Patent Publication Number: US-9428315-B2

Title: Foldable air cushioned structure

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation-in-part (CIP) of application Ser. No. 13/717,100, filed on Dec. 17, 2012 with claiming foreign priority of TW 100150094. The prior application is herewith incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to a foldable air cushioned structure, and more particularly to a foldable air cushioned structure with clasp points. 
     BACKGROUND 
     An air tight enclosure is made of resin film, and formed into air-tight air cylinders by means of heat-sealing. Furthermore, an air filling entrance for air filling is disposed therein, allowing the air tight enclosure to cushion a packed object after air is filled into the air cylinders via the air filling entrance. 
     Among air-filling air cylinder technologies, there is a cushioning air bag with a free opening, or a hammock structure of cushioning air bag; however they all have a common problem, i.e. the air cylinder cylinders must be formed as a face body to have a cushioning force if a corner, rhomboidal angle or edge of the enclosure is hit when an internal object drops. But, when the object drops to hit the enclosure with an acute angle thereof, a single air cylinder must be used to response the edge or rhomboidal angle of the object. However, the air cylinder cannot withstand one-dot or one-line impact force such that the cushioning protection of the object cannot be effected. 
     In common, the object is placed at a surface arranged with column of air cylinders. However, the weight of the object would make contact of two outer film of the air cylinders, and form deformation in some area. Further, the air flow and pressure would make some breakdown in the air cylinders, and reduce the cushion effect. 
     SUMMARY 
     To address these issues, the present invention provides a foldable air cushioned structure. The foldable air cushioned structure comprises a plurality of heat-sealing lines, a plurality of air cylinders, a plurality of nodes and a plurality of clasp points. The heat-sealing lines are formed by linear heat-sealing for attaching parts of two outer films. The heat-sealing lines are arranged in order, and the air cylinders are positioned between the heat-sealing lines. The nodes are formed inside the air cylinders by heat-sealing for attaching parts of the inner surfaces of respective outer films, and the nodes are arranged in lines perpendicular to the heat-sealed lines to form a plurality of foldable lines. The clasp points are formed on the outer surfaces of two outer films by heat-sealing for attaching parts of the outer surfaces of two outer films. 
     After folding the air cylinders along the folding lines, each of the air cylinders forms two side portions, at least one supporting portion and at least two bottom portions. Two side portions form a receiving space therebetween. Further, the air cylinders at two side can be bent and heat-sealed to form the receiving space surrounded with the side portions. The supporting portion forms at least one convex in the receiving space. The supporting portion comprises a propping section and two connecting sections positioned at two sides of the propping section after the air cylinders are folded via the nodes. The bottom portions connects to at least one of the connecting sections and the side portions. The bottom portion forms a concave between the connecting sections and adjacent side portions. 
     The technical characteristics of the foldable air cushioned structure of the present invention is folding the air cylinder by using via nodes, such that the convex-shaped supporting portion is formed in the receiving space for cushioning. The foldable air cushioned structure uses the pressure along the long-axis of the air cylinder to support the object, but not short-axis between two outer films. The foldable air cushioned structure of the present is much stable and not easily deforming. Even through the object is over-weight, the supporting portion would shrink firstly, but not break down the whole structure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present invention can be more fully understood by reference to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view before folding of a foldable air cushioned structure of a first embodiment according to the present invention; 
         FIGS. 2-4  are schematic views of the foldable air cushioned structure of the first embodiment according to the present invention during folding. 
         FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of the foldable air cushioned structure of the first embodiment according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view of the foldable air cushioned structure of a second embodiment according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 7  is a side view of the foldable air cushioned structure of a third embodiment according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional view of the foldable air cushioned structure of the third embodiment according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 9  is a side view of the foldable air cushioned structure of a fourth embodiment according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 10  is a cross-sectional view of the foldable air cushioned structure of a fourth embodiment according to the present invention; and 
         FIG. 11  is a top view of the foldable air cushioned structure of a fifth embodiment according to the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 1-5 , FIG. I is a perspective view before folding of a foldable air cushioned structure of a first embodiment according to the present invention,  FIGS. 2-4  are schematic views of the foldable air cushioned structure of the first embodiment according to the present invention during folding, and  FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of the foldable air cushioned structure of the first embodiment according to the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 1 , the foldable air cushioned structure  100  is an air-cylinder sheet before folding. The foldable air cushioned structure  100  comprises a plurality of air cylinders  10 , a plurality of heat-sealed lines  20  and a plurality of nodes  30 . 
     The foldable air cushioned structure  100  is made by two outer films  10   a.  The heat-sealing lines  20  are formed by linear heat-sealing the two outer films  10   a  for attaching parts of two outer films  10   a.  The heat-sealing lines  20  are arranged with substantially the same interval D. The air cylinders  10  are formed at the areas which are not heat-sealing after air-filling, and positioned between the heat-sealing lines  20 . The nodes  30  are formed inside the air cylinders  10 , and partially attach with two inner surfaces of two outer films  10   a.  There is a space  10   b  positioned between the node  30  and the heat-sealed line  20 , such that air can filled into the air cylinder  10 . Furthermore, the nodes  30  are arranged in lines perpendicular to the heat-sealed lines  20 , and form a plurality of foldable lines L. Six foldable lines L are formed in the first embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 , however, the number of the foldable lines L is not limited. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , each of the air cylinders  10  forms two side portions  11 , a supporting portion  13 , and two bottom portions  15  after the air cylinders  10  are folded along the foldable lines L. A receiving space S is formed between the side portions  11 . The bottom portion  15  connects the supporting portion  13  and adjacent side portion  11 . The bottom portion  15  and the supporting portion  13  have reversed concave-convex structures. The supporting portion  13  forms a convex in the receiving space S for supporting a object. The bottom portion  15  forms a concave between the side portion  11  and the supporting portion  13 ,and forms a convex to be a support bottom surface outside to support the structure of the foldable air cushioned structure  100 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , and  FIGS. 3-4 , the air cylinders  10  which are formed at two sides of the foldable air cushioned structure  100  further comprises at least one air intake stopping blocks  10   c.  The air intake stopping block  10   c  is formed by heat-sealing two adjacent areas of two outer films  10   a . The air intake stopping blocks  10   c  make the side portions  11  bendable. After bending, the side portions  11  can be attached together by heat sealing  21 , such that the side portions  11  surround the receiving space S. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 5 , Each of the air cylinder  10  further comprises an air valve  19  located at one end thereof for air filling. As shown in  FIG. 5 , each of the air cylinders  10  further comprises two inner films  10   d  therein, the inner films  10   d  are attached to the inner surfaces of the respective outer films  10   a.  An air inlet  10   e  is formed between the inner films  10   d.  For each of the air cylinders  10 , after air is filled into the air cylinder  10  from the air valve  19 , the air is filled to an inlet passageway  191 , then filled into the space between the two outer film  10   a  via the air inlet  10   e,  such that the two outer film  10   c  can be driven to pull apart outward and to expand for forming the air cylinder  10 . After air filling, the pressure in the air cylinder  10  would make the two inner films  10   d  attach with each other to seal the air inlet  10   e  and therefore allowing air in the air cylinder  10  not to leak. Moreover, the inlet passageway can be shared by a number of air cylinders  10 . 
     The two outer films  10   a  may be formed of a thermally activated heat-sealable material such as polyester, Polyethylene polypropylene copolymer, Polyethylene terephthalate 
     (PET), ethylene ethyl acetate (EVA), polypropylene (PP), nylon (Nylon), and PE composite membrane, biodegradable material (biodegradable materials), the polymer material coated paper, or the like. But the present invention is not so limited, other materials may be used. 
     Referring to  FIG. 5  again, the supporting portion  13  comprises a propping section  131  and two connecting sections  133 . The connecting sections  133  are positioned at two sides of the propping section  131  after the air cylinders  10  are folded via the nodes  30 . The nodes  30  are formed between each of the side portions  11  and the adjacent bottom portion  15 , and between each of the bottom portions  15  and the adjacent supporting portion  13 . The connecting section  133  is connected to the propping section  131  and adjacent bottom portion  15 . Furthermore, the foldable air cushioned structure  100  further comprises a plurality of clasp points  40  formed on the outer surfaces of the outer films  10   a  to attach the two outer films  10   a.  The clasp points  40  can be implemented by heat-sealing. As shown in  FIG. 5 , the clasp point  40  is positioned corresponding to two adjacent connecting section  133  to attach two adjacent connecting section  133 . Some of the clasp points  40  are also positioned corresponding to one of the connecting sections  133  and adjacent side portion  11  to the connecting sections  133  and adjacent side portion  11  for providing strength of the foldable air cushioned structure  100 . In addition, the clasp points  40  are positioned on heat-sealing lines  20 . 
     Please refer to  FIG. 6 , a cross-sectional view of the foldable air cushioned structure of a second embodiment according to the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 6 , the number of nodes  30  are increased in the second embodiment for increasing the foldable lines L, and two supporting portions  13  and three bottom portions  15  are formed. One of the bottom portions  15  is connected to two adjacent connecting sections  131 , the rest two bottom portions  15  each are connected to one of the connecting sections  131  and the adjacent side portion  11 . The number of the supporting portions  13  and the bottom portions  15  may be adjusted to satisfy the requirement by adjusting the number of nodes  30 . 
     Please refer to  FIG. 7  and  FIG. 8 , a side view and a cross-sectional view of the foldable air cushioned structure of a third embodiment according to the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 7  and  FIG. 8  , the foldable air cushioned structure  100  of the third embodiment comprises clasp points  40  positioned on the heat-sealing and near the bottom portions  15  of the air cylinders  10  which are at two sides of the foldable air cushioned structure  100 , and each of the clasp points  40  is attached to a corresponding heat-sealing line  20 . Therefore, the bottom portions  15  are pulled closely, and the cushioning at the sides is enhanced. The clasp points  40  are formed by heat sealing. In  FIG. 7  and  FIG. 8 , some of the clasp points  40  are positioned on the heat sealing line  20  next to the outermost heat-sealing lines  20 . 
     Please refer to  FIG. 9 , a side view of the foldable air cushioned structure of a fourth embodiment according to the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 9 , the foldable air cushioned structure  100  of the fourth embodiment further comprises clasp points  40  positioned on the heat-sealing lines  20  and near the bottom portions  15 . Some of the clasp points  40  are positioned on the heat sealing lines  20  next to the outermost heat-sealing lines  20 , and some of the clasp points  40  are also positioned on the other heat-sealing line  20  in the central area. Therefore, the cushioning at the sides can be further enhanced. 
     Please refer to  FIG. 10  and  FIG. 11 , a cross-sectional view and a top view of the foldable air cushioned structure of a fifth embodiment according to the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 10  and  FIG. 11 , the foldable air cushioned structure  100  of the fifth embodiment further comprises clasp points  40  formed on the heat-sealing line  20  and positioned near the side portions  15  of the air cylinders  10 , and the clasp points  40  is attached to a corresponding heat-sealing line  20  especially the clasp points  40  are positioned on the heat-sealing lines  20  and near the top end of the side portion  11  and near the opening of the received space S, such that the foldable air cushioned structure  100  of the fifth embodiment has two received spaces S 1 . The clasp points  40  are formed by heat sealing. 
     The embodiments described above, the common technical characteristic is folding the air cylinder  10  by using nodes  30 , such that the supporting portion  13  is formed in the receiving space S for cushioning. The foldable air cushioned structure used the pressure along the long-axis of the air cylinder  10  to support the object, but not short-axis between two outer films  10   a.  The foldable air cushioned structure of the present invention is stable and not easily deforming. Even through the object is over-weight, the supporting portion  13  would shrink firstly but not break down the whole structure. 
     While the present invention has been described by the way of example and in terms of the preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention need not be limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims, the scope of which should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures.