Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
~ 1 0 ~ 2 ~ ~ o. z . 0078/06001
Multipack for recording media in tape form
wound onto hubs
The invention relates to one-part or multi-part
parallelepipedal packaging containers for recording media
in tape form which are wound up onto hubs provided with
internal bores and are stacked one on top of the other,
comprising a bottom part, a top part and side parts,
which are joined to one another by means of molded-on
film hinges and it being possible for a hub support to be
pushed through the internal bores of the hubs.
Large quantities of what are known as pancake
packs are sold worldwide by the magnetic tape producers.
In these packs, the magnetic tape is wound up onto hubs,
for example flangeless hubs, either what are known as NAB
hubs or stackable hubs according to US 4 081 151 or other
hubs. At present, these pancakes are packed either
individually or in multipacks and covered with a shrink
film or held by various types of cardboard box.
The disadvantage of the individual pack is that
a great deal of packaging material has to be used.
Magnetic tape multipacks are disclosed by the
publications US 3 543 922, US 4 708 246, US 4 955 471,
EP 0 320 751, DE-U 8 900 709, DE-U 8 912 747 and DE-U
8 912 749. These packs consist either of relatively
voluminous Styropor, which means that for transport they
are bulky to no useful effect and have to be disposed of
once the content has been unpacked, or the pack is held
together by plastic pallets and sleeves, the sleeves
being of a relatively complicated design and the side
parts of the packed product in some cases being inade-
quately protected since they are covered only by a film
shrink-fitted over the pack. Therefore, this pack has to
be additionally placed into an outer case for transport.
Pancake packagings which avoid the use of
Styropor and which are reusable or recyclable are des-
cribed in DE-U 9 011 867 and in the German Application
a~ 2~9
P 40 25 906. However, these packaging containers require many
parts and in some cases offer inadequate protection of the
content during transport and from dust.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention
to find a pack for pancakes of the generic type mentioned above
which at the same time meets the following conditions:
- restriction to the m; n; mllm possible proportion of
packaging materials to be thrown away
- simple design
- protects the pancakes during transit and from dust
- simple to assemble and unpack
- not bulky in return transport
- reusable
- no additional outer packaging necessary.
According to one aspect of the present invention,
thre is provided a one-part plastic packaging container for
recording media in tape form which are wound up onto hubs (13)
provided with internal bores and are stacked one on top of the
other, comprising a bottom part (1), a top part (2) and side
parts (19), which are joined to one another;
- a hub support (11) adapted to be pushed through the
internal bores of the hubs (13),
- the packaging container having recesses (3, 4) at
the geometrical center of the inside of the bottom part (1) and
of the top part (2),
- individual projections (5, 6, 7, 8) protrude from
the recesses (3, 4), between which end faces (9, 10) of the hub
support (11) can be fitted unrotatably,
- a part-annular shoulder (12) being arranged on the
end face (10) of the hub support (11) engaging into the bottom
part (1), for supporting the hubs (13),
- the hub support (11) having a U-shaped carrying
handle (14), provided with two locked positions, for drawing
the hub support (11) with pancakes out of the pack in the
folded-open state,
- two uprights (15, 16) of the carrying handle (14)
being inserted into recesses close to the outside of the end
face (9) engaging into the top part (2) and the handle (14)
joining the two uprights (15, 16) not protruding beyond the end
face (9) in the lower locked position,
- the hub support (11) being provided in the center
of the end face (9) with a recess (17) as gripping depression
for the carrying handle (14),
- sealing strips (18) being provided on the outer
edges of the side parts (19), or of the top part (2), which
strips engage in complementary grooves (20) of the top part (2)
or of the side parts (19) when folding together the packaging
container.
According to another aspect of the present invention,
there is also provided a multi-part plastic packaging container
for recording media in tape form which are wound up onto hubs
provided with internal bores and are stacked one on top of the
other, comprising a bottom part (1), a top part (2) and four
side parts (19), at least the bottom part (1) or top part (2)
being joined to one or more side parts (19), a hub support (11)
being adapted to be pushed through the internal bores of the
hubs (13), the packaging container having recesses (3, 4) in
each case in the geometrical center of the inside of the bottom
part (1) and of the top part (2), individual projections (5, 6,
7, 8) protruding from said recesses (3, 4), between which the
end faces (9, 10) of the hub support (11) can be fitted
unrotatably, a part-annular shoulder (12) being arranged on the
end face (lo) of the hub support (11) engaging into the bottom
part (1), for supporting the hubs (13), the hub support having
a U-shaped carrying handle (14), provided with two locked
positions, for drawing the hub support (11) with pancakes out
of the pack in the folded-open state, the two uprights (15, 16)
of the carrying handle (14) being inserted into recesses close
to the outside of the end face (9) engaging into the top part
(2) and the handle (14) joining the two uprights (15, 16) not
protruding beyond the end face (9) in the lower locked
position, the hub support (11) being provided in the center of
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the end face (9) with a recess (17) as gripping depression for
the carrying handle (14) and sealing strips (18) being provided
on the outer edges of the side parts (19), or of the top part
(2), which strips engage in complementary grooves (20) of the
top part (2) or of the side parts (19) when folding together
the packaging container.
According to another aspect of the present invention
there is also provided a foldable plastic packaging container
for recording media in tape form which are wound up onto hubs
lo provided with internal bores and are stacked one on top of the
other, comprising a bottom part, a top part and side parts,
which are joined to one another by means of molded-on film
hinges, said side parts and bottom or top parts also having
free edges which are not joined to one another by said hinges,
the packaging container also comprising a hub support having a
diameter and being formed as a hollow cylinder, within said
hollow cylinder there is positioned a handling means, said
diameter of the hub support being designed for matching with
said internal bores of the hubs, the packaging container having
annular recesses in each case in the geometrical center of the
inward-facing surface of the bottom part and the top part from
each of which recesses there protrudes at least one individual
projection whereby the end faces of the hub support are
engageable by said projections and each of said recesses, said
free edges of said side parts and bottom or top parts being
provided with tongues and grooves corresponding to said
tongues, such that where said free edges meet, one edge is
provided with a tongue and the other with a groove, whereby
when the packaging container is folded together said tongues
engage said corresponding grooves, for sealing said recording
media within said packaging container.
According to one preferred aspect, the container is
parallelepipedal.
.~
4a
The invention is explained in further detail
below with reference to the drawings, in which:
Figure 1 shows a one-part packaging cont~iner in the
completely folded-out state
Figure 2 shows the same container in the partially
assembled state
Figure 3 shows details of the hub support and of the
anchorage in the bottom part
Figures show two embodiments of a two-part packaging
4 and S
Figure 6 shows the stacking of several packaging
containers one on top of the other
Figure 7 shows the fixing of the completely folded-open
container part against slipping during return
transport.
In a suitable form, the packaging container is
made as one part and, as Figure 1 shows, comprises a flat
part, bottom part (1), top part (2) and the four side
parts (19) being held together by what are known as film
hinges (24), foldable joining tabs. The parts can be set
at an angle, so that a parallelepipedal container is
produced, as Figure 2 shows. By a strap (not shown),
which is laid around the recess (25) running around the
folded-together container, the latter is secured for
transport. In addition, the~strap may contain a carrying
handle, it being possible instead of the carrying handle
for the outside of the pack to contain a gripping
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5 21~2~
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depression. With the exception of this strap, all the
parts of the pack according to the innovation can be used
frequently and are suitable for return transport.
For opening the container, the strap, which
consists of a material such as that used for securing
pallets, is severed. The top part (2) is raised and the
side parts (19) can be folded away in a simple way. The
packed pancakes are thus freely accessible. The pancakes
wound up onto hubs (13) are stacked one on top of the
other on a specially made hub support (11), still to be
described in detail. The hub support has an integrated
handle (14), with which the support with the pancakes can
be lifted comfortably out of the pack and subsequently
brought to the place for processing, which is usually
located in a clean room. The pack itself does not produce
any dust, as cardboard packs do for example, and could
also be brought as a unit into a clean room. In addition,
at two opposite corners of the inside of the bottom part
there are gripping depressions (21) for lifting out the
pancakes.
Once laid flat again, the pack can, with the aid
of integrated stacking aids, be stacked in a convenient
and space-saving manner on a pallet and thus prepared for
return transport to the producer. By virtue of the flat
form, without protruding corners and edges, the pack can
be cleaned easily and advantageously. Flow channels
thereby assist drying. There are no corners at which
cleaning liquid could accumulate. Subsequently, a new
packing cycle, as already described, can begin.
Now the design of the pack will be described in
detail. To ensure the protection of the pack con~ent
against dust and moisture, the cont~in~r has on the outer
edges, exposed in the folded-out state, of the side parts
or of the bottom part or of the top part sealing strips
(18), which engage in complementarily shaped ylooves (20)
of the corresponding parts during folding together. By
appropriate technical measures, these strips and grooves
- 6 _ 2~
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can be designed so as to snap in place upon insertion.
However, there may also be corresponding notches in the
hinge region of the bottom (1) and of the side walls
( 19 ) .
In the folded-together state, the hub support
(11) is connected rotationally securely in the packaging
container to the bottom part and top part (1, 2). For
this purpose, bottom part and top part each have in the
geometrical center of their inside recesses (3, 4), from
which individual projections (5, 6, 7, 8) protrude. The
end faces (9, 10) of the part-cylindrically shaped hub
support are formed in such a way that they can be fitted
unrotatably into the recesses of the bottom part and top
part.
Furthermore, as Figure 3 reveals, the hub support
has on its lower end face (10), which is assigned to the
bottom part (1), a shoulder (12), on which the lowermost
hub (13) can support itself with its underside adjacent
to the internal bore. On the upper side (9), the hub
support has a U-shaped carrying handle (14), which in a
preferred design is provided with two locked positions.
In the upper locked position, the handle is suitable for
carrying the complete pancake stack and in the lower
position the handle is sunken in the hub support, for
transporting the closed pack. For this purpose, the two
uprights (15, 16) of the handle can be fitted into
recesses of the hub support.
The two uprights (15, 16) of the carrying handle
(14) expediently have detents (not shown), which lock the
handle in the extended and retracted states. Should the
pack be too heavy, the carrying handle can also be
designed in one piece with the hub support. In this case,
gripping by the gripping depression (17) provided under-
neath the handle is possible.
To make it easy for individual pancakes to be
taken off, the hub support has over its entire height two
opposite concave depressions (25, 26) in the form of a
_ 7 ~ 62~
....
circular segment.
On one of the outer surfaces of the pack, there
may be provided a recessed label panel (28), which
additionally has gripping depressions for removing or
exchanging a label.
Instead of the one-part design described, the
container according to the invention may also be made in
two or more parts; Figures 4 and 5 show two possible
embodiments, in which either bottom part and top part are
joined to two side parts each or else the bottom part is
joined to four side parts, onto which the separate top
part is placed.
For transporting several packaging containers
together in the folded-open state, they are expediently
provided along the outer edges of their bottom part or
top part with grooves (23), which engage in corresponding
complementarily shaped strips (18) of the folded-open
side parts (19) and thus make it possible for several
cont~iners stacked one on top of the other to be trans-
ported securely from slipping. This is shown in Figure 6.In addition, each cont~iner may be provided on its outer
surfaces with a studded structure, as i5 described for
example in EP 0 217 254. In addition, the packaging
container may be equipped on its underside with st~ing
feet and recesses for better stacking on a pallet.
It is shown in Figure 7 how two (or more) com-
pletely folded-out packs are stacked one on top of the
other for return transport, pro~ections (5) on the inside
of the bottom part engaging in corresponding recesses of
the outside.
In the case of the two-part form of the pack, the
top part may be offset, in order to make different pack
heights possible. In addition, the peripheral sealing
strip may be unsymmetrical, in order to be able to form
different pack heights, depending on use.
The shape of the hub support makes it possible
for several hub supports to be stacked one on top of the
$ 2 ~ 9 8 -
other. Expediently, it is hollow, in order that it can be
fitted onto an auxiliary mandrel in the production
process.
In a preferred configuration, the packaging
container consists of rigid plastic, such as poly-
propylene or acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer.
It is preferably made with two walls, either by the
injection-molding process or by extrusion blow molding.
This additionally provides the container with outstanding
protection against impact and climatic effects.
