Rib structure for impact buffering, pulp mold buffering material, packaging material and packaging system

Abstract

To provide a rib structure for impact buffering of a pulp mold buffering material which can reduce impact acceleration applied on a packaging object more than that with conventional specifications.SOLUTION: A rib structure for impact buffering of a pulp mold buffering material according to the present invention is a hollow rib structure for impact buffering which comprises a top plate and a side wall, with a bottom portion being open. In the rib structure for impact buffering, at least one opening part is provided in a range equal to or less than a half of height of the side wall, with a distance from the bottom portion to the top plate defined to be height of the rib structure for impact buffering. This configuration makes rigidity of an upper part and rigidity of a lower part of the rib structure almost the same, so as to be compatible, so that the entire rib structure can be uniformly compressed and / or collapsed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a rib structure for impact buffering, a pulp mold buffer, a packaging material, and a packaging system.

Background Art

[0002] In order to realize a recycling-oriented society, reduction of the usage amount of single-use plastics has been listed in the environmental management policies of various companies. In addition, in recent environmental problems, in order to address problems such as marine plastic waste, reduction of the usage amount of plastic packaging materials has been demanded. Therefore, the use value of pulp mold packaging materials with excellent recyclability and recoverability has been increasing further.

[0003] A pulp mold buffer can buffer the impact applied to the object to be packaged, that is, the impact acceleration, caused by vibration and drop impact received during the logistics process, by its own deformation and buckling action. For example, even when an impact acceleration of up to several hundred G is applied to the object to be packaged, a technique is known and already implemented in which the impact acceleration can be reduced to 100 G or less by using a buffer.

[0004] The conventional pulp mold buffer 100 shown in FIG. 1 basically has a storage space 105 for the object to be packaged and is configured by providing an impact buffering rib structure 110 having a cylindrical or prismatic structure with an impact buffering function.

[0005] Also, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a configuration in which a slit is provided in the object-receiving portion of a pulp mold buffer, and the object to be packaged is accommodated by crushing the slit so as to conform to the shape of the object to be packaged.

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] The packaging material for precision instruments using a pulp mold buffer material does not have a very high impact resistance, and there is a risk that the object to be packaged may be damaged. Therefore, a function of reducing the impact acceleration to a smaller value is required for the pulp mold buffer material. However, the impact buffer rib structure of the pulp mold buffer material as described above has a problem that it has reached the limit of reducing the impact acceleration.

[0007] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an impact buffer rib structure in the impact buffer rib structure of a pulp mold buffer material that can reduce the impact acceleration more than the conventional specifications.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0008] The above problem is solved by an impact buffer rib structure of a pulp mold buffer material, which is a hollow impact buffer rib structure composed of a top plate and side walls and having an open bottom surface. The distance from the bottom surface to the top plate is defined as the height of the impact buffer rib structure, and at least one opening is provided in a range of half or less of the height of the side wall.

Effects of the Invention

[0009] The impact buffer rib structure of the present invention has at least one opening provided in a range of half or less of the height of the side wall. As a result, the rigidity of the upper part and the lower part of the rib structure becomes the same level and has consistency, so that the entire rib structure can be uniformly compressed and / or crushed. By adopting an impact buffer mechanism that utilizes the entire height of the rib structure, the spring constant of the entire rib structure can be reduced, and the impact acceleration applied to the object to be packaged can be reduced more than the conventional specifications.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0010]

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Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0011] Before explaining the embodiments below, preliminary matters for facilitating the understanding of the embodiments will be explained.

[0012] As shown in FIG. 2, the conventional impact buffering rib structure 110 is composed of a top plate 12 and side walls 14, and has a hollow structure with an open bottom surface 16, that is, it has a structure of (a) a prism or (b) a cylinder. The impact buffering mechanism by this impact buffering rib structure 110 is as follows.

[0013] FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the compressive deformation of the side wall in the conventional specification. As shown in FIG. 3(a), FIG. 3(b) shows the impact buffering rib structure 110 viewed in the direction of arrow A.

[0014] With respect to the dynamic load DL received from the object 20 to be packaged, which acts when the packaged goods fall, the impact buffering rib structure 110 mainly supports the dynamic load DL with the side walls 14, and buffers the impact by the compressive or crushing stress due to the compressive deformation of the side walls 14. That is, by the side walls 14 of the impact buffering rib structure 110 being compressed and deformed, the impact acceleration applied to the object 20 to be packaged is reduced, and the object 20 to be packaged is protected.

[0015] For the design of such an impact buffering rib structure, the basic formula expressed by the following formula (1) is used. G (impact acceleration) = C (impact coefficient) × h (falling height) / t (thickness of the buffer material) ··· (1)

[0016] Specifically, aiming at the strain (ε) at which the impact coefficient (C) determined by the stress characteristics of the buffer material becomes the minimum (see FIG. 4), it is considered that the outer shape of the object to be packaged does not hit the bottom inside the packaged goods. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, a clearance t c against the bottom contact of the object to be packaged is formed by the buffer material. Then, by adjusting the support area for supporting the load of the object to be packaged by the buffer material, the instantaneous strain amount of the impact buffering rib structure is designed to usually fall within the range of 0.4 to 0.6.

[0017] However, with the conventional impact buffering rib structure 110 shown in FIG. 2 and the above design method, the impact acceleration (G) has reached its reduction limit, and in order to further improve the impact buffering performance, a new impact buffering rib structure with a lower impact coefficient (C) is required.

[0018] In contrast, the present inventors carefully observed the deformed state of the conventional impact buffer rib structure 110 and focused on the fact that compression and crushing occurred unevenly towards the top plate 12 side (see FIG. 3). That is, the entire height of the rib structure was not utilized, and it was found that the potential of the spring constant of the entire rib structure was impaired.

[0019] FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a side wall having a gradient. As shown in FIG. 6(a), FIG. 6(b) shows the impact buffer rib structure 110 viewed in the direction of arrow A. The side wall 14 of the impact buffer rib structure 110 has a gradient (Δθ) due to its molding. This is provided in advance in the product shape to facilitate removal of the molded product from the mold.

[0020] FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a side wall whose peripheral length (cross-sectional area) changes. Cross-sections B and C show the impact buffer rib structure 110 viewed in the directions of arrows B and C, respectively. Since the impact buffer rib structure 110 has a gradient (Δθ), the peripheral length (cross-sectional area) of the side wall 14 gradually increases towards its bottom surface 16 (open bottom surface 16).

[0021] Therefore, the stress due to compression or crushing gradually decreases towards the lower part (bottom surface 16) of the rib structure 110. Therefore, it is considered that compression or crushing occurs unevenly towards the relatively weaker top plate 12 side.

[0022] In the following embodiments, an impact buffer rib structure for a pulp mold buffer material that can reduce the impact acceleration compared to the conventional specifications will be described.

[0023] (First Embodiment) Figure 8 is a perspective view of the rib structure for impact buffering according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figure 8, the rib structures 10, 10' for impact buffering in this embodiment are composed of a top plate 12 and side walls 14, and have a hollow structure with an open bottom surface 16, that is, a structure of (a) a prism or (b) a cylinder. And, taking the distance from the bottom surface 16 to the top plate 12 as the height h of the rib structure for impact buffering, a plurality of openings 18 are provided in the range of half or less of the height h of the side wall 14.

[0024] The rib structures 10, 10' for impact buffering reduce the rigidity of the lower part of the rib structure by providing the openings 18 in the lower part (range of half or less of the height h) of the side wall 14. That is, by making the rigidity of the upper part of the rib structure and the lower part of the rib structure the same and having consistency, the entire rib structure can be uniformly compressed and / or crushed.

[0025] Figure 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a deformation of the rib structure for impact buffering in this embodiment. As shown in Figure 9(a), Figure 9(b) is a view of the rib structure 10 for impact buffering seen in the direction of arrow A.

[0026] For the dynamic load DL received from the packaged object 20, the rib structure 10 for impact buffering mainly supports the dynamic load DL with the side wall 14, but is different from the conventional specification (see Figure 3) in that the compression and crushing of the side wall 14 extend over the entire range in the height direction.

[0027] In this way, by adopting an impact buffering mechanism that utilizes the entire height of the rib structure, the spring constant can be reduced compared to the conventional specification, and the impact acceleration applied to the packaged object can be reduced.

[0028] (Width dimension of the opening) Figure 10 is a schematic diagram showing the dimensions of the opening provided in the side wall. As shown in Figure 10(a), the side wall 14 has a gradient in the height direction. On the outer surface of the side wall 14, let the perpendicular distance in the height direction from the central position (h / 2) of the height of the side wall 14 to the end of the bottom surface 16 of the opening 18 be a.

[0029] As shown in FIG. 10(b), when the width W of the opening 18 is set to approximately 2a (W ≈ 2a), it is most desirable for making the rigidity of the upper part of the rib structure equal to that of the lower part. The verification results regarding this will be described later.

[0030] (Second Embodiment) FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a rib structure for impact buffering according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 11, the same components as those in FIG. 8 are denoted by the same reference numerals and their detailed descriptions are omitted.

[0031] As shown in FIG. 11, the rib structure 10a for impact buffering of the pulp mold buffer material is different from the rib structure 10 for impact buffering according to the first embodiment in that a plurality of openings 18a are provided near the center of the height of the side wall 14.

[0032] This is intended to cause buckling starting from the center by providing a weakened portion near the center of the height of the side wall 14.

[0033] FIG. 12 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a deformation of the rib structure for impact buffering in the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 12(a), FIG. 12(b) shows the rib structure 10a for impact buffering as viewed in the direction of arrow A.

[0034] With respect to the dynamic load DL received from the packaged object 20, the rib structure 10 for impact buffering mainly supports the dynamic load DL by the side wall 14, but is different from the previous embodiment in that bending and buckling occur in the side wall 14. By generating a bending stress smaller than the compressive stress over the entire region of the side wall 14, the impact acceleration applied to the packaged object 20 can be reduced.

[0035] (Third Embodiment) FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a rib structure for impact buffering according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 13, the same components as those in FIG. 8 are denoted by the same reference numerals and their detailed descriptions are omitted.

[0036] As shown in Fig. 13, the impact buffering rib structure 10b of the pulp mold buffer material is different from the impact buffering rib structures according to the first and second embodiments in that a plurality of openings 18b are provided in a range of at least half of the height of the side wall 14.

[0037] This is intended to cause the upper part of the rib structure to be buckled earlier by low stress due to bending stress by providing a weakened part at the upper part of the side wall 14, and then to cause compression and / or crushing below the central part of the rib structure.

[0038] Fig. 14 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a modification of the impact buffering rib structure in the present embodiment. As shown in Fig. 14(a), Fig. 14(b) shows the impact buffering rib structure 10b as viewed in the direction of arrow A.

[0039] With respect to the dynamic load DL received from the object to be packaged 20, the impact buffering rib structure 10 mainly supports the dynamic load DL by the side wall 14, but bending and buckling occur at the upper part of the side wall 14, and compression and crushing occur below the central part.

[0040] In the impact buffering rib structure 10b of the present embodiment, since the stress acting from the upper part of the rib structure is reduced at the initial stage of impact generation, it is possible to prevent a sudden impact from being applied to the object to be packaged and to reduce the acceleration generated in the internal components of the object to be packaged.

[0041] Subsequently, advantageous configurations of the present invention will be described.

[0042] (Arrangement of openings) The openings 18, 18a, 18b (hereinafter, only 18 will be described) may be provided only at one location on the side wall 14 of the impact buffering rib structure. When a plurality of openings 18 are provided, it is desirable to arrange them at equal intervals in the width direction of the side wall. It is possible to provide uniform rigidity over the entire circumference of the impact buffering rib structure and obtain a further effect.

[0043] (Shape of openings) The shape of the opening is preferably a polygon (Fig. 8) or a circle (Fig. 15). In the rib structure for impact buffering, the impact does not always act in the vertical direction and may come from an unintended direction. By making the shape of the opening 18 a polygon or a circle, it is possible to cope with impacts from various directions.

[0044] (Shape of the rib structure for impact buffering) As shown in Fig. 8 above, the rib structure for impact buffering is preferably a prism or a cylinder. Similar to the explanation of (the shape of the opening), it is possible to cope with impacts from various directions. In particular, when the rib structure for impact buffering is a quadrangular prism, the moldability is excellent and the productivity can be improved.

[0045] Fig. 16 is a perspective view showing a pulp mold buffer provided with the rib structure for impact buffering of the present invention. This pulp mold buffer 30 is provided with at least one rib structure 10 for impact buffering of the first to third embodiments. This pulp mold buffer 30 accommodates the object to be packaged and can reduce the impact acceleration applied to the object to be packaged compared to the conventional pulp mold buffer.

[0046] The top plate of the rib structure 10 for impact buffering preferably abuts against the object to be packaged. By supporting the intended position of the object to be packaged, stable accommodation and holding can be achieved.

[0047] Also, it is desirable that the open bottom surface 16 (see, for example, Fig. 8, etc.) of the rib structure 10 for impact buffering abuts against the object to be packaged. Stable accommodation and holding can be achieved by the product accommodation surface 40 of the pulp mold buffer 30 abutting against the flat surface of the object to be packaged.

[0048] The pulp mold buffer 30 of the present embodiment is attached to an image forming apparatus (for example, a copying machine, a printing machine, etc.) as the object to be packaged and is packed in a packaging material (for example, a cardboard box). This packaging material is used in a packaging system including loading machine equipment and the like.

[0049] (Verification test part 1) A comparative verification test of the response acceleration of the packaged object by the rib structure for shock absorption of the conventional specification and the specification of the present invention will be described. Verification method: In the rib structure for shock absorption of the conventional specification and the rib structure for shock absorption of the specification of the present invention, a drop test under the following conditions was conducted to measure the shock acceleration applied to the packaged object.

[0050] Test specimens (see Figure 17): Main member m1 (aluminum material with a mass of 1.02 kg) Internal component m2 (aluminum material with a mass of 0.2 kg) Intermediate member k1 (gel-like sheet with a mass of 0.01 kg) Shock absorber k2 (corrugated cardboard waste paper pulp molded shock absorber with a thickness t = 3 mm) Here, the main member m1 is a model of the entire copying machine (an example of a precision machine), and the internal component m2 is a model of the components built into the copying machine. Also, the intermediate member k1 is a model of the component that supports the internal component m2 on the main member m1 and acts as a spring element. In the support relationship between the internal component m2 and the intermediate member k1, it was set to have a natural frequency of 200 Hz.

[0051] Types of shock absorbers: Specimen 1: Pulp molded shock absorber with a rib structure for shock absorption of the conventional specification (Figure 2(a)) Specimen 2: Pulp molded shock absorber with a rib structure for shock absorption of the first embodiment (a quadrangular prism with four openings at the bottom, Figure 8(a)) Specimen 3: Pulp molded shock absorber with a rib structure for shock absorption of the second embodiment (a quadrangular prism with four openings at the center, Figure 11) Specimen 4: Pulp molded shock absorber with a rib structure for shock absorption of the third embodiment (a quadrangular prism with four openings at the top, Figure 13)

[0052] Conditions and evaluation criteria: Drop freely from a height of 80 cm onto a flat floor surface. For Specimens 1 and 4, measure the shock acceleration applied to the main member m1 and the internal component m2 respectively. Samples 2 and 3 measure the impact acceleration applied to the main member m1.

[0053] Results: The results are shown in Table 1. For Sample 1 (conventional specification), Samples 2 and 3 (the first and second embodiments) obtained the result that the impact acceleration applied to the main member m1 was reduced. Also, for Sample 1 (conventional specification), Sample 4 (the third embodiment) obtained the result that the impact acceleration applied to the internal component m2 was reduced.

[0054]

Table 1

[0055] (Verification Test Part 2) Comparative Verification Test of Impact Buffering Performance According to the Width Dimension of the Opening Verification Method: In a pulp mold buffer material having the impact buffering rib structure of the first embodiment (a square prism having four openings at the bottom, Fig. 8(a)), the width of the opening was changed to two types, and the impact acceleration applied to the packaged object was measured.

[0056] Test Specimens: Main member m1 (aluminum material with a mass of 1.02 kg) Buffer material k2 (corrugated cardboard pulp mold buffer material with a thickness t = 3 mm)

[0057] Type of Buffer Material: Sample 5 Pulp mold buffer material having the impact buffering rib structure of the first embodiment (a square prism having four openings at the bottom, Fig. 8(a)) Here, the width W of the opening 18 shown in Fig. 10 was set as a (W ≒ a). Sample 6 Pulp mold buffer material having the impact buffering rib structure of the first embodiment (a square prism having four openings at the bottom, Fig. 8(a)) Here, the width W of the opening 18 shown in Fig. 10 was set as 2a (W ≒ 2a).

[0058] Conditions and Evaluation Criteria: It is freely dropped from a height of 80 cm onto a flat floor surface. For both Specimens 5 and 6, the impact acceleration applied to the main member m1 is measured.

[0059] Result: The results are shown in Table 2. For Specimen 5 (width W of the opening 18 ≒ a), it was found that the impact acceleration was reduced for Specimen 6 (width W of the opening 18 ≒ 2a).

[0060]

Table 2

[0061] From these verification tests, it can be seen that according to the configurations of the embodiments of the present invention, the impact acceleration applied to the packaged body (and internal components) can be reduced compared to the configuration of the conventional specification.

[0062] As described above, the present invention has been described in detail using embodiments. These embodiments are merely examples and can be used with various modifications without departing from the gist. For example, a plurality of embodiments and advantageous configurations may be combined respectively.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0063] 5, 105 Accommodation Space 10, 10’, 10a, 10b, 110 Impact Buffering Rib Structure 12 Top Plate 14 Side Wall 16 (Opening) Bottom Surface 18, 18a, 18b: Opening 20 Packaged Body 30, 100: Pulp Molded Cushioning Material 40 Product Accommodation Surface

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0064]

Patent Document 1

Claims

1. A shock absorbing rib structure for a pulp molded cushioning material, comprising: A hollow shock absorbing rib structure consisting of a top plate and side walls and an open bottom, The distance from the bottom surface to the top plate is defined as the height of the shock absorbing rib structure, A shock absorbing rib structure, characterized in that at least one opening is provided in an area of ​​the side wall that is equal to or less than half of the height of the side wall.

2. The side wall has a slope in a height direction, At a cross section in the height direction of the impact absorbing rib structure and at an outer surface of the side wall, The distance perpendicular to the height direction from the center position of the height of the side wall to the end of the bottom surface side of the opening is defined as a, 2. The shock absorbing rib structure according to claim 1, wherein the width of the opening is approximately 2a.

3. A shock absorbing rib structure for a pulp molded cushioning material, comprising: A hollow shock absorbing rib structure consisting of a top plate and side walls and an open bottom, The distance from the bottom surface to the top plate is defined as the height of the shock absorbing rib structure, A shock absorbing rib structure, characterized in that at least one opening is provided near the center of the height of the side wall.

4. A shock absorbing rib structure for a pulp molded cushioning material, comprising: A hollow shock absorbing rib structure consisting of a top plate and side walls and an open bottom, The distance from the bottom surface to the top plate is defined as the height of the shock absorbing rib structure, The shock absorbing rib structure according to claim 1, wherein at least one opening is provided in a range of at least half of the height of the side wall.

5. 5. The shock absorbing rib structure according to claim 1, wherein the openings are arranged at equal intervals in a width direction of the side wall.

6. 6. The shock absorbing rib structure according to claim 1, wherein the opening has a polygonal or circular shape.

7. 7. The shock absorbing rib structure according to claim 1, wherein the shock absorbing rib structure is a rectangular column or a cylindrical column.

8. 7. The shock absorbing rib structure according to claim 1, wherein the shock absorbing rib structure is a quadrangular prism.

9. The container has a storage space for an object to be packaged, A pulp molded cushioning material provided with at least one impact cushioning rib structure according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. 10. The pulp molded cushioning material according to claim 9, wherein the top plate of the shock absorbing rib structure abuts against the packaged object.

11. 10. The pulp molded cushioning material according to claim 9, wherein the open bottom surface of the shock absorbing rib structure abuts against the packaged object.

12. A packaging material for packaging an object to be packaged, to which the pulp molded cushioning material according to any one of claims 9 to 11 is attached.

13. A packaging system using the packaging material according to claim 12.

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