JPS5810306B2 - Sheet construction - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a package, and more particularly to a package for hermetically packaging a stack of sheet materials.

Although the present invention can be applied to any stack of sheet-like materials, it is extremely suitable for hermetically packaging a stack formed by stacking films of photosensitive materials face-to-face.

Note that the packaging body of the present invention may be used to individually package sheet-like materials one by one.

Compared to prior art packages, the packages of the present invention have important features.

One of its features is that the package is easy to open.

Another ml length is that the packaging of the present invention is easy to manufacture.

Furthermore, when the package is completely opened, it is possible to easily remove the sheet material without any obstructions.

Prior art packaging (e.g. Agfa Gewert N.V. Belgian Patent No. 7 dated October 22, 1971)
74378), in order to open the package, a tear-off band (
tear-strip).

A first drawback of these prior art packages is that it is difficult to accurately position the tear strip on the package and punch the tear strip into the package at a well-defined distance. This requires very complex packaging equipment.

The second drawback is that you will notice it immediately when using it.
When the package is opened by tearing off the tear-off band, the band forms uneven, frayed edges that make the overall appearance unsightly.

The object of the present invention is to provide a packaging which is free from the drawback of sloping.

The package provided by the present invention wraps a stack of generally rectangular sheet material.

The package consists of a first strip of sealable wrapping material surrounding a portion of the stack and a second strip of sealable wrapping material surrounding the remaining portion of the stack, the first and second strips being integrally arranged. as a cylinder (sealed to each other, one of the strips having a loosely overlapping free edge with respect to the other strip, with both ends of the cylinder extending longitudinally around the stack). It is configured to be sealed along both side edges of the direction.

Each of the first and second strips may be a composite strip made of two or more fine webs laminated together.

Regardless of the manufacturing process, the packaging of the present invention basically consists of the first strip being wrapped lengthwise around a stack of roughly rectangular sheet material to form a kind of tube. and a second strip is sealed, with each end of the tube sealed at right angles to the lateral direction of the stack;
The stack is then housed in the hermetically sealed cylinder.

At the sealing portion between the first strip and the second strip, one of the strips has a free edge.

The package is opened by grasping the free edge and tearing it off.

The scope and spirit of the invention can best be understood by describing the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG.

Referring now to FIG. 1, the illustrated package 10 is adapted to contain a stack 11 of sheet material.

The stack 11 is provided with a pair of protective covers 12, 13, which are optional and not necessary.

The covers 12 and 13 are located on the front and back surfaces of the stack 11, and overlap the sheets forming the stack in an extended manner.

The stack 11 including the protective covers 12, 13 consists of a first strip (in this example a composite strip) 14, 17 and a second strip (also a composite strip) 15, 1.
It is placed in a cylinder formed from 6.

The strips are made of materials that can be sealed together.

This sealing may be accomplished by gluing, heat sealing, or other techniques known in the automotive art.

When the stack 11 is made of a sheet of photosensitive material, such as a photographic sheet film, the strip is not only light-shielding and moisture-proof, but also protects the stack from chemical emissions. Paper-polyethylene laminates and aluminum-polyethylene laminates are ideal for this purpose.

Since such a packaging material has heat-melting sealability, the packaging process can be easily automated.

A large part of the stack 11 is surrounded by the first strips 14,17, and the remaining part of the stack 11 is surrounded by the second strips 15,16.

These strips form part of each other to form a seal 1.
8,20 (see also Figure 2).

The second strips 15, 16 are superimposed on the first strips 14, 17 so as to extend beyond the seals 18, 20 and form free edges.

The distance between the free edge and the seals 18, 20 is approximately uniform.

The reason for forming a free edge will be explained during the course of the text description.

The web 14 of the first strip and the web 15 of the second strip cover the front side of the stack 11, the web 17 of the first strip and the web 16 of the second strip cover the front side of the stack 11.
It covers the rear surface, the upper end side surface and the lower end side surface of the stack 11, and further extends to the front surface.

Webs 14 and 17 are sealed by a seal 21, and webs 15 and 16 are sealed by a seal 19.

Seals 18°1°9, 20, 21 are indicated by broken lines 22 (
(more on this later).

The first and second strips thus form a cylinder extending in the direction of dashed line 22.

Both ends of this tube are closed by seals 24 as shown in FIG.

The stack 11 is thus packaged in an airtight, moisture-proof packaging 10.

Protective cover 1 made from relatively hard high-grade cardboard
2 and 13 are provided in the stack 11, the seals 18 and 20 may be applied to the protective covers 12 and 13 (see FIG. 2).

The free edges of the second lips 15, 16 are provided for being grasped and torn off.

The package 10 is closed by tearing off this free edge.

When the package is opened in this way, the opened package has no obstructions and is aesthetically pleasing (Section 3a).
Figure and Figure 3b).

In order to improve the convenience of the package, at least one of the protective covers is provided with areas of poor mechanical strength, such as rows of perforations 22 or cuts 23 having a thickness approximately half the thickness of the protective cover 12.

This allows the person opening the package to cut out part of the protective cover along the cuts 23 or perforations 22 after opening the package.

The first sheet of stack 11 is thus easier to remove.

This is also a major feature of the package of the present invention.

Since it is difficult to remove a single sheet from a slightly compressed stack at first, by providing the sheet with a partially free surface that protrudes from the protective cover, the person opening the sheet can bend this part slightly and press the thumb and index finger together. You can easily remove the sheet by sandwiching it between the sheets.

The package containing the stack 11 may be further placed in a corrugated cardboard box or wrapped in an auxiliary wrapper.

An example of this is shown in FIG. That is, the package 10 is further surrounded by a box 30 of corrugated cardboard.

The edge of the flap 31 and the corresponding small gap 35 are sealed with self-adhesive tape 34.

In this manner, a row of tear strips or perforations 32 are provided to facilitate opening of the six-cardboard box 30 that securely encloses the package 10.

The tearing or perforation breaking operation in this case is performed by pulling the tab 33.

FIG. 5 shows a longitudinal section of another embodiment of the package according to the invention.

In this embodiment, the web 16 of the second strip does not extend to the web 14 of the first strip, and the web 15 of the second strip connects the webs 14 and 16.

The web 16 is therefore narrower than in the case of FIG. 1, resulting in savings in packaging material.

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of the most basic package of the present invention.

That is, the first strip 25 consists of a single web;
The second strip 26 also consists of a single web.

Therefore, it is only necessary to seal the strips with seals 27 and 28 to form a tube.

In this case as well, the second strip 26 is adapted to partially conform to the strip 25 so as to have a free edge.

Thereafter, both ends of the tube are sealed with seals 24.

A cross-sectional view of the package of the present invention is shown in FIG.

It will be readily understood that the package 10 of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1, 5, and 6, shown in longitudinal section, has a cross section as shown in FIG.

Seals 24 that close both ends of the cylinder are seals 18, 19° 20
．． 21.

In the packaging process for forming the package shown in FIG. 6, the apparatus for forming the tube will be briefly described below with reference to FIGS. 8a and 8b.

The first strip 25 and the second strip 26 to be processed by this device are hermetically sealed together with a seal 28 in advance.

The thus sealed first strip 25 and second strip 26 are continuously fed into the apparatus from a previous manufacturing station (not shown) in the form of a positioning nib as shown.

The stack 11 is placed on the first strip 25 and the second strip 26 as shown.

That is, the seal 28 and its associated free edge are located in the correct order with respect to the stack 11.

First strip 25, second strip 2 on this device
In order to prevent the position of 6 from moving, there is a flexible perforated metal plate 42 that attracts these strips.

The hole 58 in the metal plate 42 communicates with the tube 43.
3 is connected to a vacuum source (not shown) by a suitable flexible conduit 44.

The tube 43 can move the concave member 59A in the axial direction.

This concave member 59 itself is supported by springs 51 and 53 so as to be freely yieldable.

Note that these springs 51 and 53 are connected to the branch member 50, respectively.
, 54.

These support members are attached to the bottom of the concave member 59 and are adapted to slide axially within their respective bushings 52,55.

On both sides of the concave member 59, slidable supports 56, 57 are provided, which support the piston rods 48, 4.
It slides due to the force applied by 9.

These piston rods 48, 49 are attached to the supports 56, 57 via blocks.

A convex pressure member 45 is arranged above the concave member 59 and presses the stack 11 under vertical movement.

Furthermore, a heat sealing electrode 47 is arranged above the pressure member 45.

This heat-sealed electrode 47 is made of tearless material (trademark of DuPont, USA).
It is preferable that the material is well made.

The heat-sealing electrode 47 is supported on a vertically movable support 46.

Supports 56 and 57, which are slidable left and right, support hinge pieces 40 and 41 on their upper surfaces, respectively.

These hinge pieces are capable of partial rotation of 180° about their axes, and the pivot axes of the hinge pieces are located very close to the side edges of the concave member 59.

When the convex bulging force member 45 is pushed downward, it hits the stack 11 and the stack is bent to match the curvature of the concave member 59.

As the member 45 is further pushed downward, the concave member 59 also descends, and the horizontal surface of the upper surface of the pressure member 45 is aligned with the hinge pieces 40, 4.
Coincides with the plane of 1.

At that moment, the hinge piece rotates 180° and stacks 11
Fold both strips 25, 26 around.

An air motor (not shown) is then energized to move the sliding supports 56, 57 against the side edges of the stack 11;
Stack 11 becomes completely immobile.

During this time, a seal 27 (FIG. 6) is formed by the heat seal electrode 47.

Of course, the support 46 carrying the electrode 47 is lowered vertically to bring the electrode 47 into contact with the strip 2526.

Thus, the cylinder surrounding the stack 11 has both strips 25
, 26.

Thereafter, the sliding supports 56, 57 are moved further against the stack 11 to further bend the stack, and the tube allows the convex expansion force member 45 to be withdrawn from the tube.

Thus, when the pressure member 45 is removed from the tube, the air motor is de-energized and the sliding supports 56, 57 are withdrawn from the stack.

The tube thus tensions the stack 11 longitudinally.

Thereafter, in a further sealing step (not shown), both ends of the tube are sealed.

From the above description, it can be concluded that a new and useful package has been devised which has the advantage of being easy to open and retaining its appearance when opened.

Although some preferred embodiments have been described above in terms of packages of heat-sealable material, this feature is not intended to limit the scope or spirit of the invention, which can be derived from the appended claims.

The differences between the package of the present invention and the package described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 47-3598 will be explained below.

First of all, the package of the present invention hermetically seals the contents.

On the other hand, the package disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 47-3598 does not package the contents in an airtight manner.

This is because the package disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 47-3598 is not completely heat-sealed at the folded portion (free edge for opening).

Second, the package of the present invention has free edges for tearing on both the front and back sides of the package, but the package of Japanese Patent Publication No. 47-3598 has a folded part on only one side. Not yet.

Thirdly, in the package of the present invention, a stack of a plurality of sheets can be wrapped under tension, but in the package of Japanese Patent Publication No. 47-3598, tension cannot be applied.

This is because, as mentioned above, the package disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 47-3598 is not completely heat-welded at the folded portion.

Fourth, in the package of the present invention, even after the package is opened, the remaining part of the package can hold the stack together, but this is not possible with the package of Japanese Patent Publication No. 47-3598. .

This is because, in the Japanese Patent Publication No. 47-3598, opening means to completely peel off the package from the contents.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 is a cross-sectional view of the package of the present invention; FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of FIG. 1 showing the seal between the strips forming the tube; and FIG.
Figures 3a and 3b are detailed views of the protective cover of the stack to be packaged, Figure 4 is an isometric view of a corrugated cardboard box further enclosing the package of the invention, and Figure 5 is an alternative of the invention. FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view of yet another package of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of each of the packages shown in FIGS. 1, 5, and 6. Figures 8a and 8b illustrate the basic packaging apparatus for forming the package of Figure 6. In the figure, numeral 10 is a package, 11 is a stack, 14.
17;25 is the first strip, 15,16°26 is the second strip
The strips 18, 19, 20, 21°27.28 are seals.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A package for a stack of rectangular sheet material, comprising a first strip of sealable flexible wrapping material covering a portion of said stack and a seal covering another portion of said stack. a second strip of possible flexible packaging material;
．． 17:25 and the second strip 15, 16; 26 are
The free edges of uniform width of one of the strips 15, 16; 26 loosely overlap the other strips 14, 17; 25 and are sealed together in an overlapping relationship to form a cylinder, such that said free edges Both strips of packaging material can be gripped at any point along its periphery, thus allowing the seal between the two strips to be broken. The stack is tensioned uniformly along its length around the edges, so that the stack is snugly contained within a cylinder formed by said slips of packaging material, with opposite ends of said cylinder A package, characterized in that the package is hermetically sealed by being sealed along both sides of the stack.