US2539514A - Protective package for fragile articles - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 30, 1951 H. JENETT 2,539,514

PROTECTIVE PACKAGE FOR FRAGILE ARTICLES Filed April 19, 1947 I 7/ 3 ;,5 Z E I I 6 INVENTOR 10 HENRY JET/77.

\ ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 30, 1951 PROTECTIVE PACKAGE FOR FRAGILE ARTICLES Henry Jenett, Montclair, N. J.; Caroline Maria Jenett executrix of said Henry deceased Louise J enett,

Application April 19, 1947, Serial No. 742,760

2 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to packaging of material, and more especially to the packaging of fragile material, such as pottery, glass and dinnerware, and to the method of packing the same, which is more economical and desirable than present known methods.

At the present time it is customary to wrap pottery, glass and ceramic articles in paper and then pack such wrapped articles in excelsior or sawdust. The paper and loose packing is used essentially to prevent the dishes or glassware from rubbing against one another and chipping. This results, however, in large bulky packages of rather high cost from the standpoint of packing as well as increased shipping expense. Moreover, the paper and excelsior or sawdust, being of high inflammability has resulted in high insurance rates throughout the industry.

A further disadvantage resides in the fact that the sawdust and excelsior invariably slips through the paper wrapping necessitating unpacking and washing before the glassware or dishes, as the case may be, can be displayed or used. Not only does this handling involve labor costs but it increases the hazard of breakage and since unpacking and washing is necessary before damage can be ascertained, any chipping or breaking occurring during handling is invariably charged back to the shipping agent or manufacturer.

It is accordingly the primary object of the present invention to provide a cheap and effective package for fragile material such as glassware, dishes, pottery and the like which eliminates all the objections and hazards of prior art packages for such material.

Still further objects of the present invention will become obvious to those skilled in the art by reference to the accompanying drawing wherein: V

Figure l is a cross-sectional view of a dinner plate provided with a protective coating in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a view showing stacking of the coated plates of Fig. l, and

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of stacked deeper dishes than those shown in Fig. l and each provided with a protective strip-coating in accordance with the present invention.

l. have discovered that a plastic film cast on to pottery, dinnerware, or the like, acts to protect it from contact with its neighbors as effec- 2 tively as any present methods of packaging, while at the same time fully protecting the material against shock, which might otherwise cause chipping or breaking. Moreover, if certain types of plastic films are punctured in the semi-set stage, the plastic film dries as an elastic membrane instead of as a coating hugging the glassware or dishes, and these elastic membranes act to provide a cushioning and spacing effect which facilitates excellent stacking and packing, and at the same time completely obviates the necessity for additional filling material for the packages.

Any of the commonly known strip-coating media may be used to produce the plastic film. These fall into three general categories, as follows:

(DI-lot melts, consisting of plastic compositions comprising varying proportions of cellulose esters or ethers, plasticizers, oils, waxes, gums or resins, colorants and other modifying agents, all of the components being substantially nonvolatile in character, the masses becoming liquid upon the application of the relatively high temperature at which they are applied and solidifying on the articles upon cooling.

(2) Liquid coatings, comprising various proportions of plastic matter as above described and of volatile organic solvents, the compositions remaining liquid at room temperature and forming films or solid coatings on the articles upon the evaporation of the solvents.

(3) Reversible gels, comprising varying proportions of plastic matter and volatile solvents, the compositions being liquefiable at moderate temperature and reverting from this liquid state to a transitory gel stage upon application to the articles, then forming solid coherent films, upon evaporation of the solvents.

For purposes of the present invention I prefer to employ the reversible gel type of coating such as described and claimed in my co-pending application, Serial No'. 737,431 filed March 26, 1947, now abandoned. This is because the hot melt type of coating sets so rapidly that it is difficult to form a drum-like membrane during the setting process. The liquid type of coating, as above mentioned, forms thin films which have the tendency to cling to the article and therefore do not lend themselves to the controlled formation of membranes. Consequently these latter two types of compositions are restricted to uses where the membrane formation is not desired.

A typical composition which may be used for a membranous coating is:

A further example of another composition.

which forms a membranous coating is:

Pounds Polyvinyl chloride 13.5 Mixed plasticizer 6.5 Nitroethane 60 Hexane 20 The articles to be coated are dipped in the coating composition which, as above stated, is

preferably of the reversible gel type and thus in .a, hotliquidstate at. the time of dipping. Upon withdrawal, the coating begins to cool, accompaniedby evaporation of the. solvent. When the articles are dinnerware or the like such as shownat5'in the accompanyingdrawing, having concave surfaces 6, I find" that Icy-puncturing ,thecoating 7 above the concave surface such as shown by the small vent opening 8, and'while in theserni-setstage, continued evaporation of the solvent causes the coating to bridge across the periphery of the concave surface and form a drum-like membranous web 9, as hereinbefore mentioned. Also, ifdesired, thedrum-like membranous web 9 may be just as readily formed over the concave surfaces without puncturing by rapid' or quick drying simply through exposure of the coating film to temperatures appreaching the boiling point of thesolvent while the film is still moist or solvent-ladenand hence in a contractiblestate.

Atthe same time the coating Tadheres to all edges and'fiat surfaces, so that, upon stacking the dishesone on the other as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 the resilient drum-like membrane yields sufficiently to form a cushion, aided by the air beneath the membrane and within the concave area, thus adequately protecting one coated article from actual contact with its neighbors above and below in the stack. Moreover, the adhering coatingat-the edges and periphery tends to absorbshockand vibration during shipping which would otherwise cause breaking and-,chippingat such locations. Hence, after dipping and puncturingor quick drying and once the coating has set, the articles 5' may be stacked one on the otherin sufficient quantity for a standard package and then appropriately boxed for shipment. Such box 10, such as shown in Fig. 3 need only be large enough to accommodate the number of articles making up the standard package and since nofurther packing inthe way of shockabso-rbing-material such-as paper, sawdust, or excelsior, is required, the box or final shipping container is thus of minimum sizeand'weight.

Upon receipt of the shipment the customer need onlyopen the container and-remove the ar-.

ticles for inspection and display, whenthey will be found tov be. as meticulously .clean and perfect in every respect as when they left factory. The

plastic coating can be left upon the articles, since it continues its protection from dirt and shock without impairing complete visual examination, until the article is sold to the ultimate consumer, who then strips the coating readily from the article.

It should accordingly be obvious from the foregoing that a package for fragile material, such as glassware, dinnerware, pottery and the like, is provided .by the present: invention wherein the articles are provided with a drum-like plastic membrane spanning concave surfaces and sumciently resilient as to enable stacking of the articles one on the other. Moreover, due to the cushioning effect of the coating, the articles are protectedfrom contactwith each other, eliminating the-hazards of breakage and chipping while confining the sizeand weight of a shipping container to a minimum, and at the same time protecting the articles from contamination from the time they leave the factory until received by the final purchaser.

Although one specific embodiment of the present invention and the method of forming has been shown and described, it is to be understood that still further modifications thereof may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I, claim:

1., A package comprising a plurality of stacked articles in a container, each article having a concave surface and said articles being separated from each other by a resilient cushion formed of a membranous film of transparent strippable thermoplastic material bridging the concave surface of each article and adhering to the plane surface thereof with said membranous film being entirely free of reinforcing and supported solely by itself from the edges of the coated article.

2'; A package comprising a plurality of stacked articles in'a container with each article provided with a concave surface and being separated from each other by a resilient shock-absorbing cushion formed of a membranous film of transparent strippable thermoplastic material, said membranous film being provided with a small vent opening. therein and bridging the concave surface of each article and adhering to the plane surface thereof to prevent contact between the stacked articles and possible cracking or breakingthereof, ancl'said membranous film being entirely free of reinforcing and supported solely by itself from the edges of the coated article.

HENRY JENETT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 668,048 McCarthy Feb. 12, 1901 1,664,635 Magill Apr. 3,1928 1,715,685 Tighe June 4, 1929 1,800,841 Maston Apr. 14, 1931 1,908,940 Weidel May 16, 1933 2,064,411 Brandstein Dec. 15, 1936 2,151,503 Dowst Mar. 21, 1939 2,362,740 Batchelor Nov. 14, 1944 2,372,982 Richards Apr. 3, 1945 2,441,227 Pineles May 11, 1948

Claims (1)

1. A PACKAGE COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF STACKED ARTICLES IN A CONTAINER, EACH ARTICLE HAVING A CONCAVE SURFACE AND SAID ARTICLES BEING SEPARATED FROM EACH OTHER BY A RESILIENT CUSHION FORMED OF A MEMBRANOUS FILM OF TRANSPARENT STRIPPABLE THERMOPLASTIC MATERIAL BRIDGING THE CONCAVE SURFACE OF EACH ARTICLE AND ADHERING TO THE PLANE SURFACE THEREOF WITH SAID MEMBRANOUS FILM BEING ENTIRELY FREE OF REINFORCING AND SUPPORTED SOLELY BY ITSELF THE EDGES OF THE COATED ARTICLE.

Images