Packaging restraining an article from moving

Abstract

Packaging includes a combination of a container, a pouch and a substantially flat article enclosed by the pouch. The pouch has a top, bottom opposite the top and a pouch height Hp between the top and the bottom. The container includes: a base having a substantially flat bottom, a cover, an inner container height Hc between the bottom of the base and an underside of the cover. The pouch bottom is adhered to the bottom of the base by an anti-slip agent. The inner container height Hc and a pouch height Hp are such that the pouch is pressed by the cover against the base. The anti-slip agent is configured so that when exercising a force on the pouch in a direction substantially perpendicular to the bottom of the base, the pouch can be removed and the surfaces that were adhered to each other by the anti-slip agent are not sticky after the removal of the pouch so that when the pouch is laid again onto the bottom of the base of the container, there is no longer an adherent force between the pouch and the container.

Description

[0001] This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application No. 10 / 192,190 filed Jul. 10, 2002 which, in turn, claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application No. 60 / 324,349 filed on Sep. 24, 2001.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to a packaging for a substantially flat article. The packaging includes a container that is larger than the article. More specifically the invention relates to a rectangular flat container for a stack of sheets or plates that are smaller than the container. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] 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. [0004] In particular, when packaging a stack of sheets, especially photographic or thermographic...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0010] An advantage of the invention is that the packaged article is reliably restrained from moving, e.g. during handling or shipping. Moreover, a packaging in accordance with the invention is simple and economical.

[0011] In an embodiment of the invention, there is an unfilled space of d mm, with d<5 mm, between the pouch and the cover of the container. The unfilled space is preferably not larger, because otherwise the pouch could become detached from the bottom of the base of the container during shipping or handling, as is now explained. The pouch is preferably made of a flexible material, such as black-pigmented polyethylene. Moreover, the pouch usually does not enclose the article so tightly that it cannot move at all inside the pouch. Preferably, to avoid damage to the article during handling and shipping, the article is packed so that it cannot bump into side walls of the container, but this may be realized by positioning the pouch far enough from the side walls. Thus, the article may have some play inside the pouch, while damage to the article is still avoided. When moving the container around, the pouch will remain attached to the bottom of the base of the container by the anti-slip agent. However, when holding the container upside down, the pouch will become detached if there is a large unfilled space between the pouch and the cover of the container, because the weight of the article in the pouch will then fully act substantially perpendicularly on the anti-slip agent. If the unfilled space is small enough, at least a portion of the weight of the article will rest on the cover of the container, because of e.g. the flexibility of the pouch and the play of the article in the pouch; in this way, the pouch will still remain attached to the bottom of the base of the container.

[0012] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, there is an unfilled space of d mm, with d<2 mm, between the pouch and the cover of the container, so that there is an even better chance, for heavy articles, that the pouch remains adhered to the bottom of the base of the container under all usual handling circumstances.

[0013] In a still more preferred embodiment of the invention, there is no unfilled space, i.e. d=0, so that the pouch is pressed against the bottom of the base of the container by the cover of the container.

[0014] In all embodiments of the invention described above, a filling piece may be positioned between the pouch and the cover of the container. This may be useful to reduce the unfilled space between the pouch and the cover of the container, in case the inner height of the container, between the cover and the bottom of the base of the container, is much larger than the height of the pouch. Preferably, the filling piece is attached to the cover of the container or to the top of the pouch. More than one filling piece may be used.

[0015] A “bottom” of a base of a container is the portion of the base that is used to support the pouch; possibly, one or more filling pieces may be attached to the base, so that at least one filling piece is used to support the pouch (see e.g. FIG. 7). These filling pieces are then considered to be part of the base; the bottom of the base is the portion of the base that is used to support the pouch.

Problems solved by technology

A drawback is that the strips are cut manually, which is labor-intensive and time-consuming, and which generates dust and dirt.

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