Patent Publication Number: US-2012031052-A1

Title: Roll of folded wrapping material

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 12/220,387, filed Jul. 24, 2008, now abandoned; which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 11/147,103, filed Jun. 7, 2005, now abandoned. The entire contents of the above-referenced patent applications are hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not applicable. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present inventive concept(s) relates in general to packages of sheet material formed into rolls, and methods of use thereof. 
     In the field of gift wrap sheet material, a great variety of patterns, colors, finishes, and sizes of packages must be produced. In the marketing of such sheet material, it has been found that consumers often prefer relatively small amounts of any one type of gift wrap sheet material. Accordingly, it is often not practical for the manufacturer to package large quantities of one type of gift wrap sheet material for retail sale. 
     However, for the manufacturer, and ultimately for the consumer, the practice of providing a separate stiff core for each roll of a relatively short length of sheet material is expensive and not in the spirit of conservation. Each roll of gift wrap material generally has a low cost, but requires a large volume of shelf space for display and storage for a relatively minor amount of sheet material. This results in a relatively high “shelf space to cost” ratio, which greatly reduces the profit margin on each item. In fact, the shelf space for each roll of gift wrap is primarily consumed by the core, rather than by the relatively small amount of gift wrap material which is wrapped about the core. 
     It would therefore be desirable for the consumer, manufacturer and retail seller to have a roll of gift wrap material which took up less space than currently on the market items and which also reduced the eventual wastage of the core. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of one embodiment of a roll of folded wrapping material of the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s). 
         FIG. 2  is a transverse cross-sectional view of the roll of folded wrapping material of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the roll of folded wrapping material of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the roll of folded wrapping material of the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s). 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of an apparatus for making the roll of folded wrapping material of the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s). 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Currently, rolls of wrapping material are sold as a long unfolded web of material which is taken up on a cylindrical tube or core. For example, if the web of material has a width of 30 inches, the length of material when wrapped about the core also has a width of 30 inches. Conversely, in the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s), as described in more detail below, the web of material is in one embodiment doubled over (folded in half lengthwise) before being taken up on the core, thereby providing a length of folded material on the roll. For example, if the original web of material has a width of 30 inches, the length of folded material on the roll will have a width of about 15 inches. The length of the core upon which the folded material is rolled can therefore be reduced to about half of the length of a core of a standard roll of wrapping material thereby reducing the amount of shelf space needed to store the roll and greatly benefitting the consumer, manufacturer, retailer, and the environment by reducing land fill needs. 
     The presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) therefore is a roll of folded wrapping material and a method of use thereof for wrapping gift items or other items. Where used herein, the term “gift item” may include potted plants of floral groupings such as bouquets or cut flowers. 
     Referring now to the drawings, shown in  FIGS. 1-4  and referred to therein by the general reference numeral  10  is a roll of folded wrapping material. The roll of folded wrapping material  10  is constructed of cylindrical inner core  12  (a tube) and a length of a folded sheet material  14  which is wrapped concentrically about the inner core  12 . The folded sheet material  14  preferably is non-tubular (but may be a folded tubular material). The inner core  12  has a length  16  and the folded sheet material  14  has a width  18  which preferably is less than or equal to the length  16  of the inner core  12 . The roll of folded wrapping material  10  preferably comprises a plurality of folded layers  20 , each folded layer  20  having a fold line  22  which comprises a closed lengthwise side of the folded layer  20 . Parallel to and opposite of the fold line  22  of the folded layer  20  is an open lengthwise side  24 . The folded layer  20  therefore does not comprise a closed tube (although the wrapping material used to form the folded sheet material  14  may be constructed of a tubular material). Fold lines  22  of adjacent folded layers  20  may be disposed directly upon one another, as shown in  FIG. 3 . Alternatively, the fold lines of adjacent folded layers may be slightly offset relative to one another. For example, shown in  FIG. 4  is a roll of folded wrapping material  10   a  having an inner core  12   a  which has a length of folded sheet material  14   a  concentrically wrapped thereabout to form a plurality of folded layers  20   a,  each having a fold line  22   a.  Each fold line  22   a  is slightly offset relative to the position of the fold line  22   a  of the folded layer  20   a  adjacent thereto in this embodiment of the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s). 
     The inner core  12  or  12   a  may be constructed of any material typically used by persons of ordinary skill in the art to construct such cores, for example, cardboard or plastic. The material used to construct the length of folded sheet material  14  or  14   a  may be any flexible material used by a person of ordinary skill in the art of gift wrapping or wrapping of other packages or items. For example, it may be plastic, paper, synthetic or non-synthetic polymeric film, or non-polymeric film, foil, a rubber or rubberized material, a fabric comprised of natural or synthetic materials, net, cellophane, shrinkable materials (e.g., heat shrinkable), or combinations or laminations thereof. 
     The roll of folded wrapping material  10  or  10   a  is preferably covered with a transparent film or bag (not shown) for sale and labeled and may be packaged together as multiple rolls in a manner well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. 
     The roll of folded wrapping material  10  or  10   a  may be produced by any suitable manner which enables a web of material to be folded lengthwise. For example, one such apparatus for folding and rolling is shown in  FIG. 5 . An apparatus  30  comprises a mechanism  32  for supporting a roll of material  34 . A single web of material  36  from the roll of material  34  is fed by a drive mechanism (not shown) through rollers  38  to a folding assembly  40  such as an A-frame which causes the web of material  36  to be doubled over to form a folded web  42 . The folded web  42  is then advanced by drive rollers  44  or other advancing mechanism where it is taken up onto the inner core  12  or  12   a  which is removably positioned upon a mandrel  46 . After an amount of the folded web  42  is taken up on the inner core  12  or  12   a,  the folded web  42  is cut and the resulting roll of folded wrapping material  10  or  10   a  as shown in  FIGS. 1-4  is removed from the mandrel  46  for further packaging. Although the web of material  36  is shown in  FIG. 5  as being folded in only one position lengthwise, in an alternative embodiment the web of material  36  may be folded over in two lengthwise positions to form a folded web which is folded in “thirds” rather than merely “doubled-over”. In another embodiment, the folded web  42  may be folded again to form a folded web which is folded over in “fourths” before being taken up on the inner core  12  or  12   a.    
     In use, a portion (not shown) of the folded sheet material  14  or  14   a,  or other folded sheet material as described herein, is removed from the roll of folded wrapping material  10  or  10   a,  respectively. The portion of the folded sheet material  14  or  14   a  comprising a sheet of material is then unfolded and disposed about the gift item or other item, or in another method of use, is left in a folded condition and is disposed about the gift item or other item. 
     While the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) is described above in connection with certain embodiments so that aspects thereof may be more fully understood and appreciated, it is not intended that the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) be limited to these particular embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended that all alternatives, modifications and equivalents are included within the scope of the inventive concept(s) as defined by the appended claims. Thus the examples described above, which include preferred embodiments, will serve to illustrate the practice of the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s), it being understood that the particulars shown are by way of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of preferred embodiments of the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) only and are presented in the cause of providing what is believed to be the most useful and readily understood description of procedures as well as of the principles and conceptual aspects of the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s). 
     Changes may be made in the construction and the operation of the various components, elements and assemblies described herein or in the steps or the sequence of steps of the methods described herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventive concept(s) as defined in the following claims.