GB2290285A

GB2290285A - Sheet material fastening arrangements and containers

Info

Publication number: GB2290285A
Application number: GB9511791A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Wesley Morley Davies
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1994-06-09
Filing date: 1995-06-09
Publication date: 1995-12-20
Anticipated expiration: 2015-06-09
Also published as: GB2290285B; GB9511791D0; GB9411526D0

Abstract

A container e.g. for a plant is made from a blank of flexible sheet material comprising a portion which when assembled forms a cylindrical wall, and a set of projections at the bottom end thereof which define a base flap and male and female spigotted or necked interengageable components. When assembled, the male and female components are interengaged to provide a secure support for the base flap which overlies the engaged components. The interengagement allows a degree of relative rotation during assembly. Filling the container loads the interengaged components, stabilising the container. <IMAGE>

Description

Sheet Material Fastenina Arranaements and Containers This invention relates to fastening arrangements for sheet materials and for structures or containers incorporating said arrangements.

The fastening arrangements described herein have many applications but of particular interest is providing a plant or seedling container for growing medium which can be assembled and disassembled by hand, ideally so that the container may be stored flat when not in use and so that the container may be removed from the plant with minimal disturbance of the root system. The arrangement may, however, be used for other containers in the garden and elsewhere, for example, compost bins and so on.

I have designed a new fastening arrangement which can be fastened and undone manually, or with a tool if the geometry is too small for easy access and which allows a broad range of containers to be constructed without external additional fastenings.

Accordingly, in one aspect, this invention provides a fastening arrangement for connecting two adjacent regions of flexible sheet form, wherein one of said regions (the female region) includes an aperture and the other region (the male region) is formed with one or more tab means which may be lifted away from the surrounding surface and be passed through said aperture to connect said regions together, wherein said male and female regions are adapted to allow relative movement therebetween to assist said connection.

The female region aperture may take many shapes, e.g.

triangular, square, etc., but circular or elliptical are preferred.

The male region preferably includes two or more tag elements, each capable of folding about a fold line. To enhance coupling, the regions of the tag elements adjacent said fold lines may be notched, so that they engage the periphery of the female region aperture. If required, more than two tag elements may be provided. The fold lines preferably lie on a circle of diameter generally equivalent to, or smaller than, the diameter or equivalent of the female aperture.

The arrangement may simply comprise one female and one male region which co-operate. However, the arrangement may comprise variations; thus there may be one male region with tags that can be lifted out of opposite sides of the sheet to co-operate with two female regions one to either side of the male region. Alternatively, one female region may be sandwiched between two male regions whose tags pass through the female apertures from opposite sides. Still further, the tags of a single male region may co-operate with two stacked female regions.

The male and female regions may be secured to the associated parts of the structure by necked or spigot regions. Alternatively, the aperture and tags may be integrally formed within a surface of the structure, or projecting partly from an edge.

In another aspect, this invention provides a container formed of flexible sheet material, incorporating one or more fastening arrangements according to the invention. Thus, the fastening arrangements may be used to secure together the edges of a cylindrical or frusto-conical container.

The fastenings make assembly and disassembly possible and so a container with walls which taper inwardly can be made. Additionally, the fastenings may be used to secure a base (integral or separate) within a cylindrical or frustoconical container.

In one arrangement a container blank is formed at its lower edge with a necked male region and one or more necked female regions. In use, when the blank is brought to its desired shape, the fastenings may be secured to provide a base and to help the remainder of the container keep its desired shape. Especially for bigger containers, a base element may be required and this too may be integrally formed at the lower edge of the blank, with a necked region.

Alternatively, the base may be a separate item having respective male/female regions which co-operate with respective female/male regions on the blank.

The edges of the container may be secured together by means of a stack of male regions along one edge of the blank and a stack of female regions along the edge of the blank to which the first edge is to be secured to make the container shape.

Preferably, the female aperture is shaped to impart to the tab means of the male region a curvature which enhances their stiffness in at least one direction and also provides sealing.

In the above arrangements, relative movement e.g.

rotation is allowed between the male and female regions to assist their manipulation or manoeuvring to effect coupling.

I have found that this is an extremely useful feature when assembling containers as it facilitates assembly, and the use of flexible components means that, when filled, the containers are stabilised.

Whilst the invention has been described above, it extends to any inventive combination of the features set out above or in the following description. * The invention may be performed in various ways and, by way of example only, various embodiments thereof will now be described in detail, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which:: Figure 1 shows various configurations of male and female regions of a fastening arrangement in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 shows various fastening arrangements in accordance with the invention with one-to-many and many-toone male/female regions; Figure 3 shows various practical component shapes for an arrangement in accordance with the invention; Figure 4 shows various shapes of tab for the male region; Figure 5 shows examples of a cylinder with a flap bottom incorporating a fastening in accordance with the invention; Figure 6 shows three examples of fastening topology; Figure 7 illustrates how the geometry of the female aperture maybe used to apply curvature and thus stiffness to the male tabs; Figure 8 shows various blanks incorporating fastenings of this invention, and the assembled containers;; Figures 9 (a), (b), and (c) illustrate further structures incorporating a fastening arrangement of this invention, and Figure 10 shows a male component with two tabs, each of which is provided with a secondary tab f6r engagement with corresponding secondary apertures on the female component.

Referring to Figure 1, there are shown various examples of female component 10 with various shapes of aperture 12, together with various examples of male component 16 formed with two or more "butterfly" flaps 18 which may be pressed out of the surface of the male component to engage and grip the aperture 12 in a female component. The flaps are provided adjacent the fold lines with notches 20 which engage the adjacent part of the aperture 12 when the male and female components are brought together.

Figure 2 shows three different configurations of fastening comprising: one male component and two stacked female components; two pairs of stacked female components provided one to either side of a dual-tagged male component; and two male components provided one to either side of a female component.

Figure 3 shows various forms of male and female component, in particular illustrating that the male and female components may be formed as spiggotted components (with stabilizer flaps if necessary) or may be formed as part of a larger surface, either away from the edge or projecting from the edge.

Figure 4 shows various configurations of male component including various shapes and layouts of tag, including one with a central aperture which allows the component to act both as a male female component and a female component.

In Figure 5, the top two diagrams show the general principle of making up a cylindrical container with or without a bottom flap. As can be seen, the container blank has integrally formed therewith a male portion which, when the container is assembled, over-lies and co-operates with two integral female portions. When the container base exceeds a certain size, the arrangement may be supplemented by an integral flap which overlies the assembled male and female components, as shown in the lower diagram.

Referring to Figure 6, three topologies are shown. In the first, two integrally formed female components cooperate with an integrally formed male component. In the second configuration the lower part of the container wall has integrally formed three components (one female, two male) which co-operate with one male and two female components respectively on a separate base. In the third arrangement, a stack of male components on one edge of a container wall co-operates with a stack of female components on the opposing edge.

Referring to Figure 7, the female aperture is shown here as being of a elliptical form to impart a curvature to the male tags. This, together with the containment forces applied by the contained medium, enhances the stiffness of the tags and increases sealing.

Referring to Figure 8, this illustrates various configurations, shapes and sizes of containers showing how these may be formed. Of particular note is the frustoconical form of the lower part of Figure 8(a), for this provides an arrangement in which the container diameter increases with depth yet allows the plant to be removed from the container with minimal disturbance. Also, in Figure 8(c), it will be seen that this arrangement can be used with lay-flat tubing to provide a cylindrical container with an integral base attachment, by stamping out a blank with a suitably shaped lower region to define integral male and female components.

In the arrangements of Figure 8, the sides of the container may be secured together using a stack of male/female components as previously described or they may be held together by an elongate clip, or a cylindrical shell extending around the outside of the membrane.

In Figures 9 (a), (b) and (c), there are illustrated a compost bin, an elongate horticultural pipe container, and a ring culture container, respectively, the construction details of which are evident in the Figures.

In Figure 10, a male component is shown which provides primary and second interlocking between adjacent sheet elements. The male component has two opposed primary tabs 50, each of which includes a secondary tab 52. In use, the primary tabs are pulled through a primary aperture in the female component; when the primary tabs are fully home, the secondary tabs 52 lie adjacent secondary apertures in the female component, thus providing a second stage of interlocking or "weaving".

Reference is directed to the annotated remarks on the informal drawings originally filed on this Application, which are incorporated herein by reference.

Claims

1. A fastening arrangement for connecting two adjacent regions of flexible sheet form, wherein one of said regions (the female region) includes an aperture and the other region (the male region) is formed with one or more tab means which may be lifted away from the surrounding surface and be passed through said aperture to connect said regions, wherein said male and female regions are adapted to allow relative movement therebetween to assist said connection.

2. A fastening arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the aperture in said female region is generally circular or elliptical.

3. A fastening arrangement according to claim 1, wherein the aperture is triangular or square.

4. A fastening arrangement according to any preceding claim, wherein the or each tab means comprises two or more tag elements each capable of folding about a fold line.

5. A fastening arrangement according to claim 4, wherein the region of at least some of the tag elements adjacent the fold line is notched or cut away to receive the adjacent periphery of the female region aperture.

6. A fastening arrangement according to any preceding claim, comprising a male region and two female regions, wherein the male region includes tab means which may be lifted out of opposite sides of the sheet to co-operate with said two female regions, one to either side of the male region.

7. A fastening arrangement according to any of claims 1 to 5, comprising a female region and two male regions, wherein the male regions are disposed to either side of the female region, and the tag means thereof pass through the female region aperture from opposite sides.

8. A fastening arrangement according to any preceding claim, wherein said male and female regions form part of the same larger element or respective larger elements, and are connected thereto by necked or spigot regions.

9. A fastening arrangement according to any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the male and female regions form part of the same larger sheet element or respective larger sheet elements, and the male and female regions are disposed within said sheet element or elements and spaced from the edge thereof.

10. A fastening arrangement according to any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the male and female regions form part of a larger element or respective larger elements, and the tab means of said male thereof project at least partly from the surrounding edge regions.

11. A fastening arrangement according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the female aperture and the male tab means are formed so that the tab means tends to adopt a curved profile when the male and female regions are connected.

12. A container including one or more elements of flexible sheet material having respective regions thereof connected by one or more fastening arrangements according to any of the preceding claims.

13. A container according to claim 12, wherein the container is generally cylindrical, formed of a sheet of material whose longitudinal edge regions incorporate complementary male and female regions.

14. A container according to claim 12, wherein the container is generally frusto-conical, formed of a sheet of material, whose meeting edge regions incorporate complementary male and female regions.

15. A container according to any of claims 12 to 14, wherein the container includes a base element which in use is secured to one or more adjacent wall portions of the container by one or more fastening arrangements according to any of claims 1 to 11.

16. A container according to claim 15, wherein said base element is integrally formed with another part of the container.

17. A container according to claims 15 or 16, wherein the walls of said container adjacent said base element are provided with at least one necked male region and at least one necked female region which together define a fastening arrangement.

18. A container according to claims 15 or 16, wherein the walls of said container adjacent said base element are provided with a male or female region and the base element is provided with a complementary region, which together define a fastening arrangement.

19. A container according to any of claims 12 to 16, which includes a fastening arrangement comprising a row of male or female regions extending along one meeting edge of the container and a row of complementary female or male regions extending along the associated other meeting edge of the container.

20. A container comprising a peripheral wall means and base means supported within or adjacent said peripheral wall means, wherein said base means is connected to, or supported with respect to said peripheral wall means, by a fastening arrangement comprising an apertured female region and a male region of sheet form having tab means which may be lifted away from the surrounding surface and be passed through said aperture to connect said regions.

21. A container according to Claim 20, wherein said base means overlies and is supported by said connected male and female regions.

22. A container according to Claim 20, wherein said base means incorporates one of said male and female regions and connects with a complementary element attached to or forming part of the wall means.

23. A fastening arrangement substantially as hereinbefore described, with reference to and as illustrated in, any of the accompanying drawings.

24. A container substantially as hereinbefore described, with reference to and as illustrated in, any of the accompanying drawings.