Container

July 14, 1970 d. n. d. smith et al 3,520,439

CONTAINER Filed Oct. 2, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet- 1

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Attorney

D. N. D. SMITH ETAL

CONTAINER

3,520,439

July 14, 1970

Filed Oct. 3, 1968

Sheets-Sheet 2

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D. N. D. SMITH ET AL

CONTAINER

3,520,439

July 14, 1970

Filed Oct. 2, 1968

Sheets-Sheet 5

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3,520,439

Patented July 14, 1970

United States Patent Office

3,520,439 CONTAINER Donald Nathaniel Deavin Smith and Paul Victor Deavin Smith, Battlesbridge, England, assignors to Hindmarch Smith Plastics Limited, Battlesbridge, England, a British company

Filed Oct. 2,1968, Ser. No. 764,433

Claims priority, application Great Britain, Oct. 4, 1967, 45,084/67; Oct. 18, 1967, 47,517/67 Int. Cl. B65d 21/02

U.S. Cl. 220—23.4 1 Claim

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

This invention concerns a compartmented container unit formed from a self-supporting but frangible material and comprising a plurality of containers, or groups of containers; at least one separation cut being formed between adjacent containers or groups of containers which, whilst only partially separating the containers or group of containers will permit the latter to be separated wholly from the remainder of the unit by breaking portions of the material forming the unit which extend between adjacent containers; releasable means extending across the or each separation cut for releasably securing together the containers of the unit.

This invention concerns a container unit.

One object of this invention is to provide a container unit comprising a plurality of interconnected but separable containers. While such units may be particularly suitable in horticulture for, for example, the raising of seedlings and the like, such units have many other applications. For example, such units may be used for housing foods such as fruits where it is desirable to provide a compartmented container unit which can be broken down as required into individual containers or groups of containers.

Thus according to this invention there is provided a container compartmented unit comprising a plurality of containers, such unit being formed from a self-supporting but frangible material, the containers or groups of containers of such unit being partially separated from one another by at least one separation cut which, whilst only partially separating the containers or groups of containers, will permit a container or group of containers to be separated wholly from the remainder of the unit by breaking portions of the material forming the unit which extend between adjacent containers, releasable means extending across the or at least some of the separation cuts for releasably securing together the containers of the unit.

According to one feature of the invention said container unit may be formed from a plastics material and advantageously the unit may be moulded from expanded polystyrene.

According to another feature of this invention said means may comprise a tape releasably secured to the unit and very desirably a tape carrying a contact adhesive may be used.

Alternatively, the means may comprise a sheet of material which at least partially covers the containers. Preferably, such sheet of material may be used completely to cover the containers of the unit and such sheet may be hermitically or otherwise sealed to the unit in a manner which nevertheless permits removal of the sheet from a container, or a group of containers, of the unit.

Expediently, the sheet of material, or part of the sheet of material, may be transparent to enable inspection of the contents of the containers.

If desired said means may comprise a lid having peripheral dimensions substantially equal to the container unit which may be placed over the unit thereby to retain the containers of the unit together.

According to yet another feature of the invention the separation cuts may be effected by knife-cutting of the unit whilst such unit is retained in a partially stressed condition in a direction which tends to open the cuts as they are formed. By knife-cutting in this way as opposed to, for example, saw-cutting, little or none of the material forming the unit is removed by the knife and thus- when the sides of the separation cuts are pressed together the shape of the unit as a whole remains substantially unchanged and the original rigidity of the unit is not seriously impaired.

It is conceivable that the unit may be originally formed so as to have a deformed shape to enable the separation cuts to be formed by saw-cutting, removal of material resulting from such saw-cutting resulting in the unit taking up an undeformed shape when the sides of the cuts are pressed together.

Alternatively, however, the separation cuts may be formed during formation of the container unit and where the unit is moulded from a plastics material the mould would be curved slightly and thin tapering wedges for forming the separation cuts would be provided so that upon pressing the sides of the cuts formed by the wedges together the container would take up an uncurved shape and a rigid, for example rectangular, structure would be provided. It will be understood that if the tapering wedges were substituted for parallel-sided moulding parts the two sides of the separation cuts could not be brought into uniform contact and this would result in the rigidity of the container unit as a whole being impaired.

According to another feature of the invention there is provided a method of forming a container unit comprising the steps of moulding the unit and forming one or more separation cuts therein whilst the unit is in a stressed condition in a cut-opening direction and after formation of the or each cut applying said releasable means which extend across the or each separation cut.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood, and further features of the same more readily appreciated, three embodiments of container unit in accordance with this invention will now be described by way of example, and with reference to, the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a container unit in accordance with this invention; the unit being shown with a length of adhesive tape extending across the separation cuts formed in the container unit;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the container unit of FIG. 1 but showing the tape partially released from one compartment of the unit so that the compartment may be broken away from the remainder of the unit;

FIG. 3 is a plan view similar to FIG. 1 but showing the compartments of a second embodiment of unit intercoupled by a removable sheet of material which covers all of the compartments;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2 and showing the sheet of material of the second embodiment tom away from the first compartment of the unit so that such compartment may be broken away from the unit;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the third embodiment of container unit in which releasable means are constituted by a lid; and

FIG. 6 is a side elevation of the third embodiment, the lid being shown in a position lifted off the container unit.

In the first embodiment the container unit 1 is generally of rectangular form having upstanding side and end walls 2, 3 defining a volume divided into four con3,520,439 tainers of compartments 4 by dividing walls 5, each of the dividing walls 5 being provided with a longitudinally extending separation cut 6. As a result of the separation cuts 6 the compartments of the unit are only interconnected by small potrions 7 of material beneath the cuts so that a compartment 4 may be easily broken away from the remaining compartments of the unit 1.

The compartments 4 are releasably secured to one another in the first embodiment by means of a pair of lengths of contact adhesive coated tape 8 adhered about the upper peripheral edge portions of the side walls 2 so that such tape traverses the end portions of the separation cuts 6.

In this embodiment the container 1 is moulded from expansion polystyrene and the cuts 6 are formed after placing the base 9 of the container 1 on a slightly curved support or platform so that as the cuts 6 are formed by knives the cuts are splayed open as the knife advances so that little or none of the material forming the unit is removed during the cutting operation. It will be understood that any form of knife may be used and the knife may be of a reciprocating type or may be of a rotary type.

After formation of the cuts 6 the adhesive coated tape 8 is applied to the container unit 1 and only when it is desired to break one or more of the compartments of the unit 1 away from the remainder of the unit 1 would the adhesive tape 8 be torn partly off the container unit to release the compartment or group of compartments 4 which are to be broken away.

The second embodiment of container unit 1 in accordance with this invention shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings, is identical to that shown, in FIGS. 1 and 2 but in place of the adhesive tape 8 a cover sheet 10 is applied across the top of the containers and is releasably secured by means of an adhesive or by means of welding to the upper peripheral edge portions of the end and side walls 2, 3 of the container unit 1. Adhesive is designated generally in the drawings at 11. When it is desired to separate one of the compartments 4 from the unit 1 this cover sheet 10 is merely drawn back away from the compartment 4 whereupon such compartment 4 may be broken away from the unit 1. As indicated in the drawings the sheet 10 may be also releasably affixed to the dividing walls 5.

The third embodiment of container unit 1, in addition to having side, end, and dividing walls, 2, 3 and 5 has a second dividing wall 12 which results in the provision of eight containers or compartments 4. This wall 12 is pro ⁴ vided with a separation cut 13 which intersects the cuts 6.

Means for retaining the compartments 4 in the position shown in FIG. 5 are constituted by a lid 14 conveniently formed from a transparent plastics material such as Cel5 luloid. This lid 14 is provided with dependent side and end walls 15 which encircle the container walls.

As has been stated hereinbefore, container units in accordance with this invention have many applications. The first embodiment described above would be particu₁₀ larly suitable for growing young plants whereas the second and third embodiments may be satisfactorily used for packing fresh fruit such as strawberries or the like which when retailed would be sold by the punnet or container as opposed to being sold by weight.

It will, of course, be appreciated that the container units can be moulded or otherwise formed in a very wide variety of sizes to suit different applications and in certain embodiments it would be desirable to compartment the container unit to a greater extent than the units 1 shown in the accompanying drawings. Each compartment could, for example, be further sub-divided by providing further dividing walls and such further wall could be provided with a separation cut.