JP2670210B2 - Annular inflatable airbag - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a ring-shaped inflatable airbag. Specifically, it is initially flat, but when air is blown into it, it expands into a ring-shaped (or closed loop-shaped) hollow polygonal shape. The present invention relates to a ring-shaped inflatable airbag that can be used as a cushioning material, a padding, or the like that fills a gap of an article having a corresponding shape.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When articles such as a VCR and a television receiver are put into a packaging container such as a cardboard box, a cushioning material such as styrene foam is generally filled in the gaps, but the cushioning material does not fit well to the size of the gaps. The applicant has developed and applied for a number of inflatable airbags through self-sealing blow-tubes for the purpose of improving the surface finish of the articles due to the difficulty of damaging the surface finish of the articles. An airbag disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2-410577).
Such an air bag inflates and occupies a certain volume when blown with air, but the volume is not variable. For example, if there is a roughly rectangular gap in plan view between the packaging container and the items to be stored in it, it is sufficient to insert a series of conventional airbags into the gap and inflate it. Can fill the gap. However, if the gap has a thick shape such as a triangle or a quadrangle, it is not possible to properly fill the gap with only a series of airbags. Had to be packed multiple times. This is not only wasteful of using a large amount of materials, but also inconvenient in use because it is necessary to perform air blowing work on each of the multiple airbags.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, according to the present invention, when air is blown once with a series of airbags, it can be expanded as an annular shape bent into an arbitrary polygonal shape, and the shape of the target gap can be easily achieved. It is an object of the present invention to provide an annular inflatable airbag that can be manufactured in accordance with the above.

[0004]

Therefore, according to the present invention, a self-sealing air blowing tube is inserted and penetrated between two airtight films having a predetermined width in the length direction of the film so that both side edges of the film are sealed. In an airbag that has a plurality of individual inflated portions continuously provided by sealing both films in the width direction with a plurality of transverse partition lines across the width of the film as an edge,
Each inflated part is formed with two or more folding seal lines that lie between the transverse partition lines on both sides of the inflated part so as to allow air to flow throughout the inflated part. It is divided into three or more segmented inflated parts, and at least one of the sealing side edges is laterally extended to form a joining ear, whereby the sealing side edges are joined and closed in an annular shape, and air is blown in. The seal line for occasional folding is inflatable into a ring-shaped polygonal shape.

The joining ears may be formed by laterally extending one or both of the sealing side edges and adhering this to the vicinity of the other sealing side edge with an adhesive, or both sealing side edges. The edges may be overlapped and heat-sealed to perform fusion bonding or the like. Further, mechanical means such as stapling and sewing can be used for the joint ear for the purpose of reinforcing adhesion or fusion.

The folding seals formed on the individual inflated portions are not intersected with the transverse partition lines, and a plurality of air passages are left between the ends of the folding seals and the transverse partition lines to leave a plurality of passages. The segmental inflating section can be completely inflated by blowing air once, and air can be moved between the segmental inflating sections even after the inflation, so that the bulging condition of each section can be equalized. A strong local external pressure to any one of the section expansions can be appropriately relieved by letting air escape to the other section expansions.
The folding seal may be formed as one continuous line, but may be formed in an intermittent shape (broken line shape).
In this case, it is not always necessary to leave a passage for air circulation between the two lateral partition lines. Such a folding seal is provided by selectively providing one or more intermittent heat-seal blades capable of moving laterally between the both side edges of the basic heat seal device for sealing the both side edges of the airbag. It can be easily formed. Since the dimensions of each section expansion part can be easily changed only by adjusting the interval between the selective heat seal blades, the closed ring shape can easily correspond to either a regular polygon or an unequal polygon. it can.

Further, by increasing the number of selective heat seal blades to increase the number of folding heat seals, the number of folding points can be increased and the polygonal ring can be made to be substantially circular. For example, if the folding seal is 2
If it is a book, the airbag can be folded in three, so it is a closed triangular ring, if it is three, it is a closed quadrangular ring, and if it is four, it is a closed pentagonal ring. In this way, by preparing various types of ring-shaped polygonal airbags according to the shape of the target gap, the corresponding airbag can be inserted into the target gap and the air can be blown once to simplify the gap. The buffering or packaging operation can be completed quickly and easily, unlike in the past, because it can be properly filled.

[0008]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, a closed triangular annular inflatable airbag according to the present invention will be described, but this is an example, and as described above, the present invention extends from a quadrangle, a pentagon, ... To a polygon substantially close to a circle. Is applicable, so the illustration is not a limitation. The airbag of the present invention basically has two films 1 and 2 on the front and back (see FIG. 2).
Self-sealing blow tube 1 along the side edge between
1 is inserted, and both side edges are formed as sealing side edges 3 and 4, preferably by heat sealing. In the example shown, the sealing side edge 3
Is extended laterally to form a joint ear 10.
By means of this ear 10, both sealing side edges 3, 4 are joined by gluing, fusing or mechanical means and the airbag is shown in FIG.
Or, it has a ring shape as easily seen from FIG. Prior to this joining, a large number of transverse partition lines 5 and 6 are formed in pairs by heat sealing, transversely between the sealing side edges, so that the individual inflated parts 7 can be seen from FIG. Are continuously formed. The portion between the adjacent partition lines 6 and 5 is a portion where air does not enter, and the adjacent inflatable portions 7 and 7 can be separated here. The self-sealing blow-in tube 11 is opened to blow air independently into each inflating portion 7 of the airbag when blowing air.
When the blowing is finished, it is compressed by the air pressure in the inflating part and closes in a self-sealing manner to prevent the outflow of air. Various types have already been developed by the applicant, but the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application No. 2-410577 shows a type with multiple side-by-side paths.

In FIG. 1, each inflatable portion 7 is provided with two folding seals according to the present invention between partition lines 5 and 6 so as not to intersect with each other, that is, 8-1 and 8.
Formed as -2. As a result, the individual expansions 7
Is divided into three, that is, divided into expanded sections 7-1, 7-2, and 7-3, and when expanded, a triangular ring shape is formed as shown in FIG. If there are three folding seals, as described above, a closed quadrangular shape consisting of four segmented inflating parts (see FIG. 5) and a five-folded inflatable annular airbag consisting of five segmented inflating parts as described above. . Bending seal 8-
Since 1 and 8-2 can be formed by installing the laterally movable variable heat seal blade in the basic heat seal device as described above, it is possible to easily bend the heat seal blade by changing the position of the heat seal blade as required. Position of the application seal 8 can be changed. Thereby, for example, it is easy to change from an equilateral triangle to an annular shape of a scalene triangle.

Between the both ends of the folding seal 8 (representing 8-1, 8-2...) And the transverse partition lines 5 and 6,
As shown in FIG. 1, an appropriate gap is left to form an air flow passage 9 between the respective section expansion parts. The airflow passage 9 can also be realized by forming the folding seal 8 itself in an intermittent shape (broken line shape), unlike the illustrated continuous linear shape. Of course, when the air is blown from the blow-in tube 11, these flow passages are useful for inflating the respective inflated portions at the same time, but after the inflation, one of the inflated portions is pressed by a particularly strong external pressure. In such a case, if the flow passage 9 is provided, the air is released to the other section inflating section, whereby the external pressure can be relieved and the bag can be prevented from bursting or the like.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 1. In reality, the air bag and the blowing tube are completely flat before the air is blown, but for convenience of illustration,ゝ Shown as inflated and unrolled. The self-sealing blow-in tube 11 has its one side edge sealed together with the sealing side edge 3, and the other side edge blows air into each inflated portion 7. FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the blow-in tube 11 by enlarging the portion on the side of the sealing side edge 3 in FIG. 2, in which the upper and lower films 1 and 2 and the blow-in tube 11 are also shown in a slightly expanded state. is there. The illustrated blow tube 11 has a through blow passage 12 penetrating in the length direction thereof on the sealing side edge 3 side, and an intermittent seal 13 is formed on the opposite side thereof, and each expansion seal 13 and 13 expands. At least one self-sealing opening (non-sealing portion) 14 is formed for each portion 7. A second intermittent seal 15 is formed at a distance from the intermittent seal 13, and a self-sealing opening 16 is formed between the intermittent seals 15. Furthermore, a self-sealing opening 18 is formed by the third intermittent seal 17 at a distance, and a fourth intermittent seal 19 is formed.
Thus, a self-sealing opening 20 that opens into the inflatable portion is formed. As can be seen from FIG. 1, the self-sealing openings 14, 1
It is desirable that 6, 18, and 20 are formed so as to be displaced from each other in order to ensure the self-sealing action. As can be seen from FIG. 3, a partition passage 21 (or a dead end passage) is formed between the intermittent seals 13 and 15, and the partition passage 22 and the intermittent seals 17 and 19 are formed between the intermittent seals 15 and 17. A partition passage 23 is formed between them. The through blow-in passage 12 penetrates all of the individual inflating portions 7 and opens at least at one end of the airbag 12a (FIG. 1), while the partition passage (dead end passage).
All of the parts 21, 22 and 23 are separated by only the individual inflating part 7 and do not communicate with the adjacent inflating part. This is, for example, a blow-in tube 11 in which intermittent seals 13 to 19 are formed.
When sandwiching the original product of (1) between the front and back films (1) and (2) to form the transverse partition lines (5) and (6) from above the films (1) and (2) by heat sealing, only the inner surface of the tube corresponding to the through blow-in passage (12) is exposed Heat-fusible paint, printing ink,
It can be realized by applying a lacquer or the like in advance.

The ring-shaped inflatable airbag of the present invention has a flat sheet shape that is folded before blowing air, as shown in FIG.
1 is also crushed flat. Open end 1 of through blow channel 12
When air is blown from 2a by an air compressor or the like, the air is blown by the self-sealing openings 14, 16, 1 of the individual expansion parts 7.
8 and 20 are sequentially pushed open and blown into the expansion part 7 (partial expansion part 7-1 in the example shown) from the self-sealing opening 20, and this is expanded in a ring shape. Even if the folding seal 8 is provided, the flow passages 9 are left on both sides or in the middle thereof,
The air sequentially flows into the section expanding parts 7-2 and 7-3 to expand them. When the blowing pressure is stopped when the expanding portion 7 has expanded to the required limit, the blowing tube 11 is compressed by the air pressure in the expanding portion and flattened and closed in a self-sealing manner, as can be inferred from the diagram schematically shown in FIG. . As a result, the inflatable section 7 expands into a hollow columnar shape in which the segmental inflatable sections 7-1, 7-2, 7-3 are connected in an annular shape as shown in FIG. It is strong enough to withstand a vertical load.

The ring-shaped inflated airbag of the present invention as shown in FIG. 4 can be used, for example, to fill the triangular gap b in the container B of FIG. First, a flat ring-shaped airbag into which air is not blown is inserted into the triangular gap b, and when air is blown from the open end 12a (FIG. 1) of the blow-in tube 11 with an air compressor or the like, it is self-sealed from the through blow-in passage 12. The self-sealing openings 16, 18, and 20 including the expression opening 14 are opened to expand the expansion portion 7-
1,7-2,7-3 expands in a ring shape. When the blow pressure is stopped when the volume of the gap b has been expanded to the full extent, the blow tube 11 is flattened by the air pressure in the expanded portion to exert a self-sealing effect, and the expansion of each portion is maintained. As will be understood from the above, the ring-shaped inflatable airbag of the present invention is prepared as a ring shape or a loop shape such as a triangle, a quadrangle, etc. corresponding to the target gap, and the flat gap is the target gap. When it is inserted into and is expanded by blowing air once, it expands to the full internal volume of the gap and appropriately fills the gap. Similarly, when the target gap is, for example, a quadrangle, four segmented expansion parts 7-1, which can be bent by the folding seals 8-1, 8-2, 8-3, as shown on the right side of FIG. When a quadrangular annular airbag composed of 7-2, 7-3, 7-4 is inserted in a flat state and air is blown into it, it can be expanded into a quadrangular annular hollow column to appropriately fill the corresponding gap c. . These ring-shaped inflatable airbags not only exert a lateral force in the gap b or c to fill the gap but also resist a load in the vertical direction (the direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 5). Demonstrate the power.

One advantage of the ring-shaped inflatable air bag of the present invention is that it is hollow when it is inflated and only contains air, so it is quite lightweight and weights the package. The fact that there is no such thing, and that several bent segment inflating parts are simply and quickly inflated by one air blowing operation by one blowing tube. Further, since the segmental inflating portions are communicated with each other by the flow passage 9 passing through the bending seal, even if one of the segmental inflating portions receives a particularly strong external pressure, the air escapes to the other segmental inflating portion through the flow passage. The external pressure can be relieved, and accidents such as bag rupture can be prevented.

In addition to the above, the annular inflatable air bag of the present invention can be inflated into a substantially circular ring shape by forming a large number of folding seals at fine intervals, and thus the circular or near circular shape can be expanded. The gap can be easily and reliably filled.

[0016]

As described above, according to the present invention, the individual inflating portions that are inflated at once by the blowing tube are closed in an annular shape, and two or more folding seals are formed in each inflating portion. Since it is possible to form a polygonal shape that is bent at the boundary of the segmented inflating part, a series of air bags flatly inserted into the gap between articles of various shapes or the gap between the container and the article is inflated simply by blowing air. By doing so, there is an effect that the gap can be filled very quickly, accurately and appropriately, and the buffer packaging work can be completed quickly. According to the present invention, by changing the position of the bending seal and changing the section length of the inflating portion, it becomes easy to fill an irregular gap such as an isosceles polygonal shape. There is an advantage that complicated operations such as stacking and packing can be eliminated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view showing an embodiment of a ring-shaped inflatable airbag according to the present invention in a flat state.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a ring-shaped inflatable airbag taken along the line AA of FIG. 1, which is shown in a slightly inflated state.

FIG. 3 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view showing, in an enlarged manner, a joint ear portion and an air blowing tube of the airbag shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a part of an airbag inflated into a hollow triangular ring shape according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic partial plan view showing an example of the use of an airbag inflated into a triangular ring shape (left side) and an airbag inflated into a quadrangular ring shape (right side) according to the present invention.

[Explanation of Codes] 1, 2 ... Film 3, 4 ... Sealing side edge 5, 6 ... Transverse partition line 7 ... Expansion part 7-1, 7-2, 7-3 ... Section expansion part 8-1, 8-- 2 ... Bending seal 9 ... Air flow passage 10 ... Joining ear 11 ... Air blowing tube

Claims (8)

(57) [Claims] 1. A self-sealing air-blowing tube is inserted and penetrated between two airtight films 1 and 2 having a predetermined width in the film length direction to form both side edges of the film as sealing side edges 3 and 4. Each film is sealed in the width direction by a plurality of transverse partition lines 5 and 6 across the width of the film to form an individual expansion part 7
In an airbag in which a large number of the inflatable parts 7 are continuously provided, a folding seal line 8 lying between the transverse partition lines 5 and 6 on both sides of each inflatable part 7 is provided for air circulation to the entire inflatable part 7. Bending of the inflating part 7 adjacent to and allowing
Two or more 8-1, 8-2 ... are formed so as to form a straight line with the seal line 8 for baldness, and the individual inflated portions 7 are three or more segmented inflated portions 7-1, 7-2. , 7-3, and at least one of the sealing side edges 3 or 4 is laterally extended to form a joining ear 10, whereby the sealing side edges 3 and 4 are formed.
A ring-shaped inflatable airbag, characterized in that it is inflated into a ring-shaped polygonal shape that is bent at a bending seal line when air is blown by joining the two together. 2. The ring-shaped inflatable air according to claim 1, wherein each of the folding seals is a continuous line, and an air flow passage 9 is left between both ends of the seal and the transverse partition lines 5 and 6. bag. 3. The ring-shaped inflatable airbag according to claim 1, wherein each of the folding seals is formed in an intermittent broken line shape to form an air flow between the segmented inflating portions. 4. The folding seal is provided with two
The main parts 8-1 and 8-2 are formed, and each expansion part is divided into three section expansion parts 7-1, 7-2 and 7-3 so that they can be expanded into a closed hollow triangular ring shape. Claim 2 or 3
An annular inflatable airbag according to claim 1. 5. The folding seal is provided with three
Books 8-1, 8-2, 8-3 or more are formed, and each inflatable section is four or more segmental inflatable sections 7-1,
The ring-shaped inflatable airbag according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the ring-shaped inflatable airbag is divided into 7-2, 7-3, 7-4, ... 6. The ring-shaped inflatable airbag according to claim 1, wherein each of the segmented inflatable portions has the same length and can be inflated into a regular polygonal ring shape. 7. The ring-shaped inflatable airbag according to claim 1, wherein each of the segmented inflatable parts has a different length and can be inflated into an isosceles polygonal ring shape. 8. The air blowing tube has a through-blowing passage 12 which penetrates all the inflating portions 7, and at least one partition passage 2 for each inflating portion provided in parallel therewith.
1, 22, 23 and self-sealing openings 14, 16, 18, 20
The ring-shaped inflatable airbag according to claim 1, which is of a type having: