said dimensions and profile of the support structure and one half of the article's profile as determined by said article's rotational axis of symmetry into computer aided design software; b) placing an axis of rotation at the center of said support structure on a front central wall of one said support structure; c) placing said article's half profile onto said front central wall of said support structure with said article's rotational axis of symmetry coincident with said axis of rotation d) having said software program execute a revolve cut of a half profile of the article 180 degrees about the axis of rotation through the support structure to create a compartment in said support structure in the shape of half of the article to define the shape and location of cut edges of the openings in front and interior walls of the packaging structure.

11. A method for developing cutting dies as defined in claim 8, wherein the article is asymmetrical and said opening forming step comprises: a) importing said dimensions and profiles of the packaging structure and a three-dimensional image of the article into computer aided design software; b) placing the article inside the packaging structure within a graphical user interface so said minimum distance is maintained on all six sides for the article; c) using a Boolean Subtract command of said software to create a compartment in said packaging structure in the shape of the article to define the shape and location of the cut edges of the openings in front walls and interior walls of packaging structure.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0016] Other objects and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent from a study of the following specification when viewed in the light of the accompanying drawing, in which:

[0017] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the packaging structure with an article therein;

[0018] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the packaging structure with openings in the front and interior walls;

[0019] FIG. 3 is perspective view of an embodiment of one support structure of the invention;

[0020] FIGS. 4 and 5 are top and front views, respectively, of one embodiment of the support structures;

[0021] FIG. 6 is a front view of one embodiment of a packaging blank;

[0022] FIG. 7 is a top view of one embodiment of the support structures aligned to form the packaging structure;

[0023] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the support structures that form the packaging structure with articles placed within the compartments formed by the support structure openings;

[0024] FIG. 9 is a flow chart of a method for forming blanks for forming packaging structures for at least one article;

[0025] FIG. 10 is a flow chart for determining the size of a packaging structure; and

[0026] FIGS. 11 and 12 are flow charts for creating openings in a blank that correspond with either a symmetrical or asymmetrical article, respectively.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] The present disclosure relates broadly to packaging structures, and more particularly to packaging structures made from foldable material such as cardboard, fiberboard, or corrugated plastic and used for securing one or more article therein.

[0028] Referring to FIGS. 1-5, a first embodiment of a packaging structure 2 with an article 4 placed within the structure will be described.

[0029] The packaging structure 2 includes a pair of support structures 6 containing openings 16 in which an article can be placed for storage and shipping. The support structures each include a front wall 8, side walls 10, a back wall 12, and interior walls 14 which form triangular vertical support structures 18. The front and interior walls contain openings 16 which when aligned define compartments in which an article can be placed for safe storage and shipping. The vertically spaced openings can also be used to form a plurality of compartments to store and ship other articles. The packaging structure is configured as a right rectangular prism.

[0030] The openings 16 are positioned in vertically spaced relation to prevent the articles in the openings from contacting each other. To protect the articles from outside impact, a minimum safe distance is also provided between the set of openings 16 and the top and bottom of the front 8 and interior 14 walls, and between the openings 16 and the inner surface of the rear 12 and side 10 walls. Preferably, the front 8 and interior 14 walls are double layered and the side 10 and rear 12 walls have at least two layers when placed within a shipping container or box.

[0031] Referring now to FIG. 6, a first embodiment of a packaging blank 20 that is used to manufacture packaging structures will be described. The blank is an elongated rectangle 22 made of a foldable material such as cardboard, fiberboard, or corrugated plastic and includes a plurality of spaced vertical fold lines 24, a sequence of rectangular panels 26, and a plurality of aligned openings 28 that correspond with an article to be placed in a packaging structure. Further, the panels are divided into a central panel 30 and two outwardly extending elongated portions 32 made from a series of panels 26. The elongated portions 32 are folded from their outer ends to the central panel 30 and then a series of folds are performed to form a support structure 6 of a packaging structure 2. Projections 36 are pulled through openings 34 in the central panel fold lines 24g to interlock the support structure. The following steps demonstrate how to create the support structure:

[0032] Pull the projections 36 through the folding line openings 34 of the central panel 30;

[0033] Fold the projections 36 down fold lines 24a;

[0034] Complete a 90 fold at fold line 24g to form a side wall 10 of the support structure 6;

[0035] Complete a 135 fold at fold line 24f and a 180 fold at fold line 24e to form a double layer interior wall 14 of the support structure 6;

[0036] Complete a 135 fold at fold line 24d to form the back wall 12 of the support structure 6;

[0037] Complete a 90 fold at fold line 24c to form the middle interior walls 14 of the support structure 6; and

[0038] Complete a 90 fold at fold line 24b to form a double layer to the front wall 8 of the support structure 6.

[0039] Following the formation of the blank 20 into the support structure 6, all openings 28 from the blank are aligned to form the openings 16 of the support structure for receiving at least one article.

[0040] The steps as detailed above for forming a support structure are repeated with an additional blank to form a second support structure 6. Once two support structures 6 are formed, the article 4 or articles are placed in the compartments formed by aligned openings 16 of one support structure. The second support structure is then placed over the article so that the front walls of each support structure are aligned in contiguous relation, as shown in FIG. 8. This forms a protective packaging structure 2 for the article 4.

[0041] Referring now to FIGS. 9-12, a method for creating blanks made from a recyclable material such as corrugated cardboard that is used for forming a packaging structure for at least one article will be described.

[0042] To facilitate the creation of cutting dies to be used for the manufacture of subsequent packaging structures a flat pattern is developed by determining the dimensions and profile of a packaging structure in accordance with the dimensions and profile of an article that is to be placed within the structure. First, a support structure is formed in a computer aided design software. If the article to be placed in the packaging structure has rotational symmetry so that the two support structures that make up the packaging structure will be identical, a compartment that corresponds to the shape of half of the article is created within the support structure. If the article to be placed in the packaging structure is asymmetrical, a-compartment that corresponds with the shape of a portion of the article is placed within one support structure, and a compartment that corresponds with the remainder of the article is placed within the other support structure. Once the compartment is created to define the shape and location of the openings in the front and interior walls of either one or both support structures, the support structures are unfolded in a computer aided design software to form a flat pattern showing the location of the cut lines required to make the cutting dies for manufacturing additional support structures.

[0043] FIG. 10 illustrates a series of measurements and formulas that are taken and used to determine the dimensions and profiles of a packaging structure. First, measure the height (AH), the width (AW), and the depth (AD) of the article that will be placed within a packaging structure. Then determine the minimum distance (MD) the article will need to be from the inner surface of the walls of the outer shipping container or box. Once the measurements have been taken, the following formulas are used to determine the packaging structure height (PH), the packaging structure width (PW), and the packaging structure depth (PD):

PH=AH+2(MD)

PW=AW+2(MD)

PD=AD+2(MD)

[0044] FIG. 11 illustrates a series of steps that are followed to create a compartment that corresponds to an article with rotational symmetry. First, import the dimensions and profiles of a support structure according to the formulas above, as well as one half of the article's profile as determined by the article's rotational axis of symmetry, into computer aided design (CAD) software. With the tools of the software, place an axis of rotation at the center of the support structure on a front central wall of the support structure. Place the article's half profile onto the front central wall of the support structure with the article's rotational axis of symmetry coincident with the axis of rotation. Have the software program execute a Revolve Cut of the article's half profile 180 degrees about the axis of rotation through the support structure to create the openings in the support structure front and interior walls in the shape of the article's half and defining cut edges of the openings in the walls. The packaging support structure can then be unfolded and used as a master blank as described above.

[0045] FIG. 12 illustrates the steps that are used to create an opening that corresponds to an asymmetrical article. First, import the dimensions and profiles of a packaging structure according to the formulas above, as well as a three-dimensional image of the article to be placed within the packaging structure, into computer aided design (CAD) software. With the tools of the software, place the article inside the packaging structure so that there is a minimum distance maintained on all six sides for the article. Then use a Boolean Subtract command of the software to create an opening in the packaging structure which defines the shape and location of the cut edges of the openings in front walls and interior walls of the packaging structure. Lastly, unfold the packaging structure to be used as master blank as detailed above.

[0046] The method for creating packaging blanks, including the openings for the articles, makes it possible to quickly and easily define and implement the location of the cuts on the master blank to form the openings. Locating the cuts on an unfolded master blank using only geometrical calculations would be challenging and nearly impossible because the vertices of the interior walls do not meet the axis of rotation on the front face and the walls have a thickness which displaces and distorts the cut lines of the profile of the article as the profile is revolved through the structure.

[0047] While the preferred forms and embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without deviating from the inventive concepts set forth above.