US20070295634A1

US20070295634A1 - Package structure

Info

Publication number: US20070295634A1
Application number: US11/766,114
Authority: US
Inventors: Kuo-An Lee
Original assignee: Asustek Computer Inc
Current assignee: Asustek Computer Inc
Priority date: 2006-06-21
Filing date: 2007-06-21
Publication date: 2007-12-27
Also published as: TWI289133B; TW200800749A

Abstract

A package structure including a carton, a foam bag and a cushion is provided. The foam bag is disposed inside the carton for enclosing a product. The cushion is disposed between the carton and the foam bag. The package structure utilizes the foam bag around the product to provide a better protection, thereby reducing the volume of the cushion and that of the package structure.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 95122234, filed Jun. 21, 2006. All disclosure of the Taiwan application is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a package structure, and more particularly, to a package structure with an enhanced product protection.
2. Description of Related Art
In our daily life, electronic products sold in the market are packaged before shipping out from a manufacturing facility. After purchasing a particular electronic product, the product is carried back home by hand or by some other means of transport. To prevent accidental impact during transportation that might lead to product damage, a suitable package is used to protect the product. In particular, with big advances in electronics, the precision of electronic products is significantly increased over the previous generation. Therefore, a slight vibration of these highly precision electronic products may easily lead to considerable damage. As a result, the package structure for packing these electronic products, electronic components, fragile objects or other objects becomes more and more important.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional package structure of a product. As shown in FIG. 1, the package structure 100 for packaging an electronic product 150 includes a paper carton 110, a multi-film bag 120 and a cushion 130. In general, the electronic product 150 is first packaged inside the multi-film bag 120 and then disposed inside the paper carton 110 with cushions 130 serving for buffering. Since the electronic product 150 is wrapped inside the multi-film bag 120, the casing of the electronic product 150 is protected against possible scratching before the user takes away the multi-film bag 120 and uses the product 150. In addition, the cushions 130 disposed between the electronic product 150 and the paper carton 110 may buffer the vibrations or impacts exerted on the product during transportation and prevent the electronic product 150 from damages.
However, the multi-film bag 120 does not have the function of protecting the electronic product 150 from shock. Thus, in order to provide enough buffering capacity for protecting the electronic product 150, the volume of the cushions 130 for buffering vibration and impact stress and the buffering space inside the paper carton 110 must be sufficiently large. As a result, it is difficult to effectively reduce the whole volume of the package structure 100.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, at least one objective of the present invention is to provide a package structure that utilizes a foam bag of shockproof material to wrap around a product so that the protection of the product is enhanced and the texture of the package structure is improved.
As embodied and broadly described herein, the invention provides a package structure comprising a carton, a foam bag and at least a cushion. The foam bag is disposed inside the carton for wrapping a product and the cushion is disposed between the carton and the foam bag.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the carton is a paper carton.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the paper carton further includes a handle.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the material constituting the foam bag includes a memory foam, low resilience polyurethane or a combination thereof
In one embodiment of the present invention, the foam bag contains a hardened steel zipper.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the product is an electronic device.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the electronic device is a notebook computer.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the material constituting the cushion includes expandable polypropylene (EPP) or expandable polyethylene (EPE).
In one embodiment of the present invention, the cushion is a folded cardboard.
In the present invention, the product is enclosed by the foam bag. Since the foam bag is made of the shockproof material, the protection of the product is enhanced. Furthermore, using the foam bag to enclose the product also has the advantages of reducing the volume of the cushion and hence reducing the whole volume of the package structure. Moreover, the texture of the package structure may also be enhanced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional package structure of a product.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a package structure according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a package structure according to one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the package structure 200 comprises a carton 210, a foam bag 220 and at least a cushion 230. The package structure 200 is used for packaging a product 300 and protecting the product 300 from damage during the transporting process. Furthermore, when the product 300 is accidentally dropped, the package structure 200 can absorb the forces exerted on the product 300.
In the present embodiment, the carton 210 is a paper carton. For the convenience of carrying the paper carton, a handle 212 is attached to the paper carton. The handle 212 is, for example, a strap, which facilitates users to take the paper carton.
The foam bag 220 is disposed inside the carton 210 for enclosing the product 300. In the present embodiment, the product 300 may be an electronic device of high precision, such as a notebook computer or other fragile objects. The foam bag 220 for wrapping the product 300 can be fabricated using a material with buffering capability such as memory foam, low resilience urethane or a combination thereof. It should be noted that the foam bag 220 is made of a material with buffering capability. Therefore, after the product 300 is disposed inside the foam bag 220, the foam bag 220 may buffer against any vibration produced during the transportation of the product 300 and lower the probability of damaging the product 300 due to vibration. In addition, to prevent the product 300 from dropping from the foam bag 220, the foam bag 220 may include a hardened steel zipper 222. Since the product 300 can be taken out of the foam bag 220 only after the zipper 222 is unzipped, the protection of the product 300 is enhanced. Furthermore, the outer edge of the foam bag 220 can be enclosed using a high-density hydrophilic cloth having a variety of colors to enhance the aesthetic appearance of the foam bag 220, thereby improving the texture of the package structure 200.
Again, as shown in FIG. 2, the cushion 230 is disposed between the carton 210 and the foam bag 220. In the package structure 200, the function of the cushion 230 is to buffer the product 300 against stress so that the product 300 is protected from damage. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the material constituting the cushion 230 comprises expandable polypropylene (EPP), expandable polyethylene (EPE) and so on. In another embodiment (not shown), the cushion 230 can also be a folded cardboard. The type and material of the cushion 230 are not limited in the present invention.
After the product 300 is placed inside the foam bag 220, the rectangular cushion 230 is used to clamp the two sides of the product 300. Then, the product 300 is disposed inside the carton 210. It should be noted that although the cushion 230 for clamping both sides of the product 300 and protecting the product 300 has a rectangular shape, the shape of the cushion 230 or the method of clamping the product 300 are not limited in the present invention. For example, the cushion 230 may have a circular shape for surrounding the periphery of the product 300 and buffering against stress that might damage the product 300.
Because the cushion 230 in the present embodiment is made of a material having a buffering effect, the cushion 230 can buffer the product 300 against impact stress even if the carton 210 accidentally drops on the floor during transportation. Thus, the possibility of damaging the product 300 through transportation is minimized.
In particular, because the package structure 200 deploys a foam bag 220 with buffering effect to enclose the product 300, the possibility of damaging the product 300 due to vibration when the product 300 is carried around is significantly reduced. Furthermore, the cushion 230 disposed between the carton 210 and the foam bag 220 also buffers the product 300 against impact stress and prevents any damage to the product 300.
In summary, the package structure of the present invention has at least the following advantages:
1. In the present invention, the foam bag and the cushion are used to protect the product. Because both the foam bag and the cushion are effective buffers for stress, the possibility of damage to the product due to vibration or impact stress is significantly reduced.
2. Since the foam bag already has significant buffering effect, the volume of the cushion can be reduced. Hence, the whole volume of the package structure can also be reduced.
3. The outer edge of the foam bag can be enclosed by the high-density hydrophilic cloth material having different colors to enhance the aesthetic appearance of the foam bag and further improve the texture of the package structure.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A package structure, comprising:

a carton;

a foam bag, disposed inside the carton for wrapping a product; and

at least a cushion, disposed between the carton and the foam bag.

2. The package structure of claim 1, wherein the carton is a paper carton.

3. The package structure of claim 2, wherein the paper carton comprises a handle.

4. The package structure of claim 1, wherein a material of the foam bag comprises memory foam, low resilience urethane or a combination thereof.

5. The package structure of claim 1, wherein the foam bag farther comprises a zipper.

6. The package structure of claim 1, wherein the product is an electronic device.

7. The package structure of claim 6, wherein the electronic device is a notebook computer.

8. The package structure of claim 1, wherein a material of the cushion comprises expandable polypropylene (EPP) or expandable polyethylene (EPE).

9. The package structure of claim 1, wherein the cushion is a folded cardboard.