FR2760440A1 - Packaging container for long flexible tubes of synthetic material - Google Patents

Abstract

The container, e.g. for long polyethylene tubes in lengths of up to 600 m used for low-temperature underfloor heating, is made from strong cardboard or similar material in a rectangular parallelepiped shape and has an inner reel with a horizontal axis for the tube. The container has two main side panels (1) of cellular cardboard, to which base and top trays (21, 2b) are attached by adhesive, and each has a circular hole (100) for one end of a cylindrical tube (3) which acts as a support and guide for the reel. The reel is made from a pair of circular flanges (4) of cellular cardboard, connected by spacers (5), and the main side panels of the container have apertures (11) for easier handling.

Description

PACKAGING DEVICE FOR FLEXIBLE TUBE
The present invention relates to a packaging device for a flexible tube made of synthetic material of great length, this device acting as a reel.

 The invention was made with a view to packaging tubes of synthetic material, in particular polyethylene, which are used for the production of heated floors at low temperature.

 It goes without saying, however, that it is also intended for other applications.

 The tubes which are currently used to produce heated floors are generally available in a crown containing a limited relative length of tube wound on itself.

 The main lengths available are 120, 200 and 240 meters.

 This length is necessarily limited, since the crown must be able to be easily manipulated by the personnel responsible for laying the tube on the ground.

 This operation consists in progressively unwinding the tube and depositing it on the ground, in a spiral configuration with a double turn, namely a "go" turn, directed from the periphery of the part towards its center, and a "return" turn , directed in opposite direction, after turning the tube 360 in the central area of the room.

 This double spiral shape promotes the homogeneous distribution of heat on the ground during its subsequent use.

 More specifically, the tube is placed on a layer of insulating material fixed to the ground, and covered with a plastic film carrying a grid which serves as a benchmark for the posc of the tube according to a spiral of regular shape and constant pitch.

 The whole is then buried in a concrete screed.

 As and when posc, the operator fixes the tube on its support, by stapling.

 It is easy to understand that this operation is tedious, the operator holding with one hand the crown of the tube to be placed, and with the other the stapler.

 The mass of a crown containing 200 meters of tube is about 20 kilograms, so that it is a relatively painful operation.

 Another problem encountered with this traditional technique concerns the fact that with each operation, a relatively large length of tube is very often lost.

 Indeed, the regulations in the matter forbidden to connect end to end several tubes to equip the same heating floor.

 The operator must therefore, before entering on a given ground, choose, among the lengths of crowns available, the one whose tube has a length greater than the length he actually intends to use, this according to the area and the configuration of the room he is dealing with.

 We can estimate on average between 10 and 15% the length of baited tubes, which is often unusable.

 The present invention aims to eliminate the drawbacks which have just been mentioned.

 To this end, the packaging device for flexible tube made of synthetic material which is the subject of the present invention is intended for packaging a very long tube, and acts as a reel, this device being remarkable in that it is made of strong cardboard, or similar material, and that it comprises a receptacle of generally rectangular parallelepiped shape, inside which is mounted a drum of horizontal axis, free in rotation, on which the tube is wound.

 Thus, thanks to this arrangement, when the operator must install a heated floor in several rooms of the same pavilion, the device can remain placed in a determined location. The operator will take hold of the end of the tube, and it will unfold by simple pull as and when required, whether or not it is in the room where the device is located.

 It therefore does not have to carry the tube winding, which remains permanently in the receptacle.

 In addition, since the tube has a long length, preferably determined in advance to correspond substantially to the complete equipment of a house of average area, the waste problems mentioned above arise very differently.

 Indeed, when the operator has finished equipping a room, he cuts the tube, then goes to operate in the next room, without any loss of any length of tube between the two operations.

 It is only at the end of the work, when all the parts have been fitted, that a fall problem similar to that encountered in each room will arise.

 As a percentage of tube length, the length lost is therefore considerably reduced, which shows the advantage of the invention from an economic point of view.

 By the way, the packaging device which is the subject of the invention being essentially made of cardboard or of similar, slightly comatose material, the device is of reduced cost price.

 It can be discarded at the end of the operation, in particular to be burned on the site, at the same time as other containers and waste that are traditionally found on construction sites during the construction of a building.

 In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the receptacle comprises two large vertical lateral faces formed by plates of cellular cardboard, on which are fitted and glued bottom and cover elements.

 Advantageously, the internal faces of these plates have, facing one another, blind circular openings (that is to say not completely crossing the plate) in which the ends of a cylindrical tube are embedded. which supports and ensures the rotational guidance of said drum.

Preferably, the receptacle is provided with gripping members, such as openings in the upper part of the plates, and intended to facilitate the handling of the device.
It is thus easy for two people to transport the device to the place - or places - of use.

 In one possible embodiment, the drum consists of a pair of discoid flanges made of cellular cardboard which are connected by spacers.

 Advantageously, the flanges have a central hole through which the aforementioned tube passes, the spacers being simply strips of cardboard which define a cylindrical envelope fitted and guided in rotation on this tube.

 Preferably, the receptacle is over-conditioned in waterproof plastic film, or substantially waterproof.

 This arrangement has the advantage of consecrating the cardboard elements away from moisture, even if the device is left on the site or near the site, in an uncovered space and exposed to the weather.

 Of course, at the time of use, the operator will make openings in the plastic film, so as to allow access to the aforementioned gripping members, and to allow the passage of the tube for its unwinding.

 Advantageously, when it is a tube intended for the production of a heated floor, the length of the tube is dc of the order of 600 meters, which is generally sufficient to equip an average house whose total area of the ground to be equipped is around 100 to 120 m2.

 Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear from the description and the appended drawings which represent, by way of non-limiting example, a possible embodiment.

On the drawings
- Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of the device;
- Figures 2 and 3 are views of the same device, cut by vertical planes respectively longitudinal and transverse.

 In Figure 2, the tube wound on the drum has been shown only partially, so as not to mask the central part of the drum and its support.

 The device illustrated in the figures comprises a pair of square or rectangular plates l of the same dimensions, cut from a cellular carton. These plates consist of a core of cellular cardboard, preferably in a honeycomb network - hexagonal cells - coated on each of its faces by a cover, or skin, in kraft or similar material.

 This plate therefore has good mechanical strength, everything being relatively light.

 In one of the faces, hereinafter designated "internal face", and referenced 10, of each of the plates 1, in its central region, is hollowed out a circular opening 100. It is a blind opening, which does not does not lead to the external face, the opening being closed on the external side by the aforementioned skin.

 The opening 100 can be obtained by removing material, or by pressing, so as to delimit a recess.

 When the two plates are opposite one another by their internal faces, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the two openings 100 are opposite one another, their center being located on a horizontal transverse axis designated XX '.

 In the upper part of each plate 1, a pair of elongated holes 11 are formed, which open out through the plates; the large direction of these holes is arranged horizontally. The holes 11 are shaped and dimensioned to allow the passage of the fingers of one hand.

 The device comprises two rectangular elements 2a and 2b, which respectively form the bottom and cover of the receptacle composing the device. The lateral and front edges of the elements 2a and 2b have been referenced 20 and 21 respectively in the drawings.

 The bottom elements 2a and dc cover 2b are intended to be fitted and glued to the lower and, respectively, upper edges of the two plates 1, so as to constitute a rectangular parallelepiped box, open on its front and rear front faces (see figure 2).

 The reference 3 designates a cylindrical tube, the diameter of which corresponds to that of the circular openings 100.

 This tube is made of strong cardboard.

 It is intended to be embedded by its ends in the openings 100 of the facing plates 1 before fitting and bonding of the elements 2a, 2b.

 After assembly, the tube 3 is therefore perfectly retained in the receptacle made up of elements 1 and 2.

 Of course, the length of the tube 3 corresponds to the width of the elements 2a and 2b.

 Advantageously, at the time of assembly, the ends of the tube 3 are also glued into the openings 100.

 The tube 3 serves to support and guide in rotation a drum which is formed of two discs 4, constituting the flanges of the drum, connected to each other by spacers 5.

 The discoid flanges 4 are cut from a cellular cardboard, similar to that of the plates 1.

 Each disc 4 is crossed by a central opening 40, which for example has an octagonal shape, inside which the circumference of the tube 3 is inscribed.

 The spacers 5 are strips of strong cardboard, four in number, arranged at 90, and which extend horizontally, perpendicular to XX '.

 The ends of the strips 5 penetrate into the openings 40 of the two discs, and are folded down at right angles to form lugs 5 by which they are glued to the disc 4.

 The set of four bands 5 defines a cylindrical envelope, materialized by an approximately cylindrical but perforated sleeve, capable of being fitted onto the tube 3.

 Of course, the drum consisting of the flanges 4 and the spacers 5 is placed on the tube 3 before the assembly of the receptacle.

 It goes without saying that the length of the spacers 5 is slightly smaller than the remaining length of the tube 3, when it is inserted at its ends into the openings 100, so that there is a small clearance between the external faces of the discs 4 and the internal faces 10 of the plates 1, as can be seen in FIG. 3.

 The drum can then rotate freely on the tube 3 around the axis XX '.

 Dc preferably, to reduce friction between the drum and the faces 10, the latter are coated with a plastic film promoting sliding.

 As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, the tube made of synthetic material is wound in the usual way on the drum. This operation can be done before mounting the drum in the receptacle.

 The assembly is advantageously over-conditioned in a plastic film, for example in heat-shrinkable and transparent material, which is referenced 6 in FIGS. 2 and 3.

 This film seals the device, and it is possible to store it without damage in places exposed to humidity or even weathering.

 When you want to use the device described above, it is placed on the site, near or in the room in which the tube is to be laid.

 By cutting the film 6 at the holes 1 1 forming handles, to make openings 61 there, it is easy for two people to grasp the device, and to transport it to a desired location, on a floor S.

 The film 6 is then pierced at the front face of the receptacle, in the lower part of the latter to form an opening 60 therein. This allows the end 70 of the tube 7 to pass.

 It suffices to pull, as symbolized by the arrow F in FIG. 2, to extract the tube from the receptacle, this pull generating a rotation G of the drum around the axis XX '.

 As an indication, we will now indicate the possible dimensions of the main elements of the device which has just been described, this device being designed to receive a cylindrical polyethylene tube, with an external diameter of 16 mm, and of length of the order of 600 m.

- dimensions of the plates 1: 1,000 mm x 1,000 mm
- thickness of the plates 1 30 mm;
- tube length 3,470 mm;
- tube diameter 3 350 mm;
- diameter of the nasques 4,920 mm;
- thickness of the flanges 4 20 mm.

Claims (6)

 1. Packaging device for flexible tube of synthetic material of great length, which acts as a reel, characterized in that it is essentially made of strong cardboard, or similar material, and that it comprises a receptacle of general shape rectangular parallelepiped, inside which is mounted a drum of horizontal axis (XX '), free in rotation, on which is wound the tube.  2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the receptacle comprises two large vertical lateral faces constituted by plates (1) of cellular cardboard, on which are fitted and glued bottom and cover elements (2a, 2b) .  3. Device according to claim 2, characterized in that the internal faces (10) of the plates (1) have, facing one another, blind circular openings (100) in which are embedded the ends d 'A cylindrical tube (3) which supports, and ensures the guiding in rotation, of said drum.  4. Device according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the receptacle is provided with gripping members, such as openings (11) formed in the upper part of the plates (1), intended to facilitate handling of the device.  S. Device according to one of Claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the said drum consists of a pair of discoid flanges (4) made of cellular cardboard which are connected by spacers (5).  6. Device according to claims 3 and 5 taken in combination, characterized in that the flanges (4) have a central hole (40) through which said tube (3) passes, and that the spacers (5) are strips of cardboard defining a cylindrical envelope fitted and guided in rotation on this tube (3).  7. Device according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the receptacle is over-conditioned in sealed plastic film, or substantially sealed.  8. Device according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that it contains a tube (7) whose length is dc of the order of 600 meters, intended for the production of a heated floor.