WO1998029319A1

WO1998029319A1 - Shock-absorbing air bag

Info

Publication number: WO1998029319A1
Application number: PCT/KR1996/000257
Authority: WO
Inventors: Chan Myung Park
Original assignee: Chan Myung Park
Priority date: 1996-12-27
Filing date: 1996-12-27
Publication date: 1998-07-09

Abstract

There is disclosed an air bag (20) for protecting an article packed in a packing box against an outside shock or vibration, wherein resins furnished from hoppers of an extruding machine are melted and mixed in the machine's conveyor sections, and forced through the machine's die to produce a first resin form of cylindrical shape and predetermined lenght, and the first resin form is inserted into a pair of molds and expands to the shape of the molds by air blown thereinto by a nozzle so that the resin air bag of single property is made to have an inner surface (21) directly contacting the article, and an outer surface (23) contacting the packing box, making the packing box be spaced from the article. An air hole (24) is formed between the inner and outer surfaces (21, 23) by the nozzle, through which air freely circulates either from the inside of the air bag to the outside or from the outside of the air bag to the inside.

Description

SHOCK-ABSORBING AIR BAG

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention generally relates to a shock- absorbing air bag which provides protection for an article or set of articles packed in a case against physical damage during conveyance or shipment. More particularly, it relates to a shock-absorbing air bag which is made by recycling waste synthetic resins that contaminate the environment and destroys the ecosystem, and may absorb an outside vibration or shock not to be transmitted to the article packed in a case, simultaneously with reducing the overall volume of the packed article for easy shipment and easy keeping.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Much effort and development have been devoted to the fabrication of packing materials and the packing methods which are necessary for quality control and safekeeping of goods. In recent years, polystyrene foam and foam-in-place packaging come into wider use.

When it comes to a packing method using the polystyrene foam, packing cases are manufactured in various shapes according to the form of each of articles to be packed therein. Therefore, this technique has a disadvantageous yield aspect. Besides, the overall volume of the article packed by using the polystyrene foam becomes large, which makes the transportation and handling difficult. It is impossible to recycle the polystyrene foam that has been already used, and the used polystyrene foam becomes one of wastes that pollute the environment. The incineration of the used polystyrene foam entails atmospheric pollution, so the use of polystyrene foam needs much attention.

The foam-in-place packaging is accomplished by filling a gap between a packing box and an article in the box with foams, and even if it is simple to pack the article in the packing box, the foam-in-place packaging is available on the spot only where putting articles into packing boxes and blocking them, which lowers the productivity.

This foam-in-place packaging has an advantageous safety aspect but is inconvenient to use because the foamed package itself should be first removed in order to take the article out of the packing box. Besides, the removed foamed package is not able to be recycled and is nothing but an industrial waste to cause the pollution of the environment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a shock-absorbing air bag that can obviate the aforementioned problems and disadvantages of the conventional art.

It is an objective of the present invention to provide a shock-absorbing air bag which is of a synthetic resin and offers protection for an article or set of articles packed in a case against physical damage during conveyance.

It is another objective of the present invention to provide a shock-absorbing air bag which is made of a material formed by recycling waste synthetic resins that contaminate the environment, being perished in hundred-odd years thereby lowering the production costs. It is still another objective of the present invention to provide a shock-absorbing air bag whose inner surface directly contacting an article therein is made of a soft resin and outer surface is made of a hard resin in order to more efficiently absorb an outside vibration or shock not to be transmitted to the packed article and avoid damage to it due to the vibration and friction.

It is further objective of the present invention to provide a shock-absorbing air bag which has an air hole on one side to prevent its shape from being changed with ambient temperatures, and to double the shock-absorbing effect.

In order to obtain the aforementioned objectives of the present invention, there is disclosed an air bag for protecting an article packed in a packing box against an outside shock or vibration. First, resins furnished from hoppers of an extruding machine are melted and mixed in the machine's conveyor sections, and then forced through the machine's die to produce a first resin form of cylindrical shape and predetermined length. The first resin form is inserted into a pair of molds and expands to the shape of the molds by air blown thereinto by a nozzle so that the resin air bag of single property is made to have an inner surface directly contacting the article, and an outer surface contacting the packing box, making the packing box be spaced from the article.

It is prefereble that the inner surface is formed of a soft resin and the outer surface is formed of a hard resin. The air bag may have an air hole that is formed between the inner and outer surfaces by the nozzle, through which air freely flows either from the inside of the air bag to the outside or from the outside of the air bag to the inside. The air hole is formed on a predetermined position after formation of the air bag. A plurality of bosses are formed on the inner surface of the air bag and minimize areas where the article is in contact with the air bag to provide protection for the article against physical damage. These bosses are designed to be in hemispherical or semi-cylindrical shape.

The air bag may have reinforcing bosses that are formed on the outer surface of the air bag to project toward the inner surface so that the air bag is less crushed by the shock created when dropping the article on the packing box and the article is provided with protection against physical damage. These reinforcing bosses are designed to be spaced from the inner surface of the air bag so as to contact and support the inner surface only when they absorb the shock applied to the article. The reinforcing bosses and the inner surface of the air bag may be integrally formed so as to constantly support the inner surface on which the article is placed. The reinforcing bosses and the inner surface's corners may be integrally formed, too.

The air hole is made on a predetermined position after formation of the air bag in case that the reinforcing bosses and the inner surface of the air bag are integrally formed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ATTACHED DRAWINGS

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 schematically depicts an extruding machine used for making an air bag in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinally-sectional view of a pair of molds into which a cylindrical resin form made by a first extruding process is inserted; FIG. 3 is a longitudinally-sectional view for describing that a nozzle blows air into the resin form in the molds of FIG. 2 and forces it to expand to the shape of the molds;

FIG. 4 is a cutaway-perspective view of a half- finished air bag in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a cutaway-perspective view of a finished air bag in accordance with the first preferred embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 6 is a longitudinally-sectional view of a packing box within which the air bags of FIG. 5 are in use;

FIG. 7 is a cutaway-perspective view of an air bag in accordance with a second preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a longitudinally-sectional view of a packing box within which the air bags of FIG. 7 are in use;

FIG. 9 is a cutaway-perspective view of an air bag having an inner bottom in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a cutaway-perspective view of an air bag having an inner bottom in accordance with a second preferred embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of FIGS. 9 and 10; and

FIGS. 12A, 12B and 12C depict respectively outer bottoms in accordance with another preferred embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 schematically depicts an extruding machine used for making an air bag in accordance with the present invention. The extruding machine includes conveyor sections 1 and 2 that respectively convey resins furnished through hoppers 3 and 6 by means of screws 4 and 7, melting the resins with heaters 5 and 8, and a die 9 for shaping the melted resins to cylindrical forms.

The resins melted, mixed and then conveyed by the conveyor sections 1 and 2 are of the same property whereby a first-molded form 13 of cylindrical shape has a single property. In the meantime, a soft resin and a hard resin may be respectively provided to the conveyor sections 1 and 2, so that the first-molded form 13 is partly soft and partly hard. It is preferable that the hard resin provided to the conveyor portion 2 is a recycled one.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinally-sectional view of molds into which the cylindrical resin form is inserted, and FIG.

3 is a longitudinally-sectional view for describing that a nozzle blows air into the form in the molds of FIG. 2 to make the resin form take the shape of these molds.

The cylindrical resin that is forced through the die 9 is shaped to a resin form of a predetermined length by a pair of the molds 10 and 11 with a plurality of holes 12. A nozzle 14 is inserted into the cylindrical resin form and blows air to it. The air blown into the form forces it to expand to the shape of the molds thereby forming an air bag 20.

FIG. 5 is a cutaway-perspective view of a finished air bag in accordance with the first preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a longitudinally-sectional view of a packing box within which the air bags of FIG. 5 are in use.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, the air bag 20 includes an inner surface 21 which directly contacts an article 30 to provide protection for the article 30 against physical damage, an outer surface 23 which comes in contact with a packing box 31 and makes a predetermined gap between the article 30 and the packing box 31, and a bulging section 22 formed on the inner bottom to minimize the contact of the article 30 and the inner surface 21.

When the air bag 20 is made of soft and hard resins, its inner surface 21 and outer surface 23 are respectively formed of a soft resin and a hard resin (recycled) so that it more efficiently provides protection for the article 30 against an outside shock or vibration and the overall production costs become reduced, avoiding environmental pollution. The air bag 20 has air holes 24 formed between its inner surface 21 and outer surface 23 thereby preventing the article 30 from losing its shape due to a temperature change and reliably absorbing the outside shock. The air holes 24 are not always formed during fabrication of the air bag 20. They may be individually made on a predetermined position after the formation of the air bag 20.

The following description concerns a method of making the inventive air bag with the soft and hard resins, and the effect and advantage of the present invention, and the steps in the manufacture of the air bag with resins with the same property are the same as those with soft and hard resins. According to the method of making the inventive air bag, a soft resin is furnished to the first conveyor section 1 through the first hopper 3 and fused by the heater 5. The resin is then conveyed to the die 9 by means of the screw 4. In the meantime, a hard resin (recycled) is put in the second conveyor section 2 through the second hopper 6 and melted by the heater 8. The melted resin is forced through the die 9 of the cylindrical shape to thereby produce a continuously formed piece of the soft and hard resins. This cylindrical piece that is produced by the above first extruding process is a first resin form 13 that is partly soft and partly hard.

When the first resin form 13 is forced out under the die 9, it is cut to a predetermined length by a pair of the molds 10 and 11, and its four sides that have been cut temporarily are joined to a seal. The nozzle 14 is inserted into the first resin form 13 between the molds 10 and 11 and blows air to it. The air forces the form 13 to expand to the shape of the molds 10 and 11 to thereby constitute a second resin form 15.

A flange 16 that is being attached to the four sides of the second resin form 15 as shown in FIG. 4, is removed to thereby complete an air bag 20 of FIG. 5. When resins of the same property are furnished to the hoppers 3 and 6 of the extruding machine, the air bag 20 is formed of resins with the same property.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, the article 30 is placed on the the bulging sections 22 of the air bags 20, and when each outer surface 23 of the air bags 20 comes in contact with the packing box 31, a predetermined space between the article 30 and the packing box 31 is maintained to protect the article 30 from an outside shock or vibration.

In other words, when the packing box 31 containing the article 30 placed on the air bags 20 is carried to some place and the outside shock or vibration is applied to it, the shock absorbing effect of the air bags 20 swelled with air provides protection for the article 30 against physical damage. The shock- absorbing effect is more enhanced by the air circulating in the outside and inside of each of the air bags 20 through the air hole 24 formed on one side of each air bag 20.

As described above, the air bag 20 has the air hole 24 on one side so that the air freely moves from the inside of the air bag 20 to its outside or from the outside to the inside. Thus, in case that the expansion of the air occurs as the ambient temperature rises, a part of the air flows to the outside through the air hole 24 to avoid the inflation of the air bag 20. In addition, when the outside shock makes the air bag 20 lose its shape, the air bag 20 can recover its original shape in a short period of time.

The air hole 24 of the air bag 20 is formed between the inner surface 21 and the outer surface 23 by using the nozzle 14 used to blow the air into the first resin form 13 to force it to take the shape of the molds 10 and 11. The air hole 24 may be individually made on a predetermined position by a secondary fabrication process after the formation of the air bag 20. The operation and advantage of the air hole 24 made in either of the two ways have been already described above.

FIG. 7 is a cutaway-perspective view of an air bag in accordance with a second preferred embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a longitudinally- sectional view of a packing box within which the air bags of FIG. 7 are in use.

A pair of air bags 20 made in accordance with the first preferred embodiment are connected with each other by means of a bar 40 to thereby reduce the time it takes to pack a small-sized article. The bar 40 is made by a secondary injection molding process, and the air bags 20 are each bonded to both ends of the bar 40 by ultrasonic sealing. The two air bags 20 and the bar 40 may be integrally formed. FIGS. 9 and 10 are each cutaway-perspective views of air bags having inner bottoms in accordance with the present invention, and FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of FIGS. 9 and 10.

Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, an air bag 20 has a plurality of hemispherical bosses 220 or a plurality of semi-cylindrical bosses 221 on its inner bottom 21 to protect the article 30 placed thereon against outside shock or vibration more efficiently. The areas where the article 30 is in contact with the air bag 20 are minimized to thereby double the shock-absorbing effect of the air bag 20.

As shown in FIG. 12A, the air bag 20 has reinforcing bosses 230 on its outer surface 23. The reinforcing bosses 230 are designed to project toward the inner surface 21, maintaining spacing therefrom. The reinforcing bosses 230 contact and support the inner surface 21 when they absorb the outside shock applied to the article 30.

Turning to FIG. 12B, reinforcing bosses 231 and the inner surface 21 are integrally formed, and always support the inner surface 21 on which the article 30 is placed.

Referring now to FIG. 12C, reinforcing bosses 232 and the corners of the inner surface 21 are integrally formed, and the air bag 20 is less crushed by the shock created when dropping the packed article 30 on the packing box 31, thereby providing protection for the article 30 against physical damage.

When the reinforcing bosses and the inner surface of the air bag are integrally formed, as shown in FIGS. 12B and 12C, this prevents the inflation of the air bag 20 due to a temperature rise, without the air hole 24. Moreover, when the air hole 24 is not provided to the air bag 20, the air bag 20 may be designed to be relatively thin in thickness, which saves row plastics, assuring the same effect of the air bag 20. In addition, when the air bag 20 includes the reinforcing bosses 231 or 232 and its inner surface 21 that are integrally formed, the air hole 24 may be either formed between the inner surface 21 and the outer surface 23 by using the nozzle 14 or individually made on a prescribed position of the air bag 20 after the formation of the air bag 20.

According to the present invention, resins with the same property or different properties are used to produce moldings with single property or different properties for the air bag of the present invention. In other words, when the resins with different properties are used to form an air bag, its inner surface and outer surface are made of soft resin and hard resin, respectively. The hard resin forming the outer surface of the air bag is recycled one to thereby reduce the environmental pollution. The inventive air bag has an air hole which is formed on one side and prevents the inflation of the air bag 20 due to a rise of the ambient temperature more efficiently. Therefore, the air bag of the present invention can reliably protect an article or group of articles packed in a box against an outside shock or vibration during transportation.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. An air bag for protecting an article packed in a packing box against an outside shock or vibration, wherein resins furnished from hoppers of an extruding machine are melted and mixed in the machine's conveyor sections, and forced through the machine's die to produce a first resin form of cylindrical shape and predetermined length, and said first resin form is inserted into a pair of molds and expands to the shape of the molds by air blown thereinto by a nozzle so that the resin air bag of single property is made to have an inner surface directly contacting the article, and an outer surface contacting the packing box, making the packing box be spaced from the article.

2. An air bag as set forth in claim 1, wherein said inner surface is formed of a soft resin and said outer surface is formed of a hard resin.

3. An air bag as set forth in claim 1 or 2 , wherein an air hole is formed between said inner and outer surfaces by the nozzle, through which air freely circulates either from the inside of the air bag to the outside or from the outside of the air bag to the inside.

4. An air bag as set forth in claim 1 or 2, wherein said air hole is formed on a predetermined position after formation of the air bag.

5. An air bag as set forth in claim 1 or 2, wherein a plurality of bosses are formed on the inner surface of the air bag and minimize areas where the article is in contact with the air bag to provide protection for the article against physical damage.

6. An air bag as set forth in claim 5, wherein said bosses formed on the inner surface of the air bag are in hemispherical shape.

7. An air bag as set forth in claim 5, wherein said bosses formed on the inner surface of the air bag are in semi-cylindrical shape.

8. An air bag as set forth in claim 1 or 2 , wherein reinforcing bosses are formed on the outer surface of the air bag to project toward the inner surface so that the air bag is less crushed by the shock created when dropping the article on the packing box and the article is provided with protection against physical damage.

9. An air bag as set forth in claim 8 , wherein said reinforcing bosses are designed to be spaced from the inner surface of the air bag so as to contact and support the inner surface only when they absorb the shock applied to the article.

10. An air bag as set forth in claim 8, wherein said reinforcing bosses and the inner surface of the air bag may be integrally formed so as to constantly support the inner surface on which the article is placed.

11. An air bag as set forth in claim 8, wherein said reinforcing bosses and the inner surface's corners may be integrally formed.

12. An air bag as set forth in claim 10 or 11, wherein said air bag may not have an air hole between its inner and outer surfaces in case that said reinforcing bosses and the inner surface of the air bag are integrally formed.

13. An air bag as set forth in claim 10 or 11, wherein said air bag may have an air hole formed between its inner and outer surfaces in case that said reinforcing bosses and the inner surface of the air bag are integrally formed.

14. An air bag as set forth in claim 10 or 11, wherein said air hole is made on a predetermined position after formation of the air bag in case that said reinforcing bosses and the inner surface of the air bag are integrally formed.