Plant pot

Abstract

In a plant pot (1) made of thin-walled plastic material and of a generally frustoconical shape, the wall (3) of the pot is reinforced by a shoulder (2) the annular face (10) of which has a number of axially protruding bulging portions and / or indentations (11, 12) which are mutually interspaced in the circumferential direction (U), and the axial deviation (a) of the annular face (10) is smaller or equal to the stacking distance (s) of the plant pot.

Description

[0001] Plant pot

[0002] The present invention relates to a plant pot according to the preamble of claim 1.

[0003] Such a plant pot is known from EP 1422993 A1.

[0004] The plant pot, thermoformed from a thin plastic film, has a slightly conical, stackable basic shape. The stacking distance is defined by two ledges formed in the pot rim, which at least partially overlap in plan view and are axially spaced. The attached pot wall has a radially outwardly flared shoulder at a distance from the pot rim, which serves to stiffen the pot wall against lateral loads. The larger part of the pot wall below the shoulder is free of stiffening elements and can be provided with a label or imprint.

[0005] For machine processing, plant pots must have a certain degree of compressive strength to prevent the plant pot from collapsing when the substrate is pushed down during potting. Tall plant pots, also called containers, with a pot height greater than 85% of the pot diameter are problematic, as the film thickness in the area of ​​the pot wall is significantly reduced during thermoforming.

[0006] US Pat. No. 5,026,268 A discloses a plant pot whose pot wall consists of a plurality of concave-convex ribs running longitudinally, ensuring sufficient compression strength even with thin wall thicknesses. However, the corrugated pot wall cannot be decorated, especially not printed.

[0007] From US 5459960 A a plant pot is known which has radially projecting bulges in the central section of its pot wall, which run vertically and are open towards the bottom. The bulges redirect the spiral and circular root growth, aerate the growing medium and prune the roots (air pruning). To enable nesting of identical plant pots, the bulges taper downwards in relation to their width in the circumferential direction of the pot wall at a greater angle than the general conicity of the pot wall. The profiling of the central section of the pot wall can also be described by the shoulder between the upper and central section of the pot wall having several axially downwardly projecting bulges.

[0008] The object of the invention is to develop a decorative plant pot which, despite its low wall thickness, has sufficient compressive strength for mechanical potting.

[0009] The object is achieved by a plant pot according to claim 1. Advantageous embodiments of the invention can be found in the subclaims referring back to this claim as well as in the following description of advantages and figures.

[0010] According to the invention, the annular surface of the at least one shoulder has a plurality of axially projecting protrusions and / or indentations spaced apart from one another in the circumferential direction, wherein the axial deflection of the annular surface is less than or equal to the stacking distance of the plant pot. A simple shoulder previously provided on a plant pot is a radially flared step in the pot wall, which is uniformly circumferentially designed on the rotationally symmetrical plant pot and is also referred to as a ledge. The axially projecting protrusions and / or indentations now provided are deflections of the annular surface of the shoulder in the axial direction along the longitudinal central axis, i.e. upwards and / or downwards in the case of an upright plant pot. The protrusions and / or indentations preferably run radially in the annular surface of the shoulder.

[0011] The axially protruding protrusions and / or indentations of the shoulder significantly increase the crush resistance of the plant pot. Firstly, the buckling lengths between the pot rim and shoulder, as well as the shoulder and pot base, are reduced. Secondly, a shoulder stiffened in this way prevents a shoulder that is several millimeters wide from buckling or flanging, particularly in very thin-walled plant pots. Furthermore, the pot wall areas adjacent to the shoulder are even better stiffened against lateral loads than with a simple circumferential shoulder. Overall, therefore, profiling of the adjacent pot wall sections can be dispensed with, so that, depending on the height of the shoulder in the pot wall, pot wall sections below and / or above the shoulder can be decorated.

[0012] The fact that the axial deflection of the ring surface is less than or equal to the stacking distance of the plant pot has the advantage that the plant pots can be easily stacked inside each other without being rotationally aligned with each other.

[0013] The range of axial deflections, in short the axial deflection as the maximum axial distance between the protruding and / or indented annular surface sections, is 0.5 to 20 mm, preferably 3.0 to 10 mm, in the exemplary embodiments described below 6 mm. The mutual distance between the protrusions and / or indentations in the circumferential direction is 4.0 to 50 mm, preferably 5.0 to 20 mm, in the exemplary embodiments 14 mm from wave trough to wave trough. The radial offset of the at least one shoulder is 0.5 to 10 mm, preferably 0.5 to 5.0 mm, in the exemplary embodiments 0.8 mm. The wall thickness of the pot wall is between 0.3 and 1.5 mm. The plant pot can be thermoformed from a thin plastic film or produced by injection molding.

[0014] In a preferred further embodiment, the annular surface is designed to be undulating in the circumferential direction. The regularly recurring protrusions and / or indentations at equal mutual spacing give the plant pot a compressive strength that is uniform across the circumference. A wavy design encompasses a sinusoidal to rectangular (crown-shaped) as well as jagged or peak-shaped profile. A wavy annular surface of the shoulder is characterized by circumferentially alternating wave crests and wave troughs on the upper side of the inside of the pot wall, which form opposite wave crests and wave troughs on the underside of the outside of the pot wall, with the wave crests and troughs running radially.

[0015] In a preferred further embodiment, the shoulder defines a first pot wall section above and a second pot wall section below the shoulder, with at least the second pot wall section having at least three indentations and / or bulges distributed over the circumference and running in the longitudinal direction. The profiling of the pot wall, which extends up to the stiffened shoulder, creates a stiffening grid in the manner of a plant support grid, which is integrated into the plant pot. This achieves an even higher compressive strength of the pot wall, with the pot wall sections being able to be decorated at least in sections in the circumferential direction, namely between the indentations and / or bulges. The decoration can be a print or a label, in particular an integrated in-mold label (IML). The relevant surface sections of the pot wall sections are correspondingly smooth and even.Preferably, at least three indentations are provided, which are thus recessed relative to the outer side of the pot wall, so that the pot wall parts can be labelled completely, or at least can be handled more easily during labelling or printing.

[0016] In a preferred further embodiment, a third pot wall section, which adjoins the pot base, has a plurality of indentations and / or protrusions extending substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction. This lower pot wall section, particularly in thermoformed plant pots, has a thinner wall thickness than the wall sections above it and is therefore particularly susceptible to buckling under high compressive loads. The ribbing with the indentations and / or protrusions can significantly increase the compressive strength of the lower pot wall section.

[0017] In a preferred further embodiment, a second shoulder is formed in the pot wall at a distance from and below the at least one shoulder. The annular surface of the second shoulder is axially deflected in a wave-like manner in the circumferential direction and separates a second pot wall section from a third pot wall section. The second shoulder provides further stiffening of the pot wall in both the axial and radial directions.

[0018] In a preferred further embodiment, the plant pot is thermoformed from a thin plastic film.

[0019] Further advantages and details of the invention can be found in the following description of the figures. Individual technical features of the exemplary embodiments described below can also be combined with previously described exemplary embodiments as well as the features of the independent claims and any further claims to form subject matter according to the invention. Where appropriate, functionally equivalent elements are provided with identical reference numerals.

[0020] Fig. 1 shows a first embodiment of a plant pot according to the invention;

[0021] Fig. 2 a side view of the plant pot;

[0022] Fig. 3 shows a second embodiment of a plant pot according to the invention;

[0023] Fig. 4 a side view of the plant pot;

[0024] Fig. 5 shows a third embodiment of a plant pot according to the invention;

[0025] Fig. 6 a side view of the plant pot;

[0026] Fig. 7 a detailed view of the wave-shaped shoulder from below.

[0027] The plant pot 1 shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, thermoformed from a thin plastic film, has a stackable truncated cone basic shape. The pot height H is approximately equal to the upper pot diameter D, so that it falls into the category of tall plant pots, which are also referred to as containers. An axial longitudinal center axis is marked A. Its pot wall 3 opens upwards into a projecting, U-shaped pot rim 4 and is closed off on the underside by a profiled pot base 7 which has drainage holes. Label slots 5 are punched out in the horizontally aligned section of the pot rim 4. As can be seen from Fig. 7, two ledges are formed in the transition to the pot wall 3, which at least partially overlap in plan view and are axially spaced apart, defining a stacking distance s, wherein the lower stacking ledge 6 is faceted and the upper ledge is formed by the pot rim.

[0028] According to the invention, the pot wall 3 has a shoulder 2 which extends radially outwards by the annular surface width r, the annular surface 10 of which shoulder is wavy in the circumferential direction U and which delimits a first narrow upper pot wall part 13 from a second, decoratable lower pot wall part 14. The wavy design of the shoulder 2 forms axially protruding and receding bulges 11 and indentations 12 in the annular surface 10, which are arranged circumferentially and evenly distributed in the shoulder 2 with the pitch t and have an axial deflection a that is smaller than the stacking distance s. The wavy shoulder 2 stiffens the pot wall 3, which, due to manufacturing reasons, only has a wall thickness d of 20 to 50% of the initial film thickness, to such an extent that the plant pot has sufficient compressive strength to reliably withstand the stresses caused by mechanical potting.

[0029] In a second embodiment shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4, the plant pot 1' is provided, in addition to the wave-shaped shoulder 2, with a plurality of indentations 22 in a lower third pot wall part 15. The second pot wall part 14, located between the shoulder 2 and the third pot wall part 15, has a completely smooth surface that can be decorated with a label or print.

[0030] In a third embodiment of the plant pot 1" shown in Fig. 5 and Fig. 6, four indentations 21 of the lower third pot wall part 15 extend up into the second pot wall part 14. The indentations 21 are evenly distributed over the circumference, so that four printable circumferential sections are formed in the second pot wall part 14. A label can be applied over the indentations 21.

[0031] To allow nesting of identical plant pots, the indentations 21, 22 widen downwards in terms of their width in the circumferential direction of the pot wall.

Claims

1. Plant pot (1) made of thin-walled plastic in a generally truncated cone shape with a pot wall (3) stiffened by at least one flared shoulder (2), an upper outwardly projecting pot rim (4) and a pot base (7) with at least one drainage hole, characterized in that the annular surface (10) of the at least one shoulder (2) has a plurality of axially projecting protrusions and / or indentations (11, 12) spaced apart from one another in the circumferential direction (U), the axial deflection (a) of the annular surface (10) being less than or equal to the stacking distance (s) of the plant pot.

2. Plant pot according to claim 1, characterized in that the annular surface (10) is wavy in the circumferential direction (U).

3. Plant pot according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a first pot wall part (13) above and a second pot wall part (14) below the shoulder (2) are delimited by the shoulder (2), wherein at least the second pot wall part (14) has at least three indentations and / or protrusions (21) distributed over the circumference and running in the longitudinal direction.

4. Plant pot according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that a third pot wall part (15), which adjoins the pot base (7), has a plurality of indentations and / or protrusions (22) extending substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction.

5. Plant pot according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that a second shoulder is formed in the pot wall at a distance from and below the at least one shoulder, the annular surface of which is axially deflected in a wave-like manner in the circumferential direction.

6. Plant pot according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the plant pot is thermoformed from a thin plastic film.

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