Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D81/00—Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents
  • B65D81/02—Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents specially adapted to protect contents from mechanical damage
  • B65D81/05—Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents specially adapted to protect contents from mechanical damage maintaining contents at spaced relation from package walls, or from other contents
  • B65D81/053—Corner, edge or end protectors
  • B65D81/054—Protectors contacting two generally perpendicular surfaces of the packaged article, e.g. edge protectors
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D81/00—Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents
  • B65D81/02—Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents specially adapted to protect contents from mechanical damage
  • B65D81/05—Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents specially adapted to protect contents from mechanical damage maintaining contents at spaced relation from package walls, or from other contents
  • B65D81/053—Corner, edge or end protectors
  • B65D81/058—Protectors contacting five surfaces of the packaged article, e.g. five-sided end protectors
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D85/00—Containers, packaging elements or packages, specially adapted for particular articles or materials
  • B65D85/68—Containers, packaging elements or packages, specially adapted for particular articles or materials for machines, engines or vehicles in assembled or dismantled form
• • D—TEXTILES; PAPER
  • D06—TREATMENT OF TEXTILES OR THE LIKE; LAUNDERING; FLEXIBLE MATERIALS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • D06F—LAUNDERING, DRYING, IRONING, PRESSING OR FOLDING TEXTILE ARTICLES
  • D06F39/00—Details of washing machines not specific to a single type of machines covered by groups D06F9/00 - D06F27/00 
  • D06F39/001—Arrangements for transporting, moving, or setting washing machines; Protective arrangements for use during transport
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D2571/00—Bundles of articles held together by packaging elements for convenience of storage or transport, e.g. portable segregating carrier for plural receptacles such as beer cans, pop bottles; Bales of material
  • B65D2571/00006—Palletisable loads, i.e. loads intended to be transported by means of a fork-lift truck
  • B65D2571/00111—Arrangements of flexible binders
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D2581/00—Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents
  • B65D2581/02—Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents specially adapted to protect contents from mechanical damage
  • B65D2581/05—Containers, packaging elements, or packages, for contents presenting particular transport or storage problems, or adapted to be used for non-packaging purposes after removal of contents specially adapted to protect contents from mechanical damage maintaining contents at spaced relation from package walls, or from other contents
  • B65D2581/051—Details of packaging elements for maintaining contents at spaced relation from package walls, or from other contents
  • B65D2581/058—Edge or corner protectors connected to each other by separate elements
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D2585/00—Containers, packaging elements or packages specially adapted for particular articles or materials
  • B65D2585/68—Containers, packaging elements or packages specially adapted for particular articles or materials for machines, engines, or vehicles in assembled or dismantled form
  • B65D2585/6802—Containers, packaging elements or packages specially adapted for particular articles or materials for machines, engines, or vehicles in assembled or dismantled form specific machines, engines or vehicles
  • B65D2585/6845—Containers, packaging elements or packages specially adapted for particular articles or materials for machines, engines, or vehicles in assembled or dismantled form specific machines, engines or vehicles other household devices
  • B65D2585/6855—Containers, packaging elements or packages specially adapted for particular articles or materials for machines, engines, or vehicles in assembled or dismantled form specific machines, engines or vehicles other household devices washing machine
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D75/00—Packages comprising articles or materials partially or wholly enclosed in strips, sheets, blanks, tubes or webs of flexible sheet material, e.g. in folded wrappers
  • B65D75/002—Packages comprising articles or materials partially or wholly enclosed in strips, sheets, blanks, tubes or webs of flexible sheet material, e.g. in folded wrappers in shrink films
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D75/00—Packages comprising articles or materials partially or wholly enclosed in strips, sheets, blanks, tubes or webs of flexible sheet material, e.g. in folded wrappers
  • B65D75/006—Packages comprising articles or materials partially or wholly enclosed in strips, sheets, blanks, tubes or webs of flexible sheet material, e.g. in folded wrappers in stretch films

Definitions

• the invention concerns packaging, namely the means of protection that enable goods and various objects to reach their destinations without suffering damage.
• the most widely used material for this purpose is corrugated cardboard, interleaved and sealed outside by a glued on cover.
• the corrugated cardboard can be bent over, even several times, to form a complex structure made rigid by glueing.
• Another material used with increasing frequency is foam plastic in its several forms of polythene, polystyrene, PVC and polypropylene.
• Cost is the main problem encountered in packaging as in most cases it is considered disposable and cannot be reused. Cost of packaging is therefore an important factor in the total cost of the goods to be carried.
• Subject of the invention is a process for making "returnable" packing comprising:
• the concave structures are parallelepipeds.
• the concave structures are advantageously of plastic material.
• the means for ensuring stability during transport of the two concave structures applied to the object consist of a covering of heat-shrinkable plastic film applied to the packed object and tightened by passing the object through an oven to heat-shrink said covering.
• said means consist of a film of stretchable plastic material applied to the object by a machine or by hand and tightened.
• the means for ensuring stable association of the two empty concave structures put together for re-use are lateral clamping devices fitted onto said concave structures.
• Said clamps consist of elastic tabs, applied to the two sides of one concave structure, one end of the tab, U-shaped with converging sides, projecting from the edges of said concave structure. Said tab end is so sized that it can be pressed into fissures created on the raised edge of the second concave structure.
• the two concave structures can thus be separated by datching the cuts from the ends of said fissures, pressing together the two legs of the "U” of the tabs that project from the fissures in the edge of the second concave structure after passing beyond its raised edge.
• the ciamps used for putting the two 'returnable' concave structures together, are applied to one concave structure by means of pins with elastic studs that can be pressed into holes in grooves made in the sides of the concave structure to facilitate replacement if broken.
• the edges of the object to be packed are protected by oblong corner pieces of foam plastic, said pieces having at their two ends means for fastening them to the inside corners of the two concave structures.
• the means at the ends of the corner pieces are pin-like projections while those to take them in the corners of the concave structures are cavities of about the same dimensions as the pins, cut into the foam plastic.
• the corner pieces are of considerable length and are made in two bodies that can be fastened together for structural continuity by means created at the end of one piece consisting of a triangular expansion on one side and a hook to correspond on its second side, and by means created at one end of the second body and consisting of a cavity of substantially the same shape as that of said triangular expansion at one side and of a counter-hook on the second side.
• a substantially rectangular recess is cut from the base of the concave structure up to a short distance from is edge so that when the two concave structures are closed together for returning, the tops of the opposing recesses together form a sort of handle that facilitates transport
• the means for stable association during transport of the two concave structures applied to the object are straps and the like, one or more of which are passed round the two concave structures.
• the straps can be placed parallel to each other or can be crossed one over another. The straps are tightened by automatically locking buckles and the like that will not come apart spontaneously.
• the straps are separate from the concave structures and are kept in place by traction during packaging so that when the packing is removed, they are immediately detachable from the concave structure and can be laid between the two parts when said two parts of the concave structure are put togetherand form a 'suitcase' for return and reuse.
• the invention offers evident advantages.
• Packaging need therefore no longer represent a considerable part of the cost of the object, but such packaging can be improved and strengthened so that the protection it affords may be made even more efficient than it is at present.
• Fig. 1 Returnable packaging subject of the invention of the type suitable for a washing machine, exploded view, in perspective.
• Fig. 2 The packaging applied to the washing machine, perspective.
• Fig. 3 The packed up washing machine being moved through an oven to heat-shrink the protective plastic film covering, perspective.
• Fig. 4 The two concave structures, main components of the packaging subject of the invention, in the process of being put together for return and reuse, perspective.
• FIG. 5 The packaging when ready for return, perspective.
• Fig. 6 Detail of the means for putting together the concave structures, main components of the invented packaging, for return, cross section.
• the packaging 10 comprises the substantially equal concave structures
• the concave structure 100 of plastic material comprises the base 12 and sides 13.
• a substantially square recess 14 Cut close to the edge of the side to form half a handle 18.
• pairs of recesses 15 are used for application of the clamps 90 each clamp consisting of a moderately elastic tab 91 of plastic, on one face of which is a pair of elastic studs 92 that can be pressed into the above pair of holes 16.
• the clamps remain stable but can be replaced if they become broken.
• the free end of a tab is U-shaped 93, and opposing notches 94 are cut close to the U, one in each side.
• the clamps are used to close together the two opposing concave structures 100 and 101 , as will be explained below.
• a tray 20 of foam plastic material is placed inside the described structure 100, the outer dimensions of said tray substantially corresponding to the internal dimensions of the concave structure.
• a cleft 23 In the front face of said tray 20 is a cleft 23 its position being the same as that of the recess 14 made in the front side of the base 100 to form the half-handle 18.
• the concave structure 101 of plastic material comprises the base 32 and sides 33 with edge 37.
• a substantially square recess 34 Cut close to the edge of said side to form a half-handle 38.
• lateral there are a pair of recesses 35 each one extending fully up the side, to the position of a fissure 36 in the raised edge 37.
• the tray 40 of foam plastic material is placed inside the concave structure described, said tray having a base 42 and sides 41 whose external dimensions substantially correspond to the internal dimensions of said structure.
• the two concave structures 100 and 101 can be fitted over the top and under the base of the washing machine 80 as the internal dimensions of said structures are the same as the external dimensions of said top and bottom of the washing machine.
• the foam plastic corner pieces are applied to protect the vertical edges of the washing machine.
• Figure 1 shows the two pins 54 and 74 placed at the two ends of the corner pieces 50, the size of said pins being such that they can penetrate inside the seats 24 and 44 cut in the edges of the trays 20 and 40.
• Said corner pieces are each formed of two oblong bodies 51 and 71 of substantially the same height associatable in the following way.
• a triangular projection made at the lower end 58 of the body 51 on one of its sides 53, can penetrate inside the upper cavity 76 on one side 73 of the body 71 and, on the other side 52, the hook 57 can fit into the cut 78 made in the second side 72 of the body 71 as may be seen where the corner pieces 50 are shown joined together.
• Figure 2 shows in 81 the packed up washing machine 82.
• Figure 3 shows in 83 the packed up washing machine 82 covered with the heat-shrinkable film 85.
• Said machine is then passed through the oven 1 10 carried by a trans- porter comprising continuous belts 11 1 pulled by pulleys 112 and 113 fitted onto shafts 114 and 115, and also the doors 116 and 117.
• the bodies 51 and 71 of the corner pieces 50 are placed side by side in the trays 20 and 40 after which the concave structure 101 can be placed over the second concave structure 100 and firmly fixed by the clamps 90.
• Said clamps are closed by fitting their tips 92 inside the fissures 36 made in the edge 37 of the concave structure 101 .
• the ends of said fissures become inserted in the notches 94 made in the elastic tips 92 of the clamps, thus firmly closing the 'suitcase' 120 formed of the two concave structures 100 and 101 with handle 121.
• the packaging by then in 'suitcase' form, can therefore be conveniently returned to the firm that delivered the washing machine for further use with undoubted advantages of cost and efficiency.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Textile Engineering (AREA)
• Buffer Packaging (AREA)
• Packages (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=11380808

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (4)

Families Citing this family (16)

Family Cites Families (5)

• 1998
  • 1998-10-05 IT ITMI982135 patent/IT1302600B1/it active IP Right Grant
  • 1998-10-20 WO PCT/IT1998/000289 patent/WO2000020301A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1998-10-20 AU AU97597/98A patent/AU9759798A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1998-10-20 EP EP98951663A patent/EP1119504A1/en not_active Withdrawn

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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