The present invention relates in general to a system and a method that provides for high volume, high through-put, automated shrink wrapping around plants (“SWAP”). In particular, the SWAP system provides the ability to safely shrink wrap plants while minimizing stress by utilizing heat shields, a conveyor system, and a heating area with heating units having adjustable, directional nozzle heads. Such heat shields further provide protection to the plants during transport and shipping.
This invention relates to the automated and high through-put packaging of plants for shipping and storage. There are several major problems encountered in providing for the shipment of flowers and plants so that they arrive at their destination in fresh condition after a journey of many hours and considerable handling. The first problem is that current shipping systems typically utilize manual labor for the packaging of plants. Such manual systems are slow, low through-put and time-consuming, thus, adding unnecessary stress to the plants. The second problem is that the delicate flowers or plant foliage must be securely held and protected during shipment. A desirable solution is to provide a protective covering (e.g. a plastic sleeve which is heat shrinkable about a potted plant and requires no additional securing device). However, difficulties arise when heat shrinking the plastic sleeve around the plant as the plant can be stressed and even damaged during the heat shrinking process. The present invention solves the above problems in a manner not disclosed in the known prior art by utilizing heat shields to deflect heat away from the plant as it travels on an automated conveyor system through a heating area to safely apply the shrink wrapping for shipping and transportation.
Therefore, it is a principal object, feature, and/or advantage of the present invention to overcome the aforementioned deficiencies in the art and provide an automated shrink wrapping system for plants that does not damage or stress the plant while shrink wrapping in a high through-put manner.
A further object, feature, and/or advantage of the present invention is to provide a means of shipping articles such as plants over long distances of many hours duration under rough handling conditions so that they arrive at their destination in a fresh condition.
An additional object, feature, and/or advantage of the present invention is to provide a heat shield around the plant as it travels through the heating area of the automated shrink wrapping system to deflect heat away from the plant and protect it from stress and damage.
Another object, feature, and/or advantage of the present invention is provide a plant container for potting a plant inside the container, a heat shield disposed about the potted plant, and a shipping tube for receiving the potted plant therewithin including means for holding the potted plant in a stable condition during shipping.
A still further object, feature, and/or advantage of the present invention is to provide that the heat shield disposed about the plant is formed from shrink-wrap plastic and includes an upper vented portion supporting the plant and a lower portion wrapped around the plant container in shrink-wrap relation.
Yet another object, feature, and/or advantage of the present invention is to provide that the heat shield is formed from a single panel, each panel including a tear perforation to facilitate removal of the sleeve from the plant and the plant container.
An additional object, feature, and/or advantage of the present invention is to provide an environment with a constant, stable temperature for the plant and a separate environment for shrink wrapping heat shrinkable material around the plant and the plant container, wherein the environments are separated by a heat shield.
It is another object, feature, and/or advantage of the present invention to provide that the shipping tube include a bottom wall and peripheral side walls, and the means holding the plant container include means extending between the shipping tube and the plant container.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a system is provided to shrink wrap potted plants by utilizing heat shields, a high through-put conveyor system and an automated heating area with heating units having adjustable, directional nozzle heads.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a method of packaging plants for shipment can include placing water-containing absorbent material in the lower portion of a plant container; potting the plant in the water absorbent material; covering the potted plant with a heat shield of shrink wrap plastic; applying heated air to the heat shield to connect it to the plant and plant container; and, fitting the plant container into a shipping tube.
Different aspects may meet different objects of the invention. Other objectives and advantages of this invention will be more apparent in the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the figures. The present invention is not to be limited by or to these objects or aspects.
The present invention contemplates a system and a method that provides for high volume, high through-put, automated shrink wrapping around potted plants for transportation and shipment. The term “potted plant” as used herein means a plant and the pot or plant container, such as a flower pot, within which the plant is contained. The term “plant container” means any type of floral container used to hold a botanical item. Examples of plant containers used in accordance with the present invention include clay flower pots, plastic flower pots, Ellepots, and flower pots comprised of other natural or synthetic materials. The plant container has potting soil or any other growing medium or filler, such as foam, known in the art to secure a plant or other botanical item within the plant container. The term “growing medium” as used herein means any liquid, solid or gaseous material used for plant growth or for the cultivation of plants, including organic and inorganic materials such as soil, humus, perlite, vermiculite, sand, water, and including the nutrients, fertilizers or hormones or combinations thereof required by the plants for growth. One end of the plant is secured in the plant container and the other end exposed through the opening in the plant container. The potted plant has an exterior surface comprising the outer surface of the plant container, about which a cover may be placed or applied. The term “plant” as used herein means a natural or artificial herbaceous or woody plant, taken singly or in combination. The term “plant” also means any portion or portions of natural or artificial herbaceous or woody plants including stems, leaves, flowers, blossoms, buds, blooms, cones, or roots, taken singly or in combination, or in groupings of such portions such as a bouquet or cut flowers.
Slots (24) may be mounted or configured on the first conveyor (12). Slot sizes (24) may be modified via interchangeable chains or sections to fit shrink-wrap plastic tubular heat shields (26) of various diameters. Slots (24) include two steel flat bar stock panels. In one aspect, the panels can be 5″ high, 1″ wide, and ⅛″ thick. These panels ensure that heat shields (26) remain in an upright position on the first conveyor (12) with an opening at the top of each heat shield (26). Furthermore, each of these slots (24) may include a height adjustable pedestal. The height adjustable pedestal may be 1″ in diameter, more preferably ½″ in diameter, and most preferably ⅜″ in diameter. The head of the adjustable pedestal may be in the range between ⅜ to 2″, preferably with a ½″ mushroom head. This pedestal may be height adjustable (e.g. 1″ to 2″ above the first conveyor) to compensate for plant containers of various types (e.g. soft-sided Ellepots or rigid containers) and various sizes (e.g. 2″×2″; 3″×3″; 3.5″×3.5″; 4″×4″; 4.5″×4.5″; 30 mm; 45 mm; 60 mm; 65 mm; 80 mm) being used in the SWAP system. For instance, soft-sided Ellepots require more of a bottom surface to be surrounded by the heat shields to ensure protection when shipping, whereas rigid containers only require their sides to be covered to be adequately protected.
The SWAP system and method of the present invention is a high volume, high through-put system capable of automatically running approximately 10-50 plants per minute through at any given time. The system of the present invention further comprises a standard automated industry shrink wrap film machine (30) known in the art and commercially available, such as those manufactured by Uline, U.S. Packaging & Wrapping, and Astroseal. The shrink wrap film machine further comprises a photo eye (32). An electrical signal from the photo eye (32) triggers the shrink wrap film machine (30) to automatically dispense a preformed heat shield (26) into the slot (24) between each flat bar stock panel when the panels pass by the photo eye (32). The preformed heat shield (26) may comprise a tubular shape (e.g. cylindrical, square, octagonal, trapezoidal, etc.) having an open upper end, a lower end, and an interior space. The heat shield (26) comprises a shrinkable material which, in a preferred embodiment, is made up of shrink wrap or heat shrinkable material. The shrinkable material can be shrunk by a heat source to constrict or crimp the heat shield such that when a plant (34) and plant container (36) are disposed within the heat shield (26), the shield is held or secured about the plant (34) and plant container (36). The heat shield (26) may be detachable from the plant and plant container via perforations, tear strips, weakened areas, or zippers. The upper portion of the heat shield may also be detachable and have an extended portion for serving as a handle or support device.
The heat shield (26) may be constructed of a single sheet of material or a plurality of sheets. Any thickness of the sheet of material may be utilized in accordance with the present invention as long as the sheet of material may be wrapped about at least a portion of a plant container, as described herein. The heat shield (26) may have a thickness of less than about 1 mil to about 30 mils. Typically, the heat shield (26) has a thickness in a range of less than about 0.2 mils to about 10 mils. In a preferred embodiment, the heat shield (26) is constructed from one sheet of man-made organic polymer film having a thickness in a range of from less than about 0.5 mils to about 2.5 mils.
The heat shield (26) may vary in color. Further, the heat shield (26) may consist of designs which are printed, etched, and/or embossed; in addition, the heat shield (26) may have various colorings, coatings, flocking and/or metallic finishes, or be characterized totally or partially by pearlescent, translucent, transparent, iridescent, or the like, characteristics. Each of the above-named characteristics may occur alone or in combination. Moreover, each surface of the heat shield (26) may vary in the combination of such characteristics.
The heat shield (26) may further comprise at least one scent. Examples of scents utilized herein include (but are not limited to) floral scents (flower blossoms, or any portion of a plant), food scents (chocolate, sugar, fruits), herb or spice scents (cinnamon), and the like. Additional examples of scents include flowers (such as roses, daisies, lilacs), plants (such as fruits, vegetables, grasses, trees), foods (for example, candies, cookies, cake), food condiments (such as honey, sugar, salt), herbs, spices, woods, roots, and the like, or any combination of the foregoing. Such scents are known in the art and are commercially available. The scent may be disposed upon the heat shield by spraying the scent thereupon, painting the scent thereupon, brushing the scent thereupon, lacquering the scent thereupon, immersing the sheet of material to scent-containing gas, or any combination thereof. The scent may be contained within a lacquer, or other liquid, before it is disposed upon the sheet of material. The scent may also be contained within a dye, ink, and/or pigment (not shown). Such dyes, inks, and pigments are known in the art, and are commercially available, and may be disposed upon or incorporated in the sheet of material by any method described herein or known in the art.
Plants (34) are pre-potted in the plant containers (36) and inspected by an operator for quality assurance. As heat shields (26) automatically travel down the first conveyor (12), the pre-potted plants (34) are manually loaded (38) by the operator into the opening at the top of each heat shield (26) at a preferable rate of approximately thirty plants per minute. Thus, a heat shield (26) may extend entirely circumferentially about the plant (34) in its plant container (36). Although the present invention discloses manual placement of the plants (34) into the heat shields (26), it is contemplated that robotics may be utilized instead. At this point the plants (34) located within the heat shields (26) automatically continue down the first conveyor (12) to the heating area (40).
As illustrated in
Returning to
After the operator initiates the first conveyor (12) to begin the heating process, the air cylinders (54) may be activated and the dampers (52) closed to pre-determined incremental settings. Thus, heated air will now flow at a controlled rate through the adjustable, directional nozzles (46, 48) onto the first conveyor (12). This rate may be adjusted by changing the size of the openings of the exhaust pipes (56) via the dampers (52). Changing the size of these openings allows for a temperature drop at the nozzles (46, 48) directed at the heat shields (26) (i.e. a larger opening at the exhaust pipes creates greater air flow, thus lowering the temperature at the nozzles). Thus, fully opening the dampers (52) allows heated air to escape through the exhaust pipes (56) and create a vacuum that pulls cool air back through the nozzles (46, 48) to create an instant on/off effect. This also makes it possible for the first conveyor (12) to shut down with plants (34) directly in line with the nozzles (46, 48) as there is no need to remove the plants (34) from the first conveyor (12) to prevent heat damage. This also makes it possible for an instant restart without loss or delay of production. As a result, the unique design of the SWAP system allows for the first conveyor (12) to be stopped without having to also shut down the heating units (42, 44).
As illustrated in
The automated, high through-put process of the present invention generates product movement on the first conveyor (12) so that plants (34) are only in front of the adjustable, directional nozzles (42, 44) for brief intervals. In one aspect the plants (34) are in front of the nozzles (42, 44) for two brief intervals between 1-5 seconds per interval. This process raises the temperature of plant environments (TA,TB) approximately 1-15° F. above ambient temperature, more preferably 6-10° F., thus, causing no adverse effect on the plant. Moreover, plant environment (TA) may be set at a different temperature level then plant environment (TB), according to the preferences of the operator.
As shown in
All conveyors (12, 58, 64) in the SWAP system are automated, high through-put, and may run in a continuous loop and may be driven by the same motor (14). However, the third conveyor (64) may be configured to move slower as compared to the first and second conveyors (12, 58) to allow twice the amount of time to load the plant (34) into the shipping tube (66). After the shipping tube (66) is loaded with a plant (34) the third conveyor (64) removes the shipping tube (66) from under the funnel (60) wherein it exits the SWAP system for shipping and transportation. This process may run continuously without manually stopping and starting the conveyors.
The automated, high volume, high through-put SWAP system and method of the present invention are universally applicable to plants and plant containers of all shapes and sizes, makes, models, and manufacturers. Furthermore, the SWAP system can be used with any standard manufacturer shrink wrap film machine. Although the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to preferred aspects thereof, it is not to be so limited since changes and modifications may be made therein which are within the full intended scope of the invention.