Compressible Bead Packing Material with Troughs for Shipping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing packing materials require skill and time to properly position for consistent protection during shipping, as the placement depends on the user's judgment and is not easily repeatable.
Innovation Solution
A modified packing material with a thin plastic bag filled with compressible beads, featuring a squeezer assembly with elongated raised portions on the platens to compress and seal the bag, creating a pressure differential that maintains the beads in a non-free-flowing state, and includes troughs for easy bending to conform to the product's shape, facilitating quick and repeatable placement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If the packing material uses free-flowing beads in a flexible bag with pressure differential, then the beads remain closely packed and maintain shape, but the placement depends on user skill and judgment and is not consistently reproduced
Solution Approach 1:
The packing material is pre-formed into a flat shape with predetermined folds and creases before sealing. This preliminary shaping allows the material to be easily positioned and conform to standard package contours without requiring skilled judgment during placement, while the pressure differential maintains bead stability throughout.
2Reliability
If the packing material requires proper positioning by skilled personnel, then effective protection is achieved, but it takes time to properly position the packing
Solution Approach 1:
The flat pre-formed shape with integrated folds and creases enables quick positioning by less skilled workers, reducing placement time while maintaining protection effectiveness through the predetermined structure that naturally conforms to standard packages.
Solution Approach 2:
The pressure differential parameter is optimized to maintain bead stability while allowing the material to remain flexible enough for easy manipulation and quick placement, balancing protection reliability with placement speed.
3Ease of operation
If the bag is formed into a flat shape before sealing, then the packing material can be bent to wrap around articles, but the beads must remain in a non-free-flowing condition requiring pressure differential
Solution Approach 1:
The pressure differential is maintained at a specific range (at least 2.1 kPa, preferably at least 3.4 kPa) that is sufficient to keep beads non-free-flowing and maintain structural integrity, while allowing the flexible bag to remain bendable and conformable for easy wrapping around articles.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution allows for easy and consistent placement of the packing material around products, ensuring effective protection during shipping by maintaining a pressure differential that keeps the beads in place, while the troughs enable easy bending to match the product's contours, enhancing protection and efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
The air is evacuated from the bag, and then the bag is sealed so that the internal pressure inside the bag is less than the external pressure from the ambient air. The pressure differential is enough to prevent the beads from flowing freely.
Implementation Method 2
The beads 14 preferably arc made of an expanded material with air pockets which can be compressed and which then will tend to spring back, such as expanded polystyrene.
Data Source
Figure 1~2A
Figure 5
Figure 6~7
AI summary
A packing material is made of a thin plastic bag with compressible beads inside, and with the pressure inside the bag being sufficiently less than the ambient pressure outside the bag to keep the beads in a non-free flowing state, the packing material being generally flat, with a generally constant cross-sectional thickness and having at least one trough (20', 22', 24A', 24B' ) of lesser cross-sectional thickness to serve as a bend line.