Other

Signode Industrial Group LLC

Mark J Caires

Helmut Richard Elze

Olaf Dietrich Elze

Anthony K Beard

Thomas A Ketzer

Jeffrey Osisek

Peter P Petrucci

Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a portable dunnage bag inflator that provides a compact, pressurized source of air and that is easily mounted onto a movable cargo mover (such as a forklift truck or a pallet jack). Generally, the portable dunnage bag inflator includes an impellor-driven blower that, in operation, draws air at atmospheric pressure through an air intake grid or air inlet into the impellor and expels the air through an inflation hose. Since the portable dunnage bag inflator includes an impellor-driven blower, the pressure of the expelled air is higher than atmospheric pressure. This enables dunnage bags to be inflated to the desired specifications at point-of-use (e.g., during or after loading of cargo into a cargo container) and eliminates the need for a compressed air supply.

Portable dunnage bag inflator

A composite dunnage bag being an elastic inner bag enclosed in a paper outer bag for insertion between stacks of cargo in transit. The mattress shape of the outer bag (when the dunnage bag is inflated) enables the bag to apply a footprint against the cargo walls that is greater than bags of the same length and height of the prior art this is an especially advantageous feeature when the spacing between stacks of cargo is greater than 12 inches.

Composite dunnage bag

A valve for an airtight flexible container such as a dunnage bag including a bowl with openings and extending through an opening in the container A flange around the rim of the bowl is heat welded to the container around the opening. One end of a housing is screwed into the rim of the bowl. A cap is removably press fit onto an opposite end of the housing. A spider extending across the housing supports a plug which is spring mounted on the spider and biased to close the lower end of the housing by compressed air in the container. Compressed gas inside the container is released by removing the cap and pressing on the plug to dislodge the plug from its seat on the one end of the housing or by unscrewing and entirely separating the housing from the bowl.

Valve for a dunnage bag

A principal advantage of this composite bag compared to the bags disclosed in the present art using solid ply is improved combination of strength and flexibility. A composite dunnage bag being an elastic inner bag enclosed in a mesh outer bag. The bag replaces the system of state of the art bags plus filler panels which are currently used when the space between pallets is greater than 12 inches. The combination mesh and plastic is sufficiently strong and flexible to permit the bag to apply an 80% footprint against the cargo walls.

Dunnage bag having a mesh ply

A valve for a dunnage bag including an inner part having a flange that is laminated to the inside surface of the bag and an outer part having a flange that is laminated to the outside surface of the bag providing that the bag can be inflated/deflated by air passing through both parts and a hole in the bag. The outerpart is a bowl which is stretched away from the bag when the bag is being inflated and which collapses against opening in the inner part to seal the bag and prevent air loss.

An apparatus and method for storing boxes of perishable products and providing that refrigerated air flows relatively uniformly through the stack. The apparatus is an elongated inflatable bag divided into sections by baffles, each section being inflatable independent of the other sections. The bag forms a roof over a corridor between two rows of stacks and a panel encloses one end of the corridor opposite the opposite end which is closed off by the cargo wall. Refrigerated air forced into the corridor at floor level at one end of the corridor is diverted through the stacks of boxes.

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Santa Clara, CA, United States of America

Mark J Caires