Extensible paper and its use in the production of expanded slit packaging and void fill products
OwnerDavid Paul Goodrichinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An extensible slit sheet paper product is produced having an expandable slit pattern that forms open cells upon expansion of the paper product. The paper product is an extensible paper having an extensibility in the range from 1-9% in the machine direction and 1-5% in the cross direction. The expansion produces an array of hexagonal cells. The expanded extensible paper can be used to wrap an object for shipping by wrapping and cushioning the object in the expanded slit sheet material. The extensible, expandable slit sheet paper can be wrapped around itself to produce a void fill product.
Claims72
An extensible slit sheet paper cushioning product, comprising:
- a roll of slit sheet paper having a slit pattern including a plurality of slits extending in a cross direction that forms a plurality of open cells upon expansion in a machine direction, said roll resisting pulling of a length of slit sheet paper along the machine direction to enable expansion of the length of slit sheet paper in the machine direction,
- said slit sheet paper being formed from an extensible paper made to be extensible in the machine direction and the cross direction without said slit pattern, said extensible paper having an extensibility within a range of 3 to 20% in the machine direction.
An extensible slit sheet paper cushioning product, comprising:
- a length of slit sheet paper having a slit pattern including a plurality of slits extending in a cross direction that forms a plurality of open cells upon expansion in a machine direction,
- said slit sheet paper being formed from an extensible paper made to be extensible in the machine direction and the cross direction without the slit pattern, said extensible paper having an extensibility within a range of 3 to 20% in the machine direction.
A shipping package comprising:
- a wrapped object,
- said wrapped object being wrapped in at least two layers of an expanded slit sheet paper wrap having interlocking hexagonal cells,
- said slit sheet paper having a slit pattern including a plurality of slits extending in a cross direction that forms a plurality of hexagonal cells upon expansion in a machine direction and being expanded by applying an expansion force and wrapped to form said at least two layers of expanded slit sheet paper wrap having interlocking hexagonal cells,
- said slit sheet paper being formed from an extensible paper made to be extensible in the machine direction and the cross direction without said slit pattern, said extensible paper having an extensibility within a range of 3 to 20% in the machine direction.
A method of expanding and wrapping a slit sheet paper that upon expansion and wrapping forms two or more layers of interlocking hexagonal cells, comprising the steps of:
- providing said slit sheet paper having a slit pattern including a plurality of slits extending in a cross direction that forms a plurality of hexagonal cells upon expansion in a machine direction, wherein said slit sheet paper being formed from an extensible paper made to be extensible in the machine direction and the cross direction without said slit pattern, said extensible paper having an extensibility within a range of 3 to 20% in the machine direction,
- expanding said slit sheet paper, and
- wrapping said expanded slit sheet paper to form adjacent layers, said adjacent layers being in interlocking contact, whereby expanded layers resist contraction and tearing.
A method of protecting an object for shipping by wrapping and cushioning said object in an expanded slit sheet material, comprising the steps of:
- a) providing a roll with a sheet of expandable sheet material wound therearound, said sheet of expandable sheet material being flexible, non-woven fibrous material, and having a plurality of spaced parallel rows of individual slits extending in a cross direction, said flexible, non-woven fibrous material being an extensible paper made to be extensible in the machine direction and the cross direction without said slits, said extensible paper having an extensibility within a range of 3 to 20% in the machine direction;
- b) expanding a length of said expandable sheet material unrolled from said roll by applying an expansion force to form at least one expanded slit sheet material having an array of openings;
- c) wrapping said at least one expanded slit sheet material around an object;
- and
- d) placing the wrapped object in a package.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.