Void filler

An expansible honeycomb-type element comprising a plurality of stacked strips of readily foldable material secured to each other at a plurality of spaced and staggered positions in an initially flat and compact relationship, whereby the stacked strips can be expanded to define a slab having a multiplicity of cells, including a supporting strip defining an end member of said stack, said supporting strip being secured at a plurality of positions to a next subjacent strip, and a suspension structure comprising a relatively stiff panel overlying and secured to said supporting strip at a plurality of positions spaced and offset from the positions at which the supporting strip is secured to said subjacent strip, characterized by foldable pleat-like portions of said panel located between the portions of said panel which are secured to said supporting strip whereby the secured portions of said panel and supporting strip are movable with relation to each other in a direction lengthwise of the supporting strip whereby the portions of the supporting strip which are not secured to the suspension structure are expansible away from the suspension structure to define cells therebetween.

An expansible honeycomb-type element comprising a plurality of stacked strips of readily foldable material of corresponding length, said strips being secured together in pairs at their ends in an initially flat and compact relationship, the strips of each pair also being secured together at a plurality of spaced intermediate positions and each strip also being secured to the adjacent strip of an adjacent pair at positions staggered with respect to said previously mentioned positions, whereby the stacked strips can be expanded to form a slab having a multiplicity of cells, the distance between the secured ends of the strips and the secured positions closest thereto being less than the distances between the staggered positions at which the pairs and adjacent pairs are secured together, whereby when the stack is expanded the portions of said strips between the secured ends and the secured positions closest thereto move to a positional relationship more nearly coplanar than do the portions of the strips between the intermediate and staggered positions, to define expansion limiting walls on both side boundaries of the expanded slab.

An expansible honeycomb-type element comprising a plurality of initially flat stacked strips of corrugated paperboard material, each strip of such material consisting of a top sheet, a bottom sheet, and a corrugated sheet therebetween, the strips being secured to each other by hardened adhesive layers defining bonded areas, each bonded area extending over a plurality of corrugations, said bonded areas being located at a plurality of spaced and staggered positions, whereby the stacked strips can be expanded to define a slab having a multiplicity of cells, characterized in that all of the corrugations of the corrugated sheets, in each of the bonded areas, are partially crushed to a reduced height.

The method of forming an expansible honeycomb-type element which comprises bonding together at a plurality of spaced and staggered areas and in an initially flat and compact relationship a plurality of strips of corrugated paperboard, to form a stack, the bonded areas being in aligned rows perpendicular to the strips and the amount of the compressing of the stack being sufficient to compress the corrugations in said bonded areas without substantially compressing the corrugations in other areas, the strips being bonded by applying to the strips at said bonded areas a separate, hardenable adhesive material in a quantity exceeding that which will be absorbed into the strips, and permitting the adhesive to harden before the stack is compressed, and then applying compressive force to the entire stack, whereby the corrugations are crushed to a desired extent in the bonded areas without unwanted crushing of the corrugations in other areas.

An expansible honeycomb-type element comprising a plurality of stacked strips of readily foldable material of corresponding length, said strips being secured together in pairs at their ends in an initially flat and compact relationship, the strips of each pair also being secured together at a plurality of spaced intermediate positions and each strip also being secured to the adjacent strip of an adjacent pair at positions staggered with respect to said previously mentioned positions, whereby the stacked strips can be expanded to form a slab having a multiplicity of cells, suspension means connected to an upper strip of the stack for supporting the expanded slab from the suspension means in depending relation thereto, and adhesive connections defining said secured positions, characterized in that in an upper portion of the slab the adhesive connections are wider, in a direction lengthwise of the strips, than in a lower portion of the slab.

An expansible honeycomb-type void filler formed of stacked strips secured together at spaced and staggered positions to define cell walls when the filler is expanded, suspension means for supporting the filler in expanded condition, said suspension means consisting of a supporting end strip and suspension structural portions secured to said end strip at spaced positions, characterized by pleated hingable portions incorporated in said suspension means permitting relative movement of parts of said suspension means toward and from one another, in a direction lengthwise of the strips, as the filler is expanded and recompressed, to permit opening and closing of cell portions between the suspension structural portions and the supporting end strip.