inflatable air cushion on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
An inflatable air cushion is a bag of fabric or plastic that can be inflated to provide 
cushioning
Package cushioning is used to protect items during shipment. Vibration and impact shock during shipment and loading/unloading are controlled by cushioning to reduce the chance of product damage.
Cushioning is usually inside a shipping container s ...
. Unlike bubble wrap
__NOTOC__
Bubble wrap is a pliable transparent plastic material used for packing fragile items. Regularly spaced, protruding air-filled hemispheres (bubbles) provide cushioning for fragile items.
In 1957, two inventors named Alfred Fielding an ...
, inflatable air cushions have a check valve to allow the cushion to be inflated or sometimes deflated.
History
Several constructions have been developed, some as early as the 1970s. In the 1980s, a number of inflatable cushion systems were documented. Before 2000, most inflatable air cushions used a singlecheck valve
A check valve, non-return valve, reflux valve, retention valve, foot valve, or one-way valve is a valve that normally allows fluid (liquid or gas) to flow through it in only one direction.
Check valves are two-port valves, meaning they have t ...
. However if one part of the cushion was punctured then this packaging would completely deflate. In 2002, several types of continuously independent one way air valve films were introduced. These patents incorporated a one way air valve film, which can be produced continuously and independently. If one air tube is punctured, the other air tubes will still remain inflated.
Concept
*A modern cushion is made out of two layers of PE films with air valve film in between, and heat pressed with high temperature mold to melt them together and create air tubes and shapes, so inflatable air cushions can have a variety of styles and types. *The cushion can be shipped flat and inflated as needed. Once inflated the continuous check valve seals each tube from the others. *The air pressure inside each of the inflated air cushions is greater than the atmosphere pressure, providing strong compressive strength and flexibility.Applications
* Protective and void filling materials, including block and brace, corner protection, wrapping, interleaving, top and cross layering. *Shipping container
A shipping container is a container with strength suitable to withstand shipment, storage, and handling. Shipping containers range from large reusable steel boxes used for intermodal shipments to the ubiquitous corrugated boxes. In the context of ...
cushioning
* Thundersticks
Thundersticks, sometimes known as bambams, are long, narrow plastic balloons that are used as promotional noise makers. The noise is created when two thundersticks are struck together. They are most often used at sporting events.
Origin and p ...
* Water resistant seat cushion
* Inflatable bags
See also
*Bubble wrap
__NOTOC__
Bubble wrap is a pliable transparent plastic material used for packing fragile items. Regularly spaced, protruding air-filled hemispheres (bubbles) provide cushioning for fragile items.
In 1957, two inventors named Alfred Fielding an ...
* Cushioning
Package cushioning is used to protect items during shipment. Vibration and impact shock during shipment and loading/unloading are controlled by cushioning to reduce the chance of product damage.
Cushioning is usually inside a shipping container s ...
* List of inflatable manufactured goods
This is a non-comprehensive list of inflatable manufactured goods, as no such list could ever completely contain all items that regularly change. An inflatable is an object that can typically be inflated with a gas, including air, hydrogen, heliu ...
*Dunnage bag
Dunnage bags, also known as airbags, and inflatable bags, are used to secure and stabilize cargo.
Introduced around 1970, dunnage bags provide convenient and cost-effective cargo stabilization in ISO sea containers, closed railcars, trucks, and ...
References