US20050006271A1

US20050006271A1 - Packaging

Info

Publication number: US20050006271A1
Application number: US10/851,062
Authority: US
Inventors: Noriyuki Nakagawa
Original assignee: Ricoh Co Ltd
Current assignee: Ricoh Co Ltd
Priority date: 2003-06-05
Filing date: 2004-05-24
Publication date: 2005-01-13

Abstract

A packaging made from an air cushioning material with excellent cushioning characteristics, which provides enough cushioning to prevent the leakage of toner and so forth even when dropped from a considerable height. The packaging is constituted by a pair of bag materials forming a side wall component that surrounds the perimeter of a process cartridge, which is an object to be packaged, in frame-like fashion, and a holding pouch fused to these bag materials. Each bag material consists of a total of three layers: the top side comprising one layer of bag top and the bottom side comprising two layers of bag middle and bag bottom. The bag middle and bottom that make up the two layers of the bottom side have a relief shape in which the bag bottom inclines outward. The edges along one of the short sides of the holding pouch form an opening, while the edges in the longitudinal direction are fused at the boundary between the bag top and the bag middle of the side walls.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to packaging and a packaging apparatus, and more particularly relates packaging and a packaging apparatus suitable for packaging and conveying process cartridges and so forth used in image forming apparatus such as copiers, printers, and fax machines.
2. Description of the Related Art
The use of a unit containing toner (called a process cartridge, process cartridge unit, developing unit, etc., but in this Specification, this will be referred to as a process cartridge, which shall also encompass products equivalent to these) is known with image forming apparatus such as copiers. There are various kinds of process cartridge, but in an effort to shorten start-up time when a cartridge is replaced, there has been proposed in recent years a type in which a toner hopper is filled with toner ahead of time, no seal is provided covering the opening near the developing roller, and the pressing mechanism of the doctor roller that serves to keep the proper amount of toner on the developing roller surface involves biasing with a compression spring. With this type of process cartridge, since the opening is not covered with a seal, the user does not have to go to the trouble of peeling off the seal at the time of installation. When the cartridge is installed, the user can proceed directly to image forming work without having to peel off the seal from the developing component containing the toner, which makes the cartridge much easier to install.
However, whether this process cartridge is conveyed after being loaded into an image forming apparatus, or conveyed separately as a replacement product, if it is subjected to impact, the toner inside the toner hopper may leak to the outside and foul the surrounding environment, so manufacturers generally perform what is call a drop impact test, in which they drop the packaged cartridge from a certain height and inspect it to see if any toner leakage has occurred.
There are various ways in which this drop impact test can be conducted, such as dropping the packaged cartridge on its corner, dropping it on its side, or dropping it on its top, but of course one thing that must be taken into account is the drop height that is likely to be encountered during conveying and so forth. Manufacturers have set a standard for this height, but with the above type of process cartridge it has been exceedingly difficult to design cushioning that would meet this standard. Specifically, because an opening is provided as discussed above so that installation is facilitated, so that the user can proceed directly to image formation without first having to peel off the seal from the developing component, with conventional packaging such as cardboard, plastic, or foam, toner scattering occurred from a gap between the rollers as a result of drop impact during conveying. The easiest way to prevent this is to cover the opening with a seal as in the past, and then peel off the seal at the time of installation, but this goes against the original goal of making installation easier, so some solution to this problem is desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In light of the past situation described above, and the fact that air cushioning materials exhibit excellent cushioning characteristics, it is an object of the present invention to provide packaging and a packaging apparatus which provide enough cushioning to prevent the leakage of toner and so forth even when dropped from a considerable height.
A packaging in accordance with the present invention comprises a side wall component that surrounds the perimeter of an object in frame-like fashion; and a pouch for holding the object placed inside said side wall component. The side wall component comprises a linked pair of top and bottom sealed bags containing air or another gas, with the height of the bottom bag being greater than the height of the top bag.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIGS. 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating the basic structure in an example of a conventional process cartridge;
FIG. 2 is an oblique view of a process cartridge that is the object to be packaged in the packaging pertaining to the present invention, and part of a copier or other image forming apparatus that makes use of this cartridge;
FIGS. 3A and 3B are oblique views of the structure of an example of the packaging pertaining to the present invention;
FIGS. 4A to 4C are plan views illustrating the exploded planar shape of the holding pouch and the bags that make up this packaging;
FIG. 5 is an oblique view of a comparative example for contrast with the packaging pertaining to the present invention;
FIGS. 6A and 6B are cross sections illustrating the experiment configuration in the comparative example; and
FIGS. 7A and 7B are cross sections illustrating a structure for improving the cushioning of the packaging pertaining to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1A shows the structure of the conventional type of process cartridge discussed above, that is, the layout relationship between a developing roller 1, a doctor roller 2, a compression spring 3, and a toner hopper 4 for holding toner 5. As discussed above, whether this process cartridge is conveyed after being loaded into an image forming apparatus, or conveyed separately as a replacement product, if it is subjected to impact, the toner 5 inside the toner hopper 4 may leak to the outside and foul the surrounding environment, so manufacturers generally perform what is call a drop impact test, in which they drop the packaged cartridge from a certain height and inspect it to see if any toner leakage has occurred. Urethane, cardboard, foamed polystyrene, or various other cushioning materials have been employed in the packaging of this conventional process cartridge, but with a process cartridge of this type, if a drop impact test (at a drop of 80 cm, for instance) is performed from over a certain height with a conventional packaging structure, toner leakage almost always occurred. For example, at approximately the same packaging volume, the drop height from which the impact could be withstood was 30 cm with a cardboard cushioning material and 60 cm with an elastic polyurethane film cushioning material.
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1B, if the drop impact is not cushioned, the compression spring 3 is instantly compressed, the doctor roller 2 separates from the developing roller 1, and although the doctor roller 2 tries to return to its original position right away by the biasing force of the compression spring 3, even in that short span of time the toner 5 in the toner hopper 4 manages to leak out through the gap 6 produced between the rollers 1 and 2. The doctor roller 2 is particularly prone to separation from the developing roller 1, and the toner 5 to leakage, when the packaging is dropped on its bottom in a state in which the doctor roller 2 and the compression spring 3 are on the bottom side.
The present invention, which solves the above problems encountered with prior art, will now be described through reference to the drawings.
FIG. 2 shows the structure of a process cartridge that is the object to be packaged in the packaging pertaining to the present invention, and part of a copier or other image forming apparatus that makes use of this cartridge. In FIG. 2, 10 is a process cartridge and 11 is an image forming apparatus. The process cartridge 10 can be installed or removed through an opening 12 in the image forming apparatus 11, and toner is contained in the internal toner hopper, although this is not depicted in detail. 13 in FIG. 2 is a door, the purpose of which is to open and shut the opening 12 and so forth and allow the process cartridge 10 and so forth to be put in or taken out.
Although not shown in detail, this process cartridge 10 is similar to the above-mentioned conventional process cartridge in that it has a built-in developing roller, doctor roller, compression spring, and so forth. Drive gears 14 (only one side shown in the drawing) provided to the ends of the developing roller protrude to the outside, and can be rotationally driven by a drive apparatus (not shown) on the image forming apparatus 11 side when the process cartridge is mounted in the image forming apparatus 11. Also the same is that the doctor roller is biased by the compression spring from below the developing roller.
FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate the packaging pertaining to the present invention, and FIGS. 4A to 4C illustrate the exploded planar shape of the holding pouch and the bags that make up this packaging. More specifically, FIG. 3A shows the packaging state, and FIG. 3B shows the state when a process cartridge is inserted during packaging, or a state in which the packaging is opened and the process cartridge taken out. The packaging 20 in this example is constituted by pair of bag materials 21 forming a side wall component that surrounds the perimeter of a process cartridge (the object to be packaged) in frame-like fashion, and a holding pouch 22 fused to these bag materials 21. The bag materials 21 are similar to such commercially available products as Air Carry (trademark) in that they are made into a cushioning material by molding a synthetic resin (such as polyethylene, Nylon (trademark), or another such polyamide-based synthetic fiber material or a blend of these) into the form of a bag by heat sealing, welding, or another such fusion process. The holding pouch 22 is made from the same material as the bag materials 21, for example, and can be fused to the bag materials 21.
The bag materials 21 that make up the side wall component each have a rectangular planar shape of the same size in the longitudinal direction (the horizontal direction when in use) and the height direction (the vertical direction when in use), are divided in two by intermittent spot fusing in the height direction at a location a little over one-third of the length in the longitudinal direction, and are divided in three in their height direction by intermittent spot fusing in the longitudinal direction (23 in FIG. 4 indicates the used portions). Each of the bag materials 21 is divided up into two side walls 24 a and 24 b, and upper, middle, and lower bags 25 a, 25 b, 26 a, 26 b, 27 a, and 27 b that make up the respective side walls 24 a and 24 b. An air injection component 28 that constitutes an air injection opening for injection air from the entire side walls 24 a and 24 b or releasing air from them is provided at the end of the middle bag 26 a or 26 b that constitutes part of the side wall 24 b. Specifically, since the partitioning fused portions 23 are intermittently provided as discussed above, air can be injected into or released from all of the bags with just the one air injection component 28.
The air injection component 28 may be a known type, may comprise a valve, etc., as appropriate, and will not be described or depicted in detail here.
The holding pouch 22 has an opening 29 at the one of the short edges, the edges 22 a and 22 b in the longitudinal direction are fixed by being fused to the side walls 24 b, and the process cartridge 10 can be inserted through the opening 29. In the drawings, 30 indicates the fused portions on the holding pouch 22 side, while 31 indicates the fused portions on the side wall 24 b side. More specifically, the holding pouch 22 is fixed by fusing the two edges in the longitudinal direction to the side wall 24 b of each of the two bag materials 21, with the fused portions constituting the boundary between the upper bag 25 b and the middle bag 26 b. The edge where the opening 29 is provided and the opposite edge are left without being fused so that the side wall 24 a will not deform when the process cartridge 10 is inserted and fills out the holding pouch 22.
The holding pouch 22 is formed such that its length L1 in the longitudinal direction is the same or substantially the same as the length L3 in the longitudinal direction of the side wall 24 b, and the length L2 in the height direction (the length of the portion that functions as a pouch, excluding the fused portions 30) is somewhat shorter than the length L4 in the longitudinal direction of the side wall 24 a. The bag tops 25 a and 25 b, the bag middles 26 a and 26 b, and the bag bottoms 27 a and 27 b that make up the respective side walls 24 a and 24 b are formed such that the height in the vertical direction (the height direction) is the same H1 and H3 (H1=H3) for the bag tops 25 a and 25 b and the bag bottoms 27 a and 27 b, while the height H2 of the bag middles 26 a and 26 b is somewhat smaller (H1=H3<H2).
For example, the various components can have the following dimensions, as an example.

- Height H1 of the bag tops 25 a and 25 b: 85 mm (57 mm when inflated)
- Height H2 of the bag middles 26 a and 26 b: 76 mm (51 mm when inflated)
- Height H3 of the bag bottoms 27 a and 27 b: 85 mm (57 mm when inflated)
- Length L1 in the longitudinal direction of the holding pouch 22: 480 mm
- Length L2 in the height direction of the holding pouch 22: 270 mm
- Length L3 in the longitudinal direction of the side wall 24 b: 480 mm
- Length L4 in the longitudinal direction of the side wall 24 a: 290 mm
- Length (overall length) in the longitudinal direction of the bag materials 21: 770 mm
- Length (overall length) in the height direction: 244 mm (165 mm when inflated)

As shown in FIGS. 4A to 4C, the above-mentioned pair of bag materials 21 are given reverse layouts of the side walls 24 a and 24 b in the horizontal direction, after which the edges in the longitudinal direction of the holding pouch 22 are fused to the boundary portion between the bag top 25 b and the bag middle 26 b so that the opening 29 is facing the air injection component 28 side, and then the edges in the height direction of the bag materials 21, which are not equipped with the air injection component 28, are fused (32 in the drawings is the fused portion). In this state, air is injected into the pair of bag materials 21 through the air injection component 28, whereupon one side in the height direction opens as shown in FIG. 3B, resulting in a state in which the process cartridge 10 can be inserted through the opening 29 in the holding pouch 22. A suitable injected air pressure is from 0.10 to 0.20 kg/cm², for example.
The process cartridge 10 is inserted in this state, and the opening 29 is closed with adhesive tape 33 or the like. In a case in which there is no removable seal for sealing in the toner contained in the process cartridge 10, the process cartridge 10 is inserted so that the place where the doctor roller hits the developing roller, that is, the place where there may be formed a gap from which toner could leak, faces the bottom side of the holding pouch 22. The adhesive tape 33 or the like should be applied at a location where there is a protrusion or a protruding member such as the gears 14 of the process cartridge 10. This keeps the protrusions or protruding members from coming directly into contact with the bag materials 21, and prevents puncture. If there are protruding components or protrusions at the ends of the process cartridge 10 located to the side and across from the opening 29 in the holding pouch 22 during insertion, it is preferable to apply tape or the like to this side as well to prevent the puncture of the bag materials 21.
Lastly, the end of the open side wall 24 a of one of the bag materials 21 is aligned with the end of the open side wall 24 b of the other bag material 21 and fixed with adhesive tape 34 or the like to complete the enclosure of the process cartridge 10. In the example depicted in the drawings, the only positions closed with the adhesive tape 34 are the bag tops 25 a and 25 b, and the reason for this is that if the bag middles 26 a and 26 b and the bag bottoms 27 a and 27 b are closed off in a state in which protruding components or protrusions are located near the opening 29 of the holding pouch 22, these protrusions, etc., will be particularly apt to come into contact with and puncture the bag material 21, especially the bag middles 26 a and 26 b.
The procedure is substantially the reverse of the above when the process cartridge 10 is taken out. Once the packaging 20 of this example is no longer needed, the air inside the bag materials 21 can be released from the air injection component 28 to reduce the volume and facilitate storage, shredding, or disposal.
The cushioning provided by the packaging 20 of this example will now be described.
With a cushioning material composed of bag materials made of a synthetic resin, such as with the Air Carry (trademark), if the packing volume is limited, the cushioning effect is better than that of other cushioning materials such as urethane, cardboard, and polystyrene foam, and various packaged product shapes can be accommodated without redesigning the cushioning, which makes this cushioning material better suited to modular use, and the packaged object is subjected to less acceleration during conveying because of a kind of trampoline-like action, but there is also a greater probability that the object will be broken by protrusions or the like than there is with foamed cushioning materials and the like. Specifically, packages are subjected to heavy impacts while being handled in the course of distribution, and there tend to be many complaints from purchasers, users, and so on.
In view of this, the inventor of the present invention conducted various comparisons and studies into the cushioning performance of the packaging 20 of the example given above. For comparison was used a two-layer type of packaging 40 without the bag middles 26 a and 26 b of this example as shown in FIG. 5. The materials and so forth were the same or substantially the same as those of the packaging 20 pertaining to the above example, and the height of the side walls 25 a, 25 c, 27 a, and 27 c was 82 mm. This corresponds to the height of commonly used outer boxes.
As shown in FIG. 6A, this packaging 40 was placed in an outer box 41 (a standard cardboard box, for example) and subjected to a drop impact test, whereupon the acceleration value did not reach the target unless there was a gap between the outer periphery of the packaging 40 and the inner periphery of the outer box 41. As an example, the measured value greatly exceeded the target value for suppressing toner leakage corresponding to a drop height of 80 cm. On the other hand, using the same packaging 40, when a bubble wrap sheet 42 was laid on the bottom of the outer box 41 and the gap between the outer box 41 and the object was increased, it was found that the measured value was far under the target acceleration value. This indicates the possibility that this two-layer type of packaging 40 can exhibit an excellent cushioning effect, but may not have the required effect by itself, as above.
In view of this, the inventor of the present invention proposed the above-mentioned packaging 20 in an attempt to improve this situation. Specifically, in order for [the measured value] to be under the target acceleration value with the packaging alone, the bag middles 26 a and 26 b were added, resulting in a total of three layers, with the top side comprising one layer of the bag tops 25 a and 25 b and the bottom side comprising two layers of the bag middles 26 a and 26 b and the bag bottoms 27 a and 27 b, so that the bag bottoms 27 a and 27 b functioned as air layers instead of the bubble wrap sheet 42.
Furthermore, the height of the bag middles 26 a and 26 b located in the center in the vertical direction was decreased. This takes into account the fact that if the bag middles 26 a and 26 b in the center, or in other words, the air layer, are too tall, the process cartridge 10 will tend to hit the bag middles 26 a and 26 b, in which case the impact may cause the toner to leak.
Furthermore, with the packaging 20 of this example, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the bag middles 26 a and 26 b and the bag bottoms 27 a and 27 b that constitute the two layers on the bottom side incline outward on the side walls 24 b, forming a relief shape. This is produced by making the length L2 in the height direction of the holding pouch 22 somewhat shorter than the length L4 in the longitudinal direction of the side wall 24 a, as discussed above. Specifically, when all the components discussed above were fused together to create an open box-section shape as shown in FIG. 5, because the holding pouch 22 is shorter than the side walls 24 a, the side walls 24 a and 24 b are pulled inward, so the bag middles 26 a and 26 b, which have greater structural freedom than the bag tops 25 a and 25 b, stick outward, and the bag bottoms 27 a and 27 b, which have even greater freedom, open outward.
This relief shape of the bag middles 26 a and 26 b and the bag bottoms 27 a and 27 b combines with the closure of the bag tops 25 a and 25 b with the tape 34 when the object has been inserted, to provide greater tolerance for contact with the process cartridge 10 within the holding pouch 22, and prevent puncture. Adequate cushioning performance can also be achieved by with a structure in which no relief is provided, and the shape and size of the side walls 24 a and 24 b are changed so as to avoid contact with the process cartridge 10 or other packaged object.
As shown in FIG. 7B, with the packaging 20 of this example, if a gap is provided between the inner periphery of the outer box 41 and the packaging 20 (such as a gap of about 20 mm at the lowermost part all the way around the periphery, that is, where the gap is the smallest), any impact from a drop will be dispersed by the bending deformation of the bag middles 26 a and 26 b and the bag bottoms 27 a and 27 b, which is an even more effective way to prevent toner leakage.
When the packaging 20 of this example described above was inflated to an air pressure of approximately 0.2 kg/cm²and then put in the outer box 41 and subjected to a drop impact test just as in the comparative example above, the maximum height was not limited to 80 cm, and no toner leakage occurred even from a height of 100 cm.
Naturally, even better puncture prevention can be achieved by employing a structure in which any corners of the process cartridge 10 or other object that could come into contact with the bag tops 25 a and 25 b, the bag middles 26 a and 26 b, or the bag bottoms 27 a and 27 b have a shape that is not pointed.
The present invention described above has the following advantages.
(1) The packaging of the present invention comprises a side wall component that surrounds the perimeter of an object in frame-like fashion, and a pouch for holding the object placed inside said side wall component. The side wall component comprises a linked pair of top and bottom sealed bags containing air or another gas, with the height of the bottom bag being greater than the height of the top bag.
The object being packaged here is not limited to a process cartridge as discussed above, and may be any object that can be packaged. The packaged object need not consist of a plurality of clearly defined side walls, and may be any object whose periphery can be surrounded in frame-like fashion by the side wall component of the packaging. The side wall component of the packaging may be clearly divided or segmented so as to constitute four or a plurality of sides, or may not be divided or split. The holding pouch encompasses not only a type that can be opened on just one edge, but also a type that can be opened on two opposite edges, or includes an openable and closable part on the top or bottom side and is closed around the four sides. The pair of top and bottom bags constituting the side wall component may be a type in which integral bags are partitioned, or a type in which separate bags are linked by some means such as fusion. The linking direction is vertical, with the term vertical as used here referring to the up and down direction normally understood in the conveying of articles, which is also called the top and bottom direction and so forth. The height of the bags is the external height of the bag in the above-mentioned vertical direction, and can also be thought of as the inside diameter of the inflated portion minus the thickness of the bag material.
(2) The outer peripheral plane location of the bottom bag is further to the outside, in relation to the frame constituted by the side wall component, than the outer peripheral plane location of the top bag. The phrase “the outer peripheral plane location of the bottom bag is further to the outside than the outer peripheral plane location of the top bag” does not mean only that the entire bottom bag is outside in terms of an inside/outside relationship in relation to the frame constituted by the side wall component, but also that even just a part of the bottom bag is located to the outside in the above sense.
(3) The bottom bag is constituted by at least two bags. Here again, the pair of upper and lower bags constituting the bottom bag may be a type in which integral bags are partitioned, or a type in which separate bags are linked by some means such as fusion. The linking direction is vertical, with this vertical direction defined the same as above.
(4) Of the pair of upper and lower gas constituting the bottom bag, the upper bag is smaller in diameter than the lower bag. Here again, the height of the bags is the outside height of the bag in the above-mentioned vertical direction, and may be thought of as the inside diameter of the inflated portion minus the thickness of the bag material, and a size relationship of unequal diameters may be employed.
(5) The side wall component is such that a vertical split is made between two adjacent side walls so that one of said adjacent side walls can open and close, a pair of edges of the holding pouch are fixed horizontally or substantially horizontally between the other adjacent side wall split from the openable and closable side wall and the side wall opposite said other side wall, an opening for inserting the object faces the openable and closable side wall, and the fixing position is between the top bag and the upper of the pair of upper and lower bags.
Making a vertical split between the side walls encompasses a case of splitting by cutting or the like walls that were originally connected, and a case of separating two adjacent walls that were not originally connected. A variety of means can be suitably employed for the fixing of the holding pouch to the side walls, such as adhesive bonding or fusion by heat sealing. Making the fixed state horizontal or substantially horizontal encompasses a state that would generally be considered to be horizontal, even though there may be some inclination. Putting the fixing position between the top bag and the upper of the pair of upper and lower bags means fixing to an edge portion or the like between the two bags if there is such a portion, or if there is no such portion, fixing either to the two bags or to an area near the boundary of the two bags.
(6) The upper and lower sides of the holding pouch sandwich the object from above and below. The direction in which the upper and lower sides of the holding pouch sandwich the object is the above-mentioned vertical direction. With this sandwiching from above and below, the upper and lower sides of the holding pouch each apply a force sandwiching the object in concert with the other side, but of course there is no need for this force to be exerted on the object at all times, and all that is necessary is to apply a biasing force so that the object will not have any play inside the holding pouch when a contact state has been reached.
(7) The object to be packaged is a process cartridge for an image forming apparatus.
(8) The process cartridge has a developing roller, a doctor roller, and biasing means such as a spring for biasing said doctor roller into contact with the developing roller, and also has an opening that allows powder contained therein to be taken outside, with said opening facing the lower side of the holding pouch so that the process cartridge can be inserted.
(9) The process cartridge has a developing roller, a doctor roller, and biasing means such as a spring for biasing said doctor roller into contact with the developing roller, and the place where the doctor roller abuts the developing roller faces the lower side of the holding pouch so that the process cartridge can be inserted. The biasing means can be any of the various types used in this kind of process cartridge in addition to a spring, and a variety of biasing configurations can also be employed, such as one involving either pressing or pulling.
(10) When the process cartridge has been inserted into the holding pouch, the lower side of the holding pouch is positioned higher than at least the bottom of the lower bag of the pair of upper and lower bags. Positioning the lower side of the holding pouch above the bottom of the lower bag means that the lower side of the holding pouch extends lower than the lowermost part of the side wall component, so that the packaged object does not come into direct contact with any external objects if subjected to vibration or the like.
(11) There is included a member for avoiding direct contact between the holding pouch and the corners or protrusions of the process cartridge. The member for avoiding direct contact between the holding pouch and the corners and so forth of the process cartridge is what comes into direct contact with the holding pouch, so it is made from a material that will not scratch the holding pouch, although the material and shape can be selected as appropriate.
(12) All the bags described above are formed by partitioning a single sheet of sheeting material by heat sealing or the like.
(13) There is included an air injection opening that allows air to be released from the bags. A variety of air-releasable air injection openings can be employed, and it is possible either to provide one air injection opening to each of the bags, or to form [the bags] by partitioning a single sheet of sheeting material by heat sealing as described above, and provide just one air injection opening that allows the air to be released from all the bags. Other configurations are also possible.
(14) There is no removable seal for sealing toner contained in the process cartridge.
(15) The sealed gas pressure in the bag is from 0.10 to 0.20 kg/cm².
The packaging pertaining to the present invention is as described above, and therefore exhibits enough cushioning performance to prevent toner leakage and so forth even when dropped from a considerable height (such as 100 cm).
Various modifications will become possible for those skilled in the art after receiving the teachings of the present disclosure without departing from the scope thereof.

Claims

1. Packaging, comprising:

a side wall component that surrounds the perimeter of an object in frame-like fashion; and

a pouch for holding the object placed inside said side wall component,

wherein the side wall component comprises a linked pair of top and bottom sealed bags containing air or another gas, with the height of the bottom bag being greater than the height of the top bag.

2. The packaging as claimed in claim 1, wherein the outer peripheral plane location of the bottom bag is further to the outside, in relation to the frame constituted by the side wall component, than the outer peripheral plane location of the top bag.

3. The packaging as claimed in claim 2, wherein the bottom bag is constituted by at least two bags.

4. The packaging as claimed in claim 3, wherein the side wall component is such that a vertical split is made between two adjacent side walls so that one of said adjacent side walls can open and close, a pair of edges of the holding pouch are fixed horizontally or substantially horizontally between the other adjacent side wall split from the openable and closable side wall and the side wall opposite said other side wall, an opening for inserting the object faces the openable and closable side wall, and the fixing position is between the top bag and the upper of the pair of upper and lower bags.

5. The packaging as claimed in claim 2, wherein, of the pair of upper and lower bags constituting the bottom bag, the upper bag is smaller in diameter than the lower bag.

6. The packaging as claimed in claim 5, wherein the side wall component is such that a vertical split is made between two adjacent side walls so that one of said adjacent side walls can open and close, a pair of edges of the holding pouch are fixed horizontally or substantially horizontally between the other adjacent side wall split from the openable and closable side wall and the side wall opposite said other side wall, an opening for inserting the object faces the openable and closable side wall, and the fixing position is between the top bag and the upper of the pair of upper and lower bags.

7. The packaging as claimed in claim 1, wherein the upper and lower sides of the holding pouch sandwich the object from above and below.

8. The packaging as claimed in claim 1, wherein the object is a process cartridge for an image forming apparatus.

9. The packaging as claimed in claim 8, wherein the process cartridge has a developing roller, a doctor roller, and biasing means such as a spring for biasing said doctor roller into contact with the developing roller, and also has an opening that allows powder contained therein to be taken outside, with said opening facing the lower side of the holding pouch so that the process cartridge can be inserted.

10. The packaging as claimed in claim 9, wherein when the process cartridge has been inserted into the holding pouch, the lower side of the holding pouch is positioned higher than at least the bottom of the lower bag of the pair of upper and lower bags.

11. The packaging as claimed in claim 8, wherein the process cartridge has a developing roller, a doctor roller, and biasing means such as a spring for biasing said doctor roller into contact with the developing roller, and the place where the doctor roller abuts the developing roller faces the lower side of the holding pouch so that the process cartridge can be inserted.

12. The packaging as claimed in claim 11, wherein when the process cartridge has been inserted into the holding pouch, the lower side of the holding pouch is positioned higher than at least the bottom of the lower bag of the pair of upper and lower bags.

13. The packaging as claimed in claim 8, comprising a member for avoiding direct contact between the holding pouch and the corners or protrusions of the process cartridge.

14. The packaging as claimed in claim 8, having no removable seal for sealing toner contained in the process cartridge.

15. The packaging as claimed in claim 1, wherein all of the bags are formed by partitioning a single sheet of sheeting material by heat sealing or the like.

16. The packaging as claimed in claim 1, comprising an air injection opening that also allows air to be released from the bags.

17. The packaging as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sealed gas pressure in the bag is from 0.10 to 0.20 kg/cm².