EP0583333A1

EP0583333A1 - Base stacking method

Info

Publication number: EP0583333A1
Application number: EP92910016A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Wayne Athol Ford
Original assignee: CA Ford Pty Ltd
Current assignee: CA Ford Pty Ltd
Priority date: 1991-05-09
Filing date: 1992-05-05
Publication date: 1994-02-23
Also published as: EP0583333A4; GB9319570D0; AU665537B2; CA2109199A1; GB2269355A; JPH06507136A; GB2269355B; AU1742192A; WO1992019499A1; NZ242671A

Abstract

Méthode permettant d'emballer dans un carton (26) un certain nombre de piètements (10) de mobilier constitués de plusieurs bras répartis radialement autour d'un axe. La méthode consiste à placer une première série (27) de piètements dans le carton, un par un, en une pile bien ordonnée, à placer une deuxième série (28) de piètements dans le même carton en les introduisant un par un pour constituer une pile ordonnée dans un plan parallèle et sur le même axe que la première série, à placer une troisième série (29) en introduisant toujours les éléments un par un pour constituer une pile ordonnèe dans un plan perpendiculaire à celui de la première série puis à placer une quatrième série (30), avec toujours les mêmes précautions, à la perpendiculaire de la première série et selon le même axe que la troisième. On réalise ainsi un lot de piètements emballés.Method for packaging in a carton (26) a number of legs (10) of furniture consisting of several arms distributed radially around an axis. The method consists in placing a first series (27) of legs in the carton, one by one, in a well-ordered pile, in placing a second series (28) of legs in the same carton, inserting them one by one to form a stack ordered in a parallel plane and on the same axis as the first series, to place a third series (29) always introducing the elements one by one to constitute a stack ordered in a plane perpendicular to that of the first series then to place a fourth series (30), always with the same precautions, perpendicular to the first series and along the same axis as the third. This produces a batch of packaged legs.

Description

BASE STACKING METHOD

This invention relates to a method of packaging furniture support cases and relates particularly but not exclusively to a method of packing furniture support bases having a plurality of spaced arms disposed about a central boss portion to which the leg of the article of furniture is attached. The most common such furniture support bases include from four to six, preferably five arms equally spaced about the central boss portion and may be made of any suitable synthetic plastics or metal material.

Presently furniture support bases are packaged for transport in cardboard cartons. The bases are either merely stacked one on top of another in a single stack or in two such stacks side by side with the arms of one stack of bases interposed between the arms of the other stack of bases. The stacking and packaging of bases in such a manner results in a large empty space volume in the carton. In the case of the single stack the occupied space volume is only about 11% of the total box volume and in the case of the side by side stacking the occupied space volume is about 13-15% of the total carton volume. The increase in occupied volume of the side by side stacking is not as great as may be expected as it is necessary to include spacing packaging to prevent damage in transit of the ends of the base arms.

A problem has existed for about three or four years since the introduction of synthetic plastics material furniture support bases in that transport costs for synthetic plastics material bases is up to two times the transport cost of the same number of equivalent sized metal bases in the identical sized carton. This is due to shipping and freight rates being determined on a volume as against weight rate for lighter weight larger volume cartons.

The present invention seeks to overcome the problem of the costs of packaging' for transport of furniture support bases and to reduce the costs of such bases to the user.

With reference to the following a substantially ordered stack or set of bases is intended to mean a stack or set of bases (whether in upper- to under-side relationship or otherwise) in which the central axes of the bases in the stack or set are generally co- axially disposed and any arm of a base is disposed in the same general direction as an arm of another base in the stack or set and in which the planes of the bases in the stack or set are substantially parallel. The "stack" of bases may be one base on top of another or one base side by side with another.

The present invention, therefore, in one preferred form provides a method of packaging a number of furniture support bases in a carton, said bases having a plurality of arms disposed about a central axis which comprises: placing a first set of bases in said carton one by another in a substantially ordered stack; placing a second set of bases in said carton one by another in a substantially ordered stack in a plane substantially parallel to and generally co-axially disposed in the same direction as the first set of bases; placing a third set of bases in said carton one by another in a substantially ordered stack in a plane at right angles to the plane of the first set of bases; and • placing a fourth set of bases in said carton one by another in a substantially ordered stack in a plane at right angles to the plane of the first set of bases and generally co-axially disposed in the same direction as the third set of bases. The present invention also in one preferred form provides a package comprising a number of furniture support bases in a carton, said bases having a plurality of arms disposed about a central axis which comprises: a first set of bases in said carton one by another in a substantially ordered stack; a second set of bases in said carton one by another in a substantially ordered stack in a plane substantially parallel to and generally co-axially disposed in the same direction as the first set of bases; a third set of bases in said carton one by another in a substantially ordered stack in a plane at right angles to the plane of the first set of bases; and a fourth set of bases in said carton one by another in a substantially , ordered stack in a plane at right angles to the plane of the first set of bases and generally co-axially disposed in the same direction as the third set of bases. Preferably the second and third sets of bases are disposed on opposite sides of the axis of the first set of bases. Alternatively, the third and fourth sets of bases are disposed on opposite sides of the axis of the first and second sets of bases.

Preferably the arms of the bases are equidistantly radially disposed about the central axis.

Preferably the bases have from three to six, most preferably five arms.

Preferably there are n bases in each set. The value of the integer n is primarily determined by the relative dimensions of the arms and central boss section of the support base and the angle of taper of the arms from the central boss section to the free ends of the arms. The value of n can be readily determined by trial and experiment but may in normal circumstances vary from three to six. For a base with five arms as illustrated, the value of n is 4. it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that it is not necessary to place the support bases in a carton. It is possible to arrange the bases as previously described on a base and shrink wrapped in plastic film. A frame could then be attached to the base to enable the packs to be stacked one on another.

The present invention therefore also provides a package of furniture support bases, said bases having five arms equidistantly radially disposed about a central axis which comprises a first set of n bases one by another in a substantially ordered stack; a second set of n bases one by another in a substantially ordered stack in a plane substantially parallel to and generally co-axially disposed in the same direction as the first set of bases; a third set of bases one by another in a substantially ordered stack in a plane at right angles to the plane of the first set of bases; and a fourth set of n bases one by another in a substantially ordered stack in a plane at right angles to the plane of the first set of bases and generally co-axially disposed in the same direction as the third set of bases where n is an integer, preferably four.

Other preferred features of the invention will be determined from the following description of preferred embodiments of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a schematic plan view of bases stacked in a carton in accordance with known methods.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a base shown in fig. 1 in the direction A. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a base shown in Fig. 1 in the direction B. Fig. 4 is a schematic plan view of bases stacked in a carton in accordance with an alternative known method. Fig. 5 is a side elevation view of bases stacked in a carton in accordance with the method of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of bases stacked in accordance with an alternate method of the invention.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 3 generally there is shown in plan view a stack of multi arm support bases 10 in a carton 11. The bases each comprise five arms 14 equidistantly disposed radially about a central boss section 12 having an axis 13. The axis 13 of the boss section 12 is substantially perpendicular to the general plane of the base 10 and is adapted to receive an upright member to be connected for example to a chair or table in subsequent manufacturing processes. The base 10 generally has an 5 upper-side 15 and under-side 16. The bases are customarily stacked in under to upper- side configuration but may be stacked in a random manner. It will be seen that there is a large unoccupied volume in a carton containing for example a ten high stack of bases. In Figs. 1 to 3 and particularly Fig. 1 the ulti arm support base 10 can be considered to have the various arms 14 further identified as follows: arm 14h may be referred to as 1 0 the "head", arms 14a may be referred to as "outstretched arms" and arms 141 be referred to as "legs" if the support base is seen to have a "human" caricature of a person with outstretched arms and legs akimbo. Whilst the above serves to differentiate between the otherwise identical arms it will be appreciated that the term "head" could be applied to any one of the arms with appropriate adjustment of the terminology applied to 15 the other arms.

As shown in Fig. 4 the bases 10 may be placed in the carton 17 in two side by side stacks with one arm (or "head") 14a of one stack of bases interposed between two adjacent arms ("legs") 14b, 14c of the other stack of bases. Such side by side stacking of bases reduces the volume occupied by a set number of bases as compared to the stack of 20 Fig. 1 but it is clear that there is still a large unoccupied volume remaining in the carton.

Referring to Fig. 5 there is shown in side elevation a package of bases 10 stacked in accordance with the invention in a carton 20. The bases 10 are disposed in the carton 20 as follows. A first set 21 of four bases 10 are placed in the carton 20. A second set 25 22 of four bases 10 is placed in the carton in a plane substantially parallel to the side of the carton and in planes at right angles to the first set 21 of bases. The second set 22 of bases is disposed to one side of the axis 24 of the first set 21 of bases.

A third set of bases 33 is placed in the carton in similar manner to the second set 22 but on the opposite side of axis 24 of the first set of bases. The axes 25 of the second 0 and third sets of bases are approximately co-axial. It will be appreciated that the nature and configuration of the bases results in the arrangement being not strictly co-axial as the bases may move to a certain extent when packed in the carton due in part to any taper on the arms 14 from the central boss 12 to the extremities of the arms.

A fourth set of 23 of four bases is then placed in the carton in planes substantially 5 parallel to the planes of the first set of bases. The arms 25a of the first set of bases are interposed between the arms 25b of the second set of bases and so on. The axis of the fourth set of bases being substantially co-axial with the axis of the first set of bases.

Referring to Fig. 6 there is shown a plan view of an alternative method of the invention. The bases 10 which have five arms are stacked in carton 26 as follows. A first set 27 of four bases 10 is inserted in the carton 26 in upper- to under¬ side configuration with the upper-side of the outermost base 10a facing the side of the carton. A second set 28 of four bases 10 is inserted in the carton 26 in upper- to under¬ side configuration with the upper-side of the outermost base 10b facing the side of the carton opposite to that of base 10a. A third set 29 of four bases 10 is inserted in the carton 26 in upper to under¬ side configuration with the upper-side of the outermost base 10c facing a side of the carton adjacent that which base 10a or 10b faces. A fourth set 30 of four bases 10 is inserted in the carton 26 in upper- to under-side configuration with the upper-side of the outermost base 10d facing the side of the carton opposite that of base 10c. The axes 31 of the bases of sets 27 and 28 are substantially co-axial. The axes

32 of the bases of sets 29 and 30 are substantially co-axial and at approximately right angles to the axes 31 of the bases of sets 27 and 28.

With reference to the "head", "arms", "legs" terminology referred to in relation to Figs. 1 to 3 the heads of the sets of bases 21 and 23 of Fig. 5 are disposed in the opposite direction to the heads of the sets of bases 22 and 33. Similarly the heads of the sets of bases 27 and 28 in Fig. 6 are disposed in the opposite direction to the heads of the sets of bases 29 and 30. In the embodiments illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6 the axes 24 and 25 in Fig. 5 and the axes 31 and 32 in Fig. 6 are nal coplanar.

Depending on the dimension of the bases between the upper and under-sides \i is thus possible to stack sixteen bases in a carton of the same size previously used for ten bases.

It will be readily understood that whilst the bases in each set have been shown placed in upper- to under-side relationship, the bases do not have to be placed in such a relationship but may be placed in upper to upper or lower to lower relationship or any other random or ordered relationship.

E MELE

A base as depicted in Fig. 1 having a span diameter of 60 cm and a height of about

7.1 cm has a total enclosed volume of about 2700 cm³. The span diameter is twice the radius of any arm from the central axis 13 to the tip of the arm. The following Table shows the carton size requirements for bases packed in accordance with Figs. 1 , 4 and 5 of the drawings.

Thus as against packaging ten bases in a suitable sized carton with the bases merely stacked one on top of another it is possible to package sixteen bases in approximately the same size and volume box thus increasing the numerical capacity of the box by up to 60%. Transportation costs are thus substantially reduced as the packaging method of the invention enables up to 60% more bases to be transported for the same cost as previously. Such a reduction in the cost of transport per base permits significant cost savings to the consumer. Whilst the various sets of bases have been referred to as a first, second, third or fourth set of bases the order in which the sets of bases are placed in a carton depends on various factors such as the number of arms of the multi-armed support bases in the sets, whether the sets of bases are inserted in the carton as shown in Fig. 5 or as shown in Fig. 6 and whether the sets of bases are inserted into the carton via the "top" or via a "side" of the carton.

Claims

THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS:

1 . A method of packaging a number of furniture support bases in a carton, said bases having a plurality of arms disposed about a central axis which comprises: placing a first set of bases in said carton one by another in a substantially ordered stack; placing a second set of bases in said carton one by another in a substantially ordered stack in a plane substantially parallel to and generally co-axially disposed in the same direction as the first set of bases; placing a third set of bases in said carton one by another in a substantially ordered stack in a plane at right angles to the plane of the first set of bases; and placing a fourth set of bases in said carton one by another in a substantially ordered stack in a plane at right angles to the plane of the first set of bases and generally co-axially disposed in the same direction as the third set of bases.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 in which the arms of the bases are equidistantly radially disposed about the central axis.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 or 2 in which the bases have from three to six arms.

4. ,A method as claimed in claim 3 in which the bases have five arms.

5. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4 in which there are n bases in each set of bases where n is an integer.

6. A method as claimed in claim 5 where n is from three to six.

7. A method as claimed in claim 6 where n is four.

8. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7 in which the second and third sets of bases are disposed on opposite sides of the axis of the first set of bases.

9. A method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7 in which the third and fourth sets of bases are disposed on opposite sides of the axis of the first and second sets of bases.

10. A package comprising a number of furniture support bases in a carton, said bases having a plurality of arms disposed about a central axis which comprises: a first set of bases in said carton one by another in a substantially ordered stack; a second set of bases in said carton one by another in a substantially ordered stack in a plane substantially parallel to and generally co-axially disposed in the same direction as the first set of bases; a third set of bases in said carton one by another in a substantially ordered stack in a plane at right angles to the plane of the first set of bases; and a fourth set of bases in said carton one by another in a substantially ordered stack in a plane at right angles to the plane of the first set of bases and generally co-axially disposed in the same direction as the third set of bases.

11. A package as claimed in claim 10 in which the arms of the bases are equidistantly radially disposed about the central axis.

12. A package as claimed in claim 10 or 11 in which the bases have from three to six arms.

13. A package as claimed in claim 12 in which the bases have five arms.

14. A package as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 13 in which there are n bases in each set of bases where n is an integer.

15. A package as claimed in claim 14 where n is from three to six.

16. A package as claimed in claim 15 where n is four.

17. A package as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 16 in which the second and third sets of bases are disposed on opposite sides of the axis of the first set of bases.

18. A package as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 16 in which the third and fourth sets of bases are disposed on opposite sides of the axis of the first and second sets of bases.

19. A package comprising a number of furniture support bases, said bases having five arms equidistantly radially disposed about a central axis which comprises a first set of n bases one by another in a substantially ordered stack; a second set of n bases one by another in a substantially ordered stack in a plane substantially parallel to and generally co-axially disposed in the same direction as the first set of bases; a third set of n bases one by another in a substantially ordered stack in a plane at right angles to the plane of the first set of bases; and a fourth set of n bases one by another in a substantially ordered stack in a plane at right angles to the plane of the first set of bases and generally co-axially disposed in the same direction as the third set of bases where n is an integer.

20. A package as claimed in claim 19 wherein n is four.