Self-supporting textile package

A self-supporting textile package. The package includes a first generally rectangular sheet of cardboard forming a bottom layer having an upper and lower surface. A plurality of stacks of loose cut fabric pieces are placed on the upper surface of the first sheet of cardboard. A second generally rectangular sheet of cardboard forms a top layer having an upper and lower surface. Plastic film then is used to surround both the first and second generally rectangular sheets of cardboard and the plurality of stacks of loose cut fabric pieces to form a stable, self-supporting package suitable for shipment.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates generally to container systems and, more 
particularly, to a self-supporting textile package for shipping cut fabric 
parts. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
In today's modern apparel operations, fabric is often cut to size at one 
location and assembled into a final garment at another location. This is 
done, in part, because lower cost sewing operations may be some distance 
away from the best site for fabric manufacturing. 
Currently, individual parts for a garment are cut and matched up to provide 
the necessary pieces to assemble a number of garments. The parts are then 
packed in a cardboard container such as a "UNI-PAK" container, which 
consists of a plastic base and a cardboard sleeve (Uni-Pak.RTM. containers 
are manufactured by Shuert Industries, Sterling Heights, Mich.). 
While such containers have been commercially successful, they weigh about 
60 pounds each and must be returned to the fabric manufacturing plants in 
order to be reused. As can be appreciated, this adds significantly to the 
freight costs associated with moving the fabric pieces between multiple 
locations. 
Thus, there remains a need for a new and improved self-supporting textile 
package which is sufficiently strong to support and protect the fabric 
pieces from dirt, oil and grease while, at the same time, may be discarded 
after one use to avoid return shipment costs. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention is directed to a self-supporting textile package 
which forms a stable, self-supporting package suitable for shipment. The 
package includes a first generally rectangular sheet of cardboard forming 
a bottom layer. A plurality of stacks of loose cut fabric pieces are 
placed on the upper surface of the first sheet of cardboard. A second 
generally rectangular sheet of cardboard forms a top layer. Plastic film 
then is used to surround both the first and second generally rectangular 
sheets of cardboard and the plurality of stacks of loose cut fabric 
pieces. 
In the preferred embodiment, the plastic film is first stretch wrapped 
about one axis parallel to the generally rectangular sheet and then is 
stretch wrapped about a second axis parallel to the generally rectangular 
sheet and generally perpendicular to the first axis. 
Accordingly, one aspect of the present invention is to provide a 
self-supporting textile package. The package includes: (a) a generally 
rectangular sheet forming a bottom layer having an upper and lower 
surface; (b) a plurality of stacks of loose cut fabric pieces placed on 
the upper surface of the generally rectangular sheet; and (c) plastic film 
surrounding both the generally rectangular sheet and the plurality of 
stacks of loose cut fabric pieces, thereby forming a stable, 
self-supporting package suitable for shipment. 
Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a self-supporting 
textile package. The package includes: (a) a first generally rectangular 
sheet forming a bottom layer having an upper and lower surface; (b) a 
plurality of stacks of loose cut fabric pieces placed on the upper surface 
of the generally rectangular sheet; (c) a second generally rectangular 
sheet forming a top layer having an upper and lower surface; and (d) 
plastic film surrounding both the first and second generally rectangular 
sheets and the plurality of stacks of loose cut fabric pieces, thereby 
forming a stable, self-supporting package suitable for shipment. 
Still another aspect of the present invention is to provide a 
self-supporting textile package. The package includes: (a) a first 
generally rectangular sheet forming a bottom layer having an upper and 
lower surface; (b) a plurality of stacks of loose cut fabric pieces placed 
on the upper surface of the generally rectangular sheet; (c) a second 
generally rectangular sheet forming a top layer having an upper and lower 
surface; and (d) plastic film surrounding both the first and second 
generally rectangular sheets and the plurality of stacks of loose cut 
fabric pieces, wherein the plastic film is first stretch wrapped about one 
axis parallel to the generally rectangular sheet and then is stretch 
wrapped about a second axis parallel to the generally rectangular sheet 
and generally perpendicular to the first axis, thereby forming a stable, 
self-supporting package suitable for shipment. 
These and other aspects of the present invention will become apparent to 
those skilled in the art after a reading of the following description of 
the preferred embodiment when considered with the drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
In the following description, like reference characters designate like or 
corresponding parts throughout the several views. Also in the following 
description, it is to be understood that such terms as "forward", 
"rearward", "left", "right", "upwardly", "downwardly", and the like are 
words of convenience and are not to be construed as limiting terms. 
Referring now to the drawings in general and FIG. 1 in particular, it will 
be understood that the illustrations are for the purpose of describing a 
preferred embodiment of the invention and are not intended to limit the 
invention thereto. As best seen in FIG. 1, a self-supporting textile 
package, generally designated 10, is shown constructed according to the 
present invention. 
Package 10 includes a bottom sheet 12 of corrugated cardboard and a top 
sheet 14 also of corrugated cardboard. In the preferred embodiment, the 
sheets are generally square and are about 48".times.54". In the preferred 
embodiment, the fiber board of cardboard has a weight of about 2-1/2 
ounces per square foot. While the corners are generally pointed at 
90.degree., they could be rounded for some applications as shown in FIG. 
4. 
Between the bottom sheet 12 and top sheet 14, there are placed multiple 
stacks of cut fabric pieces. In the preferred embodiment, the fabric 
pieces are unbundled and otherwise unstable. But some bundling could be 
used for particularly unstable, knitted fabric pieces. Between about 400 
to 600 pounds of fabric pieces are stacked between bottom sheet 12 and top 
sheet 14. 
In the preferred embodiment, plastic wrap 20 is stretch wrapped across one 
direction of the package containing the top sheet, bottom sheet and 
unbundled fabric pieces. A second wrapping of plastic wrap 22 is then 
applied at 90.degree. to the first wrapping. Preferable, the plastic used 
is between about 1 to 2 mils in thickness. Also in the preferred 
embodiment, the plastic is transparent to permit the cut fabric pieces to 
be viewed along the sides to aid in identification of the goods therein. 
This technique maintains compression and shape of the fabric pieces and 
assures that the wrapping is doubled on the top and bottom. 
In the preferred embodiment, the present invention utilizes a horizontal 
"ring" wrapping machine to apply stretch-wrap plastic around stacked, cut 
fabric pieces with sheets of corrugated cardboard on the top and bottom of 
the package. The wrapped goods are then conveyed out of the wrapper, 
indexed 90.degree., conveyed back into the machine and wrapped again. This 
technique maintains compression and shape of the package and assures that 
the wrapping is doubled on the top and the bottom. The benefit of this 
system and technique are that the cut goods are compressed, no UNI-PAK 
container is required and the stacks may be loaded 3 high. When used to 
supply remote apparel sewing plants, this invention results in significant 
freight savings. 
One ring-type horizontal stretch-wrap machine which has proven particularly 
satisfactory is a Lanringer Stretch Wrapper available from Lantech, Inc. 
of Louisville, Ky. The basic structure of this device is described in U.S. 
Pat. Nos. 4,302,920; 4,317,322; 4,336,679; and 4,387,548. The entire 
disclosure of these patents is hereby incorporated by reference. 
Alternatively, instead of stretch wrapping, it is believed that this 
process could equally be carried out with a shrink-wrap machine such as is 
available from PDC International Corporation of South Norwalk, Conn. Both 
types of processing machines are capable of forming continuous plastic 
outer layers. While such systems have been used in the past to ship rolls 
and bundles of apparel, loose or unbundled cut pieces of fabric have been 
considered too unstable to stretch-wrap or shrink-wrap. 
Turning to FIG. 2, there is shown an exploded perspective view of the 
textile package shown in FIG. 1, utilizing wrapping in one direction only. 
While wrapping in two directions provides a more stable package and 
eliminates the possibility that the ends of the cut fabric pieces will be 
exposed to dirt, oil or grease, for a more stable fabric bundle, wrapping 
only in one direction and only a bottom sheet is expected to be necessary. 
However, to obtain the maximum advantages of the invention, it has been 
found that it is best to use both a top and bottom sheet 12, 14 and wrap 
in both direction transverse to one another. 
Turning to FIG. 3, there is shown an end elevational view of the textile 
package shown in FIG. 1. As can be seen, the corners of the top sheet 12 
and bottom sheet 14 have a tendency to bow under compression by plastic 
sheet 20. However, this bowing is not substantial and the self-supporting 
textile package according to the present invention may be stacked 2 to 4 
high with 3 being preferred. 
Finally, FIG. 4 shows an top plan view of the textile package shown in FIG. 
3. As can be seen, the cross-wrapping of the plastic film 20, 22 forms a 
grid across the surface of the top and bottom which further stabilizes the 
package. 
While in the preferred embodiment the goods are wrapped in one direction, 
conveyed out of the wrapper, indexed 90.degree., and conveyed back into 
the machine and wrapped again, other techniques could also be used. For 
example, two wrappers located at 90.degree. with one another could wrap 
the goods in one direction and transfer the goods to the second wrapper 
located at 90.degree. to the first wrapper to wrap the package 
perpendicular to the first wrapping. Also, as discussed above, it is 
envisioned that the package according to the present invention could also 
be made using shrink wrapping, instead of stretch wrapping in some 
situations. 
Certain modifications and improvements will occur to those skilled in the 
art upon a reading of the foregoing description. It should be understood 
that all such modifications and improvements have been deleted herein for 
the sake of conciseness and readability but are properly within the scope 
of the following claims.