Package making – Methods – With contents treating
Reexamination Certificate
1998-04-23
2001-01-23
Johnson, Linda (Department: 3721)
Package making
Methods
With contents treating
C053S436000, C206S494000, C493S410000, C493S413000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06176068
ABSTRACT:
This invention relates to a package of a continuous strip of material and to a method for forming a package of a continuous strip of material.
This application is related to application Ser. No. 08/889,737 filed Jul. 8, 1997 and application Ser. No. 08/878,826 filed Jun. 19, 1997. This application is also related to co-pending, applications, Ser. No. 08/905,291, filed, Aug. 5, 1997 and Ser. Nos. 08/939,815, 08/939,444 and 08/939,881 all filed 29, Sep. 1997. The disclosure of each of the above applications is incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Previously packages of a continuous strip of material have been formed using a technique known as “festooning” in which the strip is folded back and forth to lay a series of strip portions back and forth with each portion being folded relative to the next about a line transverse to the strip. The technique of festooning has been available for many years and is used in packaging many different types of material but particularly material of a fibrous nature such as fabric, non-woven strips and the like. In this technique, the strip is conventionally guided into a receptacle such as a cardboard box while a first reciprocating movement causes portions of the strip to be laid across the receptacle and folded back and forth and a second reciprocating movement causes the positions of the portions to be traversed relative to the receptacle transversely to the portions. Normally the receptacle comprises a rigid rectangular container at least partly of cardboard having a base and four upstanding sides.
The purpose of the festooning method is for packaging the strip for supply to a machine using the strip. Some users prefer the festooned package relative to a wound package of this type of material. The festooned package contains a much greater length of material than a spirally wound pad. The festooned package can simply be located adjacent the machine without the necessity for any unwinding or support stand. In addition, both the leading end and the tail end of the package are available at the top of the package so that a series of the packages can be connected lead to tail to act as an extended supply. Yet further, since the material is simply laid into the package, there is less problem with tension control In the material as it is withdrawn from the package, in comparison with larger traverse wound packages where tension control of large packages can be a problem due to the inertia of the package thus requiring a driven unwind stand. There is therefore no need when festooned packages are used for a complex unwind stand which takes up more space than may be available and involves significant cost.
Festooned packages are formed in a stiff container or box to properly enclose and contain the material and within which the material is stored during transportation for maintaining the material against compression and distortion due to the transfer of loads from surrounding packages. The cardboard container thus provides support for other similar stacked containers and prevents the transfer of loads from the stacked packages from causing excessive compression of packages at the bottom of a layer. The cardboard containers and the package structures used in the conventional arrangement however have a number of problems.
Firstly the container must be either recycled with the necessity of shipping the cardboard containers in the return direction to the supplier from the end user or they must be discarded, both at considerable expense.
Secondly the cardboard containers simply receive the material without significant compression so that there is wastage of space within the container due to the packaging of air with the material. In addition the conventional package structure does not minimize the amount of air spaces formed in the structure. The transportation costs of the material therefore are significantly increased by the large volume of the material which provides a density which is significantly below the optimum for most efficient transport.
Thirdly the presence of the essential box during formation of the structure provides a restriction to the proper control of the strip as it is laid down since the sides of the box provide limitations to the position and movement of the guide member controlling the strip.
Fourthly it has been noted that the sides of the box which are parallel to the strips as they are laid down do not closely confine the sides of the package structure with the significant danger that the strips can fall down between the edge of the package and the box side.
In addition, the conventional technique for forming the package in which each of the strips slit from a web of supply material is individually packaged at a separate festooning station is slow and requires a large amount of floor space for the large number of stations Also the large area covered by the stations causes a significant distance to be travelled by the strip from the slitting station to the festooning station with the potential for strip tension problems and damage to the strip.
There remains therefore a significant requirement for a package of this type but the techniques presently available are unsatisfactory for the above reasons leaving opportunity for an improved package structure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is one object of the present invention, therefore, to provide an improved method of supplying a strip of material from a package.
According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a method of supplying a strip of material comprising:
providing a strip of material having a first side edge, a second side edge, a first surface and a second surface;
forming a package of the strip material comprising:
a plurality of layers of the strip;
each layer comprising a plurality of folded portions of the strip, wherein each portion of the first layer is folded relative to the next portion about a line transverse to the strip;
such that the first surface of each portion lies directly in contact with the first surface of a next adjacent portion and the second surface of each portion lies directly in contact with the second surface of a next adjacent portion; and
such that the first side edges of the portions are aligned and also the second side edges of the portions are aligned;
the layers being parallel and arranged side by side thus defining first and second end layers and a plurality of intermediate layers and defining for each intermediate layer a first next adjacent layer on one side and a second next adjacent layer on an opposed side;
the strip being continuous through each layer from a first end portion of the strip at one end of the layer to a second end portion of the strip at an opposed end of the layer, such that a full extent of the strip from the first end portion to the second end portion can be unfolded from the layer by pulling the strip from the second end portion;
the second end portion of the strip of the first end layer forming a first end of the package for supply to an end use machine and the first end portion of the strip of the second end layer forming a second end of the package for connection to a further package:
the first end portion of the strip of each intermediate layer being connected to the second end portion of the strip of the first next adjacent layer and the second end portion of the strip of each intermediate layer being connected to the first end portion of the second next adjacent layer;
such that the strip is continuous through the package and such that a full extent of the strip from the second end portion of said first end layer to said first end portion of said second end layer can be unfolded for supply to said end use machine;
orienting the package such that the layers are generally upstanding with the second end portions uppermost and the first end portions resting on a support;
inclining the layers at an angle to the vertical such that the first end layer defines a side surface inclined upwardly and the second end layer defines a side surface which is inclined downwardly;
providing an in
BKI Holding Corporation
Darby & Darby
Johnson Linda
LandOfFree
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