FR2884386A1 - Natural/artificial or fresh/dried cut flowers transporting and/or displaying roll type device for sale place, has racks, supporting flower pails, with housings cooperating with pails via connection that allows modifying inclination of pails - Google Patents

Abstract

The device has a chassis with casters, and support racks (2) surmounted on each other for supporting pails (3) that receive cut flowers (4), where the racks have housings for the pails. The housings cooperate with the pails through a connection permitting to modify the inclination of the pails with respect to the plane of the support racks. Each housing has a cavity arranged in the rack so that the pail is inserted top-down in the cavity until it is supported on the periphery of the cavity and/or the upper side of the rack.

Description

Display stand for cut flowers placed in a container, allowing

  present containers separately in transport situation and sales situation.

  The field of the invention is that of the transport and sale of cut flowers. More specifically, the invention relates to a device for transporting and presenting for sale cut flowers placed in containers such as buckets.

  Flower cut means any type of flower, whether fresh or dried, or whether natural or artificial.

  Currently cut flowers are transported from the producer to the place of sale in buckets on rollers designated by the term roll.

  Conventionally, these rolls are in the form of metal structures comprising four corner posts (possibly removable) carried by a platform with wheels, the amounts being provided to support, in an adjustable manner in height, shelves (usually horizontally) .

  The buckets containing the cut flowers are carried by the shelves, being placed on them or inserted into holes in the shelves.

  In particular to reduce transport costs, these rolls are generally intended to allow the transport of a given amount of flowers with the most compactness possible. Thus, the spacing between the shelves is adjusted (thanks to a rack system carried by the amounts to change the height position of the shelves) so as to correspond as little as to the height of the flowers extending to- above the shelf bearing the corresponding seals.

  However, as can be seen in Figure 1, a more or less important distance is generally kept untapped between the upper end of the flowers and the shelf above them.

  This distance is due in particular to the fact that the user retains a margin of maneuver to place the flowers on the shelf, or remove them, so as not to risk damaging the flowers in contact with the shelf directly to the above the flowers.

  In addition, the height-adjusting notches of the shelves on the uprights are predetermined with spacings such that the space between two shelves can not be perfectly adjusted to the point of reducing the distance d to almost zero.

  Of course, this results in a loss of space at the time of transport, which leads to use transport volumes larger than necessary.

  This disadvantage has repercussions on the cost of transport.

  Furthermore, rolls are currently exclusively designed for transport and are not suitable devices for the presentation of flowers for sale.

  Indeed, the flowers do not appear sufficiently in value on the shelf, being for the most part partially hidden by the shelves themselves.

  In addition, the rolls are quite unsuitable for the handling of flowers by the seller (or by the customer in case of self-service) insofar as the distance d which separates the end of the flowers from the shelf which the overhang is not large enough to take the flowers out of their container without hitting or rubbing on said shelf.

  At the very least, this manipulation can not be done with great ease.

  In practice, the rolls are used only for the period of transport of flowers from the producer to the place of sale, the flowers (and possibly their container) being then arranged on presentation means present at the point of sale.

  For example, display devices such as that described by JP-8205681 which discloses a tilting support for flowerpots and / or plants having a set of horizontal surfaces for loading the support are known. with pots whose bottom rests horizontally, and a set of housing to tilt the pots for a presentation for sale.

  This solution is this time exclusively dedicated to use on a point of sale.

  Indeed, the stack of media is not provided, which implies that such media are not suitable for a transport phase (during which it is sought to place, and in particular by stacking, a maximum of media in a determined volume).

  In addition, in the case of cut flowers placed in containers filled with water, the firm holding of containers is not provided, which can not be satisfactory to consider the transport of flowers. Indeed, a transport vehicle is subject to many shakes and / or vibrations that can drop the containers of their support when the holding of the containers by the supports is not satisfactory, which is the case with the supports described by this patent document.

  According to another transportation technique, the buckets are placed in cardboard boxes for transportation and then placed on point-of-sale display devices such as those described above.

  This results in a significant consumption of cartons, which leads to constraints in terms of management used cartons.

  The invention particularly aims to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.

  More specifically, the invention aims to provide a device 25 for supporting containers of flowers that are suitable both for the transport of flowers and their presentation for sale.

  The invention also aims to provide such a device that allows to consider significant gains in terms of storage space of flowers during transport and, therefore, in terms of the cost of transporting flowers.

  The invention also aims to provide such a device that is very simple and very practical to use in terms of handling at the point of sale.

  Another object of the invention is to provide such a device which is simple in design and easy to implement.

  Yet another object of the invention is to provide such a device which is inexpensive to produce.

  These objectives, as well as others which will appear later, are achieved thanks to the invention which has for a device for the transport and / or the presentation of cut flowers, comprising at least two superposed shelves, at least one of said shelves , said support shelf, being surmounted by another and being intended to support at least one container for receiving said flowers, characterized in that said one or more support shelves have at least one housing for said container or containers, said housing or said housing maintaining said container (s) in the transport position and cooperating with said container (s) by a connection allowing the inclination of said container (s) relative to the plane of said support shelf, said inclination being such as to facilitate the extraction of the flowers to from their container.

  In this way, we obtain a clearly appropriate device to meet a dual function: that of a device for transporting flowers and that of presentation device for the sale of flowers.

  The transport function is satisfactorily provided insofar as the containers are held in place, which prevents them from falling into the vehicle as a result of shaking or vibration.

  The sales display function is exercised to the extent that the flowers, because of the proper inclination of the containers, are directed towards the outside of the device (as opposed to the direction in which they are directed towards the shelf which overhangs them).

  This inclination ensures, on the one hand, a better visibility of the flowers and therefore a greater attractiveness vis-à-vis the buyer, and, on the other hand, allows easy handling of flowers by the seller (or by the customer).

  Indeed, it is easy to extract the flowers from their container, this without risk of damaging them in contact with the shelf that overlooks them.

  Moreover, as will become clearer later, it is possible, with the aid of a device according to the invention, to optimize the storage space of flowers during their transport.

  Indeed, the spacing between two shelves can be set to the fairest by minimizing the distance d mentioned with reference to Figure 1. In other words, we can bring closer to the shelf that overlooks the flowers compared to at the upper end of the latter without suffering the disadvantages mentioned with reference to the roll, this being due to the fact that the inclination of the containers is permitted.

  It is therefore understood that this inclination allows a release position in which the flowers are extracted directly in a non-vertical direction, or at least not directed towards the shelf overlooking the flowers.

  According to an advantageous solution, said housing comprises a recess provided in said support shelf and provided so that the container can be inserted into said recess from top to bottom until bearing on the periphery of said recess and / or on the upper face of said shelf support.

  A simple and effective solution is obtained for maintaining the containers during the transport phase, the weight of the containers added to that of the flowers and possibly that of the water present in the containers helping to prevent any untimely extraction of the containers from of their accommodation.

  In addition, such a solution can be made inexpensively, for example by cutting the recesses in the shelves made for example by wooden planks.

  According to a first approach, said connection is provided by a rim of the container cooperating with said housing.

  A device of great simplicity is thus obtained, the function of modifying the inclination of the containers being permitted by the structure of the containers themselves.

  In this case, said container or containers have an axial dissymmetry so that rotation of said container or containers on itself or on themselves allows to change the inclination of said container or containers relative to said support shelf.

  Such containers are very simple and very practical to use. It is sufficient to simply rotate the container on its support to move it from a transport position to a presentation position for sale.

  According to a second approach, said connection is made via at least one element interposed between said support shelf and said container or containers.

  Such an approach makes it possible to obtain the advantages of the invention while preserving the existing traditional containers, which are usually buckets that are quite conventional, that is to say substantially cylindrical or frustoconical.

  In this case, according to a first embodiment, said element comprises at least one ring whose periphery has a scalable thickness for modifying the inclination as a function of the position of said ring around said recess.

  Such a solution is also very simple design and practical use.

  The change of inclination is again obtained by a simple rotation, this time of the ring relative to the support.

  According to a preferred solution, said connection is obtained by means of two complementary rings having a progressive thickness and capable of occupying at least two positions relative to each other: a position in which they carry said container or containers in a manner not inclined with respect to said support shelf; a position according to which they carry said container or containers in an inclined manner with respect to said support shelf.

  It is thus possible to obtain a substantial inclination of the containers without requiring a large thickness of the two rings together and placed in the transport position.

  Advantageously, said rings are made so as to slide on one another so that the modification of their relative positions can be obtained by the rotation of one ring on the other.

  The user can thus rotate the rings relative to each other without having to partially disengage the container from the support. It is understood that despite the load exerted on the rings due to the weight of the container and its contents, the rings can easily slide on one another.

  According to a second embodiment of the second approach of the invention, said intercalated element has a curved periphery intended to form a ball joint with the periphery of said recess.

  Such a solution contributes to another degree to the great practicality of use of the device according to the invention. Indeed, it is sufficient to change the orientation of the axis of the curved element to change the inclination of the container, for example by exerting a horizontal thrust on the latter.

  According to a preferred solution, said shelf or shelves occupy a position inclined relative to the horizontal.

  The shelves thus occupy a predetermined position that optimizes the position of the containers during the presentation for sale.

  According to an advantageous solution, the device comprises means for adjusting the spacing between said shelves.

  The device according to the invention can thus be adopted at different flower heights and therefore be used in a variety of ways.

  Preferably, said shelves are each provided to receive a single row of containers.

  Other features and advantages of the invention will emerge more clearly on reading the following description of three preferred embodiments of the invention, given by way of illustrative and non-limiting examples, and the appended drawings in which: Figure 1 is a schematic view of a container support device for cut flowers according to the prior art; Figure 2 is an overall view of a support device for containers for cut flowers according to the invention; Figures 3a and 3b are two partial views of a first embodiment of the invention, respectively in the transport position and in the presentation position for sale; Figures 4a and 4b are two other views of the embodiment illustrated in Figure 3, respectively in the transport position and in the presentation position for sale; FIGS. 5a and 5b are two views of a second embodiment of the invention, respectively in the transport position and in the presentation position for sale; Figures 6a and 6b are two views of a third embodiment of the invention, respectively in the transport position and in the presentation position for sale.

  With reference to FIG. 2, the invention applies for example to a device of the roll type, comprising a chassis with wheels comprising uprights 1 supporting shelves 2 intended to receive containers 3 (in this case buckets) in which are cut flowers 4.

  As mentioned above, the principle of the invention lies in the fact that at least one of the shelves supporting the containers has housings for maintaining the buckets (in particular for a transport phase), these housings cooperating with the containers by a link to modify the inclination of the containers to facilitate the removal of flowers from containers (especially in a presentation phase for sale).

  As can be seen in FIG. 2, these housings 2 consist of recesses 21 made in the shelves 2 in which the buckets 3 are introduced from top to bottom, the containers having a shape such that they bear on the periphery recesses 21 (or on that of intercalated elements according to some embodiments described below).

  This support can be obtained simply because of the flared shape of the buckets or with a rim or collar provided for this purpose.

  It is noted that the shelves are preferably designed to receive only one row of buckets.

  It is also noted that the uprights carry adjustment means (not shown) for the height position of the shelves, these adjustment means being able to be constituted by any suitable means known to those skilled in the art.

  According to a first embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 3a and 3b, the buckets 3 are designed to cooperate directly with the corresponding support shelf 2 15 to allow the modification of their inclination.

  According to this embodiment, the buckets 3 have an axial dissymmetry in that they have a bottom 31 and an opening 32 forming in non-parallel planes.

  As illustrated, the X axis of the buckets 3 is perpendicular to the bottom 31 while the opening 32 fits in a plane forming (in the view of Figure 3a) an angle α with the X axis. note that this angle has preferably corresponds to the angle formed by the shelf 2 with the horizontal.

  In addition, the buckets 3 have an upper rim 33 (which can be shifted more or less towards the bottom of the bucket according to other conceivable embodiments) intended to form a bearing surface with the shelf 2.

  According to the structure just described, it is sufficient to rotate the bucket 3 on itself (as symbolized by the arrow shown in Figure 3b) to change the inclination of the bucket.

  In the case illustrated by FIGS. 3a and 3b, the buckets 3 can thus be passed from a position in which their axis X is substantially vertical at a position in which this axis X forms an angle of 2 to the vertical.

  Figures 4a and 4b provide another illustration of this embodiment.

  In the case of Figure 4a, the X axis of the buckets 3 is substantially vertical, which preferably corresponds to a transport position buckets containing cut flowers.

  It will be noted that, thanks to a device according to the invention, it is possible to place the buckets 3 relative to one another so that the distance d is considerably reduced compared to the prior art, making it possible to optimize the storage space of the flowers.

  This is therefore possible because of the possible inclination of the buckets which can occupy a presentation for sale such as that illustrated in Figure 4b, the latter showing the buckets 3 in a position according to which their X axis is significantly inclined by vertical ratio.

  The flowers 2 are thus directed towards the outside of the support device, which facilitates their removal from the water 3 without being bothered by the shelf which overhangs them.

  FIGS. 5a and 5b illustrate a second embodiment of the invention according to which the connection between the housing made in the shelf 2 and the bucket is obtained via an intercalated element 5.

  According to the present embodiment, this intercalated element consists of two rings 51, 52 of evolutionary thickness on their circumference and complementary shapes.

  The operation of such an intercalated element is as follows.

  Either the rings 51 and 52 are positioned one on the other so as to form together a substantially constant thickness ring, in which case the X axis of the bucket 3 is substantially perpendicular to the shelf 2 (Figure 5a), which corresponds to a transport position.

  Either the rings 51 and 52 are positioned one on the other so as to form together a ring of evolutionary thickness, in which case the axis X of the bucket 3 is inclined with respect to the shelf 2 (FIG. 5b), which corresponds to a presentation position for sale.

  The passage from one position to another is obtained by simple rotation on itself of a ring 51, 52.

  To do this, the rings 51, 52 have between them a preferably smooth contact surface and are advantageously made of a material having a coefficient of friction chosen to facilitate the sliding of the rings 51, 52 one on the other.

  It will be noted that the angle formed by the X axis of the buckets in a display position (FIG. 5b) can be adapted as much as is necessary simply by modifying the shape of the rings 51, 52.

  Note also that, in the case where the shelf 2 occupies an inclined position, a single ring of scalable thickness is necessary to move the buckets from a position such as that illustrated in Figure 4a to a position as illustrated in Figure 4b.

  According to a third embodiment illustrated by FIGS. 6a and 6b, the connection making it possible to modify the inclination of the buckets 3 with respect to the shelf is ensured by an interposed element 6 having a rounded periphery 61.

  Such a curved periphery 61 forms a ball joint with the periphery of the recess made in the shelf and allows the passage of a transport position (Figure 6a) to a position of presentation for sale (Figure 6b).

  Again, it is noted that this embodiment can also be applied to the case where the shelf occupies a position inclined relative to the horizontal.

Claims (1)

12 CLAIMS   1. Device for transporting and / or: the presentation of cut flowers (4), comprising at least two superposed shelves, at least one of said shelves, said shelf support (2), being surmounted by another and being intended to support at least one container (3) for receiving said flowers, characterized in that said one or more support shelves (2) have at least one housing for said one or more containers (3), said one or more housing ensuring the maintenance of said container or containers ( 3) in the transport position and cooperating with said container or containers (3) by a connection allowing the inclination of said container or containers (3) relative to the plane of said support shelf (2), said inclination being such as to facilitate the extracting the flowers (4) from their container (3).   2. Device for the transport and / or presentation of flowers according to claim 1, characterized in that said housing comprises a recess (21) formed in said support shelf (2) and provided so that the container (3) can be inserted in said recess from top to bottom to bear on the periphery of said recess (21) and / or on the upper face of said support shelf (2).   3. Device for the transport and / or presentation of flowers according to one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that said connection is provided by a flange (33) of the container cooperating with said housing.   4. Device for the transport and / or presentation of flowers according to claim 3 characterized in that said container or containers (3) have an axial dissymmetry so that a rotation of said container (s) (3) on itself or on themselves allows to change the inclination of said container or containers (3) relative to said support shelf (2).   5. Device for the transport and / or presentation of flowers according to any one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that said connection is made through at least one intercalated element (5), (6) between said support shelf (2) and said at least one container (3).   6. Device for the transport and / or presentation of flowers according to claim 5 characterized in that said element (5) comprises at least one ring whose periphery has a scalable thickness to change the inclination according to the position of said ring around said recess.   7. Device for the transport and / or presentation of flowers according to any one of claims 5 and 6, characterized in that said connection is obtained by means of two rings (51), (52) complementary having a thickness evolutive and capable of occupying at least two positions relative to each other: a position in which they carry said container or containers (3) in a manner not inclined with respect to said support shelf (2); a position in which they carry said container or containers (3) in an inclined manner with respect to said support shelf (2).   8. Apparatus for the transport and / or presentation of flowers according to claim 7, characterized in that said rings (51), (52) are made so as to slide on one another so that the modification their relative positions can be obtained by rotating one ring on the other.   9. Device for the transport and / or presentation of flowers according to claim 5, characterized in that said interposed element (6) has a curved periphery (61) intended to form a ball joint with the periphery of said recess (21).   10. Device for the transport and / or presentation of flowers according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that said shelf or shelves occupy a position inclined relative to the horizontal.   11. Apparatus for the transport and / or presentation of flowers according to any one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that it comprises means for adjusting the spacing between said shelves.   12. Device for the transport and / or presentation of flowers according to any one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that said shelves are each provided to receive a single row of containers.