WO2023075819A1

WO2023075819A1 - Packaging supports with regions having non-linear spring properties

Info

Publication number: WO2023075819A1
Application number: PCT/US2021/072102
Authority: WO
Inventors: Paul Hubbard Ford; Paul Howard Mazurkiewicz; Brian Kirk WALTERS
Original assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
Priority date: 2021-10-29
Filing date: 2021-10-29
Publication date: 2023-05-04

Abstract

In some examples, an apparatus includes a packaging support having a support region with a non-linear spring property formed using an additive manufacturing process according to a target spring configuration.

Description

PACKAGING SUPPORTS WITH REGIONS HAVING NON-LINEAR SPRING PROPERTIES

Background

[0001 ] Products when shipped are packaged in a way to protect the products from damage during transport. For example, package cushions or other types of supports can be provided to protect the products.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0002] Some implementations of the present disclosure are described with respect to the following figures.

[0003] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a packaging cushion including support regions having a non-linear spring property, according to some examples.

[0004] FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a support region with a non-linear spring property, according to some examples.

[0005] FIG. 3 is a graph that shows relationships of displacement to force to illustrate different spring properties, according to some examples.

[0006] FIGS. 4A-4C show examples of springs with different properties that can be used in support regions of packaging supports, according to some examples.

[0007] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of support region in a packaging support, according to some examples.

[0008] FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an apparatus according to some examples.

[0009] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of a process of forming a packaging support, according to some examples.

[0010] Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements. The figures are not necessarily to scale, and the size of some parts may be exaggerated to more clearly illustrate the example shown. Moreover, the drawings provide examples and/or implementations consistent with the description; however, the description is not limited to the examples and/or implementations provided in the drawings.

Detailed Description

[0011 ] In the present disclosure, use of the term "a," "an," or "the" is intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Also, the term "includes," "including," "comprises," "comprising," "have," or "having" when used in this disclosure specifies the presence of the stated elements, but do not preclude the presence or addition of other elements.

[0012] For improved environmental sustainability, it is desired to reduce the amount of packaging supports made from nonrenewable materials, and instead use renewable materials as much as possible. Examples of renewable materials that can be used to form packaging supports can include molded pulp (also referred to as molded fiber), which is a packaging material made from recycled paper, cardboard, and so forth. In other examples, other types of renewable materials can be used to form packaging supports. Generally, a "renewable material" refers to a material that can be recycled for subsequent use, or has been recycled from prior use.

[0013] As used here, a "packaging support" refers to any part that is used as a package around a product, to protect or to contain the product. Examples of packaging supports include any or some combination of the following: cushions, frames, and so forth.

[0014] In some cases, packaging supports made from renewable materials may provide adequate protection for products that weigh less than a specified weight and/or that are not fragile. However, for heavier products that exceed the specified weight and/or for products that are fragile, packaging supports made from certain renewable materials such as molded pulp may not adequately protect such products. [0015] In accordance with some implementations of the present disclosure, to reduce usage of nonrenewable materials when building packaging supports for products, additive manufacturing processes can be used to form the packaging supports, such as cushions and so forth. An additive manufacturing process can form support regions in a packaging support to improve protection for the products. The support regions can be formed to have non-linear spring properties that are built by the additive manufacturing process according to target spring configurations.

[0016] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a corner cushion 100, which is an example of a packaging support. The corner cushion 100 is to support the corner of a product. Multiple corner cushions can be used to protect multiple corners of the product when packaged.

[0017] In other examples, different types of cushions can be used, including cushions that extend along an entire width, length, or height of a product.

[0018] The corner cushion 100 includes a first corner cushion portion 100-1 that is angled with respect to a second corner cushion portion 100-2. In some examples, the corner cushion portions 100-1 and 100-2 are arranged at right angles with respect to one another. In other examples, the corner cushion portions 100-1 and 100-2 can have a different angle with respect to one another.

[0019] The corner cushion portion 100-1 has a sidewall 100-11 and an upward facing wall 100-12. Similarly, the corner cushion portion 100-2 has a sidewall 100-21 and an upward facing wall 100-22. The sidewalls 100-11 , 100-21 and upward facing walls 100-12, 100-22 are to contact respective surfaces of a product to be protected by the corner cushion 100.

[0020] In a different arrangement of the corner cushion 100 (e.g., when the corner cushion 100 is upside down or rotated by 90 degrees or another angle), the walls 100-11 , 100-12, 100-21 , and 100-22 can face in different directions.

[0021 ] In accordance with some implementations of the present disclosure, support regions 102 are provided in the corner cushion 100. As further shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 2 (taken along section 2-2 in FIG. 1 ), the support region 102 extends through a thickness of a wall (e.g., 100-11 ) of the corner cushion 100. Some (or all) of the support regions 102 can have a non-linear spring property, which is explained further below. In some cases, different support regions 102 can have different non-linear spring properties.

[0022] The support regions 102 that have non-linear spring properties are provided to support a heavier and/or more fragile product that a main section of the corner cushion 100 may not adequately support. The "main section" of the corner cushion 100 refers to the portions of the corner cushion 100 other than the support regions 102.

[0023] The main section of the corner cushion 100 can be formed with a renewable material such as molded pulp or another renewable material. The support regions 102 may be formed using a different material (or different materials), such as any or some combination of the following: an elastomeric material such as a thermal plastic elastomer (TPE) or another elastomeric material, a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) or another plastic material, and so forth. In further examples, a support region 102 may be formed of a same material as the main section of the corner cushion 100, except that the support region 102 has a higher density of the material than the main section.

[0024] More generally, a support region 102 includes different geometric properties than those of the main section, to provide the non-linear spring property of the support region 102. The different geometric properties can include different densities, different thicknesses (e.g., of beams of a lattice), different spacings between structures (e.g., structures of a lattice), and so forth.

[0025] The corner cushion 100 can be formed using an additive manufacturing process with an additive manufacturing machine (e.g., a three-dimensional (3D) printer). The quantity and placement of the support regions 102 can depend upon characteristics of a product to be protected by the corner cushion 100. For example, for a lighter product of less weight, fewer support regions 102 (or even no support regions 102) can be provided in the corner cushion 100. For a heavier product, a larger quantity of the support regions 102 can be provided using the additive manufacturing process.

[0026] By using additive manufacturing machines to build packaging supports with selected quantities of support regions (zero or more support regions), greater flexibility can be achieved by customizing packaging supports for different products of different characteristics (e.g., different weights, different fragility, etc.).

[0027] FIG. 3 is a graph that illustrates different spring properties. The horizontal axis of the graph represents displacement of a spring, and the vertical axis of the graph represents a force applied to the spring.

[0028] The dotted line 302 represents a linear spring property, in which displacement of the spring varies linearly with force applied on the spring. As the amount of force applied on the spring increases, the displacement of the spring (e.g., compression of the spring) increases linearly according to the line 302.

[0029] A curve 304 represents an example non-linear relationship between force and displacement, which corresponds to a non-linear spring property. The curve 304 has a first curve portion 304-1 that represents a "softer" spring property (a softer spring rate) in which a given increase in force (AF) causes a relatively larger displacement (compression) of the spring. A second curve portion 304-2 of the curve 304 represents a "firmer" spring property (a firmer spring rate) in which the same given increase in force (AF) causes a smaller displacement (compression) of the spring. Stated differently, the first curve portion 304-1 indicates that a smaller force causes a given displacement (AD) of the spring, while the second curve portion 304-2 indicates that a larger force causes the same given displacement (AD) of the spring.

[0030] A spring that has the non-linear spring property represented by the curve 304 can exhibit a force-displacement relationship that varies as the amount of spring displacement increases. A support region 102 (or multiple support regions 102) in FIG. 1 may have the example non-linear spring property represented by the curve 304 or by another curve. In some cases, it is possible that a support region 102 (or multiple support regions 102) may have a linear spring property, such as that represented by the line 302.

[0031] FIG. 4A depicts a linear rate spring 402, which has a linear spring property such as represented by the line 302, for example.

[0032] FIG. 4B depicts a progressive rate spring 404 that has a spring rate that increases progressively with increasing applied force and displacement of the spring.

[0033] FIG. 4C depicts a dual rate spring 406 that exhibits two spring rates. The dual rate spring 406 has a first portion 406-1 with a softer spring rate and a second portion 406-2 with a firmer spring rate.

[0034] FIG. 5 shows an example of a support region 502 that is formed in a packaging support 500. The packaging support 500 defines an inner space 508 in which blocks 506 of material are arranged. In some examples, the packaging support 500 can be formed of a molded pulp or another renewable material. The blocks 506 can be formed of a different material, such as an elastomeric material, a plastic material, and so forth.

[0035] Although the blocks 506 are depicted as having rectangular shapes, in other examples, the blocks 506 can have different shapes.

[0036] To provide the support region 502 with a non-linear spring property, the blocks 506 are divided into a first subset 510-1 of blocks and a second subset 510-2 of blocks. The second subset 510-2 of blocks has a denser arrangement of blocks than the first subset 510-1 of blocks. The sparser arrangement of blocks in the first subset 510-1 of blocks provides a softer spring rate, while the denser arrangement of blocks in the second subset 510-2 of blocks provides a firmer spring rate.

[0037] Thus, in response to a force F applied in the downward direction shown in FIG. 5, initially, as the packaging support 500 and the blocks in the first subset 510-1 of blocks are compressed, the support region 502 exhibits a softer spring property. As the packaging support 500 and the blocks in the first subset 510-1 of blocks are further compressed, the compression reaches the denser arrangement of blocks in the second subset 510-2 of blocks, which provides a firmer spring property. In further examples, more than two subsets of blocks exhibiting respective different spring properties may be provided in the support region 502.

[0038] In some examples, a generative design can be employed to reduce the amount of materials used in forming packaging supports with additive manufacturing machines. Generative design tools are commercially available to can be employed. Given an input model, such as of a packaging support, a generative design tool can optimize the model to specific goals, such as to reduce the amount of material used for environmental sustainability.

[0039] In other examples, the support region 502 can include a lattice that has beams connected to one another. The lattice can be designed to provide a nonlinear spring property, based on adjustments of thicknesses of the lattice beams and/or spacings between lattice beams, and so forth.

[0040] FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an apparatus 600 according to some examples. The apparatus 600 can include an assembly of packaging supports that are to support a product during shipment or storage, for example. The packaging supports include a packaging support 602 that has a support region 604 having a non-linear spring property formed using an additive manufacturing process according to a target spring configuration. An example of a target spring configuration is a curve that represents a variable force-displacement relationship of a spring, such as the curve 304 depicted in FIG. 3. More generally, target spring configuration refers to a representation of how a spring is to behave, where the spring is implemented using the support region 604.

[0041] In some examples, the variable relationship is a progressive relationship between force and displacement of the support region 604, such as the relationship represented by the spring 404 in FIG. 4B. [0042] In some examples, the variable relationship includes a first constant relationship between force and displacement of the support region 604, and a different second constant relationship between force and displacement of the support region 604, where the support region 604 exhibits the second constant relationship after the support region 604 has been displaced by greater than a specified displacement. An example of a spring with two constant relationships is the dual rate spring 406 depicted in FIG. 4C. In further examples, the support region 604 can exhibit more than two constant relationships between force and displacement.

[0043] In some examples, the packaging support 602 includes a second region (e.g., a main section) surrounding the support region 604, where the second region is formed of a material (e.g., a molded pulp, etc.) with less density than a material of the support region 604 (e.g., an elastomeric material, a plastic material, etc.).

[0044] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of a process 700 of forming a packaging support,, in accordance with some examples.

[0045] The process 700 includes receiving (at 702), at an additive manufacturing machine, a representation of the packaging support, the representation indicating a target spring configuration for a support region of the packaging support. The representation can be in the form of a computer-aided design (CAD) model, for example.

[0046] The process 700 includes building (at 704), by the additive manufacturing machine using the representation of the packaging support, the packaging support that includes the support region having a non-linear spring property according to the target spring configuration.

[0047] By using techniques or mechanisms according to some examples, packaging support can be formed using less materials (nonrenewable or renewable), while providing adequate support and protection for products packaged using the packaging support. Also, the overall amount of materials used can be reduced to reduce weight and thus shipping costs. By using additive manufacturing processes to build the packaging supports, the packaging supports can be customized for different products and applications.

[0048] In the foregoing description, numerous details are set forth to provide an understanding of the subject disclosed herein. However, implementations may be practiced without some of these details. Other implementations may include modifications and variations from the details discussed above. It is intended that the appended claims cover such modifications and variations.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1 . An apparatus comprising: a packaging support comprising a support region having a non-linear spring property formed using an additive manufacturing process according to a target spring configuration.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the target spring configuration specifies a variable relationship between force and displacement of the support region.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the variable relationship is a progressive relationship between force and displacement of the support region.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the variable relationship comprises a first constant relationship between force and displacement of the support region, and a different second constant relationship between force and displacement of the support region, wherein the support region exhibits the second constant relationship after the support region has been displaced by greater than a specified displacement.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the packaging support comprises a second region surrounding the support region, the second region formed of a material with less density than a material of the support region.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the material of the second region is different from the material of the support region.

7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the material of the second region is the same as the material of the support region.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a second support region having the non-linear spring property formed using the additive manufacturing process according to the target spring configuration.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a second support region having a different non-linear spring property formed using the additive manufacturing process according to a different target spring configuration.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the support region has different geometric properties to provide the non-linear spring property.

11. A method of forming a packaging support, comprising: receiving, at an additive manufacturing machine, a representation of the packaging support, the representation indicating a target spring configuration for a support region of the packaging support; and building, by the additive manufacturing machine using the representation of the packaging support, the packaging support that comprises the support region having a non-linear spring property according to the target spring configuration.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the non-linear spring property comprises a variable relationship between force and displacement of the support region.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the variable relationship is a progressive relationship between force and displacement of the support region.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the variable relationship comprises a first constant relationship between force and displacement of the support region, and a different second constant relationship between force and displacement of the support region, wherein the support region exhibits the second constant relationship after the support region has been displaced by greater than a specified displacement.

15. A cushion for use in packaging a product, the cushion comprising: a support formed of a renewable material; and regions in the support, the regions formed of a material different from the renewable material, and the regions formed using an additive manufacturing process according to a target spring configuration such that the regions have a non-linear spring property.