But hey if your needs are not demanding rolls of packaging film are often quite sufficient for light duty packaging/strapping.
It all comes down to package weight, more or less. One needs to support the contents in a way that transfers the stresses of freight to them in a way they can handle, and then when, having acquired that energy they try to break free of the corrugated cardboard, it must be strong enough to contain them.
The first part is about "interior decoration"; how you make the box cosy for the device and at the same time pad against moderately blunt force from outside. Cosiness is intimately coupled to fit; which is why both pre-formed styrofoam (as can be seen in factory packaging) and the expanding foam between two plastic bags tactic works very well. The practice of using foam chips CAN work well, if there is enough of them, AND there is protection for protruding things like jacks or controls. But one must realise that the chips must interlock to create a passably rigid environment, or they're meaningless.
What one MUST do is to stop the contents and the packaging fighting each other. This becomes increasingly complicated as the mass of the contents increases. The mechanism at play here is mostly deceleration; a loose item in the box (if too few chips, for instance) will accelerate inside the box, as a separate unit from the padding and box walls, and when it hits the stone floor of the Fragile Items department at the post office, first the box stops, then the contents stop, against the box and the few chips inside, smashing itself, the padding (as it were) and ultimately the box, to pieces. This is what seat belts and airbags prevent. When the car stops unplannedly, the humans inside are protected from crushing themselves against the interior by being tied down.
If you've hung on this far, we will now turn our attention to the "skin" of the packaging. This often is the corrugated cardboard box. Its rôle is to distribute loads and hold the padding together, and protect it from abrasion. Further, it helps to create a manageable shape, including such things as handles.
For most devices up to say about 25kg, if the box is good, and the interiors are well made, sealing by plastic or cloth-backed packaging tape and/or packaging film will do just fine, if done right (mostly a matter of "enough"). The bonus of using it, more so the film, is that they are wide and will distribute the holding force over a wider area. The straps will, as has already been noticed, sometimes cut the cardboard box and become increasingly meaningless. This means that straps may well necessitate a packaging upgrade to actually work.
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Topic: Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread (Read 17738072 times)