Technical Field
The present invention relates to a packing
box for a packing object product and for the same.
Background Art
A product is packed in a packing box and
conveyed. During conveying the product, if the
packing box drops out from a conveyer, the packing box
receives a shock. As a result, the packing box
deforms, and the product is damaged. In particular,
if a corner of the packing box receives the shock,
there is a possibility that the packing box can not
absorb the shock, and the product in the packing box
is severely damaged. However, it is very difficult to
perfectly eliminate the drop accident of the packing
box. Thus, a packing box for and a packing method of
reducing the damage to the product accommodated in the
box at the time of the drop of the box have been
developed.
Conventionally, a fragile part exemplified by
an electrical part or the like is packed in a shock
absorber such as an air cap sheet and accommodated in
a box main body, as shown in Fig. 1. In this
conventional technique, it is necessary to increase an
amount of shock absorber for packaging the product, in
order to reduce the shock to the product accommodated
in the packing box at the time of the drop accident.
In conjunction with the above description,
Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-A-Showa 60-045166)
discloses a technique for placing cushion
material between a box main body and a product or
between the packing box and an air cap sheet, in order
to reduce the shock to the product. However, the
increase in the air cap sheet and cushion material
causes a larger amount of waste after the conveyance.
In particular, it is impossible to reproduce the air
cap sheet as a resource and the waste gives a bad
influence on natural environment.
Also, Japanese Laid Open Patent Application
(JP-A-Heisei 11-227750) discloses a packing box in
which a cushion material made of paper is used without
any usage of a cushion material made of resin such as
the air cap sheet. However, the packing box is for a
packing target product of a peculiar shape in many
cases. In such a packing box, the packing target
object is limited to the product having the particular
size and shape.
Also, in the packing box disclosed in
Japanese Registered Utility Model 3048485, the
structure of cushion made of paper is complex, and a
lot of time is wasted for the assembly.
Also, Japanese Laid Open Patent Application
(JP-A-Heisei 2-139369) discloses another conventional
packing method, in which air cap sheet and shock
absorber are filled between a box main body and the
packing object product without any gap. For this
reason, the product accommodated therein is easily
influenced by vibration during the conveyance. Thus,
it is unsuitable to the product sensitive to the
influence of the vibration.
Also, in Japanese Laid Open Patent
Application (JP-P2001-130640A), a packing box is known
in which the inside of the packing box accommodating a
product is not fully filled.
Disclosure of Invention
Therefore, an object of the present invention
is to provide a packing box and a packing method, in
which a product in a box main body is insusceptible to
influences of vibration and shock during a conveyance.
Also, another object of the present invention
is to provide a packing box and a packing method, in
which a product is insusceptible to influence of a
drop accident during the conveyance.
Also, another object of the present invention
is to provide a packing box and a packing method
having less load on the natural environment.
In an aspect of the present invention, a
packing box includes a box main body; and an inner
plate on which a packing object is fixed by at least a
holding band. The inner plate is accommodated in the
box main body and is kept in a horizontal direction.
Here, the inner plate may include a main
plate on which the packing object is fixed; a set of
first plates which bendably extend from first ends of
the main plate opposing to each other; and a set of
second plates which bendably extend from second ends
of the main plate opposing to each other. The packing
object is desirably fixed at a center of the main
plate such that the packing object is not contact with
inner walls of the box main body. In this case, the
first plates are separated by first gaps, and the
second plates are separated by second gaps. Also, the
packing object is desirably wrapped by a first holding
band passing through the first gaps between the first
plates of each of the sets for the first ends, and the
packing object is desirably wrapped by a second
holding band passing through the second gaps between
the second plates of each of the sets for the second
ends.
Also, the box main body may have a
rectangular parallelepiped shape, and the main plate
may be rectangular. The first plates are bent
upwardly, and the second plates are bent downwardly.
In this case, a summation of an extending length
of the first plates and an extending length of the
second plates is desirably substantially equal to an
inner height of the box main body. Also, it is
desirable that the extending length of the first plate
is substantially equal to the extending length of the
second plate such that the main plate is held at a
middle position in the box main body.
In another aspect of the present invention, a
method of packing a packing object in a packing box,
is achieved by fixing the packing object on an inner
plate, by bending the first plates upwardly and the
second plates downwardly; and accommodating the inner
plate in the box main body to keep the inner plate in
a horizontal direction. The inner plate includes a
main plate on which the packing object is fixed, a set
of first plates which bendably extend from each of
first ends of the main plate opposing to each other,
and a set of second plates which bendably extend from
each of second ends of the main plate opposing to each
other.
Here, the fixing is achieved fixing the
packing object at a center of the main plate such that
the packing object is not contact with inner walls of
the box main body.
Also, the extending length of the first plate
may be substantially equal to the extending length of
the second plate such that the main plate is held at a
middle position in the box main body.
Also, the first plates may be separated by
first gaps, and the second plates may be separated by
second gaps. In this case, the fixing may be achieved
by wrapping the packing object by a first holding band
passing through the first gaps between the first
plates of each of the sets for the first ends; and by
wrapping the packing object by a second holding band
passing through the second gaps between the second
plates of each of the sets for the second ends.
Brief Description of Drawings
Fig. 1 is a diagram showing a conventional
packing box;
Fig. 2 is a developed view of an inner bottom
plate of a packing box according to an embodiment of
the present invention;
Fig. 3 is a diagram showing a state in which
a packing object product is attached to the inner
bottom plate;
Figs. 4A to 4C are diagrams showing the state
in which the packing object product is fixed to a main
plate;
Fig. 5 is a diagram showing the state when
the inner bottom plate is accommodated in a box main
body in this embodiment;
Fig. 6 is a diagram showing a part of the
inner bottom plate when the packing object product is
fixed to the main plate by means of the holding band;
and
Fig. 7 is a diagram showing a part of the
inner bottom plate when the packing object product is
fixed to the main plate by means of the holding band
3.
Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention
Hereinafter, a packing box according to the
present invention will be described in detail with
reference to the attached drawings.
Fig. 2 is a developed view of an inner bottom
plate 1 of the packing box according to an embodiment
of the present invention. Referring to Fig. 2, the
inner bottom plate 1 is composed of a nearly
rectangular main plate 1a that a packing object
product is provided in a center portion of the inner
bottom plate 1. Two sets of two first height
adjusting plates 1b are coupled to long sides opposing
to each other of the main plate 1a at the ends of the
long sides, respectively. Two sets of two second
height adjusting plates 1c are coupled to short side
adjacent to the long sides of the main plate 1a at the
ends of the short sides, respectively. The first
height adjusting plates 1b have the same shape, and
the second height adjusting plates 1c have the same
shape. A first gap is provided between the two first
height adjusting plates 1b of each set. Also, a
second gap is provided between the two second height
adjusting plates 1c of each set. Though the height
adjusting plates are coupled to the main plate in the
above description, the inner bottom plate 1 may be cut
out from a plate to have the above shape.
Fig. 3 is a diagram showing a state in which
the packing object product 4 is attached to the inner
bottom plate 1. Referring to Fig. 3, the packing
object product 4 is fixed to the inner bottom plate in
the developed state. The packing object product 4 is
placed on the main plate 1a such that the center of
gravity of the packing object product 4 and the center
of gravity of the main plate 1a overlap on a nearly
same position. Also, the packing object product 4 is
placed such that the long sides of the packing object
product 4 are substantially parallel to the long sides
of the main plate 1a. The packing object product 4
placed on the main plate 1a is fastened and fixed to
the main plate 1a by first and second holding bands 3.
The first and second holding bands 3 have the widths
approximately equal to the first and second gaps,
respectively. The first holding band 3 is wrapped
around the main plate 1a at least one round to fasten
the packing object product 4 in such a way that the
first holding band 3 passes through the first gap.
Also, the second holding band 3 is wrapped around the
main plate 1a at least one round to fasten the packing
object product 4 in such a way that the second holding
band 3 passes through the second gap.
Figs. 4A to 4C are diagrams showing the state
in which the packing object product 4 is fixed to the
main plate 1a. As shown in a top view of Fig. 4A, the
packing object product 4 is fixed to the main plate 1a
by the first and second holding bands 3. The two sets
of the two first height adjusting plates 1b are bent
in the long sides of the main plate 1a from the height
direction upwardly by about 90 degrees. On the other
hand, the two sets of the two second height adjusting
plates 1c are bent in the short sides of the main
plate 1a from the height direction downwardly by about
90 degrees.
Fig. 5 is a diagram showing the state when
the inner bottom plate 1 is accommodated in a box main
body 2. Referring to Fig. 5, the packing box in this
embodiment is composed of a inner bottom plate 1 and a
box main body 2. The inner bottom plate 1 is formed
of strong paper such as corrugated paper. The box
main body 2 is a box formed of strong paper such as
the corrugated paper, and has an opening. Also, the
box main body 2 has flaps 2c used to close this
opening. The inner bottom plate 1 on which the
packing object product 4 is placed is accommodated
from the opening in the box main body 2. Then, the
opening is closed by the flaps 2c, and the packing box
is loaded on a distributing vehicle or the like and
distributed. From this viewpoint, the box main body 2
is desired to have the shape of a rectangular
parallelepiped, and to comply with a standard defined
in a distributing industry.
Thus, inner surfaces 2b of the box main body
2 are in contact with the side surfaces of the first
and second height adjusting plates 1b and 1c of the
inner bottom plate 1, to support the inner bottom
plate 1. The tip portions of the second height
adjusting plates 1c are in contact with an inner
bottom surface 2a of the box main body 2 to support
the inner bottom plate 1. Also, the tip portion of
the first height adjusting plates 1b are contact with
the inner surface of the flaps 2c of the box main body
2 to support the inner bottom plate 1 in the box main
body. Also, the height of the inner bottom plate 1 is
substantially equal to a sum of the height t1 of the
first height adjusting plate and the height t2 of the
second height adjusting plate. This sum is slightly
smaller than the inner height T of the box main body 2
In this way, the main plate 1a of the inner
bottom plate 1 is kept in the approximately horizontal
direction in the box main body 2, because the second
height adjusting plates 1c have the same height. When
the first height adjusting plates 1b have the same
height and the first height adjusting plate 1b and the
second height adjusting plate 1c have the same height,
the main plate 1a of the inner bottom plate 1 is kept
in the horizontal direction at a center position of
the box main body 2 in a height direction.
In addition, the width of the first gap and
that of the second gap may be equal to each other.
The first gap and the second gap are desirably formed
in such a way that the strength on the structure of
the inner bottom plate 1 is not damaged. The width of
each gap is determined based on parameters such as the
length of the long side of the main plate 1a, the
length of the short side of the main plate 1a, the
height of the packing object product 4, the length of
the long side of the packing object product 4, the
length of the short side of the packing object product
4, the weight of the packing object product 4 or the
like.
Fig. 6 is a magnified view showing the part
of the section of the inner bottom plate 1 when the
packing object product 4 is fixed to the main plate 1a
by means of the holding band 3. The holding band 3
generates a force F1 in a first direction and a force
F2 in a second direction by tension. The generated F1
and F2 act as a synthesized force F3 against the
packing object product 4, to fix the packing object
product 4 to the main plate 1a of the inner bottom
plate 1.
The holding band 3 is desired to be a film-shaped
band having a self-adhesive property, as
represented by FITLAP (made by Shinetsu Kogyo Co.,
Ltd., Registered Trade-Mark, Catalog Dated on July 10,
2002, Item Number #50) so that the packing object
product 4 placed on the main plate 1a is held by only
wrapping. Through the use of the holding band 3
having a self-adhesive property, the packing object
product 4 can be fixed to the main plate 1a without
depositing the adhesive component on the packing
object product 4. Thus, it is possible to protect the
damage to the packing object product 4 caused by the
adhesive component of the holding band 3.
By using the holding band 3 having a
stretching property as well as the self-adhesive
property is used, the packing object product can be
held strongly. Also, the holding band 3 is desired to
be made of the material that has the self-adhesive
property and the stretching property and can be
reproduced as resource. Consequently, without any
usage of the fixing materials more than necessary, the
packing object product 4 can be packed, thereby
reducing the cost. Moreover, since the waste of the
resource is avoided and the exhausted waste is
reduced, the load on the natural environment is
reduced.
The inner bottom plate 1 is accommodated in
the box main body 2 and supported on the inner
surfaces of the box main body 2. The packing object
product 4 is not in direct contact with the box main
body 2. There is a space between the bottom surface
2a in the box main body, the box main body side wall
surface 2b, the flap 2c and the packing object product
4. The existence of the space reduces the bad
influence on the packing object product 4, when the
packing box is deformed by a shock applied from
outside the packing box.
Fig. 7 is a diagram showing the inner bottom
plate 1 when the packing object product 4 is fixed to
the main plate 1a by means of the holding bands 3.
Referring to Fig. 7, the inner bottom plate 1
accommodated in the box subject 2 has the space
between the main plate 1a of the inner bottom plate 1,
to which the packing object product is fixed, and the
bottom surface 2a of the box main body. Since the
inner bottom plate 1 is supported by the box main body
2, the packing object product 4 is protected against a
strong shock. In addition, the space from the bottom
surface 2a of this box main body absorbs the small
vibration received by the packing box during the
conveyance. Consequently, the damage of a precise
machine, an electronic part and the like, which are
susceptible to the influence of the small vibration
during the conveyance is largely improved.
The packing box in this embodiment needs not
limit the shape of the packing object product 4. The
packing object product 4 is enough to be placed on the
main plate 1a of the inner bottom plate 1, at the size
of the longitudinal length 1, the lateral length w and
the height t2, respectively. Most of the packing
object products which can be accommodated in the box
main body 2 can be packed. Also, when the packing
object product 4 has a very special shape, the packing
box in this embodiment can sufficiently correspond to
it by using several packing materials and arranging
its outer shape.
As mentioned above, according to the packing
box of the present invention, the air cap sheet for
wrapping a packing object product and a cushion
material inserted between the box main body and the
product need not to be used. The packing box can
reduce a usage amount of packing materials,
especially, the packing materials that can not be
reproduced, and save resources and reduce a packing
cost, as compared with the conventional packing
method.
Also, there is a space between the main plate
of the inner bottom plate, on which the packing target
object is placed, and the bottom surface in the box
main body. Thus, the main plate of the inner bottom
plate absorbs vibration and shock during conveyance.
In particular, the packing box can reduce a trouble of
the product such as precise machines and electronic
parts, which are easily influenced by continuous small
vibrations in the course of the conveyance.
Moreover, the packing object product can be
separated away from the wall of the box main body.
Thus, even if the corner of the packing box receives a
shock because of the drop of the box main body, the
product can be protected.
In addition, it is possible to provide the
packing box that is simpler in the structure than the
conventional packing box using the cushion made of the
paper. Thus, the working time necessary for the
packing can be reduced and the manufacturing cost of
the packing box can be saved.