Patent Abstract:
A method of preparing goods for transport is disclosed. A covering for the goods is provided that includes a wrap portion removably carried by a storage rack and a cap portion removably attached to the wrap portion, wherein the cap portion includes an attachment member. A force transmission member is secured to the attachment member of the cap portion and the cap portion is removed from the wrap portion. The force transmission member is moved to position the cap portion atop the goods. The wrap portion is removed from the storage rack, wrapped about the goods, and secured to the cap portion.

Full Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/639,723, filed Apr. 27, 2012, which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    This invention relates to a covering that is placed over goods in preparation for shipping and method of using the same. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Background of the Invention 
         [0005]    The transportation or shipment of goods is a complex and costly process that includes many actors, including shippers, manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers. During shipping, some goods require added protection to keep them from being damaged while other goods need to be kept at or near a constant temperature, i.e., cold products kept cold and hot products kept hot. One method of shipping fragile goods includes the use of extra packing materials such as bubble wrap, which is discarded once the goods are delivered. In addition, a common method of transporting temperature sensitive items is the use of trucks with refrigerated or heated trailers. The use of additional packing materials and special trucks results in added costs, which are ultimately passed on to the consumer. Furthermore, many of the existing devices that are used to insulate goods cannot be readily adjusted to fit pallets of goods that vary in height, length, and width. Additionally, many existing devices are cumbersome and cannot be placed on a pallet of stacked goods efficiently by a single person and/or require the use of ladders and other similar devices. For theses reasons, a reusable, adjustable, insulated covering that can be easily and efficient placed on a stack of temperature sensitive items in preparation for shipping would be an important improvement in the art. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]      FIG. 1A  is an isometric view of one embodiment of the cap and wrap portions of a covering; 
           [0007]      FIG. 1B  is an isometric view of the cap and wrap portions of  FIG. 1A  assembled; 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is an elevational view of an exterior side of a wrap portion of another embodiment of the covering; 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  is an isometric close-up view of a lift strap portion disposed on the exterior side of the wrap portion of  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0010]      FIG. 4  is an elevational view of an interior side of the wrap portion of the covering of  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0011]      FIG. 5  is an isometric view of one embodiment of the cap portion of the covering; 
           [0012]      FIG. 6A  and  FIG. 6B  are views of a pull cord stored on a storage rack; 
           [0013]      FIG. 7  is an elevational view of another embodiment of an exterior of the covering; 
           [0014]      FIG. 8  is an elevational view of an interior side of the wrap portion of the covering of  FIG. 7 ; 
           [0015]      FIG. 9  is an isometric view of another embodiment of a cap portion of the covering; 
           [0016]      FIG. 10  is an isometric view of a further embodiment of a cap portion of the covering; 
           [0017]      FIG. 11  is a isometric view of a storage rack; 
           [0018]      FIG. 12  is a partial front elevational view of a wrap portion hung on a storage rack; 
           [0019]      FIG. 13  is a front elevational view of a wrap portion of the covering hung on a storage rack and a cap portion attached to the wrap portion; 
           [0020]      FIG. 14  is a front elevational view of the storage rack of  FIG. 11 ; 
           [0021]      FIG. 15  is a right side view of a portion of the storage rack taken along the lines  15 - 15  of  FIG. 14 ; and 
           [0022]      FIG. 16  is a right side view of a portion of the storage rack taken along the lines  16 - 16  of  FIG. 14 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0023]    Disclosed is a thermal insulated covering comprising a cap and wrap portion for use in providing temperature protection for goods in transit.  FIGS. 1A and 1B  show an isometric view of one embodiment of a covering  18 .  FIG. 1A  illustrates a wrap portion  120 ′ and a cap portion  360  of the covering  18 , and  FIG. 1B  shows the wrap portion  120 ′ attached to the cap portion  360 . 
         [0024]      FIG. 2  illustrates another embodiment of the covering  18  having a wrap portion  20  with an exterior side  22 . The exterior side  22  of the wrap portion  20  contains a vertical strip of loop fasteners  24  that extends down the height of the exterior side adjacent a first end portion  25 . A person of ordinary skill in the art would understand that hook fasteners and loop fasteners make up one type of fastener (i.e., a hook and loop fastener), and that the parts are interchangeable. Furthermore, any type of fastener that has a male and female portion, e.g., a snap button, could be used in place of the hook and loop fasteners without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
         [0025]    The vertical strip of loop fasteners  24  will be mated with vertical band of hook fasteners  56  contained on the interior side  50  of the wrap portion  20  as shown in  FIG. 4 . The exterior side  22  also contains a horizontal strip of both hook and loop fasteners  26  on a top portion  28  that extends the length of the wrap portion  20 . Horizontal loop portion  26 A of the horizontal strip  26  has a color that is different from that of the hook portion  26 B. For example, horizontal loop portion  26 A could be red and horizontal hook portion  26 B could be black. The purpose of the different coloring is to indicate to a user when to start folding the wrap portion  20  when the wrap portion is being removed from a cap portion  60 ,  160 ,  260 , or  360  each of which is discussed in more detail below. 
         [0026]    The exterior side  22  of the wrap portion  20  further contains two sets of lift straps  30 A, B and  32 A, B on a bottom portion  38 . When wrap portion  20  is wrapped about a pallet of stacked goods, the lift straps  30 A, B are disposed on a first side of the pallet of stacked goods and lift straps  32 A, B are disposed on a second side of the pallet of stacked goods adjacent to the first side of the pallet of stacked goods. An enlarged view of the lift straps  30 ,  32  is shown in  FIG. 3 . The two sets of lift straps  30 A, B and  32 A, B enable a user to lift and secure the bottom portion  38  of the wrap portion  20  to prevent the bottom portion  38  from interfering or becoming damaged by the fork of a forklift, when the wrapped pallet of stacked goods is moved. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the lift straps  30 ,  32  comprise an attachment portion  40  that is covered with loop fasteners and a tab  42  that is covered on one side with hook fasteners. To raise the bottom portion  38  of the wrap portion  20 , the tab  42  is pulled up and pressed against the attachment portion  40  thereby mating the hook fasteners of the tab  42  with the loop fasteners on the attachment portion  40 . 
         [0027]    The exterior side  22  also has two loops  44 A, B attached to a top edge  46 . In one embodiment, the loops  44 A, B are made of plastic. The two loops  44 A, B are used to store the wrap portion  20  on a storage rack  300  (discussed in more detail below). A pocket  48  with a transparent window  49  may also be included on the exterior side  22  of the wrap portion  20 . The pocket  48  is used to hold shipping document concerning the pallet of stacked goods covered by the covering  18  and the transparent window  49  enables a user to easily view the shipping documents. 
         [0028]      FIG. 4  shows the interior side  50  of the wrap portion  20 . The interior side  50  contains three horizontal bands of hook fasteners  52 A, B, C that extend the length of the interior side  50 . Horizontal band  52 A is located adjacent to the top edge  46 , horizontal band  5213  is located below horizontal band  52 A, and horizontal band  52 C is located below horizontal band  52 B. The horizontal bands of hook fasteners  52 A, B, C are used to attach the wrap portion  20  to the cap portion  60 ,  160 ,  260 , or  360 . The horizontal bands of hook fasteners  52  are located at varying vertical distances to enable the wrap portion  20  to be used with pallets of stacked goods of varying vertical heights. For example, if a high (e.g., seven feet), pallet of stacked goods is to be wrapped, then horizontal band  52 A would engage the cap portion  60 . Likewise, if the pallet of stacked goods is on the shorter side (e.g., 4 feet), then the horizontal band  52 C would be used to engage the cap portion  60 ,  160 ,  260 , or  360 . 
         [0029]    The interior side  50  of the wrap portion  20  also has a vertical band of hook fasteners  56  that extends the height of the interior side  50  adjacent a second end portion  57 . The vertical band of hook fasteners  56  engages the vertical strip of loop fasteners  24  of the exterior side  22  when the wrap portion  20  is wrapped about a pallet of stacked goods thereby securing the wrap portion  20  around the goods. The wrap portion  20  is therefore long enough to completely cover each of the four sides of a pallet of goods and has a flap  58  that overlaps a portion of the wrap portion  20  located on the first side of the pallet of goods when the wrap portion  20  is wrapped about the pallet of stacked goods (see also  FIGS. 1A and 1B  with respect to wrap portion  120 ′ and  FIG. 7  with respect to wrap portion  120 ). Furthermore, the extension of the strips and bands of hook and loop fasteners,  24 ,  52 , and  56 , along the height and length of the interior and exterior of the wrap portion  20  enables the wrap portion  20  to be used with pallets of goods of varying heights, widths, and lengths. 
         [0030]      FIG. 5  shows another embodiment of the covering  18  having a cap portion  60 . The cap portion  60  has a top  61  and four sides  62 A, B, C, D (side  62 C is a mirror image of side  62 A and side  621 ) is a mirror image of side  62 B). Sides  62 A, B, C, D are covered with loop fastener portions  64 A, B, C, D, which engage horizontal bands  52 A, B, or C of the interior side  50  of the wrap portion  20  to secure the wrap portion  20  to the cap portion  60 . A bottom edge  66  of side  62 A contains a pull cord loop  68 . The pull cord loop  68  on the cap portion  60  is used in conjunction with a pull cord  70  (as shown in  FIGS. 6A and 6B ) when the cap portion  60  is to be placed on a pallet of stacked goods that are stacked relatively high. In addition, two handles  72 A, B are located on upper edge  74  of side  62 C, which is disposed opposite to side  62 A. The two handles  72 A, B are provided to assist the user with placing the cap portion  60  on and removing the cap portion  60  from the pallet of stacked goods. 
         [0031]      FIG. 7  shows a further embodiment of the covering  18  having a wrap portion  120 . The wrap portion  120  has an exterior side  122 . The wrap portion  120  has three vertical strips of loop fasteners  124 A, B, C that extend the height of the wrap portion  120  and are disposed adjacent to each other and adjacent a first end portion  125 . One or more of the vertical strips of loop fasteners  124 A, B, C are mated with the vertical ribbon of hook fasteners  156  contained on the interior side  150  of the wrap portion  120  when the wrap portion  120  is wrapped about the pallet of stacked goods. Also, disposed adjacent the vertical strips of loop fasteners  124 A, B, C, opposite the first end portion  125 , are a pair of steel rings  126 A, B. The steel rings  126 A, B are used along with attachment straps  132 A, B (discussed below) to more firmly attach the wrap portion  120  around the pallet of stacked goods. 
         [0032]    The horizontal attachment straps  132 A, B are attached to and extend away from a second end portion  128  of the wrap portion  120 . The second end portion  128  of the wrap portion  120  is disposed opposite the first end portion  125 . The attachment straps  132 A, B comprise a portion of hook fasteners  134  and a portion of loop fasteners  136 . When the wrap portion  120  is wrapped about a pallet of stacked goods, attachment strap  132 A is passed through corresponding steel ring  126 A and attachment strap  132 B is passed through corresponding steel ring  126 B. The portion of hook fasteners  134  of each attachment strap  132 A, B is then folded back about steel ring  126 A, B, respectively, so that the portion of hook fasteners  134  of each attachment strap  132 A, B is mated with the portion of loop fasteners  136  of each strap  132 . The addition of the steel rings  126 A, B and the attachment straps  132 A, B provides a tighter fit of the wrap portion  120  around the pallet of stacked goods. A tighter fit of the wrap portion  120  around the goods on the pallet, enables a user to use less shrink-wrap or other packing material to hold the goods together during transport. 
         [0033]    The wrap portion  120 ′ shown in  FIGS. 1A and 1B  is substantially the same as wrap portion  120  shown in  FIG. 7 . The difference between wrap portion  120 ′ and wrap portion  120 , is that wrap portion  120 ′ does not include attachment straps  132 A, B nor steel rings  126 A, B. Otherwise, wrap portion  120 ′ contains the same components and is used in the same manner as wrap portion  120 . 
         [0034]      FIG. 8  shows the interior side  150  of the wrap portion  120 . The interior side  150  contains a horizontal ribbon of hook fasteners  152  that extends the length of the wrap portion adjacent a top edge  154 . The vertical ribbon of hook fasteners  156  extends down the height of the interior side  150  of the wrap portion  120  and is attached adjacent the second end portion  128 . The horizontal ribbon of hook fasteners  152  is used to engage the cap portion  60 ,  160 ,  260 , or  360  similar to the horizontal bands of hook fasteners  52 A, B, C of the interior side  50  of the wrap portion  20 . The vertical ribbon of hook fasteners  156  is used to engage one or more of the vertical strips of loop fasteners  124 A, B, C on the exterior side  122  of the wrap portion  120 . Furthermore, the extension of the strips and ribbons of hook and loop fasteners,  124 ,  152 , and  156 , along the height and length of the interior and exterior of the wrap portion  120  enables the wrap portion  120  to be used with pallets of goods of varying heights, widths, and lengths. 
         [0035]      FIG. 9  shows another embodiment of the covering  18  having a cap portion  160 . The cap portion  160  has a top  161  and four sides  162 A, B, C, D (side  162 C is a mirror image of side  162 A and side  162 D is substantially a mirror image of side  162 B). A plurality of vertical stripes of loop fasteners  164  extend the height of the cap portion  160  and are located on each side  162 A, B, C, D of the cap portion  160  at varying distances from each other. In addition, one side of the cap portion  160  may include a pocket with a transparent window similar to the pocket  48  and transparent window  49  discussed above. Furthermore, on a portion  168  of side  162 B is an opening  170  and flap  172 . The inside portion  174  of the flap  172  has a vertical stretch of loop fasteners  176  that engages vertical stripe  164 ′, which is adjacent to the opening  170 . The opening  170  is provided to enable easier mounting of the cap portion  160  on a pallet of stacked goods. The plurality of vertical strips of loop fasteners  164  engage one or more of the horizontal bands of hook fasteners  52  disposed on the interior side  50  of the wrap portion  20  or horizontal ribbon of hook fasteners  152  of the wrap portion  120  or  120 ′ when the wrap portion is wrapped around the pallet of stacked goods thereby securing the wrap portion  20 ,  120 , or  120 ′ to the cap portion  160 . 
         [0036]      FIG. 10  shows a further embodiment of the covering  18  having a cap portion  260 . The cap portion  260  has a top  261  and four sides  262  A, B, C, D (side  262 C is a mirror image of side  262 A and side  262 D is a mirror image of side  262 B). A horizontal belt of loop fasteners  264  is attached adjacent a bottom edge  266  around all four sides  262  A, B, C, D of the cap portion  260 . The horizontal belt of loop fasteners  264  engages one of the horizontal strips of hook fasteners  52 A, B, or C disposed on the interior side  50  of the wrap portion  20  or horizontal ribbon of hook fasteners  152  of the wrap portion  120  when the wrap portion is wrapped around the pallet of stacked goods thereby securing the wrap portion  20 ,  120 , or  120 ′ to the cap portion  260 . 
         [0037]      FIGS. 1A and 1B  show another embodiment of the covering  18  having a cap portion  360 . The cap portion  360  has a top  361  and four sides  362 A, B, C, D (side  362 C is a mirror image of side  362 A and side  362 D is substantially a mirror image of side  362 B). A plurality of vertical stripes of loop fasteners  364  extend the height of the cap portion  360  and are located on each side  362 A, B, C, D of the cap portion  360  at varying distances from each other. In addition, side  362 B of the cap portion  360  may include a pocket  48  with a transparent window  49 . Furthermore, on a portion  368  of side  362 B is an opening (not shown) and a flap  372 . The inside portion (not shown) of the flap  372  has a vertical stretch of loop fasteners that engages a vertical stripe  364 ′ on the exterior of side  362 B, which is adjacent to the opening. The opening is provided to enable easier mounting of the cap portion  360  on a pallet of stacked goods. The plurality of vertical strips of loop fasteners  364  engage or horizontal ribbon of hook fasteners  152  of the wrap portion  120 ′ (or  120 ) or one or more of the horizontal bands of hook fasteners  52  disposed on the interior side  50  of the wrap portion  20  when the wrap portion is wrapped around the pallet of stacked goods thereby securing the wrap portion  20 ,  120 , or  120 ′ to the cap portion  360 . 
         [0038]    Various materials that are strong, durable, and flexible may be used to form the wrap portions  20 ,  120 , and  120 ′ and cap portions  60 ,  160 ,  260 , and  360 . For example, in one embodiment four layers of material are enclosed by a fabric. The first layer consists of a material such as a coated textile that is impermeable to moisture and air, the second layer consists of a thermal insulated material for example a nanofiber or microweave fabric, the third layer consists of a polyester filler material, and the fourth layer consists of a fabric such as coated denier fabric, nylon, polyester, vinyl, nanofiber, or microweave fabric. One of ordinary skill in the art would understand that any materials that serve the same purpose as those mentioned above may be used. Stitching at the ends of the layers keeps them from moving within the enclosing fabric. 
         [0039]    Another embodiment contains five layers consisting of the same materials mentioned above that are held together by stitching through a fabric binding at the ends of the layers. The first layer consists of fabric, the second layer consists of a polyester filler, the third layer consists of a thermal insulated material, the fourth layer consists of a polyester filler, and the fifth layer consists of a material that is impermeable to moisture and air. Another embodiment consists of three layers, the first being fabric, the second being polyester filler, and the third layer being fabric. 
         [0040]      FIGS. 11-16  show different views of a storage rack upon which the coverings  18  are stored. Turning to  FIG. 11 , a storage rack  300  has a first frame member  302  and a second frame member  304 . Both the first frame member  302  and the second frame member  304  are shaped, in one embodiment, like an upside down “U” and have cross bar member  306  and  308 , respectively. The frame members can have any suitable shape without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention (e.g., the frame members could have square corners rather than curved or rounded corners). The first frame member  302  is connected to the second frame member  304  by a pair of tracks  310 A, B, which are attached to an underside of each of crossbar members  306  and  308  and are substantially parallel to each other. The first frame member  302  is also connected to second frame member  304  by a first support bar  312  and second support bar  314 . The first support bar  312  is attached at one end to a lower portion  316  of a first arm  318  of the first frame member  302  and at the other end to a lower portion  320  of a first arm  322  of the second frame member  304 . The second support bar  314  is attached at one end to a lower portion  324  of a second arm  326  of the first frame member  302  and at the other end to a lower portion  328  of a second arm  330  of the second frame member  304 . 
         [0041]    Wheels  332 A, B are attached to lower ends  334  of the first arms  318 ,  322 , respectively, and  332 C, D are attached to lower ends  336  of the second arm  326 ,  330  of the respective first and second frame members. The wheels  332 A, B, C, D have locks to prevent the storage rack  300  from moving when a covering  18  is being removed from or placed onto the storage rack. Alternatively, the storage rack  300  may contain a separate braking mechanism to prevent movement of the storage rack during the loading and unloading of the covering  18  from the storage rack  300 . 
         [0042]    Turning to  FIG. 12 , each track  310 A and  310 B also contains movable storage hooks  338 A-N. The same number of movable storage hooks  338 A-N are provided on each track  310 A, B because each covering  18  requires the use of two storage hooks to be properly hung. When a covering  18  is to be hung on the storage rack, the wrap portion  20 , for example, is first folded about the exterior side  22  several times (discussed below) thereby exposing a portion of the interior side  50 . The wrap portion  20  is then hung on the storage rack  300  by placing plastic loop  44 A on a movable storage hook  338  contained on one of the tracks  310  and loop  44 B on a corresponding movable storage hook  338  contained on the other track. The cap portion  60 ,  160 ,  260 , or  360  is then attached to the wrap portion  20  by mating loop fasteners portions of the cap portion, i.e.,  64 ,  164 ,  264 , and  364  of cap portions  60 ,  160 ,  260 , and  360 , respectively, with the horizontal band of hook fasteners  52 A of the interior side of the wrap portion  20  (see  FIG. 13 ). 
         [0043]    In addition, a first location or storage facility may contain stationary tracks that are used to store the covering  18  when it is not being used. These stationary tracks can be attached to or mated with the tracks  310 A, B in a manner that enables the movable storage hooks  338  to travel from the stationary tracks to the tracks  310 A, B and vice versa without interruption. This arrangement increases efficiency by eliminating the need to unhook the covering  18  from the storage hooks  338  on the storage rack  300  and place them on separate hooks hanging from the stationary tracks. 
         [0044]    As shown in  FIG. 11 , the second frame member  304  also comprises two confinement bars  340  and  342 . The two confinement bars  340 ,  342  prevent the coverings  18  from extending beyond the plane created by the three sides of the second frame member  304  thereby preventing the coverings from swinging or moving about while the storage rack  300  is being moved or if too many coverings  18  are placed on the storage rack. 
         [0045]    Turning to  FIG. 14 , the first frame member  302  also contains attachment members  344  and  346 . The attachment members  344 ,  346  may be any other suitable attachment mechanism such as a D-ring (see  FIG. 15 ) and are drilled into or soldered onto the first and second arms  318 ,  326 , respectively, of the first frame member  302  at the same height. The attachment members  344 ,  346  enable a chain  348  (see  FIG. 11 ) to be attached to and extend between the first and second arms  318 ,  326 , respectively, of the first frame member  302 . The chain  348  may be fixed to one attachment member and removably attached to the other, or the chain  348  may be removably attached to both attachment members  344 ,  346 . The chain  348  keeps the coverings  18  between the first and second frame members  302 ,  304 , respectively. By confining the coverings  18  between the two frame members, movement of the storage rack is easier and more efficient as the coverings  18  are not moving or swinging about. When the coverings  18  are to be placed on a pallet of stacked goods, the chain  348  is removed from one or both of the attachment members to enable efficient removal of the coverings  18  from the storage rack  300 . 
         [0046]    The second arm  326  of the first frame member  302  also contains a pull-cord hook  350 , which may be any suitable shape, for example, J-shaped (see  FIG. 16 ). The pull cord hook  350  drilled into or soldered onto the second arm  326  of the first frame member  302 . The pull cord  350  allows for storage of the pull cord  70  so that it is not lost or misplaced after the coverings  18  have been placed on the pallet of stacked goods. 
         [0047]    To use the covering  18  on a pallet of stacked goods that is to be shipped, a user first locates a storage rack  300  that has cap portion  60  and wrap portion  20  of covering  18  stored on it at a first location (e.g., warehouse). Although the method is discussed in terms of a single covering  18 , the rack may contain multiple coverings that can be used to cover multiple pallets of goods. If the pallet of stacked goods is of a small or medium height, the user removes the cap portion  60  from the wrap portion  20  and places it on the top of the goods located on a pallet. If the pallet of stacked goods is tail, the user moves the storage rack close to the pallet of stacked goods to be covered, e.g., within two to three feet of the pallet of stacked goods. The user then attaches the pull cord  70 , which is stored on pull cord hook  350  of the storage rack, to the pull cord loop  68  of the cap portion  60 . The pull cord  70  is then thrown over the top of the pallet of stacked goods. The user then walks around the pallet of stacked goods to where the pull cord  70  has fallen, picks up the pull cord  70 , and pulls the pull cord  70 . When the user pulls the pull cord  70 , the cap portion  60  detaches from the wrap portion  20  which is hanging from the storage hooks  338  of the storage rack  300 . The user then positions the cap portion  60  on top of the goods. Once the cap portion  60  is properly placed on the pallet of stacked goods, the pull cord  70  is removed from the pull cord loop  68  and placed back on pull cord hook  350 . 
         [0048]    The wrap portion  20  is then removed from the storage rack  300 . The interior side  50  of the wrap portion is placed adjacent the goods on the pallet with first end portion  25  being aligned with one edge of the pallet of stacked goods. One of the horizontal bands of hook fasteners  52 A, B, or C of the interior side  50  of the wrap portion  20  is first attached to the loop fastener portion  64 A of the cap portion  60 , then attached to the loop fastener portions  64 B,  64 C, and  64 D, in that order. Depending on what cap embodiment is used (i.e.,  60 ,  160 ,  260 , or  360 ), the horizontal bands of hook fasteners  52  may engage vertical stripes of loop fasteners  164 ,  364  of cap portion  160 ,  360 , respectively, or horizontal belt of loop fasteners  264  of cap portion  260 . The user then unfolds the wrap portion  20  as he walks around the pallet of stacked goods and continues to mate the horizontal band of hook fasteners  52  of the wrap portion  20  with loop fastener portions  64 B,  64 C, and  641 ) of the cap portion  60 , in that order. When the user has completely covered all four sides of the pallet of stacked goods, the user then folds the remaining portion or flap  58  of the wrap portion  20  over the first side of the pallet of stacked goods so that the vertical band of hook fasteners  56  of the interior side  50  engages the vertical strip of loop fasteners  24  of the exterior side  22 , thereby securing the wrap portion  20  around the goods. 
         [0049]    After the wrap portion  20  is securely attached to the cap portion  60 , a user may then lift the bottom portion  38  of the wrap using one of the pairs of lift straps  30  or  32 . As mentioned above, the tab  42  of the lift straps are lifted up and mated with attachment portion  40 . A forklift can then be used to pick up the pallet of stacked goods and place it on a delivery vehicle for shipment to a second location e.g., distribution center or retail store. 
         [0050]    Once the wrapped goods have been moved from the first location to the second location the covering  18  is removed. To remove the covering  18  the flap  58  is detached from the vertical loop strip  24  of the wrap portion  20 . The exterior side  22  of the wrap portion  20  is then folded about itself. The first fold occurs by bring the second end portion  57  near an edge of the pallet of stacked goods below the intersection of the third and fourth sides  62 C and  62 D, respectively, of the cap portion  60  (see  FIG. 5 ). As the user is folding the exterior side  22  about itself, the horizontal band of hook fasteners  52 A, B, or C are being detached from the loop fastener portions  64 ,  164 ,  264 , or  364  of the cap portion  60 ,  160 ,  260 , or  360 , respectively. The second fold occurs by bringing the first fold near an edge of the pallet of stacked goods below the intersection of the second and third sides  62 B and  62 C, respectively, of the cap portion  60 . The third fold occurs by bringing the second fold near an edge of the pallet of stacked goods below the intersection of the first and second sides  62 A, and  62 B, respectively, of the cap portion  60 . And the fourth fold occurs by aligning the third fold with the first end portion  25 . By wrapping the wrap portion  20  in this manner, the interior side  22 , particularly horizontal bands of hook fasteners  52 , of the wrap portion  20  is exposed. The user than grasps all the folds and lifts the wrap portion  20  away from the pallet of stacked goods, thereby detaching the last portion of the horizontal bands  52 A, B, or C from the cap portion  60 . 
         [0051]    Once the folding is completed, the user moves the folded wrap portion  20  to the storage rack  300 . There the user positions the folded wrap on the storage rack  30  such that the plastic hook  44 A is engaged with storage hook  338  on track  310 A and the plastic hook  44 B is engaged with corresponding storage hook  338  on track  310 B, or vice versa, 
         [0052]    Next the cap portion  60  is removed from the pallet of stacked goods. If the pallet of stacked goods is tall, the user pushes side  62 A up so that side  62 C is lowered. The user than grasps the handles  72 A, B and pulls the cap portion  60  off the pallet of stacked goods. The user then aligns upper edge  74  of the cap portion  60  with top edge  46  of the folded wrap portion  20  so that the hook fastener portion  64 C engages the horizontal band of hook fasteners  52 A. Although any hook fastener portion  64  can be attached to any horizontal band of book fasteners  52 , the most efficient storage of the cap portion  60  and wrap portion  20  is by mating the hook fastener portion  64 C with the horizontal band of hook fasteners  52 A. If a storage rack  300  is not present at the second location, then the wrap and cap portions of the covering  18  may be hung or stored on hooks contained in the delivery vehicle. Assuming that a storage rack  300  is present at the second location, the storage rack  300  with the stored coverings  18  is then placed back into the delivery vehicle and transported back to the first location or to a third location e.g., an inspection facility. The coverings  18  may also be inspected by a user for cleanliness or damage. The inspection may take place at the first location, the second location, or a third location. 
         [0053]    The specific design of the various cap portions  60 ,  160 ,  260 , and  360 , wrap portion  20 ,  120 , and  120 ′, and the storage rack  300  mentioned above enable a single user to efficiently remove or place a covering on a pallet of stacked goods that is short, medium, or tall without the help of another or having to use a ladder, chair or other elevation device. This provides for more efficient preparation and shipping of goods as less time is needed to prepare and deliver the pallet of stacked goods. 
       INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY 
       [0054]    Numerous modifications to the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the foregoing description. Accordingly, this description is to be construed as illustrative only and is presented for the purpose of enabling those skilled in the art to make and use the invention and to teach the best mode of carrying out same. The exclusive rights to all modifications which come within the scope of the appended claims are reserved.

Technology Classification (CPC): 1