Plant pot with stacking rim

Abstract

Plant pot (1) made of thin-walled plastic, • with a generally conical pot wall (3) and a base (2) profiled and perforated for stiffening and drainage, • with an upper flange-shaped rim (5), • with a substantially counter-conical stacking rim (6) formed below the rim (5) in the pot wall to form a stacking edge (7), • wherein a stacking distance (d) is defined between the rim (5) and the stacking edge (7), characterized in that a substantially cylindrical section (8) is formed below the stacking rim (6) in the pot wall, • the height (h) of which is less than or equal to the stacking distance (d).

Description

The present invention relates to a plant pot with a stacking rim according to the preamble of claim 1.A plant pot of the generic type is illustrated and described in EP 1422993 B1. The plant pot deep-drawn from a thin plastic film by the thermoforming process has a stiff upper flange-shaped edge with the greatest wall thickness of the plant pot. In its generally conical pot wall, a substantially counter-conical stacking edge is formed adjacent to the edge, wherein a lower ledge is formed as a stacking edge, which is connected by an intermediate support region to the flange-shaped edge as an upper ledge and as a support for a second plant pot to be stacked. The stack spacing is determined by the two ledge. For the nested stacking, the plant pots are designed with a small annular clearance in the region of the ledge so that the plant pots are mutually centered and coaxially aligned in the stack. For good mouldability on the one hand and good stackability on the other hand, the support region is designed in a wave-shaped manner at least at one end adjoining one of the two ridges.It is the object of the invention to further develop a plant pot of the generic type in such a way that more stable, higher stacks can be formed, which can also be more easily destacked, in particular by machine.The object is achieved by a plant pot according to claim 1. Advantageous embodiments of the invention can be taken from the dependent claims referenced back to this claim and from the following description of advantages and figures.According to the invention, it is provided that below the stack edge, an essentially cylindrical section is formed into the pot wall, the height of which is less than or equal to the stack spacing. Due to the substantially cylindrical section of constant cross section, the plant pot is already guided by the substacked plant pot during stacking before it has reached its final position in the stack, wherein the guide length corresponds approximately to the stack spacing. The substantially cylindrical section forms an additional supporting edge on its lower shoulder, which can be supported on the inside of the stacking edge of the understacked plant pot. The plant pots, which thus rest in a double or at least redundant manner in the stack on the respectively understacked plant pots, form a much more stable plant pot stack which is not only better standing alone but can also be stacked higher during transport in cardboard boxes. The stack compressive strength is substantially higher and the angle of tilt is reduced.Below the substantially cylindrical section, a radially wide pot shoulder can be formed, which can be used in a pot magazine by a lower holding jaw for perfect destacking. The advantage of the wider pot shoulder, which is situated at a greater distance than the stacking edge from the pot edge, is that the pot magazine can be set more quickly and, in particular, more free of faults. Due to the substantially cylindrical section, the plant pot can have a larger pot volume with the same diameter of the pot opening lying in the edge. The pot shoulder arranged further upward than previous plant pots presents a pot wall section that is higher in the longitudinal direction of the pot for printing and / or labeling.The substantially cylindrical portion is preferably strictly cylindrical. It can have a slightly conical wall, which, however, differs clearly from the conicity of the pot wall adjoining below. In the exemplary embodiment described below, the stack spacing is approximately 5.4 mm, while the cylindrical section is 5.35 mm high, that is to say only 0.05 mm lower. The plant pot can be round, square, rectangular or generally polygonal in cross section, or can also have a cross-sectional profile which changes continuously from round to polygonal or vice versa from the base to the edge. The plant pot is produced from plastic with a generally thin wall thickness by injection molding or preferably by thermoforming. A thermoformed plant pot has, as a result of production, a greater wall thickness in the upper pot edge compared to the walls of the plant pot.In a preferred further embodiment, it is provided that the cylindrical section forms a low-play centering and / or guidance to a plant pot that is stacked underneath. Good centering and / or guidance is achieved in that, in combination with the above-described guide length, the width of the substantially cylindrical section is minimally smaller than the opening width in the pot edge. A low-play guide can be achieved by local bulges in the cylindrical section.In a preferred further embodiment, it is provided that a plurality of circumferentially distributed ribs protruding radially outwards are formed in the cylindrical section. The ribs, which preferably extend axially parallel and preferably over the height of the cylindrical section, enable a centering and / or guidance without play, without the plant pot jamming in the lower-stacked plant pot. The width of the ribs relative to the inner side of the pot rim is at least designed such that only a minimum undersize is present. The ribs can be dimensioned such that at least some of the ribs contact the inside of the pot rim, preferably slightly oversized. The radial flexibility of the cylindrical section, which is given in particular by its small wall thickness, ensures that the ribs abut the pot edge almost without force and thus guide it with little friction and above all without clamping. At the same time, the cylindrical section is axially stiffened by the ribs, so that a more stably shaped shoulder is formed. The ribs radially enlarge the supporting edge formed by the shoulder in places. The ribs are preferably arranged at an equal distance from one another.The ribs preferably have a mutual spacing in the circumferential direction of less than or equal to 25 mm, preferably less than or equal to 12 mm, more preferably between 1.5 and 6 mm. The large number of ribs, which are arranged at a comparatively close distance from one another, enables good mutual centering and / or guidance of plant pots nested one inside the other. The plant pots can still be easily rotated relative to one another, which is advantageous when handling the plant pots, especially when destacking. The mutual spacing of the ribs is about 2.6 mm in the exemplary embodiment. On the cylindrical section having a diameter of 84 mm, 100 ribs are thus arranged distributed over the circumference.Preferably, the ribs have a depth of between 0.1 and 2.5 mm, preferably between 0.1 and 1.0 mm. Depth is understood here to mean the height of the ribs extending in the radial direction. The comparatively low ribs do not limit the radially elastic properties of the cylindrical section. However, the small depth is sufficient to space the wall regions between the ribs from the inner edge of the pot edge, so that air can escape during stacking and destacking. In the exemplary embodiment, the ribs have a depth of approximately 0.2 mm and a width of approximately 1.2 mm as seen in the circumferential direction of the plant pot.Preferably, the width of opposed ribs is about equal to or slightly greater than the opening width of the flange-shaped rim. A preferably slight overdimension of less than 0.5 mm can be compensated for by the radial elasticity of the cylindrical section, so that the plant pots are at least guided without play with respect to one another.In a preferred further embodiment, it is provided that the plant pot has a generally frustoconical, round shape. The plant pot is preferably produced by the thermoforming process from a thin plastic film.In a preferred further embodiment, it is provided that the wall thickness of the cylindrical section is 0.2 to 0.8 times the wall thickness of the flange-shaped edge. In the exemplary embodiment, the wall thickness of the cylindrical section, as in the stack edge, is approximately 0.3 mm. The wall thickness of the upper flange-shaped edge is 0.7 mm. The ratio is 0.3 mm / 0.7 mm=0.43.Further advantages and details of the invention can be seen from the following description of the figures. Individual technical features of the exemplary embodiment described below can also be combined in combination with exemplary embodiments described above and the features of the independent claims and any further claims to form articles according to the invention. If appropriate, functionally equivalent elements are provided with identical reference numerals. They show FIG. 1 shows a plant pot according to the invention in a perspective view; FIG. 2 is a side view of a stack of nested plant pots; FIG. 3 is a section through the stack; FIG. 4 shows a detailed view of the edge region of the plant pot.The round plant pot 1 shown in FIG. 1 is thermoformed and stamped from a thin plastic film. Due to the production method, it has the shape of a cup with a simple, continuous, unbranched pot wall 3 in a generally frustoconical shape and a placement base 2 with profiling and holes for stiffening, charging and dewatering and ventilation. The downwardly tapering shape makes it possible to nest identical plant pots into one another and thus stack them in a space-saving manner, as shown in FIG. 2. A slight play between the pot walls 3 of the plant pots is conducive to satisfactory destacking, especially if it is effected mechanically.The game results by aligning the plant pots coaxially in the stack and placing them at a defined stack spacing d from one another. The plant pots should not wedge into one another, even in the case of high stacks in which the lowermost plant pots are heavily loaded, in particular during transport on trucks. In the edge region 4 of the plant pot 1 there is provided for this purpose a stacking edge 6 with a Z-shaped cross section which is formed under a flange-shaped edge 5 counter-synchronously with the pot wall 3 and forms in plan view a stacking edge 7 covered by the edge 5. The upper edge 5 serves to place a further plant pot thereon, while the stacking edge 7 rests on the edge 5 of a plant pot arranged underneath it. The stacking distance d is the distance between the upper flange-shaped edge 4 and the stacking edge 7. see in this regard the sectional view in FIG. 3. For good mouldability on the one hand and good stackability on the other hand, the stacking edge 6 is designed in a wave shape following the stacking edge 7, see FIG. 4.For machine destacking, the stacks are placed in pot magazines. In FIG. 2, holding jaws 21, 23 and a ejector 22 of a typical pot magazine are shown. An upper holding jaw 21 together with a ejector 22 is located between the edges 5 of the last and next to last plant pot, while a lower holding jaw 23 abuts a shoulder 10 of the pot wall 3 of the lowest plant pot. In order to separate the lowermost plant pot from the stack, the lower holding jaw 23 is pivoted away and the ejector 22 is subsequently moved downward in order to push the plant pot away. The upper holding jaw is pivoted out in order to transfer the stack to the pivoted-back lower holding jaw 23. The upper holding jaw 21 and the ejector 22 are finally moved into the next intermediate space.For a higher stack-carrying capacity of the plant pot 1 and easier destacking, according to the invention, a substantially cylindrical section 8 is formed into the pot wall 3 below the stack edge 6, the height h of which section is equal to or minimally smaller than the stack spacing d. It has a smaller wall thickness s 2, compared to the edge 5, which wall thickness s has the greatest wall thickness s 1 of the plant pot as a result of the production. In the transition to the conical wall region lying below, the above-mentioned shoulder 10 is drawn into the pot wall 3. As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 4, a plurality of ribs 9 parallel to the longitudinal axis of the plant pot and projecting radially outwards are formed over the circumference of the cylindrical section 8 at an equal mutual distance a. The ribs 9 have a width b and a depth t.The depth t of the ribs 9 is dimensioned such that they bear with zero or slight overdimension against the inner edge of the flange-shaped edge 5 of an understacked plant pot. Thus, during stacking, the plant pot 1 is already guided over the height h, which is approximately equal to the stack spacing d, before the plant pot has reached its final position in the stack. The radially elastic properties of the cylindrical portion 8 prevent the plant pots from rubbing against each other and ensure that the plant pots are centred exactly coaxially and without play. During stacking and destacking, air can escape between the ribs 9 arranged at a distance a.The cylindrical section 8 forms, in particular by means of the radially protruding ribs 9, a radially widened shoulder 10, by means of which the plant pot, in addition to the stacking edge 7, is supported on a plant pot which is stacked under it. The shoulder 10 lies on the inner side of the stacking edge 7. In combination with the guidance without play, a much more stable plant pot stack is formed, which is not only better on its own, but can also be stacked higher during transport in cardboard boxes, without the in particular lower plant pots sliding deeper into one another and wedging during transport with trucks. The stack compressive strength is increased and the tilt angle is decreased.On the radially widened shoulder 10 axially reinforced by the ribs 9, high and thus heavy stacks can also be securely supported by the lower holding jaw 23. Pot magazines can be set more quickly and above all more free from faults.List of reference characters1 Plant pot 2 Set-down floor 3 Pot wall 4 Edge region 5 Edge 6 Stack edge 7 Stack edge 8 Cylindrical section 9 Rib 10 Shoulder 21 Upper retaining jaw 22 Ejector 23 Lower retaining jaw d Stack spacing h Height a Spacing t Depth b Width S 1 Wall thickness S 2 Wall thicknessReferences included in the specificationThis list of documents cited by the applicant has been produced in an automated manner and is only included for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent application or utility model application. The DPMA does not take any adhesion for any faults or omissions.Patent Literature citedEP 1422993 B1

[0002]

Claims

Plant pot (1) made of thin-walled plastic, • having a generally conical pot wall (3) and a set-up base (2) profiled for stiffening and dewatering and having holes, • having an upper flange-shaped edge (5), • having a substantially counter-conical stack edge (6) formed into the pot wall below the edge (5) for forming a stack edge (7), • wherein a stack spacing (d) is defined between the edge (5) and the stack edge (7), characterized in • that a substantially cylindrical portion (8) is formed into the pot wall below the stack edge (6), • the height (h) of which is less than or equal to the stack spacing (d).Plant pot according to claim 1, characterised in that the cylindrical section (8) forms a low-play centring and / or guidance in relation to a plant pot stacked beneath.Plant pot according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that a plurality of ribs (9) distributed over the circumference and projecting radially outwards are formed in the cylindrical section (8).Plant pot according to claim 3, characterised in that the ribs (9) have a mutual spacing (a) in the circumferential direction of less than or equal to 25 mm, preferably less than or equal to 12 mm, further preferably between 1.5 and 6 mm.Plant pot according to claim 3 or 4, characterised in that the ribs (9) have a depth (t) between 0.1 and 2.5 mm, preferably between 0.1 and 1.0 mm.Plant pot according to one of claims 3 to 5, characterised in that the width of opposite ribs (9) is approximately equal to or slightly greater than the opening width of the flange-shaped edge (5).Plant pot according to one of Claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the plant pot has a generally frustoconical, round shape.Plant pot according to one of Claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the wall thickness (s 2) of the cylindrical section is 0.2 to 0.8 times the wall thickness (s 1) of the flange-shaped edge.

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