GB2281018A

GB2281018A - Seed tray

Info

Publication number: GB2281018A
Application number: GB9311109A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Christopher Partington Hayley
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1993-05-28
Filing date: 1993-05-28
Publication date: 1995-02-22
Also published as: GB9311109D0

Abstract

A seed tray vacuum formed of plastics sheet material and having at least four wells 10 defined by opposing side walls 11, 12 and one or more first partitions 13 extending therebetween and by opposing end walls 14, 15 and one or more second partitions 16 extending therebetween; the first and second partitions 13, 16 are of inverted trough shaped configuration and are arranged substantially perpendicular to each other so as to intersect each other. To improve strength and rigidity the top surfaces of the respective partitions have upraised elongate land 20 provided at each location where the first and second partitions intersect each other, each said land extending longitudinally in alignment with either the first or the second partition. Several embodiments are illustrated involving trays with nine, six, four wells. <IMAGE>

Description

SEED TRAY This invention concerns a seed tray. As used herein the expression "seed tray" means a tray intended for use by nurserymen or horticulturalists for filling with soil, compost, gravel or other growth media and for growing plants or seedlings as well as a base unit used for supporting and carrying a plurality of the aforesaid types of trays.

Seed trays vacuum formed of plastic sheet material and having at least four wells defined by opposing side walls and one or more first partitions extending therebetween and by opposing end walls and one or more second partitions extending therebetween, the first and second partitions being of inverted trough shaped configurations and being arranged substantially perpendicular to each other so as to intersect each other, are well known. Generally, top surfaces of the respective partitions are substantially planar and the overall strength and rigidity of the trays is poor since they can readily be deformed along the lines of the first and second partitions.In some cases the top surfaces of either of the first or second partitions is non-linear in that a depression, defining a gap in the line of the top surface, is provided at each side of the intersecting second or first.partition, respectively, but this does not significantly improve the overall strength of the tray.

The main object of the present invention is to modify the construction of the known type of seed tray described above so as to improve its strength and rigidity. The latter is particularly important for handling of such trays, eg. for loading and unloading same into or from racks or trolleys for purposes of translocation. Moreover, an improvement in strength would increase the reusability and useful life of such trays.

In accordance with the invention this object is achieved in that top surfaces of the respective partitions are of non-linear configuraton such that an upraised elongate land is provided therein at each location where the first and second partitions intersect each other, each said land extending longitudinally in alignment with either the first or the second partition.

The provision of a non-linear top surface configuration for both of the partitions (or for both sets of partitions where there is more than one first and second partition) by having these upraised lands at each intersection greatly enhances the overall rigidity of the tray by inhibiting any deformation along the lines of any of the partitions.

Preferred embodiments of the tray of the invention have a peripheral rim upstanding above the top surface of the partitions and have the top of each upraised elongate land substantially level with said rim, ie. of equal height thereto above the remainder of the partition top surfaces. The lands, together with the rim, then facilitate stacking of trays with intervening planar supports (or with intervening base units in the case of the trays for directly holding seedlings) supported thereby and held out of contact with soil in the wells, which generally settles to the level of the remaining partition top surfaces.

The remaining portions of the partition top surfaces (other than the raised lands) will usually be planar, but that is not essential.

A height of 5mm above the level of the top surface of the partitions has been found suitable for the rim and the lands in the case of trays intending for holding growth medium and seedlings.

For added rigidity, in preferrred embodiments of the tray of the invention, the side walls, the end walls and the first and second partitions are all formed with a plurality of substantially vertical ribs.

In the case of trays intended for holding growth medium and seedlings, each well must have provision for drainage of water. Each well advantageously has a base provided with at least one inwardly projecting ridge and at least one aperture cut from said ridge, the aperture being dimensioned to extend substantially the full width of the ridge. In this way, the ridge will guide water to the lowest level of the base, where it will have access to the aperture.

In the case of trays which constitute base units for reception and support of the trays for actually growing seedlings, the provision of drainage apertures is not essential. However, for added overall rigidity, bearing in mind such base units are of relatively large dimensions, each well thereof preferably has a base provided with a plurality of inwardly projecting ridges.

Other preferred features and advantages of the inventive tray construction will become apparent from the subsequent description of preferred practical emodiments thereof and by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a plan view of a nine unit base unit seed tray; Fig. 2 is an end view of the tray of Fig. 1 in the direction of arrow A; Fig. 3 is a side view of the tray of Fig. 1 in the direction of arrow B; Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-section along line IV-IV in Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-section along line V-V in Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-section along line VI-VI in Fig. 1; Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-section along line VII-VII in Fig. 1; Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-section along line VIII-VIII in Fig. 1;; Fig. 9 is a plan view of a six unit seed tray for containing growth medium and seeds/seedlings; Fig. 10 is a side view of the tray of Fig. 9; Fig. 11 is an end view of the tray of Fig. 9; Fig. 12 is an enlarged fragmentary crosssection along line XII-XII in Fig. 9; Fig. 13 is an enlarged fragmentary crosssection along line XIII-XIII in Fig. 9; Fig. 14 is an enlarged fragmentary crosssection along line XIV-XIV in Fig. 9; Fig. 15 is a plan view of a four unit seed tray for containing growth medium and seeds/seedlings; Fig. 16 is a side view of the tray of Fig. 15; Fig. 17 is a plan view of a nine unit seed tray for containing growth medium and seeds/seedlings; and Fig. 18 is an end view of the tray of Fig. 17 The following embodiments of seed tray which are illustrated, respectively, in Figs. 1 to 8, 9 to 14, 15 and 16, and 17 and 18 are all part of a single system in that they are constructed to have the same general design features. Moreover, the trays which are shown in plan in Figs. 9, 15 and 17 and which are intended for growth of seedlings, are of substantially identical external dimensions and are, in fact, all adapted to be snugly received in any one of the nine wells of the base unit which is shown in plan in Fig. 1.

The trays are all produced from sheet form plastics material, eg. lmm thick ABS, by vacuum forming.

Referring firstly to the base unit, shown in Figs. 1 to 3, this has nine wells 10 of substantially equal size defined by opposing side walls 11, 12 and a pair of substantially parallel first partitions 13 extending therebetween and by opposing end walls 14, 15 and a pair of substantially parallel second partitions 16 extending therebetween. The first partitions 13 are arranged substantially perpendicular to the second partitions 16. The partitions of each set 13, 16 are of inverted trough shape, as is evident from Fig. 8. The side walls 11, 12, the end walls 14, 15, and the sides of the partitions 13, 16 may be formed with substantially vertical ribs, but this is not essential and is not shown for this particular embodiment.

A peripheral rim 17 is provided around the base unit as an integral upward and outward extension of the side walls 11, 12 and the end walls 14, 15 and an outwardly downturned lip 18 is also provided around the tray is an integral extension of the rim 17. The configuration of the lip 17 is best shown in Figs. 5 and 6. It will be noted that it differs slightly at the sides compared to the ends of the tray.

Significantly enhanced strength and rigidity is imparted to the tray by the configuration of the partitions 13, 16 in the regions where they intersect one another, as best understood by reference to Figs. 4, 7 and 8 in conjunction with Fig. 1.

Whilst the top surfaces of the partitions 13, 16 are generally planar along the majority of their extent, upraised elongate lands 20 are formed at locations of partition intersection. In this embodiment, the lands 20 are longitudinally in alignment with the second partitions 16. As shown, the length of the lands 20 is greater than the width of the partitions 13, 16 at their upper ends, so the lands 20 extend transversely across the respective first partitions 13 at the intersections. The ends and sides of the lands 20 are concavely curved. The height of the lands 20 above the remaining top surfaces of the partitions 13, 16 is approximately equal to that of the rim 17 so that the upper surface of lands substantially level with the rim 17.

The wells 10 have generally rectangular bases and, as is apparent from Fig. 1, each of these is formed with a plurality of diagonally arranged ribs. This is an optional measure to enhance the overall rigidity of the base unit tray.

Referring now to the first embodiment of seed tray proper (ie. tray for holding growth medium), illustrated in Figs. 9 to 14, this has six wells 110 of substantially equal size defined by opposing side walls 111, 112 and a pair of substantially parallel first partitions 113 extending therebetween and by opposing end walls 114, 115 and a single second partition 116 extending between the mid points of these walls 114, 115.

The first partitions 113 are arranged substantially perpendicular to the second partition 16, and all the partitions are of inverted trough shaped configuration, as is evident from Figs. 10 and 11. In this embodiment, the side walls 111, 112, end walls 114, 115, and partitions 113, 116 are all formed with substantially vertical ribs 119 (see Figs. 10 and 11). These ribs enhance overall rigidity. They are not shown in Fig. 9 for the sake of clarity.

As with the base unit tray of Figs. 1 to 8, a peripheral rim 117 is provided as an integral upward and outward extension of the side walls 111, 112 and the end walls 114, 115 and an integral downturned lip 118 is also present, as shown in Fig. 14, as well as Figs. 10 and 11.

In this case the height of the rim 117 above the top surface of the partitions 113 and 16, as indicated at "h" in Eig. 14 is approximately 5mm.

Significantly enhanced strength and rigidity is imparted to the tray by the configuration of the partitions 113, 116 in the regions where they intersect one another, as best understood by reference to Figs. 12 and 13 in conjunction with Fig. 9.

Whilst the top surfaces of the partitions 113, 116 are generally planar along the majority of their extent, upraised elongate lands 120 are formed at locations of partition intersection. In this embodiment, the lands 120 are longitudinally in alignment with the second partition 116. As shown, the length of eaach of the lands 120 is greater than the width of the partitions 113, 116 at their upper ends, so each of the lands extends transversely across the respective first partition 113 at the intersections. The ends and sides of the lands 120 are concavely curved (see Fig. 12). The height of the lands 120 above the remaining top surfaces of the partitions 113, 116 is approximately 5mm ("1" in Figs. 7 and 8) so that the lands 120 are substantially level with the rim 117.

The choice of heights "h" ad "l" as equal at Smm allows for the wells 110 to be filled with compost, the usual growth medium, right up to the brim of the tray, ie. the top of the rim 117, and for subsequent settling following watering to the level of the main planar regions of the top surfaces of the partitions 113, 116. The lands 120 and the rim 117 then provide upstanding support means for stacking of filled trays without any direct compression of the compost within the trays.

The wells 110 again have generally rectangular bases and, as is apparent from Figs. 9 to 11 each of these is provided with a central circular aperture 121 and with an inwardly projecting transverse ridge 122, the aperture being cut into the ridge and having a diameter substantially equal to and co-incidental with the width of the ridge 122. The aperture 121 is, of course, for purpose of drainage.

Exactly the same principles and features as just described in relation to the six well tray of Figs.

9 to 14 are present in the four well and nine well trays, respectively of Figs. 15 and 16, and Figs. 17 and 18.

Accordingly it is not necessary to repeat the.description of these and corresponding features have simply been allocated the same reference numerals with prefix 200 and 300, respectively. It will be appreciated that different sizes and numbers of wells are required to accommodate different types of seedlings and/or different stages of their growth with the appropriately siezed surrounding plug of growth medium.

Variations in detail are possible in other embodiments and different numbers of wells may be provided within the scope of the invention.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A seed tray vacuum formed of plastics sheet material and having at least four wells defined by opposing side walls and one or more first partitions extending therebetween and by opposing end walls and one or more second partitions extending therebetween, the first and second partitions being of inverted trough shaped configuration and being arranged substantially perpendicular to each other so as to intersect each other, wherein the top surfaces of the respective partitions are of non-linear configuration such that an upraised elongate land is provided therein at each location where the first and second partitions intersect each other, each said land extending longitudinally in alignment with either the first or the second partition.

2. A seed tray according to claim 1 having a peripheral rim upstanding above the top surfaces of the partitions, wherein the or each upraised elongate land is of substantially equal height above the remainder of the top surfaces of the partitions as is the peripheral rim.

3. A seed tray according to claim 2 wherein the peripheral rim is approximately 5mm higher than the top surface of the partitions.

4. A seed tray according to any of claim 1, 2 and 3 wherein the side walls, the end walls and the first and second partitions are all formed with a plurality of substantially vertical ribs.

5. A seed tray according to any preceding claim wherein each well has a base provided with at least one inwardly projecting ridge and at least one aperture cut from said ridge, the aperture being dimensioned to extend substantially the full width of the ridge.

6. A seed tray according to any of claim 1 to 4 wherein each well has a base provided with a plurality of inwardly projecting ridges.

7. A seed tray according to any preceding claim having six or nine or twelve wells.

8. A seed tray according to any preceding claim wherein all of the wells are of substantially identical size and dimensions.

9. A seed tray substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figs. .1 to 8, or Figs. 9 to 14, or Figs. 15 and 16, or Figs. 17 and 18 of the accompanying drawings.