Illinois Tool Works Inc.

Shippers Paper Products Company

Anthony J Sansone

Douglas A Goshorn

Gregory S King

Gerald A Haywood

A void filler device for use in staggering paper rolls during shipment includes a housing member which generally surrounds an inner core. The housing member has a top wall, a bottom wall, and side walls which are attached to the core, and is octagonally shaped. The top and bottom walls of the housing include fold lines around which the walls are folded to collapse the void filler device. The inner core member includes a plurality of flat boards made of laminated paperboard, corrugated cardboard, plastic or other like suitable material. Each of the boards has spaced notches along its length and the boards are interconnected with each other along the notches to form an open cell construction that is expandable and collapsible. The top and bottom walls can include apertures therein for ensuring that the paper rolls are properly aligned.

Collapsible void filler

A cargo airbag structure system for use within a cargo bay of a transport vehicle in order to buffer and stabilize loads, such as, for example, large paper rolls or drums, comprises two inflatable bladders disposed in an overlapping disposition with respect to each other within a sealed, expandible, multi-ply paper container. When interposed between the cargo load rolls, the airbag structure conforms to the external contours of the cargo load rolls which serves to not only enable the airbag system to buffer and stabilize the cargo loads, but in addition, the airbag system is stably retained between the cargo load rolls. In order to prevent friction, abrasion, or pinching of the bladders during the inflation process as well as during use of the airbag system when the bladders are disposed in their inflated state, the inflatable bladders are disposed within encasing sleeves which fully envelop the bladders along the longitudinal extents thereof, the opposite ends of the sleeves being open. By preventing the noted friction, abrasion, and pinching of the bladders, the structural integrity of the bladders is preserved resulting in enhanced service life.

Growing community of inventors

Franklin, TN, United States of America

Anthony J Sansone