EP1771356B1

EP1771356B1 - Packaging

Info

Publication number: EP1771356B1
Application number: EP05755607A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Jeffrey Graham Pitt
Original assignee: Protective Packaging Systems Ltd
Current assignee: Protective Packaging Systems Ltd
Priority date: 2004-06-11
Filing date: 2005-06-13
Publication date: 2010-04-07
Anticipated expiration: 2025-06-13
Also published as: GB2414984A; ATE463442T1; EP1771356A1; DE602005020450D1; PL1771356T3; GB0512006D0; GB0413067D0; WO2005120983A1

Abstract

A packaging case C for enclosing memory cards A,B;D,E is of one-piece vacuum-formed moulded sheet and comprises two rectangular shells 1,2 of open-trough form hinged individually to a spine 3. The cavity 8,9 of each shell 1;2 contains a row of upstanding posts 15;19 centrally located between rows of stepped buttresses 17, 18;21,22, Closing of the case C inverts the shells 1;2 on one another about the hinged spine 3, bringing the two rows of posts 15;19 into register with one another and establishing a closed compartment. Each card A;B;D,E is retained in the compartment by distributed-point contact within upper and lower, elongate channels or slots which are of divergent cross-section defined between frusto-conical bases 26;30 of the posts 15;19 and backwardly-sloping bases 23;24;27;28 of the buttresses 17;18;21;22.

Description

This invention relates to packaging cases of the kind for enclosing one or more articles to protect them against damage and shock during storage and transit, wherein the case comprises two case-parts which close upon one another and which define respective cavities that are brought together to establish a compartment for enclosing the one or more articles when the two case-parts are closed upon one another, and two laterally-spaced rows of projections are located in each cavity to define an elongate article-retention channel or slot which is at least partly of V-shape cross-section and which is in register with the corresponding channel or slot of the other cavity when the two case-parts are closed upon one another to establish the compartment.
Packaging cases of the above specified kind are used for protecting articles, for example electronic components, against damage and shock during storage and transit. These methods, in addition to being generally labour-intensive, commonly involve a substantial outlay in cost and material-resources on packaging items in the form, for example, of cardboard cases and specially-designed items of plastics foam and corrugated cardboard to fit within them.
A packaging case of the said above-specified kind is known from JP 2003-292049A in which articles in the form of rectangular plates are supported between two case-parts that close upon one another to enclose the articles. Each case-part has a series of laterally-spaced projections which extend from front to back of the case-part and which have flat inclined-flanks for supporting-contact for sides of the plates. Each plate is retained in the case extending transversely of the projections with its sides supported between the inclined-flanks of adjacent projections of one case-part and the inclined flanks of adjacent projections of the other case-part.
It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide a form of packaging case of the said above-specified kind that may be used with advantage in the protection of articles against damage and shock, and for reducing outlay in cost and material-resources.
According to the present invention a packaging case of the said above-specified kind is characterised in that each of the two rows of laterally-spaced projections comprises a row of mutually-spaced resilient projections, and that the projections of the two rows are staggered with respect to one another along the channel or slot defined by them so that the locations along the channel or slot where the individual projections provide points of resilient supporting-contact for an article inserted in that channel or slot are different for the different rows.
The packaging case of the invention may be of moulded-sheet construction, and may be a one-piece moulded sheet.
The two case-parts may be substantially rectangular, hinged parts that in an open condition of the case extend side by side with one another, and may be interconnected by an elongate spine to which they are both individually hinged. More especially, each case-part may have the form of an open-top trough, and in these circumstances the two case-parts may be brought together to establish the compartment by folding about their hinging to invert one of them with respect to the other and bring its trough-cavity into register with the trough-cavity of the other case-part.
A packaging case in accordance with the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view from one end and side of the packaging case in accordance with the invention;
Figure 2 is an underneath plan view of the packaging case of Figure 1;
Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the packaging case of Figure 1, with the section taken on the line III-III of Figure 1;
Figure 4 is a perspective view of the packaging case of Figure 1 when open, the view being taken from the opposite end of the packaging case to that of Figure 1;
Figure 5 is a section of the packaging case of Figure 1 taken on the line V-V of Figure 1 when loaded with examples of two memory cards; and
Figure 6 is a diagrammatic representation of part of the packaging case of Figure 1 to which reference is made for explanation of a principle involved in it.

Referring to Figures 1 to 4, the packaging in this example takes the form of an elongate, substantially-rectangular case C for enclosing SIM and/or other memory cards to be protected from shock and damage during storage and transportation. The case C, which is erected to the closed form illustrated in Figures 1 to 3 from a one-piece vacuum-formed moulded sheet of thermoplastic material (for example, of polypropylene) that is shown in Figure 4 in its flat, open form.
As shown especially in Figure 4, the case C comprises two elongate, substantially- rectangular shells 1 and 2 that in the flat, open condition extend side by side with one another but spaced apart laterally by an intermediate, elongate, slightly-arched spine 3 to which they are both individually hinged. Each shell 1 and 2 is in the form of an open-top trough having two longitudinal, external walls 4 and 5, and is hinged to the spine 3 along the base of its wall 5, the shell 1 being hinged to one side of the spine 3 by an integral hinge 6 and the shell 2 to the other side by an integral hinge 7.
Closing the case C into the condition shown in Figure 1 from the open condition shown in Figure 4, can be initiated by lifting the shell 1 so as to fold the spine 3 up on the hinge 7 against the wall 5 of the shell 2. The shell 1 is then folded down on the hinge 6 so as to bring it inverted into register with the shell 2 and its wall 5 against the spine 3. In this condition the walls 4 and 5 of the shell 2 are edge-on to the walls 4 and 5 respectively of the shell 1 so that the trough-cavities 8 and 9 of the two shells 1 and 2 respectively, are in register with one another as two halves of an elongate compartment for accommodating the memory cards. The compartment is closed by squeezing the shell 1 onto the shell 2 so as to urge the walls 4 and 5 of the two shells 1 and 2 into mutual edge-to-edge abutment and to snap plinth-projections 10 moulded into either end of the shell 1, resiliently into respective moulded sockets 11 at either end of the shell 2. This engagement of the projections 10 in the sockets 11 is effective to retain the case C in the closed condition resiliently.
Stability and strength of the closed case C is enhanced by the moulding of each shell 1 and 2 with grooves 12 in the outside of the external wall 4, and also with shoulders 13 that project from the outside of its wall 5 to nest in grooves 14 of the spine 3. Features of the moulding located within the cavities 8 and 9 of the two shells 1 and 2, also enhance the stability and strength of the case C, and in addition provide protection against the transmission of shock to the contents of the case C during storage and transit.
In the latter respect, the cavity 8 of the shell 1 is configured with a row of four mutually-spaced posts 15 that are moulded from the bottom of the shell 1 to be upstanding centrally within respective circular recesses 16 distributed lengthwise of the cavity 8. The recesses 16 open into one another being defined by cusp-shape, buttresses 17 and 18 moulded into the bottom of the shell 1 on opposite sides of the cavity 8. Similarly, the cavity 9 of the shell 2 is configured with a row of four mutually-spaced posts 19 that are moulded from the bottom of the shell 2 to be upstanding centrally within respective circular recesses 20 distributed lengthwise of the cavity 9, the recesses 20 opening into one another and being defined by cusp-shape, buttresses 21 and 22 moulded into the bottom of the shell 2 on opposite sides of the cavity 9.
Referring now also to Figure 5, the buttresses 21 and 22 have corresponding two-step profiles, but there is no such correspondence between the profiles of the buttresses 17 and 18, the buttress 17 having two steps whilst the buttress 18 has three. Nonetheless, the bases 23 and 24 (up to the bottom step) of the buttresses 17 and 18 are of the same height from the floor 25 of the cavity 8 as the top of a frusto-conical base 26 of the post 15. Also, the corresponding bases 27 and 28 (up to the bottom step) of the buttresses 21 and 22 are of the same height from the floor 29 of the cavity 9 as the top of a frusto-conical base 30 of the post 19.
The row of buttresses 21 along one side of the cavity 9 and the row of buttresses 22 along the other side, together with the row of four posts 19 between them, are effective to define two elongate channels or slots running lengthwise of the cavity 9; the respective channel or slot in each instance is the straight, obstacle-free strip which is bounded on one side by the row of buttresses 21 or 22 and on the other side by the row of posts 19. Each of these channels or slots is adapted to receive and retain a respective memory card inserted longitudinally to stand upright on its side within the cavity 9. In this regard moreover, the bases 27 and 28 of the buttresses 21 and 22 slope backwardly sightly with height, so that the bottom of each of these retention channels or slots where it extends between the bases 27 or 28 and the backwardly-sloping frusto-conical bases 30 of the posts 19, is of well-defined v-shape cross-section. Accordingly, the depth to which the longitudinal edge of the card enters the respective channel or slot depends upon the major-thickness dimension of that edge.
The row of posts 15 in conjunction with the rows of buttresses 17 and 18 are similarly effective to define two elongate, retention channels or slots running lengthwise of the cavity 8. The bases 23 and 24 of the buttresses 17 and 18 slope backwardly slightly, and in conjunction with the backwardly-sloping bases 26 of the posts 15 establish the bottoms of these retention channels or slots, like those of the shell 2, as having a well-defined V-shape cross-section. Thus, when the shell 1 is folded onto the shell 2 in closing the case C, any memory card retained upright in a retention channel or slot of the cavity 9 will enter a corresponding but inverted retention channel or slot of the cavity 8.
Examples of memory cards of different dimensions retained in the case C as described above, are illustrated in Figure 5. The cards are represented in Figure 5 by rectangles A and B, but in normal circumstances each type of card, rather than being of uniform thickness throughout as represented, will have a thickness that varies along its length and across its width, so that the points of contact of the card within the retention channels or slots of the shells 1 and 2 may not be uniformly distributed along the lengths of the cavities 8 and 9.
Although the existence of a V-shape cross-section in each retention channel or slot is most-clearly revealed at the bottom of that channel or slot, the moulded features (namely, the posts 15 and 19 and the buttresses 17, 18, 21 and 22) within the two cavities 8 and 9 are configured generally to extend that V-shape cross-section to substantially the full depth of each shell 1 and 2. This is illustrated diagrammatically to an exaggerated extent by Figure 6 where representations of two memory cards D and E of significantly different thicknesses are shown superimposed one upon the other within one side of the case.
Each memory card is retained between the shells 1 and 2 by the points of contact it makes with the configured features (namely the posts 15 and 19 and the buttresses 17, 18, 21 and 22) at distributed locations along the cavities 8 and 9. In this way each card is held effectively suspended on spaced contact points within the shells 1 and 2, and in principle these contact points lie generally within a cavity of diamond-shape cross-section that is established half by one of the retention channels or slots of shell 2, and half by the aligned, inverted retention channel or slot of shell 1. The diamond-shape cross-section is outlined with emphasis by lines L in Figure 6.
Protection of the cards from shock imposed on the case results from the resilience of the one-sheet moulded construction of the case C, and the inherent, resilient cushioning that comes from the configuration features within the shells 1 and 2. More particularly, the stepped-moulding of the buttresses 17, 18, 21 and 22 provides resilient absorption of shock-forces which tend to squeeze the shells 1 and 2 together. Also, the moulding of the posts 15 and 19 with a stepped, generally-conical form provides for absorption of any such forces where they are sufficient to bring about abutment between posts 15 and 19.
As illustrated in Figures 1 and 3, the reverse of each moulded post 15 creates four rimmed recesses 31 on the outside of the shell 1, and as illustrated in Figure 2, the reverse of each of the four moulded posts 19 creates a ring of three arcuate projections 32 on the outside of the shell 2. Both features contribute to cushioning and resistance to shock, but are also of use in the stacking of cases of the form of case C one upon the other. The projections 32 of any such case within a stack, interlock with the recesses 31 of the underlying case of the stack.
As a modification of the case C, each plinth-projection 10 and socket 11 for holding the case closed may be replaced by a projecting hexagonal-stud and a corresponding hexagonal socket. Furthermore, the bases 26 and 30 of the posts 15 and 19, may be of stepped conical form to provide ledges for support of the memory cards, and in these circumstances the bases 23 and 24 of the buttresses 17 and 18, and also the bases 27 and 28 of the buttresses 21 and 22, may be correspondingly stepped to the same end.
It will be appreciated that the case C may be readily used and re-used repeatedly for storage and transit of memory cards, and that its construction from a single moulded plastics sheet is economical in cost and material.

Claims

A packaging case for enclosing one or more articles to protect them against damage and shock during storage and transit, wherein the case (C) comprises two case-parts (1,2) which close upon one another and which define respective cavities (8,9) that are brought together to establish a compartment for enclosing the one or more articles when the two case-parts (1,2) are closed upon one another, and two laterally-spaced rows of projections (15,17,18;19,21,22) are located in each cavity (8;9) to define an elongate article-retention channel or slot which is at least partly of V-shape cross-section and which is in register with the corresponding channel or slot of the other cavity (9;8) when the two case-parts (1,2) are closed upon one another to establish the compartment, characterised in that each of the two rows of laterally-spaced projections comprises a row of mutually-spaced resilient projections (15,17;15,18;19,21;19,22), and that the projections of the two rows are staggered with respect to one another along the channel or slot defined by them so that the locations along the channel or slot where the individual projections (15;17;18;19;21;22) provide points of resilient supporting-contact for an article inserted in that channel or slot are different for the different rows.
A packaging case according to Claim 1 wherein the case (C) is of moulded-sheet construction.
A packaging case according to Claim 2 wherein the case (C) is a one-piece moulded sheet.
A packaging case according to any one of Claims 1 to 3 wherein the two case-parts (1, 2) are substantially rectangular, hinged parts that in the open condition of the case (C) extend side by side with one another.
A packaging case according to Claim 4 wherein the two case-parts (1, 2) are interconnected by an elongate spine (3) to which they are both individually hinged.
A packaging case according to Claim 4 or Claim 5 wherein each case-part (1; 2) has the form of an open-top trough, the two case-parts (1, 2) being brought together to establish the compartment by folding about their hinging (6, 7) to invert one of the case-parts (1; 2) with respect to the other and bring its trough-cavity (8; 9) into register with the trough-cavity (9; 8) of the other case-part.
A packaging case according to any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein one of the rows of projections in each case-part (1; 2) comprises a row of post-projections (15; 19) that are upstanding within the cavity (8; 9) of that case-part.
A packaging case according to Claim 7 wherein the post-projections (15; 19) of each case-part (1; 2) are brought into register individually with the post-projections (19; 15) of the other case-part when the two case-parts (1, 2) are brought together to establish the compartment.
A packaging case according to Claim 7 or Claim 8 wherein each post-projection (15; 19) has a frusto-conical base portion (26; 30).
A packaging case according to any one of Claims 1 to 9 wherein one of the rows of projections in each case-part (1; 2) comprises buttress-projections (17, 18; 21, 22) along one side of the cavity of that case-part.
A packaging case according to Claim 9 and Claim 10 wherein each buttress-projection (17, 18; 21, 22) has a base portion (23, 24; 27, 28) of sloping profile to establish in conjunction with the frusto-conical base portions (26; 30) of the post-projections (15; 19) the bottom of the retention channel or slot as having the V-shape cross-section.
A packaging case according to Claim 11 wherein each case-part (1; 2) includes a further row of buttress-projections (18, 17; 22, 21) along the other side of the cavity (8; 9) of that case-part, the further buttress-projections establishing in conjunction with the base portions (26; 30) of the post-projections (15; 19) the bottom of a further elongate article-retention channel or slot within that cavity (8; 9), the bottom of the further channel or slot being of V-shape cross-section, and wherein the further retention-channels or slots of the two case-parts (1, 2) are in register with one another when the two case-parts are closed upon one another to establish the compartment.
A packaging case according to Claim 12 wherein the post-projections (15; 19) are located centrally within respective circular recesses (16; 20) which open into one another and which are defined by the two rows of buttress-projections (17, 18; 21, 22).