US2284663A - Packing pad - Google Patents

Description

lNvwToR. John/ E. Kieffer ,ATT W J. E. KIEFFER PACKING PAD Filed March 17, 1939 ,Fig. 2

June 2', 1942.

Patented June 2, 1942 f i A 12,284,663

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PACKING PA!) John E. Kieffer, Ewing, Ind.

Appiication March 17, 1939, Serial No. 262, 579

1 Claim.

. flexible, resilient and yieldable, and especially resistant to crushing. The pad should also be made of very inexpensive materials, and should possess inherent softness. If the pad is to be used for the packing of foodstuffs, it should in addition be of such construction as to permit the free circulation of air so as to prevent the formation of mold.

Prior to the present invention, packing pads usually consisted of a flat tubular sheath or envelop containing a filling of fibrous material such as shredded paper or excelsior. For this reason, packing pads are often referred to as excelsior pads.

Excelsior pads as made for commercial purposes are fairly inexpensive, but they are not entirely satisfactory for general use. Due to the difficulty of uniformly distributing the filling material throughout the envelop, the pads are generally of uneven thickness. The filling mate rial shifts its position, particularly in pads of considerable width, which fact sets a practical limit to the width. It has been suggested that the filling material be secured to the covering by means of lines of stitching or adhesive. This requires additional materials and operations, thereby increasing the cost to a prohibitive degree. Furthermore, the finished pad is not as light, soft or flexible as Would otherwise be the case. Excelsior pads have the further disadvantage that unless the ends are taped or stitched down, the filling material escapes from the ends. For the same reason, excelsior pads cannot 0rd arily be provided with ventilating apertures. which limits their use so far as packing foodstuifs is concerned. In this connection, it is to be noted that the escaping excelsior or shredded paper litters up the place Where the packing operations are carried out as Well as where the articles are unpacked.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a greatly improved and simplified construction of packing pad, which complies with all the.

use requirements of a packing pad, and which obviates all the disadvantages and drawbacks of the excelsior type of packing pad.

Another object is to provide a packing pad which does not require any expensive or complicated machinery for its manufacture, and which can be readily very inexpensively produced on a commercial scale in very large quantities.

The invention is of general application in its field, and the specific details of construction depend in lar e measure upon the specific purpose to which the packing pad is to be applied. For illustrative purposes, the invention will be described with particular reference to (a) packing pads for furniture and fragile articles, and (b) packing pads for foodstuffs such as fruits and vegetables. Not only are the foregoing two of the most promising applications of the invention, but they lend themselves admirably for the specific disclosure of the invention such as is required by the patent statutes. Hence, although the invention will be described with considerable detail and particularity and certain specific terms and language will be employed, it is to be understood that the present disclosure is illustrative rather than restrictve, and that no limitations are to be imported which are not required by the language of the claims and the state of the prior art.

In its very essence, the packing pad of the invention consists of a plurality of superposed layers of indented paper contained inv a tubular envelop or sheath. Each layer may consist of a single sheet of indented paper, or a single sheet of indented paper of suitable shape and size may be folded to form as many layers as desired.

The sheath may advantageously be of a strong cellulosic material such as kraft paper. The sheets of indented paper may be made in a manner well known in the papermaking art, as for instance, according to the teachings of Patent No. 728,829, issued May 26, 1993, to J. Arkell. They may also be made according to disclosures of my prior United States Patents Nos. 1,780,526; 2,036,051 and 2,042,470 issued November 4, 1939; March 31, 1936, and June 2, 1936, respectively. I have found it particularly advantageous to make the filling material of my packing pad from the non-nesting shock absorbing and cushioning paper disclosed in my British Patent No, 482,145 dated October 16, 1936, and in my copending United States application Serial No. 73,410 filed April 9, 1936, now Patent No. 2,177,490 dated October 24, 1939.

Referring briefly to the drawing,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an illustrative form of packing material made in accordance with the teachings of the present invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged cross-section taken along line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged cross-section (partly broken away) taken along line 3-3 of Figure 1; and

Figure 4 is a perspective View of another illustrative embodiment of the invention.

Referring briefly to the drawing and particularly to Figures 1, 2 and 3 thereof, the packing material is shown in the form of a flat pad indicated generally by the numeral l. The pad is shown as consisting of three superposed layers of indented paper designated by the numerals 2, 3 and 4 enclosed in a tubular covering or sheath 5. The three layers may be three separate sheets of indented paper or may be a single sheet folded to form three thickness-es. A permissible variation is to fold an indented sheet of suitable size into two thicknesses and to associate said layers in laminated relation with a third layer.

The tubular covering 5, which may be of a strong paper such as kraft, is illustrated as having the overlapping edges forming the seam 6 and the open ends 1 and 6. The overlapping edges forming the seam may be adhesively secured together, though other means or methods for securing the edges are not precluded.

As previously stated, the layers 2, 3 and 4 may be of conventional indented paper or indented paper made according to my hereinbefore mentioned patents. In Figures 2 and 3, the indented material is illustrated as being made in accordance with the teachings of my British Patent No. 482,145 dated October 16, 1936, and my copending United States application Serial No. 73,410 filed April 9, 1936, now Patent No. 2,177,490 dated October 24, 1939.

The indented paper disclosed in said British and United States patents is divided in its width into a plurality of longitudinally extending zones, each zone being provided on one or both of its surfaces with a plurality of indentations, the indentations in any one zone differing in form from those in an adjacent zone. As illustrated in Figures 2 and 3, two or more layers of the above described material are superposed with their nonmatching zones in direct contact. Since there is no nesting or registration of indentations, the pad has a substantially even or uniform thickness equal to the thickness of the indented sheets and the two thicknesses of the enveloping layer of kraft paper.

No adhesive or other securing means between the individual layers of indented paper or between the filler and the enclosing envelop is necessary, since there is sufficient friction between the various elements to prevent the filler from slipping out of the sheath. However, the

use of adhesive or other securing means is not precluded. If adhesive is used, it is preferable to apply it very sparingly or in the form of single or discrete particles so as not to detract to an appreciable degree from the softness, lightness and pliability of the pad. A permissible variation is to apply a single drop of adhesive between the enveloping wrapper and the contacting sheet of indented material or between each of the layers.

The packing pad above described meets all the use requirements previously outlined and is admirably suited for the packing and safeguarding of furniture and fragile articles such as glassware, crockery, etc. It is much softer, pliable and flexible than an excelsior pad and can very easily be bent about irregular articles such as the legs and arms of chairs, etc., and about small irregular shaped articles as statuettes, electric bulbs, etc. The fact that no adhesive or very little adhesive is used permits the layers to give readily relative to each other, thereby contributing to the pads flexibility and pliability. The pad is much lighter in weight than an excelsior pad for the same amount of protection and has a considerably greater shock resistance. There is practically no limit to the number of sheets of indented paper that can be built up into a pad, and irrespective of the number of layers the pad is substantially uniform in thickness. Since there is no loose excelsior or shredded paper to escape from the ends, it is unnecessary to tape the ends which makes for greater economy as Well as for greater cleanliness in the use of the material.

The packing pad shown in Figure 4 is of substantially the same construction as the pad of Figures 1, 2 and 3, but differs therefrom in being provided with apertures for the purpose of providing ventilation. The pad is indicated generally by the numeral it is provided with the envelop or sheath H and the filling l2, which consists of two ormore layers or sheets of indented paper as in the first embodiment of the and thus minimizing the formation of mold. In

this connection, it is to be noted that because of its loos-e filling, excelsior pads cannot be perforated for the purpose of providing ventilation. In addition to being provided with apertures, the pad of the invention may be treated with fungicides or chemicals to prevent the formation of mold.

From the foregoing description, it is thought to be apparent that the invention provides a greatly improved and simplified packing pad possessing many desirable features of structure and advantage, and the packing pad of the invention is susceptible of modification in its form, proportions, detail construction and specific arrangement of parts, without departing from the principle or underlying concept of the invention and without sacrificing any of its advantages.

I claim:

As an article of manufacture, a packing pad of substantially fiat rectangular form and of substantially uniform thickness, said pad comprising a flat tubular sheath or envelop of plain paper having opposite open ends, and a plurality of superposed layers of non-nesting self-sustaining indented paper enclosed entirely within said sheath or envelop, said indented paper constituting the filling material for said packing pad and being maintained within said sheath or envelop principally by the friction between the filling material and the sheath or envelop, and being unattached thereto.

JOHN E. KIEFFER.

These apertures

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