EP3083424B1

EP3083424B1 - Shipping apparatus

Info

Publication number: EP3083424B1
Application number: EP14808747.1A
Authority: EP
Inventors: John Kowarsky; Amnon ZAMIR
Original assignee: Nalto Marketing Ltd
Current assignee: Nalto Marketing Ltd
Priority date: 2013-11-04
Filing date: 2014-11-02
Publication date: 2017-12-27
Anticipated expiration: 2034-11-02
Also published as: WO2015066575A1; EP3083424A1

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to packaging, in particular for flowers, chicks and the like.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

The main purpose of corrugated cardboard boxes in agriculture is to move fresh products (such as flowers and vegetables or animals such as chicks) from production centers situated in low labor costs countries or areas more naturally favorable for growing these products, to major consuming world markets.
These cartons are packed in the place of origin (such as Africa, South America, Asia and Far East), stacked on pallets and freighted by air, sea or land transportation to distribution centers or buyers in Europe, UK, Australia USA or Japan.
During shipping the cartons undergo a considerable stress due to the weight of the stacked cartons and the humidity during refrigeration, causing the lower cartons in the stack to yield under the weight, damaging their fragile content in the process and be delivered at their final destination in unacceptable condition, usually with no remuneration for the grower.
Therefore, there is a growing demand for a package that will resist the strain of the weight stacked above it, resist the humid conditions and protect its fragile content during shipping.
Usually these demands are met by using stronger corrugation compositions, hence augmenting the package price and self-weight which in turn augment shipping costs. Another solution is to reduce the content of the produce (for example, the number of flowers) in the carton to decrease its weight, yet again augmenting shipping costs, requiring more cartons per ton of produce.
These costs play a significant part in the general cost of the produce, sometimes reaching up to 30 % of the total selling price. In addition, the gain in weight of packaging increases the carbon footprint of the product when freighting the produce using more airplanes and more trucks.
Traditionally, bunches of flowers are packed using a wrapper made of SKC (single kraft corrugation) boards. Due to its consistence, this material is very flexible when folded along the corrugation lines and offers rigidity when folded against the corrugation. Flower packages use the flexible configuration to wrap SKC boards around bunches of flowers in order to protect them during transportation. In this method, flowers are placed on a piece of flexible SKC board, then both ends of the board are joined and connected using staples, rubber bands or glue, thus forming a cylinder of round shape around the flowers. Another variation of this method consists of the same procedure using an external mold to form a cylindrical shape with a crosscut of a rectangular shape with round angles.
These bunches, usually containing 10 flowers are then placed in cardboard crates and shipped overseas.
When densely packed in the crate, the SKC wrapper offer protection against friction and mechanical damage to the flowers but offer very limited (if not nil) resistance to pressure applied vertically by the weight of crates stacked above. In addition, due to their flexible character, these wrappers favor a method of over-packing and distortion of the crates, often causing crushes and physical damage to the flowers.
Patent publication WO 2013/007294 discloses a containing box according to the preamble of claim 1 for packaging of products and a manufacturing method for realizing such containing box.

SUMMARY

This invention consists of viable solution that addresses both the resilience and weight issues, adds functionality to the carton and helps decrease the carbon footprint.
In one embodiment of the invention, a shipping assembly includes sets of columns and girders connected together to form a frame. An envelope including a flat foldable material is affixed to the frame. The envelope determines a distance between the columns. The envelope is adapted to hold therein flowers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be understood and appreciated more fully from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the appended drawings in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates upper and upside down views of member A that will be referred to as COLUMN
Fig. 2 illustrates upper and upside views of part B of the invention that will be referred to as GIRDER (B).
Fig. 3 illustrates how two sets of columns (A) and girders (B) are connected together to form a frame (C).
Fig. 4 illustrates ENVELOPE D that forms a container in which the flowers are stored.
Fig. 5 illustrates how bunches of flowers are packed in the container with upper girders in place.
Fig. 6 illustrates how a plurality of the containers is stacked.
Figs. 7-9 illustrate yet another embodiment of the invention using a bigger envelope that provides full enclosure and better protection to the flowers.
Fig. 10 illustrates the girder used as an effective handle.
Fig. 11 illustrates how a plurality of the containers is stacked.
Fig. 12 illustrates a frame destined to be used with trapezoid containers consisting of two trapezoid columns A and two girders.
Fig. 13 illustrates a trapezoid container braces with two trapezoid frames
Fig. 14 illustrates stacking of filled trapezoid boxes.
Fig. 15 illustrates boxes stacked as truncated pyramids.
Fig. 16 illustrates a variation on the embodiment presented above, and preserves all the advantages detailed and adds additional properties.
Fig 17 illustrates a top view of typical array of the boxes on a skid or an air pallet.
Fig 18 illustrates a container having the shape of a hollow polygonal cylinder (or prism), wherein the container may be in a flat state prior to use, or in a three dimensional state for use.
Fig. 19 illustrates a sleeve in a mold which holds both shorter walls of the wrapper upright.
Fig. 20 illustrates a completed container containing 50 flowers, of which only 30 are visible on the front end and 20 additional are hidden.
Fig. 21 illustrates rectangular containers placed snugly into any of the embodiments described above.
Fig. 22 illustrates a multiple compartment chick box, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 23 illustrates an inner portion of the box, showing four compartments (the invention is not limited to these values).
Fig. 24 illustrates frames assembled into U-shapes.
Fig. 25 shows the frames cut and removed from both boxes.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

In a non-limiting embodiment of the present invention, a packaging method is provided which is especially adapted and advantageous for shipping long stemmed flowers, such as but not limited to, roses, lysianthus, chrysanthemums and the like, as well as to reduce the weight of the container, reduce transportation costs and to eliminate the possibility of their yielding under the weight of the containers stacked above them. Additionally, it provides ergonomic improvements with implications on the resilience of the packaging during handling and control of its contents. The invention also decreases the carbon footprint and allows re-use and recycling.
Figs. 1 and 2 illustrate two members of the invention. Fig.1 illustrates upper and upside down views of member A that will be referred to as COLUMN (A). It consists of a hollow element of rectangular cross section (or other shape) made of plastic material such as PET (polyethylene terephthalate), which has a projection (1) having a smaller perimeter than the column, designed to be inserted in the lower part of another hollow column above it. The outward face of the column also comprises an upper bolt (2) and a lower bolt (5) designed to lock in the strike (7) of the girder strut (8) of member B, an upper rim (3) and a lower rim (4) designed to offer additional support to the girder struts (8) of member B. In addition, on the inner face of columns (A) are a number of bolts (illustrated in this embodiment with three but not limited thereto) designed to hold the envelope D of the package.
Fig. 2 illustrates upper and upside-down views of part B of the invention that will be referred to as GIRDER (B). It is made of plastic material such as PET, which consists of two struts (7) situated on both extremities of a horizontal element (9). On the upper side of element (9) are three pins which secure the lower part of the envelope D and the flower bunches within in place.
Fig. 3 illustrates how two sets of columns (A) and girders (B) are connected together to form a frame (C). Two columns A are inserted in struts (8) of bottom girder to a point where rim (3) meets the strut wall. At this point, lower bolt 2 automatically locks in place in the lower strike (7). Upper girder is similarly fit on projections (1) of the columns until it is stopped by upper rims (3) of the columns. At this point, upper bolts (2) automatically lock in place in the upper strikes (7).
Fig. 4 illustrates a basic embodiment of the invention with the addition of member D which will be referred to as ENVELOPE. It consists of a flat foldable material such as, but not limited to, corrugated cardboard, corrugated PP (polypropylene), foamed PE (polyethylene) or woven on non-woven material etc., which is folded into an envelope that form the container in which the flowers are stored. Envelope D has a central face (10) that extends on both its long sides into a right flap (11) and a left flap (12). Each of these flaps has a series of holes that fit the buttons (6) on member A. When folded and fitted to the buttons (6) on a frame (C) without the upper girder, a rectangular container is obtained having only 3 faces: a base (10) and two opposite vertical walls (11, 12) along its long sides. Envelope (D) determines the distance between the columns and assures the perfect fitting of the columns hollow bottoms and upper projections.
Fig. 5 illustrates how bunches of flowers are packed in the container with the upper girders in place.
Fig. 6 illustrates how a plurality of the containers is stacked: each one of the hollow bottoms of the columns (A) fits to the projections (1) on the four columns (A) of the package below. Stacking containers using this method allows for a better repartition of the load and moves the strain from the cardboard boxes to the plastic truss that forms when using a plurality of frames C stacked one upon another in varied embodiments of the invention.
Normally, flower boxes have a typical height of 20 to 40 cm, the maximum standard height allowed on a pallet being 240 cm (including pallet height) allows stacking of 11 boxes. With an average weight of 12 to 30 kg per box, the weight that accumulates on the top of the lower box of the stack amounts to 120 to 180 kg. This load has to be doubled to cover vertical shocks during transportation (such as road bumps), drops during handling and weakening of the cardboard in humid environments. Supporting such a vertical load requires usage of corrugated cardboard with thicker compositions that impact the price per unit and add considerable weight to the package and therefore augment the price of shipping and handling which is usually calculated by weight. Using embodiments of the invention as illustrated in Fig. 6, the vertical load is shifted from the boxes themselves to the plurality of columns which fit one into the other and form an independent structure consisting of interconnected columns joined with the same number of girders that support the bases of the packages and ensure the lateral stability of the structure. Therefore, the material of the envelope is irrelevant to the load distribution and a lighter material can be chosen to form the package. The embodiment illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6 has a low weight and holds the flower bunches in place. This embodiment is particularly suited for sea freight wherein the flowers are stored in a refrigerated container and no protection other than the corrugated paper wrapping the bunch is required. For greater grip of bunches to the frames, a series of spikes (9a) can be added to the inner part of the girder to secure the bunches to the frames C (not illustrated in drawings).
It is noted that the flowers packed using this method form a dense body that contribute considerably to maintaining the rectangular nature of the package and stability of the structure.
Figs. 7-11 illustrate yet another embodiment of the invention using a bigger envelope that provides full enclosure and better protection to the flowers. It consists of a base (10) that spans the full size of the package, typically 40 x 100 cm, from which extend two vertical walls along the longer sides (11, 12) and two flaps (17) on its short sides. This envelope also has a lid (13) from which extend side flaps (14) having flaps on both sides (15) and a long flap (16). When inserted in place in two frames C without their upper girder as previously illustrated in fig 4, a rectangular container is obtained in which bunches of flowers are packed (Fig. 8).
Fig. 9 illustrates the closing procedure of this embodiment. First the lid (13) is closed with flap 16 inserted between the vertical wall 12 and the columns (Fig. 9). Next, both upper girders are inserted in place. At this stage, closing is completed by folding each side separately with no risk or necessity to hold the lid from opening up. In fact, at this stage, completion of closure can be effectuated by another worker (in the next station) or leaving the worker hands free to continue packing. At this stage, closing is completed by folding each side separately with no risk or necessity to hold the lid from opening up. In fact, at this stage, the worker hands are free, he can continue packing, or let another worker complete the closure in the next packing station. First, flap 17 is folded upward on which flap 14 is folded downward. Flaps 15 on both sides of flap 14 are folded in their turn as illustrated in Fig. 9.
Final closing of this embodiment can be achieved in several ways: by using a strapping band or by using adhesive tape, both commonly used with the current packaging method. This embodiment allows for an original way to secure the side lids to the package by using strong rubber bands, eliminating the need for a mechanical banding device. This embodiment also presents a way to inspect the content of any of the packages while stacked on the pallet for evaluation at auctions or quality control, without damaging the box or the closing method, or having to dismantle the stacks on the pallet and enables re-closing of the lids with the same rubber bands.
The embodiment of Fig. 10 permits stacking in the same manner previously detailed.
In Fig. 11, opening of the flower packages in the various embodiments of the invention is done by pushing inward the lock (2) that is latched in strike (7) illustrated in Fig. 1. When the bolt (2) is pushed in, the girder can be eased out of the projection (1). This procedure allows reusing the plastic members with a new envelope or, when used with a reusable envelope made for example of corrugated PP, be shipped back to growers to be re-used multiple times.
However, it is noted that the columns and girders can also be used just once ("ship and discard").
In Fig. 11, an ergonomic advantage is illustrated. By cutting openings in the envelope on both sides of the girder on the upper side of the package, the girder turns into an effective handle. This is a distinct advantage on existing packages where handling can be done either by holding the package bottoms in both hands only at a non-ergonomic arm-span of one meter or holding the box from the plastic bands securing both parts of a standard box with a lid. In both cases, handling is not ergonomic and may incur involuntary drops in which the packages and the flower therein are damaged. The implementation of a built in handle in embodiments of this invention, significantly facilitate handling and hauling of the packages, even allowing safe holding of the box in one hand.
In Fig. 12, a variation on the embodiment of Fig. 10 preserves all the advantages previously detailed and adds more operability where re-use of packages is necessary. In this additional embodiment, pyramidal boxes, made of plastic, sturdy cardboard or corrugated PP and the like, are used instead of the foldable envelope (D). As illustrated in Fig.12, this embodiment conserves the characteristics of column A previously described in length. COLUMN A presents a variation in shape in its middle consisting of a slanted face destined to accommodate the angled faces of the pyramidal box. This slanted face of column A conserves the buttons (6) figuring in column A and have the same objective of affixing the pyramidal box to the frame C formed with members A and B. Girder (B) remains unaltered.
Fig. 13 illustrates the aforementioned box with two frames including trapezoid column A. As in other embodiments, holes (29) of the box are used to mount the box on buttons (6) of column A. After filling the box with flowers as previously illustrated, lids (18) are closed and girders B are inserted on respective projections (1) of columns A. Here again, dedicated openings in the lids transform the girders into effective handles.
Fig. 14 illustrates stacking of filled pyramidal boxes. This embodiment has a particular advantage in terms of environmentalism: the boxes, being truncated pyramids, are stackable. When stacked after usage, the boxes occupy a quarter of the volume they had when filled with flowers (Fig.15). This accordingly cuts the costs of transportation of the empty vessels back to the growers for re-packing. Moreover, the frames (members A and B) themselves can be stored in the spaces between the stacked vessels then be shipped and reused without requiring additional space, extra costs and carbon footprint increase (19).
Other package shapes may be used, such as a trapezoidal shape box which is wider at one end to accommodate the flower heads and narrower at the opposite end, which needs less room for the stems. Such trapezoidal boxes may be stacked side-by-side to form a rectangular-shaped pair of packages.
Fig. 16 illustrates a variation on the embodiment presented above, and preserves all the advantages detailed and adds additional properties.
This embodiment consists of two parts: a bottom box (20) made of corrugated cardboard, corrugated PP or similar, having on both its short sides a flap-locking mechanism forming a wall shorter than the full height of the box (22). The mechanism forms a ridge of about 1 cm along the top of the short faces of the box (23).
The second part of this box is a lid made of the same material which is put on the box as indicated in drawing 16 prior to closing the top girders. On the short faces of the lid there are several ventilation holes.
This embodiment presents an additional feature: when laid next to another, a gap equal to twice the thickness of the ridge (23) is formed between the walls of two boxes (24).
Fig 17 shows a top view of typical array of the boxes on a skid or an air pallet. In this drawing, air flow is represented by black triangles. Air can flow through the gap between boxes (24) and through the spaces formed between the boxes (25) by the columns A.
This is a significant improvement over existing methods of shipping in which the boxes are densely packed, blocking air flow from reaching between the boxes.
Keeping a fixed temperature along the supply chain is crucial to the flowers and affects their quality. Since cold air cannot penetrate to the inner boxes on the air pallet, the crates are usually pre-cooled for several hours prior to loading in specially designed cooling towers, a procedure both expensive and time consuming.
The innovation presented in this embodiment allows a more effective way, both time and cost saving of cooling and maintaining the desired temperature for all the crates on the air pallet through all stages of packing, storing and transporting until arrival at destination abroad.
Other embodiments of the present invention make usage of a rectangular, pre-creased wrapper able to contain up to 50 flowers, as is now described.
These embodiments make usage of a sleeve made of SKC or regular corrugated board which are pre-creased against the corrugation offering greater structure stability and resilience to the packaging and better protection to the flowers. When used in conjunction with the aforementioned embodiments of the invention, a plurality of sleeves form a system of packaging for flowers with enhanced protection of the flowers, while using lighter packaging material and a smaller carbon footprint.
The sleeve shown in Fig. 18 has the shape of a hollow polygonal cylinder (or prism), wherein the container may be in a flat state prior to use, or in a three dimensional state for use, the container comprising:

1. Three or more sidewalls (26), defined by creases in a foldable material such as, but not limited to, cardboard, single kraft corrugation (SKC) board, corrugated PP or similar.
2. A flap (27) used to close the container with the means of a band or staple or glue.
3. Optional openings used for ventilation or fixing to adjacent members of the packaging

Method of packing:

In shown embodiment (Fig 18), the polygonal cylinder consists of four sidewalls forming a rectangular container, each wall defined by a crease in the cardboard. The creases are applied against the corrugation, allowing for a fixed, reproducible polygonal shape. The cylinder is folded along the creases and forms a closed sleeve.
Fig. 19 depicts such a sleeve in a mold (28) which holds both shorter walls of the wrapper upright (26) The flowers, pre-arranged in bunches or in bulk are arranged in the sleeve in a staggered mode, wherein some of the flowers are aligned with the front end of the sleeve and some are aligned with the back end of the sleeve. In both alignments, the stems exit the sleeve from the same side.
Fig 20 shows a completed sleeve containing 50 flowers, of which only 30 are visible on the front end and 20 additional are hidden. All 50 stems exit the wrapper from the same direction.
The rectangular sleeves are placed snugly into any of the embodiments described in such a way that the stems face the inner part of the crate and the flowers face outside (fig 21).
The size of the sleeves correlates to the dimensions of the crate which can accommodate an optimized number of sleeves such as 2, 4, 6, 8 or more modular sleeves symmetrically arranged on both sides of the crate.
When assembled in the crate, the buttons facing inwards on the columns (6) perforate the wall of the outer containers and secure them firmly in place. Spikes (9a) protruding from the girders (not shown in the drawings) similarly perforate the sleeves on their upper and lower faces and contribute to their stability inside the crate.
The sleeves, being pre-creased against the corrugation, forming a defined shape and filled with flowers have a dense volume formed by the dense body of flowers it contains. When placed in place inside the crate and fitting snugly in the crate, the body of juxtaposed sleeves contributes considerably to the stability of the package and offer additional resilience to vertical load to the package
Furthermore, the orderly nature of this method of packaging defines the strict boundaries of the package, resulting in a defined rectangular shape of the crate whereas the present method of packaging allows for over-packing, resulting in crates having a pillow shape. When stacked, these overstuffed crates forming an unstable structure, apply pressure downward directly on the flowers resulting in crushing of the flowers and transfer of the load to the carton walls which eventually yield, especially in the lower boxes of the stack, frequently ensued by collapsing of the pile.
This method of packaging and its components as described, combined with the aforementioned crate, allow the usage of light materials such as low weight SKC or corrugated PP resulting in a smaller overall weight of the package as compared to the weight of common cardboard packages used in the flower industry.
It is noted that the flowers packed using this method form a dense body that contribute considerably to maintaining the rectangular nature of the package.
This method of packing also necessitates much less wrapping material: this method requires only a third of the SKC required to wrap 50 flowers compared to wrapping each bunch of ten flowers separately in a SKC wrapper.
This method also make it possible to pack more flowers than the usual due to the orderly fashion used to hold the flowers and the space freed with using less SKC wrappers.
The overall combined outcome of these benefits is a considerable improvement in the weight of packaging material and an increase in flower content per volume, therefore minimizing drastically the cost of shipping. This requires less transportation and handling, and is a considerable improvement in the carbon footprint of the package.
Fig. 22 illustrates a multiple compartment chick box, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The assembled package includes two or more separate chick boxes mounted on two or more frames. A space (e.g., 20 mm) is provided between the boxes for ventilation and heat exchange. Only one lid may be needed. Each box can contain 100 chicks, for example.
Fig. 23 illustrates an inner portion of the box, showing four compartments of 30 x 25 cm (the invention is not limited to these values).
Fig. 24 shows the frames assembled into U-shapes. The box is folded to form the bottom and two long walls. The long walls are secured to pins A1 on the inner face of the frames. Short sides B1 are folded and held in place by pinning dedicated holes on the same pins A1. The dividers C1 are pinned similarly to the same pins. Central wall D1 has locking flaps on both sides which hold it in place by twisting their extremities.
Fig. 25 shows the frames cut and removed from both boxes. The boxes are temporarily held together by the locks of the central divider. The boxes may be tipped to free the chicks. The frames and carton may be discarded to recycling facilities.

Claims

Apparatus comprising:
a shipping assembly comprising sets of columns (A) and girders (B) connected together to form at least two frames (C), and an envelope (D) comprising a flat foldable material that is affixed to the frames (C), at least two fixing means (29) positioned at a predetermined distance in order to fix the envelope (D) to the at least two frames (C) so that the envelope (D) determines a distance between the said frames (C), characterised in that said at least two frames (C) are two separate frames and in that said columns (A) are lockable with said girders (B).
The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said columns (A) are hollow and each column (A) comprises a projection (1) insertable in a lower part of another hollow column.
The apparatus according to claim 2, comprising a stack of the frames (C) wherein the columns of a lower frame are inserted in the columns of an adjacent upper frame.
The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the envelopes (D) support an insignificant portion of a total load of items placed in the envelopes (D) as compared to the portion of the total load supported by the frames (C).
The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said envelope (D) comprises a lid (13) closable with a flap (16).
The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said girder (B) serves as a handle.
The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said frames (C) are not rectangular in shape.
The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said frames (C) are internally trapezoidal in shape.
The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said frames (C) are pyramidal in shape.
The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said envelope (D) comprises a pre-creased wrapper.