Packing material including cushion

Abstract

An air cushion having first and second rooms bends at a partition at a corner of a multi-function peripheral (MFP) and contacts a first face of the MFP at a first room outer surface and a second face of the MFP at an second room outer surface. An outer case applies pressure to the outer surfaces of the first and second rooms and presses the first and second rooms to the MFP. When the first room receives a force from outside the outer case, gas moves from the first room to the second room against pressure the outer case applies to the second room, such that a side wall of the outer case contacting the second room deforms. Upon removal of the force, the side wall returns to an original flat state and presses the second room, such that the gas returns from the second room to the first room.

Description

[0001]This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2017-225759 filed Nov. 24, 2017, the contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.BACKGROUNDTechnical Field[0002]The present disclosure relates to packing technology, and in particular to cushions.Description of the Related Art[0003]Cushions are indispensable for transportation of components or products vulnerable to external vibrations and shocks, such as high-precision molded components, precision machines, and electronic appliances. Cushions are each a member having high elasticity or plasticity and are placed around an object to be transported, i.e. a package. Specifically, when a package is stored in an outer case made of cardboard, wood, or the like, cushions surround the package or fill gaps between the package and the outer case to support the package inside the outer case. When the outer case receives a vibration or shock from the outside during transportation of the p...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention aims to provide a packing material that allows cushions to resist gas movement caused by external forces and restore their buffering capacity, without adding extra components or making the structure more complex. This solves the problems of previous packing materials that did not provide sufficient resistance against gas movement.

Problems solved by technology

Increase in quantity of disposed packing materials is considered problematic, following the increase of interest toward environmental problems such as global warming.

Use of foamed plastic, specifically as block-type cushions has problems such as difficulty in downsizing (being voluminous,) difficulty in recycling, and a significant amount of heat emission and generation of various kinds of harmful gases when burned.

However, air cushions are disadvantageous in that their bags easily rupture when receiving an external shock, which requires a measure for further improving their buffering effects.

However, such devices increase the number of components and complicate the structures, and therefore, are disadvantageous in production cost reduction.

However, the gas pressure difference is often too low to surely return all the gas to the original bag.

Accordingly, it is difficult to ensure that the bag having received the external force fully restores its buffering capability after the bag is released from the external force.

If the bag has a smaller amount of gas due to the insufficient restoration, problems caused by lowering of the buffering effect may occur when the bag receives an external force again; for example, the package may be damaged by a collapse of the bag (a phenomenon in which the gas pressure of the bag fails to resist the external force, and consequently, the film on one side of the bag by receiving the external force falls down and collides with the film on the other side.)

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