GB2215709A - A container - Google Patents

Abstract

A container 1, e.g. for plant propagation, comprises a body defining a plurality of upwardly facing recesses 6 arranged in equally spaced rows. When the container 1 is positioned contiguously to another such container 1 with the end rows in each container alongside each other, the recesses in the end rows are spaced from one another by the same distance (2X) as that by which recesses in adjacent rows in the same container 1 are spaced (2Y). A continuous grid of divider walls 3 is provided above the recesses 6 so as to form barriers between them. <IMAGE>

Description

A CONTAINER The invention relates to a container and in particular to a container having a plurality of rows of recesses which are arranged such that automatic equipment can carry out operations on the recesses.

The container may be used as a plant propagation/ module tray, although it may also be used for a variety of other purposes.

It is known to arrange containers having a plurality of rows of recesses contiguously such that the rows in different containers are parallel to one another and operations can be carried out on the recesses in the arranged containers row-by-row automatically. However, in the case of known containers, the distance between the rows of recesses within each container and the distance between the end rows of recesses in adjacent containers is not the same.This has meant that equipment for carrying out operations on the rows of recesses automatically has had to include means for sensing when the operations on one container have been finished and the equipment must start operations on the next container, such as means for counting the number of operations carried out, so that on finishing operations on one container appropriate adjustments are made by the automatic equipment to align it with the rows of recesses in the next container. Known automatic equipment for the purpose described is for those reasons complex and expensive.

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a container comprising a body defining a plurality of upwardly facing recesses, the recesses being arranged in equally spaced rows the container being arranged such that when it is positioned contiguously to another such container so that the end one of the rows is alongside the end row of the other container, the recesses in the said end rows are spaced from one another by the same distance as that by which recesses in adjacent rows in the same container are spaced.

When a plurality of such containers is employed arranged as described, automatic equipment for carrying out operations on rows of container recesses does not have to be able to adjust itself when passing from one container to the next. The automatic equipment can thus be correspondingly less complex and less. expensive.

The rows may be identical so that the same operations can be carried out in each row.

Preferably the distance between an end of the container and the near walls of the recesses in the row adjacent to that end of the container is equal to substantially one half of the distance between the adjacent walls of neighbouring recesses in the same container in adjacent rows.

A row divider may be provided above the level of each two neighbouring recesses in adjacent rows so as to form a barrier between those recesses. Each row divider may act as a guide or simply as a barrier to keep operations in a recess or matter put into a recess separate from a neighbouring recess in adjacent row. Preferably each row divider is arranged substantially half-way between the said neighbouring recesses. Each row divider may extend upwardly from a connecting part connecting the upper regions of the adjacent walls of the neighbouring recesses.

A recess divider may be provided above the level of two neighbouring recesses in the same row so as to form a barrier between those recesses. The recess divider may serve the same purpose as the row divider but between neighbouring recesses in the same row. The recess dividers and row dividers thus form a grid above the level of the recesses.

The container is preferably formed as an integral unit and may be injection moulded e.g. from plastics material.

Known plant propagation module trays are moulded in polystyrene or are vacuum moulded from other plastics material. These known trays may have a relatively short life and may be difficult to sterilize effectively. They also tend to have relatively few and relatively small recesses. In polystyrene trays, the material itself is weak and very thick recess walls are provided to give the trays the desired strength and service life. In vacuum formed trays, as the tray is formed from a flat sheet, the walls of adjacent recesses are separate and spaced apart.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a container comprising a body defining a plurality of upwardly facing recesses and a continuous grid of substantially vertical divider walls above the level of the recesses which is arranged so that one divider wall is provided between each pair of neighbouring recesses and forms a barrier between those recesses, each divider wall having a substantially constant small thickness.

According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a container comprising a body defining a plurality of upwardly facing recesses and a continuous grid of substantially vertical divider walls above the level of the recesses which is arranged so that one divider wall is provided between each pair of neighbouring recesses and forms a barrier between the recesses, each divider wall being in the form of a single thickness sheet.

Thus, a greater number of recesses, or recesses of a larger size can be provided in a given container as the recesses in their upper part have a shared divider wall.

Preferably, the container is a plant propagation module tray.

Preferably, the container is injection moulded. By the nature of the injection moulding technique a more complex and rigid structure can be formed so that a container can be produced having a longer service life. Also, a wider range of moulding materials may be used enabling a material facilitating effective sterilization to be employed. Preferably the moulding material is a plastics material.

Walls may be provided on the external sides of the recesses at the edges of the container so that walls surrounded the top of each recess.

The recesses may be provided in rows.

Preferably the container includes indexing means for the rows of recesses. The indexing means may take any suitable form and may take the form of apertures or coloured parts or a form of electronically readable indexing such as a bar code type index. Preferably, however, the indexing means comprises projections provided on the sides of the container which are spaced from one another along the sides of the container by a distance equal to the width of a recess. The projections can be used as a guide, initially, at intervals or continuously, to align automatic equipment with rows of recesses. The projections may be provided at positions at any suitable distance across the width of each row of recesses. Preferably the projections are provided at positions substantially half-way across the width of each row of recesses.

In any case the container may be substantially rectangular.

The recess walls may be tapered downwardly.

The recesses may be of any appropriate shape and preferably are substantially rectangular in horizontal cross-section.

Preferably, the divider wall grid is integral with the container body.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view from above of the embodiment; Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the embodiment; Fig. 3 is an underneath plan view of the embodiment; Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view along IV-IV in Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view along V-V in Fig. 2; Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view along VI-VI in Fig. 2; Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view along VlI-VlI in Fig. 2; Fig. 8 is an elevational view of the embodiment from one side; and Fig. 9 is an elevational view of the embodiment from one end.

A rectangular container (1) includes a rectangular grid (2) defined by a plurality of parallel equally spaced vertical row divider walls (3) which extend perpendicularly to a plurality of parallel equally spaced vertical recess divider walls (4), the walls (3,4) defining a plurality of square transverse cross-section sleeves (5). There are 240 sleeves (5) arranged in a 12 x 20 grid. Beneath and connected to each sleeve (5) is a recess (6) in a body (7) of the container (1). The recesses (6) are substantially rectangular in transverse crosssection and have downwardly tapered walls (8). The floor (9) of each recess (6) has a circular aperture (10).The recess side walls (11) are connected directly to the recess divider walls (4) and the recess end walls (12) are connected via a horizontally extending bridge part (13) to the row divider walls (3) except where a recess (6) is in a row at an end of the container (1) when the recess end wall (12) is connected directly to the end row divider wall (3), as shown in Fig. 4.

The gaps between the walls (8) of the recesses (6) at each end and at each side of the container (1) are filled by a flat vertical part (14) which extends downwardly beyond the floor (9) of the recesses (6) and also fills the gap beneath the recesses (6) (Fig.

6, Fig. 7). The flat part (14) intercepts and is parallel with the outermost edges (14) of the recess floors (9). Outwardly extending ribs (16,17) are provided at the top and at the base of the divider walls (3,4) at the ends and sides of the container (1) and these extend continuously all around the container at respective constant heights.

The rib (16) at the top of the divider walls (3,4) forms a lip around the top of the container. At the ends of the ccntainer (1), an outwardly extending plate (18) is connected to the base of the flat part (14) and extends all along the ends of the container (1) and also around the sides of the container (1) up to substantially half-way along the width of each corner recess (Fig. 4, Fig. 6). The lower surface of the plate (18) is inclined upwardly. Extending in the same way as the plate (18) is a horizontally outwardly extending rib (19) which is provided above the plate (18) on the recess walls (8) and the flat part (14) at a level substantially half-way between the rib (17) at the base of the divider walls (3,4) and the plate (18). An L-shaped projection (20) extends along the remainder of the sides of the container. The projection (20) is provided at the sides of the container (1).The flat part (14) in this region extends outwardly as far as the plane in which the outermost side walls (11) of the recesses (6) lie and is thus downwardly tapered and with the outermost side walls of the recesses provides a continuous flat surface from which the projection a(20) projects. The projection (20) projectsin a direction substantially perpendicular to the recess side walls (11) for a short distance and then projects vertically downwardly to the same level as the flat parts (14). The outermost side (21) of the downwardly projecting part of the projection (20) and the outermost ends (22,23) of the upper and lower ribs (16,17) lie in a common vertical plane.

Similarly, the outermost ends of the projections on the ends of the container all lie in a further common vertical plane perpendicular to the first.

Vertical perpendicularly outwardly projecting ribs (24) which extend the height of the container are provided on the ends of the container at positions substantially half-way across the width of each recess (6). On the sides of the container (1) further such vertical ribs (25) are provided. The side vertical ribs (25) are not provided at positions corresponding to every recess (6) and the spaces between the ribs (25) can display trade marks, advertising, or other information. The outermost ends of the vertical ribs (24) on each end of the container lie in the same vertical plane as the ends of the o-ther outwards projections on each end, and similarly, the ends of the vertical ribs (25) on each side of the container (1) lie in the same vertical plane as the outermost edge of the projections on each side.At each corner of the container (1) is a further vertical rib (26) which extends diagonally outwards away from the container as far as the intersection of the aforesaid common vertical planes.

At each end of the container (1), the distance X between the end walls (12) of the recesses (6) in the end row and the vertical plane containing the ends of the projections on the end of the container which define the limit of the end of the container (1) is the same as the distance Y across the width of a bridge part (13). Thus when the container (1) is positioned end-to-end with another identical container, with the projections on the end of the container (1) touching those on the end of the other container, the distance between recesses in the end rows in each container is twice X which is the same as twice Y or the width of two bridge parts (13) and hence the distance between two neighbouring recesses in adjacent rows in the same container.Operations on the rows of recesses in a plurality of containers can thus be carried out automatically without the automatic equipment having to include means to compensate for the distance between adjacent rows in different containers being different from the distancebetween adjacent rows in the same ccntainer.

As the recesses (6) are separated at the top of the container (1) only by the thickness of the divider walls (3,4), the recesses are larger than would be the case in a similar tray following the prior art.

For a given recess size, again, more recesses (6) can be provided in a container (1), according tc the invention than by the prior art methods.

The container (1) may be injection.moulded and may be made of any suitable plastics material. It may e.g. be made of high density polythene (HDPE).

The aperture (10) in the floor (9) of each recess (6) is provided in connection with a possible use of the container (1) as a plant propagation tray and it may act as a drainage hole. It may, however, also be provided in a suitable configuration to allow the contents of the container recesses to be mechanically ejected by an automatic machine. Uses are envisaged where each recess~(6) would have a complete floor (9).

Although the recesses (6) shown are of substantially rectangular cross-section, they may be of any other suitable cross-section, such as cylindrical or hexagonal.

The container (1) described only provides equal row spacing when two such containers are placed end to end, but containers are also envisaged which would provide equal row spacing when placed side by side or side to end and in which the row spacing across and along the container are equal.

The rectangular grid (2) formed by the row divider walls (3) and recess divider walls (4) need not be integral with the remainder of the container (1) but may be a separate component.

Claims (23)

1. A container comprising a body defining a plurality of upwardly facing recesses, the recesses being arranged in equally spaced rows the container being arranged such that when it is positioned contiguously to another such container so that the end one of the rows is alongside the end row of the other container, the recesses in the said end rows are spaced from one another by the same distance as that by which recesses in adjacent rows in the same container are spaced.

2. A container as claimed in claim 1, wherein, the rows are identical.

3. A container as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the distance between an end of the container and the near walls of the recesses in the row adjacent to that end of the container is equal to substantially one half of the distance between the adjacent walls of neighbouring recesses in the same container in adjacent rows.

4. A container as claimed in claim 1, 2, or 3, wherein, a row divider is provided above the level of each two neighbouring recesses in adjacent rows so as to form a barrier between those recesses.

5. A container as claimed in claim 4, wherein each row divider is arranged substantially half-way between the neighbouring recesses.

6. A container as claimed in claim 4 or claim 5 wherein each row divider extends upwardly from a connecting part connecting the upper regions of the adjacent walls of the neighbouring recesses.

7. A container as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein a recess divider is provided above the level of each two neighbouring recesses in the same row so as to form a barrier between those recesses.

S A container as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the container is formed as an integral unit.

9. A container as claimed in claim 8, wherein the container is injection moulded.

10. A container comprising a body defining a plurality of upwardly facing recesses and a continuous grid of substantially vertical divider walls above the level of the recesses which is arranged so that one divider wall is provided between each pair of neighbouring recesses and forms a barrier between those recesses, each divider wall having a substantially constant small thickness.

11. A container as claimed in claim 10, wherein the container is a plant propagation module tray.

12. A container as claimed in claim 10 or claim 11, wherein the container is injection moulded.

13. A container as claimed in claim 12, wherein the moulding material is a plastics material.

14. A container as claimed in any of claims 10 to 13 wherein walls are provided on the external sides of the recesses at the edges of the container so that walls surrounded the top of each recess.

15. A container as claimed in any of claims 10 to 14 wherein the recesses are provided in rows.

16. A container as claimed in claim 15, wherein the container includes indexing means for the rows of recesses.

17. A container as claimed in claim 16, wherein the indexing means comprises projections provided on the sides of the container which are spaced from one another along the sides of the container by a distance equal to the width of a recess.

18. A container as claimed in claim 17, wherein the projections are provided at positions substantially half-way across the width of each row of recesses.

19. A container as claimed in any of claims 10 to 18 wherein the container is substantially rectangular.

20. A container as claimed in any of claims 10 to 19 wherein the recess walls may be tapered downwardly.

21. A container as claimed in any of claims 10 to 20 wherein the recesses are substantially rectangular in horizontal cross-section.

22. A container as claimed in any of claims 10 to 21 wherein the divider wall grid is integral withthe container body.

23. A container substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.