US2014091A - Pack for fragile articles - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 10,1935. E. 1.. SHEPARD PACK FOR FRAGILE ARTICLES Filed Nov. 22, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet l fiwani-or E'rnesZL.S/aepard P 1935. E. L SHEPARD 2,014,091

PACK FOR FRAGILE ARTICLES 4 Filed Nov 22, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor Sept. 10, 1935.

E. L. SHEPARD PACK FOR FRAGILE ARTICLES Filed Nov. 22, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 113061170! ErnesZLS/aepmd flltozzugy Patented Sept. 10, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PACK FOR FRAGILE ARTICLES Application November 22, 1932, Serial No. 643,854

7 Claims.

In the packing and shipping of fragile articles such as glass bottles, jars, radio and .electric light bulbs, etc. it is usually the practice to pack and ship a considerable number of articles in a shipping case or crate, these cases being opened by the retailer who repacks the individual articles for retail delivery.

In order to facilitate the repacking of articles for such retail delivery as well as to properly protect the articles during their shipment in bulk, the articles are sometimes packed in individual containers or in containers containing a comparatively small number of articles, these containers providing convenient packages for retail delivery without repacking when removed from the shipping case.

For some articles, however, it is unnecessary to have all the articles in the large shipping case packed in individual packages for retail delivery. Instead only a part of those articles need be packed in the retail package in which event it is either necessary to pack a part of the articles in the individual containers and provide some separate and independent means for packing the remainder of the articles, or more preferably, to provide individual article packing members of such design that they will not only afford packing means for the articles in the large case or crate but when removed from the crate may be used for re-shipment of a part of the articles properly packed in a retail delivery package.

The ordinary pack is of the folded type where a single article or a small number of articles are placed within this pack, the top folded over the articles thus forming a closed protective container protecting the articles when packed and shipped with others and also forming a retail delivery package for each article or each small group of articles.

If, however, it is not necessary to have individual retail delivery packages for all articles in a shipping case, the packing of these articles in the case with a lesser number of the ordinary individual shipping packs than necessary for retail delivery has not been satisfactory. If the packages are not folded over but are simply laid on top of other articles, both articles and packs are loosely retained in the shipping case and damage both to the packs and articles packed therein results.

With these considerations in mind, I have devised an individual article pack which fulfills the dual purpose, first of providing a reliable protective packing means for the articles in the larger shipping case, and second, of providing a convenient retail means for individual articles or small groups of articles after the packs have been removed from the larger .shipping case. According to my invention the construction of the packs themselves is such as to prevent undue movement 5 of the packs relative to each other in the shipping case with resultant damage to the packs and the articles contained therein while at the same time providing for that universality of use so necessary where the packs may be assembled in 10 the shipping case either as folded, ioldable, or rigid packing units.

As illustrative of the principles involved, I show a container for two articles such as bottles, and various assemblies of such container in a shipping case. It is to be understood that this is simply illustrative, however, and that my pack is neither limited to the packing of two articles only nor limited to the packing only of such articles as bottles.

In the accompanying drawings wherein I have attempted to indicate several of the many packing assemblies:-

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a pair of superposed article packs, here shown as bottle packs, in accordance with my invention, with bottles in place, and particularly illustrating the pack structure by means of which the packs are restrained against undue shifting motion within the shipping case.

Figs. 2, 3 and 4 are cross sections on the lines 22, 3-3 and 4-4, respectively, of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 shows a combination packing in a large shipping case whereby a part of the articles are completely enclosed in the retail delivery pack 5 and a part of the articles are packed in an unfolded retail package.

Fig. 6 illustrates this pack when used in the regular way by being folded over the articles completely enclosing them and providing a plurality of individual retail delivery packs.

Fig. '7 shows these packs used in a shipping case and not folded or completely enclosing the articles, and

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the pack and is illustrative of the modifications and improvements which I have conceived to enable this pack to fulfill its dual purpose previously mentioned.

The above views illustrate not only the dual purpose which this pack accomplishes but also indicate that any reasonable combination or number of individual shipping packs can be included in the shipping case in accordance with the individual and varying needs of the retail trade.

It is obvious of course that there is a minimum number of packs necessary in order to satisfactorily retain and protect the articles in the large case. If this number is not suilicient for retail delivery a part (Fig. 5) or all (Fig. 6) of the articles may be packed in folding packs affording retail delivery packs for as much of the contents of the shipping case as may be necessary.

In order to accomplish this purpose I have designed a pack which can be used either in a conventional closed form in the shipping case or for retail delivery and also can be used without being folded (Fig. 7) for packing the articles in a large shipping case, the construction being such that the packs themselves are positively restrained against undue shifting movement relative to each other in the shipping case under any and all conditions of use.

In order to accomplish this result, each pack is provided with recesses or saddles on both exterior surfaces, which recesses or saddles fit over the articles which may be placed in open packs in the lower level or levels of the shipping case. These recesses or saddles provide adequate supporting surface for the upper layers of articles contained in open packs and as many of these layers or tiers of articles can be thus packed as is necessary to fill the case. Not only do the recesses or saddles form an adequate supporting surface for the upper layers but they also prevent shifting of the upper layers relative to the lower layers and consequent damage to both pack and articles packed therein.

In Fig. 5 the articles in the lower layers are shown as packed in this manner while the articles in the upper layer are shown packed in the same packing member but folded so as to provide a complete retail shipping package. It is of course obvious that the entire shipping case might have been packed in a similar manner shown in the upper layer of this case or that the articles in said upper layer might have been packed in open containers as in Fig. 7 or folded containers, as in Fig. 6.

Referring now to the construction of the individual packing units, these are formed of fibrous material, as molded pulp. Each pack consists of a sheet I having a plurality of individual half-pockets or article-receiving cavities 2 distributed symmetrically across its face, preferably in reversed arrangement to each other, the sheet being adapted in some instances to be overfolded upon itself along a central fold line 3 and when so overfolded forming by means of said cavities a plurality (here shown as two) of completely enclosing cells for the bottles or other articles A packed therein.

The cavities or depressions 2 are themselves suitably contoured to conform to the articles A which are to be packed therein, and are trussed or reinforced in any desired manner whereby to properly strengthen and stiifen the packing sheet generally.

In the case of the bottle pack shown, such reinforcements include a transverse hollow rib 4 and 5, adjacent each end of the pack, and a central hollow rib 6. The ribs 4 and 5 may or may not extend completely across the spaces separating the individual article recesses 2 exteriorly of the sheet. The central hollow rib 6 is preferably sectional, being broken at said separating spaces.

The sections of the central rib 6 are alternately joined to the end ribs 4 or 5 by longitudi- In such packing method the cradles or saddles I 8 afford adequate bearing for the layer next above and also serve to retain the upper layer against shifting movement on the lower layer with resultant damage to both the packs and the articles contained therein.

Where the packing units are provided with these cradles or saddles 53, I also find it desirable to form the upper surface of the longitudinal ribs I with a slightly upward curve towards the end ribs l and 5 of the unit, best shown in Fig. 8, the surface of the ribs 1 being also slightly dished if desired.

The necks of the bottles, in the case of a bottle pack, rest on these ribs 1 and the effect of curving said ribs upwardly is to prevent the botties from rolling off the ribs. This in combination with the concaved saddles or cradles fords a secure seat for the bottles when packed as shown in Figs. 1 and 7.

As previously indicated several alternative methods of assembly in the shipping case are possible.

In Fig. 5, the bottom and intermediate layers are shown as constituted by packing units of open or unfolded type and the uppermost layer as constituted by a pair of open or unfolded units which, however, have been reversed as to each other and placed one on top of the other so as to completely close the row of bottles or other articles A in said uppermost layer.

When the shipping case of Fig. 5 is opened, the several packing units are individually usable as retail containers by simply overfolding them on their central fold lines.

In Fig. 6 all articles in all layers are shown as packed in units which have already been overfolded to form closed individual retail packing containers without the necessity of re-packing when the shipping case is opened.

In Fig. 7 all of the packing units in the several layers are of the open or unfolded type, the units in an upper layer resting directly upon the bottles or other articles A in a lower layer of units, and as best shown in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, the saddles or cradles 8 serving to provide adequate bearing and reliable restraining surfaces therefor whereby to prevent relative shifting of the superposed layers.

The foregoing embodiments are only illustrative of the variety of packing assemblies and combinations thereof possible with my dual-purpose packing unit which in all instances and under all conditions of packing provides at once a reliable packing sheet or filler for the shipping case and a convenient retail container for the individual articles or small groups of them after they have been removed from the shipping case.

Many other arrangements as well as various modifications in structure and use will readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art, and consequently are to be regarded as coming within the general perview of my invention if within the limits of the appended claims.

What I therefore claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:-

1. In an article pack, a sheet of fibrous material having a plurality of contiguous pocket forming depressions of curved cross section, said depressions being intersected by at least three transverse reenforcement channels which form bearing ribs exteriorly of the pockets, two of said ribs being located adjacent the ends of the pack and the third rib being located substantially centrally of the pack.

2. In an article pack, a sheet of fibrous material having a plurality of contiguous pocket forming depressions of curved cross section, said depressions being intersected. by at least three transverse reenforcement channels which form bearing ribs exteriorly of the pockets, and said ribs being provided with concaved surfaces affording seats or cradles for articles packed exteriorly of the article receiving depressions, two of said ribs being located adjacent the ends of the pack and the third rib being located substantially centrally of the pack and the seats or cradles of the end ribs being staggered with reference to each other but being aligned with the seats or cradles of the central rib.

3. In an article pack, a sheet of fibrous material having a plurality of contiguous pocket forming depressions of curved cross section, said sheet having transverse reinforcements extending continuously across said pocket forming depressions and constituting transverse bearing ribs exteriorly of said depressions, said sheet also having longitudinally extending reinforcements connecting certain of said transverse reinforcements and affording longitudinally bearing ribs exteriorly of the pockets, said transverse bearing ribs being formed to provide seats or cradles for the reception of other articles placed therein exteriorly of the pocket forming depressions.

4. An article pack as claimed in claim 3, wherein the longitudinal reinforcement ribs are curved upwardly towards their outer ends to snugly fit and support the corresponding portions of the articles placed thereon.

5. A pack as claimed in claim 3 wherein the longitudinal ribs are disposed in the line of the axis of curvature of the seats or cradles formed on the transverse ribs.

6. A pack as claimed in claim 3 wherein the exterior bearing surfaces of the longitudinal ribs are transversely curved to conform to the curvature of the articles supported thereon.

7. A pack as claimed in claim 3 wherein there are three transverse ribs, two of which are located adjacent the ends of the pack and the third rib being located substantially centrally of the pack, and wherein the longitudinal ribs extend only from the central rib to one of the end ribs in any pocket forming depression so that said longitudinal ribs are staggered with respect to each other.

ERNEST L. SHEPARD.

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