GB2260308A

GB2260308A - Labels for plant containers

Info

Publication number: GB2260308A
Application number: GB9119463A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Rgensen Knud Elmer J; Jens Aksel Hansen; Ronald Colledge
Original assignee: HORTICULTURAL PRINT SERVICES L
Current assignee: HORTICULTURAL PRINT SERVICES L
Priority date: 1991-09-12
Filing date: 1991-09-12
Publication date: 1993-04-14
Anticipated expiration: 2011-09-12
Also published as: GB2260308B; GB9119463D0

Abstract

A label 50 for a plant container 5 comprises a display portion 52, a penetrating portion 54 for penetrating the growing medium, and engagement means 55 to co-operate with engagement means 80 on the container 5 and so hold the label in place. The penetrating portion may be one or more spikes 54 adapted to slide between a wall of the container and the growing medium. The cooperating engagement means may be a barbed spike and an aperture, at least one of which is resilientiy deformable to allow the barb to pass through the aperture. The barb may be located on the lower end of the penetrating portion, and the aperture may be formed in a shoulder projecting into the interior of the container. The container may be subdivided into compartments (70, fig 3) by internal walls, which may act as guides, to guide the barb towards the aperture. <IMAGE>

Description

PLANT CONTAINER LABELLING SYSTEM The present invention relates to plant containers and labelling systems such as those customarily used in the vending of plants in garden centres, shops and the like.

In order to achieve effective presentation of potted plants at the point of sale, it is well known to provide information relating to the plant, possibly including a picture of the mature plant and other information such as price and growing / habitat instructions on a "pointed label" (10,20). Such pointed labels are usually manufactured from a waterproof material such as plastic, and have a display portion (12,22) on which may be printed or affixed the details relating to the plant as indicated above, and a portion (14,24) in the form of a stake which is capable of penetrating the growing medium in the plant container (5). The pointed label is thus able to stand in an upright position in the container, being held in place by the growing medium with the display portion visible above the growing medium.

In this specification, the use of the word "plant" is used in a broad sense to include flowers, house plants, vegetables etc, and also to include the seeds or bulbs from which they are grown. The expression "growing medium" is intended to encompass all forms of material normally provided in a plant container used for sustaining and propagating such plants, such as soil, compost and other materials. References to "upright", and relative positioning in vertical sense such as upper, lower etc. refer to the normal attitude of a plant container and plant, with growing medium exposed as an upper surface. A plant is described as being contained by the container in the normal sense, being partly, or completely within the growing medium.

A common problem with such pointed labels is the tendency for them to become dislodged from their intended position within the container, and to fall out, resulting in possible loss of identification of the plant.

The present invention is therefore directed toward a labelling system in which the probability that the label become detached from the container and growing medium during normal handling of the items is substantially reduced.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a display label system for plant containers comprising: i) a container having an outer wall and a base, defining an inner volume capable of containing a portion of a plant and its growing medium; and ii) a label wherein said label comprises: a display portion protruding above the level of the top of the container, a penetrating portion for protruding below the level of the top of the container within the inner volume of said container, and capable of penetrating said growing medium, engagement means for connecting with a cooperating engagement aperture formed within said container.

Various aspects of the present invention will now be described by way of example, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figures la and lb show, in front elevation, two different prior art pointed labels; Figures 2a, 2b and 2c show, in front elevation, several different pointed labels according to the present invention; Figures 3a, 3b and 3c show, respectively, plan, front elevation and side elevation views of a plant container according to the present invention; Figures 4a, 4b and 4c show, respectively, plan, front elevation and side elevation views of a plant container according to the present invention; and Figure 5 shows a perspective view of a pointed label and plant container according to the present invention.

The drawings shown in figures l(a) and l(b) have already been described with reference to the prior art.

In figure 2, there are shown three alternative embodiments of pointed labels according to the present invention 30,40,50, each having display portion 32,42,52 respectively, and penetration portion 34,44,54 respectively. Additionally, each label has engagement means 35,45,55 respectively, each of the engagement means comprising three distinct portions, a lower narrow portion 60, an upper wider portion 62, and a top portion 64 narrower than the widest part of the upper portion thereby defining a shoulder.

The engagement means can be formed in a variety of ways, in that the arrowhead formation need not have straight sides, and the upper portion 62 may taper toward the top portion rather than the abrupt change of width shown in the figures, and the lower-portion 60 need not taper to a point.

The labels are, in a preferred embodiment, manufactured from a plastic material having a uniform thickness of approximately 0.5mm, although alternative embodiments allow the use of non-uniform thickness materials.

The front surface of the label as depicted in the figures may be planar, or the label may be crimped, folded or moulded into any desired shape.

Referring now to figure 3 there is shown a plant container 5 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, having a plurality of compartments 70 within the inner volume, each customarily having drain holes 72 in the base. The compartments and plant container wall are normally formed from moulded plastic, and the principal dividing wall has substantially the full height of the plant container along most of its length, but is lowered at one end down to an engagement aperture 80.The engagement aperture 80 comprises an opening in the horizontal surface of the lowered portion of the principal dividing wall 74 such that the engagement means 35,45W,55 of an appropriate label may pass through the wall of the plant container, and protrude downward and in front of the front exterior surface of the container. (Figure 5 shows a perspective view of such an arrangement.) The dimensions of the engagement means are arranged such that the upper, wider portion 62 is wider than the large dimension of the engagement aperture, and that the top portion 64 is narrower than the large dimension of the engagement aperture, and that the thickness of the label is smaller than the small dimension of the engagement aperture.The materials used in manufacture of the plant container and the label are such that the engagement means may be forced through the engagement aperture with some resistance, the preferred shaping of the engagement means as shown in figure 2 being such that removal of the label is resisted by the engagement means.

If desired, a slot 61 (Figure 2(b)) may be provided in the engagement means 45 so as to enable the upper portions 62 to inwardly deflect on insertion through the aperture 80.

The plant container may have additional display area 76 for sticky labels or the like in known manner.

Figure 4 shows an alternative embodiment of a plant container having a single inner volume 70, wherein the engagement aperture is formed by a moulded recess 78 in one wall of the container, with the engagement aperture formed in an upper surface thereof, such that the engagement means 35,45,55 of an appropriate label may be inserted in similar manner to that described above.

The present invention is ideally suited to commercial growers and nurseries where it is necessary to insert labels quickly and efficiently in large numbers.

According to embodiments described herein, the label is most easily inserted into the container down one inside wall of the container, thus separating the growing medium from the container wall, and the engagement aperture is therefore preferably formed in one wall of the container to enable easy guidance of the label toward the aperture.

Labels 40,50 with dual penetration means 44,54 are preferable in this aspect to the single point labels 30.

The presence of the dual penetration means has the effect of separating the growing medium from the container wall thus ensuring that the engagement means is not hindered in its access to the engagement slot, and will not be bent, or diverted from its path.

Label 50, with dual penetration means 54 being longer than the engagement means 55 offers advantages in that the penetration means not only offers the advantages described above, but also may be cooperative with the lowered portion of the principal dividing wall 74, or with the recess 78 to further guide the engagement means 55 toward the engagement aperture 80.

In further embodiments, the container need not have walls defining a substantially rectangular or square shape, but could define a substantially cylindrical volume or other shape.

In figure 5, there is shown a perspective view of a container 5 according to figure 3, having label 40,50 correctly inserted. The display portion 42,52 of the label stands above the level of the top of the container, and in front of the plant contained therein.

Claims

1. A plant container assembly comprising: i) a plant container having an outer wall and a base defining an inner volume capable of containing growing medium; and ii) a label wherein said label comprises: a display portion protruding above the level of the top of the plant container, a penetrating portion for protruding below the level of the top of the plant container within the inner volume of said plant container, and capable of penetrating said growing medium, engagement means for latching engagement with a cooperating engagement means formed within said plant container.

2. A plant container assembly as defined in claim 2 wherein said penetrating portion is planar, and adapted to penetrate and slide between a wall of the container and the growing medium.

3. A plant container assembly as defined in claim 2 wherein said penetrating portion comprises at least one spike having a narrow lower portion and a wider upper portion.

4. A plant container assembly as defined in claim 3 wherein said penetrating portion comprises a plurality of spikes each having a narrow lower portion and a wider upper portion.

5. A plant container assembly as defined in any one of claims 2, 3 or 4 wherein said penetrating portion is shaped to cooperate. with a guiding structure formed within the inner volume of the plant container, wherein said guiding structure is operative to guide said engagement means toward said engagement aperture.

6. A plant container assembly as defined in any one of claims 2, 3, 4 or 5 wherein said engagement means is a barbed spike, and the cooperable engagement means is an aperture formed in the wall of the container.

7. A plant container assembly as defined in claim 6 wherein: the barbed spike comprises a spike having a narrow lower portion, an upper portion widening from said narrow lower portion, and a top portion narrower than the maximum width of said upper portion; and said aperture comprises a slot having a width less than the maximum width of said upper portion, but greater than the width of said top portion, and said upper portion is capable of passage through said slot by virtue of the deformability of one or both the engagement means and the engagement aperture, thus providing resistance to removal of said engagement means from said engagement slot.

8. A plant container assembly as defined in claim 7 wherein said aperture is formed in a shoulder which projects into the interior of the container.

9. A plant container assembly as defined in claim 7 wherein said plant container inner volume is subdivided into compartments by means of dividing walls, and wherein said engagement aperture is provided in an upper surface of a dividing wall.

10. A plant container assembly as defined in claim 9 wherein a one of said dividing walls acts as a guiding structure.

11. A plant container assembly as defined in any one of claims 1 to 7 wherein the engagement means forms part of the lower end of a penetration means.

12. A plant container assembly as defined in any one of the preceeding claims wherein the label is formed from a plastic sheet.

13. A label for a plant container assembly according to any preceeding claim.

14. A plant container having an outer wall and a base, and defining an inner volume capable of containing growing medium wherein said container includes an aperture formed in one wall of the container, said aperture being oriented substantially perpendicular to the remaining area of the container wall and situated part way down said container wall, said aperture being formed in a recess in said container wall.

15. A plant container assembly substantially as described herein, and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

16. A label for a plant container assembly substantially as described herein, and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

17. A container for an assembly substantially as described herein, and with reference to the accompanying drawings.