US2478172A

US2478172A - Packaging and supporting sleeve

Info

Publication number: US2478172A
Application number: US696978A
Authority: US
Inventors: William J Sanderson; Bert J Westover
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1946-09-13
Filing date: 1946-09-13
Publication date: 1949-08-09
Anticipated expiration: 1966-08-09

Description

9, 11949, w. J. sANDERsoN ET AL 2,478,172

PACKAGING AND SUPPORTING SLEEVE Filed sept. 15, 1946 Z5?" E' I3 YIl gmc/VMBO@ W.J'. SANDERSON B J. WESTOVER tented Aug'. 9, 1949 PACKAGING AND SUPPORTING SLEEVE William J. Sanderson, Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada, and Bert J. Westover, Indianapolis, Ind.,

assignors to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of Agriculture Application September 13, 1946, Serial No.696,978 6 Claims. (Cl. 20G- 46) (Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) This application is made under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended by the act of April 30, 1928, and the invention herein described and claimed, if patented, may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment to us of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to a device for supporting and packaging articles of any suitable kind, especially such as instruments, electric motors, generators, invertors, etc., in transit and in stora e.

gThe' object of this invention is to protect the article from jolts and shocks in the following ways: (1) To provide a supporting sleeve or harness which can be fitted snugly within a container or tted loosely to provide for packing or cushioning material between the sleeve and the side of the container, and for the bottom and top of the container; (2) to provide cushioning for the object by using various gauges of metal to make the sleeve, the lighter the gauge the more cushioning provided; (3) to distribute the load over a greater area, thus protecting the article and the container when shock occurs; and (4) to provide a handling or storage casing when the article is not being shipped or handled in the container.

We attain these objects by the packaging and supporting sleeve shown in the accompanying drawings. Figure 1 is a vertical section showing the article, or instrument, supported by the sleeve within an outer shell, or container. Figure 2 is a cross section at line 2-2 on Figure 1. Figure 3 is a vertical view of the sleeve or harness.

The harness is a split sleeve I made of a ilexible material such as sheet metal, plastic, or certain species of wood. It comprises a curved portion t which ts snugly the contour of a container, and portions 3 bent away from the wall of the container. The instrument d, or other device to be shipped, is supported by, or fastened to, the portion 3 of the sleeve. 'I'his may be accomplished by means of bolts and nuts 5 and t and board l. The instrument 4 is placed within the sleeve I, and holes in its base plate t placed opposite the holes il and I 5 in the sleeve II. Bolts 5, fastened to board l, are then inserted in the holes 9 and I 5, and the nuts 6 are fastened in place. The sleeve and instrument carried thereby are then ready for inser tion in the outer shell Ill. Discs II and I2, which may be made of wood, resilient, or other materials. are placed below and above the sleeve. A cover I3 and fastening ring I4 are used to seal the container.

Holes I5 may be made larger than holes 9, or holes I5 may be made in the form of parallel horizontal slots, to permit free lateral movement of two bolts 5 therein.

The split may be placed nearer one wall, and one flange`3 may be extended farther across, being larger than the other ange 3. The larger ange 3 may then be provided with parallel rows of holes 9.

The principle by which the sleeve acts may be illustrated by the following discussion: Protection against shock is essentially the problem of bringing to rest a body that is in motion. To accomplish this, the kinetic energy of the body must be dissipated in some manner. This action involves the two factors of force tance. If the moving body is brought to rest by a large force, the distance required to stop the motion will be relatively short, and if the force is small, the distance must be relatively long. A common method of bringing a body to rest in packaging work is to cushion the article with relatively soft, yielding material. When the container in which the article is cushioned receives a jolt, the article continues in motion a short distance as the cushioning material yields. The force required to stop the article is exerted by the cushioning material as it compresses. 'Ihe magnitude of the force varies with the type of cushioning material which governs the amount of compression or distance through which the article comes to rest.

In the use of the packaging supporting sleeve. the article is brought to rest not solely by use of common cushioning material, but by the spring action of the sleeve. When the container in which the sleeve assembly is placed is jolted and `iarred, the article tends to stay in motion, and its inertia distorts and springs the sleeve. As the sleeve flexes back and forth, it absorbs the energy of the moving article and relatively slowly brings it to rest.

In the drawing, an instrument is shown secured on the at part of the metal sleeve, which may be made of rolled sheet steel. Means other than bolts may be employed to support the instrument. For example, the sleeve may be crimped to hold the base of the article. Bolts may be ailxed to the sleeve.

In this illustration, a metal container is used which also acts as a moisture-vapor barrier, preventing entrance of vapor which would corrode Since the sleeve is metal.

the packaged article.

and disl and not hygroscopic, such as most other cushioning materials, the package would require aminimum of desiccant. In instances where a sleeve of this type with either round or square end area is used with a wooden container, a flexible moisture-vapor barrier which might be required .which the tubular container is arcuate in crosssection, a sleeve part non-adjacent the split being likewise arcuate and shaped to follow the contour of the container, the arc of contact being sufllciently extensive to retain the sleeve against lateral displacement.

3. The combination described in claim 1, and cushioning means between the sleeve and the top and bottom walls of the container.

4. In combination, an article, and a device for supporting the article therewithin, the device comprising a exible sleeve split lengthwise, the sleeve being longer, deeper, and wider than the .4 article, means' i'or fastening the article to the sleeve adjacent to the edges of the split, the article being supported within the sleeve solely by said fastening means and being otherwise free of the inner wall of the sleeve.

5. The combination described in claim 4, and an outer tubular container for the sleeve and article, that part of the sleeve adjacent the split and to which the article is fastened being spaced from the wall of the container, the part non-adjacent the split being shaped to follow the contour of the container.

6. The combination described in claim 5, in which the tubular container is arcuate in crosssection, a sleeve part non-adjacent the split being likewise arcuate, the arc of contact being sufcient to retain the sleeve against displacement lateral to the axis of the tube.

WILLIAM J. SANDERSON. BERT J. WESTOV'ER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the ille of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,052,914 Williams Sept. 1, 1936 OTHER REFERENCES Long Term Storage of Ordnance Material, Aug. 15, 1945, pages 24-25.