EP3468892B1

EP3468892B1 - Packing for cleaning tools

Info

Publication number: EP3468892B1
Application number: EP17746180.3A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Andrea Dondi; Roberto Dondi
Original assignee: NUOVA F LLI DONDI Srl
Current assignee: NUOVA F LLI DONDI Srl
Priority date: 2016-06-13
Filing date: 2017-06-13
Publication date: 2021-04-14
Anticipated expiration: 2037-06-13
Also published as: WO2017216712A1; CN109562881A; ITUA20164305A1; EP3468892A1; CN109562881B; ES2879699T3; PL3468892T3

Description

Field of application

The invention relates to a packing for cleaning tools that is generally usable to contain and transport in a protected manner one or more cleaning tools stacked on pallets of a standardized measure, optimizing the space occupied.

State of the art

It is known that in order to ship a quantity of objects in general, and in the specific case cleaning tools such as broom bases, brushes and the like for industrial use and/or road use, so-called "pallets" are typically used, i.e. wood bases that have standard dimensions predetermined by convention, onto which the packings that contain the cleaning tools inside are disposed in a prearranged manner to form a stack that is then wrapped by a containing strap.
Cleaning tools are typically inserted into a transport packing made of cardboard, usually in the form of a parallelepiped box, also in this case disposed according to a predetermined order so as to contain the greatest possible number thereof.
It shall be specified that hereinafter the definition "cleaning tools" indicates, by way of example, broom bases provided with bristles, but without sticks, brushes of various shapes, such as for instance cup brushes or cylindrical brushes, and all those tools that are provided with flexible bristles designed to clean surfaces.
Typically, as is known, broom bases, particularly those for industrial use and/or road use, comprise a support body having a flat and elongate shape, the function of which is to support the bristles that protrude from a face thereof that is considered lower.
On an opposite face, that is the upper with respect to the one from which the bristles extend and parallel thereto, the support body is provided with a standard connector, which is typically raised, to allow to attach the handling stick to the base.
Similarly, cylindrical brushes comprise a central body, which is also cylindrical, on which the ends of bundles of flexible bristles, extending in an outer-radial direction, are planted according to a predetermined arrangement.
Cup brushes, on the other hand, comprise a circular, flat base having a face on which the ends of the bundles of bristles are planted and an opposite face provided with connection elements to a sweeping machine.
The bristles of the cup brushes are planted in the face in such a manner that they are inclined and divergent outwards.
The shape and the dimensions of the packings of these cleaning tools in general, considering the standardized dimensions of Euro-pallets or of boxes, are, therefore, of great importance to optimize the spaces occupied in forming the stack or the transport package, so that the greatest possible number of packings, and hence of cleaning tools, are loaded onto each pallet, yet causing the overall dimensions of the stack formed to remain within the outer dimensions of the pallet.
From DE 4417706 a casing with a brush for a cleaning device is known. In detail, the cleaning device maybe a motor-driven carpet-brush, where the brush has a radial clear space or a radial projection.
To provide an optimal way to replace a brush, the disclosure of DE4417706 proposes that the casing have a tubular containement space for the brush, that in the containment space there is a radially inwardly projecting locking means to engage in the clear space or cooperate with the projection, that the locking means can be overrun only in one direction and that the containment space is open or can be opened at its two ends .
Currently, known packings used to contain cleaning tools do not have any effective measure for holding each cleaning tool firm on their inside during transportation, and this represents a drawback of the known state of the art.
In fact, cleaning tools move during the handling of packings that contain them, and this causes the bending of the bristles that lean against the packing walls.
These bendings remain permanent in many cases, and cleaning tools appear damaged even if they are new.
In other words, the self-weight of each cleaning tool weighs on the mass of bristles when the latter lean against the walls of the packings, forcing them in this position for long periods of time and causing deformations of the bristles that may become permanent.
Another problem of the known prior art consists in the fact that some known packings, above all those shaped like a box, are substantially expensive and, since they are made of a material intended to be disposable, the selling prices of each cleaning tool must comprise also an amount that covers the cost of packings, which, at the end of the production and marketing chain, must be paid by the buyer.
Some types of less expensive packings, on the other hand, typically those intended to contain broom bases without sticks, have protective surfaces with only limited dimensions and, above all, their conformation does not allow to contain in some way also the connectors for the sticks that are made in a raised form with respect to the bases and that, hence, remain protruding from the packing.
This prevents an optimum arrangement between adjacent packings, for instance placing the two connectors for the sticks in an upside-down position one with respect to the other, on the pallets or in the boxes.
In fact, this arrangement generates empty, unusable interspaces in a stack, causing the creation of stacks formed with a limited number of packings that can be loaded or inserted into each box.

Presentation of the invention

An object of the invention is to improve the known state of the art.
Another object of the invention is to provide a packing for cleaning tools that allows to keep intact the bristles they are equipped with, holding them fixedly firm during the transportation towards the marketing destinations.
Another object of the invention is to achieve a packing for cleaning tools that allows to optimize spaces in the formation of stacks on a pallet.
A further object of the invention is to achieve a packing for cleaning tools that has a very simple and, hence, very economical structure.
A further object of the invention is to achieve a packing for cleaning tools that can be re-used at least partly for the accommodation of the cleaning tools after their use.
According to an aspect of the invention a packing for broom bases is provided, in accordance with the features of claim 1.
Further aspects of the invention are indicated in the dependent claims.
The invention allows to achieve the following advantages:

protecting the integrity of the bristles during transportation and handling of the packings on the pallets, avoiding undesired deformations thereof;
optimizing spaces in the formation of stacks to be loaded on transport pallets or inside containers, limiting the presence of empty interspaces;
re-using the packing at least partly both to accommodate the cleaning tools, and to make new packings, reducing the waste of disposable material.

Brief description of the drawings

Further features and advantages of the invention will be clearer from the detailed description of a preferred, but not exclusive, form of embodiment of a packing for broom bases, illustrated by way of a non-limiting example in the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective, small-scale view of a couple of packings for broom bases, according to the invention, in a phase of mutual approach;
FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of the two packings for broom bases of Figure 1 in an approached configuration;
FIG. 3 is a broken view of an upper portion of a stack of packings of broom bases according to the invention;
FIGG. 4, 5, 6 are schematic front views of three possible forms of embodiment of a packing for broom bases according to the invention;
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a possible form of embodiment of a support element of a broom base in the respective packing;
FIG. 8 is a schematic side view of a form of re-use of the support of Figure 7; FIG. 9 is a schematic, enlarged and partly exploded view of a form of coupling between a broom base and the support element of Figure 7;
FIG. 10 is a broken, perspective view of a transport pallet onto which a stack of packings containing broom bases is loaded,
FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the packing according to the invention, in an open configuration before receiving a broom base;
FIG. 12 is a broken, enlarged-scale view of a cross section of Figure 11, but in a closed configuration, taken along a plane XII-XII;
FIG. 13 is a small-scale, perspective view of the packing according to the invention, in a further possible form of embodiment;

Detailed description of a preferred example of embodiment

With reference to Figure 9, 1 indicates a cleaning tool, in this specific case a broom base without stick, which comprises a body 2 having a flat and elongate shape, which has a longitudinal axis "X" and two parallel and opposing faces, namely a lower face 2a that is provided with a group of bristles 3 (not illustrated) and an opposite upper face 2b from which a connector 4 for a handling stick "M" rises, respectively.
The body 2 has a reinforcement portion 5 that connects it to the connector 4 without interruptions and in which transverse through openings 6 are made, the function of which will be explained further below.
With reference to Figures 1, 11 and 12 it is noticed that a packing for broom bases 1 is indicated with 10.
The packing 10 has a cross section that has the shape of an isosceles trapezoid and that forms a solid, which is open at the two ends and has a first face 11 considered the base face, hereinafter simply referred to as the base 11, and an opposite second face 12 considered the upper one, hereinafter briefly referred to as the upper face 12.
The base 11 and the upper face 12 are joined together by two flanks 13 and 14, which form the oblique sides of the solid and of the trapezoid cross section.
In the upper face 12 two symmetrical openings 15 are made between which a central zone 12a is defined that is shaped so as to achieve an openable closure, indicated as a whole with 16.
In detail, the closure 16 comprises a first lip 17 that projects from one of the flanks, in the specific case from the flank 14, which, in the proximity of the conjunction with the latter, has a longitudinal notch 18.
A corresponding flap 19, which extends in a foldable manner from a second lip 20, which, in turn, projects in an overhanging manner from the opposing flank 13, is designed to fit into the notch 18: when the flap 19 fits into the notch 18, the packing 1 is closed, while when it is extracted the packing 1 is opened again.
As can be seen in detail in Figure 11, but also in Figures 4, 5, 6, in the two flanks 13 and 14 two or more notches or holes 13a and 14a, 13b and 14b are made, coaxial two by two, more precisely in the proximity of two opposing sides of the flanks.
Blocking means of the bases 1 are designed to be inserted into these notches or holes 13a and 14a, 13b and 14b when the bases are inserted inside the packing 10 for their transportation
Blocking means to block specifically the broom bases have in common the features of passing transversely through one of the walls of the packing and of being positioned in one version, below the body 2, In a first form of embodiment visible in the Figures 6 and 9, the blocking means
MB1 comprise two plates 21 and 22 that are provided on internal opposite faces 21a and 22a with pins 23 and 24 that protrude from them and that, as previously said, are designed to be inserted immediately under the body 2, inserted among the group of bristles 3, in a slightly distanced position from the lower face 2a.
The two plates 21 and 22 have also respective extensions 25 and 26 that stretch forward one towards the other and that have female and male profiles, respectively, that are shaped in a manner such that they mutually penetrate into each other when the two plates 21 and 22 are applied on the flanks 13 and 14 of the packing 10 and the two pins 23 and 24 are inserted, as a consequence, into the respective holes 13a and 14a, as can be seen schematically in Figure 6.
The two extensions 25 and 26 are designed, in the configuration of interpenetration into one another, to pass through the through openings 6 of the reinforcement portion 5, when the two plates 21 and 22 are applied on the packing 10, as can be seen in detail in the Figures 7 and 9, acting as an attachment support for the body 2 when the packing 10 encloses the broom base 1.
In the Figures 4 and 5 further possible forms of embodiment of the blocking means of the broom base 1 in the packing 10 are illustrated.
In detail, with reference to Figure 4, it is noticed that the blocking means MB2 are executed in the form of two pins 27 that are inserted transversely between the two flanks 13 and 14, for instance in the couples of holes 13a and 14a, 13b and 14b passing through the mass of bristles 3.
Each pin 27 is immediately below the lower face 2a of the body 2, in a manner such that the two pins 27 keep the body in contact with the first lip 17 and with the second 20, which form the closure 16.
Similarly, with reference to Figure 5, in the blocking means the pins 27 were replaced by a further couple of buttons that can be applied on the flanks 13 and 14 and that have respective segments of pins 28 and 29 that are inserted into the holes 13a and 14a, 13b and 14b, oriented the ones towards the others, acting also in this case as a support for the body 2, keeping it substantially in contact with the closure 16.
With reference to Figure 8, a possible form of re-use of one of the plates 21 or 22, in this specific case the plate 21, can be observed, which, after the packing 10 has been removed from the broom base 1, can be fixed to a wall 30, so that it can be used as a support, both to hang the stick "M" of a complete broom on the pin 23, and as a possible clothes-hanger with the extension 25.
With reference to Figures 1 and 2, the system of stacking two broom bases 1 provided with their respective packings 10 is noticed.
In detail, the two broom bases 1 and the respective packings 10 that contain them are placed upside-down one with respect to the other and each reinforcement portion 5 of a broom base 1 that protrudes from the upper face 2b of the latter is received inside the opening 15 of the opposite packing, so that between two adjacent packings 10 there are no interfering elements that can distance them from one another.
With reference to Figure 3, it can be noticed how a layer of packings 10 which contain broom bases 1 is achieved, to form a stack that is visible in Figure 10, already loaded on a pallet 30 and with each layer wrapped by containing straps 31.
With reference to Figure 13, it can be noticed that the packing 10 has a series of holes or notches 13a, 13b, 14a, 14b that are made repetitively in a row in the flanks 13 and 14, in a manner such that the plates 21 and 22 can be positioned in a suitable manner with respect both to the dimensions of the broom bases, and to the arrangement of the through openings 6.
In practice, it has been ascertained that the invention achieves the objectives that it set itself.
The invention as it was conceived is susceptible to modifications and variants, all of them falling within the scope of the appended claims.
Further to that, all the details can be replaced by other elements that are technically equivalent.
In the practical execution, the materials used as well as the forms and dimensions can be any, according to the requirements, without for this departing from the scope of protection of the following claims.

Claims

A packing for cleaning tools (1) having a support (2) and a plurality of bristles (3) fixed to the support (2), the packing comprising:
- A box-like shaped body (10) defining an internal containing space (101) of at least one cleaning tool (1) and having a longitudinal axis (X) said box-like shaped body being (10) bounded by four peripheral walls parallel with said longitudinal axis (X) and defining four concave corners;

- said box-like shaped body comprising removable blocking means (22) of said support (2) in said space (101) said box-like shaped body (10) having a cross section having the shape of an isosceles trapezoid, open at the two ends and having a base face (11) and an upper face (12) joined together by two oblique side walls (13, 14), characterised in that said blocking means comprise at least one blocking element (21, 22) associated with said box-like shaped body (10) and to be engaged with said support (2) so as to fix said support in a packing position with respect of said space (101), said at least one blocking element comprising at least a member transversal with respect of said longitudinal axis (X) and fitted in said containing space (101) said member being selected among a single pin (27) transversally passing through at least one of said side walls, a couple of converging pins (23, 24; 28, 29) which protrude in said space (101) each transversally from a respective side wall (13, 14), a protruding tooth in said space (101) and protruding from at least one of side walls facing said support, engaged in/with said support.
The packing as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of said side walls has a couple of openings (15) bilaterally obtained with respect of an its central zone (12a).
The packing as claimed in claim 1, wherein said openings (15) are symmetrically obtained with respect of said central zone (12a).
The packing as claimed in claim 1, wherein said side walls are obtained in one piece from a matrix-body and are folded according with preselected folding lines to form said four concave corners.
The packing as claimed in claim 1, wherein between said openings (15) of said couple of openings opening/closing means (16) of said containing space (101) are provided for.