U.S. patent application number 11/113144 was filed with the patent office on 2007-01-04 for box divider unit and method for its manufacture.
This patent application is currently assigned to PALZIV LTD.. Invention is credited to David Jacobs.
Application Number | 20070000981 11/113144 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34074031 |
Filed Date | 2007-01-04 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070000981 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Jacobs; David |
January 4, 2007 |
Box divider unit and method for its manufacture
Abstract
The invention provides a foamed-elastomer collapsible box
divider for dividing a box into at least six cushioned compartments
when extended, and when collapsed having the form of an elongated
component stepped on four edges as viewed from a side. The steps
being formed by two face-to-face central elongated leaves, in
combination with a short top and a short bottom leaf, and at least
a first and a second leaf of intermediate length. The first
intermediate leaf being disposed between the short top leaf and the
central elongated leaves, and the second intermediate leaf being
disposed between the short bottom leaf and the central elongated
leaves, each leaf being separate along a major portion of its
length from adjacent leaves and being transversely cut through part
of its thickness at a pitch corresponding to the width of one of
the compartments, each elongated and intermediate leaf being joined
to adjacent leaves by at least one narrow connecting line adjacent
to the transverse cut, the connecting line being formed by the
remaining uncut material adjacent to the transverse cut.
Inventors: |
Jacobs; David; (Emek Beit
Shean, IL) |
Correspondence
Address: |
PEARL COHEN ZEDEK, LLP;PEARL COHEN ZEDEK LATZER, LLP
1500 BROADWAY 12TH FLOOR
NEW YORK
NY
10036
US
|
Assignee: |
PALZIV LTD.
|
Family ID: |
34074031 |
Appl. No.: |
11/113144 |
Filed: |
April 25, 2005 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
229/120.07 ;
229/120.31 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B65D 25/04 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
229/120.07 ;
229/120.31 |
International
Class: |
B65D 25/04 20060101
B65D025/04 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Apr 25, 2004 |
IL |
161605 |
Apr 25, 2005 |
US |
161605 |
Claims
1. A foamed-elastomer collapsible box divider for dividing a box
into at least six cushioned compartments when extended, and when
collapsed having the form of an elongated component stepped on four
edges as viewed from a side, said steps being formed by two
face-to-face central elongated leaves, in combination with a short
top and a short bottom leaf, and at least a first and a second leaf
of intermediate length, said first intermediate leaf being disposed
between said short top leaf and said central elongated leaves, and
said second intermediate leaf being disposed between said short
bottom leaf and said central elongated leaves, each leaf being
separate along a major portion of its length from adjacent leaves
and being transversely cut through part of its thickness at a pitch
corresponding to the width of one of said compartments, each
elongated and intermediate leaf being joined to adjacent leaves by
at least one narrow connecting line adjacent to said transverse
cut, said connecting line being formed by the remaining uncut
material adjacent to said transverse cut.
2. The box divider as claimed in claim 1, wherein when extended,
said short cut appears as a square-section hollow prism located at
the center of any array comprising four compartments arranged in a
square configuration.
3. The box divider as claimed in claim 1, wherein the height of the
divider is built up by stacking multiple sheets of foamed
elastomer, each sheet being bonded to each adjacent sheet.
4. The foamed elastomer collapsible box divider, wherein said
elastomer is a rubber.
5. A method for manufacturing a foamed-elastomer collapsible box
divider, comprising the following steps: providing a
foamed-elastomer sheet, if available of thickness equal to the
height of the desired box divider; alternatively bonding together a
plurality of foamed-elastomer sheets, the total height of the stack
being equal to the height of the required box divider; and blanking
the stepped form, and executing the long cuts and the short cuts by
means of a single-element press-mounted ply-wood based steel-rule
die.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of Israel Application
No. 161605, filed on Apr. 25, 2004.
FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to the packaging of multiple
articles.
[0003] More particularly, the invention provides a resilient
protective box divider, and a method for its manufacture.
[0004] Beverages, pharmaceuticals and many other products are
filled into hard containers, such as glass bottles, and are often
shipped in carton boxes. Box dividers are used to divide the carton
into a multiplicity of individual cells, typically square shaped,
each cell holding one product, item or container. The divider thus
prevents impact, possible breakage and/or abrasion when during
transportation adjacent containers would otherwise rub or impact
each other. Currently nearly all box dividers are made out of
carton, the dividers serving to ensure that there is no contact
between the items being marketed. Various forms of this type of
divider are seen in recent U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,148,942 5,190,212
5,601,521 6,024,241 6,499,655 6,547,126 and 6,669,082.
[0005] The simple divider, an oblong carton strip with a series of
cuts to half the divider height, has been in use for at least a
hundred years, and there is no doubt as to its efficacy. The main
problem with this divider is that time is required to assemble the
dividers in the carton. The degree of protection given by this
divider is adequate for the vast majority of product items,
although extremely fragile items, for example items made of thin
glass, may still be damaged under rough handling. Furthermore this
divider is made of two parts which must be assembled.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
[0006] It is therefore one of the objects of the present invention
to obviate the disadvantages of prior art box dividers and to
provide a divider made of a foamed elastomer which provides
protection of fragile items even under rough handling conditions
during transport or storage.
[0007] It is a further object of the present invention to provide a
one piece divider.
[0008] It is a further object of the present invention to provide a
box divider having a flat space-saving configuration for storage
and yet can be deployed within a few seconds into its ready-to-use
configuration.
[0009] Yet a further object of the invention is to provide a method
for the manufacture of the novel design disclosed herein.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] The present invention achieves the above objects by
providing a foamed-elastomer collapsible box divider for dividing a
box into at least six cushioned compartments when extended, and
when collapsed having the form of an elongated component stepped on
four edges as viewed from a side, said steps being formed by two
face-to-face central elongated leaves, in combination with a short
top and a short bottom leaf, and at least a first and a second leaf
of intermediate length, said first intermediate leaf being disposed
between said short top leaf and said central elongated leaves, and
said second intermediate leaf being disposed between said short
bottom leaf and said central elongated leaves, each leaf being
separate along a major portion of its length from adjacent leaves
and being transversely cut through part of its thickness at a pitch
corresponding to the width of one of said compartments, each
elongated and intermediate leaf being joined to adjacent leaves by
at least one narrow connecting line adjacent to said transverse
cut, said connecting line being formed by the remaining uncut
material adjacent to said transverse cut.
PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION
[0011] In a preferred embodiment of the present invention there is
provided a foamed-elastomer collapsible box divider for dividing a
box into at least six cushioned compartments when extended, and
when collapsed having the form of an elongated component stepped on
four edges as viewed from a side, said steps being formed by two
face-to-face central elongated leaves, in combination with a short
top and a short bottom leaf, and at least a first and a second leaf
of intermediate length, said first intermediate leaf being disposed
between said short top leaf and said central elongated leaves, and
said second intermediate leaf being disposed between said short
bottom leaf and said central elongated leaves, each leaf being
separate along a major portion of its length from adjacent leaves
and being transversely cut through part of its thickness at a pitch
corresponding to the width of one of said compartments, each
elongated and intermediate leaf being joined to adjacent leaves by
at least one narrow connecting line adjacent to said transverse
cut, said connecting line being formed by the remaining uncut
material adjacent to said transverse cut.
[0012] In a most preferred embodiment of the present invention
there is provided a method for manufacturing a foamed-elastomer
collapsible box divider, comprising the following steps: [0013]
providing a foamed-elastomer sheet, if available of thickness equal
to the height of the desired box divider; [0014] alternatively
bonding together a plurality of foamed-elastomer sheets, the total
height of the stack being equal to the height of the required box
divider; [0015] blanking the stepped form, and executing the long
cuts and the short cuts by means of a single-element press-mounted
ply-wood based steel-rule die.
[0016] Yet further embodiments of the invention will be described
hereinafter.
[0017] It will thus be realized that the novel device of the
present invention can be expanded from its compact configuration to
its deployed configuration simply by grasping the smallest leaves
and drawing them apart. The divider is made as a one-piece item and
requires no assembly and is fitted into the shipping carton while
held in its deployed state. The four sidewalls of the carton retain
the divider in its deployed state, and so the divider is ready for
immediate use.
[0018] Manufacture of the box divider may be achieved by a single
stroke of a combined blanking and cutting die, no further
manufacturing process being required. A plywood-base steel rule die
is used, such die being well suited for the cutting of soft
materials, including the foam rubber or foam urethane which are the
preferred materials for the divider of the present invention. Dies
of this type are widely used for shape cutting of boxes and
cartons, and have been developed into a mature technology.
[0019] In the following drawings and description reference is made
to a square-shaped divider 5 by 5, i.e. having 25 compartments. The
collapsed divider shown has a left-right symmetrical form, the two
shortest leaves being directly opposite each other. There is
however no difficulty in producing a divider for a rectangular
(oblong) carton. In its compact configuration such a divider would
be asymmetrical, and the short upper and lower leaves would not be
directly opposite each other.
SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0020] The invention will now be described further with reference
to the accompanying drawings, which represent by example preferred
embodiments of the invention. Structural details are shown only as
far as necessary for a fundamental understanding thereof. The
described examples, together with the drawings, will make apparent
to those skilled in the art how further forms of the invention may
be realized.
[0021] In the drawings:
[0022] FIG. 1 is a photograph of a preferred embodiment of the
deployed box divider according to the invention;
[0023] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the divider in its compact
configuration;
[0024] FIG. 3 is an enlarged detail view of a part of the divider
seen in FIG. 2;
[0025] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an embodiment made out of a
plurality of bonded-together foamed elastomer sheets;
[0026] and
[0027] FIG. 5 is a photograph of the divider in a partially
deployed state.
FULL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0028] There is seen in FIG. 1 an extended foamed-elastomer
collapsible box divider 10 for dividing a carton box 12 into 25
cushioned compartments 14. The elastomer is a rubber or a flexible
thermoplastic such as urethane.
[0029] The divider 10 is held in its deployed configuration by the
walls 16, 18, 20, 22 of the carton 12 into which it is
inserted.
[0030] A plurality of short cuts 24, to be described with reference
to FIG. 2, appear as square-section hollow prisms 26 located at the
center of any array comprising four compartments 14 arranged in a
square configuration.
[0031] With reference to the rest of the figures, similar reference
numerals have been used to identify similar parts.
[0032] When collapsed, as seen in FIG. 2 and in the enlarged detail
of FIG. 3, the divider 10 has the form of an elongated component
stepped on four edges when viewed from a side. The steps 28 are
formed by two face-to-face central elongated leaves 30, in
combination with a short top 32 and a short bottom leaf 34. In the
present embodiment there are three first 36, 38, 40 and three
second leaves 42, 44 46 of intermediate length. The first
intermediate leaves 36, 38 40 are disposed between the short top
leaf 32 and the central elongated leaves 30, and the second
intermediate leaves 42, 44, 46 are disposed between the short
bottom leaf 34 and the central elongated leaves 30.
[0033] Each leaf is separate along a major portion of its length
from adjacent leaves due to a series of long cuts 48.
[0034] Furthermore, a series of short transverse cuts 24 are seen
between the long cuts 48 at a pitch corresponding to the width of
one of the compartments 14. The transverse cuts 24 extend through
only a portion of the leaf thickness. The resulting form is that
each elongated and intermediate leaf is joined to adjacent leaves
by at least one narrow connecting line 50 adjacent to the
transverse cut 24, and seen most clearly in FIG. 3. The connecting
line 50 is formed by the remaining uncut material adjacent to the
transverse cut 24.
[0035] FIG. 4 illustrates a box divider 54 as wherein the height of
the divider is built up by stacking multiple sheets of foamed
elastomer 56, 58, 60, each sheet being bonded to each adjacent
sheet.
[0036] In order to further illustrate the form of the divider,
there is shown in FIG. 5 a photograph of the divider 10 in a
partially collapsed configuration. However in practice either the
divider is stored completely collapsed as in FIG. 2 or it is
deployed completely extended as in FIG. 1, the midway position
being shown in the figure being for illustrative purposes only.
[0037] The present invention also includes a method for
manufacturing a foamed-elastomer collapsible box divider,
comprising the following steps: [0038] 1. Providing a
foamed-elastomer sheet, if available of thickness equal to the
height of the desired box divider. [0039] 2. Alternatively: bonding
together a plurality of foamed-elastomer sheets, the total height
of the stack being equal to the height of the required box divider,
as seen in FIG. 4. [0040] 3. Blanking the stepped form, and
executing the long cuts and the short cuts by means of a
single-element press-mounted ply-wood based steel-rule die. The
form of the die corresponds to the pattern seen at the upper
portion of FIG. 4
[0041] The scope of the described invention is intended to include
all embodiments coming within the meaning of the following claims.
The foregoing examples illustrate useful forms of the invention,
but are not to be considered as limiting its scope, as those
skilled in the art will be aware that additional variants and
modifications of the invention can readily be formulated without
departing from the meaning of the following claims.
* * * * *