Package making – Methods – Opening only
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-29
2001-07-24
Lazarus, Ira S. (Department: 3721)
Package making
Methods
Opening only
C053S381100, C053S381400
Reexamination Certificate
active
06263646
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates generally to the field of perforated articles, and in particular to an apparatus for bursting perforations in the article, such as a corrugated box, for accessing the interior without damaging the article.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Packages having perforations that must be broken to access the interior compartment are widely used in the product supply chain. The shipment of some photosensitive products, such as X-ray film, is widely accomplished in corrugated boxes having a perforated lid for accessing the X-ray film product therein. The perforations along the perforated lid and the main body of the corrugated box must be at least partially burst so that access to the product can be easily achieved. Presently, such perforations along the perforated lid are burst by any one of several ways including manually by hand or by equipment that applies opposing forces to an end of the corrugated box body and the perforated lid. In some instances, product such as X-ray film may be shipped in a corrugated box having the perforated lid pre-separated from the main body of the box. However, experience indicates that each of the aforementioned practices of shipping products in a package with a perforated lid has well known shortcomings and, therefore is undesirable for select applications, such as where an adhesive product label is used to rejoin the separated perforated lid with the main box body.
Removing the perforated box lid manually by hand is known to introduce unacceptable ergonomic problems for the operator. Suppliers who ship the corrugated boxes with the perforated lid removed introduce an expensive alternative because the product, i.e., the X-ray film, would have to be introduced into the box and then a product label applied. Moreover, in this latter instance, the perforated lid may not properly align with the main body of the corrugated box when it is desirable to reseal the box.
Known methods and apparatus for opening a lid of a box include that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,631,562 by Nagaoka et al., Nov. 8, 1994, and titled, “Method and Apparatus For Opening Lid Of Box” in which a gas is injected into the upper lid of the box that causes the lid to separate from the body of the box. Nagaoka et al., however, does not teach or suggest removing a perforated lid from a corrugated box.
Therefore, there persists a need for an apparatus and method for bursting perforations on an article, such as a corrugated box, that solves the aforementioned problems in the art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide an apparatus that can burst perforations in a corrugated box by applying a controlled impact force to a portion of the perforated lid.
It is another object of the invention to provide an apparatus that uses a single rotatable burst member for bursting perforations arranged on the box.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus that can separate the perforated lid once the perforations are burst.
It is a feature of the invention that a single burst member exerts a predetermined impact force on opposing sides of a portion of the corrugated box near the perforations. A retractable separator member then grasps the perforated lid with perforations at least partially burst and, upon retracting, separate the perforated lid from the main body of the corrugated box.
To achieve one or more of the objects, features and advantages of the invention, there is provided in one aspect of the present invention, an apparatus for bursting perforations on an article having a main body portion and a perforated lid, said perforated lid being separable from said main body portion at perforations along the periphery of said main body portion, said apparatus comprising:
a frame having a substantially flat, movable surface for supporting said article with said perforations exposed for impact;
means for securing said article to said substantially flat, moveable surface; a rotatable, retractable burst member arranged for rotating around said article to a predetermined position relative to said perforations and for engageably contacting said article so as to apply a predetermined impact force on said perforations at said predetermined position to form at least partially burst perforations;
a retractable separator member arranged in said frame for capturing said perforated lid and then separating said perforated lid from said main body portion at said at least partially burst perforations;
means for moving said retractable burst member into engaging contact with said perforations of said perforated lid for bursting perforations nearest to said retractable burst member and then for rotating said retractable burst member to a second position for engaging contact with remaining perforations;
means for moving said retractable separator into a first position capturing said perforated lid about said partially burst perforations and then to a second position separating said perforated lid from said main body portion of said article.
In another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of opening a corrugated box having a perforated lid and a main body, said main body being separable from said perforated lid by perforations, said method comprising the steps of:
providing the apparatus recited above;
positioning said article on said substantially flat, moveable surface so as to expose said perforations to an impact force;
moving said substantially flat, moveable surface having said article thereon into a first position proximate to said retractable burst member;
moving said retractable burst member into engaging contact with an end portion of said perforated lid thereby forming at least partially burst first perforations;
retracting said retractable burst member from said perforated lid;
rotating said retractable burst member to an opposite side of said perforated lid;
moving said retractable burst member into engaging contact with an opposing end portion of said perforated lid thereby forming at least partially burst second perforations;
retracting said retractable burst member from said perforated lid;
moving said retractable separator into a first position capturing an end of said perforated lid; and,
retracting said retractable separator to a second position thereby separating said perforated lid from said main body portion at said at least partially burst first and second perforations.
It is, therefore, an advantage of the present invention that the process and apparatus are simple to produce and use, cost effective and far more reliable than present developments.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3889442 (1975-06-01), Grahn et al.
patent: 3903677 (1975-09-01), Bowman et al.
patent: 4817260 (1989-04-01), Martin
patent: 5361562 (1994-11-01), Nagaoka et al.
patent: 5407116 (1995-04-01), Nishishita et al.
patent: 5452506 (1995-09-01), Biedermann et al.
patent: 5568750 (1996-10-01), Galen
patent: 6050063 (2000-04-01), Ford et al.
DePoint, Jr. John
Juskiewicz Marion T.
Spina John A.
Bailey, Sr. Clyde E.
Eastman Kodak Company
Lazarus Ira S.
Tawfik Sam
LandOfFree
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