MXPA97007612A - Method to pack, elastically, articlescompressib - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for packaging, in elastic form, a compressible article (10), which comprises the steps of inserting the article into a tube of a deformable material (22) in such a way that material is provided in excess at the ends of the tube. A first end (25) of the tube is then closed in a sealed manner. Then air is evacuated from the tube through the second end whereby the tube is deformed around the article and causes the article to be compressed. While a vacuum is maintained in the tube, the second end of the tube closes in a sealed manner. A containment sleeve (26) fits over the sealed tube to hold the article in a compressed state. When the article is unpacked, the containment sleeve is subtracted and the tube is allowed to expand in a gradual and controlled manner, by entering the air into the container.

Description

METHOD FOR PACKAGING, ELASTICALLY, COMPRESSIBLE ITEMS FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates, in general, to a method for packing, in elastic form, compressible articles, and, more particularly, to a method wherein the compressible articles can be conveniently packed for shipment, in a compressed state, and they can be unpacked when they reach their destination, in a controlled manner.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Many manufactured items are lightweight and bulky and can not be delivered to the consumer without a highly undesirable cost associated with shipping. Often the manufacture of these items is also cheap but its cost, for the consumer, necessarily reflects a disproportionately high component of shipping charges, whereby the perceived value of the item is adversely affected.

REF: 25834 consumer. One of those items whose cost is undesirably high compared to its manufacturing cost is an internal spring or spring component of a typical mattress, cushion, or the like. In the construction of a standard mattress, for example, an internal spring assembly is used, which comprises an arrangement of springs or springs, in spiral, tightly packed. One form of internal spring construction, which has proven to be highly successful, is known as Marshall's construction. In this construction, individual spiral springs are encapsulated in discrete bags of cloth material, and the bags of cloth material are formed together to create rows of spirals. These rows of spirals are then placed in an arrangement in the. which all the spiral springs are oriented in a parallel position, one with respect to the others, whereby an assembly of internal springs is formed. An example of such construction is described in U.S. Patent No. 4,234,983, issued to Stumpf and assigned to the common assignee herein, the description of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference. To build a mattress assembly, which provides adequate support and is still comfortable to the user, the springs used in the previous construction typically have so few turns in the spiral and have a relatively small compressive strength that can be compressed easily up to a size on the order of a tenth of its size naturally expanded. Accordingly, the rows of springs, of the above type, are light in weight and considerably bulky. Recently a new mattress construction has been developed, which is capable of being disassembled to its disassembled or disassembled form, for convenient shipment to customers or buyers, or retail distributors. A removable mattress, such as that, is described in the co-pending US patent application Serial No. 08 / 398,227, assigned to the common assignee, herein. This construction comprises four supports, each of which has a tansversal section in general rectangular and sized to be arranged in the form of a mattress. The supports are retained within a lining or structure, which has a bottom panel, side panels of the perimeter and a cover panel or lid, with closure. Each support comprises a cover or cloth wrap, which contains lengths of spiral springs, bagged. The mattress assembly, mentioned above, due to its removable or collapsible construction, can be shipped in a highly economical way compared to the conventional structures of individual mattresses. The components of this mattress can be assembled in very manageable packages for boarding. However, it is desirable to provide a packing method that also reduces the size of the package. So far, you can. employing the vacuum package of the coil springs, wherein the rows of coils are compressed within a plastic tube initially evacuated, and are retained, in a compressed state, by a containment sleeve fitted over the tube as eliminates the source of vacuum.

Because conventional coil-type spiral springs can be compressed significantly from their naturally extended state, substantial reductions in packing size can be achieved for these springs through vacuum packing methods. However, a disadvantage of using the known vacuum packing methods, to provide a compressed packing of the springs, is that once the vacuum source is removed from the inner tube, the springs become totally dependent on the presence of the outer sleeve. of containment, to preserve its compressed condition. Thus, once the containment sleeve is broken or disengaged, such as when the package is opened, the springs may expand to their fully extended state, in an uncontrolled and somewhat abrupt manner. The result is that opening the package of springs, breaking the containment sleeve, for example, with a pointed instrument, can be a surprising and possibly dangerous experience. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a vacuum packing method for packaging springs in a manner that permits controlled expansion of the springs when opening the package.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention improves on the prior art, by providing a method for packing, in elastic form, a compressible article, and the method comprises the steps of inserting the article into a tube of deformable material in such a way that the excess material is Provides at the ends of the tube. Then a first end of the tube is sealed, in sealed form. The air is then evacuated from the tube, through the second end whereby the tube surrounding the article is deformed causing the article to compress. While a vacuum is maintained in the tube, the second end of the tube closes in a sealed manner. A containment sleeve is fitted over the sealed tube to hold the article in a compressed state. When the article is unpacked, the containment sleeve is broken or disengaged and the tube is allowed to expand in a gradual and controlled manner, by the entrance of air back into the tube.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The foregoing characteristics, as well as other new features of the invention, will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a fragmentary, side elevational view of a row of coiled, coiled springs as known from the prior art; Figure 2 is a side elevational view, partly with separation, showing a packaging system according to the invention, before evacuation; Y Figure 3 is an elevation, side view, partially with separation, showing the packaging system after evacuation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED MODALITY Referring now to the drawings, and initially to Figure 1, a row of coil springs, as is known in the art for use in the construction of internal springs, mattresses or the like, is designated, in general, by the reference number 10. The spiral spring 10 includes individual spiral springs 12, which are encapsulated in discrete bags of suitable cloth 14. The fabric 14 is preferably heat sensitive such that the ultrasonically formed welds 16 create ribs 18 between adjacent coils 12, whereby the pockets are defined. It can be seen that in this construction of the inner spring of a mattress, or the like, the spiral springs 12 are typically formed of relatively few turns in the spiral and with relatively little resistance to compression. Accordingly, these springs 12 can be easily compressed to a size that is only a fraction of their naturally expanded size. Returning now to Figure 2, a packaging system according to the invention is designated, in general, with the reference number 20. The system 20 is shown packing a row of spiral springs 10, of the type illustrated in Figure 1, which comprises the springs in FIG. 12 are inserted into a tube of deformable material 22. Preferably, this material 22 is 0.002 cm (3/4 mil) polyethylene which has been extruded. in tubular form and is supplied in the form of rolls. The tube 22 has a length greater than the length of the row of spirals 10 such that the two ends of the tube 22 define portions 24 of material 22 of the tube, in excess. The packing system 20 is shown in full in Figure 3, wherein the spiral spring 10 has been compressed and maintained in a compressed state by a containment sleeve 26. Preferably, the containment sleeve 26 It is an extruded tube, 0.01 cm (4 mils) polyethylene. To achieve the configuration of Figure 3, one end 24 of the tube 22 is tightened and sealed. Sealing can be carried out through various means including taking the tight end 24, tightly attaching it, pressing the end 24 with a suitable fastener or by a knot with a cable, or heat sealing the end 24. Then, the end open is manually tightened around a hose connected to a vacuum pump and the air inside the tube 22 is evacuated. The evacuation of the tube 22 causes the tube to deform around the row of spirals 10 and in turn causes the spirals 10 are compressed. When the evacuation has reached a predetermined level, the containment sleeve 26 is sealed over the compressed tube 22 and the second end 24 can be sealed. Then the vacuum source is removed. It can now be seen that the packaging method, according to the invention, provides a highly desirable method for packaging articles that can be elastically compressed. Although the invention has been described in relation to the packaging of row 10 of spirals, it can be seen that with the method of the present, numerous other compressible articles can be packed, to obtain a shipment or transport effective in terms of cost. Likewise, the advantages of sealing the tube 22 at both ends 24, after the evacuation will also be evident. When the package 20 is delivered, the customer or buyer can break or disengage the containment sleeve 26 and initially the tube 22 together with the article encapsulated therein will remain relatively compressed under the effect of the vacuum inside the tube 22. Then, depending on the type of method used to seal the end 24, the air will gradually enter into the tube 22 allowing the compressed article to expand gradually until the inside of the tube 22 reaches the ambient air pressure. Accordingly, abrupt and undesirable expansion of the tube 22 is avoided. If a sealing method is used, which is very airtight, the tube 22 can simply be punctured, forming a small hole to allow air to enter the evacuated tube 22. By this packaging method, 10 coiled springs 12, bagged, stacked to a height of 58.42 cm (23 inches), can be easily compressed to a stacking of 12.7 cm (5 inches) in height, therefore, they can be packaged for a shipment cash with respect to cost. Although the present invention has been described in relation to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is intended that the appended claims cover all those changes and modifications that are within the true spirit and scope of the invention. It is noted that in relation to this date, the best method known by the applicant to carry out the aforementioned invention, is that which is clear from the present description of the invention. Having described the invention as above, the content of the following is claimed as property:

Claims (9)

1. A method for packaging a mattress assembly or assembly, constructed of springs or coil springs, wherein each spring is contained within a single bag or receptacle, of fabric, the method is characterized in that it comprises the steps of: providing a tube of deformable material, and the tube has a predetermined length; insert a mattress assembly, constructed of coil springs, bagged or bagged, inside the tube, the mattress assembly has a length less than the length of the tube, whereby a first and second tube ends, of excess material; sealing a first end of the tube; evacuating air from the tube, through the second end, whereby the tube is deformed around the mattress assembly and causing the mattress assembly to compress; sealing the second end of the tube after evacuating the tube, to a predetermined state; inserting the evacuated tube into a containment sleeve, which is dimensioned and configured to retain the compressed mattress assembly, in a compressed state, for boarding; remove the evacuated tube from the containment sleeve; and puncturing the evacuated tube to allow the mattress assembly, which is located in the tube, to gradually return to an uncompressed state.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the first end of the tube is sealed after gathering and tightening the excess material of the first end.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the evacuation step includes gathering and tightening the second end of the tube, around a means for evacuation with vacuum.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the tube is cut to a predetermined length, of a continuous length of tube material.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the second end of the tube is sealed after evacuating the tube to a predetermined state.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the second end of the tube is sealed while the tube is evacuated to a predetermined state.

7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the evacuated tube is punctured or perforated to allow the mattress assembly, which is located in the tube, to gradually return to the uncompressed state.

8. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the containment sleeve is broken or disengaged to allow the mattress assembly that is in the tube to gradually return to the uncompressed state.

9. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the evacuated tube, inserted in the containment sleeve, is allowed to expand inside the containment sleeve.