WO1993001985A1

WO1993001985A1 - Package for inherently stackable bodies shaped as upright prisms or stacked units of such bodies and method for producing such a package

Info

Publication number: WO1993001985A1
Application number: PCT/DK1992/000226
Authority: WO
Inventors: Mogens Eriksen
Original assignee: Mogens Eriksen
Priority date: 1991-07-18
Filing date: 1992-07-16
Publication date: 1993-02-04
Also published as: AU2386192A; DK137291D0

Abstract

A package for inherently stackable bodies shaped as upright prisms or stacked units of such bodies, in which the bodies or the units are embraced by such a package, and in which angular profiles for protection of the corners are glued along the corner edges. With a view to providing a package, which with a minimal consumption of material provides a good protection for bodies put together or stacked, and in particular for the corners thereof, and which stabilizes the bodies during stacking, the package is characteristic in that in close relationship with each of the side surfaces of the prismatic body or the stacked units a side panel is provided, the length of which is somewhat smaller than that of the side surfaces, and in that the side panels are connected at each corner by means of elements for protection of the corners, said elements being shaped as corner members having essentially the same height as the body, and in that outside on the side panel and the corner member a foil or strap is provided, said foil or band embracing the body or the stacked unit and extending over the remaining surfaces.

Description

PACKAGE FOR INHERENTLY STACKABLE BODIES SHAPED AS UPRIGHT PRISMS OR STACKED UNITS OF SUCH BODIES AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING SUCH A PACKAGE

The present invention relates to a package for inhe¬ rently stackable bodies shaped as upright prisms or stacked units of such bodies, in which the bodies or the units are embraced by such a package, and in which angular profiles of a rigid material for protection of the corners are glued along the corner edges. The invention also relates to a method for the manufacture of such packages.

It is known to transport rectangular or quadratic bodies, for instance boards for building purposes, such as wall boards, facing boards, roof tiles or floor tiles to the place of use in a stack of boards.

To avoid damage of the boards, in particular of the corners and the sides thereof, and in order to prevent the boards in the stack from shifting in relation to each other, the stack of boards is normally placed in a box of for in- stance corrugated paper.

The corrugated paper boxes normally have such dimen¬ sions that corner protections in the shape of angular foam plastic pieces are placed at the corners of the stack in the area between the corners of the stack and the inner surface of the paper box. Apart from protecting the corners of the boards, the corner protection members ensure that an inter¬ space is created between the inner panels of the corrugated paper box and the side surfaces of the stack of boards, and in particular they prevent the packed boards from shifting in relation to the corrugated paper box due to vibrations. It has turned out that this package cannot to a sa¬ tisfactory degree prevent damage of the corners and edges of the boards, whereas the top and bottom surfaces, which are resting against each other when stacked, are normally not damaged. The known package therefore necessitates a rela¬ tively big and unjustified consumption of material and space as a consequence of the corrugated paper boxes having to be both longer, wider and higher than the stack of boards. A package in the shape of a corrugated paper box is likewise known, in which plate-shaped distance pieces are placed between the side surfaces of the stack of boards and the inner surface of the corrugated paper box, and in which the plate-shaped distance pieces end in a short distance from the corners of the stack. Hereby it is achieved that an interspace is created between the stack of boards and the inner surface of the corrugated paper box at the corners of the stack of boards. This known package has the same drawback with respect to consumption of material and space as the above-mentioned.

The object of the invention is to provide a package, which provides an effective protection of the packed body, said package being less demanding as to material and space than the above-mentioned, known packages, and which can also be manufactured on location and with dimensions adapted to the body to be packed.

This object is met by means of the package according to the invention, which package is characteristic in that in close relationship with each of the side surfaces of the prismatic body or the stacked units a side panel is pro¬ vided, the length of which is somewhat smaller than that of the side surfaces, and in that the side panel are connected at each corner by means of elements for protection of the corners, said elements being shaped as corner member having essentially the same height as the body, and in that outside on the side panel and the corner member a foil or strap is provided, said foil or band embracing the body or the stacked unit and extending over the remaining surfaces. With the package according to the invention it is possible to assemble the sheet-shaped side panels from cut out pieces adapted to the dimensions of the body, whereby tightly fitting, frame-shaped packages are achieved when packaging bodies of varying dimensions. By means of the package according to the invention a tightly fitting package is achieved without the use of padding, which is a necessary measure for avoiding transport damages on account of vibra¬ tions. The tolerances when cutting out the plate-shaped side panels in the longitudinal direction need not be particular¬ ly exact, as the lack of exactness may be compensated for by varying the extent, to which the angular corner members overlap the side panels. However, the side panels should under no circumstances be longer than the lateral edges of the bodies to be packed.

From EP-A2-313.721 and US-A-2,262,730 it is known to assemble a tray- or box-shaped package by means of corner profiles which either form a frame around the packed body or by means of panels inserted in the frame form a completely or partially closed box. These packages have the same advan¬ tages with respect to saving of storing space for not as¬ sembled packages, but have essentially the same drawbacks as closed corrugated paper boxes after the assembly.

Corner protection members, which are placed on packed bodies stacked on pallets, are disclosed in German Patents Nos. 3,210,156 and 3,819,606. The known corner protection members are self-adhesive and put on the palletized goods after the stacking. Therefore, they cannot contribute to the support or stabilizing of the individual bodies stacked on top of each other, and the strength of these corner pro¬ tection members cannot therefore be utilized for the attain¬ ment of an increased stackability of the palletized bodies. Finally, packages according to the invention have the advantage over the known packages in shape of paper boxes that the dimensions of the packed body are^' smaller than the dimensions of the known types of packages mentioned by way of introduction. Furthermore, the dimensions of the packed body can be specificed exactly in advance, if only the thickness of the side panels and the corner members to be used has been determined.

The invention furthermore comprises a method for pro¬ ducing such packages. The method for producing such a package for inherently stackable bodies shaped as upright prisms or stacked units of such bodies, in which the indivi¬ dual bodies or stacked units are embraced by a package, and in which the stacked bodies, when put together, at least at some of the exterior corners are provided with corner edge proctection elements, which are rigid, fastened to the package by means of gluing, and made from angular profiles of a rigid material, is according to the invention characte- ristic in that the elements protecting the corner edges are corner members with a height corresponding to the height of the individual bodies or stacked units, and that the package comprises side panels, which essentially cover the side sur¬ faces of the bodies or the stacked units, and the length of which is somewhat smaller than the length of the side surfa¬ ces of the body, by means of which method the side panels are connected to one another by corner member, at least one corner member being connected to the side panels after the arrangement of the latter in close relationship to the body or the stacked unit, and in that on the outside of the side panels and the corner member a wrapping is provided, said wrapping embracing the body or the stacked unit tightly and extending over the remaining surfaces.

By this method it is ensured that all the packed bo- dies are embraced tightly in the package which thereby pro¬ vides an effective protection against transport damages due to vibrations. The tight embracement also contributes to stabilizing the stacked bodies and reduces the volume taken up by the package to a minimum. It has thus turned out that when the bodies to be packed have a rectangular ground plan with dimensions of for instance 60 cm x 60 cm or modules thereof, for instance 60 cm x 120 cm, and a height of for instance 18 cm, and they are packed in accordance with the method according to the present invention with side panels with a thickness of for instance 4 mm and with corner members with a thickness of for instnace 1 mm, the packed body will with respect to length and width only be increased by 1 cm in each di¬ mension, whereby both the space on a transport pallet with standard dimensions, 80 cm x 120 cm, and the space in a con¬ tainer or a trcuk with a maximum load height of 250 cm can be fully exploited. By using the package produced by means of the method according to the invention the transport costs for bodies having the above within the building industry standardized dimensions can thus be reduced considerably compared to what has been the case before, where closed cor¬ rugated paper boxes were used, on account of the reduced di- ensions of the of the packed body.

The term "body" used in the present specification and claims is to be understood as covering both an individual article as well as one or more stacks of two or several u- nits, for instance boards. The side panels used are preferably made of corru¬ gated paper or some similar cardboard or fibre material. As each of the side panels has a length, which is smaller than the length of the adjacent side of the body to be packed, the side panels do not quite reach the corners of the body, for which reason the corners will be exposed and in the finished package surrounded by a hollow space serving for absorption of exterior mechanical stresses.

When the heigth of the side panels is slightly smal¬ ler than the height of the body, stacking of packed bodies of a certain weight and compressibility will often result in a compression of the individual bodies of the stack to such an extent that the height of the individual side panels will exactly be equivalent to the height of the compressed stack. In a further embodiment of the method according to the invention the length of the corner members is preferably slightly smaller than the length of the corner edges, at which they are placed, for instance 5-15 mm smaller than the length of the edges in question. Thereby it is achieved that when several, homogeneous, partly compressible bodies are stacked on top of each other, they will come to rest on each other with essentially their complete ground plan for the attainment of good stability.

It is in particular preferred that the corner members after having been mounted by means of gluing or with double- sided tapes to the side panels, should be easiliy removable without causing any deterioration of corner member and/or side panel, which will be attainable by use of a pressure- sensitive glue of a not hardening type. Thereby it will be possible to use both corner members as well as side panels again and to close the package again after it has been opened.

The invention will be described in detail in the fol- lowing with refence to the accompanying drawing, in which

Fig. 1 is a horizontal cross-section of a corner of a rectangular body packed by a method according to the inven¬ tion,

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of three stacks of bo- dies packed by a method according to the invention,

Fig. 3 is an oblique view of a package according to the invention, in which straps have been placed on the out¬ side of side panels and corner members, said straps ex¬ tending over the surfaces of the body that are not covered by the side panels.

Fig. 1 shows a corner of a body 1, which has a rect¬ angular ground plan, placed in a package 2 comprising two corrugated paper sheets 3 placed along the sides of the body and a corner member 4 placed at the corner edge of the body. The corner member 4 is, within the areas, in which it is in contact with the corrugated paper sheets, glued to the out¬ side of the corrugated paper sheets 3, an air-filled inter¬ space 5 being thus created.

To give ample protection of the edges of the body against mechanical stresses by exposing the corner edges of the body, side panels are very often used, said side panels ending at a distance of up to 50 mm, in particular 0.2 - 25 mm, especially 0.2 - 15 mm from the corners. In each indivi¬ dual case the distance has, however, to be adapted to the nature of the packing material, in particular with respect to thickness and deformation properties, as well as to the fragility of the body.

The angular corner members used for the package ac¬ cording to the invention partly provide protection for the corners and edges of the body against exterior influences and partly function as a fastening device for the two ad¬ jacent side panels for the creation of a coherent package, embracing the packed body on four of its sides. Furthermore, the corner members will increase the stability of a stack of packed bodies by providing a supporting effect.

The design of the corner members can be seen from Fig. 3 which shows a stacked unit consisting of ceramic tiles 15, which on the four surfaces covering the sides of the stacked unit are protected by means of side panels 16, which at the end edges are assembled by means of corner mem¬ bers 17. The side panels are slightly shorter than the side edges of the tiles and there is therefore a hollow space behind the edge 18 of the corner members. The corner members 17 are on the inner surfaces of the two flanges provided a path of adhesive, by means of which they can be fastened to the side panels 16. To prevent the members from adhering, when stacked during storage, they are provided with a pair of ribs 19 arranged in such a way that the path of adhesive will be between the ribs when stacked. After the mounting of the side panels 17 and the putting together thereof by means of the corner members, the packing is finished by means of straps 20, which are placed in such a way that they embrace the body and extend over the sides of the stacked unit which are not covered by the side panels. The bands 20, which are preferably of the type normally called "straps", may advan¬ tageously be placed between the ribs 19 on the corner mem¬ bers 17, and they are thus prevented from sliding off during handling of the package.

Each corner member consists of two mainly identical flanges which mutually form an angle which is equal to or smaller than the angle between the corresponding surfaces of the body to be packed. Finally, each of the two flanges of the corner member, which when put together form the corner member, at least has a such a width that the corner member in a stable way can be mounted on the outer side of the adjacent side panels. When it is a question of a body with rectangular or quadratic ground plan, the angle of the corner members is thus preferably 90" or slightly smaller, for instance be¬ tween 88" and 90". The package may also be used for prisma- tic bodies with for instance a triangular or hexagonal ground plan, in which case the angle of the comer members is adapted correspondingly.

Besides it is preferred that the angular corner mem- bers have a length which is at the most equal to the length of the corner edges of the body and preferably equal to or smaller than the height of the adjacent side panels.

The corner members are preferably made from plastics. In the method according to the invention pre-manufac- tured corner members are used, said corner members being fastened to side panels by gluing or by double-sided ad¬ hesive tapes. These corner members may be pre-glued before being fastened to the outer side of one or both adjacent side panels, possibly pre-glued in one working step which as to time and/or location may take place seperately from the working step comprising the fastening of corner members to side panels. Preferably a pressure-sensitive type of glue is used, said glue permitting the side panels and the corner members to be seperated later. An example of such a glue is Scotchgrip no. 4235 sold by 3M.

Fig. 2 shows a transport pallet 10, on which three main stacks are placed, each stack comprising a number of packed stacks 11 of boards 12. Each stack 11 comprises four side panels 13, which is mutually connected at the corner of the stack by means of angular corner, members 14 fastened to the outer surface of the side panels 13 by gluing.

The side panels 13 and the comer members 14 have such a height that the bottom board 12 in each stack 11 rests directly on the upper board 12 in the stack 11 below or on the transport pallet 10. In this way a particularly high degree of safety against the main stacks turning over is attained.

The package attained by means of the method according to the invention which contains the packed body may either be embraced by a foil-shaped packing material, preferably an essentially water- and/or dirt repellant material. Thereby a coherent, easy-to-handle package unit is achieved, which furthermore gives the body a complete or partial protection against dirt, water and the like, or the package may be embraced by some straps placed in such a way that they ex¬ tend over the surfaces not covered by the side panels.

The essentially water- and/or dirt repellant material may for instance be shrink foil or a similar packaging mate¬ rial with the same properties.

Claims

C L A I M S

1. A package for inherently stackable bodies shaped as upright prisms or stacked units of such bodies, in which the bodies or the units are embraced by such a package, and in which angular profiles for protection of the corners are glued along the corner edges, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that in close relationship with each of the side surfaces of the prismatic body or the stacked units a side panel is provided, the length of which is somewhat smaller than that of the side surfaces, and in that the side panels are connected at each corner by means of elements for protection of the corners, said elements being shaped as corner member having essentially the same height as the body, and in that outside on the side panel and the corner member a foil or strap is provided, said foil or band embracing the body or the stacked unit and extending over the remaining surfaces.

2. A method for providing a package according to claim 1 for inherently stackable bodies shaped as upright prisms or stacked units of such bodies, in which the individual bodies or stacked units are embraced by a package, and in which the stacked bodies when put together at least at some of the ex¬ terior corners are provided with corner edge proctection elements, which are rigid, fastened to the package by means of gluing, and made from angular profiles of a rigid mate¬ rial, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the elements protecting the corner edges are comer member with a height correspond- ing to the height of the individual bodies or stacked units, and that the package comprises side panels, which essential¬ ly cover the side surfaces of the bodies or the stacked units, and the length of which is somewhat smaller than the length of the side surfaces of the body, by means of which method the side panels are connected to one another by means of corner member, at least one corner member being connected to the side panels after the arrangement of the latter in close relationship with the body or the stacked unit, and in that on the outside of the side panels and the corner member a wrapping is provided, said wrapping embracing the body or the stacked unit tightly and extending over the remaining surfaces.

3. A method according to claim 2, in which the bodies are at least partly compressible from the sides not provided with side panels, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the side panels have a height which is somewhat smaller than the height of the body or of the stacked unit.

4. A method according to claim 2, in which the bodies are essentially incompressible from the sides not provided with side panels, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the heigth of the side panels is somewhat bigger than the height of the body or the stacked unit.

5. A method according to claims 2, 3 or 4, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the height of the side pa¬ nels is somewhat bigger than the the length of the comer member.

6. A method according to any of the claims 2 - 5, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the side panels are put together in two groups by means of the corner member for the formation of two angular package parts, which are then pres- sed against the body or the stacked unit from two opposite directions, while they are connected at the remaining cor¬ ners by means of two corner members.

7. A method according to any of the claims 2 - 6, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the wrapping consists of straps, tape or a foil.