Bound pad of expandable slit-sheet stock material

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12060211-B2
Application number	US-202017431627-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 18, 2020
Priority date	Feb 19, 2019
Publication date	Aug 13, 2024
Grant date	Aug 13, 2024

Abstract

A bound pad presents a compact and convenient form of providing a two-ply construction that includes a slit-sheet stock material that may be positioned on or hung from a flat surface at the end-user's site. The bound pad includes sheets of slit-sheet stock material that are interleafed with non-die cut separator sheets. The sheets are bound together adjacent one edge, and may be weakened adjacent the bound edge to facilitate their removal from the bound pad during use. A user creates tension by pulling a free edge of the sheet of slit sheet material away from the bound edge, thereby expanding the slit material sheet to form an expanded packaging material. The user places an article on the bound pad, wraps the article in the sheets, and tears the sheets to remove the wrapped article from the bound pad.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A bound pad comprising a generally rectangular stack of a plurality of sheets of stock material, including a plurality of sheets of slit stock material, with each sheet of slit stock material being separated from an adjacent sheet of slit stock material by an interleafed non-die cut separator sheet,
where the sheets of slit stock material each include a plurality of slits configured to separate under tension applied in a direction across the length of the slits, and
where the plurality of sheets of the slit stock material and the interleafed non-die cut separator sheets are bound together along one edge, such that the interleafed non-die cut separator sheet is bound to each sheet of the plurality of sheets of slit stock material.

2. The bound pad of claim 1 , where the plurality of slits are arranged in a plurality of transversely-extending, longitudinally-spaced rows of slits, where each slit is longitudinally expandable.

3. The bound pad of claim 1 , where at least one of the plurality of sheets of slit stock material and the interleafed non-die cut separator sheets is recyclable, biodegradable, and composed of a renewable resource.

4. The bound pad of claim 1 , where at least one of the plurality of sheets of slit stock material and interleafed non-die cut separator sheets includes paper.

5. The bound pad of claim 1 , where the bound edge is bound with an adhesive.

6. The bound pad of claim 1 , where the bound pad is configured for attachment to a structure to provide tension when a user pulls a sheet of slit stock material to cause the slit stock material to expand to form an expanded packaging material.

7. The bound pad of claim 1 , further comprising a tear strip adjacent the bound edge to facilitate removal of sheets from the stack.

8. The bound pad of claim 1 , where the sheets of slit stock material and the interleafed non-die cut separator sheets are perforated or otherwise weakened adjacent the bound edge to facilitate removal from the stack.

9. The bound pad of claim 1 , where the pad is inserted into a folio, clipboard or other device designed to accommodate a pad of conventional writing paper of similar dimensions.

10. A method of using the bound pad of claim 1 , comprising the following steps:
pulling an edge of a sheet of the plurality of sheets of slit stock material away from the bound edge, thereby expanding the slit stock material to form a sheet of expanded packaging material;
placing an item to be protected on the stack;
simultaneously wrapping the item within a sheet of expanded packaging material and a non-die cut separator sheet; and
tearing the sheet of expanded packaging material and the non-die cut separator sheet adjacent to the bound edge to remove the wrapped item from the bound pad.

11. The method of claim 10 , where the placing step includes placing the item on the non-die cut separator sheet.

Assignees

• Ranpak Corp

Inventors

• Thomas Lawrence B

Classifications

• B65D2581/053

  Paper in general, e.g. paperboard, carton, molded paper · CPC title

• B65D2565/383

  made of recycled paper · CPC title

• B65D65/466

  Bio- or photodegradable packaging materials · CPC title

• B65D65/44 Primary

  Applications of resilient shock-absorbing materials, e.g. foamed plastics material, honeycomb material · CPC title

• B65B61/22

  for placing protecting sheets, plugs, or wads over contents, e.g. cotton-wool in bottles of pills · CPC title