CH631405A5 - Packaging material and method for its manufacture - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a packaging material for a large number of flat objects, in particular for framed slides, with a plurality of connected pockets, each of which has a rear wall and a front wall connected to this along three edges.

Such packaging material is e.g. known for storing stamps. There is a whole series of stamps in a pocket that extends across the entire width of a sheet of the scrapbook. The stamps slip relatively easily in the pocket. In addition, inserting the stamps into the pockets and removing the stamps from the pockets is complicated. Such packaging material is also not suitable for use in automatic packaging machines.

The present invention is therefore intended to create a packaging material for a large number of flat objects, in which the individual objects are positioned in a precisely predetermined position and which is suitable for use in automatic packaging machines.

According to the invention, this object is achieved in the case of a packaging material of the type described in the introduction in that, in the case of pockets which each hold an object and are made of flexible material, the end sections of the front walls and the rear walls adjacent to the pocket opening are separated from one another, so that one on the front walls insertion lip extending along the pocket opening is obtained.

In the packaging material according to the invention, the individual objects are precisely positioned in the pockets assigned to them. The provision of a filling lip extending along the pocket opening on the free edge of the front wall of the pocket enables automatic insertion of the objects by a packaging machine and facilitates manual insertion, since the free end section of the front wall and the opposite section of the rear wall of the pocket for introducing the object from one another can be removed. In this way, an insertion opening widening outwards is obtained. In the case of maso-lineal packaging, the rear wall can be moved so far away from the insertion lip that the object can be brought into flat contact with the insertion lip perpendicular to the plane specified by the pocket and can then be pushed into the pocket. In this way, it cannot hit the free end of the front wall of the bag and is guided into the bag through the more or less folded back wall.

In the case of the packaging material according to the invention, the objects are in after they have been introduced into the pockets

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clearly arranged on one level. The packaging itself takes up very little space. Access to a specific item is possible without having to remove or move other items beforehand. The completeness of the items can also be checked at a glance. The packaging is particularly well suited for space-saving and clear archiving of objects.

Advantageous further developments of the packaging material are specified in the dependent claims.

If the insertion lip is dimensioned as specified in claim 2, it has a length which is also adequate for rapid automatic filling. The pockets are still closed over the major part of their lateral edge length, so that the objects in the pockets cannot be tilted and the largest portion of the objects is protected from both sides.

A packaging material according to claim 3 can be accommodated after being filled with articles by zigzag folding along the rows for shipping purposes or for storage in a very small space. In particular when using framed transparencies, this is reflected in noticeable postage savings in some countries. If you arrange e.g. the framed slides of a 35mm film with 36 pictures in rows of four and folding the packaging material in layers comprising two rows each, you get a stack formed by zigzag layers with dimensions of about 22 X11X 1.5 cm, which in most countries also together with a container which essentially surrounds it in a form-fitting manner, is accepted as a mail item with a standard format, in particular also as a letter. Such a shipment also fits through the usual slots in mailboxes without difficulty. From this compact shape, the stack can be easily pulled back into the single-layer flat shape in which the individual objects are clearly arranged next to each other.

In the case of a packaging material according to claim 4, it is ensured that the slide is completely protected against damage. The rest of the slide frame need not be protected against damage, the corresponding amount of film material can be saved. At the same time, the shortened front wall ensures that the edge of the slide frame can also be written on when the slide frame is in a pocket.

If framed slides are packaged in a packaging material according to claim 5, they can easily be viewed without being removed. This way your order is preserved.

The types of film mentioned in claim 6 have very good optical properties and do not lead to any impairment of the colors, even with long-term storage of slides. In addition, these films have a favorable coefficient of friction for thermoplastic materials from which slide frames are usually made; they are also pleasant to the touch and relatively stiff. The film thickness can be between 10 and 200 p, for the packaging of framed slides, a film thickness of 35 [j] has also proven to be favorable - also with regard to the costs.

By using foils coated with Heisssi egellack (see claim 7), on the one hand, simple production of the packaging material by welding is possible; in addition, the heat-sealing lacquer layer provides a favorable coefficient of friction for films which would inherently lead to excessive friction or extremely low friction between the film material and the material of the objects. In terms of automatic

Filling the pockets is a relatively small friction advantageous, because holding the flat light objects in the pockets takes place over a large contact area and is thus still ensured even with relatively small friction.

In the case of a packaging material according to claim 8, the front wall, and in particular the insertion lip formed by its free end section, is particularly stable. This facilitates the automatic insertion of objects. In addition, at the lower end of the pockets, at which the overall material thickness decreases again, predetermined folding lines for folding the packaging with the objects therein are specified.

This reinforced front wall can be made according to claim

9 particularly easy to achieve using a single film web thickness by laying film sections on top of one another to form the front wall. According to claim

10 this result is obtained very simply by appropriate zigzag folding of a continuous film web. The packaging material according to claim 10 is particularly easy to manufacture in continuous operation.

With a view to saving material, it is advantageous to produce the front wall of the pockets from a separate strip of material, as stated in claim 11. This can also be of interest if you want to use different foils for the back walls and the front walls of the bags, for example, a matt, light-scattering foil for the back walls and a transparent foil for the front walls when packaging framed slides.

With the manufacturing method according to claim 12 it is achieved that the pockets already get a slightly rectangular cross-section when closing the pocket edges, since the film web sections for the front walls are pulled down by the welding heads over the folding knives and are thereby permanently deformed.

With the method according to claim 13 it is achieved that the pockets do not have to be widened appreciably when inserting an object and the walls of the pockets rest against the filled object with static friction.

In the method according to claim 14 it is ensured that undesired heat dissipation from the welding heads into the spacers does not take place.

In the device according to claim 15, the spacers also serve as folding knives. The folding of the film web to form a double front wall of the pockets and the insertion of the spacers is thus carried out in a single work cycle. This enables the packaging material to be produced quickly and with little outlay on equipment.

The invention is explained in more detail below using exemplary embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawing. In this show:

1: a section of a packaging material for slides in sheet form;

2: an end view of a folded packaging material with framed slides located therein;

3 shows a section through the packaging material according to FIG. 1 along the line III-III, sections of the material being shown angled relative to one another as is the case in an automatic packaging machine;

4 shows a section through a second packaging material for slides along the center line of successive pockets; and

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5: schematic representations of a device for producing the packaging material according to FIG. 1 in different stages of a production cycle.

1 shows a section of a packaging material for framed slides, which is in the form of a sheet and has been spread out and which is made from a 35 p, thick polypropylene film with hot-melt gel polish. The material has pockets 2 in which framed slides 4 are accommodated. The pockets 2 each have a front wall 6 and a rear wall 8, which are connected to one another by welds 10 running in the longitudinal direction of the web. The latter extend only over part of the height of the front wall, so that an upper end section 12 of the front wall 6 in the drawing is not connected to the rear wall 8 on the sides. This end section can be folded away from the rear wall, or the upper section of the rear wall can be folded away from the front wall in order to set up the slot opening 14, which is slit-shaped per se, in a wedge shape. This enables the automated insertion of framed slides and later also facilitates manual removal and reinsertion. The bending line, along which the relative pivoting takes place between the upper sections of the front wall, runs through the upper end points of the welds 10 and is designated by 16 in FIG. 1. When machine edges specifying bending lines are used, the bending line 16 can of course be moved into the region lying between the upper ends of the welds 10 and the upper edge 18 of the front wall. As a rule, however, one will select the bending lines going through the upper end points of the welds 10 in order to obtain the largest possible insertion lip which is formed by the part of the end sections 12 which lies between the respectively selected bending line and the upper edge 18 of the front wall.

The height of the front wall 6 is selected so that in the case of a framed slide completely inserted into the pocket with the window 20 lying transversely, the upper edge 18 of the front wall just barely covers the upper edge of the window. The part of the slide frame lying above the upper edge 18 can thus also be coated in the packaging.

The lateral dimensions of the pockets 2 are somewhat larger than the edge length of a slide frame, so that the latter can be easily inserted, but is nevertheless positioned at an angle in the pocket. The pockets have a slightly rectangular cross section as seen along a cutting line running parallel to the upper edge, as will be described in more detail later in the description of the production of the packaging material.

The pockets 2 are arranged in four rows 22, 24, 26 etc. and are connected via extensions 28 of the rear walls 8. The dimensions of the extensions 28 are chosen such that the upper edge of a slide frame fully inserted into a pocket is one to two frame thicknesses away from the lower edge of the pocket above it. In this way, filled top pockets form a mechanical stop for a slide frame in the underlying pocket when the packaging material has just been spread out. At the same time, well-defined folding lines 30 are obtained at the lower edges of the pockets, along which the filled packaging material can be folded into zigzag layers. Finally, a large number of framed slides are accommodated in a small space in this arrangement.

2 shows the space-saving packaging of a maximum of 40 framed slides in five layers of the packaging material. Each layer consists of two rows of four frames each. It can be seen that the height of the stack thus obtained is only slightly higher than five times the thickness of the slide frames. In a double layer, the front wall of the overlying pocket covers the exposed section of an underlying slide frame. If protection of the slide in the zigzag-folded stack is only desired, it may therefore be sufficient to pull the front wall of the pockets only up to just above the middle of the window provided in the slide frame.

2, a two-part shipping container 32 made of plastic material is shown in dashed lines. The dimensions of this container are of the order of 22.5 X 11.5X 15 mm. Such containers are cheaper to ship than the usual boxes for framed slides. They can also be stored more easily and clearly, e.g. like putting books on a shelf.

The packaging material can be easily moved from the space-saving jam configuration to the expanded viewing configuration, in which all slides are clearly arranged next to one another and access to a specific slide is possible without having to move other slides beforehand, as is the case when archiving in boxes or Slide magazines is the case.

The packaging material shown in FIG. 1 consists of a single continuous film which is folded in the manner shown in FIG. 3 and is provided with the welds 10.

3 shows a longitudinal section through the center of pockets 2 lying one behind the other. The rear wall 8 of a pocket runs back again at the lower edge of a pocket and thus forms an inner layer 34 of the front wall, again designated 6 overall. At the upper edge 18 of the front wall, the film is folded over again and thus forms an outer layer 36 of the front wall. This outer layer 36 merges into a rear wall 8 of the following pocket via a recessed film section 38.

In Fig. 3, the packaging material runs over a schematically shown packing table 40 with a vertical inlet surface 42 and a horizontal delivery surface 44, which are connected via a rounded edge 46. To insert a series of framed slides, the packaging material is stopped so that the upper ends of the welds 10 are just below the level of the delivery surface 44. The free end sections 12 of the pockets 2 are further up in this angled position of the rear wall. This free standing of the end sections 12 in the extension of the front wall main section is promoted by the formation of the front wall from two layers and is particularly important when the packaging table 40 is to be rotated 90 ° clockwise from the position shown in FIG. 3 for packaging reasons . A movable stop plate 48 is arranged behind the upward end sections 12. A series of framed slides 50 is now inserted by moving it into the position shown in the drawing, it being possible for it to stand under its own weight on the back wall of the bag or to extend it; then the slide frames are first moved along arrow 52 and then along arrow 54 by slides, not shown. The stop plate 48 is then moved to the left in FIG. 3 so that the filled pockets can move around the edge 46.

Fig. 4 shows a section through another packaging material for framed slides, which is also placed through the center lines of the pockets. Transverse front wall strips 58 are welded onto a light-scattering, matt-disc-like film web 56, specifically along a transverse one that forms the bottom of the pockets

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Weld seam 60 and along the side edges of weld seams 62, the latter, just like the weld seams 10, ending a predetermined distance in front of the upper edge 64 of the front wall strips 58. If desired, the front wall material can have a greater material thickness. The dimensions of the pockets and the pocket spacing are chosen exactly as in the exemplary embodiment according to FIGS. 1 to 3. The introduction of framed slides into the pocket and the folding of the filled packaging material into a zigzag-shaped stack is likewise carried out in the same way as in the exemplary embodiment according to the figures 1 to 3.

The machine shown schematically in FIG. 5 for producing the packaging material according to FIGS. 1 and 3 has a work table having a step 66 on which a first folding knife 70 made of stainless steel is slidably arranged. This consists of fingers 72, the width of which essentially corresponds to the lateral inner dimension of the pockets and between which there are slots. The fingers 72 are connected to each other to form a comb-like body by means of a transverse support section 74, on which a displacement drive, not shown, acts.

A weldable film web 76 runs over the folding knife 70 and under a further folding knife 78, the latter being located just behind the step 66 in the conveying direction, i.e. left of the same. The folding knife 78 is also made of poorly heat-conducting stainless steel. It has fingers 80 which are aligned in the transverse direction with the fingers 72 and essentially also correspond to the transverse internal dimension of the pockets, between which there are slots and which are connected to a comb-like body by a transverse support section 82 which is engaged by a lowering drive (not shown). While the folding knife 70 is thin, the folding knife 78 has a thickness that is slightly less than that of a slide frame.

Arranged above the folding knife 78 are a plurality of welding heads 84 which are narrow in the transverse direction and which can be passed through the slits between the fingers 72 and the fingers 80. A common drive, not shown, is provided for moving the welding heads 84 in the vertical direction.

The device described above works as follows:

First, a new piece of film is drawn in. This state is shown in Fig. 5a. Then the upper folding knife 78 is moved down. As a result, the film web 76 is drawn into the recess of the work table delimited by the step 66 and placed over the round end face of the folding knife 70. This state is shown in FIG. 5b. Now the folding knife 70 is moved to the left, namely by the distance corresponding to the free end section 12 of the front walls beyond the rear edge of the welding heads 84. This state is shown in Fig. 5c. During this movement, material is drawn from a previously formed storage loop (not shown), which can be seen in FIG. 5c by the fact that a pocket which has already been made re-enters the image. Finally, the welding heads 84 are moved through the slots of both folding knives, as a result of which the three layers of film are welded together to form the 20 welds 10. This state is shown in Fig. 5d. The top two layers of film are pulled down over the fingers of the folding knife and receive permanent kinks in the welds. As a result, the pockets already have an approximately rectangular cross-sectional shape, which is advantageous for the later filling of framed slides. These kinks continue - somewhat weakened - in the free end section of the front walls and form a rib profile there, so that when the back wall is bent, the end sections are particularly well in a position in alignment with the plane of the main wall section for filling the packaging material with slide frames remain.

To produce the next row of pockets, 35 welding heads and folding knives are moved back to their starting position one after the other, and a new piece of film is drawn in.

If desired, the reversal points of the film web at the upper and lower edge of the front wall can be broken 40 by a pressure roller, not shown.

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Claims (15)

631405 1. Packaging material for a large number of flat objects, in particular for framed slides, with a plurality of connected pockets, each of which has a rear wall and a front wall connected to this along three edges, characterized in that each has an object (4) receiving flexible material manufactured pockets (2), the end portions (12) of the front walls (6) and the rear walls (8) adjacent to the pocket opening are separated from one another, so that an insertion lip extending along the pocket opening is obtained on the front walls (6). 2. Packaging material according to claim 1, characterized in that the length of the fresh end portion (12) of the front walls (6) corresponds to 10 to 15% of the depth of the pockets (2). 2nd PATENT CLAIMS 3. Packaging material according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the pockets (2) are arranged in rows (22, 24, 26) and successive rows via extensions (28) of the rear walls (8) of the pockets (2) of the previous one Row are interconnected. 4. Packaging material according to claim 3, for receiving slide frames in such an orientation that the long side of the rectangular window runs parallel to the top of the front wall of the pockets, characterized in that the dimension of the extensions (28) of the rear walls (8) is the same size as the distance of the long side of the rectangular window (20) of the slide frame from the adjacent edge of the slide frame or is smaller than this. 5. Packaging material according to claim 4, characterized in that at least the front walls (6) are made of optically essentially non-distorting, transparent material. 6. Packaging material according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that it is made of polypropylene film or cellophane film. 7, characterized in that the front walls (6) of the pockets (2) have a greater overall wall thickness than the rear walls (8). 7. Packaging material according to claim 6, characterized in that the film is provided with a heat seal lacquer. 8, characterized in that the front walls (6) of the pockets (2) of a row (22, 24, 26) are each formed by a strip (58) which is fixed to a film web (56 forming all rear walls of the pockets (2) ) connected is. 8. Packaging material according to one of claims 3 to 9. Packaging material according to claim 8, characterized in that the front walls (6) consist of two layers of film (34, 36). 10. Packaging material according to claim 9, characterized in that the rear walls (8) and the layers (34, 36) of the front walls (6) are formed by sections of a zigzag-folded film web (76). 11. Packaging material according to one of claims 3 to 12. A method for producing a packaging material according to one of claims 1 to 11 using at least one weldable film web, characterized in that later the front walls or the rear walls of the pockets forming film web sections are placed one above the other, and that the film web sections to form the apart from the upper End portion of the closed side edges of the pockets are welded together, while the dimensions of the spacers having flat objects to be packaged are essentially arranged between the foil sections. 13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that the spacers have a smaller thickness than the objects to be packaged. 14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that spacers made of poorly heat-conducting material are used. 15. The device for carrying out the method according to one of claims 12 and 13, characterized in that the spacers are designed as folding knives (78) and with respect to a counterfolding knife arrangement (70) arranged on the other side of the film web (76) in the longitudinal direction of the web to produce the The packaging material can be moved in a zigzag manner and that the folding knives (78) and the counterfolding knife arrangement (70) are provided with slots through which welding heads (84) can be passed.