Special receptacle or package – Holder for a removable electrical component – For a circuit board
Reexamination Certificate
1998-10-16
2001-10-02
Bui, Luan K. (Department: 3728)
Special receptacle or package
Holder for a removable electrical component
For a circuit board
C206S511000, C206S725000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06296122
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a packaging tray used for packaging a display element employed in electronic equipment, an OA (Office Automation) terminal, an advertisement display device, etc.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Conventionally, a packaging tray is used to package a display element, such as an LC (Liquid Crystal) panel. To transport assembled individual display elements, at least one display element is placed in each packaging tray, then the packaging trays are stacked in layers and sealed in a corrugated cardboard box. When the display elements are transported while being held in the packaging trays in the above manner, the damages to the display elements during the transportation can be minimized.
Well-known examples of the conventional packaging trays used for the transportation include:
{circle around (1)} molded articles made of non-foam materials using a vacuum molding cast;
{circle around (2)} molded articles made of foam materials, such as Styrofoam; and
{circle around (3)} assemblages of corrugated plastic or polyethylene foam.
The examples also include a packaging tray disclosed in, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 324674/1996 (Tokukahei No. 8-324674). The packaging tray disclosed in the above publication has a lid-wise outside shape, so that a plurality of the packaging trays can be readily stacked in layers, which will be explained more in detail in the following.
As shown in FIG.
12
(
a
), a packaging tray
51
disclosed in the above publication is made of a conductive material prepared by blending carbon with polystyrene or vinyl chloride, which is made into a lid-wise shape using a cast.
The packaging tray
51
includes a plurality of display element holding concave portions
52
. A portion indicated by a capital letter R in FIG.
12
(
a
) is depicted in FIG.
12
(
b
) illustrating an enlarged bottom portion of one display element holding concave portion
52
. As shown in the drawing, the display element holding portion
52
includes corner stoppers
53
, a side surface stopper
54
, and holders
55
.
The corner stoppers
53
touch three out of four corners of an LC panel
56
(see FIG.
12
(
c
)) to set these corners at their respective right positions. On the other hand, the side surface stopper
54
touches one side surface near the remaining corner to set the LC panel
56
to a right position. Therefore, the LC panel
56
is held at a predetermined position inside the packaging tray
51
by being set in the right position with the corner stoppers
53
and side surface stopper
54
.
As shown in FIG.
12
(
c
) illustrating a sectional view taken on line
12
(
c
)—
12
(
c
) of FIG.
12
(
a
), the holders
55
hold the LC panel
56
by receiving the same on the back surface at a portion outside an effective display area A of the LC panel
56
. Accordingly, the damages to a polarizing plate placed inside the effective display area A of the LC panel
56
can be prevented.
Also, as shown in FIG.
12
(
a
), a rib
57
having a concave cross section is provided along the edge of each side of the packaging tray
51
on the surface thereof, whereby the warpage of the packaging tray
51
while the packaging tray
51
is molded or the LC panels
56
are held in the display element holding concave portions
52
can be prevented.
On the other hand, as shown in
FIG. 13
, spacers
58
are provided on the back surface of the packaging tray
51
at a portion where the display element holding concave portions
52
are not formed, that is, at the corners and almost at the center of the packaging tray
51
. The spacers
58
touch the surface of another packaging tray
51
placed beneath when a plurality of the packaging trays
51
are stacked in layers vertically.
FIG. 14
illustrates a plurality of the packaging trays
51
stacked in layers vertically. In the drawing illustrating the cross section, the spacers
58
of the upper packaging tray
51
seem to have fitted into the ribs
57
of the lower packaging tray
51
, but in practice, the spacers
58
of the upper packaging tray
51
only touches the surface of the lower packaging tray
51
, which is apparent from the position of the spacers
58
with respect to the ribs
57
shown in FIGS.
12
(
a
) and
13
.
Since the spacers
58
are provided on the back surface of the packaging tray
51
, when a plurality of the packaging trays
51
are stacked in layers vertically, an adequate space is secured between the LC panels
56
held in the lower packaging tray
51
and the upper packaging tray
51
, thereby preventing physical contact between the LC panels
56
and upper packaging tray
51
. Consequently, it has become possible to prevent a load from being applied on the surface of the LC panels
56
held in the packaging tray
51
, and therefore, the damages to the LC panels
56
can be eliminated.
However, since the spacers
58
provided on the back surface of the upper packaging tray
51
only touch the surface of the lower packaging tray
51
, the stacking position of the lower packaging tray
51
with respect to the upper packaging tray
51
is not fixed. Thus, the packaging trays
51
stacked in the above manner move apart or displaced from each other due to the vibrations caused during the transportation of the LC panels
56
. This reveals that the stacking position can not be controlled by merely making the packaging trays
51
into a lid-wise shape, and therefore, it is impossible to prevent the displacement of the stacked packaging trays
51
by so doing.
Thus, according to the arrangement of the above publication, the stacked packaging trays
51
can not be maintained in a stable manner. Consequently, while the LC panels
56
are transported, the packaging trays
51
are displaced from each other, which causes the sliding, chipping, or cracking of the LC panels
56
, thereby posing a problem that a non-conforming ratio rises.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a packaging tray which can avoid the damages to a display element held therein caused by the displacement of the stacked packaging trays during the transportation.
To achieve the above and other objects, a packaging tray of the present invention, which has a lid-wise outside shape and a plurality of which can be stacked in layers while each holding at least one display element, is characterized by having:
at least one display element holding concave portion for holding the display element; and
a position determining portion, provided near each side of the packaging tray, for, when a plurality of packaging trays are stacked, fixedly determining a stacking position of each packaging tray with respect to at least one of other packaging trays placed above and beneath.
According to the above arrangement, the packaging tray has a lid-wise outside shape, and a plurality of the same can be stacked in layers while each holding at least one display element in the display element holding concave portion.
Here, since the position determining portion is provided near each side of the packaging tray (in case that the packaging tray has one display element holding concave portion, the position determining portions are provided around the same), the stacking position of the packaging tray with respect to the packaging tray(s) placed above and/or beneath can be determined fixedly. Consequently, the stacked packaging trays can be maintained in a stable manner, and they are not displaced relatively from each other due to the vibrations during the transportation.
Thus, the above arrangement makes it possible to prevent the sliding, chipping, cracking, etc. of the display elements held in the stacked packaging trays caused by the displacement of the stacked packaging trays during the transportation of the display elements, thereby suppressing an increase of a non-conforming ratio.
For a fuller understanding of the nature and advantages of the invention, reference should be made to the ensuing detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
REFERENCE
Murakami Akira
Nakazono Tsugio
Bui Luan K.
Conlin David G.
Daley, Jr. William J.
Dike, Bronstein, Roberts and Cushman
Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
LandOfFree
Packaging tray does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Packaging tray, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Packaging tray will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2578326