Apple has filed for a patent (number 20220081153) for “resilient cardboard cushioning for packaging.” It involves way to package and ship products in a more environmentally friendly way.
About the patent filing
The patent filing involves packaging using folded cardboard configured as springs retained within a support wrap made from folded cardboard, such that a cushioning effect is produced during an impact. Apple says that, to protect products and the environment, what is needed is a “cardboard cushioning paradigm that can absorb repetitive impacts while maintaining shape through design innovations that give the finished components elastic properties similar to expanded polystyrene, foams, etc.”
Summary of the patent filing
Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent filing with technical details: “Packaging may include cushioning components. Cardboard corrugate cushioning elements may be configured with a folded cardboard spring, lateral stability wrap, and stiffening element. The cushioning components may include mechanical bends formed as creases, that provide resistance to deformation, thereby allowing the cushioning component to absorb impact and vibration, and replacing the need for less environmentally friendly cushioning, such as expanded polystyrene or foam cushioning.”
