EP1973805A2

EP1973805A2 - Structure of air-packing device having deflation cut slits for removing the air therefrom

Info

Publication number: EP1973805A2
Application number: EP06826194A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Hidetoshi Koyanagi
Original assignee: Air Paq Inc
Current assignee: Air Paq Inc
Priority date: 2005-10-15
Filing date: 2006-10-13
Publication date: 2008-10-01
Also published as: WO2007047767A2; CN101331018A; EP1973805A4; CN101331018B; WO2007047767A3

Abstract

An air-packing device has deflation cut slits for tearing the plastic films thereof to remove the air after use. The deflation cut slit is suitable for an air-packing device having a multiplicity of air containers each having a check valve that prevents reverse air flow. The deflation cut slit is provided in a sealing area located between adjacent air containers. The plastic films are bonded at the sealing area so that the deflation cut slit will not leak the air from the air container of the air-packing device. The deflation cut slits are aligned in the same direction to function as perforations to allow a user to cut the air-packing device along the predetermined direction.

Description

STRUCTURE OF AIR-PACKING DEVICE HAVING DEFLATION CUT SLITS FOR REMOVING THE AIR THEREFROM

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a structure of an air-packing device that has a multiplicity of air containers each having a check valve that prevents reverse flow of air, and more particularly, to a structure of an air-packing device having a plurality of deflation cut slits that are provided on sealing areas that are located between adjacent air containers to facilitate easy tearing off of a part of the air-packing device to efficiently cut the air-packing device and exhaust the air therefrom.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In a distribution channel such as product shipping, a styroform packing material has been used for packing commodity and industrial products . Although the styroform package material has a merit such as a good thermal insulation performance and a light weight, it has also various disadvantages: recycling the styroform is not possible, soot is produced when it burns, a flake or chip comes off when it is snagged because of it's brittleness, an expensive mold is needed for its production, and a relatively large warehouse is necessary to store it. Therefore, to solve such problems noted above, other packing materials and methods have been proposed. One method is a fluid container of sealingly containing a liquid or gas such as air

(hereafter "air-packing device") . The air-packing device has excellent characteristics to solve the problems involved in the styroform. First, because the air-packing device is made of only thin sheets of plastic films, it does not need a large warehouse to store it unless the air-packing device is inflated. Second, a mold is not necessary for its production because of its simple structure. Third, the air-packing device does not produce a chip or dust which may have adverse effects on precision products. Also, recyclable materials can be used for the films forming the air-packing device. Further, the air-packing device can be produced with low cost and transported with low cost . Air-packing devices are becoming more and lore popular because of the advantages noted above, mere is an increasing need to store and carry precision products or articles which are sensitive to shocks and impacts often involved in shipment of the products . There are many other types of product, such as wine bottles, DVD drivers, music instruments, glass or ceramic wares, etc. that need special attention so as not to receive a shock, vibration or other mechanical impact. Thus, there is also a need of air-packing devices that match with the particular shape of the product and can easily pack the products.

Since the air-packing device is generally used in the condition where compressed air fills the air-packing device (inflated condition) for shock absorbing properties, it can be bulky and take up lot of spaces unless it is deflated. Generally, after the product is delivered to a destination, the air-packing device is deflated for disposal or recycling, etc. The air-packing device may be deflated by using special tools to puncture the air-packing device. However, in many cases, end users of the air-packing devices are ordinary consumers who do not have such a special tool or a cutter to deflate air-packing devices.

Alternatively, the air packing device itself may provide a special valve or opening for deflating the air-packing device. However, providing a special valve would incur cost increase of the air-packing device because of the additional material and complexity of production process. Moreover, providing such a special valve would limit freedom of designing the air-packing device as the position of setting the special valve would limit the configuration and the size of the air-packing device. Because the size and shape of the air-packing device must be changed to suit the need of particular products, the location of the special valve for deflation must be redesigned for each air-packing device.

Thus, there is a need for an air-packing device that allows easy deflation of the air without the need of special tools or special valves/openings for deflation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a new air-packing device that has advantages of having a multiplicity of air containers each having a check valve while allowing easy deflation of the air-packing device after use. Another object of the present invention is to provide a structure of a deflation cut slit formed in an air-packing device for protecting a product therein, wherein the air-packing device is made of a plurality of layers of plastic film and has a plurality of air containers each having a check valve that prevents reverse air flow. The air-packing device includes a sealing area located between adjacent air containers, and a deflation cut slit provided within the sealing area. The plastic films are bonded with one another at the sealing portion such that the deflation cut slit will not leak the air from the air containers.

Still other object of the present invention is to provide a structure of a deflation cut slit for use in an air-packing device for protecting a product therein as describe above, wherein the adjacent air containers are separated by a separation seal and the air-packing device is cut along the separation seal so that the deflation cut slit located at the sealing area to serve as a cutting edge .

Yet another object of ,the present invention is to provide a structure of a deflation cut slit for use in an air-packing device for protecting a product therein, described above, wherein the sealing area for forming the deflection cut slit therein is located close to the opening of the check valve .

It is another object of the present invention to provide a structure of a deflation cut slit for use in an air-packing device for protecting a product therein, as described above, wherein the sealing area for forming the deflation cut slit therein is located at an end of the air-packing device opposite to the side having the check valves .

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a structure of a deflation cut slit for use in an air-packing device for protecting a product therein, wherein the cut edge is provided at the side perpendicular to the side to be torn off such that initial procedure of tearing is facilitated.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a structure of a deflation cut slit for use in an air-packing device for protecting a product therein, wherein each of the air containers has a plurality of air cells created by heat-seal lands that partially separate the air container to create the small air cells in series to create a desired shape of the air-packing device. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a method of creating an air-packing device having a plurality of air containers, each container having a check valve that prevents reverse flow of air, wherein the air-packing device has a deflation cut slit to deflate by tearing off a predetermined portion of the air-packing device and removing the air therefrom. The method includes the steps of bonding an upper film, check valve film and lower film to form basic configuration of the air packing device, creating a sealing area between adjacent air containers, and forming the deflation cut slit within the sealing area.

According to the present invention, the deflation cut slits can be created in a simple structure through a simple procedure without involving complex machinery. The deflation cut slits for an air- packing device allows the air-packing device to be cut freely at a bonded portion between adjacent air containers. When cutting the elongated thermoplastic films into each unit of the air-packing device, the deflation cut slit that is to be severed at the middle works as a cut edge for initial tearing of the air-packing device, thereby facilitating the air removal by the user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing an air-package device 10 having a multiplicity of air containers to which the deflation cut slits of the present invention can be advantageously implemented.

Figure 2A is a plan view showing the air packing device having the deflation cut slits under the present invention where the air packing device is filled with the air and is not yet deflated. Figure 2B is a plan view of the air-packing device similar to Figure 2A as it is torn off from the left by applying a tearing force, and

Figure 2C is a plan view showing the condition where the lower part of the air-packing device is completely torn off.

Figure 3 is a plan view showing an example of configuration of the air-packing device having deflation cut slits of the present invention that is manufactured by bonding three sheets of thermoplastic film.

Figure 4 is plan view showing the detailed view of the example of structure of the check valve and the deflation cut slits under the present invention. Figure 5 is a cross sectional view of the structure of the air cell and the check valve of Figure 4 showing the operation of the check valve when the compressed air is supplied to the air-packing device . Figure 6 shows an example of a manufacturing apparatus for producing the air-packing device incorporating the deflation cut slits and check valves of the present invention.

Figures 7A and 7B are enlarged views of the deflation cut slit and the check valve of the air-packing device where Figure 7A shows the air-packing device having the deflation cut slits and Figure 7B shows the condition of the. air packing device after the air-packing device is cut along the dotted line shown in Figure 7A.

Figure 8 is a plan view showing another example of the deflation cut slits under the present invention where the deflation cut slits are provided at the end of the air-packing device opposite to the check valves .

Figure 9 is a plan view showing another example of the air- packing device having a large number of bubble air cells in which the deflation cut slit of the present invention of Figure 8 is implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The air-packing device of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that although the present invention is described for the case of using compressed air for inflating the air-packing device for an illustration purpose, other fluids such as other types of gas or liquid may also be used. The air-packing device is typically used in a container box to pack a product during the distribution flow of the product.

The air-packing device of the present invention is especially useful for packing products which are sensitive to shock or vibration such as hard disk drives, personal computers, DVD drivers, bottles, glassware, ceramic ware, music instruments, paintings, antiques, etc. The air-packing device reliably packs the product and its accessaries after being inflated by the compressed air. Typically, the air-packing device packing the product and its accessaries is further installed in a container box. The air- packing device of the present invention has a unique structure for easy tearing off for removing the air therefrom after use. The air-packing device of the present invention includes a plurality of air containers each having a check valve and a plurality of serially connected air cells. ^■ The air container is air-tightly separated from the other air containers while the air cells in the same air container are connected by air passages such that the air can flow among the air cells through the air passages. Each air cell in the air container has a sausage like shape when the air is filled in the air containers.

The air-packing device is generally composed of two (upper and lower) thermoplastic films. The check valves in these configurations use a check valve film that is placed between the upper (first) thermoplastic film and the lower (second) thermoplastic film. When the compressed air is supplied to inflate the air-packaging device, the air will press the check valve film in such a way that the check valve is closed to prevent reverse air flows. Because each air container has a check valve that prevents the reverse flow of the air, the air-packing device remains inflated after use. Therefore, each and every air container must be punctured or torn off in some way to discharge the air so that the air-packaging device can be deflated.

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing an air-packing device 40 having a multiplicity of air containers to which the deflation cut slits of the present invention can be advantageously implemented. The air-packing device 40 includes a plurality of air containers 42. A check valve 44 is provided to each air container 42 to prevent reverse air flow in the air container 42. The compressed air is introduced from an air input 41 and to each air container 42 through an air guide passage 63. Deflation cut slits 401 are provided close to the corresponding check valves 44. The air-packing device 40 is composed of upper and lower thermoplastic films which are bonded together at separation seal 46 to create the air containers 42 separate from one another. One or more thermoplastic films for the check valves 44 are provided between the upper and lower thermoplastic films as will be explained in detail later. Figure 1 shows the condition where the air-packing device 40 has been inflated with the compressed air.

As shown in Figure 1, each air container 42 is provided with the check valve 44 that prevents the reverse flow of the compressed air. One of the main purposes of having multiple air containers with corresponding check valves is to increase the reliability, because each air container becomes independent from the others. Namely, even if one of the air containers suffers from an air leakage for some reason, the air-packing device can still function as a shock absorber for packing the product because other air containers are intact.

However, after the use of the air-packing device 40, for exhausting the compressed air from the air-packing device 40, merely puncturing one air container is not enough because the other air containers maintain the air due to the check valve 44 provided to each air container. The perspective view of the air-packing device 40 of Figure 1 is merely a simple example and the present invention can be applied to many other types of air-packing device having a multiplicity of air cells. For example, as noted above, each air container may be subdivided by heat-seal lands to form a plurality of air cells connected in series so that the air-packing device can be easily folded to a complex configuration as will be described in more detail later.

Now, the procedure of deflating the air from the air-packing device having deflation cut slits under the present invention is explained. Figures 2A to 2C are plan views showing the air-packing device 40 having the deflation cut slits 401 of the present invention. Each air container 42 is separated from the others by a separation seal 46 and has a plurality of air cells 42 divided by heat-seal lands 51. Sealing areas 72 are provided between adjacent air containers 42. In this example, each of the sealing areas 72 is formed as a part of reinforcement of the check valve 44. At each sealing area 72, all layers of the thermoplastic films are bonded with one another .

The deflation cut slits 401 are formed within the sealing areas 72 and are oriented in the same direction with one another.

Typically, the deflation cut slits 401 are located at the sealing areas 72 and run in a direction which is perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the air-packing device 40. The deflation cut slit 401 is a complete opening that cuts through all the layers of thermoplastic films. Because all thermoplastic films are bonded at the sealing area 72, and the deflation cut slit 401 is formed within the sealing area 72, the air inside the air container (air cells) 42 will not leak in a normal situation. Therefore, the deflation cut slit 401 will not affect the function of the air- packing device 40. Preferably, each of the deflation cut slits 401 extends between the two adjacent air containers 42.

Figure 2A is a plan view showing the air-packing device 40 having the deflation cut slits 401 in the present invention wherein the air-packing device 40 is filled with the compressed air, i.e, it is not yet deflated. For simplicity of illustration, however, the air-packing device 40 in Figures 2A-2C are illustrated in a flat manner. An arrow A indicates a direction of the force to be applied to tear the air-packing device 40 along the direction of the deflation cut slits 401.

■Such a force to tear the air-packing device 40 is preferably applied manually by a user's hand but other means may also be used. As noted above, all of the deflation cut slits 401 are aligned in the same direction with one another on the air-packing device 40. To facilitate the initial tearing procedure, at each side of the air-packing device 40, a half-cut (cut edge) of the deflation cut slit 401 is provided. Such a half-cut at each side (end) of the air-packing device 40 will be created by the procedure of Figures 7A and 7B as will be described in detail later. As the force is continuously applied to the air-packing device 40, the lower part of the air-packing device 40 begins to be torn off as shown in Figure 2B. Although only the deflation cut slits 401 provided at the sealing areas 72 are cut in advance and the rest of the areas are not cut, due to the deflation cut slits 401, uncut portions can be easily torn with the help of momentum and direction of the force once such a tearing force is applied. In other words, the deflation cut slits 401 guides the tearing operation in the predetermined direction to which the tearing force is applied. In Figure 2B, because a part of the leftmost air cell 42 is torn, the compressed air inside the leftmost air cells 42 will escape therefrom.

Figure 2C shows the condition where the lower part of the air-packing device 40 is completely separated from the main body. Thus, despite a multiplicity of air containers (air cells) 42 each having a check valve 44 to prevent the reverse air flow, all the air can be easily removed from the air containers to deflate the air- packing device 40 by manually tearing off the lower portion. Although the direction of the force applied to the air-packing device 40 as indicated by the arrow A is from left to right in the above described example, the force may be alternatively applied, from the right to left in a similar manner described above because the cut edge (half-cut) is formed in the right side of the air-packing device 40 as well.

Figure 3 is a plan view showing an example of detailed structure of the air-packing device of the present invention in the area of the check valve 44. Basically, the air-packing device 40 is made of three thermoplastic films,- first and second (upper and lower) air-packing films 91a-91b and a check valve film 92. The upper (first) thermoplastic film 91a and the lower (second) film 91b form a basic shape of the air-packing device 40 having a plurality of air containers. Bach air container has a plurality of air cells 42 connected in series. The check valve film 92 in this example is configured by a sheet of thermoplastic film, and forms a check valve for each air container 42. The air-packing device 40 in. the example of Figure 3 includes a plurality of deflation cut slits 401 in the horizontal direction at the bottom area of the check valve 44. Each deflation cut slit 401 is formed within the sealing area 72 each extending between the two adjacent air containers 42. As noted above, the sealing area 72 is an area where the first, second and check valve thermoplastic films are heat sealed with one another. Since the thermoplastic films are air-tightly sealed, the air cannot flow .in or out the sealing areas 72. Further, the deflation cut slits 401 and the sealing areas 72 are flat even when the air is filled in the air- packing device 40. Accordingly, the user can easily grab the area of the deflation cut slits 401 when it is necessary to tear off the air-packing device 40 for removing the air.

Figure 4 shows an example of structure of the check valve 44 and the deflation cut slits 401 in the air-packing device of the present invention. As explained with reference to Figure 3, the air packing device 40 in the preferred embodiment is made of upper and lower (first and second) films and a check valve film, typically, all of which are thermoplastic films. The areas where the one of the upper and lower films and the check valve film are bonded with each other are indicated by hatches in Figure 4.

In this example, the sealing area 72 forms a part of the check valve 44 and is located close to the air guide passage 63. The sealing areas 72 are provided to reinforce the boundary area between the guide passage 63 and the air containers (air cells) 42 so as to prevent the air container from breakage when it is inflated. The separation seal 69 is an area where the first and second thermoplastic films area bonded to separate the air container 42 from the adjacent air containers 42.

All the thermoplastic (first, second and check valve) films are heat-sealed at the sealing areas 72 as noted above, thus, the sealing areas 72 remain flat when the compressed air is supplied to the air-packing device 40. The deflation cut slit 401 is provided within each sealing area 72 and is oriented in the same direction, for example, in Figure 4, in a direction substantially perpendicular to the separation seal 69. Because all the thermoplastic films are bonded at the sealing areas 72, the deflation cut slit 401 will not leak the air.

The flows of air when the compressed air is supplied to the air-packing device 40 are indicated by arrows 77a, 77b, 77c, and 77d. The flow of air from the guide passage 63 to the air cells 42 is relatively smoothly propagated through the check valve 44.

Further, the narrow down portions 67, extended portion 65 and outlet portions 73 formed in the check valve 44 work to interfere the reverse flow of the air. Accordingly, the reverse flow from the air cells 42 cannot easily pass through the air pipe 78, which promotes the process of supplying the air in the air-packing device.

Figure 5 is a cross sectional view showing an effect of the check valve 44 of Figure 4. This example shows an inner condition of the check valve 44 when the reverse flow tries to occur in the air-packing device when it is sufficiently inflated. In this example, the check valve 44 is formed of ' two check valve films 92a and 92b where the check valve film 92b is attached to the first thermoplastic film 91a of the air-packing device at its ends .

When the sufficient amount of air is supplied to the air cells 42, the air can hardly return to the air pipe 78 because the outlet portions 71 and 72 work against the air such that the reverse flow will not easily enter in the outlet portions. Instead, the air flows in a space between the second air-packing film 91b and the check valve film 92a as indicated by the arrows 66, and the space is inflated as shown in Figure 5. By this expansion, in Figure 5, the check valve film 92a is pressed to the right, and at the same time, the check valve film 92b is pressed to the left. As a result, the two check valve films 92a and 92b are brought into tight contact as indicated by arrows 68. Thus, the check valve 44 is completely closed by the inner air pressure so that the reverse flow is prevented.

Figure 6 shows an example of a manufacturing apparatus for producing the air-packing device 40 incorporating the deflation cut slits 401 and the check valves 44 of the present invention. The check valves 44 and the deflation cut slits 401 are constructed during the manufacturing process. The structure of the manufacturing apparatus of Figure 6 is merely an example, and an ordinary skilled person in the art appreciates that there are many other ways of forming an apparatus for producing the air-packing device 40 with use of the concept of the manufacturing apparatus of Figure 6.

The manufacturing apparatus 80 in Figure 6 is comprised of a film feeding means 81, film conveying rollers 82, a valve heat-seal device 83, an up-down roller controller 84, a sensor 89 for feeding the elongated thermoplastic films, a main film heat-seal device 85, a belt conveyer 87 for the main heat-seal operation, and a supplemental heat-seal device 86. In the case where the main heat-seal device 85 is capable of heat-sealing all of the necessary portions of the upper and lower films 91a and 91b, the supplemental heat-seal device 86 will be omitted.

The up-down roller controller 84 is provided to the manufacturing apparatus 80 in order to accurately positioning the check valves (check valve film 92) relative to the upper and lower thermoplastic films 91a and 91b. The up-down roller controller 84 moves the rollers 84b in perpendicular (upward or downward) to the manufacturing flow direction H in order to precisely adjust a position of the check valve film 92. Also, the belt conveyer 87 having a plastic film with high mechanical strength at high temperature such as a Teflon film or a Mylar film on its surface is provided in order to improve a heat-sealing performance.

With reference to Figure 6, an overall manufacturing process is described. First, the film feeding means 81 supplies the upper thermoplastic film 91a, the lower thermoplastic film 91b, and the check valve film 92 (ex. check valve films 92a and 92b of Figure 5) . The film conveying rollers 82 at various positions in the manufacturing apparatus 80 guide and send the upper thermoplastic film 91a, the lower thermoplastic film 91b, and the check valve film 92 forward to the manufacturing flow direction H shown in Figure 6. The first stage of the heat-sealing process is conducted by the valve heat-seal device 83. This is the process for forming the check valves 44 by attaching the check valve film 92 to the upper thermoplastic film 91a. The position of each film is precisely adjusted by the up-down roller controller 84 based on the signals from the sensors 84 and 89. During this process, the check valve film 92 is bonded to the upper thermoplastic film 91.

The second stage of the heat-sealing process is conducted by the main heat-seal device 85 and the belt conveyer 87. The main heat-seal device 85 is a heater for bonding the upper and lower thermoplastic films for creating many air containers with many air cells by bonding the boundaries (separation seal) 46 between the air containers and the heat-seal lands 51 (Figures 2A-2C) . The sealing areas 72 for creating the deflation cut slits 401 therein are also created in the heat-sealing process by bonding the upper, lower thermoplastic films and the check valve film. Typically, the main heat-seal device 85 is a large scale heater to create the sheets of air-packing device.

The belt conveyer 87 is used to prevent the heat-sealed portions from extending or broken by the main heat-seal device 85. The belt conveyer 87 has two wheels 87b and a belt 87a made of or a coated by a high heat resistance film such as a Teflon or Mylar film. In the heat-seal process, the heat from the main heat-seal device 85 is applied to the upper and lower films 91a and 91b, and the check valve film 92 between the upper and lower films 91a and 91b, through the Teflon film on the conveyer belt 87a. The Teflon film may temporarily stick to one of the upper and lower films 91a and 91b immediately after the heat-seal process. Thus, if the Teflon film is immediately separated from the upper and lower films 91a and 91b, the heat-sealed portions of the upper and lower films may be deformed or even broken.

Thus , in the manufacturing apparatus of Figure 6 , without immediately separating the Teflon film from the upper and lower films 91a and 91b, the Teflon film moves at the same speed of the upper and lower films 91a and 91b because of the belt conveyer 87. During this time, the heat-sealed portions with the high temperature are naturally cured while they are temporally stuck to the Teflon film on the conveyor belt 87a. Thus, the upper and lower films 91a and 91b can be securely separated from the Teflon film at the end of the belt conveyor 87. In this example, the cutting machine 201 is provided as a part of the manufacturing apparatus 80 to cut the elongated thermoplastic films to each unit of the air-packing device. Preferably, the deflation cut slits 401 are also created in this process by cutting the sealing areas 72 in a manner shown in Figure 2A. However, it is also feasible to make the- deflation cut slits 401 in a separate process by a separately provided cutting machine after the sheets of the air-packing device have been created.

The configuration of the deflation cut slits 401 in the present invention describe above has the advantage that it provides flexibility in the size of the air-packing device. Figure 7A and 7B are plan view of the embodiment of the deflation cut slits similar to those shown in Figures 2A to 2C. Figure 7A shows an enlarged view of the deflation cut slit 401 and the check valve 44 of the air-packing device 40. A dotted line 301 is shown that runs along the separation seal 69 such that the it runs along the bonded area between adjacent air cells.

Figure 7B shows the condition of the air packing device after the air-packing device is cut along the dotted line 301 shown in Figure 7A by a tool such as the cutting machine 201 shown in Figure 6. Since the cut is made along the separation seal 69 where all films are bonded, the air-packing device is not ruptured. Consequently, the deflation cut slit 401 is severed at the middle. The severed part of the deflation cut slit 401 serves as a cut edge at each side of the air-packing device (Figures 2A-2C) which facilitates initial cutting along the deflation cut slits 401. The air-packing device 40 may be cut along any of the bonded portions between the two adjacent air containers. Thus, the size of the air- packing device 40 can be easily modified by cutting along the desired separation seal 69.

The deflation cut slit 401 in the present invention is not limited to the specific location of the air-packing device in the configuration described above. Figure 8 is a plan view showing an alternative embodiment of the deflation cut slits under the present invention. Unlike the previous examples, the deflation cut slits 401 are not provided at the areas of the check valves but are located at the opposite side of the air-packing device 40. As shown, the sealing areas 72b are provided at the side of the air- packing device opposite to the side of the check valves 44b.^' As long as the deflation cut slits 401 are provided in the sealing areas 72 that extend between the adjacent air containers 42, the deflation cut slits 401 can function as perforation cuts to tear open each air container to deflate the air-packing device 40 in the manner described above. The deflation cut slit 401 in the present invention may also be implemented in a bubble wrap air-packing configuration shown in the plan view of Figure 9. In this example, the air cells 42 of substantially the same size and shape are formed in a matrix manner so that the air-packing device in the sheet form can freely wrap a product to be protected. The deflation cut slits 401 of the present invention are provided on the sealing areas 72c at the bottom of Figure 9 to facilitate cutting of the lower portion of the air- packing device. The deflation cut slits 401 are of the same configuration as described above. As described above, the deflation cut slits of the present invention can be created in a simple structure through a simple procedure without involving complex machinery. The deflation cut slits for an air-packing device under the present invention allows the air-packing device to be cut freely at a bonded portion between adjacent air containers. When cutting the elongated thermoplastic films into each unit of the air-packing device, the deflation cut slit that is to be severed at the middle works as a cut edge for initial tearing of the air-packing device, thereby facilitating the air removal by the user. Although the invention is described herein with reference to ^'the preferred embodiment, one skilled in the art will readily appreciate that various modifications and variations may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Such modifications and variations are considered to be within the purview and scope of the appended claims and their equivalents .

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. An air-packing device for protecting a product therein, comprising: a plurality of thermoplastic films heat-sealed with one another at predetermined portions thereby forming a plurality of air containers each having a check valve that prevents reverse air flow; a plurality of sealing areas located between adjacent air containers for air-tightly sealing the thermoplastic films; and a plurality of deflation cut slits each being formed within the corresponding sealing area; wherein the deflation cut slits are oriented in the same direction with one another thereby allowing to tear off the air-packing device along the deflation cut slits.

2. An air-packing device for protecting a product therein as defined in Claim 1, wherein the adjacent air cells are separated by a separation seal and the deflation cut slits located at the sealing areas run in a direction which is perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the air-packing device .

3. An air-packing device for protecting a product therein as defined in Claim 1, wherein each of the sealing areas is located close to an opening of the check valve.

4. An air-packing device for protecting a product therein as defined in Claim 1, wherein each of the sealing areas is located at an end of the air-packing device that is opposite to an end that have the check valve .

5. An air-packing device for protecting a product therein as defined in Claim 1, wherein a cutting edge is formed at each edge of the air-packing device on the sealing area so as to facilitate an initial procedure of tearing off the air-packing device.

6. An air-packing device for protecting a product therein as defined in Claim 5 , wherein the cutting edge at each edge of the air-packing device is created by cutting the deflation cut slit and the sealing area into half.

7. An air-packing device for protecting a product therein as defined in Claim 1, wherein each air container has one or more heat- seal lands that partially separate the air container to create a plurality of air cells that facilitate a desired shape of the air- packing device.

8. A method of producing an air-packing device for packing a product therein, comprising the following steps of: feeding first and second thermoplastic films and a check valve film wherein the check valve film is sandwiched between the first and second thermoplastic films,- bonding the first thermoplastic film and the check valve films ; bonding the first thermoplastic film, the check valve film and the second thermoplastic films, thereby creating a plurality of air containers each having a check valve and a plurality of sealing areas each extending between adjacent air containers; and. creating a plurality of deflation cut slits by cutting the corresponding sealing area; wherein the deflation cut slits are oriented in the same direction with one another thereby allowing to tear off the air-packing device along the deflation cut slits.

9. A method of producing an air-packing device as defined in Claim 8, wherein said step of creating the deflation cut slits includes a step of cutting the sealing areas such that deflation cut slits located at the sealing areas run in a direction which is perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the air-packing device.

10. A method of producing an air-packing device as defined in Claim 8, wherein said step of creating the plurality of sealing areas includes a step of forming each of the sealing areas at a location close to an opening of the check valve.

11. A method of producing an air-packing device as defined in Claim 8, wherein said step of creating the plurality of sealing areas includes a step of forming each of the sealing areas at an end of the air-packing device that is opposite to an end that have the check valve .

12. A method of producing an air-packing device as defined in Claim 8, further comprising a step of forming a cutting edge at each edge of the air-packing device on the sealing area so as to facilitate an initial procedure of tearing off the air-packing device .

13. A method of producing an air-packing device as defined in Claim 12, wherein said step of forming the cutting edge includes a step of cutting the deflation cut slit and the sealing area into half.