Package making – With contents treating – Reshaping
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-01
2001-11-06
Sipos, John (Department: 3721)
Package making
With contents treating
Reshaping
C053S122000, C053S521000, C053S528000, C053S553000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06311458
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to the packaging industry, and, more particularly, to the field of packaging products which can easily be damaged during packing procedures or during shipments.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Over the years various packaging has been used in association with the shipments of products which can be damaged during the packaging and shipment processes. One of these products, for example, has been fresh produce, such as apples, pears, peaches, oranges, and grapefruits, which can be easily bruised, smashed, or inflicted with other types of damaged by the packing and shipping processes. With such fragile items as fresh produce, the requirements of carefully packing and handling can slow down the production process considerably.
Various shock absorbing packaging techniques have been used for fresh produce such as packing the produce in foam boxes or foam wrap, adding plastic bubble-wrap to a box or package, and adding a large number of foam particles or chunks of foam to a box or package after the produce has been placed in the box. These prior techniques, however, have numerous drawbacks. For example, foam and plastic do not have very good environmentally friendly traits, e.g., often not readily recyclable. Also, some of these techniques can slow down the packaging process. Further, using the chunks of foam, for example, can be messy for both the company packing the produce and for the person or company receiving the produce when the produce is unpacked.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the foregoing background, the present invention advantageously provides an apparatus and methods for producing shock absorbing pads at a relatively high speed for use in readily packing products which can be damaged in the packing and shipping processes. The present invention also advantageously provides an apparatus and methods for producing shock absorbing pads which allow easy packing of products during a packing process. The present invention additionally provides an apparatus and methods for producing shock absorbing pads which are relatively inexpensive and are environmentally friendly. The present invention further provides an apparatus and methods for producing shock absorbing pads which can utilize existing stock, waste product, or other debris from a packing company, as well as various types of debris, to form core or core material for each pad.
More particularly, the apparatus preferably includes a core pad former for forming particulate core material into a plurality of individual core pads, a core pad encaser positioned downstream from the core pad former for encasing the plurality of individual core pads with a selected sheet of material to thereby form a sheet of a plurality of shock absorbing pads, pad sheet debulking and conveying means positioned adjacent the core pad encaser for debulking the sheet of the plurality of shock absorbing pads and conveying the sheet of the plurality of shock absorbing pads downstream, and a pad separator positioned downstream the pad sheet conveyor for separating the sheet into a plurality of individual shock absorbing pads.
The core pad former which forms a plurality of cores preferably forms the cores from particulate core material, e.g., paper. The core pad former preferably includes a mounting frame, an annular drum frame rotatingly mounted to the mounting frame, and a plurality of core pad forming frames mounted to outer peripheries of the drum frame so that when the drum frame rotates core material is collected on each of the plurality of core pad forming frames.
The pad sheet debulking and conveying means is preferably provided by a pair of spaced-apart conveyors positioned in non-parallel planes with respect to each other so that a distance between the spaced-apart conveyors is greater at a first end which receives the plurality of products than at a second end which outputs the plurality of products and so that the pair of conveyors converge toward each other at the second end to thereby debulk the plurality of products as the products conveyingly travel between the conveyors and between the first and second ends thereof.
The pad separator of the present invention, for example, can advantageously be provided by a roller having a roller body which includes first and second ends and an outer surface when extends substantially circumferentially around outer peripheries of the roller body between the first and second ends. A blade, e.g., a cutting or knife blade, is preferably mounted to the roller so that the plane of the lateral extent of the blade is generally perpendicular to the outer surface of the roller and the entire lengthwise extent of the blade of the is in a position non-perpendicular to respective planes of the first and second ends of the roller body so as to be skewed between the first and second ends thereof and whereby the combination of the blade and roller define a rotating knife which during rotation thereof cuttingly separates a sheet of products into a plurality of individual products.
The present invention also advantageously provides a method of forming a plurality of shock absorbing pads. The preferably includes the steps of forming core material into a plurality of individual core pads, encasing the plurality of individual core pads with a selected sheet of material to thereby form a sheet of a plurality of shock absorbing pads, debulking the sheet of the plurality of shock absorbing pads, and separating the sheet into a plurality of individual shock absorbing pads.
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patent: 5328568 (1994-07-01), Pregont
Allen Dyer Doppelt Milbrath & Gilchrist, P.A.
Sipos John
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