EP3784580A1

EP3784580A1 - Box for transportation of perishable products, such as flowers, fruit and vegetables, bottom part thereof and cover part thereof

Info

Publication number: EP3784580A1
Application number: EP20721324.0A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Johan THANS
Original assignee: Circular Plastics BV
Current assignee: Circular Plastics BV
Priority date: 2019-03-25
Filing date: 2020-03-25
Publication date: 2021-03-03
Also published as: WO2020197390A1; NL2022803B1

Abstract

Box equipped with a bottom part and a cover part, for transportation of perishable products, such as flowers, fruit and vegetables, wherein the cover part snugly fits over the bottom part, wherein the bottom part and the cover part are separable and can be reunited, and wherein at least one of the bottom part and the cover part comprises a series of mutually different building elements that are manufactured from recyclable material. At least one of the bottom part and the cover part comprises a gas tight and water resistant plate. The plate is a plastic laminate, preferably comprising three polypropylene foils connected by thermal lamination, completely without adhesives. At least one of the bottom part and the cover part comprises plastic end pieces that are provided with ventilation apertures.

Description

BOX FOR TRANSPORTATION OF PERISHABLE PRODUCTS, SUCH AS FLOWERS, FRUIT AND VEGETABLES, BOTTOM PART THEREOF AND COVER PART THEREOF

The invention relates to a box for transportation of perishable products, such as flowers, fruit and vegetables, equipped with a bottom part and a cover part, wherein the cover part snugly fits over the bottom part, wherein the bottom part and the cover part are separable and can be reunited.

From the prior art a flower box is known which is used for transportation of flowers, wherein the flowers must be kept in optimum condition. This particularly applies to boxes that are used professionally, as is the case with for instance the transportation of high-value flowers such as roses. In practice roses are transported in boxes that are stacked to make effi cient use of the available space. It is then important that col lapsing of boxes is avoided, and that the boxes are arranged to maintain a particular climate that supports preserving the con dition of the flowers. Once the boxes are at their destination the flowers are removed from the boxes for further handling, and the boxes could be returned to their place of departure, however this is relatively costly since the then empty boxes take up the same space as on their onward trip when they were filled up with flowers. Returning of the empty boxes is therefore normally avoided, and consequently the boxes are made from an easily dis posable material such as cardboard. Needless to say that this is environmentally not an optimal method of doing business.

JP 2001 072057 discloses a folding assembly container comprising a foam synthetic resin container body and a lid body. The container body is a square box body with four side walls on an upper surface of a bottom plate in an inwardly folding man ner, and the inside thereof is demarcated into a plurality of small chambers by a plurality of partitions. The side walls are assembled into a square box, and corner parts thereof are fixed by fitting a flange part to a stepped groove, and engaging a locking means therewith. The flange part projecting from both side edges of the side walls is fitted to the outside of stepped grooves formed on both side edges of the side walls, and locking means provided on the side walls are fitted to locking means provided on the side walls in an attachable/detachable manner. It is an object of the invention to further develop the known box, and make it a lesser burden to the environment.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a box having features that support maintaining optimal conditions inside the box so as to preserve the freshness of the perishable products, such as flowers, fruit and vegetables contained in the box .

It is still a further object of the invention to remove or reduce the threshold that keeps users from returning used boxes, and accordingly reduce the burden to the environment.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention that will become apparent from the following disclosure, are provided by a box having the features of one or more of the ap pended claims.

In a first aspect of the invention the bottom part and the cover part are provided with cooperating hooks and recepta cles for the hooks that arrange for a secured placement of the cover part over the bottom part, wherein the hooks and recepta cles prevent undesired lifting of the cover part from the bottom part after placing the first over the latter.

Preferably the receptacles are embodied as a series of adjacent apertures, each such aperture being equipped to receive the hook, wherein the series of adjacent apertures are placed in line .

To enable easy opening of the box, it is preferable that the hook connects to an actuator slide for retracting the hook from the receptacles.

In one embodiment of the box the hook is provided on the cover part and the apertures are provided on the bottom part. It is however feasible that this can also be done the oth er way around.

Preferably at least one of the bottom part and the cov er part comprises a series of mutually different building ele ments that are manufactured from recyclable material. These fea tures reduce the burden to the environment. Preferably the box es assembled from the bottom part and the cover part are provid ed in a family of ten different sizes, notably:

1200mm(L) x 300mm(W) x 200(H) + 400mm(H)

1000mm x 300 x 200 + 400 800mm x 300 x 200 + 400

600mm x 300 x 200 + 400

400mm x 300 x 200 + 400.

In order to support and promote the condition of the perishable products, such as flowers, fruit and vegetables pack aged in the box, and also to promote the reusability of the box, it is preferred that at least one of the bottom part and the cover part comprises a gas tight and water resistant plate. Be cause of humidity absorbed in the known box, this known box is most of the time not reusable as opposed to the box of the in vention, wherein preferably both the bottom part and the cover part have a water resistant plate. The gas tightness of the plate supports the maintenance of the optimal conditions inside the box for securing the freshness of the perishable products, such as flowers, fruit and vegetables that are packaged therein.

Preferably the plate is at the side that is intended to be on the outward side of the box provided with a frictional layer to avoid sliding of stacked boxes.

Advantageously the plate is a plastic laminate, prefer ably comprising three polypropylene foils connected by thermal lamination, completely without adhesives.

It is further preferable that at least one of the bot tom part and the cover part comprises end pieces that are pro vided with ventilation apertures. These ventilation apertures are instrumental in maintaining the condition of the perishable products, such as flowers, fruit and vegetables that are pack aged in the box at an optimum level. The end pieces are prefera bly embodied in a plastic material, preferably made by injection moulding .

Preferably at least one of the end pieces of the cover part is provided with an inmould label, carrying a QR-code and/or a barcode. This enables that providing packing lists and documents for the customs authorities can be automated. Tracking and tracing thus becomes easy.

It is desirable that the ventilation apertures are partly or wholly closable, so as to be able to tailor the amount of ventilation to match the situation at hand, so that always optimal environmental conditions can be provided to the perisha ble products, such as flowers, fruit and vegetables that are packaged in the box.

Suitably the end pieces are mounted to the remainder of the bottom part and/or to the remainder of the cover part with intermediate mounting pieces. The completed bottom part and cov er part that are provided with this feature, are sturdy and well resistant against the loads that result from a stack of boxes, so that collapsing of boxes will effectively be avoided. This property of the box of the invention can be further promoted by arranging that the intermediate mounting pieces are on a first side equipped with a slit to receive the gas tight and water re sistant plate, and are on a second side opposite to the first side provided with protrusions that are arranged to cooperate with apertures that are present in the end pieces.

It is further preferable that at least one of the pro trusions is embodied with a hook for providing a locked connec tion with the end pieces.

Advantageously the end pieces are equipped with a re silient pressing organ that keeps the hook in position to secure the locked connection with the end pieces of the bottom part and cover part, respectively.

The invention will hereinafter be further elucidated with reference to a drawing of a non-limiting exemplary embodi ment of the apparatus and its use in accordance with the inven tion .

In the drawing, it is shown in

-figure 1: a box according to the invention in an ex ploded view;

-figures 2: and 2A the box of the invention in assem bled condition;

-figure 3: a plate and end pieces prior to their assem bly into a ready bottom part;

-figure 4: a detail of a ready bottom part;

-figure 5: a detail of figure 3;

-figure 6: a detail of an intermediate mounting piece;

-figure 7: a detail of an end piece wherein a hook of an intermediate mounting piece protrudes through an aperture in the end piece;

-figure 8: an isometric detail view of the cover part from the inside; -figure 9: and isometric detail view of the cover part from the outside;

-figure 10: a view from the outside at a detail of the cover part;

-figure 11: a view as a detail of the bottom part;

-figure 12: an isometric view at the bottom part;

-figure 13: an isometric view of a detail of the bottom part ;

-figure 14: an isometric view of a further detail of the bottom part;

-figure 15: a first view from the inside at a detail of the bottom part; and

-figure 16: a second view from the inside at the detail of the bottom part.

Whenever in the figures the same reference numerals are applied, these numerals refer to the same parts.

Figure 1 provides an exploded view at the box 1 of the invention which is equipped with a bottom part 2 and a cover part 3. Figure 2 also shows the box 1, but now in an assembled condition wherein the ready cover part 3 snugly fits over the ready bottom part 2. The bottom part 2 and the cover part 3 are separable so as to enable placement of the flowers or removal of the flowers, and can be reunited for closing of the box 1.

Particularly figure 1 shows that at least one of the bottom part 2 and the cover part 3, but preferably both the bot tom part 2 and the cover part 3 comprise a series of mutually different building elements 4 - 9 that are manufactured from re cyclable material. These respective building elements 4 - 9 will be further discussed hereinafter.

Figure 1 shows that the bottom part 2 comprises a gas tight and water resistant plate 4, and that the cover part 3 comprises a gas tight and water resistant plate 5. These plates 4, 5 are preferably embodied as a plastic laminate, and more preferably comprise then three polypropylene foils connected by thermal lamination, completely without adhesives. A product that answers to this construction is commercially available on the market and known under the registered trademark con-pearl. Pref erably each plate 4, 5 is at the side that is intended to be on the outward side of the box 1 provided with a frictional layer to avoid sliding of stacked boxes.

Figure 1 further shows that at least one of the bottom part 2 and the cover part 3 comprises end pieces 6, 8 that are provided with ventilation apertures 10. The ventilation aper tures 10 are more clearly shown in figures 2A, 4, 5, 8, 9, and figures 13 - 16. The end pieces 6, 8 are preferably embodied in a plastic material, preferably injection moulded. The end pieces 6 of the cover part 3 are preferably provided with an inmould label (not shown but clear to the skilled person) , carrying a QR-code and/or a barcode. This enables that providing packing lists and documents for the customs authorities can be automat ed. Tracking and tracing thus becomes easy.

Also shown in figure 1 is a bottom slide end piece 9 which is to be assembled together with the bottom end piece 8, and which can then serve to open or close the ventilation aper tures 10. In this connection reference is made to figures 15 and 16, which show that the ventilation apertures 10 are partly or wholly closable. Figure 15 shows the ventilation apertures 10 in the open condition; figure 16 shows the ventilation apertures 10 when they are partly closed due to the relative position given to the bottom slide end piece 9 with reference to the bottom end piece 8.

The cover and bottom end pieces 6, 8 are mounted to the remainder of the bottom part 2 and the remainder of the cover part 3, respectively, using intermediate mounting pieces 7. Es sentially the construction of the bottom part 2 and the cover part 3 is similar, with the only difference being the dimensions of certain constituent elements of these parts, particularly the dimensions of the cover plate 4 and the bottom plate 5. Accord ingly for reasons of brevity and without sacrificing clarity, the description concentrates primarily on the construction of the cover part 3, it being clear for the skilled person that the construction of the bottom part 2 is essentially the same. Pref erably the boxes assembled from the bottom part 2 and the cover part 3 are provided in a family of ten different sizes, notably: 1200mm(L) x 300mm(W) x 200(H) + 400mm(H)

1000mm x 300 x 200 + 400

800mm x 300 x 200 + 400

600mm x 300 x 200 + 400 400mm x 300 x 200 + 400.

The end pieces 6 of the cover part 3 can suitably be provided with an inmould label provided with a QR-code and/or a barcode enabling tracking and tracing.

Regarding the construction of the intermediate mounting piece 7, figure 6 shows most clearly that the intermediate mounting pieces 7 are on a first side equipped with a slit 12 to receive an edge of a gas tight and water resistant plate 4, 5 for the bottom part 2 or the cover part 3. On a second side op posite to the first side, the intermediate mounting pieces 7 that are intended to connect to the end pieces 6, 8 for the bot tom part 2 and the cover part 3, respectively, are provided with protrusions 13 that are arranged to cooperate with apertures 11 being present in said end pieces 6, 8 for the bottom part 2 and the cover part 3, respectively. This is shown for cover end piece 6 in figure 5 that represents a detail of the cover part 3.

Figure 6 further shows the protrusion 13 of an interme diate mounting piece 7 in detail, which reveals that the shown protrusion 13 is embodied with a hook 14 for providing - after assembly with the cover end piece 6 - a locked connection with said cover end piece 6. Figure 5 shows that another protrusion 13' on the intermediate mounting piece 7 is straight and embod ied without hook. As already mentioned above, one thing and an other is preferably correspondingly arranged for the intermedi ate mounting pieces 7 and the bottom end pieces 8 that are used for the bottom part 2.

Figure 7 shows in a detail view that the cover and bot tom end pieces 6, 8 for the cover part 3 and bottom part 2, re spectively, are equipped with a resilient pressing organ 15 that keeps the hook 14 of the protrusion 13 on the intermediate mounting piece 7 in position when the connection is made with the concerning end piece 6, 8, so as to secure the locked con nection of this intermediate mounting piece 7 with said cover and bottom end piece 6, 8 for the cover part 3 and bottom part 2, respectively.

Turning now to figures 8 - 12 it is shown that the bot tom part 2 and the cover part 3 are provided with cooperating hooks 16 and receptacles 17 for the hooks 16, that together ar- range for a placement of the cover part 3 over the bottom part 2, wherein subsequent lifting of the cover part 3 from the bot tom part 2 is prevented. In the embodiment shown, the hook 16 is provided on the cover part 3 and the apertures 18 are provided on the bottom part 2, but it is feasible that this can be done the other way around. Particularly figure 11 shows that the re ceptacles 17 are embodied as a series of adjacent apertures 18, each aperture 18 being equipped to receive the hook 16, and wherein the series of adjacent apertures 18 are placed in line.

Figures 9 and 10 further show an actuator slide 19 that connects to the hook 16, and which is embodied to retract the hook 16 from the receptacles 18 once it is intended to lift the cover part 3 from the bottom part 2 of the Box 1.

Although the invention has been discussed in the fore going with reference to an exemplary embodiment of the Box of the invention, the invention is not restricted to this particu lar embodiment which can be varied in many ways without depart ing from the invention. The discussed exemplary embodiment shall therefore not be used to construe the appended claims strictly in accordance therewith. On the contrary the embodiment is mere ly intended to explain the wording of the appended claims with out intent to limit the claims to this exemplary embodiment. The scope of protection of the invention shall therefore be con strued in accordance with the appended claims only, wherein a possible ambiguity in the wording of the claims shall be re solved using this exemplary embodiment.

Legend :

1 Box

2 bottom part

3 cover part

4 cover plate

5 bottom plate

6 cover end piece

7 intermediate mounting piece

8 bottom end piece

9 bottom end piece slide

10 ventilation aperture 11 connection aperture

12 slit

13, 13' protrusion

14 hook

15 resilient pressing organ

16 (cover) hook

17 (bottom) receptacles

18 (bottom) apertures 19 actuator slide

Claims

1. Box (1) for transportation of perishable products, such as flowers, fruit and vegetables and equipped with a bottom part (2) and a cover part (3), wherein the cover part (3) snugly fits over the bottom part (2), wherein the bottom part (2) and the cover part (3) are separable and can be reunited, character ized in that the bottom part (2) and the cover part (3) are pro vided with a cooperating hook (16) and receptacles (17) for the hook (16) to arrange for a secured placement of the cover part (3) over the bottom part (2) .

2. Box according to claim 1, characterized in that the receptacles (17) are embodied as a series of adjacent apertures (18), each aperture (18) being equipped to receive the hook (16), wherein the series of adjacent apertures (18) are placed in line.

3. Box according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the hook (16) connects to an actuator slide (19) for retracting the hook (16) from the receptacles (17) .

4. Box according to any one of claims 1 - 3, character ized in that the hook (16) is provided on the cover part (3) and the apertures (18) are provided on the bottom part (2) .

5. Box according to any one of claims 1 - 4, character ized in that at least one of the bottom part (2) and the cover part (3) comprises a series of mutually different building ele ments (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) that are manufactured from recyclable material .

6. Box according to any one of claims 1 - 5, character ized in that at least one of the bottom part (2) and the cover part (3) comprises a gas tight and water resistant plate (4, 5) .

7. Box according to claim 6, characterized in that the plate (4, 5) is preferably at the side that is intended to be on the outward side of the box (1) provided with a frictional layer to avoid sliding of stacked boxes.

8. Box according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the plate (4, 5) is a plastic laminate, preferably comprising three polypropylene foils connected by thermal lamination, com pletely without adhesives.

9. Box according to any one of claims 1 - 8 or to the preamble of claim 1, characterized in that at least one of the bottom part (2) and the cover part (3) comprises end pieces (6,

8) that are provided with ventilation apertures (10), wherein the end pieces (6, 8) are preferably embodied in a plastic mate rial .

10. Box according to claim 9, characterized in that at least one of the end pieces (6) of the cover part (3) is provid ed with an inmould label, carrying a QR-code and/or a barcode.

11. Box according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that the end pieces (6, 8) are mounted to the remainder of the bottom part (2) and/or to the remainder of the cover part (3) with intermediate mounting pieces (7) .

12. Box according to any one of claims 6 - 10 and claim 11, characterized in that the intermediate mounting pieces (7) are on a first side equipped with a slit (12) to receive the gas tight and water resistant plate (4, 5), and on a second side op posite to the first side with protrusions (13) that are arranged to cooperate with connection apertures (11) provided in the end pieces (6, 8 ) .

13. Box according to claim 12, characterized in that at least one of the protrusions (13) is embodied with a hook (14) for providing a locked connection with the end pieces (6, 8) .

14. Box according to claim 13, characterized in that the end pieces (6, 8) are equipped with a resilient pressing or gan (15) that keeps the hook (14) in position to secure the locked connection with the end pieces (6, 8) .

15. Box (1) according to any one of claims 9 - 14, characterized in that the ventilation apertures (10) are partly or wholly closable.

16. Bottom part (2) of a box (1) according to any one of claims 1 - 15.

17. Cover part (3) of a box (1) according to any one of claims 1 - 15.