JPH04311474A - Shock absorber for protecting goods - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a shock absorber dispasable without problems, excellent in protecting function, effective in utilization of resources and excellent in economical property, by containing a hard shock absorbing member made of a number of foamed plastic small balls so as to space only a part of the inside volume in an elastic rubber bag or the like charged with air. CONSTITUTION:A shock absorber 10 is constituted of an elastic rubber spherical bag 20 and a number of foams plastic small balls 30 as hard chock absorbing materials. The diameter of a feed and discharge valve 22 is defined to be larger than the outer diameter of the foamed plastic balls 30 to freely pass through these plastic balls. And the volumetric ratio of the foamed plastic small balls 30 against the inside volume of the elastic bag 20 is made about a half or the foamed plastic small ball 30 are designed to share only a part of the inner volume of the elastic bag 20 and the rest is charged with air.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Application Field] This invention relates to a shock absorbing device for protecting goods, and more specifically, when transporting and handling various mechanical parts, the present invention is made up of the parts or an inner box containing the parts, and a cardboard box. Interposed between the exterior body and
The present invention relates to a shock absorbing device for protecting an article, which absorbs shocks, vibrations, etc. of external forces applied to an exterior body, and prevents the protected article from being damaged.

0002

[Prior Art] Conventionally, shock absorbers have been used to protect items that are sensitive to shocks and vibrations, such as home appliances, precision measuring instruments, and information equipment, during transportation and handling. A foamed plastic block or a corrugated paper cut or folded into an appropriate shape is interposed between the protective article and the exterior body.

[0003] Corrugated paper has the ability to effectively absorb impact energy by buckling when a large impact force is applied to it, but it has poor elastic deformability, so it is not suitable for protective articles. There may be a gap between the protector and the exterior body, causing looseness, and vibrations may be directly transmitted to the protected item, or the protected item may rub against the shock absorber or surrounding objects, causing damage to the protected item. This has the disadvantage that the protected article cannot be sufficiently protected.

[0004] On the other hand, foamed plastic has a certain degree of elasticity, so it comes into contact with the protective article elastically, and
It has the function of reliably supporting the protected item in a fixed position so that it does not move even when subjected to vibrations, etc., and also does not cause permanent deformation when a large impact force is applied, similar to the above-mentioned corrugated paperboard. It also has the ability to effectively absorb impact energy, making it suitable as a material for shock absorbers.

[0005]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, once a large impact force is applied to foamed plastic and it becomes permanently deformed, a gap remains between it and the protective article, causing the protective article to become elastic. The function of abutting against and supporting in a fixed position becomes impossible. Therefore, shock absorbers using foamed plastics have not always been sufficient in terms of the protection function for articles. Furthermore, a shock absorber that has undergone permanent deformation in this manner could not be reused even if it was recovered after use.

[0006] For this reason, conventional cushioning devices made of foamed plastic are
It was disposed of as is, but it was extremely uneconomical and a waste of resources. Moreover, foamed plastics are bulky and difficult to weather, making them undesirable for buried disposal. Furthermore, if they are disposed of by incineration, they generate high heat, damaging the incinerator, and generate toxic gases, polluting the environment.

[0007] Therefore, the object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the conventional shock absorbing device, to provide a good protection function for articles, to avoid the problems of disposal unlike foamed plastics, and to realize effective use of resources and economy. It is an object of the present invention to provide a shock absorbing device for protecting articles which is also excellent in terms of performance.

[0008]

[Means for Solving the Problems] A shock absorbing device for protecting articles according to the present invention, which solves the above-mentioned problems, houses a hard shock absorber in an elastic bag filled with air so as to occupy only a part of the internal volume. It is characterized by the fact that

[0009] The elastic bag body is made of an elastic material such as rubber,
It has a bag structure that can be filled with air and sealed, making use of the elastic cushioning effect of air. The shape of the elastic bag can be any three-dimensional shape, such as spherical, elliptical, cylindrical, or thick plate. In the elastic bag body,
If an air supply/exhaust valve is provided, the air pressure of the sealed air can be changed to adjust the elastic deformation characteristics, or the volume can be reduced by removing air when not in use. The elastic bag may be provided with fixing means for temporarily fixing it to the inner surface of the exterior body or the surface of the protective article so as not to shift or move during use. As the fixing means, temporary fixing means such as double-sided tape and adhesives, which are used in ordinary shock absorbers and packaging materials, are used. Further, an engaging portion that can be engaged with each other may be provided on the surface of the protective article or the exterior body and a part of the elastic bag.

[0010] As the hard cushioning material, a cushioning material having a certain degree of elasticity and shock absorbing ability, such as foamed plastic, is used. The term "hard" as used herein means that it is harder and less likely to deform than the elastic bag, and can sufficiently exhibit the elasticity or shock absorbing properties required as a cushioning material. Specifically, in addition to the above-mentioned foamed plastics, hollow plastic bodies, hard rubber blocks, etc. can also be used. A spherical hard shock absorber with no corners is preferable because it will not be damaged when the hard shock absorbers come into contact with each other or with the protective article, and has an excellent shock absorbing effect. Columnar or polyhedral shapes can also be used. A large number of relatively small lumps or particles of hard buffer may be housed in an elastic bag, or one or a small number of relatively large hard buffers may be housed in an elastic bag. You can leave it there.

[0011] When the elastic bag contains a hard buffer and air, the hard buffer occupies only a part of the internal volume of the elastic bag, and the remaining part is filled with air. By changing the ratio of the volume of the hard shock absorber to the internal volume of the elastic bag, the shock absorbing characteristics of the entire shock absorbing device against vibrations, shocks, etc. can be adjusted.

[0012] When an air supply/discharge valve is provided in the elastic bag body, if the hard buffer can be taken out through the air supply/discharge valve, the capacity of the hard buffer can be changed depending on the purpose, or other It can be replaced with a hard buffer.

[0013]

[Operation] The elastic bag filled with air has extremely high elasticity and can flexibly contact the protective article. Therefore, vibrations and small external forces can be absorbed, and the protective article can be reliably positioned and fixed at a fixed position within the exterior body for protection. However, if only the elastic bag is flexible and has a large amount of elastic deformation, when a large impact force is applied, the elastic bag easily deforms, and almost no impact energy is absorbed. As a result, the impact force is directly applied to the protected article.

[0014] A hard shock absorber has a higher ability to absorb impact energy than an elastic bag, so if a hard shock absorber is used,
It can absorb large impact forces. However, hard shock absorbers cannot flexibly deform in response to small forces and vibrations. Further, it is not possible to flexibly deform to match the shape of the protective article so that a gap does not occur between the exterior body and the protective article.

[0015] Therefore, when a hard buffer is housed in the internal space of the elastic bag, first, the elastic bag flexibly contacts the protected article to position and fix it, thereby reliably absorbing small external forces and vibrations. be able to. When a large impact force is applied and the elastic bag deforms, the protective article and the exterior body will come into contact with the hard cushioning body in between, making it difficult for the hard cushioning body to absorb the impact force well. can.

[0016] If the impact force is extremely large, a part of the hard cushioning body may undergo permanent deformation, but even if the hard cushioning body undergoes permanent deformation, the elastic bag body will immediately regain its elasticity once the impact force is removed. The protective article can be returned to its original position and well supported.

[0017]

Embodiments Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a spherical elastic bag 20 made of rubber and a large number of foamed plastic small balls 30 are used as hard cushioning bodies. Elastic bag body 20
is equipped with an air supply/discharge valve 22. The diameter of the supply/discharge valve 22 is set larger than the outer diameter of the small foamed plastic ball 30, so that the small foamed plastic ball 30 can be taken in and out freely. For the internal volume of the elastic bag 20, the foamed plastic balls 30
The foamed plastic pellets 30 occupy only a portion of the internal volume of the elastic bag 20, such as by reducing the proportion of the volume occupied by approximately half, and the remaining portion is filled with air. put.

As shown in FIG. 1, when using the shock absorber 10, the shock absorber 10 is placed at appropriate locations such as the four corners on the inner bottom surface of an exterior body 40 made of a cardboard box or the like. In order to prevent the shock absorbing device 10 from shifting or moving, the elastic bag 20 can be fixed to the surface of the exterior body 40 using a fixing means such as double-sided tape or an adhesive, so that the elastic bag 20 can be reliably positioned. After placing an article such as a mechanical part or an inner box 50 (hereinafter referred to as a protective article 50) containing the article on the shock absorbing device 10 and sealing the exterior body, the article is used for transportation and storage. Although not shown, the shock absorber 10 includes:
It may be attached to the inner surface of the exterior body 40 on the side or top side of the protective article 50.

The elastic bag 20 tightly contacts the exterior body 40 and the protective article 50, and the protective article 50 is supported in a fixed position inside the exterior body 40 by the elastic force of the elastic bag 20. Moreover, the foamed plastic balls 30 are inside the elastic bag 20 and do not come into contact with the protective article 50. In this state, if an external force is applied during transportation or the like, vibrations and small external forces are well absorbed by the buffering effect of the air filled in the elastic bag 20.

However, as shown in FIG. 2, when a large impact force is applied, the elastic bag 20 is greatly deformed and becomes crushed, causing the protective article 50 to hit the foamed plastic balls 30. They come into contact with each other. Since the foamed plastic pellets 30 can absorb greater impact energy than the elastic bag 20 or air, the impact force is absorbed by the foamed plastic pellets 30 and is not transmitted to the protective article 50. Since the foamed plastic pellets 30 are less likely to deform than the elastic bag 20, the protective article 50 will not be shaken or moved significantly. When a very large impact force is applied, the foamed plastic balls 30 are crushed and permanently deformed, thereby absorbing the impact energy. When the impact force is removed, the elastic bag 20 elastically restores itself and returns the protective article 50 to its original position even if the foamed plastic pellets 30 remain permanently deformed.

When the transportation of the protective article 50 is completed, the protective article 50 is taken out from the exterior body 40, and then the shock absorber 10 is removed.
By removing the shock absorber 10, the shock absorber 10 can be reused. Foamed plastic pellets 30 housed in an elastic bag 20
If the plastic foam ball 30 is permanently deformed and cannot be reused, only the permanently deformed foam plastic ball 30 is removed from the elastic bag body 20 using the supply/discharge valve 22, and a new foam plastic ball 30 is removed. You can replace it with Even when discarding the permanently deformed foamed plastic pellets 30, instead of discarding a foamed plastic block that is the same size as the entire volume of the shock absorber 10 or the elastic bag 20, only a portion of the internal volume of the elastic bag 10 is discarded. Since it is only necessary to dispose of the foamed plastic pellets 30, which occupy a large portion of the space, the effort and cost of disposal are greatly reduced. Furthermore, if the foamed plastic beads 30 are of uniform size and are not mixed with other materials, they can be recycled by melting or other recycling treatment.

When the shock absorber 10 is to be transported to a reuse site or stored, the air can be removed from the elastic bag 20 to reduce its bulk, making it easier to handle and reducing transportation costs. and storage costs can be reduced.

Next, FIGS. 3 and 4 show a shock absorbing device 10 whose structure is partially different from that of the above embodiment.

The elastic bag 20 used is the same as in the previous embodiment. As the hard buffer, a hollow ball made of hard plastic, hard rubber, or the like having a buffering effect, that is, a hollow buffer ball 60 is used. The hollow cushioning ball 60 can exhibit excellent cushioning performance due to both the cushioning effect due to the elasticity and shock absorbing properties of the material itself, and the buffering effect due to the hollow structure. In this embodiment, only one hollow cushioning ball 60, which is larger than the foamed plastic small ball 30, is housed in the elastic bag 20. However, a small hollow buffer ball 60
If a large number of these are made and stored in the elastic bag body 20, the result will be the same as in the case of the foamed plastic small balls 30.

[0026]

Effects of the Invention According to the shock absorbing device for protecting articles according to the present invention as described above, it is possible to reliably support protected articles in a fixed position and to absorb relatively small forces such as vibrations well. By using a filled elastic bag in combination with a hard shock absorber that can satisfactorily absorb large impact forces, the shock absorbing effects of each can be synergistically exerted, and the article can be well protected.

In particular, with conventional shock absorbers made of paper or foamed plastic, if a large impact force is applied and the material is permanently deformed, a gap will be created between the protective article and the shock absorber, causing rattling. Thereafter, the protected article may be damaged, and the article may no longer be adequately cushioned and protected. However, in the present invention, even if the hard shock absorber undergoes permanent deformation, the function of the elastic shock absorber made of the elastic bag remains unchanged, so that the article can be sufficiently buffered and protected.

Even if it is necessary to replace the permanently deformed hard shock absorber, at least the elastic bag can be used repeatedly, and this combined with the small volume or amount of use of the hard shock absorber makes it extremely economical. It is. Furthermore, if the amount of hard buffers used is small, disposal is easy, and if only hard buffers made of the same material are taken out and collected, they can be recycled.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

[Fig. 1] A sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention in a state of use.

[Figure 2] Cross-sectional view when a large impact force is applied

[Fig. 3] Cross-sectional view of another embodiment in use

[Figure 4] Cross-sectional view when a large impact force is applied

[Explanation of symbols] 10 Shock absorber 20 Elastic bag 30 Small foamed plastic ball (hard shock absorber) 40
Exterior body 50 Protective article 60 Hollow buffer bulb (hard buffer)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A shock absorbing device for protecting articles, characterized in that an elastic bag filled with air accommodates a hard shock absorber so as to occupy only a part of the internal volume.