WO2021023498A1

WO2021023498A1 - Mailing envelope with padding

Info

Publication number: WO2021023498A1
Application number: PCT/EP2020/070314
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ernst August VORMWALD; Stephan Scheu
Original assignee: Winkler + Dünnebier Gmbh
Priority date: 2019-01-29
Filing date: 2020-07-17
Publication date: 2021-02-11
Also published as: DE102019121473A1; US20220324631A1; EP4010261A1

Abstract

A mailing envelope (1) having two substantially parallel outer walls (4, 6) which form an outer sheath (2), enclose an interior space (8) for accommodating an article (10) and on their inner side, which is directed towards the interior space (8), each have padding (20) formed by a profiled inner wall (22, 24) should be designed to take up only a particularly small amount of space for storage purposes or for being supplied in the unfilled state. For this purpose, according to the invention, the profilings of the inner walls (22, 24) are made to match one another such that, when the interior space (8) is in an unfilled state, they engage one inside the other.

Description

description

Mailer with padding

The invention relates to a shipping or packaging bag for an item to be shipped, in particular also referred to as an envelope, with two outer walls which form an outer shell and are arranged essentially parallel to one another, which enclose an interior space for receiving an item and which are attached to the interior space turned inside are each provided with a padding.

Padded mailing or packaging bags, also known as “lined envelopes”, are used for mailing or transporting items such as books, plastic products or other items that can be damaged or injured if handled carelessly and not in a safe manner.

Overall, numerous types of padded envelopes or packaging bags are known, the upholstery usually being formed by air pockets formed from plastic layers, from a thermoplastic foam or the like. It is precisely through the air cushion pockets mentioned that a comparatively good cushioning and thus protective effect is achieved, through which the effect of external forces on the product in the envelope can be absorbed or eliminated. On the other hand, however, such a design also means that, precisely because of the high proportions of air inclusions, such a padding has a comparatively high space requirement. Particularly in the case of large numbers of items, the voluminous design can result in an undesirably high space requirement for storage, temporary storage or transport of such lined envelopes or padded mailing bags.

The invention is therefore based on the object of specifying a shipping or packaging bag of the type mentioned above, which is on the one hand comparable with the existing The concepts ensure a high and reliable protective effect for the product in the envelope, but on the other hand can be stored and transported in a particularly space-saving manner.

With regard to the mailer, this object is achieved according to the invention in that the outer walls forming the outer shell of the envelope each have a padding formed by a profiled inner wall on their inner side facing the inner space, the profiles of the inner walls being matched to one another in such a way that they interlock when the inner space is not filled .

Advantageous embodiments of the invention are the subject of the subclaims.

The invention is based on the idea that, in principle, analogous to many already known padded envelopes, a good protective effect for the product in the envelope can be ensured by providing the upholstery with a profiled inner wall attached to the inside of the outer walls . The profiling, i.e. a suitable contouring of the surface, can form alternating surface portions in contact with the outer wall and inwardly bulging or shaped surface portions which, in terms of their mode of action, speak of the protective effect of the above-mentioned air pockets or cavities. Such a contouring, however, already requires a certain thickness of the ensemble of outer and associated inner wall due to the profile depth of the inner wall, and this thickness is also unavoidable for reasons of the protective effect for the product. However, in order to keep the overall thickness as low as possible when the envelope or dispatch bag is empty and thus largely minimize the space required, especially when storing and transporting a large number of such unfilled envelopes, the overall system should be designed so that the thicknesses of the Do not add the two ensembles made up of one outer and one inner wall. This is achieved in the present case in that the profiles of the inner walls are designed to be suitably coordinated and adapted to one another, so that the profiles interact and engage in one another in the unfilled state of the envelope in the manner of a male-female mold combination. The profiles could be realized by elevations arranged on a base area, for example pyramid-shaped or hemispherical bulges. In contrast, an essentially undulating profiling is viewed as particularly advantageous and independently inventive, so that the inner walls are each designed in the manner of a corrugated layer. These are advantageously positioned relative to one another and connected to the outer walls in such a way that the respective wave or profile mountain of the first inner wall comes to rest in a wave or profile valley of the second inner wall when not filled.

Advantageously, the inner walls which form the respective upholstery due to their profiling are designed in such a way that they form a number of cavities or air chambers alone and / or in conjunction with the respectively assigned outer wall. Due to their shape-related deformability and elasticity, these can guarantee a particularly good and reliable protective effect for the inserted product. In a further advantageous embodiment, the shape-related cavities are filled with a damping material.

A particularly durable, also inexpensive, easy to implement and, moreover, particularly environmentally friendly padding for packaging or shipping bags is available in a particularly advantageous and independently inventive design, in that the interior walls forming the padding are based on a cellulose material, particularly preferred made of paper or cardboard. This configuration is particularly advantageous over known Umschlagkonzep th in which the padding was formed by air pockets formed from plastic layers or from a thermoplastic foam. Such air padded bags have the particular disadvantage that damage to the plastic layers leads to an escape of air and thus a reduction or even complete cancellation of the cushioning effect. The use and application of thermoplastic foam, on the other hand, is very complex and cost-intensive in the manufacturing process.

On the other hand, a particularly simple and inexpensive production of poled shipping or packaging bags with recourse to that for the outer walls conventional paper or cardboard can be achieved if the use of additional, alien materials is deliberately avoided. In particular with regard to environmental aspects, especially disposal issues, and also with regard to the materials usually used for the envelopes, namely paper or cardboard, the upholstery is also formed from these materials in this embodiment. By avoiding foreign materials, a particularly simple and quick connection, for example gluing, of the upholstery with the envelope can be achieved using existing machine components.

To cushion impact forces on the goods to be packaged, ie to provide padding, the paper or cardboard elements that form the padding are specifically arranged, profiled or designed so that air chambers or hollow spaces are formed. This can be achieved in an advantageous embodiment by using corrugated paper or corrugated cardboard as padding. In order to enable the desired interaction of the profiles of the inner walls in the manner of a matrix-patritzen- arrangement in a particularly simple manner, especially with this choice of material, in which the inner walls forming the upholstery are made of corrugated paper or corrugated cardboard the inner walls are advantageously aligned with one another with a wave direction running essentially parallel to one another in such a way that in each case a wave crest of a first inner wall overlaps a wave trough of the second inner wall. In other words: the corrugated layers forming the inner walls, preferably made of corrugated paper or corrugated cardboard, are incorporated in such a way that the respective wave or profile mountain on the format mirror (corresponding to the front cover) flaps into a wave or profile valley on the bottom (corresponding to the Back cover) comes to rest.

This embodiment can be achieved in a particularly simple and reliable way by making the upholstery for both inner walls in a particularly advantageous embodiment from a single, common corrugated sheet. This sheet is advantageously initially simply folded during the production of the upholstery, after possibly necessary cutting and adapting to the desired size, and then corrugated in this folded state or generally provided with the intended profile. This creates the desired one automatically Die-male design, and the folded and profiled sheet forming both inner walls can be suitably inserted into the envelope forming the outer walls.

In a further advantageous embodiment, the inner walls forming the padding are aligned with their wave direction essentially longitudinally or parallel to the filling direction of the mailer or envelope. In the case of an envelope which is provided with a closure flap on one of its longitudinal sides, the longitudinal directions of the crests and troughs of the profiling thus run essentially perpendicular to the direction in which the closure flap extends.

For comprehensive protection of the goods also in the direction of the closure flap, the upholstery extends in a further advantageous embodiment to at least partial areas of the closure flap.

The inner walls forming the padding can, in one embodiment of the inven tion, be inserted or inserted into the actual envelope forming the outer walls without further fastening. A mechanically particularly stable design of the mailer or envelope can be achieved by gluing the inner walls forming the padding at their contact points with the outer wall assigned to them in an advantageous configuration. If the inner walls are designed in wave form, that is, preferably as corrugated paper or corrugated cardboard, they act mechanically like stiffening ribs that promote a corresponding mechanical strength of the outer walls. This stiffening effect can be influenced and adjusted according to predeterminable criteria by a complete or preferably only partial and selective gluing at the contact points; For example, with only partial gluing of the interior walls, which are sometimes designed in the form of the respective associated exterior wall, if necessary, a certain flexibility can be allowed and adjusted in a targeted manner. In particular, a suitable alignment and design of the 3D profiles in combination with full-surface or partial gluing with the outer shell can influence the overall damping and stiffness / strength properties of the envelope. The advantages achieved with the invention consist in particular in that the overall thickness of the still empty envelope can be kept particularly small due to the coordinated profiles of the inner walls which interlock when the envelope is not filled. In particular, the individual thicknesses of the ensembles consisting of the inner and outer walls, essentially given by the profile depth of the inner walls, do not add up when the envelope is empty, so that the space required for storage can be kept particularly low when a large number of such envelopes are stored . The interlocking of the profiled inner layers thus results in a small transport or storage volume for the transport or storage of the upholstered bag. The result is a flat, space-saving cover when it is not filled, and the desired cushioning effect is only created on both sides when the product is filled. Another advantage of the inventive configuration is that in an envelope filled with a cargo or product, in which the product is only arranged in its central area as viewed in the area of the envelope, the edge areas compared to the central area due to the profiles matched to one another be kept thin; the filled envelope thus tapers from the central area in which the product is located towards the edge. This creates a wedge or clamping effect towards the edges, which additionally fixes the product in the central area and offers additional, special protection against impact loads in the edge area.

In addition, by using padding made of paper or cardboard, this padding can be integrated particularly easily into the manufacturing process of the packaging bags, because the use of foreign materials and therefore necessary special features in processing is dispensed with. Furthermore, the use of air chambers or cavities, which are formed or enclosed from paper or cardboard, is comparably stable and durable with significantly improved environmental friendliness compared to the previously known variants made of plastic films.

An embodiment of the invention is explained in more detail with reference to a drawing. Show in it:

1 shows a mailer with a padding made of corrugated paper, Fig. 2, the mailer according to Fig. 1 in the state filled with a product in cross section, and

Fig. 3 shows the mailer according to Fig. 1 in the unfilled state in cross section.

The same parts are provided with the same reference symbols in all figures.

The packaging or shipping bag 1 according to FIG. 1 is designed in the manner of a lined or padded envelope or envelope. It comprises, in the manner of a folded envelope, an outer envelope 2, which is surrounded by two connected, essentially parallel outer walls 4, 6, which are made of a material suitable for shipping, for example plastic fiber, transparent or translucent film or papyroline, preferably and in the exemplary embodiment, however, are formed from paper or cardboard. The outer shell 2 formed by the outer walls 4, 6 encloses an interior space 8 for receiving a product or item 10 that is to be packed or shipped with the mailer 1. The item 10 can be guided into the interior space 8 via a closable opening 12 in the envelope. As a closure for this opening 12, a first outer wall 6 of the envelope is designed to be extended and thus forms a closure flap 14. This closure flap 14 can be turned over via a folded edge 16 in such a way that the opening 12 is closed. For a secure closure, a rubber coating or flaft adhesive strip 18 is arranged on the inside of the closure flap 14 and is glued to the outside of the second outer wall 4 in the closed state.

In addition, a further flaftable adhesive strip and / or a tear-off thread or a perforation could of course also be provided in the area of the closure tab. Not shown in the figures, but if necessary, a viewing window made of glassine or a transparent plastic is in one of the outer walls 4, 6 of the envelope.

To protect the goods, the mailer 1 comprises padding 20 which is attached to the outer walls 4, 6 inside. The padding 20 is by two profiled inner walls 22, 24 are formed, each of which is assigned to one of the outer walls 4, 6 and is arranged on the inner side facing the interior 8. When the envelope is filled, as shown in cross section in FIG. 2, the item 10 is thus completely surrounded by the padding 20. However, if the outer shell 2 of the envelope should have a viewing window, the padding 20 can also be cut out in this area so as not to impair the function of the viewing window.

The effect of the upholstery 20, that is to say the protection of the goods 10 transported in the envelope against impacts or damage, is achieved by the profiling of the inner walls 22, 24. For this purpose, the inner walls 22, 24 have an applied three-dimensional profile, for example by embossing, compression or some other type of shaping, in which by material folding or other contouring, possibly in connection with the respectively assigned outer wall 4, 6, hollow - Or spaces 26 are formed in the space shape. This profile could include, for example, formations, pyramidenar term embossments, grooves, hemispherical contours or the like. In the exemplary embodiment, the profiling is achieved in that the inner walls 22, 24 consist of corrugated paper or corrugated cardboard. The profiling of the inner walls 22, 24 provided for the formation of the upholstery 20 is thus provided in the embodiment in the form of a wave shape.

Like in the cross-sectional view. 2, the interior 8 of the envelope filled with the item 10 is thus surrounded by the outer shell 2, which in turn is formed on both sides of the item 10 by an ensemble of outer wall 4, 6 and a profiled inner wall 22, 24. The cross-section in the representation like. 2 is placed in such a way that the profiling is shown transversely to the longitudinal direction of the wave structure; In this view, the wave-like contour of the Profilie tion of the inner walls 22, 24 is clearly visible. The inner walls 22, 24 forming the padding 20 are aligned with their wave direction essentially transversely to the longitudinal direction of the mailer 1 and thus longitudinally or parallel to the direction in which the envelope is filled; the viewing direction shown in FIG. 2 thus corresponds to the view through the closure tab 14 into the interior space 8. The wall thickness d of the outer shell 2 is essentially given by the profile depth t of the profile of the respective inner wall 22, 24. The product or good 10 is in the area of the Arranged in the central area of the stroke seen; the filled envelope thus tapers from the central area in which the product or good 10 is located towards the edge 28. This creates a wedge or clamping effect towards the edges 28 that fixes the good 10 in a certain way in the central area and in addition to the actual padding 20 offers a certain protection against impact loads in the edge area.

The envelope or mailer 1 is specifically designed to require a particularly small amount of space when it is not filled, that is to say during storage, intermediate storage or during transport. In addition, as is particularly clear, the enlarged, fragmentary cross-sectional view in the unfilled state is fond. Fig. 3 can be seen, the profiles of the inner walls 22, 24 are coordinated with one another in such a way that they interlock when the interior space 8 is not filled. In the embodiment shown in the exemplary embodiment, in which the inner walls 22, 24 forming the upholstery 20 are made from corrugated paper or from corrugated cardboard, the inner walls 22, 24 are aligned with one another with a substantially parallel wave direction so that in each case a corrugated crest 30 of the first inner wall 22 overlaps with a wave trough 32 of the second inner wall 24 and vice versa. In the present case, “wave trough” is understood here, with reference to the respectively assigned outer wall 4 or 6, the lower extreme area of the wave shape with which the respective inner wall 22, 24 in the manner of a longitudinal rib with the assigned outer wall 4 or 6 is in contact. The “wave peak” accordingly designates the upper extreme area of the wave contour.

The corrugated layers of corrugated paper or corrugated cardboard forming the inner walls 22, 24 are thus introduced in such a way that the respective corrugated or profiled mountain 30 on the format mirror (corresponding to the front cover) into a corrugated or profiled valley 32 on the bottom flap (corresponding to the back of the cover) to lie down. As a result of this design-based interaction of the profiles of the inner walls 22, 24 in the manner of a die-patritzen arrangement, as can be clearly seen in the illustration in FIG. 3, the overall thickness D of the unfilled envelope is approximately equal to or is little more than the simple (n) (!) profile depth t of an ensemble of inner and outer walls and does not correspond to about twice the wall thickness d of the outer shell 2. In the area of their wave troughs 32, ie the lower longitudinal line of the wave contour, the inner walls 22, 24 are glued or glued to the outer wall 4 and 6 respectively assigned to them in the contact area. In the exemplary embodiment, this gluing at the contact points is only partially and selectively implemented, viewed in the longitudinal direction; what is achieved thereby is that the composite of inner wall 22, 24 with the respectively assigned outer wall 4, 6 has a certain predetermined flexibility.

List of reference symbols

1 shipping bag

2 outer shell

4.6 outer wall

8 interior

10 Good, product

12 opening

14 locking flap 16 folded edge

18 adhesive strips 20 padding

22,24 inner wall 26 cavity

28 edge

30 crest of waves

32 Wave trough d Wall thickness t Profile depth

D total thickness

Claims

Expectations

1. Mailer (1) with two an outer shell (2) forming, essentially parallel outer walls (4, 6) which enclose an in interior space (8) for receiving an item (10), and which at their the interior (8) facing inside each have a profiled inner wall (22, 24) formed padding (20), the profiles of the inner walls (22, 24) are coordinated such that they interlock when the interior (8) is not filled.

2. Mailer (1) according to claim 1, whose inner walls (22, 24) forming the respective upholstery (20) are designed such that they alone and / or in connection with the respectively assigned outer wall (4, 6) ei ne number of Form cavities (26).

3. Mailer (1) according to claim 2, wherein the cavities (26) are filled with a damping material.

4. Mailer (1) according to one of claims 1 to 3, whose inner walls (22, 24) forming the padding (20) are based on a cellulose material, preferably made of paper or cardboard.

5. Mailer (1) according to one of claims 1 to 4, whose inner walls (22, 24) forming the padding (20) are made of corrugated paper or corrugated cardboard and are aligned with one another with the wave direction running essentially parallel to one another in such a way that in each case a wave crest (30) of a first inner wall (22, 24) overlaps with a wave trough (32) of the second inner wall (22, 24).

6. Mailer (1) according to claim 5, whose inner walls (22, 24) forming the padding (20) are aligned with their wave direction essentially transversely to the longitudinal direction of the mailer (1).

7. Mailer (1) according to one of claims 1 to 6, whose inner walls (22, 24) forming the padding (20) are glued to the outer wall (4, 6) assigned to them at their contact points.

8. Mailer (1) according to claim 7, in which the bonding of the Innenwän de (22, 24) with the respective outer wall (4, 6) assigned to them is provided only for a portion of the contact points.