Perishable items such as plants or the like have been shipped in boxes. The boxes are loaded on a pallet, and the pallet is then loaded into a truck or other vehicle for shipping. Refrigerated trucks are often utilized to ship plants or other perishable items.
In general, a greenhouse or other supplier of plants will offer a variety of plants in different sized pots or other containers. Also, the plants themselves may vary substantially in size. Typically, a customer places an order for plants that includes plants of different species that are supplied in pots of different sizes. If cardboard boxes or other conventional containers are used for shipping, large and small plants may be placed together in a box in order to fill a specific order. However, the box may be larger than necessary for some of the plant species, leading to inefficient use of the space within the boxes. Also, the boxes may be time consuming to load, and/or difficult to position in a truck without damage to the plants or box.
One aspect of the present invention is a shipping unit configured to be positioned on a pallet. The shipping unit includes a plurality of individual components made from cardboard or other suitable material that may be partially assembled prior to packing with plants or other items. The shipping unit can then be fully assembled, and placed on a pallet. Additional fully assembled shipping units may then be stacked onto the fully assembled unit. The components making up the individual shipping units may be prefabricated in a variety of sizes, such that the size of the shipping unit can be adjusted as required at the time of assembly to meet the requirements of a particular order of plants or other items. The height of the vertical components of the assembled units in a stack may be selected to provide for a total height of 96 inches, which corresponds to the maximum allowable height for many refrigerated trucks.
The shipping system may include trays that are made of cardboard or other suitable material generally shaped similar to shallow boxes. The trays can be used as either a base or a lid. The trays preferably have a size corresponding to a standard pallet. The shipping system also includes a plurality of vertical components that are also made of cardboard or other suitable material. The vertical components are generally U-shaped in plan view, and sized to fit closely within the trays. A first pair of the vertical components may be placed in a tray forming a base, with the vertical components being positioned to form an “H” shape in plan view, with the “horizontal” leg of the “H” dividing the space above the tray into two side-by-side spaces that receive plants or other items therein. Additional U-shaped vertical components can then be assembled to close off the spaces, and a tray can be used as a lid and positioned on the top of the vertical components to form an assembled unit.
For purposes of description herein, the terms “upper,” “lower,” “right,” “left,” “rear,” “front,” “vertical,” “horizontal,” and derivatives thereof shall relate to the invention as oriented in
With reference to
The U-shaped shroud components 2A-2D of
During assembly, a pair of U-shaped shroud components 2A and 2B are positioned on a tray 3A, with the bases 7 of U-shaped shroud components 2A-2D in contact with each other such that the components 2A and 2B have a “H” shape in plan view. The U-shaped shroud components 2A and 2B form two discrete areas 21 of tray 3A. Once a partially assembled unit 18 (
After the plants are loaded onto the partially assembled unit 18, additional U-shaped shroud components 2C and 2D are positioned on the tray 3A, with the extensions 8 of U-shaped shroud components 2A and 2C overlapping one another. The extensions 8 of the outer U-shaped shroud components 2C and 2D can be positioned either outside or inside extensions 8 of the inner U-shaped shroud components 2A and 2B. Similarly, the extensions 8 of U-shaped shroud components 2B and 2D also overlap one another. The bases 7 of U-shaped shroud components 2C and 2D close off the spaces 21A and 21B to form a partially assembled unit 19 having a quadrilateral perimeter with vertically-extending spaces 24A and 24B.
After assembly of the partially assembled unit 19 (
After completion of a fully assembled lower shipping unit 20, an additional tray 3C can be positioned on the tray 3B as shown in
The height “H” (
For example, two assembled shipping units 20 having heights of 48 inches may be stacked to provide a total height of 96 inches. Similarly, 48 inch high assembled shipping unit 20 may be stacked with a 32 inch assembled unit and a 16 inch assembled unit to provide for a 96 inch total height. The following combinations of height also provide a 96 inch total height: (24″, 24″, 48″), (16″, 16″, 16″, 48″), (24″, 36″, 36″), (32″, 32″, 32″), (16″, 24″, 24″, 32″), (16″, 16″, 16″, 16″, 32″), (24″, 24″, 24″, 24″), (16″, 16″, 16″, 24″, 24″), (16″, 16″, 16″, 16″, 16″, 16″).
Flat shroud components (i.e. prior to folding) for 16″, 24″, 32″, 36″, and 48″ high shrouds are shown in
With reference to
The height dimension “H1” of the shroud 116 is 15 inches. The dimension H1 is slightly less than the nominal height (16 inches) of shroud 116 to account for the thicknesses of trays 3 and provide an overall height of an assembled unit 20 that is about 16 inches. Openings 15 have a radius “R” of 1⅛. The openings 15 are located at a distance “D1” of 7½ inches from edge 117 of shroud 116.
With reference to
With further reference to
With reference to
With further reference to
The dimensions H1, H2, H3, H4, and H5 of
One or more pallets 4 may be utilized for an order from a greenhouse or other such supplier. For example, an order could include a first pallet having one 48 inch high shipping unit 20, one 32 inch high shipping unit 20, and one 16 inch high shipping unit 20. A second pallet utilized for the same order could include one 48 inch high shipping unit 20, and two 24 inch high shipping units 20, and a third pallet could include two 32 inch high shipping units 20 and two 16 inch high shipping units 20. A fourth pallet used for the order could utilize one 32 inch high shipping unit 20, two 24 inch high shipping units 20, and one 16 inch high shipping unit 20. In this way, an order of plants or other items having several different heights can be readily combined to provide for efficient use of space in a truck or other shipping vehicle. Also, the number and type of plants included in an order may be adjusted or changed to provide for efficient use of the shipping system, and thereby minimize the shipping costs.
If the shipping system is utilized to ship plants, the 16 inch high shipping units 20 can be utilized to ship eighty 4.5 inch pots, with a first group of forty pots in the space 21A (
The 24 inch high shipping units 20 may be utilized to transport or ship 6 inch pots comprising two groups of twenty-one pots. Each twenty-one pot group comprises three rows of seven pots, with each group of twenty-one pots being positioned in an area 21A and an area 21B.
The 32 inch high shipping units 20 may be packed in a first configuration including 10 inch plants arranged in groups of eight in the spaces 21A and 21B. A second potential configuration for the 32 inch high shipping units 20 comprises 6 inch pots of plant varieties or other items that are extra tall, and therefore require a 32 inch high shipping unit 20. In this configuration, six pots may be placed in area 21A, and another six pots may be placed in area 21B.
A 32 inch high shipping unit 20 may also be utilized to ship hanging baskets of different sizes. For example, ten 12 inch hanging baskets can be combined with twelve 6 inch plants to provide for twenty-two pots total in a shipping unit 20. Five of the 12 inch hanging baskets can be positioned in space 21A, and six of the 6 inch hanging baskets can be positioned in the area 21A. Similarly, five of the 12 inch hanging baskets and six of the 6 inch baskets can be positioned in space 21B. Nesting of the baskets in a single shipping unit 20 increases the density to reduce the packaging and freight expenses per plant or other item.
It will be readily apparent that various other combinations may be utilized as required to meet the needs of a particular order.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a customer may be provided with information concerning the combination of heights of shipping units 20 that can be utilized on a single pallet, and the customer can also be provided with the plant combinations that are possible for each height shipping unit 20. In this way, a customer can place an order that provides for one or more pallets, each of which is preferably configured to have the maximum allowable height of 96 inches.
The U-shaped components 2A-2D for the lowermost assembled shipping unit 20 (
Also, the assembled shipping units 20 (e.g.,
The shipping system of the present invention provides for faster loading of plants or other items, and also provides for efficient use of space. The system also maximizes packing density and thereby reduces the cost associated with packaging, handling, and freight.
The above description is considered that of the preferred embodiments only. Modifications of the invention will occur to those skilled in the art and to those who make or use the invention. Therefore, it is understood that the embodiments shown in the drawings and described above are merely for illustrative purposes and not intended to limit the scope of the invention, which is defined by the following claims as interpreted according to the principles of patent law, including the doctrine of equivalents.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application No. 61/439,533 filed on Feb. 4, 2011, entitled “SHIPPING SYSTEM FOR PLANTS OR OTHER ITEMS,” the entire contents of which is incorporated by reference.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20130126373 A1 | May 2013 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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61439533 | Feb 2011 | US |