ES1295323U - STACKABLE AND BUILT-IN BOX FOR STORAGE AND TRANSPORTATION OF DELICATE FRUITS (Machine-translation by Google Translate, not legally binding) - Google Patents

Abstract

Stackable box (1) for storage and transport of delicate fruits, comprising a hollow (2) with a frustopyramidal load and a quadrangular upper structural edge (3) protruding laterally outwards, comprising the hollow (2) asymmetric projections (5, 6) interior perimeter; characterized in that the height of the sinus (2) is between 45 and 60 millimeters. (Machine-translation by Google Translate, not legally binding)

Description

DESCRIPTION

STACKABLE AND BUILT-IN BOX FOR STORAGE AND TRANSPORT OF

DELICATE FRUITS

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The present invention refers to a stackable box for storage and transport of delicate fruits, such as blueberries, but also any other fruit of reduced height and that does not support a great weight without being crushed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

At present, stackable boxes are known for the storage and transport of fruit that are made of plastic, and that comprise a frustopyramidal loading basin and a quadrangular upper structural edge that protrudes laterally towards the outside, the basin comprising internal perimeter asymmetric projections to determine a loaded stacking position, where the projections are located that do not coincide positionally with those of the upper box, so that the upper edges of said projections are supported on the outer face of the bottom of the loading sinus of the upper box, and another position of embedment where the projections of the boxes are in positional coincidence to be inserted in the load cavity of the upper box and reduce the height of the stacking with the empty boxes.

These boxes, however, have a considerable height to increase storage capacity, but this causes certain delicate fruits to be compacted and crushed by the weight of their own layers in height. For this reason, for the transport of this type of fruit, they must be filled a little, so their height leaves a lot of space between the product and the base of the tray that is placed on top of it when stacked, and the greater the empty space transported in a pallet or in a container, the higher the cost per kilo of product and the greater the impact on the carbon footprint, which makes them inefficient in transport.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The stackable box for storage and transport of delicate fruits of the invention that are made of plastic, and that comprise a truncated pyramidal loading basin and an edge quadrangular upper structural structure and protruding laterally towards the outside, the sinus comprising inner perimeter asymmetric projections to determine a stacking position under load, where the projections are located that do not coincide positionally with those of the upper box, so that the upper edges of said projections remain supported on the outer face of the bottom of the loading trough of the upper box, and another embedded position where the projections of the boxes are in positional coincidence to enter the loading trough of the upper box and reduce the stacking height with the empty boxes, where according to the invention, the height of the sinus is between 45 and 60 millimeters.

This achieves the advantage of avoiding crushing of the fruit due to excessive filling, but the following advantages have also been found:

• This design allows savings in transportation. When nested empty (by nesting), the number of boxes that can be transported inside a truck or container is 5 to 7 times greater than the standard boxes used in the market.

• This new design allows a reduction in the production of plastic for transporting blueberries in bulk since they are reusable.

• The impact on the carbon footprint is significantly reduced. Due to its high volume compaction ratio, 5 to 7 trucks or tray containers with product can return to their place of origin in a single truck instead of the 5 to 7 that are currently used in short sections (up to 1-2 transit days). It should be noted that, in long transit sections (one or more weeks), the current plastic boxes are discarded or recycled instead of being reused. For some origins and destinations (for example: from the Port of Paita in Peru to the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands) discarding the boxes and buying new ones is cheaper than returning them to origin.

• This embedding or nesting ratio of at least 5 to 1 significantly reduces the space needed in blueberry packing plants. Currently, during peak seasons and fruit processing, slower production bottlenecks are created at these facilities due to not having enough storage space for empty plastic crates. This design solves or significantly mitigates this problem. To give dimension to this complication, there are processing and packaging plants that receive hundreds of containers in the same week. This happens for at least 4-6 weeks during peak season. This requires packaging companies to size their facilities based on the maximum volume that empty boxes will occupy. Space that would be reduced with this new design.

• In this same sense, the necessary capacity is reduced, measured in the number of doors so that the empty boxes are loaded onto trucks and removed from the facilities. Today this also generates bottlenecks in the production process during peak weeks of the season. This new design mitigates or resolves this drawback.

• High compaction in the embedding.

• Being filled with fruit and stacked, they behave like a standard market tray.

• They support the load of the entire stack of trays (150kg total), ensuring structural stability from the upper tray to the lower one.

• They maintain good ventilation for a correct and rapid process of cooling, transport and storage.

• In general, the thicknesses and angles used allow the deep fit of the trays, with around 85% overlap.

• Through the very characteristic and unique shape, dimension, quantity and distribution of the supports, and bottom of the tray, the desired structural stability, ventilation and mechanical characteristics are achieved.

• They achieve great grip and handling ergonomics.

• Maximize load capacity.

• It allows its manufacture in high volume and speed, minimizing the complexity of the matrix and the necessary machine.

• They contain the product without affecting its condition (without damaging it).

• Its durability and robustness are ensured.

They can have width and length dimensions similar to those currently on the market: 50 centimeters x 30 centimeters and 60 centimeters x 40 centimeters or any other dimension.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figures 1 and 2 show respective top perspective views, from opposite points of view, of the box of the invention.

Figure 3 shows a plan view of the box of the invention.

Figure 4 shows a partial side view of the empty nesting of two boxes of the invention, for which their lateral projections are in positional coincidence.

Figure 5 shows a partial side view of the full stacking of two boxes of the invention, for which their lateral projections are not in positional coincidence.

DESCRIPTION OF A PRACTICAL EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

The stackable box (1) for storage and transport of delicate fruits of the invention is of the type that are made of plastic, and that comprise a frustopyramidal load-bearing sinus (2) and a quadrangular upper structural edge (3) protruding laterally. towards the outside, the sinus (2) comprising internal perimeter asymmetric projections (5, 6) to determine a loaded stacking position shown in fig. 5, with the projections not coinciding positionally so that the upper edges of the projections are supported on the outer face of the bottom of the load sinus (2), and another embedded position shown in fig. 4 with the matching projections to introduce the outer part of the upper box loading sinus (2) inside the inner box sinus and reduce the stacking height with the empty boxes; where according to the invention, the height of the basin (2) is between 45 and 60 millimeters.

Ideally, the height of the bowl (2) is preferred to be 51.1 millimeters, since the height that makes the maximum load capacity compatible without crushing the blueberry has been found.

Likewise, it is preferred that the height of the structural edge (3) be between 7 and 15 millimeters, since it is a minimum height to achieve the necessary rigidity for stacking the boxes, with the best results when the height of the edge (3 ) structural is 11 millimeters.

It is also preferred that the asymmetrical projections are arranged on the larger sides of the load trough as this provides greater stability and resistance.

Ideally, the asymmetric projections comprise four first frustoconical or truncated-pyramidal projections (5) arranged along a first larger side (31) of the sinus (3) and three second frustoconical or frustopyramidal projections (6) arranged along the second larger side. (32) of the sinus (3), displaced (that is, not facing each other) with respect to the position of the first projections (5) frustoconical or frustopyramidal.

In this preferred example, third frustoconical or truncated-pyramidal projections (7) have also been arranged on the smaller sides of the load cavity (2), in a symmetrical position, since it reinforces stability and does not interfere with the change of stacking positions and embedded.

It is also preferred that the load basin (2) comprises reinforcing ribs (20) on its bottom, with a height that coincides with the height of the structural edge (3) to support the bottom of the upper box during embedment.

For its part, the material has a thickness between one millimeter and two millimeters, which with the rest of the characteristics achieve adequate resistance.

The possible arrangement of some visual position marks (8) has also been foreseen, which allows differentiating between the stacking and nesting positions.

Additionally, the loading basin (2) may include some ventilation perforations (9).

It has also been envisaged that the load basin (2) may include in the bottom edges of the smaller sides some recesses (22) for grasping with the hand. Said grip recesses (22) comprise, at least in their inner upper part, a smaller volume than their outer lower part (so as not to interfere with the fitting).

Individualized automatic identification means can also be provided (RFID labels, graphic or numerical codes, etc.), not shown.

Having sufficiently described the nature of the invention, as well as the way of carrying it out in practice, it should be noted that the provisions indicated above and represented in the attached drawings are susceptible to detailed modifications as long as they do not alter the fundamental principle.

Claims (14)

1. -Stackable box (1) for storage and transport of delicate fruits, comprising a truncated-pyramidal load-bearing sinus (2) and a quadrangular upper structural edge (3) protruding laterally outwards, the sinus (2) comprising asymmetric projections (5, 6) interior perimeter; characterized in that the height of the sinus (2) is between 45 and 60 millimeters. 2. -Stackable box (1) for storage and transport of delicate fruits according to claim 1, where the height of the sine (2) is 51.1 millimeters. 3. -Stackable box (1) for storage and transport of delicate fruits according to claim 2, where the height of the structural edge (3) is between 7 and 15 millimeters. 4. -Stackable box (1) for storage and transport of delicate fruits according to the previous claim, where the height of the structural edge (3) is 11 millimeters. 5. -Stackable box (1) for storage and transport of delicate fruits according to any of the preceding claims, where the asymmetric projections are arranged on the larger sides of the load cavity. 6. -Stackable box (1) for storage and transport of delicate fruits according to claim 5, wherein the asymmetric projections comprise four first projections (5) frustoconical or frustopyramidal arranged along a first larger side (31) of the sinus (3) and three second truncated-conical or truncated-pyramidal projections (6) arranged along the second longest side (32) of the sinus (3), offset with respect to the position of the first frustoconical or truncated-pyramidal projections (5). 7. -Stackable box (1) for storage and transport of delicate fruits according to any of claims 5 or 6, which also comprises third projections (7) frustoconical or frustopyramidal arranged on the smaller sides of the loading sinus (2), in symmetric position. 8. -Stackable box (1) for storage and transport of delicate fruits according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the loading basin (2) comprises reinforcing ribs (20) at its bottom, with a height that coincides with the height of the edge (3) structural. 9. -Stackable box (1) for storage and transport of delicate fruits according to any of the preceding claims, where the material has a thickness between one millimeter and two millimeters. 10. -Stackable box (1) for storage and transport of delicate fruits according to any of the preceding claims, comprising visual marks (8) of stacking and nesting position. 11. -Stackable box (1) for storage and transport of delicate fruits according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the load compartment (2) comprises ventilation perforations (9). 12. -Stackable box (1) for storage and transport of delicate fruits according to any of the preceding claims, where the loading basin (2) comprises in the bottom edges of the smaller sides some recesses (22) for grasping with the hand . 13. -Stackable box (1) for storage and transport of delicate fruits according to claim 12, wherein the grip recesses (22) comprise, at least in its upper interior part, a volume smaller than its lower exterior part. 14.-Stackable box (1) for storage and transport of delicate fruits according to any of the preceding claims, which comprises individualized automatic identification means.