GB2158413A - Potted plant pallet - Google Patents

Abstract

A pallet (10) for the transportation, growing, storage and display of potted plants has a plurality of recesses (12, 16) that hold the plants and a plurality of legs (18) whereby the pallets may be stacked on top of each other. At the bottom of each recess is a drainage hole (14) so plants may be watered. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Potted plant pallet This invention relates to pallets used for growing, transporting, storing, stacking and displaying potted plants.

The transportation and growing of potted plants requires an inordinate amount of manual labor. Each pot must be individually loaded onto a truck. Then each pot must be carefully positioned inside the truck to keep the pot from being jostled about as the truck travels to its destination. When the truck arrives, each pot must be individually removed from the truck and stored. During this process, each pot may be separately handled as many as seven times.

In addition to the disadvantage of manual labor, this method of transporting plants also requires a large amount of floor space in the truck since the plants cannot be stacked one on top of the other. It sometimes is possible to stack a second layer of potted plants on top of the pots of the first layer, leaving gaps between the potted plants of the second layer to avoid crushing the plants in the first layer.

However, if the stacked potted plants of the second layer shift even slightly during transportion, the plants on the layer beneath may be damaged. Furthermore, this method of stacking should be limited to not more than two layers of potted plants.

There are some trucks that have built-in shelves that may be used for transporting plants so that several layers of plants may be transported. The plants must still be individually placed upon the shelves when they are loaded and individually removed from the shelves when the plants arrive at their destination. Furthermore, this shelf arrangement requires that the truck be modified for the shelves.

Once the potted plants arrive at their destination, it would be desirable to stack the plants in layers to minimize the amount of floor space required for storage of the plants.

Otherwise, a large amount of floor space is required to store the plants. Although permanent fixtures such as shelves may be used, garden stores may not wish to have permanent fixtures occupying floor space.

Whenever the plants are placed in storage for longer than a few hours, the plants should be placed in an environment conducive to growth or else the plants may die. Not only must the potted plants receive adequate light, but they must have adequate drainage. Many pots for plants have a drainage hole at the bottom of the pot. If water cannot drain through the bottom of the pot because the drainage hole of the pot is blocked by a shelf or the ground, the plants' roots may rot.

Therefore it is an object of this invention to provide means for transporting plants that requires less labor. It is a further object to provide such transportation means that safeguard the plants from damage during transportation. It is an additional objective to minimize the amount of floor space in the transportation means for a maximum number of potted plants. Finally, it is a further object to allow the plants to grow while they are housed in the transportation means.

The present invention relates to a special light-weight pallet used for growing and transporting potted plants and overcomes the aforementioned shortcomings of the prior art.

This is accomplished by having a pallet with a rectangular, flat top section defining several recesses, wherein each recess is configured to contain a pot. Pots are inserted into the recesses and each recess has a plurality of protrusions for securely holding the pot in place once it is inserted. Once each pot has been inserted into one of these recesses, all of the pots may be moved at once by simply lifting the pallet.

To minimize the floor space used during the transportation of the plants, each plant pallet has several depending legs about its perimeter such that the pallets can be stacked one on top of the other. The legs of the top pallet rest on the border around the top section of the pallet underneath it. If desired, the plant pallet can be designed so as to have legs depending from the center of the top section for additional support. The top section is raised slightly from this border so that the edge between the border and the top section abuts against the legs of the pallet on top and keeps the pallet on top from sliding off during transportion.

The pallets may also be used for growing and temporary storage of plants. There are large gaps between the legs of the pallets so that sunlight will reach all of the plants sitting in a pallet even if the pallet is at the bottom of a stack of pallets. At the bottom of each of the recesses, there is a hole that allows any excess water poured on the plant to drain out from the hole at the bottom of the pot.

The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of this invention both as to its organization and method of operation, together with the further objectives and advantages thereof, will be better understood from the following description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings which the present preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated by way of sample.

It is expressly understood, however, that the drawings and the description of the preferred embodiment are for the purpose of illustration and description only, and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of the pallet of the present invention showing some plants contained therein.

Figure 2 is a partial top plan view of the pallet shown in Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a front plan view of two pallets with one pallet stacked on top of the other.

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a pallet 10 of the present invention having a generally rectangular configuration with a generally flat top section 1 3 defining a array of larger recesses 1 2 and smaller recesses 1 6. A plurality of depending legs 1 8 are integrally forced with the top section 1 3. The pallet 10 is preferrably made of a polystyrene plastic foam, or any other light weight material.

Large potted plants 11 are inserted into the larger recesses 12. Interspersed between the larger recesses 12 are smaller recesses 16.

The larger recesses 1 2 are preferrably molded to the size of a larger pot while the smaller recesses 1 6 are preferrably molded for holding potted seedlings. Up to sixty-four larger recesses 12 for five inch diameter pots or up to one hundred larger recesses 1 2 for four inch diameter pots up to thirty-six large recesses 1 2 for six and a half inch diameter pots are preferrably included in a pallet that is approximately two feet wide by four feet long.

All of the recesses (12 and 16) are further defined by a bottom surface 1 7 and an enclosing vertical wall 1 5. The bottom surface 17 of each recess (12 and 16) also defines a drainage hole 14. It should be understood that other configurations are also within the scope of this invention. For example, two pallets can be joined together, and up to thirty-six large recesses 12 for six and one-half diameter pots can be placed in each pallet.

To ensure that the potted plants do not shift while the pallet is being moved, means for securing the pots are included adjacent each larger recess 1 2. Referring now to Fig. 2, each potted plant 11 is held firmly in place by protrusions 25 located on the vertical walls 1 5. More specifically, as the potted plant is inserted into a larger recess 12, it compresses the material of the protrusion 25 such the pot is held tightly in place.

The legs 1 8 are integrally formd to the underside of the pallet 10, so that the pallets may be stacked one on top of the other as shown in Fig. 3. If the pallet 10 is made from light weight material such as a polystyrene foam, the pallets 10 are strong enough so that five to eight loaded pallets 10 may be stacked on top of each other.

In order to ensure that a pallet 10 does not slide off any pallet 10 beneath it, each pallet has a border 28 around the perimeter of the top section 1 3. The top section 1 3 is raised above the border 28, forming an alignment edge 26. When a pallet is stacked on top, the legs 1 8 rest on the border 28 and abut against the edge 26, preventing the top pallet 1 Oa from sliding off the bottom pallet 1 Ob.

In addition to being able to stack the pallets 10 while the plants are being transported, the pallets 10 may be used for storing the plants for a few days even if the pallets 10 are stacked on top of each other. More specifically, the legs 18 are designed to allow sunlight to pass through as shown in Fig. 3 such that the plants on the bottom pallet 1 Ob will receive enough sunlight to stay healthy. The legs also have curved corners giving an aestheticly pleasing appearance so that pallets 10 may be used for both storing and displaying the plants at a store. Because both the larger and smaller recesses (12 and 16) have drainage holes 14, the potted plants may be watered while housed in the pallets 10, and any excess water will drain out through the bottom of the pot and through the drainage hole 14.Without this hole, excessive water could accumulate in the bottom of the pot and could cause the roots to rot.

In addition to storing and displaying the plants 11, the pallets 10 greatly reduce the number of times that each plant must be individually handled during growing and transporation. Each potted plant 11 is inserted in its recess and then all of the plants may be loaded onto the truck together. At the destination, the pallet 10 is removed from the truck and each plant is removed from the pallet.

Thus each plant is individually handled only twice instead of the seven times required without the pallets.

Thus, the pallets 10 of the present invention greatly reduce the number of times each pot must be individually handled. Once the pots are loaded onto the pallet, they may all be loaded and unloaded together. The potted plants 11 are securely held in place by the protrusions 25. The pallet 10 design also allows for stacking more than two layers of plants. Plants may be temporarily stored in the pallet and will receive sufficient sunlight and may be watered.

Claims (7)

1. A pallet for holding a plurality of potted plants, said pallet comprising: a substantially flat top section defining an array of recesses therein, each recess further defined by a bottom surface and a vertical wall, such that each recess may hold one potted plant; plant retaining means adjacent each said recess for securing the pot in the recess; and a plurality of depending legs integrally formed with the top section whereby the pallet may be stacked on top of another pallet of a similar design.

2. A pallet as defined in claim 1, wherein each bottom surface defines a drainage hole such that when the plants are watered, water may drain out through the hole.

3. A pallet as defined in claim 2, wherein the plant retaining means are protrusions adjacent to the vertical walls such that the protrusions are compressed as the pot is inserted into the recess.

4. A pallet as defined in claim 3, further including a border integrally formed about the perimeter of the top section, wherein the top section is raised above the border forming an alignment edge between the border and the top section, whereby a pallet of similar design may not easily slip off said pallet if stacked.

5. A pallet as defined in claim 4, wherein the pallet is made of a polystyrene plastic foam.

6. A pallet as defined in claim 1 integrally joined to a second substantially identical pallet.

7. A pallet for holding a plurality of potted plants constructed and arranged substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the drawings.