This invention relates to a sheet article, particularly to a protector for protecting an article, and more particularly to a protector for protecting rolls of material such as rolls of sheet metal.

In industries such as the steel manufacturing industry, there has long been a need for protecting elements to be used as or in conjunction with packaging for application to products such as rolls of sheet metal. Transport and storage of such products can often result in damage thereto, especially to exposed or projecting parts. Various protecting systems have been devised in the past, however they have all suffered from one or more disadvantages, associated with their manufacture or mode of use. To be effective, protective systems must be capable of absorbing impacts and must cover substantially the whole of the part of the product to be protected. At the same time however, it is required that they be of low cost, which requires ease of manufacture and use of low cost materials. Prior art systems have tended to compromise one or more of these requirements so that for example the protectors provided have an extremely short life, do not provide complete coverage for the part of the article to be protected, or are relatively expensive.

It is an object of the invention to mitigate disadvantages such as these.

Thus, according to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a protector for protecting an article, comprising a longitudinally extending element having two parts extending from a crease line, one part provided with means defining a plurality of tabs, the means being such that when the element is in use, each tab overlaps an adjacent tab.

The means may comprise a plurality of cut lines. Alternatively the means may

comprise a plurality of frangible webs, or a plurality of flexible webs.

It is preferred that the defining means extend substantially perpendicularly to the crease line.

The defining means may extend substantially the full width of the one part, or alternatively, the defining means may extend less than the full width of the one part.

It is preferred that the means is formed by application of heat or pressure, and it is also preferred that the parts include an angle therebetween of substantially 90°.

The protector may comprise a fluted plastics material, and may be in the form of a Tollable strip element.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided an article having a curved surface to which a protector as hereinabove described is applied.

The invention will further be described by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a side view of a protector embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of a part of the protector of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a rear perspective view of a protector embodying the invention; and

Fig. 4 is a schematic illustration of a method of forming defining means in a

protector embodying the invention.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a protector 1 for protecting an article, comprising a longitudinally extending element having two parts 2, 3 extending from a crease line 4, one part 2 provided with defining means 5 defining a plurality of tabs 6, the means 5 being such that when the element is in use, each tab 6 overlaps an adjacent tab 6.

The protector 1 is suitably formed from a resilient and hardwearing material, and an example of one such suitable material is an extruded plastics material such as that sold under the Registered Trade Mark CORREX.

As shown in the drawings, the two parts 2, 3 of the protector 1 are conveniently formed from a longitudinally extended sheet by forming a longitudinal crease line 4, by any convenient means. It has been found that when an extruded plastic material is used, the crease line is most conveniently formed by the application of heat to the material. The crease line 4 defines a join between the two parts 2, 3, the part 3 being a planar element, and the part 2 extending at an angle thereto from the crease line 4. The angle of the parts relative to each other may be approximately 90° although, as will be appreciated, this angle can be varied to suit the particular product which the protector is designed to protect.

Referring to Fig. 2, the part 2 comprises a series of tabs 6 which are defined in this particular embodiment by slits extending across the width of the part 2 from the edge 8 to the crease line 4. It should be noted however that the slits need not extend for the full width, or may extend beyond the crease line 4, to terminate in the part 3.

In an alternative embodiment, rather than being provided with slits, the part 2

is provided with frangible webs (not shown) , and in a still further embodiment the part 2 is provided with flexible webs (not shown).

In the illustrated embodiment the tabs 6 are substantially square, however it will be appreciated that the tabs 6 may be formed in different shapes, such as for example, rectangular or trapezoidal, so long as in use, each tab 6 overlaps an adjacent tab. The tabs 6 are conveniently formed with the protector 1 in place for example, on a roll, by cutting the slits or forming the webs with a tool which moves in a single plane, delivering strokes whilst the protector is rotated past as shown in Fig. 4. In this way, the width of the tabs 6 can easily be adjusted simply by varying the speed of rotation.

In use, the protector 1 may conveniently be supplied as a roll, from which lengths may be cut. Once a length is cut, it is then folded out of the longitudinal axis for use, the tabs 6 overlapping as illustrated in Figure 2. It will be appreciated that where frangible webs are employed rather than slits, upon folding into position for use the webs are broken to allow the tabs 6 to overlap. Similarly, where flexible webs are employed they are formed such as to allow overlapping of the tabs 6 by, for example, being bent into Z shape. Formation of flexible and frangible webs is conveniently accomplished by crushing or stretching the material, especially where it comprises a fluted plastics material.

Thus it can be seen that by virtue of its configuration the invention can be used for the protection of a product such as a roll of sheet material, providing complete coverage by means of the overlapping tabs 6. Such protectors are simple and inexpensive to manufacture, there being no requirement for complicated machinery.