AU674932B2 - Wrap round container - Google Patents

Description

IICC.

Our Ref 280:PJW P/00/011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION 4 o 0o 0000 FOR A STANDARD

ORIGINAL

PATENT

*0 0 r0 00 S TO BE COMPLETED BY APPLICANT Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor(s): Address for Service: Invention Title: Details of Associated Treasure Containers Jeffrey David Dinning A.P.T. Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys 44th Floor, 1 King-Wtiiam Street, Adelai Wrap round container Provisional Application(s) No(s) PL8465 23rd April 1993 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us:- -3-CC ar*ll This invention relates to a container and more specifically it relates to containers that are formed from a single web of material that can be wrapped to form an openable container to facilitate reuse.

One major time consuming and environmentally unsound aspect of the nursery industry is the way in which seedlings are sown and potted. In particular where plants are to be re-potted, then a difficulty arises by the fact that the root system must be extracted from the pot, and generally the root ball must be disturbed by deforming the pot, or even breaking up the pot.

One approach to minimise the damage to the root ball and the environmental pollution has been to provide a plastic bag into which the germination mix or potting mix is added, and into which the seeds or seedling is then planted When the plant is then re-potted or planted out, the plant is simply cut out of the plastic 15 bag, and the bag is discarded. Where a commercial operation is concerned, the refuse built-up, whilst less than where more rigid containers are used, is still quite significant. A further difficulty with this practise is that whilst these bags, are relatively stable when they are contained within a crate, but are not stable enough to stand up by themselves because the bottom of the bags are very 20 rarely flat enough, especially with small bags. This results in consequent spillage of pc 41 ng mix and consequent damage to the plant.

:i It has been proposed in Australian patent specification 71144/81 to provide a wrap-around pot, wherein a tubular container is formed from a vertically corrugated web of material, the free ends of which include co-operative hooks.

*The web is biased open, against the hooks. The difficulty with this is that the corruoations make the container difficult to clean after use and furthermore when the container is to be lifted the inward nressure on the container has a tendency to unclip the hooks and spill the contents of the container.

An object of this invention is to provide a container that obviates or minimises at least one of the aforementioned problems in a simple yet effective way, or at least provides the public with a useful choice.

In one form the invention could be said to reside in a wrap around container including an elongate rigid plastics web having two free end portions, said web formed so as to take up a tubular shape and to define therein a chamber, said 3 two end portions overlapping and biased one against the other to maintain the container in a closed configuration.

Preferably the container is a four sided container, with four transverse folds formed in the rigid plastics material. Whilst this is preferred for stacking purposes, it is to be understood that the container made by folding may also be made in a three sided embodiment, with three folds, or alternatively with an embodiment of 5 or more sides.

At least one of the end sections extends across one of said sides, This ensures that where the container is grasped, there is minimal deformation of the container, because the end sections act to brace the side defined by the two overlapping end portions.

.I

15 In some circumstances it may also be desired to have the container formed with .oa floor that can be formed and maintained in much the same as the wall, with two opposing tabs extending downwardly from a lower portion of the wall, one tab being biased upwardly and the other tab biased downwardly and so positioned to bear against one another and thereby define a floor of the container.

It is furthermore preferred that the web is smooth. Where corrugations, or other protuberances are formed in the web, a difficulty results with cleaning of the container.

S 25 For a better understanding of the invention it will now be described with reference to one embodiment of the invention which will now be described with reference to the drawings in which:- FIG. I is a perspective line sketch of a first embodiment of a container according to this invention in a closed position, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the first embodiment talwt having been formed into an open position, but before being folded into the closed position, FIG. 3 shows the container grouped with a number of others confiw at the base and sides to form a cell bank ready for fifling with growing media, FIG. 4 is a perspective line sketch showing the first embodiment in an open position wherein the overlapping sections of the container opens outward allowing the plant's root ball to be safely removed, FIG. 5 is a plan view from above showing some variations in shape of container according to this invention, and FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of an embodiment of the invention with a openable floor, the outline of the blank being shown in broken lines.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

Dimensions of certain of the parts as shown in the drawings may have been 15 modified and/or exaggerated for the purposes of clarity of illustration.

The container 1 comprises a web 2 of rigid plastics material into which is formed permanent axial folds 3. End portions 4 and 5 of the folded web 2 are overlapping, and when closed as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 5 the end portions bear against one another to maintain the closed position. A container chamber 6 is defined by the web of rigid plastics material.

To make the first illustrated embodiment the plastics web may need to be cut :i from a sheet of suitable plastics material. Alternatively the web may be stamped 25 out, molded or otherwise formed. The plastics web is wrapped around a channelled core of square U cross section, and is subjected to increased ;mperatures, whilst so wrapped to permanently set the desired shape. The free ends are held so that end portion 4 is positioned outwardly of a generally square profile, whereas end portion 5 is positioned inwardly of the generally square profile during heat treatment. After cooling the heat treated web is removed from the core, and the position of the end portions is reversed such that end portion is positioned outwardly of end portion 4, and the reversal of positions biases the end portions against one another. A hot folding process has just been described, however it is to be understood that a cold folding process might equally be used.

Whilst a folding process has been described as a method of coring the containers it is to be understood that a large number of methods can be used to manufacture the blanks and the container, and such method. .re well known in the art of plastics manufacture and might include, extrusion of the blank with an open profile from a plastics extruder.

The web can be made of any suitable material, that is rigid and resilient may be deformed to remove the contents of the container. The rigidity is not absolute, but allows for some flexing so that the end portions can be opened to release the contents, however the end portions are to fall back into place after pressure is removed from them. Several types of plastics have been tried, and many are found suitable. At present a high impact styrene is used, and found to give very satisfactory results during use and during manufacture. It is found to be relatively easy to form predictably located folds. Other plastics such as polypropylene whilst capable of working the invention are less desirable, because heating of such plastics results in less predictable deformation and a container that is less .i uniform in size.

15 The web of material to be used is also desired to be free of internal protuberances, such as for example corrugations. Such a smooth shape facilitates cleaning of the container after use. Particles of soil are difficult to clean absolutely when there are internal protuberances, and with such particles remaining on the container the risk of the spread of disease on reuse of containers is increased.

For those embodiments of the invention where axial folds are formed within the web, it is desired that at least the inner end portion 4 extends across its *2 25 respective side of the container. This reduces the risk of the container opening up undesirably, the end portion 5 acts as a far more effective stop to the movement of end portion 4 in this configuration.

The inherent shape retaining properties of many plastics ensures that the container according to this invention is biased to a closed position. The facility for maintaining a closed position is however to be understood not to be absolute and where some pressure is exerted the container will open up. The container according to this invention will therefore not withstand robust treatment, without damage, but will maintain its position under normal handling. It may be desired to include a further fastening means to enhance the closing ability of the container and such a fastening means might simply be in the form of an elastic band, In a situation where seedlings are being propagated in bulk the containers are preferably made as square containers for packing purposes. These containers can be filled with potting or germinating mix, seeds or seedlings introduced, and the containers can then be placed together in a crate 10. The integrity of the containers is then enhanced by their side by side abutment and the abutting position of the containers within the crate. T'vs arrangement can withstand quite rigorous handling.

The shape of the container can be varied considerably, some variations of which are shown in FIG. 5. FIG. 5 A shows the four sided configuration of the first embodiment. A triangular shape may be provided as shown in FIG. 5 C or as can containers with more than four sides. As shown in FIG. 5 B the container may also have a circular shape and other rounded shapes such as elliptical or oval.

The embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6 provides for a floor which can be maintained in a closed position by provision of two tabs 11 and 12 biased in a similar way that the end portions 4 and 5 are biased. The container is made from a web of material of a shape shown in broken lines, to form a container shown in cross section, wherein tab 12 is biased outwardly, and bears against tab 11 which is biased inwardly to thereby form a floor. The remainder of the container of this embodiment is the same as the container of the first embodiment.

Throughout this specification the invention has been exemplified by reference to S 25 its use as a plant container, however, other uses are also clearly applicable.

These container may be put to the normal use of container such as for storage of S" loose items.

Furthermore the container may also be used as a collar to contain items, for example the stem of a plant. Such a use could be appropriate where the bark of a tree is to be protected from damage caused by rabbits.

Various features of the invention have been particularly shown and described in connection with the illustrated embodiment of the invention, however, it must be understood that these particular arrangements merely illustrate and that the invention is not limited thereto and can include various modifications falling within the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims (9)

1. A wrap around container including an elongate rigid plastics web having two free end portions, said web formed so as to take up a tubular shape and to define therein a chamber, said two end portions overlapping and biased one against the other to maintain the container in a closed configuration.

2. A container according to claim 1 wherein the web is folded transversely at least 3 times so that the tubular shape is formed to be at least three sided.

3. A container according to claim 2 wherein the one of said end portions extends across one of said at least three sides. o 15

4. A container according to either claim 2 or claim 3 wherein the web is folded transversely four time and defining a four sided container.

5. A container according to claim 4 including flaps extending from a lower portion of two opposing of the sides, one flap biased upwardly, the other downwardly and so positioned to bear against one another and thereby define a floor of said container. o

6. A container according any one of the preceding claims wherein the web is substantially smooth. S

7. A container according to claim 1 wherein the tubular shape is generally cylindrical. CC

8, A seedling containing arrangement, comprising, a plurality of containers according to any one of the preceding claims, stacked within the confines of a tray in side by side abutting arrangement,

9. A method of forming a container according to any one of the preceding claims including the steps of forming the web, wherein the two end portions are open, and one of said end portions is biased outwardly and the other of said end portions is biased inwardly, the web being open, reversing the position of the end portions so that the end portions are overlapping and biased against one another to maintain a closed position. 8 A container substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the illustrated embodiments. Dated this 22nd day of April 1994 TREASURE CONTAINERS By their Patent Attorneys, A. P. T. Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys 9 ABSTRACT I A tubular container able to be opened comprising an elongate plastics web where end portion of the plastics web are oppositely biased to maintain a closed shape. The container is made of rigid plastics material and is particularly suited as a reusable container for potting seedlings that can be opened without damaging the root ball of the plant. .4 4 *o 4 06* 9* 4 4o 6o9* 4 S 9649 ooo6 *9o4 4 S. 6s 46 5.* ooe 4 o^*o o o*