Dividable partition assembly
AssigneeRock-Tenn Company
InventorJohn J. Franzen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A partition assembly, which defines a plurality of compartments for separating articles to be packaged in a container includes break-away segments which allow the assembly to be easily separable into smaller partition assemblies upon insertion into the container.
Claims20
A dividable partition assembly defining a plurality of compartments for use in a container having an interior with a longitudinal length and a lateral width, said container further consisting of at least two substantially identical subcontainers positioned side by side and serving to divide said container longitudinally, each subcontainer interior being defined by a horizontal bottom surrounded by laterally opposite front and back walls and longitudinally opposite left and right side walls, the walls having substantially equal vertical heights, the right side wall of one subcontainer and the left side wall of the other subcontainer serving to form a dividing wall which divides said container longitudinally, said partition assembly comprising:
- a plurality of longitudinal panels having a breakaway segment located at the center of each longitudinal panel allowing said longitudinal panels to be divided in half;
- and
- a plurality of lateral panels engaging said longitudinal panels.
A method of assembling a dividable partition assembly which defines a plurality of compartments into a container having an interior with a longitudinal length and a lateral width, said container further consisting of at least two substantially identical subcontainers positioned side by side and serving to divide said container longitudinally, each subcontainer interior being defined by a horizontal bottom surrounded by laterally opposite front and back walls and longitudinally opposite left and right side walls, the walls having substantially equal vertical heights, the right side wall of one subcontainer and the left side wall of the other subcontainer serving to form a dividing wall which divides said container longitudinally, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) forming a plurality of lateral panels having a length substantially equal to the lateral width of said container enabling said lateral panels to be placed parallel to one another in the interior of said container spanning the lateral width of said container;
- (b) forming a plurality of longitudinal panels each having at least one perforated section and a length substantially equal to the longitudinal length of said container enabling said longitudinal panels to be placed parallel to one another in the interior of said container spanning the longitudinal length of said container;
- (c) interlocking said lateral panels with said longitudinal panels, thereby forming an interlocked partition assembly;
- (d) positioning the interlocked partition assembly above said container so that the perforated section of each longitudinal panel is directly over the dividing wall;
- (e) moving the interlocked partition assembly downward into said container so that the perforated section is torn by the dividing wall, thereby severing the interlocked partition assembly into smaller partition assemblies;
- and
- (f) positioning the smaller partition assemblies completely inside the interiors of the adjacent subcontainers so that the assemblies are resting on the bottoms of the subcontainers, thereby defining a plurality of compartments within each subcontainer.
A dividable partition assembly defining a plurality of compartments for use in a container having an interior with a longitudinal length and a lateral width, said container further consisting of at least two subcontainers positioned adjacent to one another, each subcontainer having an interior defined by a horizontal bottom surrounded by four walls that project vertically from the peripheral edge of the bottom, the walls having substantially equal vertical heights, at least one wall of each subcontainer being positioned against at least one wall of another subcontainer, the adjacent walls serving to form a dividing wall which divides the interior of said container along the adjacent walls, said partition assembly comprising:
- a plurality of longitudinal panels having at least one break-away segment allowing said longitudinal panels to be divided at said break-away segments;
- and
- a plurality of lateral panels engaging said longitudinal panels.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.