Special receptacle or package – For plate or sheet – Fragile or sensitive
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-04
2001-03-13
Bui, Luan K. (Department: 3728)
Special receptacle or package
For plate or sheet
Fragile or sensitive
C206S449000, C206S479000, C206S565000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06199697
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a container for holding a substantially flat article, that is smaller than the container. More specifically the invention relates to a rectangular flat container for holding a stack of sheets that are smaller than the container.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
When packaging an article into a container, and when the container is to be used for articles having several sizes, empty space exists between the article and the walls of the container. When shipping the container holding the article, movement of the article in the container should be restrained in order to prevent damage of the article.
In particular, when packaging a stack of sheets, especially photographic or thermographic sheets, it is customary to use a set of flat rectangular containers, having a limited number of sizes, for packaging stacks of single size sheets having many possible sizes. A container with a specific size may e.g. hold sheets of a first size, or sheets of a second size, or sheets of a third size. In this way, the required number of different packaging containers is reduced. This is especially interesting for less frequently called-for sheet sizes.
FIG. 1
shows a prior art container
10
having a base
11
and a cover
19
for the base. The base
11
has a bottom
12
and side walls
13
,
14
,
15
,
16
. To restrain movement of the stack of sheets
20
in the container
10
during handling or shipping, it is customary to fill the empty space between the sheets
20
and the side walls with strips of shock-absorbing material
81
and
82
, e.g. strips of foamed polyethylene. A drawback is that the strips are cut manually, which is labour-intensive and time-consuming, and which generates dust and dirt.
Patent application EP-A-0 597 545 discloses a reusable container for packaging graphical sheet materials. The bottom of the container has channels; chocking elements can be inserted in the channels to allow sheet materials of varying sizes to be accommodated in the same container. Disadvantages are that an expensive container is required and that only those sizes of sheet materials can be accommodated for which channels are foreseen.
Patent application GB-A-2 304 332 discloses a container for film sheets, shown in FIG.
2
. The container has a base
11
, shown in
FIG. 2
a,
and a cover for the base, not shown. The container has a chocking element
91
, that is attached to the bottom
12
of the base
11
, at an arbitrary location, and that restrains the film sheets
20
from moving relative to the bottom of the container.
FIG. 2
b
shows the chocking element
91
more in detail. A suitable chocking element is thermoformed, and made of a high impact polystyrene having a thickness of approximately 1 mm. This container represents several disadvantages. The chocking element is rather expensive. It is difficult to remove the chocking element from the container without damaging the bottom of the container. This is a drawback if the container has to be reused for packaging sheets having a different size.
The present invention is particularly intended for packaging a stack of sheets into a container without these disadvantages; the present invention is however also applicable to packaging a substantially flat article into a container.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved container for holding a substantially flat article, that restrains the article from moving.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a container that is reusable and affordable.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved method for packaging a substantially flat article into a container, that is convenient, requires little labour and reduces packaging waste.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a container without the disadvantages mentioned hereinbefore.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an improved container for holding a stack of radiation-sensitive sheets.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The above mentioned objects are realised by a container having the specific features defined in claim
1
. Specific features for preferred embodiments of the invention are set out in the dependent claims.
A “substantially flat” bottom of a base is defined as follows. When a base, having a substantially flat bottom, is laid on a horizontal flat plane, the distance from any point of the lower side of the bottom to the horizontal flat plane is less than 10% of the square root of the area of the bottom. For example, a base has a rectangular bottom of 400 mm×100 mm. The bottom is substantially flat if, when laid on a horizontal flat plane, e.g. a table, all points of the lower side of the bottom are at a distance of less than 20 mm from the table (20 =0.1* {overscore (400*100)}).
A “substantially flat” article is an article having at least two substantially flat outer surfaces, the areas of these two substantially flat outer surfaces each being larger than each area of each other outer surface of the article.
Two planes are “substantially perpendicular”, if the angle between the planes is between 80° and 100°.
A “tape” portion may be a simple tape, having a rectangular shape and a small thickness so that it can be wound onto a roll. A tape portion may however also have a polygonal shape—in this case it can e.g. be cut from a sheet—and the same small thickness of the simple tape referred to above.
Further advantages and embodiments of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description and drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1714688 (1929-05-01), Mikkelsen
patent: 2851787 (1958-09-01), Gordon
patent: 3091330 (1963-05-01), Roks
patent: 3223235 (1965-12-01), Knip
patent: 4874092 (1989-10-01), Lara
patent: 5076432 (1991-12-01), Wolf et al.
patent: 5447234 (1995-09-01), Faulstick et al.
patent: 5685429 (1997-11-01), Myers
patent: 2586766 (1987-03-01), None
patent: WO 9304934 (1993-03-01), None
AGFA-GEVAERT
Baker & Botts L.L.P.
Bui Luan K.
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