WO1995015286A1

WO1995015286A1 - Air bag bendable after expanded

Info

Publication number: WO1995015286A1
Application number: PCT/JP1993/001767
Authority: WO
Inventors: Teruo Mitsuta
Original assignee: Shinwa Corporation
Priority date: 1993-12-03
Filing date: 1993-12-03
Publication date: 1995-06-08
Also published as: EP0683111A1; EP0683111A4; DE69319144T2; EP0683111B1; DK0683111T3; DE69319144D1

Abstract

Into two films (1, 2) having predetermined width and length, a self-sealing air-blowing tube (10) is inserted in the lengthwise direction of the films, and both side edges of the films are formed as sealing edges (3, 4). The two films are sealed laterally along the widths of the films with a plurality of lateral parting lines (5, 6) so as to connect together a plurality of individually partitioned expanded portions (7), on each of which one or more bending seals (8-1, 8-2, ...) extending between widely spaced adjacent parting lines (5, 6) are formed so as to divide each expanded portion into two or more divisional expanded portions (7-1, 7-2, 7-3, ...). This air bag bendable after expanded is thus formed in such a manner that, after it has been expanded by blowing air thereinto, the expanded portions can be bent easily and freely at the bending seals, and in such a manner that the air bag thus bent can be formed to an annular cross-sectionally polygonal shape by connecting the opposed end portions of the air bag to each other.

Description

Akira Tsumugi Title of the Invention Inflatable and foldable airbag

The present invention relates to an inflatable and foldable airbag, and more specifically to an airbag that is flat (at first) but inflates as a plurality of partitioned inflatable portions when air is blown therein, and facilitates individual inflatable portions. The present invention relates to an inflatable and bendable air bag which can be used as a cushioning material or a filling material for filling a gap of an article by forming a folded or annular (or closed loop) hollow polygon. Background art

When placing vulnerable items such as VCRs and TV receivers into packaging containers such as cardboard, cushioning materials such as styrofoam are generally filled in the gaps, but they do not fit well with the size of the gaps. The applicant has developed and applied for a number of inflatable airbags through self-sealing blow-tubes to improve the surface finish of the articles due to the difficulties such as damage. The airbag disclosed in Nipponhei 21-415).

Such a buffering method using an airbag is shown on the right side of FIG. 6. When an article to be buffered is, for example, a video deck V, three airbags b are applied to the right end in FIG. A self-sealing blowing tube a is passed through each air bag b, and the airbag b is inserted into the gap between the article and the container (not shown) in a flat state, and then inflated by blowing air. Can be This is convenient because unlike a cushioning material having a solid volume from the beginning, such as a conventional styrofoam, it automatically fills the gap according to the size of the gap and serves as a buffer.

However, since conventional airbags cannot easily bend the inflated portion, three or more airbags must be prepared as shown in the figure to cushion the end of the article. In addition, each airbag must be blown individually, which is troublesome. In some cases, multiple airbags are required. There was an inconvenience that required additional work such as connecting the bags with tape C so that they did not break.

In addition, conventional airbags expand when air is blown and occupy a certain volume, but their volume and shape are not variable. For this reason, when the thickness T of the article changes, an airbag of a specific size must be prepared in response to the change, which is disadvantageous in terms of production, such as diversifying production equipment.

Also, for example, if there is a gap in the shape of a rectangle when viewed in a plane between the packaging container and the articles stored therein, a series of conventional airbags are inserted into the gap and inflated. This will be enough to fill the gap. However, if the gap has a thick shape such as a triangle or a rectangle, the gap cannot be adequately filled with a series of airbags alone. Had to be packed multiple times in the gap. Disclosure of the invention

According to the present invention, it is possible to bend freely without difficulty even after being inflated, and only one air blow is required for each part to be bent, and it can easily respond to changes in the dimensions and shape of the article to be packaged. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cushioning airbag which is inflatable and foldable, or foldable into an arbitrary polygonal ring.

Therefore, according to the present invention, a self-sealing air blowing tube is inserted into and penetrated in the film length direction between two airtight films having a predetermined width to seal both sides of the film, and further, crosses the width of the film. In the case of a bag consisting of a number of individual expansion sections connected by sealing both films in the width direction with a plurality of partition lines, a folding seal line lying between the partition lines is attached to each expansion section. By providing a book or more in such a manner as to allow air flow to the individual inflatable sections, the individual inflatable sections can be freely bent as two or more section inflatable sections between each section inflatable section. I can do it.

Folding seals can be placed in multiple sections by keeping them from intersecting with the transverse divider lines and leaving airflow passages between the ends of the fold seals and the transverse divider lines. The partial expansion section can be completely expanded by a single air blow, and air can be moved between the section expansion sections even after expansion. This makes it possible to equalize the degree of swelling of each part, and it is possible to reduce the strong local external pressure to one of the divided inflatable parts by flowing air to the other divided inflatable part.

The folding seal may be formed as one continuous line, or may be formed in an intermittent (broken) shape. In this case, it is not always necessary to leave a passage for air circulation between the two lateral partition lines.

The folding seal is easily formed by selectively providing one or more movable intermittent heat sealing blades between both side edges of the basic heat sealing device that seals both sides of the bag. be able to. The dimensions of each section expansion section can be easily changed simply by adjusting the spacing of the selective heat sealing blades, so it can easily and quickly respond to changes in the height (thickness) and shape of the articles to be packaged. be able to. In addition, by reducing the number of selective heat seal blades and decreasing the number of heat seals for bending, the number of bends can be reduced. If there is only one folding seal, each inflated part is divided into two parts, so the bag can be folded into L-shaped or V-shaped, and if there are two folding seals, it can be folded into three. If it is three, it can be folded in four, and if it is four, it can be folded in five. The tri-fold airbag serves for cushioning and encapsulating, for example, the edges of a square article. If the article to be packaged is, for example, a pentagonal glass bottle, the foldable airbag of the present invention is wound tightly around the airbag once and air is blown once, so that the airbag is tightly wrapped around the entire periphery of the article. It can provide a protective effect.

Further, at least one of the sealing sides is extended laterally to form a joining ear, and the two sealing side edges are joined by the ear to form a series of closed bags in a closed loop or ring shape, When air is blown from the blow tube, each section expansion section can be expanded into a hollow shape while maintaining a closed loop or ring shape. The closed triangle can easily be made to correspond to either a regular polygon or a non-equilateral polygon simply by adjusting the interval between the selective heat seal blades. Further, the number of the selective heat sealing blades can be increased to make the ring-shaped polygon substantially close to a circle. For example, bending If the number of seals is two, the air bag can be folded into three, so it will be a closed triangular ring, if three, it will be a closed square ring, and if it is four, it will be a closed pentagonal ring. In this way, by preparing a large number of annular polygonal airbags according to the shape of the target gap, the corresponding airbag can be inserted into the target gap, and the air can be blown once, making the gap easy. The buffer or packaging operation can be completed quickly and easily, unlike conventional methods, because it can be properly filled.

Thus, according to the present invention, a bendable inflatable airbag that can easily and surely correspond to the shape and size of the articles to be packaged or the size and shape of the gap between the articles is realized. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a partial perspective view showing one embodiment of an inflatable and bendable air bag according to the present invention in a Xiaoping state.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view corresponding to the line A—A in FIG. 1, which is shown in a slightly expanded state.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view showing the air blowing tube shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which the airbag according to the present invention is folded after being inflated.

FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view showing a cross section of the airbag in the state of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a schematic elevation view showing a comparison between a conventional airbag cushioning method (right side) and the airbag cushioning method of the present invention (left side).

FIG. 7 is a partial perspective view showing one embodiment of the annular inflatable air bag according to the present invention in a flat state.

FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a 琛 -shaped inflatable airbag corresponding to the line AA in FIG. 7, which is shown in a slightly inflated state.

FIG. 9 is a schematic partial cross-sectional view showing, on an enlarged scale, a joint portion and an air blowing tube of the airbag shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 shows a part of a hollow triangular ¾-shaped expanded airbag according to the present invention. It is a perspective view.

FIG. 11 is a schematic partial plan view showing an example of an airbag (left side) inflated in a triangular 琮 shape and an airbag (right side) inflated in a square 琮 shape according to the present invention. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Example 1

A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. Although the illustrated embodiment shows a three-foldable airbag according to the present invention, this is an example and not a limitation. The airbag of the present invention basically has two films 1 on the front and back.

A self-sealing blow-in tube 10 is inserted along the one side edge between the two and the two side edges are preferably formed as sealing side edges 3 and 4 by heat sealing.

A large number of cutting partition lines 5 and 6 are formed by heat sealing in pairs across the sealing edges 3 and 4 on both sides, whereby the individual bulging portions 7 are recognized from FIG. It is formed continuously as many as possible. The space between the adjacent partition lines 5 and 6 is a portion where air does not enter, and the adjacent inflatable portions 7 and 7 can be separated here.

The self-sealing blow tube 10 is opened when air is blown:!: The air is allowed to flow independently into the individual inflatable sections 7 of the bag, but when the blow is completed, it is compressed by the air pressure in the inflatable section. It is a self-sealing type that prevents air from leaking out, and various types have already been developed by the present applicant. The type having a path is shown.

In FIG. 1, the bulging portion 7 has two folding seals according to the present invention between the partition lines 5 and 6 so as not to intersect them, namely, 8-1 and 8-2. It is formed almost parallel to both side edges 3 and 4. As a result, each of the inflated portions 7 is divided into three, that is, 7-1, 7-2, and 7-3. Although not shown, if there are three bending seals as described above, they are divided into four divided expansion parts, and if they are four, they are divided into five divided expansion parts. The folding seals 8-1, 8-2 can be formed by installing a laterally movable variable heat seal blade in the basic heat seal device as described above, so by changing the position of the heat seal blade. The position of the folding seal 8 can be easily changed as required. to this The size of each of the section expansion portions can be easily changed.

An appropriate gap is left between both ends of the folding seal 8 (representing 8-1, 8-2,...) And the transverse partition lines 5 and 6, and an air flow passage between each section expansion section. Construct 9 The operation of the air flow passage 9 will be described later with reference to FIG.

Fig. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view corresponding to the line A-A in Fig. 1, but it is actually a flat state before air is blown, but it is slightly expanded for convenience of illustration. It is shown. One side edge of the self-sealing blowing tube 10 is sealed together with the sealing side edge 3, and the other side edge blows air into the individual inflatable portions 7. Fig. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the blow-in tube 10 by enlarging the part on the sealing side edge 3 side in Fig. 2, and again the upper and lower films 1, 2 and the blow-in tube 10 are slightly expanded. It is shown in a state where it is.

The illustrated blow tube 10 has an A1 through passage 11 on the side of the sealing side 3 that passes in the length direction thereof, and an intermittent seal 12 is formed on the opposite side thereof. Between 1 and 2 at least one self-sealing opening (non-sealed part) 13 is left for each inflatable part 7. A second intermittent seal 14 is formed at an interval from the intermittent seal 12, and a self-sealing opening 15 is formed between the intermittent seals 14 and 14. At a further interval, a self-sealing opening 17 is formed by the third intermittent seal 16, and a self-sealing opening 19 that opens into the expansion section is formed by the fourth intermittent seal 18.

As can be seen from FIG. 1, it is desirable that the self-sealing openings 13, 15, 17, and 19 are formed so as to be staggered in order to ensure a self-sealing operation. As can be seen from FIG. 3, a partition passage 20 (or a dead end passage) is formed between the intermittent seals 12 and 14, and a partition passage 2 is formed between the intermittent seals 14 and 16. 1. A partition passage 22 is formed between the intermittent seals 16 and 18. While the through-inlet passages 11 penetrate through all of the individual inflatable portions 7 and open at least at one end of the airbag, the partition passages (dead end passages) 20, 21, and 22 are all open. Each inflatable part 7 is separated, and is not communicated with the adjacent inflatable part.

This is done, for example, by sandwiching the original of the blow-in tube 10 having the intermittent seals 12 to 18 between the front and back films 1 and 2, and heating the transverse partition lines 5 and 6 from above the films 1 and 2. When forming with a seal, the tube corresponding to the This can be achieved by applying a non-heat-fusible paint, printing ink, lacquer, or the like to only the inner surface of the probe. Before the air is blown, the inflatable and foldable airbag of the present invention has a flat sheet shape as shown in FIG. 1, and the blowing tube 10 is also flattened.空気 When air is blown in from the open end of the ventilation passage 10 by an air compressor or the like, the air pushes the self-sealing openings 13, 15, 17, 19 of each inflation section 7 in order, and opens it. Opening 1 to expansion section 7

(In the illustrated example, it is blown into the section expansion section 7-1) to expand it. Even if the bent seal 8 is provided, since both sides are open as the passages 9, the air flows into the divided inflation sections 7-2 and 7-3 sequentially to expand them. When the inflation pressure is stopped when the inflation portion 7 is inflated to the required limit, the inflation tube 10 is compressed by the air pressure P in the inflation portion as described later with reference to FIG. 5, and the self-sealing openings 19, 17 and 1 5, 13 all, and partition passages 22, 2, 21 and 20 and through blow-in passage

1 1 is pushed down, flattened and closed. In this way, the expansion section 7 maintains the expansion and serves as a buffer or a package.

As understood from the above, the airbag of the present invention can be freely bent at the bending seal 8 (8-1, 8-n) even after inflation. In the conventional bag shown on the right side of Fig. 6, even if the inflated portion is made considerably long, it is not easy to bend the inflated portion, and in some cases, there is a risk of breaking the bag. According to the present invention, such a danger is eliminated. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state of being bent into a U-shape after being inflated. At this time, the blow-in tube 10 has already been crushed by Xiaoping and functions as a self-sealing valve. FIG. 5 shows this as a schematic cross-sectional view, and the blow tube 10 is crushed flat like almost a single film by being pressed by the air pressure P in the inflatable section 7-1.

Note that the folding seals 8-1, 8-2,... Are shown as one continuous line, but as described above, even if the folding seal is formed in an intermittent line (broken line), as shown in FIG. Good. In such a case, the gap (interrupted portion) between the intermittent lines functions as an air flow passage between the divided inflatable portions, so that it is not always necessary to leave the passage 9 at both ends as shown in FIG. One advantage of the airbag of the present invention is that, in the folded state, for example, when any of the segmented inflated sections is subjected to particularly strong external pressure, the passage 9 on either side of the fold seal 8 or a dashed fold seal. Air can move as shown by the arrow F in FIG. In this way, if any of the inflated sections is subjected to strong external pressure locally, the air is released to the other inflated sections to relieve the external pressure and prevent the bag from bursting. be able to.

The left side of FIG. 6 shows a cushion-wrapped state of the end of the article by the inflatable and foldable air bag of the present invention. As is clear from comparison with the conventional example on the right side, even if the end of the article is wrapped in three sides in a U-shape, only one air blowing passage 10 is required, so that only one air blowing operation is required. Sectional expansion capitals 7-1, 7-2, 7-3 are originally connected to the series, so there is no need to use connecting tape c or the like again. In addition, when the thickness of the article changes, simply changing the position of the folding seal 8 by changing the interval between the optional heat seal blades of the heat sealing device g as described above, the corresponding required length The inflatable section 7-2 can be formed, and it is economical because there is no need to rebuild the entire airbag.

Example 2

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the drawings, a closed triangular ring-shaped inflatable air bag according to the present invention will be described. However, this is an example, and as described above, the present invention extends from a square, a pentagon, to a polygon substantially close to a circle. Is applicable, so the illustration is not limiting. In the illustrated example, the basic structure of the air bag is the same as that of the first embodiment.

That is, 31 and 32 are films similar to the above films 1 and 2, 33 and 34 are sealing side edges, 35 and 36 are partition lines, and 37 (37-1, 37-2, 37-3) is expanded. 38, 38 (38-1, 38-2) is a folding seal, 39 is an air flow passage, 40 is a joining ear, 41 is a self-sealing blow tube, 42 is a through blow passage, and 42a is a poor blow through passage 42 , 43, 45, 47, and 49 are intermittent seals, 44, 46, 48, and 50 are self-sealing openings, and 51, 52, and 53 are partition passages.

The feature of this airbag is that the sealing side 緣 33 extends sideways! That is, the joining ear 40 is formed. The ears 40 connect both sealing side edges 33, 34. The airbag has a ring shape as can be easily seen from FIG. 7 or FIG.

Two folding seals are formed, namely 38-1 and 38-2. As a result, each of the inflated portions 37 is divided into three, namely, 37-1, 37-2, and 37-3 divided expandable portions, and when inflated, has a triangular shape as shown in FIG. It becomes a ring shape. If there are three folding seals as described above, a closed rectangular shape consisting of four sectioned inflatable parts (see Fig. 11); if four seals, a closed pentagonal shaped air consisting of five sectioned inflatable parts. Become a bag. The folding seals 38-1 and 38-2 can be formed by installing a variable heat seal blade that can be moved laterally in the basic heat seal device as described in φ above. Thus, the position of the folding seal 38 can be easily changed as required. Thereby, for example, it is easy to change the shape from a regular square to a trapezoidal triangular ring. In this way, as shown in Fig. 10, the inflated portion 37 expands into a hollow triangular prism shape in which the divided inflated portions 37-1, 37-2, and 37-3 are connected in a ring shape, and the pressure in the direction of 攒 increases. On the other hand, it also has the strength to withstand a considerable amount of vertical load.

The airbag of the present invention inflated into a square shape as shown in FIG. 10 can be used, for example, to fill a triangular gap b in the container of FIG. 11. Into the triangular gap b, first insert a Xiaoping ring-shaped airbag that does not blow air, and penetrate it by blowing air from an open end 42a (Fig. 7) of the blowing tube 41 with an air compressor or the like. All self-sealing openings 4 6, 4 8, 50, including the self-sealing openings 4 4, are opened from the blowing channel 4 2, and the inflated sections 3 7-1, 3 7-2, 3 7-3 expand in a ring shape When the blowing pressure is stopped when the space of the gap b has been fully expanded, the blowing tube 41 is pushed out by the air pressure in the expanding portion to perform a self-sealing action, and the expansion of each portion is maintained. As can be understood from the above description, the 璲 -shaped inflatable airbag of the present invention is prepared as a ring-shaped or loop-shaped one such as a triangle, a square, or the like corresponding to a target gap, and is intended to be used as Xiaoping. When the air enters the gap and is inflated by a single air blow, it expands to fill the internal volume of the gap and fills the gap appropriately.

Similarly, if the target gap is a rectangle, for example, bend it as shown on the right side of Fig. 11 ^ four sections that can be bent by the seals 38-1, 38-2, 38-3 Inflating section 37-1, 3, 7-2, 37-3, 37-4, a rectangular annular airbag is inserted in a flat state, and when air is blown in, it expands into a rectangular annular hollow column. The corresponding gap c can be filled appropriately. These ring-shaped inflatable airbags not only exert lateral overhanging force in the gap b or c to fill the gap, but also resist loads in the vertical direction (perpendicular to the paper in Fig. 11). Demonstrate the strength to do.

The ring-shaped inflatable airbag of the present invention can be inflated into a substantially circular shape by forming a large number of bent seals at small intervals in addition to the above-mentioned structure. The gaps between the shapes can be easily and reliably filled.

As described above, according to the present invention, since one or more folding seals for dividing the length are formed in each of the inflatable portions which are inflated at once by the blow tube, the inflatable portion is formed. It can be easily and easily folded even after being inflated, and has the effect of expanding its use and usage as a packaging material or cushioning material. In particular, if each inflatable part is closed in a ring shape, and each inflatable part is formed with two or more folding seals and bent into polygonal shapes at the boundaries of the divided inflatable parts, gaps between articles of various shapes or By inflating a series of bugs inserted into the gap between the container and the article as they are by simply blowing air into the gap, the gap can be filled very quickly and accurately, and the buffer packaging work can be expedited. There is an effect that can be completed. Further, according to the present invention, by simply changing the section length of the inflatable portion, the position of the folding seal can be changed to easily follow the change in the shape and dimensions of the article to be packaged. It is easy to fill an irregular gap such as a shape, and there is the advantage that complicated work such as stacking and filling similar types of cushioning materials as in the related art can be eliminated. Further, according to the present invention, the number of bends of the inflatable portion can be changed by simply changing the number of the bendable seals, so that an arbitrary bendable inflatable portion such as a triangle, a square, a pentagon, etc. can be obtained. There is an advantage that various applications can be developed according to the requirements.

Claims

Scope of request

1. A self-sealing air blowing tube is inserted in the length direction of the film between two airtight films 1 and 2 having a predetermined width, and both sides of the film are sealed side edges 3 and 4. Further, in the airbag in which a large number of individual inflatable portions 7 are continuously provided by sealing both films in the width direction by a plurality of transverse partition lines 5 and 6 across the width of the film, each inflatable city 7 Forming one 8-1 or more 8-2 ... bending seal line 8 lying between the transverse partition lines 5 and 6 on both sides so as to allow air to flow through the entire expansion section 7 The individual inflatable parts 7 are divided into two or more divided inflatable parts 7-1, 7-2, etc., and each inflatable part can be bent at the boundary of the folded seal after inflation. An airbag that can be folded.

2. The inflatable and bendable air according to claim 1, wherein the folding seal is a single continuous line, and the air flow passage 9 is left between both ends thereof and the transverse partition lines 5 and 6. bag.

3. The inflatable and foldable air bag according to claim 1, wherein each of the folding seals is formed in an intermittent broken line shape to allow air to flow through the inflatable section.

4. The above-mentioned folding seals are formed in each of the inflatable portions 7 in two pieces 8-1, 8-2, and each of the inflatable portions can be folded in three. Three inflatable portions 7-1, 1, 7-2, 7- The inflatable and bendable bag according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the bag is divided into three.

5. The above-mentioned folding seals are formed in each expansion part 7 in three pieces 8-1, 8-2, 8-3 or more, and each expansion part is folded in four or more four or more. 4. The inflatable and bendable apag according to claim 2 or 3, which is divided into divided inflatable portions 7-1, 7-2, 7-3, 7-4,.

6. Divide each inflatable part 37 into three or more separate inflatable parts 37-1, 37-2, 37-3, ... and extend at least one of the sealing side 緣 33 or 34 to the side. The joining ears 40 are used to join the sealing sides 緣 33 and 34 so that they are closed in a ring shape, and can be expanded into a ring-shaped polygonal shape bent in the folding seal when air is blown therein. Item 2. The inflatable and foldable airbag according to Item 1.

7. Two bending seals 38-1 and 38-2 are formed on each expansion section 37, and each expansion section is divided into three section expansion sections 37-1, 37-2 and 37-3. The inflatable and bendable air bag according to claim 6, wherein the air bag can be inflated into a closed hollow triangular annular shape.

8. Each of the foldable seals 37 has three or more foldable seals 38-1, 38-2, 38-3 or more, and each bulge has four or more separate bulges 37-1. 7. The inflatable and bendable air bag according to claim 6, wherein the air bag is divided into hollow, rectangular or pentagonal or more annular shapes, which are divided into three, 37-2, 37-3, 37-4,.

9. The inflatable bendable airbag according to claim 1, wherein all of the divided inflatable portions have the same length.

10. The inflatable and bendable air bag according to claim 1, wherein each of the section inflatable portions has a different length.

11. The air blowing tube penetrates through all of the inflatable portions 7, and at least one partitioning passage 20, 21, 22, and at least one of the individual inflatable portions juxtaposed therewith. 2. An inflatable and bendable apache according to claim 1, which is of a type having self-sealing openings 13, 15, 17, 19.