Systems and methods for incorporating labels and the like with expandable slit sheet material wrap

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11745930-B2
Application number	US-202117506093-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 20, 2021
Priority date	Oct 20, 2020
Publication date	Sep 5, 2023
Grant date	Sep 5, 2023

Abstract

According to some embodiments, systems and methods for applying labeling or indicia upon expandable slit sheet cushioning material is provided, including, in some examples, a) providing one or more unslit region within the expandable slit sheet material, b) providing one or more label or the like that is adhered or connected to a region of the expandable slit sheet material, and/or c) providing an over-layer sheet around the expandable slit sheet material.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A structure having a cushioning, comprising:
at least one layer of expandable slit paper for cushioning at least one object,
said expandable slit paper including a slit pattern having an array of slits with a plurality of rows of slits, said slits being expandable to form expanded cells upon applying an expansion force in a lengthwise direction,
said expandable slit paper having at least one transverse region that is unslit or unexpanded, and
at least one label or indicia applied to at least one of said at least one transverse region.

2. The structure of claim 1 , wherein said expandable slit paper is expanded to form open cells for cushioning.

3. The structure of claim 1 , wherein said at least one object is a manually holdable product that is wrapped within a plurality of layers of the expandable slit paper.

4. The structure of claim 1 , wherein said at least one object is a pallet assembly.

5. The structure of claim 1 , further comprising an over-layer sheet wrapped around the expandable slit paper.

6. The structure of claim 5 , wherein said over-layer sheet is wrapped around the expandable slit paper, and wherein said expandable slit paper is wrapped around an item or object for cushioning of the item or object.

7. The structure of claim 5 , wherein said over-layer sheet is wrapped around a section of said expandable slit sheet paper without surrounding said at least one object that is cushioned by said expandable slit sheet paper.

8. The structure of claim 5 , wherein said over-layer sheet is wrapped around at least the at least one layer of expandable slit paper and opposite ends of the over-layer sheet are connected together.

9. The structure of claim 8 , further including an adhesive applied to at least one end region of the over-layer sheet such that the over-layer sheet bonds to itself.

10. The structure of claim 1 , wherein said at least one transverse region is a plurality of unslit transverse regions at predetermined intervals.

11. The structure of claim 10 , wherein the transverse regions are in a repeating pattern at predetermined intervals of greater than three inches.

12. The structure of claim 11 , wherein the transverse regions are in a repeating pattern at predetermined intervals of greater than six inches.

13. The structure of claim 11 , wherein the transverse regions are in a repeating pattern at predetermined intervals of greater than nine inches.

14. The structure of claim 11 , wherein the transverse regions are in a repeating pattern at predetermined intervals of between 3 and 13 inches.

15. The structure of claim 10 , wherein the transverse regions are in a repeating pattern at predetermined intervals of nine inches, plus or minus four inches.

16. The structure of claim 10 , wherein the transverse regions are in a repeating pattern at predetermined intervals of six inches, plus or minus one inch.

17. The structure of claim 1 , further comprising a label adhered or connected to the at least one transverse region that is unslit or unexpanded.

18. The structure of claim 1 , wherein the slit sheet paper is a Kraft paper in the range from about 30# to 70#.

19. The structure of claim 1 , wherein the expandable slit paper is an extensible paper having an extensibility in an expansion direction or machine direction of at least 5%.

20. The structure of claim 19 , wherein the expandable slit paper is an extensible paper having an extensibility in a cross direction of at least 5%.

21. The structure of claim 1 , wherein the expandable slit paper is an extensible paper having an extensibility in a machine direction of at least 5%.

22. The structure of claim 1 , wherein the expandable slit paper is an extensible paper having an extensibility in a cross direction of at least 5%.

23. The structure of claim 1 , wherein said at least one label or indicia is printed to at least one of said at least one transverse region.

24. The structure of claim 1 , wherein said at least one label or indicia is adhered or attached to at least one of said at least one transverse region.

25. A structure having a cushioning comprising:
a plurality of layers of expandable slit paper wrapped around an object,
said expandable slit paper including a slit pattern having an array of slits with a plurality of rows of slits, said slits being expandable to form expanded cells upon applying an expansion force in a lengthwise direction,
said expandable slit paper having at least one transverse region that is unslit or unexpanded, and
at least one label or indicia applied to at least one of said at least one transverse region.

26. The structure of claim 25 , wherein said expandable slit paper is expanded to form hexagonal cells.

27. The structure of claim 25 , wherein said at least one label or indicia is printed to at least one of said at least one transverse region.

28. The structure of claim 25 , wherein said at least one label or indicia is adhered or attached to at least one of said at least one transverse region.

29. A structure having a cushioning, comprising:
at least one layer of expandable slit paper for cushioning at least one object,
said expandable slit paper including a slit pattern having an array of slits with a plurality of rows of slits, said slits being expandable to form expanded cells upon applying an expansion force in a lengthwise direction,
said expandable slit paper having at least one label adhered or connected to a region of the expandable slit paper in an unexpanded state prior to expansion of the expandable slit paper.

30. The structure of claim 29 , wherein said expandable slit paper is expandable to form open cells for cushioning.

31. The structure of claim 30 , wherein said expandable slit paper at the region adhered or connected to the at least one label is inhibited from expansion by the at least one label.

32. A method of making the structure of claim 29 , including adhering or connecting the at least one label to the expandable slit sheet paper prior to expansion of the expandable slit sheet paper.

33. The method of claim 32 , further including forming the expandable slit sheet paper in an unexpanded state into a roll.

34. The method of claim 33 , further including connecting the at least one label to the expandable slit sheet paper after forming the expandable slit sheet paper into the roll.

35. The method of claim 34 , further including applying the at least one label to the expandable slit sheet paper prior to separation of the expandable slit sheet paper from the roll.

36. The method of claim 33 , further including applying the at least one label to the expandable slit sheet paper after separation of the expandable slit sheet paper from the roll.

37. The method of claim 32 , further including wrapping said expandable slit sheet paper around a pallet assembly.

38. The method of claim 32 , further including wrapping said expandable slit sheet paper around an item or object for cushioning of the item or object.

Assignees

• Goodrich David Paul

Inventors

• Goodrich David Paul

Classifications

• B65D81/03 Primary

  Wrappers or envelopes with shock-absorbing properties, e.g. bubble films {(for thermal insulating purposes B65D81/3888)} · CPC title

• B31D1/0031

  the articles being paper nettings, e.g. by slitting and expanding webs or sheets · CPC title

• B65D65/22

  Details · CPC title

• B65D65/40

  Applications of laminates for particular packaging purposes {(B65D1/0215, B65D1/28, B65D3/22, B65D5/0281, B65D5/563, B65D9/30, B65D29/02, B65D31/02, B65D75/26, B65D77/2024, B65D81/1275, B65D81/3811, B65D81/3823, B65D81/3834, B65D81/3846, B65D81/3858, B65D81/3874, B65D81/3886, B65D81/3897 take precedence; laminates per se or laminated packages characterised by the composition or)} · CPC title

• B65D71/0088

  Palletisable loads, i.e. loads intended to be transported by means of a fork-lift truck · CPC title