GB2332192A - Cushioning conversion machine with integral shelf - Google Patents

Abstract

A cushioning conversion machine for producing dunnage from eg paper includes an integral shelf 60. The machine may be vertical, and the shelf may be collapsible.

Description

2332192 INTEGRATED. SELF-CONTAINED PACKAGING SY$I'r-M AND METHOD Flold.of

the Invention The invention described herein relates generally to a Packaging system and method for producing a dunnage product from sheet material and for facilitating use of the dunnage pmducL particularly In a limited space.

Background ofAhe InvenVon in the process of shipping an Item from one locatIon to another, a protoctive packaging medo?,&1 h% typ"Hy placed in the shIppIng case. or box. to fill any volds andfor to cushion the 1 during the shipping process.

is Some conventional protective packaging materials are plastic foam peanuts and plastic bubble pacL VYhlie these conventional plastic materials seem to perform adequately as ewhionlng products, they are not without disadvantages. Perhaps the most serioui drawback of plastic bubble wrap and/or plastic foam peanuts is their affect an our environment. Quite simply, these ph3stlc packaging materials are not biodegradable and thus they cannot avoid further multiplying our planet's already critical waste disposal problems.

Consequently, paper protective packaging material has beoome a very popular alternative. Paper Is biodegradable, recyclable and composed of a renewable resource. making it an environmentally responsible choice for conscientious industries.

While paper in sheet form could possibly be used as a protective Packaging material, it is usually preferable to convert the sheets of paper irAo a pad or other relatively low density dunnage product This conversion may be accomplished by a cushioning conversion machine, such as those disclosed in 1 commonly assigned U.S. Patent Nos. 4,968.291; 5.1123,889 and 5.322,477. The therein disclosed cushioning conversion machines convert sheet stock material, such as paper In murd-ply fbrM, into a relatively low density dunnage product These machines Include a forming assembly through which the sheet stock matertal Is advatraced by a feed asaambly. 'The forrnhig assambly 05pes the sheet stock material to be Inwardly folded on Itself and crumpled to fbnn a relatively law density strip of cushioning. The istrIp of cushioning is severed to form pads of desired lengffis by a severing assembly downstream of the fbirmling and feeding amemblies.

In the above discussed cushioning conversion machines, and in many other types of dunnage pad pmduclng machines, the pads are dischargefd through an outlet Typically, the machine discharges the pads to a transitional zone from which the pads may be later retnoved at the appropriate time for 16 insertion into a container (ibr example, a box, carton, etc.) for cushioning purposes.

in the past a variety of arrangements have been used to provide a transitional zone In a packaging system. For example, temporary receptacles Cle.. bins) have been placed adjacent the machine!s outlet so that the pads can be discharged therein to form a pile. At the appropriate U. a packaging person would reach Into the transitional receptacle, retfleve a pad from the accumuL p11e. return to hir workstaflon and the'insert the pad Into the container.

Another transitional zone arrangement uses a horizontal packaging surface, such as a table top. onto which the machine deposIts the pads. When a packaging need arises. the packaging person picks up the pad from the packaging surface and inserts the pad into the contalner.

Cither transitional zone armngements use conveyors to convey the pads away from the machine. The pads exiting the machine are fed onto a conveyor that transfers them to a packaging station. often the conveyor also Is used to 2 accumulate a supply of pads that are made available to the packager at the packaging station.

Some of the above mentioned arrangements, however. require perrnanent Installation and occupy a large space. It would be desirable to haAy a portabte packaging system that Indudes a transitional zone. Furthermore. having a portable packaging system which can be sM up quickly and easily In a limited amount of space a15o would be desirable.

Summary of The Invent

The present invention provides an Integrated, setf-contained packaging system and method for converting multi-ply sheet material into a lower density dunnage product while providing an Integral transition zone or packaging shelf.

the system providing significant advantages over eAsting pad production and packaging arrangements.

The Invention is characterized by a stand having an Integral packaging shelf connected to a side of the stand and a cushioning conversion machine mounted to the stand and including conversion assemblies for converting mum-pty sheet material Into a less dense dunnage product. The conversion assemblies are supported within a tvwsing which is In turn supported by the stand. The Integral packaging shelf is positioned to receive the dunnage products, e,g., pads, produced by the cushioning conversion machine.

According to a preferred embodiment of M invention, the packaging shelf is retractable to lay substantially parallel to and adjacent a side of the stand. and the cushioning conversion Ine Is oriented in a substantially vertical position to give the system a relatively mall "rint Preferably the packaging shelf has 3o a vidth that is equal to or less than the width of the stand.

A preferred embodiment of the method according to the Invention includes supplying sheet material to a cushioning conversion machine, moving a 3 packaging shelf from et vertical retmcted position to a horizontal extended posftjon, "verting thesheatmaterlal Into a relatively lower density dunnage product, and depositing the dunnage product cn the packaging shelf.

The supplying step may Include supplying a Sheet material "'A is 6 19P, biodegradOle, recydable and composed of a renewable resource, such as a sheet materied Including one or more pries of kraft paper, and the depositing step may include depositing the dunnage product Into a contalner supported on the packaging shelf. The method may include one or more additional steps, Including IQ moving the packaging shelf ftm the horizontal extended position to the vertical retimcled position, and/or moving the packaging system to a second packaging location.

The foregoing and other features of the Invention are hereinafter fully ir, described and particularly pointed out In the clairns, the folkywing description and the annexed drwMngssetting forth In detail one or more Illustrative embodiments of the invention, such being Indicative, however, of but one or a few of the various ways in which the principles of the InverWon may be employed.

Brief D"crlption of the Dmdngo Fig. 1 is a side.elevational view of the patng system. with " housing of the cushioning conversion machine partially broken away to show the conversion assemblies therein.

Fig. 2 is a front cievational vIew of the packaging system of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side clevaflonal view of onother embodiment of packaging system according to the invention.

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view of still another embodiment of packaging system according to the invention.

4 Fig. 5 Is an end elevational view of the system of Fig. 4.

Detailed DescliRdOtl An exeimplary embodiment of the packaging systom and rndAhod according to the Invention will be described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2. 'The packaging system 10 Includes a stand 12. a cushioning conversion machine 14 for producing a dunnage product or pad 16. and a shelf assembly 17 fbr suppofting the dunnage pad 16 until it Is needed.

The stand 12 is formed of Vertical and horizontal framing which Is connected in such a manner to provide to support fbr the eyatem 10. Although a po efee a ad configuration is shown In Figs. 1 and 2. other configurations may be employed In the cortcdon of the eland. The stand 12 may Include is wheels to facilitate moving the c 10 from one location or packaging on to another location or packaging station. The stand 12 preferably includes an Integral stack roll holder assembly 18 for supporting a roll 20 of shoot stock material. although other roll support arrangements may be used if desired.

The sheet material prefetably consists of one or more, typically two or three, superimposed plies rolled onto a hollow cylindrical tube to form the roll 20 of sheet material. The sheet material may besupplied in other forms as well, such as in a fan-folded stack. The sheet material preferably is biodegradable, recyclable and compo of a mnewable resource, such as kraft paper.

26 The cushioning convemion machine 14 converts the sheet material Into a relatively lower density cushionkWdunnage product or pad 16 (FIq. 1). An exemplary pad 10 produced by the Illustrated machine 14 comprises the one or more plies of sheet material wWtch have side or lateral edge portions thereof folded inwardly over center portions thereof to form laterally spaoed apart pillow portions extending along the length of the pad 16. The pillow portions are 5eparated by a central band portion where the lateral edge portions are brought together. The lateral edge portlons. which may be overlapped and/or Interseaved.

are connected together and/or to underlying carder portions of the pries along the central band. In a preferred form of cushioning pad 18, the connecting is accomplished by a combination of coining and stitchIng. the sfitching being effected by perforations and/or cut tabs disposed along the central band. However. it will be appreciated by those Wiled in the art that other es of conversion machines than the illustrated machine 14 may be used roproduce the some or other forms of cushioning pads. For further details on an eoemplary pad, reference may be had to published POT Application No. US961091 09, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

To compensate for changes In the diameter of the stock roll 20 as the sheet material is payed out the system 10 includes a constant entry roller 22 at an upstream end of the cushioning conversion machine 14. The sheet material progresses in a downstream direction through the cushioning conversion machine 14 from the ups"am end to a downstream end (bottom to top as illustrated in Fig. 1). Downstream from the constant entry roller 22. separators 24-26 separ2te the plies of the sheet material. The constant entry rofler 22 and the separatom 24-26 are mounted In a housing 28 which Is part of the cushioning conversion machine 14. Further detaiLs regarding the constant entry roller and separators 2o may be fiound In U.S. Patent No. 5.123.8d.

The Illustrated machine 14 generally comprises em housing 28 and cushionproducingloonversion assemblies. The housing 28 may be mounted in any suitable manner to the stand 12. Preferably the housing 28 has a larger m dimension or length oriented vertically to provide tim packaging system 10 with a small footprInt that occupies relalTiely little space. The conversion assemblies are mounted In the housing 28 along the length thereof to form the pad 16 from the sheet material.

The conversion assemblies of the illustrated conversion machine 14 include a forming assembly 30, a feeding assembly 32 and a severing assembly 34. all of which are mounted in and/m are supported by the houring 28. The Illustrated forming assembly 30 Includes a shaping chute 38 and a forming 6 nvm-ber 34 for folding the lateral edge portions of the sheet material inwardly to form a pair of laterally spaced pillow portions of a strip of cushioning 40. The Apeding assembly 32, which In the Illustrated embodiment Includes a pair of cooperating gear-like members 41 and 42. pulls; the sheet material Into and through the lbrming assembly 30, connects or coms, the sheet matdllai thmugh the central band portion to maintain the cushioning Integrity of the cushioning strip 40 and pad 18 and pushes the strip of cushioning 40 toward the severing assembly 34. The severing assembly 34 seversor cuts the cushioning strip 40 to form the discrete cushioning pads le of a desired length. The severing assembly 34 may be omitted If a dunnage product or pad 16 may be separated from the strip of cushioning 40 in another way, for example by supplying perforated sheet material such that a dunnage product 16 may be severed from the strip of cushioning 40 by tearing. For further details of the illustrated and similar cushionproducing or cushioning conversion machines, reference may be had to U.S.

16 Patent No. 5,123,889 and pubrished PCT Application No. U896/09109.

In the Illustrated embodiment, the operation of the cushioning conversion machine 14 Is controtled by a control bar 50 which can be grasped from either side of the packaging system 10. The oontrol bar 50 is movable to a first position for activating the feeding assembly 32 to move the sheet material through the machine 14 and to a second position for activating the severing assembly 34 to sever a discrete cushioning pad 15 from the WO of cushioning 40. Preferably, the control bar 50 Is biased to a neutral position between the first and second positions, the neutral position deactivating the feeding assembly 32 and the 2s severing assembly 34. r methods and arrangements may be used to control operation of the machine 14.

At the downstream end of the cushioning conversion machine 14 a discharge assembly 52 directs the dunnage product 16 out of the housing 28 to the shelf assembly 17. The discharge assembly 52 comprises a curved discharge chute 54 for directing the strip of cushioning 40 and the dunnage pad 18 from an upwardly opening outlet of the machine 14 toward the shelf assembly 17. The width of the discharge chute 54 Is smaller then the YAdth of the housing 28, 7 inasmuch as the width of the stfip 40 or pad 16 that enters the discharge chute 54 is considerably less then the width of the sheet material entering the housing 28. As the severing assembly 34 severr. a dunnage p9d I a from Me strip of wshloning 40, the discharge chute 64 deposits the pad on the shelf assembly 17.

6 In the preferred elment, the shelf assembly 17 Includes a packaging shelf or platform 60. ^Me packaging shelf 130 may support the pad 16 directly or the packaging shelf 60 my support a box, bin, carton or other container, and the pads may be d"slted Into the container. The packaging shelf 60 has a width that is preferably not greater then the width of the housing 28 or the vAdth of the stand 12so that the packaging shelf 60 does not extend therebeyond (the Yvidth dimension extending between the right and left sides of the system 10 as shown In Fig. 2). A narrow width Is desirable to minimize the overall size of " system 10 wW the amount of space that R occupies, and Improves the portablilty of the is 5m 10.

To further enhance the portability and flexibility of the system 10, the packaging shelf 60 is pivotally connected at an Inner end to the stand 12 while the other or outer end is supported by a collapsible support or supports 62 that are M connected between the packaging shelf (30 and the stand 12. In the Illustrated preferred packaging system 10, the packaging shelf 60 is substantially horizontal in an extended pcmition and retracts through ninety degrees (90 0) to lie substantially parallel and adjacent to the vertical framing of the stand 12- In some packaging situations, it may be desirable to operate the cushionIng conversion machine 14 without extending the packaging shelf 60, such as if a single dunnage pad 16 Is needed or if a container into which the dunnage product will be placed does not need to be raised to thc! level of fhe packaging shelf 60. Furthermore. retracting the packaging shelf 60 trims the p rotile of the packaging system 10. therebyenabling the packaging system 10 to occupy less space and adding to the eavewith which the packaging system 10 may be transported.

m In Eaddition, although In the illustrated embodiment the packaging shelf 60 is rectangular and rigid, variations in the We. shape and materials, used to form 8 the packaging shelf are also encompassed by the present invention. For example, slots or holes may exW in the packaging sheff 180 to reduce the weight and amount of material while providing a substantially figid support surface or platform ibr supporting thereon a dunnage pad 16 or container. As another a example, the packaging shelf 60 may be formed of a piew of clothAke material attached to and supported by support members pivotally extending between the stand 12 and the collapsible supports 82.

In summmy, bemuse the packaging shelf 60 Is Integrated into the packaging system 10. the packagIng shelf 60 is read(ty available fbr use wfth the machine 14, and yet. in the preferred embodiment, the retractable packaging shelf 60 is compactly stowable for transport or when not In use. In either case, however, the integration of the packaging"Shelf 60 into the system 10 does not encumber the portability of the system. An additional benelit of the invention is UW the packaging shelf 60 Is easily transported with the system and cannot be accidently misplaced therefrom.

According to another embodiment of the invention not shown. the system 10 may include a plufality of packaging shelves 60 at different heights and/or on z diffierent sides of the stand 12. In Wis arrangement, the discharge chute 54 Is preferably movable, such as by rotation, to dischafge d u nnage pads IS to each J.

packaging shelf 60. In this way a plumlity of packaging stations could be seirved by a single cushioning conversion machine U. In addition, different types of packaging could be performed at each packaging statlom For example, one packaging station could Include a relatively high packaging shelf 60, another packaging station could include a relatively low packaging shelf 60 for supporting a taller cont3iner thereon, and a third packaging station could be used primadly Wth the packaging shelf 60 retracted and the dunnage pads 16 delivered to a container resting an the floor. Such an arrangement would provide increased flexibility In the packaging system 10 to meet the needs of a variety of packaging eltuatlons.

9 In an aftemative embodiment of the Invention illustrated In Fig. 3. a conversion machine 1114 Is supported by a stand 112 in a horizontal orientation and a packaging shelf 180 Is Integrally connected to a side of the stand 112 so at; to support dunnage pads discharged froth a discharge chute 154 at the exit end 6 of the conversion machine 114. A dunnage pad which Is severed from the strip of JP cushioning formed by the machine will fiall by gravity to the packaging shelf IGO. The stand 112 includes a base 170 from which a pair of uprights or posts. 172 extend verticaDy. The machine 114 is mounted on and between the posts in 2 well known manner. The packaging shelf 160 Is supported in cariblever-like lo fashion from the posts by brackets 174, 176 and 178. The shelf and brackets preferably are linked together so that they can be collapsed to retract the shelf to an out-cf-tie way position beneath the machine.

Another eirrangemnt Is shown In Figs. 4 and 5 wherein a conversion is machine 214 is supported stop a stand 212 in a horizontal orientation and a packaging shelf 260 is Integrally connected to a side of the stand 212 so as to support dunnage pads discharged from a discharge chute 254 at the exit end of the conversion machine 214. A dunnage pad which is severed from the strip of cushioning formed by the machine will fall by gravity to the packagiong Shelf 20G.

The stand 212 may be a table or cabinet having a top surface on which the machine Is supported. The packaging shelf 260 Is supported in cantileverlike fashion from a side of the stand by one or more L-brackets 274. Alternatively, collapsible supports may be used as in the manner Illustrated in Figs. I and 2, so that the shelf may be retracted 2gainst a side of the stand.

Although the Invention has been shown and described with rispect to a certain preferred embodlnt or embodiments, equivalent alterations and modffications will occur to others skilled in the art upon reading and understanding this specification and the annexed drawings. In particular regard to the various fundpns perft)rmed by the above described Integers (components. assembbes, device.s. compositions, etc.), the terms (including a reference to a 'means") used to describe such integers are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated. to any integer which performs the specified function of the described Integer Q.e., that is functionalty eqLfrmient). even though not structurally equtvatent to the disclosed structure which parromys the funcUon In the herein illustrated exemplary embodiment or ernbodiments of the Invention. In addition, wfille a particular feature of the invention my have been dewd above wIth respect to only one S of several Illustrated embodlmertts, such feature may be wmbined Y th- ome-or... more other features of the other embodiments, as may be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application.

11 What is cialmed Is:

A 1. An integrated, self-contained packaging system Comprising: a cushioning conversion maMne having conversion assemblies supported within a housing for converting sheet material Into a relomly lower density dunnage product. a stand for supporting the housing; and an integral packaging shelf connected to the stand.

2. A packaging system as.set forth In claim 1. wherein the packaging shelf Is retractable to laysubstantially adjacent the stand.

A packaging sm as set forth in claim 1, wherein the cushioning conversion machine is oriented in a substantially vertical position.

4. A packaging system as set forth In claim 1. wherein the packaging shelf has' a width that is substantialty equal to or less than the width of the stand.

5. A method of-making adunna-ge. prMeint wlt Aniackagincisysern F-, - -- -. h. - -. t including a stand and a cushioning conversion machine having conversion assemblies contained within a houalng for converting a sheet material into a relarOvely lower density dunnage product the housing being supported by the stand, and a packaging shelf integrally connected to the eand, the method comprising the steps of. supplying the sheet material to the cushioning conversion machine; moving the packaging shelf from a vertical retracted position to a horizontal extended position; converting the sheet material into a relatively lower density dunnage product, and depo5iting the dunnage product on the packaging shelf.

12 6. A nnethod as set forth In rJairn 5. wherein the converfing iatep Is acicomprished with by a cushioning conversion machine which is ortented In a substantially vertical position.

7. A rmthod as set forth in claim 5, wherein tile suppMry step Includes supplying sheet material that is biodegmdable, recyclable and composed of a renewable resource.

8. A method as set forth In claim 7. wherein the supplying step indudes supplying a sheet material havinj one or more pries of kraft paper.

S. A method as set forth in claim 5. wherein the depositing step includes depositing the dunn2gC product Into a conbAner supported on the packaging shelf.

10. A meeM as sat forth in claim 5. further comprising the step of moving the packaging shelf from the hortzontal extended position to tile verdcal retracted position.

11. A method as set forth in dairn 5, further comprising the step of moving the packaging system to a second packaging location.

12. A packaging system generally as herein described, with reference to or as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

13. A method generally as herein described, with reference to or as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

13