Individual packaging case for objects with fracture risk

• US 8,079,487 B2
• Filed: 05/12/2006
• Issued: 12/20/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/14/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Peter Roesler
• Original Assignee: Peter Roesler
• Inventors: Roesler, Peter
• Primary Examiner(s): Stashick, Anthony
• Assistant Examiner(s): VOLZ, ELIZABETH J
• Application Number:
  US11/382,953
• Publication Number:
  US 20060283769A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,048 Days
• Field of Search: 206/349, 206/379, 206/521, 206/587, 206/588, 206/45.2, 206/380, 206/528, 206/762, 220/23.89, 211/69
• US Class Current: 220/23.89
• CPC Class Codes: B25H 3/023 movable relative to one another for access to their interiors
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 81/02 specially adapted to protect contents from mechanical damage containers of polygonal cross-section provided with internal protecting elements for contents B65D5/50; devices to locate articles in containers B65D25/10
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 85/20 for incompressible or rigid rod-shaped or tubular articles
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 85/30 for articles particularly sensitive to damage by shock or pressure

Abstract

The invention relates to an individual packaging case for objects with fracture risk wherein the individual packaging case comprises a base with an open, upward-pointing receiving bore, into which the shank of the object with fracture risk is inserted and self-containedly protrudes from the upward-open receiving bore in the base and wherein the part with fracture risk of the object is protected by means of a protective cap pushed onto the base from above.

The invention is characterized in that the novel packaging case can be folded over an axis running perpendicular to the longitudinal axis and that due to the folding, the object to be protected becomes at least partially freely accessible.

Claims

1. A case for packaging individual objects that have a fracture risk portion and a shank portion, said case comprising:

a holder that defines a groove along a longitudinal axis, said holder laterally receiving the entire length of one of said objects in said groove, said holder including;

a. a base that defines an upward-pointing receiving bore that is located on a longitudinal axis, said receiving bore adapted to receive the shank end of said object such that the remaining portion of said shank protrudes from said upward-pointing, receiving bore,

b. an upper part that defines an open groove along a longitudinal axis, said open groove adapted to laterally receive the fracture risk portion of said object and also to laterally receive part of the shank of said object that protrudes from the receiving bore of said base, and

c. a pivotal connection that is attached to one end of said upper part and to the end of said base that opens to said upward-pointing, receiving bore, said pivotal connection having a pivotal axis that is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the receiving bore and to the longitudinal axis of the groove of said upper part such that said base and said upper part are pivotal between a closed position wherein the longitudinal axis of the groove of said upper part is in line with the longitudinal axis of the receiving bore of said base and an open position wherein the longitudinal axis of the groove of said upper part is pivoted away from the longitudinal axis of the receiving bore of said base;

a first clamping fixture that is located in said receiving bore of said base, said first clamping fixture holding said shank portion in said upward-facing bore defined by said base;

a second clamping fixture that is located in said open groove that is defined by said upper part, said second clamping fixture laterally receiving said object and holding said object in said open groove defined by said upper part; and

a protective cover that slides over said upper part and unto at least a portion of said base at times when said base and said upper part are in said closed position, said protective cover extending over all of said receiving groove whenever it covers at least a portion of said base.

2. A case according to claim 1, wherein the groove defined by said holder is constructed as one of the following:

a. an approximately U-shaped groove that envelops said object on at least two surfaces;

b. an approximately C-shaped groove that envelops said object on at least two surfaces;

c. an approximately L-shaped groove that envelops said object on at least two surfaces;

or

d. a conical shape that holds said object on two opposite walls, said object resting against said walls disposed at an angle to one another in said groove.

3. A case according to claim 1 wherein said object is slidably received in the groove of said holder along an entire length, and wherein said object can be manually removed in a direction of a longitudinal extension of said receiving groove.

4. A case according to claim 1 wherein said first clamping fixture that is located in said base has a different clamping force than the clamping force of said second clamping fixture that is located in said open groove that is defined by said upper part.

5. A case according to claim 1 wherein a plurality of said holders for said object are disposed in a sequence and are connected by means of a pivoting connection.

6. A case according to claim 1 wherein said protective cover

extends over said base, said pivotal connection, and said upper part to cover said receiving groove, said protective cover having a part that abuts the base of said holder when said cover is pushed onto said holder.

7. A case according to claim 6 wherein said object is capable of sliding into the groove of said holder and wherein said protective cover is a protective cap that covers the side of said holder where said groove is defined, said cap enveloping said holder on four sides to form a circumferential protection for said holder.

8. A case according to claim 1 wherein said holder includes a crosscut in the area of the groove of said holder where said pivotal connection is located, said crosscut running substantially perpendicular to the groove of said holder, said pivotal connection defining a pivotal axis that is oriented substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of said groove.

9. A case according to claim 8 wherein a plurality of crosscuts are disposed at different longitudinal positions along said holder adjacent to said pivotal connection, said crosscuts allowing parts of said holder to be pivoted backward after a crack-and-pivot movement, said object being free in the area of said crosscuts.

10. A case according to claim 1 wherein said first clamping fixture has a position-securing device that protects against axial displacement of said object.

11. A case according to claim 10 wherein said position-securing device is a contact shoulder that opposes the longitudinal displacement of said object in said receiving bore of said base.

12. A case according to claim 1 wherein the groove defined by said holder has a crosscut that interrupts said groove where said pivotal connection is located such that said pivotal connection is formed in the side of said holder that is away from said groove, said pivotal connection defining an axis that is aligned perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of said holder such that the upper part of said holder can be folded with respect to the base of said holder.

13. A case according to claim 12, wherein said crosscut is longitudinally positioned in a lower third of a length of said groove in said holder and oriented approximately perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the groove of said holder.

14. A case according to claim 12, wherein said pivotal connection is one of the following:

a. a film hinge;

b. an elastically bendable metal or spring part that snaps backward or assumes a closed position due to a spring action;

or

c. a bending metal part inserted at a wall that is facing away from the groove of said holder.

15. A case according to claim 12 wherein said pivotal connection comprises a pivot safety device that must be overcome to initially place said upper part and said base in the open position.

16. A case according to claim 15 wherein said pivot safety device comprises a cracking in a pivoting joint.