Shipping and dispensing box for slit sheet material

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10766690-B2
Application number	US-201816159186-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 12, 2018
Priority date	Oct 12, 2017
Publication date	Sep 8, 2020
Grant date	Sep 8, 2020

Abstract

Exemplary embodiments pertain to a combined shipping and expansion device for shipping a roll of unexpanded slit sheet material and for expanding the slit sheet material. In some examples, the device includes: a container made with recyclable paper or board; a roll of slit sheet material wound around a core member and positioned within the container; the roll of slit sheet material having a slit pattern that forms open cells upon expansion; the core member being made with recyclable paper or board and having a length greater than a width of the roll of slit sheet wound around the core member and having protrusions that extend beyond each side of the roll of slit sheet material; a plurality of yoke members within the container, including at least one yoke member that rotatably receives a first of the protrusions and at least one yoke member that rotatably receives a second of the protrusions; and the container having a dispensing opening through which the slit sheet material wound around the core member can be extended and pulled, causing the core member to rotate relative to the yoke members via rotation of the roll of slit sheet material. The combined shipping and expansion device is made from substantially entirely recyclable paper or board materials, whereby after complete dispensing of the slit sheet material from the shipping and expansion device, the combined shipping and expansion device can be recycled in a paper recycling facility.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A combined shipping and expansion device for shipping a roll of unexpanded slit sheet material and for expanding the slit sheet material, comprising:
a) a container having:
a first pair of side wall members;
a second pair of side wall members;

b) a roll of slit sheet material wound around a core member and positioned within said container;
c) said roll of slit sheet material having a slit pattern that forms open cells upon expansion;
d) said core member having a length greater than a width of said roll of slit sheet wound around the core member and having protrusions that extend beyond each side of said roll of slit sheet material;
e) a plurality of yoke members within said container, including at least one yoke member that rotatably receives a first of said protrusions and at least one yoke member that rotatably receives a second of said protrusions; and
f) a friction member arranged to apply frictional pressure against at least one of said protrusions for regulating force required to rotate said roll with respect to said yoke members during unwinding of said roll of slit sheet material from said core member.

2. The combined shipping and expansion device of claim 1 , wherein said core member is a hollow paper tube and said container is formed from corrugated board.

3. The combined shipping and expansion device of claim 1 , wherein said yoke members each have an arcuate opening with a radius of curvature that is substantially equal to a radius of the core member.

4. The combined shipping and expansion device of claim 1 , wherein said at least one yoke member that rotatably receives the first of the protrusions and said at least one yoke member that rotatably receives the second of the protrusions each include two adjacent yoke members for increased support of each of said protrusions.

5. The combined shipping and expansion device of claim 4 , wherein said adjacent yoke members are separate yoke panels that are placed adjacent one another with a first of said adjacent yoke panels folded downward over a second of said adjacent yoke panels.

6. The combined shipping and expansion device of claim 5 , wherein said first of said adjacent yoke panels includes an extension tab that is received within a receiving slot formed in or proximate a bottom panel of the container, locking said first of said adjacent yoke panels folded downward over the second of said adjacent yoke panels.

7. The combined shipping and expansion device of claim 3 , including each of said yoke members being formed on respective contiguous panels connected to said first pair of panels, each of said contiguous panels including a respective one of said arcuate openings, and each of said contiguous panels being folded to a position overlying a respective panel of said first pair of panels such that its respective said arcuate opening is arranged to receive a respective one of said protrusions of the core member.

8. The combined shipping and expansion device of claim 3 , wherein said roll of slit sheet material is positioning within said combined shipping and expansion device and with each of said cylinder protrusions in contact with a respective one of said arcuate openings.

9. The combined shipping and expansion device of claim 1 , wherein a first of said second pair of side wall members has an elongated tear-away region extending from a position proximate a first of said second pair of side wall members to a position proximate a second of said second pair of side wall members.

10. The combined shipping and expansion device of claim 3 , further including a top cover panel of the container being movably mounted above said roll of slit sheet material within said container and being movable to apply pressure to said friction member, and
releasable affixing means for releasably affixing said top cover panel with respect to said friction member to regulate the force required to rotate said roll with respect to said yoke members during unwinding of said roll of slit sheet material from said core member.

11. The combined shipping and expansion device of claim 10 , wherein said releasable affixing means includes a releasable attachment mechanism that includes at a portion substantially directly above the core.

12. The combined shipping and expansion device of claim 11 , wherein said releasable affixing means includes two releasable attachment mechanisms located proximate opposite sides of said container.

13. The combined shipping and expansion device of claim 10 , wherein said friction member is a tensioning panel having an arcuate surface configured to be pressed against an upper surface of said core.

14. The combined shipping and expansion device of claim 13 , wherein said tensioning panel has a through-hole opening that receives one of said protrusions of said core, and wherein said through-hole opening completely surrounds a perimeter of said core such as to be retained by said core.

15. The combined shipping and expansion device of claim 13 , wherein said tensioning panel has an elongated slot that extends through a side edge of said tensioning panel such that said tensioning panel is laterally slidable with respect to a protrusion of the core with the protrusion received within said elongated slot.

16. The combined shipping and expansion device of claim 10 , wherein said releasable affixing means is a releasable adhesive.

17. The combined shipping and expansion device of claim 10 , wherein said releasable affixing means is hook and loop fasteners.

18. The combined shipping and expansion device of claim 10 , wherein said friction member arranged to apply frictional pressure against at least one of said protrusions includes a tensioning member configured to slidingly move within said container, said tensioning member having an arcuate surface configured to be positioned against said at least one of said protrusions for applying pressure against said at least one of said protrusions.

19. The combined shipping and expansion device of claim 18 , wherein said top cover panel is variably movable against a pressing surface of said tensioning member that is opposite to said arcuate surface, whereby said top cover can be moved to increase a force against said pressing surface and increase the pressure applied by said arcuate surface against said at least one of said protrusions.

20. The combined shipping and expansion device of claim 9 , wherein said container has a top cover panel that has at least one depending tab member positioned to contact said pressing surface of said tensioning member when said top cover panel is in a closed position.

21. The combined shipping and expansion device of claim 19 , further including said tensioning device having a height that is less than an interior height of said container such that said tensioning device applies pressure to said at least one of said protrusions without contacting a bottom panel of said container.

22. The combined shipping and expansion device of claim 1 , further comprising at least one removable spacer, said at least one removable spacer being positioned between ends of said roll of slit material and said first pair of panels of said container to stabilize the roll of slit material during shipping of said combined shipping and expansion device.

23. The combined shipping and expansion device of claim 22 , said at least one removable spacer includes an elongated slot that extends from an open first end to an arcuate shaped end, thereb

Assignees

• Goodrich David Paul

Inventors

• Goodrich David Paul

Classifications

• B65H23/06

  by retarding devices, e.g. acting on web-roll spindle · CPC title

• B65D83/0835

  the articles being pulled out of the container · CPC title

• B65D83/0805

  through an aperture in a wall · CPC title

• B65D85/672 Primary

  on cores · CPC title

• B65D5/42

  Details of containers or of foldable or erectable container blanks · CPC title