EMBOSSED CUSHIONING MATERIAL FOR PROTECTING AN OBJECT, AND USE OF SUCH A CUSHIONING MATERIAL

Description

The invention relates to an embossed cushioning material for protecting an object, as well as the use of such a cushioning material according to the preambles of the independent claims.

DE 195 09 863 A1 discloses an embossed cushioning material in the form of a molded body with a plurality of bulged portions in the form of semicircular depressions. Before the bulged portions were embossed, longitudinal waves were introduced into the web-shaped starting material, which form folds after embossing. The molded body is used, for example, for storing confectionery. From WO 2022/012784 A1, an embossed cushioning material with embossed bulged portions is known, which can be used to wrap an object to be protected. The bulged portions extend alternatingly in opposite directions. This cushioning material also has folds that were created before or during the embossing of the bulged portions.

The problem underlying the invention is solved by an embossed cushioning material and the use of such a cushioning material with the features of the independent claims. Advantageous developments are noted in dependent claims.

The embossed cushioning material according to the invention has the advantage of comparatively high stability and a comparatively large provided volume of material, with at the same time a low density and therefore low weight. The stability is increased primarily by the fact that the large second bulged portions can be created using the excess material provided by the small first bulged portions without the material tearing. In addition, the small first bulged portions, which are at least regionally present and to a reduced extent are also present within the large second bulged portions, increase their stability.

Specifically, this is achieved by an embossed cushioning material for protecting an object, which comprises a plurality of embossed first bulged portions. Such a cushioning material can protect the object by being wrapped around it, or can protect the object by being stuffed into a cavity between the object and a wall of a transport container, or can protect the object by at least regionally accommodating the object in a bulged portion in the cushioning material. The cushioning material can, for example, be provided in the form of substantially flat sheets of material.

According to the invention, the cushioning material additionally comprises a plurality of embossed second bulged portions which differ from the first bulged portions in particular with regard to their size. The first and second bulged portions have a base outline when viewed from above. This is understood to be the outline of the margin or edge of a bulged portion in the plane from which the material of the bulged portion bulges.

Both a maximum width dimension of the base outline of the first bulged portions and a distance between adjacent first bulged portions are smaller than a minimum width dimension of the base outline of the second bulged portions. For a circular base outline, the width dimension would correspond to the diameter. For an oval or elliptical base outline, the maximum width dimension, i.e. the maximum diameter, of the base outline would be used. The above-mentioned relationships of width dimensions and spacing ensure that the first bulged portions are smaller than the second bulged portions and are arranged in a greater density than the second bulged portions in relation to the surface area of the cushioning material.

In a further development, it is provided that the second bulged portions are produced after the embossing of the first bulged portions. This can be seen in the embossed cushioning material because the first bulged portions, at least where there are second bulged portions, are at least partially destroyed, for example in that they are flattened by the embossing process and are only partially recognizable. This simplifies production and provides the excess material that is helpful for non-destructive embossing of the second bulged portions.

In a further development, it is provided that the cushioning material comprises, at least regionally, a plurality of folds which are produced before or during the embossing of the first bulged portions. Both can be recognized by the fact that the folds are in the form of sharp creases since the waves initially present in the mostly web-shaped starting material before embossing are compressed during embossing and therefore folded into a sharp edge. This can also be seen from the fact that such sharp wrinkle-like folds are present in both the first and second bulged portions.

In a further development, it is provided that the plurality of first bulged portions comprises bulged portions which extend alternatingly in a first direction and in a second direction, wherein the second direction is opposite to the first direction. This further increases the volume of the cushioning material and reduces the volume density.

In a further development, it is provided that the second bulged portions extend at least substantially only in a single direction. This means that the second bulged portions can be used particularly well as holders for objects to be stored or presented.

In a further development, it is provided that the first and the second bulged portions have an approximately circular base outline when viewed from above, and that a diameter of the base outline of the second bulged portions is at least approximately three times, more preferably at least approximately four times as large as a diameter of the base outline of the first bulged portions. In practice, these proportions have proven to be particularly advantageous for the volume density of the cushioning material and for its manufacturability.

In a further development, it is provided that a minimum distance between two adjacent first bulged portions is approximately 10%-100% of the diameter of the base outline of the first bulged portions. In practice, these proportions have proven to be particularly advantageous for the volume density of the cushioning material and for its manufacturability.

In a further development, it is provided that the first bulged portions have a first shape of the base outline and the second bulged portions have a second shape of the base outline, wherein the first and the second shape are different. This can, for example, create a special look for the embossed cushioning material.

In a further development, it is provided that it comprises a paper material and/or cardboard material, preferably is made of a paper material and/or cardboard material. This is ecologically beneficial.

An embodiment of the invention will be explained below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a semi-perspective plan view of a section of an embossed cushioning material with first bulged portions and second bulged portions;

FIG. 2 is a section through an intermediate product during the manufacture of the cushioning material of FIG. 1 after embossing the first bulged portions and before embossing the second bulged portions; and

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 of the fully manufactured cushioning material.

An embossed cushioning material for protecting an object bears overall the reference number 10 in the figures. As can be seen from the figures, it is at least initially largely flat or a planar material. For example, it can be in the form of an overall rectangular sheet of material. A paper material or a cardboard material can be used as the material for the cushioning material 10. The use of recycled paper material is particularly preferred.

The cushioning material 10 comprises a plurality of first bulged portions 12 produced by embossing, which in the present case have an overall approximately hemispherical shape. The cushioning material 10 also includes a plurality of second bulged portions 14 produced by embossing, which in the present case also have an overall approximately hemispherical shape. In principle, however, other shapes are also conceivable for both the first bulged portions 12 and the second bulged portions 14, for example oval or elliptical shapes. A bulged portion in cross-section can also have a region whose slope is abruptly changed compared to an adjacent region, whereby a circumferential edge is formed in the bulged portion (not shown).

The bulged portions 12 and 14 have a “base outline” when viewed from above starting from a plane 16 (FIGS. 2 and 3) from which they bulge. This is the margin or edge that is formed by the bulged portions 12, 14 in the plane 16. The base outline of the first bulged portions 12 bears the reference number 18; the base outline of the second bulged portions 14 bears the reference number 20.

A width dimension of the base outline 18 has the reference number 22 in FIG. 3; a width dimension of the base outline 20 has the reference number 24. Due to the hemispherical shape of the bulged portions 12 and 14, the base outline 18 as well as the base outline 20 are approximately circular in the present case. The width dimensions 22 and 24 therefore correspond to the circle diameter of the base outlines 18 and 20. In embodiments not shown, the base outlines can also be oval or elliptical. In this case, the width measurement would correspond to the largest width. A distance between the first bulged portions 12 is designated 26 in FIG. 3.

It can be seen from the figures that the width dimension 22 of the base outline 18 of the first bulged portions 12 is smaller than the width dimension 24 of the base outline 20 of the second bulged portions 14. It can also be seen that the distance 26 between adjacent first bulged portions 12 is smaller than the width dimension 24 of the base outline 20 of the second bulged portions 14.

Furthermore, the minimum distance 26 between adjacent first bulged portions 12 is, in the present case, approximately 50% of the diameter or width dimension 22 of the base outline 18 of the first bulged portions 12. In other embodiments not shown, the value lies in the range of approximately 10%-100%. Finally, in the present case, a diameter 24 of the base outline 20 of the second bulged portions 14 is for example approximately eight times the diameter of the base outline 18 of the first bulged portions 12. In other embodiments (not shown), the value is approximately three or four times higher.

The second bulged portions 14 were created after the embossing of the first bulged portions 12. This can be seen from the fact that, in the embossed cushioning material 10, the first bulged portions 12 are partially destroyed where second bulged portions 14 are present because they have been largely or partially flattened by the embossing process of the second bulged portions 14 and are therefore only partially recognizable. Such flattened first bulged portions 12 are provided with the reference sign 12′ in FIGS. 1 and 3 as an example.

The embossed cushioning material 10 comprises a plurality of folds 28 which in the present case were produced, for example, during the embossing of the first bulged portions 12 and therefore before the embossing of the second bulged portions 14. For example, immediately before the embossing of the first bulged portions 12, longitudinal waves can be produced in a web-shaped starting material, wherein these longitudinal waves are then compressed by an embossing cylinder during the embossing of the first bulged portions 12 and folded into a sharp edge or sharp creases. That the folds were created before or during the embossing of the first bulged portions 12 can be seen from the fact that they are present in both the first bulged portions 12 as well as in the second bulged portions 14.

In particular, it can be seen from FIGS. 2 and 3 that the plurality of first bulged portions 12 comprises bulged portions that extend alternatingly in a first direction 30 and in a second direction 32, wherein the second direction 32 is opposite to the first direction 30. In contrast to this, it can be seen in particular from FIG. 3 that the second bulged portions 14 extend only in a single direction, in the present example in the second direction 32.

In FIG. 3, two objects 34 are drawn in dashed lines and are accommodated in the two second bulged portions 14 shown there. The objects in the present case can, for example, be foodstuffs, such as fruit or eggs. The embossed cushioning material 10 shown can therefore be used, for example, to present said foodstuffs, for example in a display window of a shop or a market stall.

As mentioned above, in the embodiment of a cushioning material 10 shown in the figures, the base contours 18 and 20 of the first and second bulged portions 12 and 14 have the same shape, namely circular. In an embodiment of a cushioning material (not shown), the base outline of the first bulged portions could have a different shape than the base outline of the second bulged portions, i.e. they could therefore be different. For example, the base outline of one bulged portion could be circular, and the base outline of the other bulged portion could be oval or elliptical.