WO2019172816A1

WO2019172816A1 - Plant cell support

Info

Publication number: WO2019172816A1
Application number: PCT/SE2018/050230
Authority: WO
Inventors: Tobias RAGNVID; Torsten KARLSSON
Original assignee: Björkemar Construction & Consulting Bcc Ab
Priority date: 2018-03-09
Filing date: 2018-03-09
Publication date: 2019-09-12

Abstract

In a method for securely supporting plant cells (2) in plant cell carriers (1) having cell carrier apertures (3) for receiving individual plant cells and being provided with cell support elements (4) protruding inwardly towards a central area of each aperture from outer walls (5A, 5B) surrounding said apertures, including introducing plant cells into associated plant cell apertures and supporting them on the support elements thereof, upper (6) and lower (7) spaced snap fix formations are provided on the plant cells, said snap fix formations are positioned for cooperation with associated elements support and each support element is snapped in under an associated upper snap fix formation, resting on an associated lower snap fix formation. An assembly including a plant cell carrier and associated plant cells is also provided.

Description

TITLE: PLANT CELL SUPPORT

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present technology generally concerns the propagation of plants in individual plant cells received in compartments in a plant carrier and specifically relates to the support configur- ation for plant cells in such plant propagation carriers.

BACKGROUND

Traditionally, horticultural plants/seedlings or plants grown in forest nurseries etc. have for plant propagation been supported in plant cells formed in or received and supported in apertures in plastic frames or plant cell carriers. In contemporary horticultural systems but also in systems for propagation of forestry plants in nurseries it has become more and more common to use small size containers in the form of a sleeve of paper, fibre, or bioplastic in which plant substrate is wrapped. In such systems the plants/seedlings along with the substrate and the sleeves have still been quite freely or loosely supported in plants cells in plant cell carriers of more or less the same traditional configuration.

In fact, it has been experienced that the present day use of traditionally configured plant cell carriers with individual plant cells supported therein, has caused several problems, such as unduly high costs for replacing large quantities of existing plant cell frames with new frames being adapted to new plant cell systems. Besides, employing the individual plant cells loosely received in the apertures of plant cell frames/carriers has in certain cases led to unsecure and unstable support of the plant cells and their plant containers. Ultimately, plant cells with plant containers risk falling out from the plant cell carriers altogether, in case carriers filled with plant containers are handled roughly. This may happen both with manual and partly or fully automized carrier handling systems. Thus, there is a demand within the field of horticulture as well as in systems for the propagation of forestry plants in nurseries, for methods as well as configurations that provide for enhanced versatility with regard to the use of new plant cell configurations with existing plant cell carriers/frames as well as for secure and safe support of plant cells and associated plant containers in plant cell carriers or frames.

SUMMARY

It is a general object of the present technology to suggest an improved solution satisfying the discussed requirements and demands by eliminating or at least alleviating existing problems. In particular it is an object of the technology to suggest an improved method of securely supporting plant cells of optional designs in plant cell carriers.

In particular it is another object of the technology to suggest an improved plant cell configuration for use in such a method.

These and other objects are met by the technology defined in the accompanying patent claims.

The technology relates to plant cells supported in plant cell carriers and specifically relates to a method of supporting the plant cells in plant cell carriers having cell carrier apertures for re- ceiving individual plant cells and being provided with cell support elements in outer walls surrounding each of said cell carrier apertures, whereby plant cells are introduced into associated plant cell apertures and are supported on the carrier cell support elements. To achieve secure fixing and support of plant cells in the plant cell apertures of the plant cell carriers, a basic idea of the technology is to provide upper and lower spaced snap fix formations on the plant cells or alternatively as cell support elements on the plant cell carriers, to position the snap fix formations for cooperation with associated cell support elements of the plant cell carriers or alternatively on the plant cells and to snap in each cell support element under an associated upper snap fix formation, resting on an associated lower snap fix formation. This enables optimization of the versatility as well as stable support for the plant cells in the plant cell carriers.

In accordance with another aspect of the technology an improved plant cell is suggested for cooperation with plant cell carriers having cell carrier apertures for receiving individual plant cells and being provided with cell support elements protruding towards a central area of each aperture from outer walls surrounding said apertures. A basic idea of the technology is the provision of upper and lower spaced apart snap fix formations on the plant cells.

Preferred further developments of the basic idea of the technology as well as embodiments thereof are specified in the dependent claims. Advantages offered by the present technology, in addition to those described above, will be readily appreciated by reading the following detailed description of embodiments of the technology.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present technology and further objects and advantages thereof will be best understood by reference to the below description taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a partial schematical illustration of an embodiment of a plant cell carrier configur- ation where the present technology may be applied;

Fig. 2 is a schematical view from above of a first embodiment of a practical application of the present technology at a plant cell aperture in the exemplary carrier configuration of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a partial and schematical, partially sectioned view from one side of the first practical application of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a schematical view from above of a second embodiment of a practical application of the present technology at a plant cell aperture in a variant of the exemplary carrier configuration of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a partial and schematical, partially sectioned view from one side of the second practical application of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a schematical view from above of a third embodiment of a practical application of the present technology at a plant cell aperture in another variant of the exemplary carrier configuration of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is a partial and schematical, partially sectioned view from one side of the third practical application of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a very schematic illustration of alternative embodiments of plant cells;

Fig. 9 is a very schematic illustration of alternative embodiments of plant cell carriers; and Fig. 10 is a very schematic illustration of alternative embodiments of plant cells. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The technology will be explained with reference to exemplifying embodiments of the plant cell support configurations of the present technology that are illustrated in the accompanying drawing figures 2-10. These embodiments of the present technology relate to an application of the technology to plant propagation cell carriers, may also be referred to as plant cell frames or plant trays, that are intended for use in e.g. forest plant nurseries. Specifically, the drawings refer to the use of the technology in variants of conventional plant cell carrier systems intend- ed specifically for forest plant cultivation. It shall be emphasized, though, that the illustrations are for the purpose of describing preferred embodiments of the technology and are not in- tended to limit the technology to details thereof or to specific fields of application. It is therefore emphasized that the present technology is equally well suited for application to other environments and for other types of plant propagation cell carriers than those exemplified in the drawing figures. The basic idea of the technology may with only minor adaption be applied to most types of plant cell carrier systems, such as systems intended for the cultivation of other types of plants, including vegetable plants.

The plant propagation cell carriers shown in the drawing figures are therefore only given as examples of environments where the present technology may be applied. It shall be realized that the disclosure covers the incorporation of features related to other applications and any combination of features disclosed herein. As was discussed above, previous solutions for propagating plants in fibre material cells supported in carriers have all been only partially successful. They have thus not succeeded in optimizing the plant carrier and plant cell con- figuration as regards the versatility in permitting the combination of existing plant cell carriers and various plant cell designs. In addition thereto the previous solutions within this field have not enabled effective secure and stable handling of plant carriers and plant cells. The present technology attempts to find an effective and practical solution in an effort to optimizing such versatility and handling security. To overcome such disadvantages and problems with known systems, the present technology now suggests a novel approach for primarily optimizing the versatility and also for increasing the stability of the plant cell support in plant cell carriers. In essence, this is accomplished by providing an easily adaptable snap-fix support for plant cells in existing plant cell carriers, thereby forming a releasable support for plant cells in plant cell carriers, offering support in both upward and downward directions. It will be realized that this technology also opens up for the possibility of repairing damaged plant cells of plant cell carriers by simply snapping loose damaged plant cells and replacing them with new ones. The present technology will now be explained with reference to exemplifying embodiments of the technology that are illustrated in particular in the accompanying drawing figures 2-10 and that exemplify the general application of the proposed technology to an exemplifying traditional plant cell carrier 1, as disclosed very schematically in the drawing figures. Such a traditional plant cell carrier 1 may have a generally square or rectangular outer shape and, as illustrated especially in Fig. 1, it has multiple rows of cell carrier apertures 3 for receiving individual plant cells 2, of which a first variant is depicted in Figs 2 and 3. The cell carrier apertures 3 are formed by generally perpendicular side walls 5 A, 5B, whereby one side of the outermost rows of cell carrier apertures 3 is formed by a section of an outer frame 5B of the plant cell carrier 1. Accordingly, in this embodiment, the cell carrier apertures 3 have a generally square cross-section with side walls 5A, 5B that may be separated by a flattened comer portion 5C. Like the cell carrier apertures 3 the associated plant cells 2 may then have a generally square cross-section (see Fig. 1) as seen from above. As is conventional, the plant cells 2 consist of an outer body 2A formed by sides extending from an entirely open upper end 2B to a partly open lower end 2C. The sides of the cell body 2A taper from the open upper end 2B towards the partially open lower end 2C to enable easy stacking of the cells and also to facilitate removal of a seedling and substrate, not illustrated, from the cell for transplanting purposes.

In accordance with this technology a solution is now presented within this field that was briefly explained above. The solution is first described with reference to the plant cell variant shown in figs. 2 and 3 and basically involves a method of securely supporting plant cells 2 in plant cell carriers 1. Such plant cell carriers 1 have cell carrier apertures 3 for receiving indi- vidual plant cells 2 and are provided with cell support elements 4, also known as support flaps, in an outer wall 5A, 5B of each cell carrier aperture 3 surrounding said apertures. The cell support elements 4 may normally protrude inwardly towards a central area of each cell carrier aperture 3 from the outer walls 5 A, 5B surrounding the cell carrier apertures 3. The method includes introducing plant cells 2 into associated plant cell apertures 3 and supporting them on cell support elements 4 of the plant cell carriers 1. The method further involves providing upper and lower spaced snap fix formations 6 and 7, respectively, on the plant cells 2 whereby said snap fix formations 6, 7 are positioned for cooperation with associated cell support elements 4. Then, each cell support element 4 is snapped in under an associated upper snap fix formation 6, resting on an associated lower snap fix formation 7. These steps will complete the formation of a fixed plant cell tray consisting of a plant cell carrier 1 and plant cells 2 ready for receiving plant containers, such as the above mentioned small containers in the form of a sleeve of paper, fibre, or bioplastic in which plant substrate is wrapped, not specifically shown.

The plant cells 2 are positioned in carrier apertures 3 with plant cell carrier support elements 4 each being snapped in between associated upper 6 and lower 7 spaced snap fix formations on the plant cells 2. With specific reference to the embodiment of Figs. 2-3 the plant cells 2 may be supported on multiple, here two, separate cell support elements 4 distributed along each of opposing sides 9 of walls 5 A or 5B surrounding said apertures 3 in the plant cell carriers 1. In an alternative variant of the plant cell carrier 101 illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, as well as sche- matically in Fig. 9, the plant cells 102 are supported on one elongate cell support element 104 in the area of each side 109 of the walls 105 A, 105B surrounding the cell carrier apertures 103. In a further variant illustrated in Figs. 6 and 7 as well as schematically in Fig. 9, the tech- nology is applied to another embodiment of a plant cell carrier where support elements 104 are located in the area of comers 205C formed between walls 205A, 205B surrounding said apertures 203. In this embodiment the plant cells 202 are positioned with upper 206 and lower 207 spaced apart snap fix formations supported on said comer cell support elements 204.

From the above given description of the method suggested for this technology it will likewise be obvious it will be performed with a plant cell 2; 102; 202 for cooperation with plant cell carriers 1 ; 101; 201 having cell carrier apertures 3; 103, 203 for receiving individual plant cells. Also that the suggested solution is equally well applicable to plant cell carriers being provided with various kinds and designs of cell support elements 4; 104, 204 protruding inwardly towards a central area of each aperture from outer walls 5 A, 5B; 105 A, 105B; 205A, 205B surrounding said apertures. This is achieved by means of the upper 6; 106; 206 and lower 7; 107; 207 spaced apart snap fix formations that are provided on the plant cells 2; 102; 202. Said upper 6; 106; 206 and lower 7; 107; 207 spaced apart snap fix formations are provided in pairs, one above the other and thus together form a snap-in seat 8; 108; 208 there between for receiving cell support elements 4; 104, 204 of the different kinds of the plant cell carriers 1; 101; 201. As mentioned above such a plant cell 2; 102; 202 may be said to have a generally rectangular cross-sectional shape and the snap fix formations 6; 106; 7; 107 may be provided at generally opposite plant cell side areas 9; 209 of the rectangular cross-sectional shape. In a likewise mentioned variant plant cells 202 having the generally square cross- sectional shape may be provided with snap fix formations 206; 207 provided at generally opposite comer areas 10; 110 of the rectangular cross-sectional shape.

Although the present technology has been described above with relation only to existing, traditional plant cell carrier and plant cell configurations, it shall be emphasized that the tech- nology also covers applications where snap fix geometry positions have been switched between the plant cell carriers and the plant cells. In other words, the technology also covers future plant cell and plant cell carrier systems where the cell support elements or middle snap fix formations may be positioned on the cells and the upper and lower snap fix formations may be positioned as plant cell support elements on the plant cell carriers.

Further alternative embodiments of the proposed technology are very schematically illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9 where Fig. 8 shows very basic plant cell configurations 302A and 302B. A main variation of these alternative plant cell embodiments in relation to the above described embodiments is that they have continuous snap fix formations 306 A, 306B and 307 A, 307B that are extended all around an upper periphery 320A, 320B of the plant cells 302A and 302B. In Fig 9 are shown examples of possible variations of plant cell support elements 304A-E on carriers 301A-E for cooperation with the snap fix formations 306A, 306B and 307 A, 307B of the plant cells 302A and 302B as the latter are lowered into the plant cell carriers 301A-E in the direction of the arrow P.

Variations of the different illustrated parts of the discussed embodiments may be employed without departing from the scope of the invention. Examples of this are the applicability to systems of generally different configuration, such as with optional numbers of support elements, with support elements of different design or using other types of snap fix formations than those specifically shown. It shall also be emphasized that the technology is in no way in- tended to be limited to a use of the exemplifying generally square plant cell designs described and illustrated in Figs. 1-9. With reference to schematical illustrations in Fig. 10 it is likewise possible to use other shapes for the plant cells 402; 502 and/or plant cell carrier apertures, such as round, oval or other shapes. It shall also be emphasized that although the invention has been described and illustrated with specific reference to an application in an environment for forest propagation system, the technology is in no way restricted to such applications. The basic principles of the invention may be applied to other propagation systems. The present technology has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, but it is to be understood that the technology is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. The technology is therefore intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

PATENT CLAIMS

1. A method for securely supporting plant cells (2; 102; 202; 302A-B; 402; 502) in plant cell carriers (1; 101; 201; 301A-E) having cell carrier apertures (3; 103; 203) for receiving individual plant cells and being provided with cell support elements (4; 104, 204; 304A-E) in outer walls (5 A, 5B; 105A, 105B; 205 A, 205B) surrounding each of said cell carrier aper- tures, including introducing plant cells into associated plant cell apertures and supporting them on the cell support elements of the plant cell carriers, characterized by:

- providing upper (6; 106; 206; 306A-B) and lower (7; 107; 207; 307 A-B) spaced snap fix formations on the plant cells or alternatively as cell support elements on the plant cell carriers;

- positioning said snap fix formations for cooperation with associated cell support ele- ments on the plant cell carrier or alternatively on the plant cells; and

- snapping in each cell support element under an associated upper snap fix formation, resting on an associated lower snap fix formation.

2. A method according to claim 1, characterized by positioning the plant cells (2; 102; 202; 302A-B; 402; 502) in the carrier apertures (3; 103; 203) with the cell support elements (4; 104, 204; 304A-E) each snapped in between the associated upper (6; 106; 206; 306A-B) and lower (7; 107; 207; 307 A-B) spaced snap fix formations on the plant cells or alternatively on the plant cell carriers.

3. A method according to claims 1 or 2, characterized by supporting the plant cells (2; 102; 202; 302A-B; 402; 502) on cell support elements (4; 104; 204; 304A-E) provided in the area of the walls (5A, 5B; 105A, 105B; 205A, 205B) surrounding said cell carrier apertures (3; 103; 203).

4. A method according to any of claims 1 -3, characterized by supporting the plant cells (102; 302A) on one elongate cell support element (104; 304E) in the area of each of the walls (105 A, 105B) surrounding said cell carrier apertures (103) or alternatively on multiple cell support elements (4; 304A) distributed along each of the walls (5A, 5B) surrounding the cell carrier apertures (3).

5. A method according to claims 1 or 2, characterized by supporting the plant cells (202; 302A, 302B) on cell support elements (204; 304B, 304D) in the area of comers (205C) between the walls (205A, 205B) surrounding said cell carrier apertures (203).

6. A plant cell (2; 102; 202; 302A-B; 402; 502) for cooperation with plant cell carriers (1; 101; 201; 301 A-E) having cell carrier apertures (3; 103; 203) for receiving individual plant cells and being provided with cell support elements (4; 104, 204; 304A-E) protruding inwardly towards a central area of each cell carrier aperture from outer walls (5 A, 5B; 105 A, 105B; 205A, 205B) surrounding said cell carrier apertures, characterized by upper (6; 106; 206; 306A-B) and lower (7; 107; 207; 307 A-B) spaced apart snap fix formations provided on the plant cells.

7. A plant cell (2; 102; 202; 302A-B; 402; 502) according to claim 6, characterized in that said upper (6; 106; 206; 306A-B) and lower (7; 107; 207; 307A-B) spaced apart snap fix formations are provided in pairs, one above the other.

8. A plant cell (2; 102; 202; 302A-B; 402; 502) according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that said upper (6; 106; 206) and lower (7; 107; 207) snap fix formations are spaced apart forming a snap-in seat (8; 108; 208) there between for receiving cell support elements (4; 104, 204) of the plant cell carriers (1; 101; 201).

9. A plant cell (2; 102; 202; 302A-B; 402; 502) according to any of claims 6 - 8, characterized in that it has a generally square or round cross-sectional shape and in that the snap fix formations (6; 106; 206; 306A-B and 7; 107; 207; 307 A-B) are provided at an exterior of generally opposite plant cell side areas (9; 209) of the square or round cross-sectional shape or are alternatively continuous (306 A-B; 307 A-B), extended all around an upper periphery of the plant cells.

10. A plant cell (2; 102; 202) according to any of claims 6 - 8, characterized in that it has a generally square cross-sectional shape and in that the snap fix formations (206; 207; 306A-B, 307 A-B) are provided at least at generally opposite comer areas (210; 310) of the square cross-sectional shape.