Impact resistant package and method

Abstract

An impact resistant container system particularly useful for products such as stacked, thin sheets of photographic-film or printing plates and other articles that must be kept distortion free. The system has an inner container wherein the product is sandwiched between upper and lower protection sheets that extend beyond the corner margins of the product and the product is restrained from movement within the sandwich. The sandwich is snugly positioned within an outer container so that the article is spaced apart on all sides from the vertical walls of the outer container to provide impact protection crush zones.

We claim:  
     
         1 . An impact resistant package comprising: 
 a) an article having a corner to be protected from impact;    b) upper and lower spaced apart, sheet-like corner protective members in vertical alignment, each member having a corner extending beyond the protected corner of the article, said article being sandwiched between said members and being restrained from movement with respect to at least one of said members; and    c) a receptacle having an interior corner, the corners of said upper and lower members with the article sandwiched therebetween being positioned in said interior corner of said receptacle, both members being restrained from movement within said receptacle.    
     
     
         2 . The package of  claim 1  wherein said article is a stack of rectangular photosensitive plates in a light protective wrap and the article is being restrained from movement with respect to both protection members.  
     
     
         3 . The package of  claim 1  wherein the material from which the package and corner protection members are formed is selected from the group consisting of paperboard, corrugated paperboard, foamed plastic, and corrugated plastic, and wherein the edges of the members forming the corners of said upper and lower protective members provide end and side protection.  
     
     
         4 . An impact resistant package comprising: 
 a. an article having four vertical sides that intersect in substantially right angle corners, a top, and a bottom;    b. a preform having four sides and right angle corners with at least one foldable flap in each side, said article being positioned on said preform with each of said flaps being folded over a portion of a side of the article and each flap partially covering the top of the article, the corners of the articles being spaced apart from the corners of the preform;    c. lower corner protective members being formed by each corner of the preform;    d. an upper corner protective member positioned above the top of said article, said member having four corners and being vertically aligned with the corresponding corners of the lower corner protective member;    e. said article being restrained from movement with respect to said upper and lower members; and    f. a receptacle having four right angle interior corners for snugly receiving and holding said upper and lower corner protective members with said article sandwiched therebetween.    
     
     
         5 . The package of  claim 4  wherein the materials from which the preform, upper corner protection member, and receptacle are selected consists of corrugated paperboard, paperboard, foamed plastic, and corrugated plastic.  
     
     
         6 . The package of  claim 4  wherein the article is a stack of rectangular photosensitive sheets in a light protective wrap.  
     
     
         7 . An impact resistant package comprising: 
 a. an article of generally rectangular parallelepiped shape having substantially flat top and bottom walls, and vertical longitudinal and transverse side walls, the intersections of said side walls forming corners requiring impact protection;    b. a sheet like preform, said preform having substantially parallel transverse and substantially parallel longitudinal sides, each side having flaps formed therein defined by spaced apart slits, said article being centrally positioned on said preform with its sides being substantially parallel to the corresponding sides of said preform, the portion of the preform upon which the article rests being defined as a bottom panel, said flaps being folded over said side walls of the article, the lower and upper edges of each side wall of said article defining as creasing and folding edges for each respective flap, each flap having a panel covering a portion of the top wall of said article, the vertical portion of each respective flap forming a panel for restraining movement of said article, and, the unfolded portion of the preform between pairs of transverse and longitudinal slits defining lower protective corner members;    c. an outer sheet-like container substantially rectangular in shape having outer end and outer side flaps defined by first score lines, said first score lines intersecting to form four corners, side panels defined by the space between said first and second score lines, said inner container being positioned on said container with the corners of said inner container coinciding with the corners formed by the first score lines;    d. a sheet-like upper corner protective member having multiple corners and being positioned over said inner container so that its corners coincide with but are spaced apart from the lower corners of the inner container, the coinciding corners of the preform and the upper corner protective members extending beyond the corners of the article thus providing a crush zone for the article;    e. transverse and longitudinal straps, each strap being wrapped around said folded preform and upper member to hold the respective top, bottom, and side panels securely against the article thereby forming an inner container;    f. the end flaps and side flaps of the outer container being folded to form end panels between the first and second score line segments, and said end flaps covering a portion of the upper corner protective member, said side flaps being folded so that the portion of each flap between the first and second score line positions forms side panels for the outer container, said outer side flaps being folded over the outer end flaps and upper protective member with their respective edges meeting to form a seam and close the outer container, said seam being sealed thereby providing an impact resistant package.    
     
     
         8 . The package of  claim 7  wherein said preform, upper corner protective member, and outer container are formed from corrugated paperboard.  
     
     
         9 . The package of  claim 7  wherein the at least one of the sheet-like components, namely, the preform, upper corner protective member, or outer container, is formed from foamed plastic material, or corrugated plastic.  
     
     
         10 . The package of  claim 7  wherein the article to be packed comprises a stack of photosensitive sheets in a light protective wrapping.  
     
     
         11 . The package of  claim 7  wherein all the longitudinal and transverse directions are equal so that said article, inner container, and outer container are generally square.  
     
     
         12 . The package of  claim 7  wherein the upper corner protective member comprises: 
 i) a flat, generally rectangular sheet member;  
 ii) said member having a central connector segment of a rectangular shape; and  
 iii) corner members at each corner of said connector extending outwardly from said connector.  
 
     
     
         13 . A method of making an impact resistant package comprising the steps of: 
 a) providing a four sided preform sheet, said preform having a pair of slits in each side, the space between the slits in each pair defining a flap;    b) positioning an article centrally on the preform, said article being of smaller dimensions than said preform so that a margin is provided by the preform around the article whereby the preform extends beyond the article;    c) placing an upper corner protection member over the article in said container, said upper member snugly fitting the shape and dimension of the interior of said container;    d) folding said flaps upwardly and over the article and protection member;    e) securing said flaps against the article at points remote from the corners of the article;    f) restraining said article from movement with respect to said preform and upper member; and,    g) positioning the preform with the article thereupon in a receptacle with interior shape and dimension to snugly accommodate said perform and upper corner member thereby protecting said article from impact.    
     
     
         14 . A method of making an impact resistant package comprising the steps of: 
 a) sandwiching an article having a corner between upper and lower protective members each having corners that are positioned to extend beyond the corner of said article;    b) restraining said article so that it cannot move with respect to said members; and    c) forming a receptacle having interior corners around the sandwiched article and container so that the corners of the protective member snugly fit into said interior corners of said receptacle.