AU2745602A - Aquaculture basket end cap - Google Patents

Description

P/00/011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

TO BE COMPLETED BY APPLICANT Name of Applicant: Actual Inventors: Address for Service: Invention Title: Seapa Pty Ltd Garry Thompson, Timothy Allan Eden and David Edward Robertson A.P.T. Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys GPO Box 772, Adelaide, SA 5001 Aquaculture Basket End Cap Details of Associated Provisional Application Nos PR3918 dated 20th March 2001 and PR5353 dated 31st May 2001 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us:- The present invention relates to an end cap for aquaculture baskets and an aquaculture basket including an end cap. Specific embodiments of the aquaculture basket are suited for the cultivation of oysters.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is common nowadays for molluscs such as oysters and abalone to be reared on a commercial scale in artificial environments. In one form of aquaculture, oysters are grown inside enclosed baskets having perforated walls and the baskets are suspended in the ocean until the oyster reaches maturity.

The type of baskets that have been used for cultivation are largely tubular mesh baskets that are fastened at least at either end and generally suspended off the ocean floor. In intertidal environments a single basket is typically hung in the water, whilst in subtidal environments it is known to hang a number of baskets vertically one above the other in a ladder arrangement, with each ladder suspended in the ocean from a rope or cable. There are difficulties associated with handling these mesh type baskets in particular in efficient opening and handling of them and in efficient stacking of them. A proposal for efficient opening can be seen in US patent 5400745 to Saxby et al. Another improvement in relation to such oyster baskets can be seen in US patent 5007377 to Muench et al.

S...I

One type of basket that is in use is elongate and flattened tubular in cross section and is made of mesh material such as metal or plastics and end caps are fitted at either end of the basket to enclose the basket. Sea water flows through the perforations in the basket wall as well as the end caps. Details of such a basket can be seen in Australian Registered Design 137255. The contents of the baskets are accessed by removing one or both end caps. When conducted on a commercial scale there can be hundreds of baskets that need to be cleared and the process of going through and removing end caps on each basket is performed manually and therefore can be a time consuming manual intensive process.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION The object of this invention is to provide an end cap for an aquaculture basket as well as an aquaculture basket having an end cap that obviates or alleviates any one of the above problems, or at least to provide the public with a useful choice.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In a broad aspect the invention could be said to reside in an end cap for an aquaculture basket, the end cap including a rigid frame, an aperture and a flap for closing the aperture, the frame including connection means for connecting the end cap to an end of the basket so that the end cap assists in maintaining the structure of the basket, the flap moveable between an open position in which the contents of the basket can be accessed through the aperture, and a closed position in which the aperture is covered by the flap to retain contents in the basket, a locking means for locking the flap in the closed position, the locking means adapted to allow for automated opening of the flap, t the locking means including a tab fixed to the flap, the tab engaging with the frame to lock the flap in the closed position, and said tab traversing the frame e°•o and a portion of the tab extending beyond the frame so that a free edge of the tab is engageable by a trip to urge the tab to disengage from the frame.

Preferably the flap is pivotable the tab extending from a free end of the flap and preferably one end of the flap is hingedly connected to the end cap.

The tab might traverse across an outside face of the frame of the end cap, generally in line with the plane of the end cap, although the tab might also traverse a peripheral face, for example from front to the rear of the frame of the end cap.

Preferably the tab passes through a locking aperture in the frame, a lateral locking protrusion extending from the tab to an extent that it can be forced through the locking aperture to the closed position lock the flap in place, and can be forced through the aperture from the closed to the open position.

In one form of the invention the free edge of the tab is angled so that it is engaged by a trip the tab rides up on the trip and frees the locking protrusion from engagement with the aperture to thereby unlock the flap. In an alternative form, the free edge of the tab is not angled but the trip is angled so that as the free edge of the tab rides up on the block the locking protrusion is forced out of engagement from the aperture.

The flap is preferably the same shape and size as the aperture so that it can fit over and close the aperture. In one particularly preferred form the end cap is able to be opened flat or nearly flat. The flap may be formed from a mesh material so as to allow flow of water therethrough.

The flap may be biased to the open position with biasing means. In that way once the tab of the locking means is disengaged the flap will automatically open. The biasing means may be in the form of a spring acting between the flap and the frame to bias the flap open. However typically the basket may be, for example held in a position such that the flap opens under the influence of gravity once it is unlocked.

It will be appreciated that automated opening of the flap allows for automation of processing of mature oysters. Thus one or more baskets may be placed on a conveyor. The baskets may then pass along the conveyor and the tabs pass over a 15 suitable trip to thereby unlock the flaps. The contents can then be removed or more preferably fall onto a conveyor. This is a time efficient process in comparison to the present manual operation.

The end cap might also containing stacking means that allows end caps to be engaged with vertically adjacent end caps to thereby assist in forming a ladder of baskets.

Preferably the stacking means is in the form of one or more posts extending from a lower or upper edge of the frame and a corresponding portal in the opposite side of the frame so that the baskets can be stacked by positioning the post of one end cap into the portal of the end cap of an adjacent basket. The stacking means may also include means for locking the post into a corresponding portal to thereby lock adjacent baskets together.

Preferably the flap can be unlocked even where baskets are in the form of a ladder.

Preferably the frame also includes line or cable retaining means for connecting a cable or line to the end cap and hence the basket when the end cap is fitted thereto.

Baskets are normally hung from a line and either clips or cable are used to hang the baskets. In this form of the invention the retaining means provides a means for connecting a cable or rope to the basket and thence to the hanging line so that the basket can be hung accordingly. In one form, the retaining means is in the form of a plurality of clips that are fixed to the frame and are adapted to sandwich the rope or cable between the clip and the frame. Preferably at least one clip is provided on each side of the frame so that the rope or cable can be run down one side of the frame then across the bottom and up the other side of the frame to effectively 'cradle' the end cap and hence the basket in the rope or cable.

The connection means may be in the form of a channel on the inner side of the end cap, the channel being defined between concentric walls and the width of the channel being slightly larger than the width of the wall material of the body of the basket so that an end of the basket fits into the channel and is retained therein. An outer of the concentric walls may be greater in height than the other so as to form a sheath that fits over the end of the basket. *oo.

In another broad aspect the invention could be said to reside in an aquaculture basket having an end cap according to the first aspect of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a better understanding the invention will now be described with reference to an illustrated embodiment. The drawings describe an illustrated embodiment wherein, Figure 1 is an isometric view of a known oyster basket, Figure 2 is an isometric view of an inward facing side of an end cap of the first illustrated embodiment of the present invention, Figure 3 is an isometric view of an outward facing side of an end cap of the first embodiment with the flap partly open, Figure 4 is a side view of an end cap of the first embodiment with the flap closed, Figure 5 is a side view of an end cap of the first embodiment with the flap partly open, Figure 6 is a front view of an end cap of a second embodiment of the present invention with the flap closed, Figure 7 is an isometric view of an outward facing side of an end cap of the second embodiment with the flap partly open, Figure 8 is an isometric view of an outward facing side of an end cap of the second embodiment with the flap fully open, Figure 9 is an isometric view of a second embodiment of end cap which is similar to the embodiment shown in Figure 3 but has a different locking means, Figure 10 is an isometric view of a second embodiment of end cap as in 15 Figure 9 but with the flap open, Figure 11 is a front view of the second embodiment with the flap open, Figure 12 is the same view as in Figure 2, but with a rope connected to the end cap, Figure 13 is a front view of the second embodiment with the flap closed, Figure 14 is an isometric view of a third embodiment of the end cap of the present invention, and Figure 15 is sketch of a fourth embodiment of the end cap of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

Dimensions of certain of the parts shown in the drawings may have been modified and/or exaggerated for the purposes of clarity or illustration.

The figures show an end cap (10) for an oyster basket Whilst an oyster basket is exemplified, it will be appreciated that the end cap may take other configurations and therefore may be used with other types of aquaculture baskets.

The oyster basket has two end caps (10) and a wall (14) extending between the end cap. It is not necessary for both end caps to be those of the present invention as access from one end of the basket may only be required. In this case one of the end caps may be of the known type end cap that does not have an access aperture or flap.

Known oyster baskets, such as the one shown in Figure 1, have a body o comprising a wall The body is generally tubular and is oval in cross section.

The wall is formed from a mesh material having perforations sized to allow water to pass through but to prevent the contents from spilling out of the basket.

Typically plastics are used for this material.

basket shown in Figure 1 has a relatively rigid rim (15) at either end which assists in maintaining the shape of the basket. The end cap of the present invention does not require the wall to have a rigid rim as the end cap itself is 20 capable of maintaining the shape of the wall.

In the basket of Figure 1, retaining loops (15a) are positioned at the top at each end of the basket. Hooks (not shown) are fitted underneath the loops and the hooks are used to either hang the basket from a supporting line or from an upper basket to form a ladder of baskets. In the basket of Figure 1, one or both of the end caps need to be removed to provide access to the contents and on a large scale this is a time consuming process. In addition, it has been found that the laddering arrangement of hooks between baskets can be unsatisfactory in that hooks can break under the conditions.

An end cap of a first embodiment of the present invention is shown in Figures 2 to 6. The end cap is suitable for fitting to a wall of a basket similar in shape to the one shown in Figure 1. However the wall need not have the relatively rigid rim when the end cap of the present invention is used.

The end cap has a rigid frame an aperture (18) and a flap (20) for closing the aperture. The frame includes connection means (22) for connecting it to an end of a basket. The wall of the basket may be relatively flexible and the connection means holds the wall in the desired shape. The flap is moveable between a closed position (Figure 2) in which the flap covers the aperture to capture the contents within the basket, and an open position (as best shown for the second embodiment in Figure 4) in which the contents of the basket can be accessed through the aperture The flap is hingedly connected to the end cap and can be locked in the closed position with locking means The locking means is automated to 10 allow for automated opening of the flap. The cap also contains stacking means (24) that allows end caps to be stacked one atop the other to thereby form a ladder of baskets.

:In practice the end cap will usually be formed separately from the basket and fitted thereto. In this way the end cap of the present invention can be fitted to existing S° oyster baskets. Alternatively the end cap could be integrally formed with the body of the basket however manufacture in that form is less convenient.

The frame has an oval shaped channel (26) on an inward facing surface. The width of the channel is slightly greater than the thickness of the material from which the body is formed. In this way an end of the basket can be fitted into the channel. The channel is defined by walls (30) and (32) with the outer of the two walls being greater in height than the inner wall. The wall (30) therefore effectively forms a sheath that fits around the end of the body of the basket. Inner wall (32) defines the perimeter of aperture The frame also contains a web (34) extending outwardly from wall (30) and the web has strengthening ribs (36) which provide rigidity to the frame. In particular the ribs (36) are formed at positions adjacent posts (38) and portals (40) which form part of the stacking means as discussed in more detail later.

The flap (20) is formed of mesh material which is held within a subframe (41).

Ribs (42) may also be used to strengthen the flap as necessary.

An outer facing surface of the frame has hinge retaining loops (43) into which hinges (44) of the flap are journalled for rotation (see Figure In this way the flap is hingedly connected to the frame and can be moved between the open position and the closed position. The retaining loops protrude from the outer surface sufficiently for the flap to be opened to a flat or nearly flat position, as best seen in Figure 8. When in the closed position, the flap covers the aperture and therefore retains the contents in the basket. In the open position the flap is swung away from the aperture so that a hand can be placed through the aperture to access the contents of the basket or so that the contents can simply fall out should the oyster basket be held upright.

The dimensions of the flap are such that the flap fits within the perimeter of the end cap so that part of the frame between the flap and the perimeter of the end cap can be used to support the basket on a conveyor and the flap can be opened whilst the basket is supported on the conveyor. For example, the basket may be supported on a conveyor so that the flap opens downwardly and the contents of the basket 15 spill into a storage vessel below the conveyor. This provides for automated or semi-automated processing.

The locking means (23) is positioned at the free end of the flap, opposite the hinged end. In the embodiments illustrated in Figures 1 to 13, the locking means is in the form of a tab (46) that extends through an aperture (48) in the frame when 20 the flap is in the closed position. The tab has a locking protrusion (50) that engages the inward facing surface of the frame adjacent the slot so that the flap cannot be moved to the open position without first disengaging the protrusion from the inward facing surface. The protrusion is bevelled so that as the flap is moved from the open to the closed position the bevel engages the slot which then flexes the tab backward until the protrusion passes through the slot and then snaps back. This then provides a snap lock arrangement for the flap, requiring forcing of the locking protrusion through the aperture.

In the first embodiment, for example, illustrated in Figure 2 a free end of the tab is angled so that as the free edge is passed over a trip the angle is used to force the tab and protrusion out of engagement with the slot as the free edge of the tab rides over the trip to therefore unlock the flap. This provides for automated opening of the flap. Thus a number of baskets can be placed on a conveyor and the conveyor may be adapted so that the tab passes over an appropriately positioned trip (see figure 4 at 49) which then forces the tab downward and opens the flap. The contents can then be accessed as usual, or alternatively if the basket is supported on the conveyor so that the flap opens downwardly then the contents may spill out of the basket into a storage vessel beneath the conveyor. This provides for automated unlocking and opening of the flap as well as emptying of the basket.

In an alternative form that is illustrated in Figures 7 to 11, the free end of the tab is not angled but the block over which the tab passes when the basket is on the conveyor is angled so that the tab rides up on the angled block to thereby force the tab and protrusion out of engagement with the slot.

In the first and second embodiments the tab is also connected to a lever (51) which is accessible from an outer face of the end cap and which can be used to manually force the tab out to disengage the locking protrusion from the aperture in the frame to thereby unlock the flap. Alternatively the flap can be unlocked manually by pressing on the free edge of the tab.

For automated opening and emptying of the baskets, the basket can be placed on a conveyor so that the end cap is supported on a conveyor in the regions (53) between the flap and the perimeter of the end cap at the sides. The basket is .supported so that the flap can swing open when it is unlocked. The lever (51) extends out from the flap and towards the perimeter at one side of the end cap and as such can interfere with the flap swinging open.

Manual opening of the lock shown in Figures 9 to 12 can be achieved by pulling on a handle (55) integrally moulded into the flap on the face opposite the locking tab (46).

While one embodiment of locking means is shown it will be appreciated that other forms of locking tabs or levers may also be used. It is envisaged that any tab with a hook type locking section could be used.

The flap may be biased to the open position using a leaf spring or coil spring (not shown). In this way when the basket is placed on the conveyor and as the tab passes over the block the flap will be forced to spring open by the spring. This may further assist in automation of the process.

11 In order to ladder the baskets, the end cap includes stacking means for locating baskets relative to each other, as well as rope retaining means for connecting the end cap to a rope or line. The stacking means comprises posts (38) at either a bottom or top edge of the end cap. Each post is cylindrical in shape and is integrally formed with the frame. The opposite side of the frame contains portals into which an end post can fit when stacked one atop the other. The posts and portals serve to locate adjacent baskets relative to each other as well as to separate adjacent baskets from each other to assist in maximising flow of water between the baskets.

The rope retaining means is in the form of clips (52) formed along sides of the frame. The clips extend upwardly from the frame so that a rope or cable can be sandwiched between the clip and the frame as best seen in Figure 8. The rope may be either passed down one side, across the bottom and back up the other side as shown in the figure, or alternatively the rope may be passed down one side of a ladder of baskets, across the bottom side and back up the other side of the ladder go of baskets. This form of holding the baskets together may be more reliable than the known method of using clips between adjacent baskets. The free ends of the rope may then be connected to a line or other means so that the ladder of baskets is suspended in the ocean.

The end cap is formed from a suitable plastics material such as a UV stabilised thermoplastic, and can be formed using suitable plastics moulding techniques, as is known in the art.

A third embodiment of end cap is shown in Figure 14. In this embodiment, the stacking means is in the form of posts (54) that extend out from the inward facing surface of the frame and portals (56) having a ramped section (58) so that as one end cap is placed on another, the post rides up the ramped surface and snap locks into the portal. Also in this embodiment the locking means is in the form of a tab fixed to the flap and engageable with resiliently flexible locking hooks (62) in the closed position. To open the flap, the hooks (62) are flexed backwards to release the tab.

In a third embodiment illustrated in Figure 15, attention is drawn to a further alternative configuration of stacking means In this embodiment, posts (64) are engageable into apertures (66) formed in tabs extending from the periphery of the frame. Engagement of the posts into the apertures allows stacking of the end caps and hence baskets.

Various features of the invention have been particularly shown and described in connection with the exemplified embodiments of the invention, however, it must be understood that these particular arrangements merely illustrate and that the invention is not limited thereto and can include various modifications falling within the spirit and scope of the invention.

0*

Claims (17)

1. An end cap for an aquaculture basket, the end cap including a rigid frame, an aperture and a flap for closing the aperture, the frame including connection means for connecting the end cap to an end of the basket so that the end cap assists in maintaining the structure of the basket, the flap moveable between an open position in which the contents of the basket can be accessed through the aperture, and a closed position in which the aperture is covered by the flap to retain contents in the basket, a locking means for locking the flap in the closed position, the locking means adapted to allow for automated opening of the flap, the locking means including a tab fixed to the flap, the tab engaging with the frame to lock the flap in the closed position, and said tab traversing the frame and a portion of the tab extending beyond the frame so that a free edge of the tab is engageable by a trip to urge the tab to disengage from the frame.

2. An end cap as in claim 1 wherein the flap is pivotable the tab extending from a free end of the flap and preferably one end of the flap is hingedly connected to the end cap.

3. An end cap as in either claims 1 or 2 wherein the tab passes through a locking aperture in the frame, a lateral locking protrusion extending from the tab to an extent that it can be forced through the locking aperture to the closed position lock the flap in place, and can be forced through the aperture from the closed to the open position.

4. An end cap as in any one of the preceding claims wherein a free edge of the tab is angled so that it can be engaged by a trip so that the tab rides up on the trip and frees the locking protrusion from engagement with the aperture to thereby unlock the flap.

An end cap as in any one of the preceding claims wherein the flap is the same shape and size as the aperture so that it can fit over and close the aperture.

6. An end cap as in any one of the preceding claims wherein the flap is formed from a mesh material so as to allow flow of water therethrough. 14

7. An end cap as in any one of the preceding claims wherein the flap is biased to the open position..

8. An end cap as in any one of the preceding claims including stacking means that allows end caps to be engaged with vertically one or two adjacent end caps to thereby assist in forming a ladder of aquaculture baskets.

9. An end cap as in claim 8 wherein the stacking means is in the form of one or more posts extending from a lower or upper edge of the frame and a corresponding portal in the opposite side of the frame so that the baskets can be stacked by positioning the post of one end cap into the portal of the end cap of the one or two adjacent basket.

10. An end cap as in claim 9 wherein the stacking means also include means for locking the post into a corresponding portal to thereby lock adjacent baskets together.

11. An end cap as in any one of claims 8 to 10 wherein the frame also includes 20 line or cable retaining means for connecting a cable or line to the end cap and hence the basket when the end cap is fitted thereto.

12. An end cap as in claim 11 wherein the cable retaining means is in the form of a plurality of clips that are fixed to the frame and are adapted to sandwich the cable or line between the clip and the frame.

13. An end cap as in claim 12 wherein at least one respective clip is provided on each side of the frame so that the rope or cable can be run down one side of the frame then across the bottom and up the other side of the frame to effectively cradle the end cap and hence the basket in the rope or cable.

14. An end cap as in any one of the preceding claims wherein the connection means is in the form of a channel on the inner side of the end cap, the channel being defined between concentric walls and the width of the channel being slightly larger than the width of the wall material of the body of the basket so that an end of the basket fits into the channel and is retained therein.

An end cap as in claim 14 wherein an outer of the concentric walls is greater in height than the other so as to form a sheath that fits over the end of the basket.

16. An aquaculture basket having fitted thereto an end cap according to any one of the preceding claims.

17. An aquaculture end cap substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to figures 2 to Dated this 14th day of March 2002 15 SEAPA PTY LTD By their Patent Attorneys A.P.T. Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys