US20020144922A1

US20020144922A1 - Holder for elongate articles

Info

Publication number: US20020144922A1
Application number: US10/104,360
Authority: US
Inventors: Boudewijn Olsthoorn
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-03-23
Filing date: 2002-03-22
Publication date: 2002-10-10
Also published as: EP1247759A2; NL1017678C2; EP1247759A3

Abstract

Described is a holder with a base which is not smooth, but which contains for instance a profile such as a waffle profile. Such a holder is particularly suitable for presenting and transporting elongate articles therein, such as cut flowers, without them slipping downward in the holder.

Description

The invention relates to a holder which is at least suitable for placing therein of elongate articles, such as for instance cut flowers.

Such a holder has for instance a truncated cone shape, such as a bucket, or has for instance trapezoidal side walls as described in the German utility model DE 29701744. These holders have already been in use for some considerable time, for instance in the transport and display and presentation of bunches of cut flowers in water.

It is also possible for instance to envisage holders constructed from portions, such as rings which can be fitted into each other.

When for instance after a sale a number of bunches of cut flowers have disappeared from a holder, the remaining bunches tend to slide downward. This detracts from the presentation thereof and can result in wet packing paper around the bunches of remaining flowers. In the description of the above mentioned utility model it is stated that the corners between the triangular and/or trapezoidal side walls support the bunches of cut flowers so that they do not slip downward. This requires the use of holders which have special side wall segments differing from the normal bucket-like truncated cone shape and which can only be stacked in a holder of practically the same form when they must be transported in empty state. In addition, it is more expensive to manufacture such holders with differing shapes.

The invention provides a solution to this problem, viz. a holder of the type stated in the preamble, the base of which is not smooth and so in any case contains uneven portions such as for instance ridges. The base is preferably profiled, wherein the portions of the profile projecting from the surface can be situated on the inner side as well as on the outer side of the holder. In particular, the profile patron does only slightly extend from the base. The profile patron can also sink down in the base, viz. the reverse situation from projecting from the surface without really extending from the outer side of the holder. In further preference the base is profiled in symmetrical manner, for instance with a concentric form such as circles or rectangles, for instance squares.

When fewer bunches of cut flowers are present in a known holder with a practically smooth base than such a holder can contain, there is a great chance of these bunches slipping downward, which adversely affects for instance the retail presentation thereof. That the packaging also becomes wet will moreover also cause inconvenience. This problem is obviated by the above stated holder, and particularly when a specific preferred embodiment is applied wherein the profile of the base of the holder is arranged in a waffle pattern. The waffle pattern is furthermore inexpensive to arrange in the base of the known holders.

A holder is preferably applied of practically truncated cone shape, the upper surface of which is open, such as for instance a bucket. However, a holder wherein the walls consist of triangular and/or trapezoidal segments and the base is polygonal in accordance with the number of triangles and/or trapeziums, with a base which is not smooth and which is preferably profiled, is also deemed to fall within the invention. Both holders can also consist of portions, such as for instance rings, which can be fitted into each other.

After use of the holders for transporting and displaying bunches of cut flowers therein, they are generally cleaned to remove the bacteria-containing flower water. They are then transported in stacked manner. The base which is not flat and the profile preferably arranged therein also help here to prevent vacuum formation between the torus or side walls of the holders, which represents a further advantage of the invention.

The holders are usually manufactured from light plastic material, but manufacture from other material such as aluminium can also be envisaged.

In addition to the arranging of a base which is not flat, it is also favourable to arrange elongate openings in a bent edge on the upper surface of a stackable holder, with a view to drainage of leak water, and optional notches in a surface under the base, both with a view to reducing or preventing vacuum formation between the holders during stacking. These features of the holder on its one are the subject of a simultaneously filed patent application.

The present invention will be further elucidated with reference to the annexed figures, in which: [0011]
FIG. 1 shows a view diagonally from below of a holder with a base having a waffle pattern ([0012] 1).
FIG. 2 shows a view diagonally from below of a holder with a base having a waffle pattern ([0013] 1) only slightly extending from that base.
The figures are purely schematic and not drawn to scale. Some dimensions in particular are exaggerated for the sake of clarity. [0014]
Although the present invention is further elucidated in the foregoing on the basis of two embodiments only, it will be apparent that the invention is by no means limited thereto. Any holder suitable for transporting or displaying goods which slip downward when the number of goods present in the holder is reduced, such as for instance elongate articles such as rod-like articles which are transported upright, is deemed to fall within the invention. [0015]

Claims

1. Holder at least suitable for placing therein of elongate articles, such as cut flowers, characterized in that the base of the holder is not smooth.

2. Holder according to claim 2, characterized in that the base is profiled.

3. Holder according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the base is profiled in symmetrical manner.

4. Holder according to claim 3, characterized in that the base comprises a profile with a waffle pattern.

5. Holder according to claim 3, characterized in that the base comprises a concentric profile.

6. Holder according to claim 5, characterized in that the profile consists of circles.

7. Holder according to claim 5, characterized in that the profile consists of rectangles.

8. Holder according to anyone of the claims 1-7, characterized by elongate openings in a bent edge on the upper surface of the holder.

9. Holder according to claim 8, characterized by notches in a surface under the base.

10. Method of displaying and/or transporting elongate articles such as flowers, optionally in bunches, characterized in that these articles are placed in a holder as described in one or more of the foregoing claims.