Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
  • A01G—HORTICULTURE; CULTIVATION OF VEGETABLES, FLOWERS, RICE, FRUIT, VINES, HOPS OR SEAWEED; FORESTRY; WATERING
  • A01G9/00—Cultivation in receptacles, forcing-frames or greenhouses; Edging for beds, lawn or the like
  • A01G9/02—Receptacles, e.g. flower-pots or boxes; Glasses for cultivating flowers
  • A01G9/026—Foldable pots

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a container for cultivating and developing plant plants.
• Plant production follows a complex circuit from cultivation to consumption and poses problems at each stage.
• the plants are arranged in containers made of rigid polymer material, of different sizes according to the variety of plant but substantially standardized. These containers are provided with feet and holes in the lower part, with a peripheral rim in the upper part which provides mechanical reinforcement and facilitates gripping.
• the draft angle is common 5 or 7 ° to allow nesting and promote the development of plants.
• the dimensions also allow storage on racks or pallets standardized in length, width and height.
• This container already poses problems in manufacturing because in order to reach costs compatible with their temporary use, very large production units are required. Also, the places of production are few. This induces a lack of flexibility for customers or storage as well as transport.
• the raw material is adapted so that these containers can be destroyed in refuse recycling units, generally by incineration because reuse as a new raw material is impossible. The weight remains significant.
• This container is used first of all by the plant producer who places in each of them a plant, a cutting, a bulb for example, this in a suitable culture medium.
• Producers are required to place in each of these containers a means of identification which is a label stuck with a bar code or any other means of automatic identification. Such means can come off and above all, it is necessary to carry out the positioning of each of these labels.
• Another solution is to place sheaths around each container but again the cost of labor remains significant in addition to additional handling. It is also necessary to include the price of these sleeves, their management both in supply and in storage.
• This sheath remains fragile and can be easily torn off during certain transfers between the installation and the final sale of the container with its plant.
• the content of the printed message must be more and more complete and there is a lot of information in addition to basic information such as bar code, variety name, date and / or age of the plant. It is desirable to be able to have the references of the product, the coordinates of the producer, information on the conditions of planting of the plant, advice for monitoring the growth and possibly some representations of the plant in different contexts to bring out applications.
• French patent application No. 2 685 994 discloses a method of manufacturing a plant bucket made of a biodegradable material.
• Such a bucket allows implantation in the soil directly from the container and the contents.
• This bucket is of interest from the point of view of eliminating waste because in fact, the plastic buckets are bulky on the one hand and on the other hand require materials that are at least recyclable if not degradable.
• it must be possible to adjust the degree of biodegradability because too rapid biodegradability can be a problem for plants which have to be cultivated for long periods.
• this biodegradability is insufficient, the bucket planted disturbs the root development and limits the diffusion of the water causing harmful effects of over-watering, all the more important as the nature of the soil is impermeable.
• Such containers also have the disadvantage of presenting an exterior appearance which is not very commercial. Indeed, the biodegradable material is generally made of cardboard covered internally with a hydrophobic film but the cardboard is often attacked and the markings present on its surface are quickly altered. It is not conceivable to provide more films because the biodegradability character would be eliminated.
• watering is not necessarily limited to drip and it can be achieved by sprinkling or capillary action, which affects the outer surface of the container.
• the subject of the invention is a container which responds to the various problems posed, in particular the ability to be printed and which meets the requirements of marketing and production monitoring.
• This container can be used by the plant producer until planting, with removal of the root ball out of the container before planting.
• the container according to the invention also has the possibility of being placed on automated filling and positioning chains for plants, despite the lightness and the geometric shape of said container.
• FIG. 1 a perspective view of the container according to the present invention
• FIG. 2 a view of a blank allowing the container of FIG. 1 to be produced
• FIG. 4 a view of a multiple-use container capable of receiving several other containers according to the present invention
• FIGS. 5A, 5B a view of a blank according to a second embodiment, in two parts
• FIG. 6 a view of a blank according to a third embodiment
• FIG. 10 a partial perspective view of a container with a detachable label
• FIG. 11 a view of a container with a viewing window on the wall
• FIG. 12 a view of a container according to the present invention with a grooving
• FIG. 13 a view of a container with a peripheral rim.
• a container 10 in the form of an inverted pyramid trunk.
• This container comprises four faces 12, 14, 16 and 18, inclined with a draft angle of 5 or 7 ° preferably to comply with the standards in force.
• Such a container comes from the mounting of a blank which is shown in Figure 2 and which allows a better reading of the embodiment.
• This container also includes a bottom 20 linked to the faces, in this case, in this embodiment, the bottom is linked to the four faces.
• Two of the sides, in the example chosen, two opposite sides 14, 18 are provided with lateral flaps 22 for connection, intended to be secured, by gluing or welding, on the internal walls of the adjacent faces 12, 16.
• Two faces 12 and 16 are each provided with a pair of lateral ears 24 cut out in the plane of the face which carries them.
• Each of these ears comprises two steps 26 and 28, the first so-called nesting limitation as shown in Figure 8 and the second called gripping.
• the step 26 thus comes to bear on the edge of the preceding container when several containers are fitted, this at four points for good stability.
• This nesting is free, that is to say that there is no jamming, but simply penetration without contact of the internal walls of a container with those of the one preceding it in the nesting.
• the removal of a container is carried out without entrainment of the following since the mechanical friction is eliminated.
• the second step 28 is not a necessity, it finds all its interest when the plant producer owns and uses automatic machines.
• the blades of a gripping device can slip under the second step and lift a container for handling and introduce it on an automatic chain for filling the culture medium and / or placing plants in the culture medium.
• the material used to make the container is very important since it must be chosen from materials having hydrophobic properties, which must be its primary quality.
• the container must in fact be hydrophobic on both walls, both on the faces and on the bottom.
• the material must be hydrophobic in its thickness to prevent moisture from penetrating by capillary action at the edges where the material is cut.
• This support should also be a sheet of thin material, for example a complex but with at least one outer layer, which, in addition to being hydrophobic, has graphic printing capacities, in particular by offset, flexography, serigraphy, inkjet, hot stamping or the like.
• This sheet can advantageously be obtained from at least one polymer such as polyethylene (polymer loaded with 25% mineral filler).
• a thickness of 2 to 4 tenths of a millimeter is suitable.
• the faces advantageously carry openings 30 which are therefore exposed laterally. These openings are made simultaneously with the cutting of the blank.
• the bottom 20 has also come from the cut and is located at the heart of the four faces which form a cross.
• This bottom carries openings 32 also. These openings allow not only gas exchange but also the passage of the roots and the contacting of these roots with the source of moisture.
• the source is very often an absorbent layer such as a fabric or a non-woven waterlogged on which the containers are placed with their plants.
• the number and total surface area of openings are generally adapted to the volume of the container.
• the bottom also includes flaps 34 cut from this bottom, integral and in continuity with each of the faces. Thus during folding as shown in Figure 1, these flaps, after mounting the container, form support legs of the container.
• an over-container in this case, a basket 36 which incorporates the essential features of the present invention.
• a basket 36 which incorporates the essential features of the present invention.
• it is a container of different shape but intended to present the same technical parameters and meet the same requirements.
• Identical elements have the same references followed by -2.
• the second step for entering is not shown because the placement of containers in the over-container is most often manual but this basket could also be provided.
• An additional accessory on the other hand, is provided, namely a handle 38. It includes at its ends stops 40 which prohibit the withdrawal of the handle and which ensure the resumption of the weight. These retainers cooperate with slots 42 formed in the walls 14-2 and 18-2.
• Figures 5A and 5B show the realization in two parts of the blank intended for the constitution of a container according to the present invention. Identical elements have the same references followed by -3.
• the blank is in the form of a fan with a single flap 22-3 allowing the making of a sheath.
• a bottom 20-3 is attached by gluing and / or by mechanical connection such as assemblies 44 retainers / slots. Such an arrangement makes it possible to take better advantage of the sheets from which the blanks are cut.
• FIG. 6 Another way to make profitable the width of the complex in which the blanks are cut is illustrated in FIG. 6.
• the identical elements have the same references followed by -4.
• the faces are formed in the form of a fan but the bottom has come from cutting and remains linked to one of the faces so as to have a monolithic blank.
• FIG. 9 the top view makes it possible to view the different arrangements and characteristics of the container according to the present invention.
• the embodiment of Figure 10 is particular in that the container has a detachable label 46. This label allows the end user to keep a visual index of the main characteristics of the plant.
• the label takes no place since it can be folded down on one or the other of the contiguous faces when the containers must be stored tight.
• This label is also always visible and does not depend on a hazardous establishment in the culture medium, the level of which can be more or less low depending on the variety. Often the density of this growing medium is low so that the soil is poor and the label tilts at best and is lost at worst.
• the container of Figure 12 has faces with grooves 50 formed on the inner wall, oriented in the longitudinal direction, intended to promote root development and guiding the roots downwards. container. Given the thinness of the sheet constituting the container, the grooving appears in negative on the outer walls.
• the container produced from thin sheets has an upper free edge which is also thin since it corresponds to the thickness of said sheet.
• the container of FIG. 13 carries a belt 52 which can be thermoformed. This ensures a quasi-indefor ability of the periphery. This rigidity inspires confidence in the buyer as well as in the manipulators of these containers, even if it is not necessary for the mechanical strength of the container, that of the sheet being largely sufficient.
• the container according to the present invention is made from sheets of recyclable polymers. It can be a single component itself, which can comprise several compounds, which is then calendered.
• the sheet can also be obtained from a complex consisting of several thin layers attached to each other to form a monolithic sheet.

Landscapes

• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Environmental Sciences (AREA)
• Cultivation Receptacles Or Flower-Pots, Or Pots For Seedlings (AREA)
• Packging For Living Organisms, Food Or Medicinal Products That Are Sensitive To Environmental Conditiond (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=8867056

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Families Citing this family (2)

Family Cites Families (9)

• 2001
  • 2001-09-07 FR FR0111581A patent/FR2829357B1/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2002
  • 2002-09-06 EP EP02781371A patent/EP1427270A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2002-09-06 WO PCT/FR2002/003037 patent/WO2003022035A1/fr not_active Application Discontinuation

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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