JP2008302952A - Packaging container for cylindrical article - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a packaging container which can simply and compactly pack a cylindrical article without damaging the cylindrical article to improve storing and transporting efficiency, can decrease the consumption of a synthetic resin as a material, is excellent in environmental correspondence, can easily perform unsealing operation and reusing. <P>SOLUTION: The packaging container 1 is composed of a main body part 2 and a pair of supporting parts 4a and 4b connected so as to be bendable to the main body part through hinge parts 3. By approximately orthogonally bending the supporting parts along the hinge parts, holding projections 6 of respective supporting parts oppose each other above a recessed part 5 for storing. A pair of the holding projections are inserted into both end parts of a photo-conductor drum, and by engaging the engaging projections of engaging pieces 9 provided on respective supporting parts into engaging holes of boss parts 8, the supporting parts are held under an approximately vertical condition against restoring forces of the hinge parts, and the photo-conductor drum is packaged under suspension in midair. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a packaging container for packing a cylindrical product such as a photosensitive drum mounted on an image forming apparatus.

  In an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine using an electrophotographic process, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive layer by exposing the surface of the photosensitive layer of the uniformly charged photosensitive drum, and the electrostatic latent image is formed. The image is developed with toner to become a visible toner image, and the toner image is transferred onto a sheet to obtain an output image. The photosensitive layer of the photosensitive drum is easily scratched, and even fine scratches may adversely affect the quality of the output image of the image forming apparatus. For this reason, when supplying the photosensitive drum to the assembly factory of the image forming apparatus, a packaging container and a packaging material for protecting the surface of the photosensitive drum from being damaged are necessary.

  Conventionally, a black shading paper is wrapped around the surface of the photoconductive drum to protect the surface from light deterioration and scratches. The effect was prevented. However, the work of individually wrapping light-shielding paper and buffer mats is time-consuming, and when mounting the photosensitive drum to the device at the assembly factory, it takes time and effort to remove the packing material such as light-shielding paper. Since the used packaging material becomes waste, there is a problem in terms of cost and environmental measures.

  In view of this, a packaging container for a photosensitive drum has been considered that can be easily used without being disposed of by simplifying the work of taking out during packing and use. For example, Patent Document 1 includes a plurality of receiving recesses each having a length corresponding to the length of the photosensitive drum to be stored, a width corresponding to the diameter of the photosensitive drum, and a depth corresponding to the radius of the photosensitive drum. Further, there is disclosed a packaging container that forms a photosensitive drum accommodation space by using two packaging containers that are integrally formed of synthetic resin, and superimposing accommodation recesses provided in each packaging container.

The housing recesses of the packaging container are provided with support portions provided at positions shallower than the bottom surface of the housing recesses at both ends thereof and formed with a width narrower than the width of the housing recesses, and the support portions provide both end portions of the photosensitive drum. It supports the flange provided in the. Thereby, the surface of the photosensitive layer of the photosensitive drum is held in the storage space without coming into contact with the storage recess, and the generation of scratches is prevented. Usually, a plurality of packaging containers in which the photosensitive drums are accommodated are stored and transported in a state of being packed and boxed, and the packaging container functions as a cushioning material.
JP 2003-107758 A

  Such a packaging container is desirably as light as possible in view of ease of handling, storage, and transportation efficiency, and it is desirable that the number of photosensitive drums that can be stored per unit volume is large. For this purpose, it is desired to increase the storage and transport efficiency by eliminating the extra space as much as possible and making the packaging container compact.

  However, in the packaging container of Patent Document 1, a work recess for inserting an operator's hand or a robot hand is required at both ends of the housing recess for housing the photosensitive drum, and the packaging container becomes larger in the longitudinal direction of the drum. This is not preferable from the viewpoint of space saving. In addition, since it is necessary to superimpose two upper and lower packaging containers, the amount of synthetic resin used to form the packaging container increases, which is undesirable from the viewpoint of environmental friendliness at the time of disposal, and the number of members increases. There was also a problem that the packing work was complicated.

  In view of the above problems, the present invention improves the storage and transport efficiency by packing in a simple and compact manner without damaging the cylindrical object, and uses less synthetic resin as a material, is excellent in environmental friendliness, and is opened. An object of the present invention is to provide a cylindrical packaging container that is easy to work and reuse.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a main body portion in which a plurality of housing recesses for housing a cylindrical object are formed in parallel, and a hinge portion on two sides adjacent to both ends of the housing recess of the body portion. A pair of supporting portions connected via each other, a plurality of holding projections facing above the receiving recesses when the supporting portions are bent substantially vertically, and the supporting portions being held in a substantially vertically bent state. Holding means, and the support portion is bent substantially vertically and the holding projections are inserted into both ends of the cylindrical object, and then held by the holding means to wrap the cylindrical object in a suspended state. It is a packaging container.

  Moreover, the present invention is characterized in that, in the packaging container configured as described above, the holding means is provided at a plurality of locations along the hinge portion.

  According to the present invention, in the packaging container having the above-described configuration, the holding means extends from a boss portion standing at a plurality of locations of the main body portion and having an engagement hole formed on an upper surface thereof, and a swing end of the support portion. The support portion is constituted by a plurality of engagement pieces having engagement protrusions that can be engaged with the engagement holes when the support portion is bent substantially vertically.

  According to the present invention, in the packaging container having the above-described configuration, a knob portion that protrudes in the same direction as the engagement protrusion is provided at the tip of the engagement piece, and the knob portion is provided on an upper surface of the boss portion. The escape hole for avoiding the contact is formed so as to overlap the end edge of the engagement piece.

  According to the present invention, in the packaging container configured as described above, the holding protrusion has a substantially conical shape having a concave portion on a side surface.

  According to the present invention, in the packaging container configured as described above, a plurality of substantially hemispherical buffering protrusions protruding from the support portion in a direction opposite to the holding protrusion are provided.

  Further, the present invention is characterized in that the packaging container having the above structure is integrally formed of polyethylene terephthalate.

  According to the first configuration of the present invention, the support portion is bent substantially vertically and the holding projections are inserted into both ends of the cylindrical object, and then held by the holding means, so that a plurality of cylinders can be formed in one packaging container. Since the object can be packaged in a suspended state, the number of packaging members is reduced and the packaging operation is simplified. In addition, since the bottom surface of the packaging containers stacked immediately above also serves as a lid, it is possible to save space in the height direction of the packaging container by the amount of the lid, and to reduce the amount of resin used.

  Moreover, according to the 2nd structure of this invention, in the packaging container of the said 1st structure, it becomes possible to hold | maintain the bending state of a support part reliably by providing a holding means in multiple places along a hinge part. .

  Further, according to the third configuration of the present invention, in the packaging container of the second configuration, the holding means is configured by the boss portion having the engagement hole formed on the upper surface and the engagement piece having the engagement protrusion. By doing so, it becomes possible to hold and release the bent state of the support part, and it becomes possible to reuse the packaging container. In addition, since the engagement piece extends to the swing end of the support portion and engages with the engagement hole on the upper surface of the boss portion, it is possible to reliably prevent the support portion from being opened by the restoring force of the hinge portion.

  Further, according to the fourth configuration of the present invention, in the packaging container of the third configuration described above, the knob portion is provided at the tip of the engagement piece, and the upper surface of the boss portion avoids contact with the knob portion. As a result, the packaging pieces can be stably stacked while holding the engaging pieces in a horizontal state. Further, since the escape hole is formed so as to overlap with the end edge of the engagement piece, a finger can be inserted into the gap between the escape hole and the engagement piece to easily grip the knob portion.

  According to the fifth configuration of the present invention, in the packaging container having any one of the first to fourth configurations, the holding projection is formed in a substantially conical shape having a concave portion on the side surface, whereby Insertion into both ends is facilitated and the strength of the holding projection is improved.

  According to the sixth configuration of the present invention, in the packaging container having any one of the first to fifth configurations, a plurality of substantially hemispherical buffer projections projecting from the support portion in the direction opposite to the holding projection. Since the buffering performance against the impact from the lateral direction can be improved without increasing the thickness of the support portion, it is possible to save the space in the width direction of the packaging container.

  According to the seventh configuration of the present invention, the packaging container having any one of the first to sixth configurations is integrally formed of polyethylene terephthalate, thereby increasing the strength of the packaging container and the number of times it can be reused. To increase. Moreover, recycling at the time of disposal becomes easy.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 is a plan view of a photosensitive drum packaging container according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA 'in FIG. 1, and FIG. B 'arrow sectional drawing, FIG. 4 is CC' line arrow sectional drawing in FIG. The packaging container 1 is integrally formed by vacuum forming a sheet made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), for example.

  The packaging container 1 includes a main body portion 2 having a substantially rectangular outer shape in plan view, and a pair of support portions 4 a and 4 b that are foldably connected to two longitudinal sides of the main body portion 2 via a hinge portion 3. Has been. The main body 2 is provided with a plurality of (10 in FIG. 1) receiving recesses 5 that open upward. The accommodation recess 5 is arranged in parallel so that both end sides are adjacent to the support portions 4a and 4b, and has the same shape having a length, a width, and a depth corresponding to the length and diameter of the photoreceptor drum to be accommodated. Is formed.

  A plurality (10 in each case in FIG. 1) of holding projections 6 are provided in a row in each of the support portions 4a and 4b. The holding projection 6 has a substantially conical shape, and is provided with recesses 6a at three positions on the side surface. Further, between the holding projection 6 and the hinge portion 3, a substantially hemispherical buffer projection 7 is provided in a row. One buffering protrusion 7 is arranged between each holding protrusion 6, and the protruding direction of the buffering protrusion 7 is opposite to that of the holding protrusion 6.

  The main body 2 has three bosses 8 standing along the left and right hinges 3 in total, and the bosses 8 are provided at the side ends in the longitudinal direction of the support parts 4a and 4b. An engagement piece 9 is extended at a position corresponding to 8. As shown in FIG. 2, an engaging protrusion 10 protrudes from a substantially central portion of the engaging piece 9, and a knob portion 11 protrudes in the same direction as the engaging protrusion 10 at the tip. Further, an engagement hole 12 for engaging with the engagement protrusion 10 is formed on the upper surface of the boss portion 8. When the engagement protrusion 10 engages with the engagement hole 12, a clearance hole 13 is formed at a position where the knob portion 11 overlaps. Is formed.

  FIG. 5 is a side sectional view showing a state in which the photosensitive drum is housed in the packaging container of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a partially enlarged view of the periphery of the support portion in FIG. 5 (inside the broken line circle in FIG. 5). A procedure for packaging the photosensitive drum will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 5, and 6. First, a predetermined number (in this case, 10) of photosensitive drums 20 (see FIG. 5) are placed on the packaging container 1 in the state of FIG.

  Next, the support portions 4 a and 4 b are bent substantially perpendicularly with respect to the main body portion 2 along the hinge portion 3, so that the holding projections 6 of the support portions 4 a and 4 b face each other above the housing recess 5. At this time, the pair of holding projections 6 are inserted into the openings at both ends of the photosensitive drum 20 placed in each housing recess 5. Then, the engaging protrusions 10 of the engaging pieces 9 provided on the support portions 4a and 4b are pushed into the engaging holes 12 of the boss portion 8 to be engaged with each other, thereby supporting the restoring force of the hinge portion 3 against the restoring force. The parts 4a and 4b are held in a substantially vertical state, and the packaging container 1 is held in a substantially U shape in a side view. Thereby, since it becomes possible to package with the single packaging container 1, the number of packaging members is reduced and the packaging operation is simplified.

  Further, since each photosensitive drum 20 is supported only at both ends by the holding projections 6 and is packaged in a suspended state with a predetermined distance d from the surface of the housing recess 5, the surface of the photosensitive drum 20 is damaged. Is prevented. Further, since the substantially conical holding projection 6 has a recess 6a on the side surface, the insertion into the photosensitive drum 20 is facilitated and the compressive strength is improved. The distance d between the photosensitive drum 20 and the housing recess 5 may be appropriately set according to conditions such as the size and weight of the photosensitive drum, the number of stacked packaging containers 1, and the like.

  Here, when trying to hold the packaging container 1 in the packaged state (the state shown in FIG. 5) against the restoring force of the hinge part 3, a larger force is required to hold the place closer to the hinge part 3, for example, When the joint piece 9 is engaged with the base portion of the boss portion 8, the support portions 4 a and 4 b are opened by the restoring force of the hinge portion 3, and the photosensitive drum 20 may fall off the holding projection 6. Therefore, as in the present embodiment, the engagement piece 9 is extended to the swing end (the end facing the hinge portion 3) of the support portions 4a and 4b farthest from the hinge portion 3 and is engaged with the upper surface of the boss portion 8. By combining, it is possible to prevent the photosensitive drum 20 from falling off due to the restoring force of the hinge portion 3.

  Further, since the plurality of buffering protrusions 7 protrude outward from the support portions 4a and 4b, it is possible to absorb the impact from the lateral direction. The shape and arrangement of the buffering protrusions 7 are not particularly limited. However, the buffering protrusions 7 are formed in a hemispherical shape having a high compressive strength and are arranged between the holding protrusions 6 as in the present embodiment. Since a high buffering effect can be maintained while suppressing the thicknesses of 4a and 4b, space saving in the width direction (the left-right direction in FIG. 5) of the packaging container 1 is possible.

  On the other hand, when the packaging container 1 is opened, the support portion 4a is obtained by grasping the knob portion 11 and pulling up each engagement piece 9 upward to release the engagement between the engagement protrusion 10 and the engagement hole 12. 4b returns to the state shown in FIG. Along with this, the holding projections 6 are also detached from the both end portions of the photosensitive drum 20, so that the photosensitive drum 20 can be immediately taken out and a working space is secured at both ends of the housing recess 5. After the photosensitive drum is taken out, the packaging container 1 is reused after the photosensitive drum 20 is packaged by the same procedure.

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 6, since the edge of the engagement piece 9 overlaps with the escape hole 13 on the upper surface of the boss portion 8, the operator can move between the escape hole 13 and the edge of the engagement piece 9. The engaging piece 9 is raised by inserting a finger into the knob 11 and the knob portion 11 can be easily grasped. Therefore, the opening operation of the packaging container 1 is facilitated.

  Although the packaging container 1 does not have a lid portion, the packaging container 1 in which the photosensitive drum 20 is accommodated usually has an opening that matches the outer shape of the packaging container 1 in a state of being stacked in a plurality of stages as will be described later. It is stored or transported or stored in an outer case. And the bottom face (main-body part 2) of the packaging container 1 stacked | stacked immediately above will serve as a cover part. As a result, the space in the height direction of the packaging container can be saved by the amount of the lid, and the amount of resin used can be reduced. Further, since the knob portion 11 of the engagement piece 9 does not contact the upper surface of the boss portion 8 by the escape hole 13, the engagement piece 9 is held horizontally along the boss portion 8. Therefore, the packaging containers 1 can be stacked stably.

  At this time, in the uppermost packaging container 1, the bottom surface of the other packaging container 1 serving as the lid does not overlap, so that a buffer sheet that absorbs an impact from above the photosensitive drum 20 is interposed between the outer case and the outer case. It is preferable to keep it.

  The material of the packaging container 1 is not limited to PET, and various synthetic resins such as polypropylene, polystyrene, and polycarbonate can be used. However, the strength of the packaging container 1, recyclability at the time of disposal, cost, etc. are comprehensively considered. Then, PET is preferable.

  In the above-described embodiment, the boss portions 8 and the engagement pieces 9 are provided at a total of six locations on the left and right sides of the packaging container 1, but the number and arrangement of the boss portions 8 and the engagement pieces 9 are the size of the packaging container. It can be appropriately changed according to the above. However, it is considered that the packaging container 1 capable of storing a plurality of photosensitive drums 20 needs to be provided at a total of four locations so that at least both ends of the support portions 4a and 4b can be held.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the holding member for the support portions 4a and 4b is configured by the engagement piece 9 having the engagement protrusion 10 and the boss portion 8 having the engagement hole 12. The engagement hole 12 may be provided, and the engagement protrusion 10 may be provided on the boss portion 8 side. Further, other detachable holding means may be used.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various change is possible in the range which does not deviate from the meaning of this invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the packaging container 1 is used for packaging the photosensitive drum 20 has been described, but it is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to packaging of a general cylindrical object having both ends opened. Hereinafter, the effects of the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to examples.

  A photosensitive drum 20 having a length of 220 mm and a diameter of 20 mm was packaged using the packaging container 1 of the present invention shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, when packaging containers 1 each including 10 photosensitive drums 20 are stacked in six stages and stored in an exterior case 30, the dimensions of the exterior case 30 (60 pieces) are 275 mm (width). × 410 mm (length) × 250 mm (height). When the outer case 30 was stacked in a 40-feet container, 2088 (photosensitive drums 125, 280) could be stacked.

  On the other hand, when a conventional drum packaging container (12 pieces) made up of two upper and lower sheets is stacked in five stages and a photosensitive drum of the same size is packaged, the outer case (60 pieces) has a dimension of 345 mm (width). ) × 480 mm (length) × 210 mm (height). When this outer case was stacked in a 40-feet container, 1570 (94,280 photosensitive drums) could be stacked.

  From this result, when the photosensitive drum is packaged using the packaging container of the present invention, the volume of the outer case can be reduced by 20% or more compared to the conventional two-pack packaging container, and the transportation efficiency is improved. Improved by 30% or more. Moreover, by using PET as a material, the packaging container can be reused 20 times or more, and recycling at the time of disposal becomes easy. Furthermore, the cost of the packaging container itself could be reduced by 35%.

  The present invention includes a main body portion in which a plurality of housing recesses for housing a cylindrical object are formed in parallel, and a pair of joints connected via hinges to two sides adjacent to both ends of the housing recess portion of the body portion A support portion, and a plurality of holding projections facing each other above each receiving recess when the support portion is bent substantially vertically, and holding means for holding the support portion in a substantially vertically bent state. Is a packaging container that wraps a cylindrical object in a suspended state by inserting the holding projections at both ends of the cylindrical object and holding the projections by holding means.

  Thereby, the packaging container of the cylindrical thing which can simplify a packaging operation | work while reducing the number of packaging members can be provided with a simple structure. In addition, the packaging container can be made space-saving to increase the transportation and storage efficiency of the cylindrical object, and the packaging container can be excellent in environment by reducing the amount of resin used.

  Further, as the holding means, a boss portion having an engagement hole formed on the upper surface is erected on the main body portion, and an engagement piece having an engagement protrusion is extended to the swinging end of the support portion. The packaging container can be used. Further, it is possible to reliably prevent the support portion from being opened due to the restoring force of the hinge portion.

  In addition, a knob part is provided at the tip of the engagement piece, and a relief hole that avoids contact with the knob part is formed on the upper surface of the boss part so as to overlap the edge of the engagement piece. Can be stacked. Further, since the knob portion can be easily gripped, the opening workability of the packaging container is also improved.

  In addition, the holding projection has a substantially conical shape with a recess on the side surface, and a plurality of substantially hemispherical buffering projections projecting in the opposite direction to the holding projection from the support portion are provided. Space saving in the width direction of the container is also possible.

  Further, since the packaging container is integrally formed of polyethylene terephthalate, the packaging container is excellent in terms of strength, reusability, recyclability upon disposal, and cost.

These are top views which show the structure of the packaging container of this invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA ′ in FIG. 1. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB ′ in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC ′ in FIG. 1. These are side surface sectional views which show the state which packaged the photosensitive drum in the packaging container of this invention. These are the elements on larger scale of the support part periphery in FIG. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which a plurality of packaging containers in which a photosensitive drum is packaged are stacked and stored in an outer case.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Packaging container 2 Main-body part 3 Hinge part 4a, 4b Support part 5 Holding recessed part 6 Holding protrusion 7 Buffering protrusion 8 Boss part 9 Engagement piece 10 Engaging protrusion 11 Knob part 12 Engagement hole 13 Escape hole 20 Photosensitive drum (Tubular)
30 exterior case

Claims (7)

A main body formed with a plurality of receiving recesses for receiving a cylindrical object in parallel;
A pair of support portions connected via hinges to two sides adjacent to both ends of the housing recess of the main body portion;
A plurality of holding projections facing each other above the receiving recesses when the support portion is bent substantially vertically;
Holding means for holding the support portion in a state of being bent substantially vertically;
With
A cylindrical container for packaging a cylindrical object in a suspended state by bending the support portion substantially vertically and inserting the holding projections at both ends of the cylindrical object and then holding the projection by holding means.   The said holding | maintenance means is provided in multiple places along the said hinge part, The packaging container of the cylindrical object of Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned.   The holding means includes a boss portion that is erected at a plurality of positions of the main body portion and has an engagement hole formed on an upper surface thereof, and is extended to a swinging end of the support portion, and the support portion is bent substantially vertically. The cylindrical packaging container according to claim 2, comprising a plurality of engaging pieces having engaging protrusions engageable with the engaging holes.   A knob portion that protrudes in the same direction as the engagement protrusion is provided at the tip of the engagement piece, and an escape hole that avoids contact with the knob portion is formed on the upper surface of the boss portion. The cylindrical packaging container according to claim 3, wherein the packaging container is formed so as to overlap an edge of the piece.   The cylindrical container according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the holding protrusion has a substantially conical shape having a concave portion on a side surface.   The cylindrical packaging container according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a plurality of substantially hemispherical buffering protrusions protruding from the support portion in a direction opposite to the holding protrusions are provided. .   The cylindrical packaging container according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the packaging container is integrally formed of polyethylene terephthalate.

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