WO1993019446A1

WO1993019446A1 - Plant id tag and pot

Info

Publication number: WO1993019446A1
Application number: PCT/AU1993/000120
Authority: WO
Inventors: Dean Lynton Holmes
Original assignee: Design Development Group Pty. Ltd.
Priority date: 1992-03-25
Filing date: 1993-03-24
Publication date: 1993-09-30

Abstract

A tag (10) for attachment to a pot, tray or like container (15) for plants or seedlings has a face portion (11) for displaying information and a stem (12) for connecting the tag to the container. The stem has a transverse slot (14) and a crease or fold (13) extending centrally downwardly through the slot whereby the tag has a generally V-shaped section at said slot. The horizontal edges of the slot engage the upper and lower surfaces, respectively, of a rim (16) of the container when the stem is passed through an aperture (17) in the rim so as to retain the tag in position on the rim. The tag is formed of resilient material whereby it is deformed to a flat section during passage of the stem through the aperture. The aperture (17) may have a sloping and contoured tongue (20) extending part way across the aperture for engagement in the slot and the slot may be shaped according to the contour of the tongue.

Description

-_jjjj-_jk PLANT ID TAG AMD POT

This invention relates to plant identification tags and more particularly to plant identification tags for attachment to pots, trays or containers which accommodate small plants or seedlings, usually temporarily during sale and prior to transplanting.

Identification tags of the general kind contemplated herein are well known and are shown, for example, in Australian patent specifications 553710 Wood et al, 61568/86 A.J. Newport & Son Pty. Ltd., and 620016 Norwood Industries Pty. Ltd.. The tags are usually required to be attached to or adjacent the top edge of the containers which are made of plastics material, and a slot or like aperture is moulded into the container rim for accommodating the tag and retaining it in position. The known arrangements generally suffer disadvantages in that the slots or apertures are difficult to mould to the tolerances required or the tags are relatively easily removed therefrom which, in the latter case, facilitates changing of tags from one pot to another in a merchant's store by unscrupulous customers who change a tag from a cheaper plant to a more expensive plant to be purchased. The known tags are also prone to being accidentally removed and thereby lost in transit or in store.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved plant identification tag which avoids or reduces the aforementioned problems.

It is a further object to provide an improved tag and container combination which avoids or reduces the aforementioned problems.

It is still a further object of the invention to provide a pot, tray or like container for plants or seedlings, which container has means for engaging an identification tag in a manner which avoids or reduces the aforementioned problems.

Accordingly the invention provides a tag for attachment to a pot, tray or like container for plants or seedlings, said tag being formed of thin flat resilient material and having a face portion for displaying information and a stem depending, in use, downwardly from said face portion and for connecting said tag to a said container, characterised in that, said tag has a slot extending through the stem in a direction generally horizontally, in use and a fold or crease traversing said slot in a direction generally perpendicular to the direction of said slot whereby, at said slot, the tag has a substantially V-shaped cross-section whereby when said stem is passed, in use, through a slot in the rim of a said container, the horizontal sides of said tag slot are adapted to bear on the upper and underneath sides of said rim, respectively, when said tag is in the attached position.

According to another form the invention provides a tag and plant container combination comprising a tag formed of resiliently flexible material and having a face portion for displaying information and a stem depending from said face portion; and a container having means for receiving and retaining said tag, characterised in that, said tag has a slot through the stem and extending across a fold or crease line, which fold or crease line extends along said stem towards said face portion causing said tag to have a substantially V-shaped cross-section at said slot, said container has a flange or rim for receiving and retaining said tag by means of an aperture in said flange or rim which receives said stem, said aperture being elongated and having a length sufficient to allow said stem to pass therethrough until said tag slot is engaged by said flange or rim and a width slightly greater than the thickness of said tag whereby said tag requires resilient deformation at said fold or crease line to become substantially planar for insertion through said aperture and upon resilient reformation the sides of said slot engage opposite surfaces of said flange or rim as to retain said tag in position on said container.

According to a still further form of the invention there is provided a plant container having a rim or flange for receiving and retaining said tag, said aperture is generally elongated and has a length sufficient to receive the width of a thin flat resiliently flexible stem of said tag, said stem having a slot therethrough and the sides of said slot engaging the upper and lower surfaces of said flange or rim, respectively, when said slot is substantially coplanar with the plane of said aperture and said stem assume a generally V-shape configuration.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood, various embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a plant identification tag according to one embodiment of the invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the tag shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a section along the line A- A of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a plan view of part of a plant pot showing the tag of Figures

1-3 in position on a pot;

Figure 5 is a part perspective view of a seedling tray having slots according to the invention for engaging an identification tag;

Figure 6 is an enlarged plan view of portion of the rim of the tray of

Figure 5 showing the tag in position by the broken lines;

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken on the line A-A of Figure 6;

Figure 8 is a perspective view of part of the rim of a seedling tray showing an alternative slot arrangement for engaging an identification tag;

Figure 9 is a sectional view taken on the line B-B of Figure 8;

Figure 10 is a sectional view take on the line C-C of Figure 8;

Figure 11 is similar to Figure 8 but shows an alternative form of the slot; and

Figure 12 is a sectional view taken on the line D-D of Figure 11.

Referring now to Figure 1, a plant identification tag 10 is formed of flat resilient plastics material and has a face portion 11 and a downwardly depending stem 12. The stem 12 has sides 9 which converge in a downward direction. A crease or fold 13 is stamped into the tag 10 so that it normally assumes a V-shaped section as shown in Figure 3 but due to its resilient nature may be forced flat or substantially planar as required. A slot 14 is formed in the stem 12 and runs across the fold 13 and is normal thereto. The shape of the slot 14 and particularly the width (vertical dimension) thereof 14 may be varied according to various different embodiments of a container slot with which it is adapted to cooperate, as will become apparent hereinbelow.

According to the embodiment of Figure 4, a container 15 in the form of a plant pot has an outwardly extending rim or flange 16 around the upper edge and the rim or flange 16 is provided with an aperture 17 for receiving the stem 12 of the tag 10 and retaining the tag in position such that the stem 12 extends down the outside wall of the pot and the face portion 11 sits above the rim 16 to display information as required to readily identify a plant contained in the pot- The aperture 17 has an outward longitudinal side 18 conforming to the curvature of the rim or flange 16 and an inner longitudinal side 19 which curves slightly in the opposite direction and is provided with a tongue 20. The tongue 20 is centrally located along the side 19 and extends towards the side 18 leaving a gap 21. The gap 21 has a width slightly greater than the thickness of the tag 10. The tongue 20 is co-planar with the rim or flange 16 and the length of the aperture 17 is such that the stem 12 may be passed downwardly through the aperture until the tag slot 14 is in the plane of the rim or flange 16. The length of the aperture 17 may be just sufficient to allow the stem to penetrate to the point where the slot 14 is co-planar with the rim 16 so as to restrict further downward movement of the stem or it may be wider than is necessary-

As will be evident in order to attach a tag onto the pot 15, the lower end of stem 12 is deformed so as to straighten the V section whereby the tip of the stem may be inserted through aperture 17 at the narrow portion defined by the tongue 20. Very little, if any, straightening is required as the tip is very narrow at this point and almost conforms to the curvature of the container. Once the tip of the stem 12 is inserted into the aperture 17 the tag may be forced downwardly, which causes deformation (flattening of the V-section) of the tag, until the slot 14 is engaged by tongue 20 allowing the tag to reform to the normal V-shaped configuration due to the resilience of the tag. The tag then assumes the position shown in Figure 4 wherein it is interlocked with tongue 20 and cannot be removed from the pot without extreme difficulty. In order to remove the tag it is necessary to deform the stem on the underside of the tongue 20 so that the cross-sectional shape of the tag is identical to the shape of the slot whereby it should be possible to remove the tag, although in practice this has been found to be very difficult.

According to another embodiment not shown in the drawings, the pot or container aperture 17 need not have the tongue portion 20 in which case the aperture is a parallel sided aperture which may be curved to conform to the curvature of the pot or may even by a straight sided aperture. It will be evident that insertion of the stem 12 through the aperture until the tag slot 14 is coincident with the edge of the container aperture 17 will cause the tag to be retained in position in a similar manner to that described above in relation to Figure 4. In other words the longitudinal sides of the slot 14 engage the surfaces of the flange 16 above and below the flange respectively.

The remaining figures of the drawings show various different embodiments of the invention and it is not necessary to describe these embodiments in detail since the detailed description in relation to Figures 1-4 will make it evident as to how the tag and container cooperate in the embodiments shown in the remaining figures. Figures 5, 6 and 7 show an alternative form of the aperture 17 which is an elliptical shaped aperture having a tongue portion 20 extending part way across the central portion thereof. It will also be apparent that tongue portion 20 is raised above the plane of the rim 16 of the container which in this case is in the form of a seedling tray. The tongue portion 20 has a ridge 22 and inclined surfaces 23 which slope downwardly away from the ridge 22. The ridge 22 and the surfaces 23 also slope downwardly in a direction across the aperture 17. The purpose of the slopes is two fold. Firstly the slope assists in guiding the tip of the tag 10 into the gap between the end of the tongue portion 20 and the side of the aperture 17 whereby the tip is more easily inserted. This is useful in mass production of completed containers with plants therein as the tag must be inserted quickly on a production line usually be manual labour. Secondly, the sloping surfaces assist in ensuring that soil which spills onto the rim 16 when the contained is filled, does not block the aperture 17 and thus create difficulties in inserting the tag. The sloping surface cause such soil to fall through the aperture 17.

The tag 10 is shown by broken lines 24 in Figure 6 in the position it assumes when attached to the container. As in evident the V-shaped section which the tag 10 assumes due to the fold 13 ensures that the tag cannot be easily removed.

Referring now to Figures 8, 9 and 10 a variation of the embodiment shown in Figures 5, 6 and 7 is shown. In this case the edges of the aperture 17 have a bevel 25 for the purpose of guiding the tip of tag 11 therethrough and also for dispersing soil which inadvertently falls thereon. Also it will be noted that the tongue portion 20 is domed or curved in section and inclined downwardly across the slot for this purpose. In this embodiment it is preferred that the tag slot 14 have a shape which conforms to the profile of the tongue rather than being a simple rectangular slot.

Another and more basic embodiment is shown in Figures 11 and 12 wherein the aperture 17 and tongue portion 20 are totally planar and resemble the arrangement shown in Figure 4 with the minor variations to the shape of the aperture and tongue. In this embodiment there is no provision for guiding the tag into and through the aperture but the shape of the aperture is such that soil is unlikely to be retained therein and block passage of the tag. This embodiment is only slightly less basic than the parallel sided aperture referred to hereinabove.

^"Whilst various different embodiments of the aperture 17 and tongue 20 have been described it will be evident to persons skilled in the art that many other variations of the aperture, from the basic parallel sided aperture without tongue to the rather complex arrangements such as in Figures 5 and 8, may be readily provided in order to accommodate and retain the tag 10. Also, the tag 10 may take many different forms and may for example have definite shoulders for limiting the downward passage of the tag through the container aperture. It is important that the tag have resilience so as to retain at least a generally V-shaped section in the absence of external forces.

Having described the present invention with respect to various embodiments, it should be evident that the tag of the present invention provides a very simple tag which is easily manufactured and which can be engaged with the unique aperture arrangement provided by the invention to provide a combination of tag and pot which avoids or overcomes the difficulties encountered with prior art aπangements. As is evident the width of the tag slot 14 is slightly greater than the thickness of the container rim or whatever tongue or tongue and lip combination is provided therein, so that the unique engagement between the respective parts is provided. The container is formed either by injection moulding or vacuum forming; the latter being preferred as a more economical method of production and the embodiments described above readily provide for vacuum forming. The tag is of course readily stamped from suitable material-

Claims

CLAIMS.

1. A tag for attachment to a pot, tray or like container for plants or seedlings, said tag being formed of thin flat resilient material and having a face portion for displaying information and a stem depending, in use, downwardly from said face portion and for connecting said tag to a said container, characterised in that, said tag has a slot extending through the stem in a direction generally horizontally, in use, and a fold or crease traversing said slot in a direction generally perpendicular to the direction of said slot whereby, at said slot, the tag has a substantially V- shaped cross-section whereby when said stem is passed, in use, through an aperture in a flange or rim of a said container, the horizontal sides of said tag slot are adapted to bear on the upper and underneath sides of said rim, respectively, when said tag is in the attached position.

2. A tag as defined in claim 1, characterised in that, said tag has downwardly converging sides which extend from said face portion to a narrow tip portion which is adapted for insertion through said slot in the rim of said container.

3. A tag as defined in claim 2 characterised in that, said tag slot is a rectangular slot extending longitudinally in use, in the horizontal direction across said tag.

4. A tag as defined in claim 1, characterised in that, said tag slot is shaped to conform to the profile of a contoured tongue which projects across said aperture such that, in use, said slot is engaged over said tongue.

5. A tag as defined in claim 3 or claim 4, characterised in that, said fold or crease extends from adjacent said face portion to said tip portion along a central vertical axis of the tag whereby said V-shaped cross-section is flattened as said stem is passed through the slot in said container rim and resiliently returns to its normal cross-sectional shape when said tag is in said attached position.

6. A tag and plant container combination comprising a tag formed of resiliently flexible material and having a face portion for displaying information and a stem depending from said face portion; and a container having means for receiving and retaining said tag, characterised in that, said tag has a slot through the stem and extending across a fold or crease line, which fold or crease line extends along said stem towards said face portion causing said tag to have a substantially V-shaped cross-section at said slot, said container has a flange or rim for receiving and retaining said tag by means of an aperture in said flange or rim which receives said stem, said aperture being elongated and having a length sufficient to allow said stem to pass therethrough until said tag slot is engaged by said flange or rim and a width slightly greater than the thickness of said tag whereby said tag requires resilient deformation at said fold or crease line to become substantially planar for insertion through said aperture and upon resilient reformation the sides of said slot engage opposite surfaces of said flange or rim as to retain said tag in position on said container-

7- A tag and plant container combination as defined in claim 6, characterised in that, said aperture has a tongue portion which extends part way across said aperture and said tongue portion passes through said slot when said tag is in said position-

8. A tag and plant container combination as defined in claim 7, characterised in that, said tongue is inclined slightly relative to the plane of said flange or rim to guide said stem into said aperture.

9. A tag and plant container combination as defined in claim 8, characterised in that, said tongue and aperture are contoured to guide said stem into and through said aperture and reduce the possibility of soil collecting in said aperture.

10. A tag and plant container combination as defined in claim 9, characterised in that, said tag slot has a shape which conforms to the profile of said tongue whereby, in use, said tag slot is engaged by said contoured tongue.

11. A plant container having a rim or flange for receiving and retaining an identification tag, characterised in that, said container has a flange or rim including an aperture for receiving and retaining said tag, said aperture is generally elongated and has a length sufficient to receive the width of a thin flat resiliently flexible stem of said tag, said stem has a slot therethrough and the sides of said slot engage the upper and lower surfaces of said flange or rim, respectively, when said slot is substantially coplanar with the plane of said aperture and said stem assumes a generally V-shape configuration-

12. A plant container as defined in claim 11, characterised in that, said aperture has a tongue extending part way across said aperture for engaging said slot in said tag, whereby the sides of slot engage the upper and lower surfaces of said tongue, respectively, to retain said tag.

13. A plant container as defined in claim 12, characterised in that, said tongue is inclined relative to the plane of said flange or rim in a direction downwardly as it extends across said aperture.

14. A plant container as defined in claim 13, characterised in that, said tongue is contoured at least on its upper surface.

15. A plant container as defined in claim 14, characterised in that, the edge of said aperture is bevelled downwardly to guide the end of said stem therethrough and/or reduce the possibility of soil obstructing said aperture.