Abstract:
A packaging filler product and machine for making the product wherein the product includes an air-filled pouch having sealed edges and spots connecting the opposing sheets of the pouch together. The machine includes a frictional belt system for gripping a bulk supply of pouched package material and that urges the bulk material past an inflation device for serially introducing air to the interior of each pouch of the package material followed by employing a heater that heat seals the opening into the interior of each pouch. A trim cutter eliminates unnecessary material and individual pouches are separated from the bulk supply by using perforations provided between adjacent pouches. A feed mechanism including the belt system is provided for moving the bulk supply of pouches from a supply spool past the heater and through the trim cutter. Tensioning and idle rollers guide the bulk supply of pouches through the machine in an in-line series.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to the field of packaging materials, and more particularly to a novel package filler material having shock-absorbing capabilities and a machine for making such packaging filler material whereby the user may readily dispense, on site, a quantity of such filler material from a machine which fabricates the filler material in the form of inflated pouches or cells detachably connected together in an in-line series. 
     2. Brief Description of the Prior Art 
     In the past, it has been the conventional practice to provide a packaging material composed of small masses of foam composition, such as composed from polystyrene or polyethylene. Such packaging material is used as fillers or stuffers in a compartment so as to protect fragile products when transported from one place to another either by commercial or government handling authorities. Such plastic-like pieces of foam are sometimes referred to as “peanuts” because of their peanut-like shape, and in other instances, the foam composition is of irregular form or of special form conforming in shape to the article being transported in the carton. In the instance of “peanuts”, such foam composition is purchased in large bags which are kept in inventory at the site of shipment until ready for usage. This represents a relatively uneconomical means for such packaging material since it requires space for storage and must be purchased before usage from outside sources. In some instances, problems have been encountered by the receiver of packages containing such conventional foam material which stem from disposal problems since some plastic foam compositions are not acceptable for recycling procedures. 
     Another prior packaging material takes the form of a unitary sheet having a multiplicity of integrally formed air bubbles that are connected together on the sheet and not separable. Such sheets are manufactured off-site from their location of use and are generally stored in rolls at the location of use after purchase and supply by the manufacturer. Also, the user must either fold the sheet to fit the article to be shipped, or specifically cut the sheet to accommodate the package. 
     Most all presently available package fillers such as “Popcorn”, “Peanut” or “Bubble-Wrap” are made in factories requiring vast floor space to manufacture and inventory the volume of products for distribution. This procedure requires further energy as well as other resources that are wasted. Shipment and distribution require packing in spools, storage bags or the like. 
     One attempt to provide on-site fabrication machinery for producing a quantity of shock-absorbing cells is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,216,868. Although successful for the machinery&#39;s intended purposes, the machine requires considerable moving parts, timing functions and control stations. These create problems and difficulties that need to be avoided for on-site manufacture of package filler materials. 
     Therefore, a long-standing need has existed to provide a novel packaging material which need not be stored in inventory at the point of manufacture and shipment, but which may be fabricated by the user on-site at the time that such material is needed. The on-site fabricated product will not only protect the object being shipped in the carton or package but can be disposed of by the recipient once the package has been opened and the shipped article removed. Furthermore, such a desired packaging material must be relatively inexpensive to manufacture as compared to foam or foam-like compositions. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, the above problems and difficulties are obviated by the present invention which provides a novel packaging filler material comprised of an inflated pouch or cell defined between opposing surfaces of plastic-like material sheets that are joined about their peripheral edges in a sealed manner. Such a pouch or cell may be manufactured at the site of use by a novel machine which produces the pouches or cells in a serial fashion separable by a perforated means for detaching adjacent ones of the cells from each other at the selection of the user, depending on his shipping requirement. Such a machine includes a tubular source of plastic sheet material that is heat sealed along its length in spaced-apart perforated strips so that a plurality of pouches or cells is defined between the strips. The perforated heat sealed strips define the sides of each pouch or cell while the bottom is closed by a fold of the sheet material with the top of the pouch or cell open for receiving air intended to fill the pouch or cell. A common conduit communicates with the open end in each pouch or cell for insertably receiving an inflation device. A belt system grips the plastic tubular sheet material and moves the material through the machine past the inflation device, through a heater for sealing the pouch or cell and past a trimming means for severing scrap or waste material. Individual pouches or cells may be separated from the bulk sheet material by separating the selected pouches or cells along the perforated strips. 
     In one form of the machine, the tubular supply of plastic material with pre-formed pouches or cells is fed to a machine timed so that multiple stations will effect inflation of each pouch or cell followed by sealing each pouch or cell at spaced intervals along its length to define a plurality of inflated pouches or cells and which provides additional means for providing a detachment or separation between adjacent ones of the pouches or cells so that upon discharge, the strip may be separated into one, two, three or more inflated pouches or cells at the selection of the user. In one form of the invention, the sealing means may be a heat treatment process while the detachable or separation means may take the form of perforations or a slit provided between adjacent ends of the respective inflated cells. 
     Therefore, it is among the primary objects of the present invention to provide a novel packaging or filler material which is an inflated pouch or cell and which may be combined with other separate pouches or cells to form a shock-absorbing and stuffing material to be carried in cartons or shipping containers about an object to be transported. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel packaging material that may be readily produced at the site of shipping and which may comprise one or more air-filled pockets or cells in a strip for use in the shipping process. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel machine for producing a series of air-filled pouches, pockets or cells in a strip so that the user may dispense as many cells as required for shipping purposes. 
     Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a novel machine for producing a package material that is produced from a continuous series of pouches that are initially inflated and sealed to enclose air, followed by dividing the air-filled pouches into a plurality of inflated pouches in an end-to-end relationship and which includes means for cutting scrap material away. 
     Another object relates to the disposal of the inventive pockets or cells that permits ready deflation and destruction of used material for environmental purposes such as recycling. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The features of the present invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The present invention, both as to its organization and manner of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood with reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the novel machine for producing package filler materials and products; 
     FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a tubular plastic material being fed through the machine of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a transverse cross-sectional view of an inflated and sealed pouch or cell in accordance with the present invention as taken in the direction of arrows  3 — 3  of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the machine shown in FIG. 1 illustrating the belt drive for moving the bulk tubular plastic material through the machine; 
     FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the machine shown in FIG. 4 as taken in the direction of arrows  5 — 5  thereof; 
     FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the belt drive and heater device shown in the direction of arrows  6 — 6  of FIG. 4; 
     FIG. 7 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the machine shown in FIG. 4 as taken in the direction of arrows  7 — 7  thereof; 
     FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary view, in section, of the inflation means used in the machine shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, as indicated by the arrows  8 — 8 ; 
     FIG. 9 is a transverse cross-sectional view of the inflation means and tubular plastic filler product as shown in FIG. 2 taken in the direction of arrows  9 — 9  thereof; 
     FIG. 10 is a view similar to the view of FIG. 9 as taken in the direction of arrows  10 — 10  of FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 11 is a fragmentary sectional view of the tubular filler material in its inflated condition taken in the direction of arrows  11 — 11  of FIG. 2; and 
     FIG. 12 is an enlarged sectional view of the tubular inflated filler product after trimming. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to FIG. 1, the novel package filler material producing machine is indicated in the general direction of arrow  10  which includes a base  11  having an extension  12  at one end which supports a roll of bulk filler material, indicated in general by numeral  13  on a spool  14 . A pressure roller  15  is adjustably carried on the extension  12  and bears against the bulk material  13  during the process of forming the filler material. A tension rod  16  is also employed to maintain the material during taut condition as it is being moved through the machine  10 . 
     The material  13  is indicated in cross-section in FIG. 3 which illustrates that the material is tubular having a folded lower end  17  and a folded upper end  18  with opposing sheets  20  and  21  constituting the opposite side sheets of the resultant package. After formation and inflation, material is stripped from the upper end  18  and the end is heat sealed to maintain air within the interior compartment of the pouch or cell. The side sheets  20  and  21  are joined together in fixed spaced-apart relationship by heat seal spots, such as spots  23 ,  24  and  25 . Therefore, air is trapped within the interior compartment as represented between the heat seal spots by numerals  26 ,  27 ,  28  and  29 . The resultant product is broadly indicated by arrow  30 . 
     FIG. 1 also illustrates that transverse heat seal strips are provided between the upper and lower folds  17  and  18  of the bulk sheet material and such a heat seal strip is indicated by the numeral  31 . It is to be particularly noted that the lower end of each strip terminates adjacent to the bottom fold  17  while the upper end of each strip terminates in fixed spaced-apart relationship with respect to the uppermost end or fold  18 . Therefore, a hollow conduit is provided immediately beneath the fold  18  and the upper end of the strips  31 . The conduit is indicated by numeral  32 . 
     The machine  10  includes a support  33  on which is mounted a belt drive system for moving the bulk tubular material from the wheel  14 . The belt drive system includes a continuous belt  34  which is supported beneath the support plate  33  by means of a drive pulley  35  and a driven pulley  36 . A pair of drive belts are provided with one belt driven by a motor  38  via the pulley  35 . The other belt is indicated by nemeral  37  which is trained about pulleys in similar fashion to the pulleys  35  and  36 . The belts  34  and  37  reside on a horizontal plane and are arranged so that opposing portions of each belt grip or grab the opposite sides of the upper edge marginal region of the bulk tubular material  13 . Therefore, rotation of pulley  35  by the motor causes belt  34  on one side of the bulk material and belt  37  on the opposite side of the bulk material to rotate causing their opposite linear sections to pull the sheet material from the spool  14 . 
     In order to provide inflation and sealing, an air supply  40  is provided which will place air into the conduit  32  and a heat sealing device  41  is carried on the support  33  for sealing the respective open compartments of the pouches or cells during processing. 
     Referring to FIG. 2, it can be seen that the bulk sheet of tubular plastic material  13  is initially introduced to an air tube  43  which introduces air, under pressure, to the interior of the tubular material. The air tube  43  is inserted into the conduit  32  which is defined between the upper ends of the plurality of strips  31  and the fold line  18 ′ representing the upper end of the material  13 . The tube is stationary and the material is slid over the tube by means of the belt drive as the belt from opposing belt&#39;s surfaces  34  and  37  catch the material and move it over the tube  43 . Air is introduced into the air tube  43  via the air supply  40  and apertures are provided in the end of the tube for discharge of the air into the interior compartment of each pocket, pouch or cell which is established between the spaced-apart perforated or slotted seal strips  31 . As noted previously, the fold line  17  is the bottom of the pocket or pouch and the spaced-apart strips  31  are the sides of the pouch. The top of the pouch is open between the upper ends of the strips  31  so as to receive the discharge from the air tube  43 . Also, if desired, a plurality of heat sealed spots, such as spots  44 , are provided in spaced-apart relationship between the spaced-apart strips  31 . FIG. 8 more clearly shows the inflation of the compartment by introducing the air within air tube  43  through jets or dispensing nozzles  45  into the respective compartments. The closing end of tube  43  is preferably rounded so that it may easily be inserted into the conduit  32  upon initial fabrication. FIG. 9 also illustrates the introduction of the air through the nozzle into the interior compartment broadly identified by numeral  46  between the opposing surfaces of sheets  20  and  21 . 
     Referring now in detail to FIGURES  2  and  10 , it can be seen that the upper portion of the sheet  13  is introduced to the heat sections  47  and  48  of the heater  41 . A heat seal is made, as indicated by numeral  50 , between the adjacent spaced-apart perforated or slotted slits  31  in order to close the compartment  46  and thereby, the air within the compartment is held and cannot be released. The seal is indicated by numeral  50  and when removed from the heat elements  47  and  48  as the material  13  progresses through the machine under control of the belt drive system, the respective in-line inflated pouches or cells progress to a trimming means taking the form of a cutter  51 , as shown in FIGURE  2 . The cutter severs a portion of the upper bulk material  13  where the conduit  32  would normally be located. Since it is no longer necessary to inflate the internal compartments of the pouches or pockets, the material above the heat seal  50  and the upper fold  18 ′can be removed and discarded as waste material. The cutter  51  illustrates removal of the excess material and such material is indicated by numeral  52 . FIGURE 11 illustrates the bulk material  13  after the compartment has been inflated and the heating means has created the heat seal  50  and the cutter  51  has trimmed the excess material away from the respective in-line pouches or pockets. 
     FIG. 3 illustrates a completed pouch and one that has been separated from the bulk material  13  by tearing through the line of perforations or slots within the strips  31 . Therefore, a plurality of pouches, pockets or cells may be created and may be used for shock-absorbing purposes within a shipping carton or crate. If it is desired to keep two or more pouches together, then the user does not separate the pouches by means of the perforations or slots. The perforations or slots are broadly indicated by numeral  55  in connection with FIG.  2 . 
     Referring now in detail to FIGS. 4 and 5, it can be seen that the pulleys are mounted in a rotatable and downwardly depending position from the support plate  33 . For example, pulley  36  is rotatably carried on the end of a shaft  60  which is mounted at its other end in journal bearings such as indicated by numeral  61 . The same type of mounting is available for the pulley  36 ′ which turns belt  37 . Also, it can be seen that the drive motor  38  is connected to the drive pulley  35  and its associated pulley  35 ′ by means of gearing taking the form of drive gear  62  associated with pulley  35  and drive gear  62 ′ associated with drive pulley  35 ′. The teeth of gears  62  and  62 ′ are disposed on the opposite sides of the sheet  13  and in particular, in driving connection with the edge marginal region  63  of the stock or bulk material  13 . Edge marginal region  63  is immediately adjacent to the folded edge  18 ′ of the bulk sheet material  13 . Therefore, as the gears  62  and  62 ′ are rotated, as indicated by the arrows in FIG. 6, the bulk sheet material  13  is carried between the two drive gears and moved into position with respect to the heater  41 . Also, the movement draws the air supply pipe  43  into the conduit  32  underneath the fold  18 ′ so that inflation of the compartments in the respective pockets or pouches can be achieved. It is again noted in FIG. 6 that a slight offset is provided so that the sheets  20  and  21  are separated at the edge marginal region  63  to permit inflation when air is supplied from the end of tube  43 . This offset separates the opposing surfaces of the two sheets which might normally stick together. FIG. 5 also illustrates the offset relationship between the drive gears  62  and  62 ′. Also, idler gears or rollers  64  and  65  serve as guides for the tubular bulk material  13  as it is moved between the heater  41  and the idler pulleys  36  and  36 ′. Therefore, it can be seen that the initial drive movement is provided by the drive gears  62  and  62 ′ while the continued movement of the sheet in its position for performing the respective operative procedures is achieved by the linear portions of the  34  and  37  belts. 
     Therefore, it can be seen that a plurality of individual pouches, pockets or cells which are inflated to provide shock-absorbing capabilities can be made with the machine shown in the direction of arrow  10 . A tubular supply of material  13  is held on a spool  14  and is introduced to the inflation means by the drive gears  62  and  62 ′ and then carried through to the heating element  41  by the belted arrangement gripping both sides of the edge marginal region  63 . After heat sealing, the bulk material is introduced to the trimmer  51  and then individual pockets or pouches can be separated from one another by tearing through the perforated or slotted slits in the strips  31 . By employing heat seal spots  44 , additional cushioning provision for each of the individual pockets or pouches is provided. 
     While particular embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from this invention in its broader aspects and, therefore, the aim in the appended claims is to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.