JP2002046778A - Cushion material and packing container - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cushion material and a packing container structured to prevent environmental contamination and to prevent a waste from occurring. SOLUTION: Cushion materials 3 and 4 for absorbing an impact to prevent damage due to the impact are molded by using a biodegradable resin as a material.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a cushioning material and a packaging container.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, when packing precision equipment, etc.,
A structure is provided on the packaging container to prevent damage due to impact.

For example, in the case of an OA device including an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a developing device provided in the image forming apparatus requires a new developing device for replenishment when the developer is consumed. The toner bottle or toner cartridge containing the agent is replaced. For this reason, the toner bottle and the toner cartridge are stored in a packing container, and a cushioning material made of petroleum products such as styrene foam is mounted on the corner of a replacement part and stored in the packing container as an example. To protect the goods that are present.

Conventionally, as the material used as the cushioning material, the above-mentioned styrofoam, sponge, and the like have been frequently used.

[0005]

However, when the above-mentioned conventional cushioning material is used, there are the following problems.

The first is that toxic gas is generated at the time of destruction, and the second is that when buried in the ground, it remains without being completely decomposed or the decomposition speed is very slow. However, these problems may cause environmental pollution.

[0007] Conventionally, attention has been paid to poor decomposability, and for example, as shown in JP-A-6-135463, it has been proposed to use cereal as a material of a cushioning material.

[0008] However, since the cereal has its original function as food, when diverted, it consumes a large amount of cereal, and from the point that it should be used as the original function, it ignores the original function of the grain. There is a possibility that it will be uselessly used. In recent years, not only environmental pollution but also the food situation around the world has been deteriorating, and it is not preferable to use grain for other purposes carelessly.

An object of the present invention is to provide a cushioning material and a packaging container having a structure capable of preventing environmental pollution and preventing waste in view of the problems of the conventional cushioning material and the packaging container using the same. Is to provide.

[0010]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
A shock absorbing cushioning material for preventing damage due to impact, characterized by being formed using a biodegradable resin as a material.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the cushioning material according to the first aspect, the material is foamed from a biodegradable resin.

The invention described in claim 3 is the first or second invention.
In the cushioning material described above, the biodegradable resin used for the material is a completely degradable biodegradable resin.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the cushioning material according to any one of the first to third aspects, the raw material is provided by coating an aggregate with biodegradable resins having different foaming degrees. It is characterized by.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the cushioning material according to any one of the first to third aspects, the material is formed by laminating a plurality of biodegradable resins molded with different foaming degrees. It is characterized by doing.

The invention according to claim 6 is characterized in that the cushioning material according to one of claims 1 to 5 is used.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the packing container according to the sixth aspect, a display unit for displaying that the buffer material is made of a biodegradable resin is provided.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a view showing an example relating to a cushioning material for explaining an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 shows a packing container to which the cushioning material is applied. In FIG. 1, a packing container 1 is formed of, for example, a cardboard box, and has an image forming apparatus (not shown) therein.
A replacement unit 2 in which a cleaning unit and a toner tank, which are replacement parts in a developing process, is integrated is mounted.

Inside the packing container 1, a replacement unit 2 is provided.
The cushioning members 3 and 4 are arranged so that the upper and lower portions can be sandwiched at both ends in the longitudinal direction.

Each of the cushioning members 3 and 4 is made of a foamed molded product using a biodegradable resin. The cushioning materials 3 and 4
A completely degradable biodegradable resin is used as the biodegradable resin.
Either an enzyme production system or a chemical synthesis system is used.

At the time of molding, a biodegradable resin is added to the mixture as a medium such as a foaming agent or water, the mixture is kneaded, and the molten resin is injected into a mold while being foamed under reduced pressure or heating. .

In FIG. 1, any one of the cushioning materials 3 and 4, in FIG. 1, the surface of the cushioning material 3 located on the side that can be identified when the packing container 1 is opened, has a display for identifying that it is a biodegradable resin. A unit 3A is provided, and the display unit is formed by printing or the like. In addition, instead of the surfaces of the cushioning materials 3 and 4, it is also possible to display by marking or sticking a sealing material on the surface of the packing container 1.

Since the present embodiment has the above configuration,
Since the foamed biodegradable resin is configured as a material for the cushioning materials 3 and 4, the cushioning materials 3 and 4 support the exchange unit 2 housed in the packing container 1. The cushioning members 3 and 4 can absorb the impact force due to the shrinkage and deformation of the foam portion when an impact is applied, and can prevent the replacement unit 2 from being damaged.

When the exchange unit 2 is taken out of the packing containers 1 to 1, the cushioning materials 3 and 4 are discarded together with the packing container 1, but the discarded cushioning materials 3 and 4 are biodegraded to generate residues. do not do. In particular, there is no generation of read-through gas at the time of disposal, and even when buried in the ground, it is easily decomposed, so that environmental pollution does not occur. Moreover, by using a material different from that of the grain, it does not have a function other than biodegradation, so that it is not uneconomical as compared with a case where a material having another function is diverted.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 2 is characterized in that the material used for the cushioning material is formed by laminating a plurality of biodegradable resins having different foaming degrees. In FIG. 2, unlike the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the cushioning material (designated by reference numeral 12) is not disposed at the corner of the replacement unit but is scattered inside the packing container 1. In this case, the cushioning material 12 is composed of an aggregate 12A and a plurality of biodegradable resin layers 12B laminated on the outer periphery thereof.
It is composed of The cushioning material 12 has a cylindrical chip shape which is cut into many pieces in consideration of the fact that the cushioning material is filled in the packing container 1. , And are scattered and filled on the upper part of the replacement unit.

According to the present embodiment, since the material of the cushioning material 12 is formed by laminating biodegradable resins having different foaming degrees, the foaming portion of its own can be formed according to the weight and length of the replacement unit. The main accommodation fee will be different, whereby a shock absorbing layer in multiple stages can be constructed. As a result, it is possible to deal with any impact regardless of the magnitude of the impact force.

The structure of the cushioning material in the above embodiment may be such that only biodegradable resins having different foaming degrees are laminated without using aggregate. Thereby, in addition to the replacement unit and the like, the cushioning material can be formed in a sheet shape, and the members to be packed, for example, fruits and the like can be wrapped and protected from impact.

[0028]

According to the first and third aspects of the present invention,
Since the biodegradable resin is used as the material of the cushioning material, it is possible to enhance the degradability and prevent environmental pollution. In addition, since it is not necessary to use the function different from the original function as in the case of a grain or the like, it is possible to prevent environmental pollution without causing waste.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the biodegradable resin is foamed, the cushioning material can be easily formed.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, by coating the aggregate with biodegradable resins having different foaming degrees,
It becomes possible to maintain the cushioning property necessary for absorbing shock and the strength of the material itself.

According to the invention defined in claim 5, by laminating biodegradable resins having different foaming degrees, the degree of buffering can be made different for each layer, so that the shape of the buffering material is fragmentary. In addition to the above, it is possible to form a continuous sheet, and it is possible to provide a cushioning material according to the form of the article to be protected from impact.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to obtain a container capable of absorbing shocks with little environmental pollution and without becoming uneconomical.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, since it is indicated in the packing container that the buffer material is made of a biodegradable resin in the container itself or the buffer material, it is easily identified at the time of disposal. Disposal can be facilitated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an arrangement relationship of a packing container and a cushioning material according to an example for explaining an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a configuration at the time of buffering A according to another example of the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 packing container 2 exchange unit to be buffered 3, 4, 12 buffer 3A display unit 12A aggregate 12B biodegradable resin layer

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A shock absorbing material for preventing damage due to an impact, wherein the material is formed by using a biodegradable resin as a material. 2. The cushioning material according to claim 1, wherein said material is foamed from a biodegradable resin. 3. The cushioning material according to claim 1, wherein the biodegradable resin used for the material is a completely degradable type biodegradable resin. 4. The cushioning material according to claim 1, wherein said material is provided by covering an aggregate with biodegradable resins having different foaming degrees. . 5. The cushioning material according to claim 1, wherein the material is formed by laminating a plurality of biodegradable resins molded with different foaming degrees. Cushioning material. 6. A packing container using the cushioning material according to any one of claims 1 to 5. 7. The packing container according to claim 6, further comprising a display unit for indicating that the buffer material is made of a biodegradable resin.