U.S. patent application number 11/092864 was filed with the patent office on 2006-10-05 for packaging material.
This patent application is currently assigned to INVENTEC CORPORATION. Invention is credited to Cecily Chen, Hua-Jun Fan, Tien-Chang Lin, Morris Min.
Application Number | 20060219596 11/092864 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37069026 |
Filed Date | 2006-10-05 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060219596 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lin; Tien-Chang ; et
al. |
October 5, 2006 |
Packaging material
Abstract
A packaging material is used as a buffering and packaging
apparatus for an electronic device arranged in a packaging box. The
packaging material has a buffer holder, a side clip and at least
one buffering portion. The buffering holder adjoins the bottom of
the packaging box. The side clip extending upwardly from the
buffering holder clamps to both sides and base of the electronic
device. The buffering component extending from the side clip
horizontally with respect to the buffer holder abuts against the
sidewall of the packaging box.
Inventors: |
Lin; Tien-Chang; (Taipei,
TW) ; Min; Morris; (Shanghai, CN) ; Chen;
Cecily; (Shanghai, CN) ; Fan; Hua-Jun;
(Shanghai, CN) |
Correspondence
Address: |
PEARL COHEN ZEDEK, LLP
1500 BROADWAY 12TH FLOOR
NEW YORK
NY
10036
US
|
Assignee: |
INVENTEC CORPORATION
|
Family ID: |
37069026 |
Appl. No.: |
11/092864 |
Filed: |
March 30, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
206/592 ;
206/320; 206/586 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 81/113
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
206/592 ;
206/320; 206/586 |
International
Class: |
B65D 81/02 20060101
B65D081/02; B65D 85/00 20060101 B65D085/00 |
Claims
1. A packaging material arranged in a packaging box for an
electronic device, comprising: a buffering holder for abutting
against the bottom of a packaging box; a side clamping component
extended upwardly from one side of the buffering holder comprising
a primary fixation portion for clamping the electronic device; and
at lease one buffering component extended from one side of the side
clamping component horizontally with respect to the buffering
holder for providing support on a side of the packaging box.
2. The packaging material of claim 1, wherein the buffering holder
is a trapezoid-shaped structure.
3. The packaging material of claim 1, wherein the buffering holder
comprises a plurality of abutting portions formed at the side of
the side clamping component and a continuous concave-convex
buffering structure formed at the side away from the side clamping
component.
4. The packaging material of claim 1, wherein the side clamping
component and the buffering holder are substantially
perpendicular.
5. The packaging material of claim 1, wherein the primary fixation
portion is formed as a slit.
6. The packaging material of claim 1, wherein the side clamping
component comprises a confining portion.
7. The packaging material of claim 6, wherein the confining portion
is a wedge opening.
8. The packaging material of claim 6, wherein the confining portion
is an opening tapered off from the primary fixation portion.
9. The packaging material of claim 1, wherein each buffering
component is formed into a continuous concave-convex structure or a
ripple-like structure.
10. The packaging material of claim 1, wherein each buffering
component comprises fixation portion and a buffering structure,
each fixation portion is substantially perpendicular and
corresponds to each other, and the buffering structure corresponds
to the side of the electronic device.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to packaging materials, and
more specifically, to a packaging material for electronic
devices.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Once an electronic device is produced, appropriate packaging
is always required before shipping the goods to different retail
stores or warehouses, so that any delicate interior component and
appearance of the electronic device can be protected by superior
package structure during handling, transportation and storage. For
instance, an electronic device such as a Liquid Crystal Display
(LCD) is mostly supported by a single base; therefore, it is
extremely important to achieve the stability of the LCD packaging
by employing packaging material to pack the items as a whole before
loaded into a packaging box, so as to provide good protection for
the LCD during handling, transportation and storage. A conventional
packaging material is shown in FIG. 1.
[0003] As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic device 100 is clamped on
both sides by two identical primary packaging materials 10. Since
the base 110 of the electronic device 100 is not packaged by
anything, the support and protection provided by such conventional
technique for the base 110 of the electronic device 100 would be
frail. Consequently, the base 110 may not be able to bear the force
of gravity applied to the other portions of the electronic device
100 above the base 110, and therefore the base 110 may be deformed
and bent. Furthermore, each primary packaging material 10 with no
buffering structure to provide a buffering effect against forces
attributed from shaking or dropping occurred during handling,
transportation, or storage would cause damage to the electronic
device 100.
[0004] To resolve the problems as discussed above, as shown in FIG.
2, a secondary packaging material 20 is added to secure the base
110 of the electronic device 100. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 3,
the electronic device 100 packaged respectively with the primary
packaging materials 10 and the secondary packaging material 20 is
loaded into a packaging box 30.
[0005] As shown in FIG. 2, supporting portions 101 of the primary
packaging materials 10 abut against sidewalls of the packaging box
30; however, the supporting portion 101 is designed without any
buffering structure for providing a buffering effect against the
forces attributed from shaking or dropping the packaging box 30. In
other words, only the portion (i.e. supporting portions 101) of
each primary packaging material 10 that abuts against the wall of
the packaging box 30 can provide a clamping force to the electronic
device 100, whereas other portions of each primary packaging
material 10 are not capable of clamping the electronic device 100.
Thus, the use of such packaging materials 10 and 20 would not
provide superior packaging and buffering.
[0006] Additionally, neither the structure of the primary packaging
materials 10 nor that of the secondary packaging materials 20 is
capable of securing an accessory packaged box 130 of the electronic
device 100 as shown in FIG. 3. As a result, the accessory packaged
box 130 may move freely within the packaging box 30 during
transportation, possibly causing damage to the electronic device
100.
[0007] In addition, the primary packaging materials 10 clamping to
both sides of the electronic device 100 would compress inwardly
under pressure, which means that the primary packaging material 10
would compress toward the base 110 of the electronic device 100.
Also, if impact is exerted from the bottom of the packaging box 30,
the fragile connection structure formed between the electronic
device 100 and the base 110 thereof may break easily. Thus,
employing such packaging materials would damage the electronic
device 100 instead of protecting it. Further, employing the
secondary packaging material 20 for protection requires more
packaging materials and thereby increases the packaging cost.
Furthermore, the addition of the secondary packaging material 20
increases the overall packaging cost as well as the complexity of
packaging operations since the secondary packaging material 20 must
be assembled correspondingly to the base 110 of the electronic
device 100
[0008] Moreover, the aforementioned technique used in the prior art
requires the additional use of the secondary packaging material 20;
in order to match the size of the secondary packaging material 20,
packaging volume would therefore become larger. If the packaging
box is becoming larger, this would reduce the amount of the
packaging boxes stored in a certain space, and thus increase the
shipping cost dramatically.
[0009] Thus, it is desirable to provide a packaging material with
superior packaging and buffering so as to resolve the defects of
the prior art as mentioned and to provide fixation of other
accessories, a decrease in volume and cost, and a facilitated
assembling.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] In light of the aforementioned drawbacks in the prior art, a
primary objective of the present invention is to provide a
packaging material with superior packaging and buffering
effect.
[0011] Another objective of the present invention is to provide a
packaging material, which is capable of reducing packaging
volume.
[0012] Still another objective of the present invention is to
provide a packaging material, which is capable of reducing the cost
of production.
[0013] A further objective of the present invention is to provide a
packaging material, which is capable of facilitating the assembling
process.
[0014] In accordance with the foregoing and other objective, the
present invention provides a packaging material placed in a
packaging box used as a buffering and packaging apparatus for an
electronic device, comprising a buffering holder, a side clip and
at least one buffering component.
[0015] The buffering holder is placed at the bottom of the
packaging box and preferably formed in a trapezoid-shaped
structure. In a preferred manner, the buffering holder comprises
several abutting portions formed at a side of the side clip and a
continuous concavo-convex buffering structure formed at a side away
from the side clip.
[0016] Preferably, the side clip and the buffering holder are
mutually perpendicular. The side clip extends upwardly from one
side of the buffering holder and comprises a primary fixation
portion to clamp the electronic device. The primary fixation
portion can be formed as a slit. The side clip further comprises a
confining portion, which may be a wedge opening that tapers off
from the primary fixation portion.
[0017] The at least one buffering component extended from one side
of the side clip horizontally with respect to the buffering holder
abuts against the side of the packaging box. Preferably, each
buffering component is formed in a continuous concave-convex
structure or in a ripple-like structure. Furthermore, each
buffering component comprises fixation portion and buffering
structure, wherein each fixation portion is mutually perpendicular
and corresponds to each other; the buffering structure corresponds
to the side of the electronic device.
[0018] Compared to the prior art, two buffering components and the
buffering structure of the packaging material in the present
invention are capable of providing buffering protection on both
sides of the electronic device in addition to superior packaging,
and is capable of securing another accessory box of the electronic
device. Moreover, the present invention is designed to facilitate
the operation of the packaging assembling line for the packaging
process and resolve the complexity issued caused by the
conventional packaging process.
[0019] Moreover, the fixation portion of each buffering component
secures the accessory box of the electronic device, thus avoid
damage resulted from a freely traveling accessory box during
transportation in a conventional packaging box. In addition, in the
conventional packaging technique, three packaging parts (two
packaging materials 10 and one packaging material 20) has to be
used to sufficiently secure the electronic device, while the
present invention employs only two package materials (i.e. without
a separate package material 20 for the base 110) and provides
better packaging and buffering protection. Thus, the production
cost and the assembling procedure can be reduced. Furthermore, the
accessory box can also serve as a buffer for the electronic device
against any shock directly applied thereto, and subsequently
improve the protection of the packaging according to the present
invention.
[0020] Moreover, the size of the packaging in the present invention
is smaller than the conventional one, thus the amount of packaging
being carried in a certain space can also be increased, therefore
reducing transportation fee.
[0021] As discussed above, the packaging material in the present
invention resolves problems in the prior art, such as inferior
packaging and buffering, lack of fixation for other accessory box,
bulky packaging volume, higher cost of production, and complex
assembling process etc.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0022] The present invention can be more fully understood by
reading the following detailed description of the preferred
embodiments, with reference made to the accompanying drawings,
wherein:
[0023] FIG. 1 (PRIOR ART) is a perspective view of an electronic
device packaged in a conventional manner by two packaging
materials;
[0024] FIG. 2 (PRIOR ART) is a perspective view of the electronic
device packaged in a conventional manner by three packaging
materials;
[0025] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the packaging materials and
the electronic device of FIG. 2 assembled into a packaging box;
[0026] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the structure of a packaging
material constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of
the present invention;
[0027] FIGS. 5-8 are schematic diagrams showing a packaging
procedure employing the packaging material of FIG. 4; and
[0028] FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a modified example of
the packaging material of to the present invention
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0029] Preferred embodiments of a packaging material proposed in
the present invention are described in detail as follows with
reference to FIGS. 4 to 8. The packaging material of the present
invention is employed to secure an electronic device in a packaging
box. Monitors, such as LCD Display, Tablet PC etc., can be used in
the following preferred embodiments as illustrations; however, it
is to be noted that the scope of the invention is not limited to
the disclosed embodiments, any conventional monitors or other
electronic devices are suitable as well. Since the structure of the
monitor is not altered, for the sake of simplicity and lucid
illustration of the characterized features and the structures of
the present invention, only the structure directly related to the
present invention would be shown in the figures; other irrelevant
portions would be omitted herein.
[0030] As shown in FIG. 4, a packaging material 1 comprises a
buffering holder 11, a side clip 13 and at least two buffering
components 15 and 17, wherein the buffering holder 11 can be made
of elastic materials. The side clip 13 extending upwardly from one
side of the buffering holder 11 has a primary fixation portion 131
for clutching an electronic device. Each of the buffering
components 15 and 17 extended from one side of the side clip 13
horizontally with respect to the buffering holder 11 is employed to
support the lateral side of the packaging box.
[0031] In this preferred embodiment, the buffering holder 11 formed
in a trapezoid-like shape has several abutting portion s 111 formed
on a side of the side clip 13, and a buffering structure 113 formed
in a continuous concave-convex manner on a side away from the side
clip 13.
[0032] The side clip 13 is perpendicular to the buffering holder 11
and comprises a confining portion 133. The shape of the primary
fixation portion 131 would correspond to the shape of the
electronic device to which the primary fixation portion 131 is
fixed. In the preferred embodiment, the shape of the primary
fixation portion 131 can be slit like. The confining portion 133
served as a wedging opening that is tapering off from the primary
fixation portion 131. In this preferred embodiment, the confining
portion 133 can also be other equivalent structure that keeps the
electronic device away from the bottom surface of the packaging box
in a constant distance, and is not limited to a taper opening.
[0033] Each of the buffering components 15 and 17 can be a
buffering structure formed in a continuous concave-convex shape
similar to the buffering holder 11. Also, a secondary fixation
portion 151 can be formed on the buffering component 15 and a third
fixation portion 171 can be formed on the buffering component 17.
The secondary fixation portion 151 can be selectively formed at the
place which is next to the side clip 13 and parallel to the
buffering holder 11; the third fixation portion 171 can be
selectively formed at the place, which is next to the side clip 13
and perpendicular to the buffering holder 11, so that the secondary
fixation portion 151 is mutually perpendicular to the third
fixation portion 171. In this embodiment, two buffering components
15 and 17 are formed for illustration; however, it is to be noted
that various quantity of the buffering components can be applied to
other embodiments, and further, the buffering components 15 and 17
can be selectively formed with continuous ripple shapes or any
other equivalent shapes. Furthermore, even if the buffering
components 15 and 17 in this preferred embodiment are formed with
the packaging material 1 as an integral structure, the disclosure
enables a person of ordinary skill in the art to modify the present
invention. Thus, the scope of the invention is not limited to the
disclosed embodiments.
[0034] When packaging the electronic device, as shown in FIG. 5,
two packaging materials 1 with identical structure are first
employed to clamp both sides of the electronic device 100.
Specifically, in this preferred embodiment, the primary fixation
portions 131 are employed to clamp both sides of the electronic
device 100. Meanwhile, at the locations the buffering components 15
and 17 that correspond to the primary fixation portion 131,
buffering structures 153 and 173 having curved surfaces are formed
respectively, enhancing the buffering effect.
[0035] Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 6, the electronic device 100
clamped by the packaging material 1 can be loaded into a packaging
box 200, wherein the packaging box 200 can form two protective
portions 201 corresponding to the two abutting portion s 111 of the
buffering holder 11. It is to be noted that in order to make
drawings clearer and more comprehensible, only partial of the
packaging box 200 is shown in the drawings.
[0036] As shown in FIG. 7, when the electronic device 100 clamped
on both sides by the packaging material 1 is placed in the
packaging box 200, the outer abutting portions 111 abut against the
to the protective portions 201 of the packaging box 200; the middle
abutting portions 111 abut against the base 110 of the electronic
device 100 to protect the base 110 by the protective portions 201
and the abutting portions 111. Besides, the buffering holders 11
adjoin the bottom surface of the packaging box 200, while the
buffering structures 113 of the buffering holders 11 and each of
the buffering components 15 and 17 adjoin the inner sidewall (not
shown) of the packaging box 200, so as to abut against the lateral
sidewall of the packaging box 200.
[0037] In this embodiment, the protective portions 201 can be a
protrusive structure made of different materials from that of the
packaging box 200, and the altitude of the protective portions 201
is an altitude that can at least abut the base 110. The protective
portions 201 can be corrugated papers, and is also not limited by
the foregoing embodiment. It is to be understood that the
protective portions 201 can also be other inner structures with
lower fracture intensity as long as the protection on both sides of
the base 110 of the electronic device 100 is enhanced. Also, any
material that is capable of absorbing impact in the case that the
base 110 hits the packaging box 200 so as to avoid the packaging
box 200 being cracked, is suitable for the present invention.
[0038] Meanwhile, the accessory packaged box 130 of the electronic
device 100 can be placed between two packaging materials 1 along
the third fixation portions 171. Thus, the accessory box 130 can be
secured by the secondary fixation portions 151 and the third
fixation portions 171. As shown in FIG. 8, two packaging materials
1 can be used to package the electronic device 100 and its
accessory box 130 at the same time. Compared with the conventional
package box 30, employing the present invention allows the
packaging box 200 with smaller size to be feasible.
[0039] It is to be noted that both electronic device and its
accessory box contain a certain weight; however, the present
invention can be applied to easily package both into the same
packaging box, thus reducing packaging difficulty. In addition, the
aforementioned packaging process only serves to provide description
for the present invention with no intent to limit the scope of the
invention. Therefore, any modification of the aforementioned
packaging process can be applied to the present invention.
[0040] The buffering structures 113 and the buffering components 15
and 17 of the two packaging materials 1 provides both sides of the
electronic device 100 with superior packaging and buffering
protection, and therefore resolve the problem of using the
conventional packaging material with no buffering structure to
buffer impacts derived from shaking or dropping the packaging box.
Also, the base 110 of the electronic device 100 can be secured and
protected by the protection portions 201 and the abutting portions
110 surrounded thereof, so as to avoid impact produced by pressure
exerted from the bottom that may fracture the connecting structure
between the electronic device and its base when using the
conventional packaging method as described.
[0041] Meanwhile, the secondary fixation portions 151 and the third
fixation portions 171 of the buffering components 15 and 17 secure
the accessory box 130 of the electronic device 100, and
thereinafter provide protection against damages caused by freely
traveling of the conventional accessory box between the packaging
box and the packaged material during transportation.
[0042] Moreover, in the conventional packaging technique, three
packaging parts (two packaging materials 10 and one packaging
material 20) has to be used to sufficiently secure and protect the
electronic device, while the present invention employs only two
package materials (i.e without a separate package material 20 for
the base 110) and provides better packaging and buffering
protection. Thus, the production cost and the assembling procedure
can be reduced. Furthermore, the accessory box can also serve as a
buffer for the electronic device against any shock directly applied
thereto, and subsequently improve the protection of the packaging
according to the present invention.
[0043] Moreover, the size of the packaging in the present invention
is smaller than the conventional one, thus the amount of packaging
being carried in a certain space can also be increased, therefore
reducing transportation fee.
[0044] Thus, it is clear that the packaging material in the present
invention not only capable of providing superior packaging and
buffering, but also capable of providing optionally the fixation of
another accessory box and reducing the packaging volume, so as to
facilitate the assembling process and reduce the cost.
[0045] The principles and functions of the present invention have
been described using exemplary preferred embodiments. However, it
is to be understood that the scope of the invention is not limited
to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to
cover various modifications and similar arrangement. Packaging
structures that depart from the present invention only by obvious
modification are also considered to be covered by the scope of the
present invention. For instance, a packaging material 1 and a
packaging material 1' are shown in FIG. 9, packaging material 1 has
a curved buffering structure 153 to protect the side of the
electronic device 100, whereas the packaging material 1' has a
rectangular-shaped buffering structure 155 to protect the side of
another electronic device, such as a DVD player. The scope of the
claims therefore should be accorded the broadest interpretation so
as to encompass all such modifications and similar
arrangements.
* * * * *