GB1586482A

GB1586482A - Package

Info

Publication number: GB1586482A
Application number: GB17432/77A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: EPS Research and Development Ltd
Current assignee: EPS Research and Development Ltd
Priority date: 1978-05-12
Filing date: 1978-05-12
Publication date: 1981-03-18

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO A PACKAGE (71) We, EPS (RESEARCH & DE VELOPMENT) LIMITED, a British Company of Staplehurst Road, Sittingbourne, Kent, do hereby declare the invention for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us and the method by which it is to be performed to be particularly described in and by the following statement: The present invention relates to a package.

In this specification the word "package" is used to mean a container, or a device that can readily be adapted to form a container, for receiving articles.

At the present time, printed circuit boards are manufactured in large numbers and often have to be stored and transported.

Printed circuit boards can easily be damaged if the exposed surfaces of the printed circuit boards are subjected to abrasions. It has been proposed to store printed circuit boards in containers provided with a plurality of slots adapted to accommodate the side edges of the circuit boards, the container thus resembling the containers that are sometimes used for containing photographic slides. One disadvantage of using such containers is that the side edges of the printed circuit boards may be damaged as the boards are inserted into or removed from the slots, and it has been known for circuit boards to be incorrectly positioned in such slots thus increasing the amount of damage that may be done to the board, and also increasing the risk of the boards falling out of the package as they are not firmly retained.

The present invention seeks to provide a package for use in packing in which the above described disadvantages are reduced or obviated.

According to a first aspect of this inven- tion there is provided a package comprising a plurality of sheets of resilient material in spaced parallelism, each adjacent pair of said sheets being spaced apart by at least one respective spacer member, said spacer member or members and said sheets being secured together, the or each spacer member having a predetermined configuration or having lines of mechanical weakness so that a portion thereof may be torn away so that the remaining part of the spacer member has said predetermined configuration, such that each pair of adjacent sheets and the intermediate spacer member or members define a pocket when said spacer member or members has said predetermined configuration.

Conveniently each said spacer member may comprise a substantially "U" shaped member of resilient material and advantageously the spacer members and the sheets may alternate and may have identical external dimensions.

Preferably said sheets and said spacer members each comprise sheets of resilient materials which have identical external dimensions and which are secured together to form a block, substantially all the sheets being provided with lines of mechanical weakness to permit portions of sheets selected to constitute spacer members readily to be removed.

Conveniently each line of mechanical weakness is formed by a cut extending part way through the thickness of the respective sheet or spacer member or by perforations.

Preferably the sheets and spacer members are of a foamed plastics materials which may be a thermoplastics material, the sheets and spacer members then being secured together by welding. Alternatively the sheets and spacer members may be secured together by means of an adhesive. Preferred materials for the sheets and spacer members are foamed polyethylene, foamed polyurethane and foamed PVC. Advantageously these materials may be of antistatic types to avoid damage to any semi conductor components that may be attached to a board packed in the package.

According to a second aspect of this invention there is provided a method of making a package comprising the steps of securing together a plurality of sheets of resilient material with at least one spacer member, the sheets of resilient material being in spaced parallelism, each adjacent pair of said sheets being spaced apart by at least one respective spacer member, the or each spacer member having a predetermined configuration or having lines of mechanical weakness so that a portion thereof may be torn away so that the remaining part of the spacer member has said predetermined configuration, such that each pair of adjacent sheets and the intermediate spacer member or members define a pocket when said spacer member or members has said predetermined configuration.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood, and so that further features thereof may be appreciated the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure I is a perspective view of a packaging device in accordance with the Invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of a package made from a packaging device as shown in Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a plan view of a sheet of foam plastics material used in forming the packaging device of Figure 1.

Referring to Figure 1 a device 1 for use in packing is made from a plurality of sheets 2 of polyethylene foam. Polyethylene foam is preferred for use as a packaging material since the foam is chemically inert and does not tend to damage articles stored within a package made of this material. Pieces of polyethylene foam are cut to a predetermined size, for example, 5.5" x 9", and then a line of mechanical weakness 3 is provided adjacent three sides of each of the rectangular pieces of foam, the line of mechanical weakness being spaced for example buy 2 from the two short sides and one long side of the pieces of foam 2. The line of mechanical weakness 3 may be formed for example by cutting half way through the thickness of each of the pieces of foam 2 or by making a perforated cut or other perforations.The pieces of foam 2 are then aligned with the lines of mechanical weakness 3 adjacent one another, the combined pieces of foam thus forming a generally cubic block as shown in Figure 1. Subsequently the three faces of the block constituted by the edges of the foam members provided with the lines of mechanical weakness are brought into contact with a heated surface to cause adjacent pieces of foam 2 to be welded to one another. If necessary, the block may subsequently be brought into contact with cold metal surface to effect cooling and to ensure that the faces of the block are provided with a smooth appearance and have no rough edges.

In using a packaging device as above described it is possible for the central portion of one or more of the polyethylene foam pieces 2 to be torn out from the block, thus forming a pocket 4 between the next adjacent foam members 2, the pocket being bounded on three sides by the remaining part of the foam piece 2 from which a portion has been torn out, as is shown in Figure 2. A printed circuit board may be inserted into the pocket 4 and will then be substantially surrounded by polyethylene foam, thus permitting ready transportation or storage of the printed circuit board, whilst the board is protected from any damage.If the pocket 4 formed by removing the central part of one piece of polyethylene foam 2 is not sufficiently large to accommodate the printed circuit board in question or other item to be packed, the central parts of two or more adjacent sheets of polyethylene foam 2 may be removed from the block to provide a pocket 4. having somewhat larger thickness. Thus the pocket may be adapted to have any desired size to accommodate any desired printed circuit board or other item.

Whilst a packaging device in accordance with the present invention may be utilised in the transportation and storage of printed circuit boards in a factory or during transportation from a factory to a point of use it is to be appreciated that packaging as described above, may be used in other ways.

For example, if one or more printed circuit boards have to be sent by post, then the printed circuit boards may be introduced to pockets 4 formed at the end of the block, and then the entire end portion of the block containing the printed circuit board may be removed from the rest of the block to form a small package suitable for transportation by post.

In another embodiment of the invention a plurality of sheets of polyethylene foam are secured together, the sheets being spaced apart by "U" shaped portions of polyethylene foam to provide pre-defined pockets. Whilst such a product may prove to be commercially desirable it is to be appreciated that in producing such a product it will be necessary to cut the "U" shaped members from a sheet of polyethylene foam, thus producing a relatively large quantity of waste, and furthermore the manufacturing costs will be virtually the same as the manufacturing costs for the above described embodiment of the invention.

Whilst the invention has been described with reference to the use of pieces of polyethylene foam that are secured together by welding it is to be appreciated that the edges of the polyethylene foam elements could be secured together with a suitable adhesive, for example a polyurethane resin.

It is to be appreciated that in certain embodiments of the invention polyurethane foam could be utilised instead of polyethylene foam, this again having the advantage of being a relatively inert material but having the disadvantage that an adhesive, such as polyurethane resin, must be used to secure the edges of the polyurethane foam together, since polyurethane foam cannot be heat welded.

Similarly PVC foam could be utilised, but it is to be appreciated that this foam suffers from the slight disadvantage that after a period of time the plasticizer present in the foam may migrate and may consequently cause deterioration of printed circuit boards contained within a package formed from such foam. However, PVC foam does have the advantage that it can be welded since PVC foam is a thermoplastic material.

From the foregoing description it will be appreciated that the invention has two main embodiments, comprising firstly a block comprising a plurality of sheets of foam material having lines of mechanical weakness which are welded together to enable portions of the sheets to be torn out to form pockets, and the second embodiment in which sheets of foam material are separated by "U' shaped spacing members to form a number of pockets. In either event printed circuit boards or like items may be inserted into the pocket for storage or transportation.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A package comprising a plurality of sheets of resilient material in spaced parallelism. each adjacent pair of said sheets being spaced apart by at least one respective spacer member. said spacer member or members and said sheets being secured together. the or each spacer member having a predetermined configuration or having lines of mechanical weakness so that a portion thereof may be torn away so that the remaining part of the spacer member has said predetermined configuration. such that each pair of adjacent sheets and the intermediate spacer member or members define a pocket when said spacer member or members has said predetermined configuration.

2. A package accordng to claim 1 wherein each said spacer member comprises a substantially U shaped member of resilient material.

3. A package according to claim 2 wherein the spacer member and the sheets alternate and have identical external dimenslons.

4. A package according to claim 1 wherein said sheets and said spacer members each comprise sheets of resilient material which have identical external dimensions and which are secured together to form a block, substantially all the sheets being provided with lines of mechanical weakness to permit portions of sheets selected to constitute spacer members readily to be removed.

5. A package according to claim 1 or 4, wherein each line of mechanical weakness is formed by a cut extending part way through the thickness of the respective sheet or spacer member or by perforations.

6. A package according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the sheets and spacer members are of a foamed plastics material.

7. A package according to claim 6 wherein the foamed plastics material is a thermoplastics material, the sheets and spacer members being secured together by welding.

8. A package according to any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the sheets and spacer members are secured together by adhesive.

9. A package according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the sheets and spacer members are of foamed polyethylene, foamed polyurethane or foamed PVC or antistatic materials of these types.

10. A method of making a package comprising the step of securing together a plurality of sheets of resilient material with at least one spacer member, the sheets of resilient material being in spaced parallelism, each adjacent pair of said sheets being spaced apart by at least one respective spacer member, the or each spacer member having a predetermined configuration or having lines of mechanical weakness so that a portion thereof may be torn away so that the remaining part of the spacer member has said predetermined configuration, such that each pair of adjacent sheets and the intermediate spacer member or members define a pocket when said spacer member or members has said predetermined configuration.

11. A package substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. with reference to the use of pieces of polyethylene foam that are secured together by welding it is to be appreciated that the edges of the polyethylene foam elements could be secured together with a suitable adhesive, for example a polyurethane resin. It is to be appreciated that in certain embodiments of the invention polyurethane foam could be utilised instead of polyethylene foam, this again having the advantage of being a relatively inert material but having the disadvantage that an adhesive, such as polyurethane resin, must be used to secure the edges of the polyurethane foam together, since polyurethane foam cannot be heat welded. Similarly PVC foam could be utilised, but it is to be appreciated that this foam suffers from the slight disadvantage that after a period of time the plasticizer present in the foam may migrate and may consequently cause deterioration of printed circuit boards contained within a package formed from such foam. However, PVC foam does have the advantage that it can be welded since PVC foam is a thermoplastic material. From the foregoing description it will be appreciated that the invention has two main embodiments, comprising firstly a block comprising a plurality of sheets of foam material having lines of mechanical weakness which are welded together to enable portions of the sheets to be torn out to form pockets, and the second embodiment in which sheets of foam material are separated by "U' shaped spacing members to form a number of pockets. In either event printed circuit boards or like items may be inserted into the pocket for storage or transportation. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A package comprising a plurality of sheets of resilient material in spaced parallelism. each adjacent pair of said sheets being spaced apart by at least one respective spacer member. said spacer member or members and said sheets being secured together. the or each spacer member having a predetermined configuration or having lines of mechanical weakness so that a portion thereof may be torn away so that the remaining part of the spacer member has said predetermined configuration. such that each pair of adjacent sheets and the intermediate spacer member or members define a pocket when said spacer member or members has said predetermined configuration.

12. A method of making a package

substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.