Edge attached film-foam sheet

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9827711-B2
Application number	US-201213453502-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 23, 2012
Priority date	Apr 21, 2011
Publication date	Nov 28, 2017
Grant date	Nov 28, 2017

Abstract

The present disclosure generally relates to devices and methods for furniture protection. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to foam-film sheets configured to protect furniture from damage. An exemplary foam-film sheet as disclosed herein includes a sheet of foam material having a first lateral edge and a second lateral edge; a sheet of film material having a first lateral edge and a second lateral edge; a first seal between a portion of the foam material proximate its first lateral edge and a portion of the film material proximate its first lateral edge; and a second seal between a portion of the foam material proximate its second lateral edge and a portion of the film material proximate its second lateral edge, wherein the film and foam are substantially unseated along the entire transverse width between the first and second sealed portions near the lateral edges of the foam material.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A foam-film sheet, comprising:
a sheet of foam material having a first lateral edge and a second lateral edge and a foam surface extending between the first lateral edge and the second lateral edge;
a sheet of film material having a first lateral edge and a second lateral edge and a film surface extending between the first lateral edge and the second lateral edge;
a first seal attaching the foam surface proximate its first lateral edge to the film surface proximate its first lateral edge; and
a second seal attaching the foam and film surfaces closer to the second lateral edges than the first seal;
wherein the foam surface and the film surface extend between the first seal and the second seal and are detached from each other in an unsealed area that is disposed between the first seal and the second seal such that the film is able to slide with respect to the foam in the unsealed area and the foam surface and the film surface face each other at the first seal, the second seal, and across the unsealed area.

2. The foam-film sheet of claim 1 , wherein the foam material is a low density polyethylene, wherein the film material is a high density polyethylene, and wherein the first and second seals comprise a hot-melt glue.

3. The foam-film sheet of claim 1 , wherein the foam material has a width between the first and second edges thereof, and the first and second seals are positioned within about 10% of the foam material width from the respective first and second lateral edges of the foam material.

4. The foam-film sheet of claim 1 , wherein the foam material has a width between the first and second edges thereof, and the first and second seals are positioned within about 5% of the foam material width from the respective first and second lateral edges of the foam material.

5. The foam-film sheet of claim 1 , wherein the first and second seals are positioned within about 5 inches from the respective first and second lateral edges of the foam material, and the foam material is at least about 106 inches wide between the first and second lateral edges thereof.

6. The foam-film sheet of claim 1 , wherein the foam material has a width between its first and second edges, and the film material has a width between its first and second edges that is greater than the foam material width, such that the film material includes an overhang extending laterally beyond at least one of the first and second edges of the foam material.

7. The foam-film sheet of claim 6 , the overhang extending beyond both the first and second edges of the foam material.

8. The foam-film sheet of claim 6 , wherein the overhang extends over only the first edge of the foam material.

9. The foam-film sheet of claim 8 , further comprising an adhesive with a release layer on the overhang on a side of the film material that is sealed to the film material.

10. The foam-film sheet of claim 1 , wherein the foam-film sheet is C-folded about a longitudinal axis thereof with the film in the interior of the C-fold.

11. The foam-film sheet of claim 1 , wherein the first and second seals are continuous.

12. The foam-film sheet of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the seals is discontinuous.

13. The foam-film sheet of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the seals comprises a plurality of adjacent seal lines disposed near the respective foam material edge.

14. The foam-film sheet of claim 1 , wherein the second seal is disposed proximate the second lateral edge of the foam material.

15. The foam-film sheet of claim 14 , wherein the film and foam are substantially unsealed along the entire transverse width between the first and second sealed portions near the lateral edges of the foam material.

16. The foam-film sheet of claim 14 , further comprising an intermediate sealed portion displaced from the first and second sealed portions by at least about a third of the transverse width of the foam sheet, such that the unsealed area includes first and second unsealed areas.

17. The foam-film sheet of claim 14 , wherein the distance between first and second lateral edges of the film material and the foam material is between about 40 inches and 200 inches.

18. The foam-film sheet of claim 14 , wherein the foam material has a foam lateral width measured between the first and second edges thereof, and wherein the lateral width of the unsealed area is at least 50% of the foam lateral width.

19. The foam-film sheet of claim 14 , wherein the foam material has a foam lateral width measured between the first and second edges thereof, and wherein the lateral width of the unsealed area is at least 75% of the foam lateral width.

20. The foam-film sheet of claim 14 , wherein the foam material has a foam lateral width measured between the first and second edges thereof, and wherein the lateral width of the unsealed area is at least 95% of the foam lateral width.

21. The foam-film sheet of claim 14 , wherein:
the foam material has a foam lateral width measured between the first and second edges thereof;
the film material has a film lateral width measured between the first and second edges thereof; and
the lateral width of the unsealed area is at least 75% of at least one of the foam lateral width or film lateral width.

22. A furniture bag material, comprising the foam-film sheet of claim 1 , wherein the foam and film materials are capable of being heat sealed and heat cut transversely through a C-folded sheet to form a furniture bag having closed sides at the C-fold and closed sides at the transverse heat seals.

23. A furniture bag material, comprising:
the foam-film sheet of claim 1 , wherein the foam-film sheet is C-folded about a longitudinal axis, with approximately a first half of the foam-film sheet on one side of the axis and approximately a second half of the foam-film sheet on another side of the axis, and wherein first and second edges thereof are adjacent to one another; and
a first transverse seal through the C-fold, thereby sealing the first half to the second half at the first transverse seal, and a second transverse seal through the C-fold at a distance from the first transverse seal, thereby sealing the first half to the second half at the second transverse seal, wherein an opening between the adjacent first and second edges is dimensioned to allow for insertion over a piece of furniture.

24. The foam-film furniture cover of claim 23 , wherein the film material is on the inside of the C-fold and the foam material is on the outside of the C-fold, and the unsealed area allows the film to slide with respect to the foam to protect the furniture against abrasion.

25. A foam-film sheet for protecting a furniture article, comprising:
a sheet of film material having a first lateral edge and a second lateral edge;
a sheet of foam material having a first lateral edge and a second lateral edge and a first surface between the first lateral edge and the second lateral edge attached to the film material and a second surface area on the opposite side of the sheet of foam as the first surface, wherein the second surface area is free of film material such that the second surface area forms an outer most surface of the foam-film sheet;
a first seal between a portion of the foam material on the first surface proximate its first lateral edge and a portion of the film material proximate its first lateral edge; and
a second seal between a portion of the foam material on the first

Assignees

• Wetsch Thomas D
• Green Darren Keith
• Pregis Innovative Packaging Llc

Inventors

• Wetsch Thomas D
• Green Darren Keith

Classifications

• Y10T428/24802

  Discontinuous or differential coating, impregnation or bond [e.g., artwork, printing, retouched photograph, etc.] · CPC title

• B29C66/723

  being multi-layered (B29C66/7292, B29C66/72941 take precedence) · CPC title

• Y10T428/24752

  Laterally noncoextensive components · CPC title

• Y10T428/24793

  Comprising discontinuous or differential impregnation or bond · CPC title

• B29C66/71

  characterised by the composition of the plastics material of the parts to be joined (welding bar compositions B29C65/125) · CPC title