US20070295634A1 - Package structure - Google Patents

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 inFIG. 1, thepackage structure100 for packaging anelectronic product150 includes apaper carton110, amulti-film bag120 and acushion130. In general, theelectronic product150 is first packaged inside themulti-film bag120 and then disposed inside thepaper carton110 withcushions130 serving for buffering. Since theelectronic product150 is wrapped inside themulti-film bag120, the casing of theelectronic product150 is protected against possible scratching before the user takes away themulti-film bag120 and uses theproduct150. In addition, thecushions130 disposed between theelectronic product150 and thepaper carton110 may buffer the vibrations or impacts exerted on the product during transportation and prevent theelectronic product150 from damages.
• However, themulti-film bag120 does not have the function of protecting theelectronic product150 from shock. Thus, in order to provide enough buffering capacity for protecting theelectronic product150, the volume of thecushions130 for buffering vibration and impact stress and the buffering space inside thepaper carton110 must be sufficiently large. As a result, it is difficult to effectively reduce the whole volume of thepackage structure100.
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 inFIG. 2, thepackage structure200 comprises acarton210, afoam bag220 and at least acushion230. Thepackage structure200 is used for packaging aproduct300 and protecting theproduct300 from damage during the transporting process. Furthermore, when theproduct300 is accidentally dropped, thepackage structure200 can absorb the forces exerted on theproduct300.
• In the present embodiment, thecarton210 is a paper carton. For the convenience of carrying the paper carton, ahandle212 is attached to the paper carton. Thehandle212 is, for example, a strap, which facilitates users to take the paper carton.
• Thefoam bag220 is disposed inside thecarton210 for enclosing theproduct300. In the present embodiment, theproduct300 may be an electronic device of high precision, such as a notebook computer or other fragile objects. Thefoam bag220 for wrapping theproduct300 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 thefoam bag220 is made of a material with buffering capability. Therefore, after theproduct300 is disposed inside thefoam bag220, thefoam bag220 may buffer against any vibration produced during the transportation of theproduct300 and lower the probability of damaging theproduct300 due to vibration. In addition, to prevent theproduct300 from dropping from thefoam bag220, thefoam bag220 may include a hardenedsteel zipper222. Since theproduct300 can be taken out of thefoam bag220 only after thezipper222 is unzipped, the protection of theproduct300 is enhanced. Furthermore, the outer edge of thefoam bag220 can be enclosed using a high-density hydrophilic cloth having a variety of colors to enhance the aesthetic appearance of thefoam bag220, thereby improving the texture of thepackage structure200.
• Again, as shown inFIG. 2, thecushion230 is disposed between thecarton210 and thefoam bag220. In thepackage structure200, the function of thecushion230 is to buffer theproduct300 against stress so that theproduct300 is protected from damage. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the material constituting thecushion230 comprises expandable polypropylene (EPP), expandable polyethylene (EPE) and so on. In another embodiment (not shown), thecushion230 can also be a folded cardboard. The type and material of thecushion230 are not limited in the present invention.
• After theproduct300 is placed inside thefoam bag220, therectangular cushion230 is used to clamp the two sides of theproduct300. Then, theproduct300 is disposed inside thecarton210. It should be noted that although thecushion230 for clamping both sides of theproduct300 and protecting theproduct300 has a rectangular shape, the shape of thecushion230 or the method of clamping theproduct300 are not limited in the present invention. For example, thecushion230 may have a circular shape for surrounding the periphery of theproduct300 and buffering against stress that might damage theproduct300.
• Because thecushion230 in the present embodiment is made of a material having a buffering effect, thecushion230 can buffer theproduct300 against impact stress even if thecarton210 accidentally drops on the floor during transportation. Thus, the possibility of damaging theproduct300 through transportation is minimized.
• In particular, because thepackage structure200 deploys afoam bag220 with buffering effect to enclose theproduct300, the possibility of damaging theproduct300 due to vibration when theproduct300 is carried around is significantly reduced. Furthermore, thecushion230 disposed between thecarton210 and thefoam bag220 also buffers theproduct300 against impact stress and prevents any damage to theproduct300.
• 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 (9)

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 ofclaim 1, wherein the carton is a paper carton.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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