Curing basket

Abstract

There is provided a basket (10) for receiving, transporting and curing tobacco leaves, the basket having a substantially cuboidal shape, having a base (110), opposing side walls (120, 130) rigidly attached to the base (110), and a back wall (140) rigidly attached to the base (110) and to the side walls (120, 130), the basket (10) being open to the front and to the top.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A basket for receiving, transporting and curing tobacco leaves, the basket having a substantially cuboidal shape, comprising a base, opposing side walls rigidly attached to the base, a back wall rigidly attached to the base and to the side walls, the basket being open to the front and to the top, and a frame, wherein the frame forms the edges of the cuboid except for the edge joining the two adjacent open sides. 
     
     
         2 . A basket of  claim 1 , wherein the walls and base of the basket comprise wire meshes. 
     
     
         3 . A basket of  claim 1 , wherein the wire mesh of the base is more closely interlaced than the wire mesh of the walls. 
     
     
         4 . A basket of  claim 2 , comprising L-shaped rods configured to be supported by the wire mesh of the walls such that the L-shaped metal rods are configured to maintain the tobacco leaves received in the basket in position. 
     
     
         5 . A basket of  claim 1 , wherein the back wall comprises a connector for connecting the back wall of the basket to a frame of the open front side of an adjacent basket. 
     
     
         6 . A basket of  claim 1 , wherein a frame of the open front side of the basket comprises a connector for connecting the frame of the open front side of the basket to a back wall of an adjacent basket. 
     
     
         7 . A basket of  claim 1 , wherein the basket is formed of a noble metal. 
     
     
         8 . A basket of  claim 1 , wherein the open front of the basket comprises an attachable barrier for securing the tobacco leaves received in the basket, further wherein the attachable barrier is configured to be connected to the open front of the basket. 
     
     
         9 . A curing barn for curing of tobacco leaves comprising:
 a plurality of baskets according to  claim 1 .   
     
     
         10 . A curing barn of  claim 9 , wherein the baskets are arranged side by side such that the back wall of a first basket is adjacent to the open front side of a second basket. 
     
     
         11 . A curing barn of  claim 9 , comprising rails for baskets as defined in any one of  claims 1  to  8  to be mounted upon. 
     
     
         12 . A curing barn of  claim 11 , wherein the rails comprise guides configured to guide the baskets into position along the rails. 
     
     
         13 . A curing barn of  claim 12 , wherein the first and second baskets are arranged such that the back wall of the first basket is on a first side of the guide of the rail and the open front side of the second basket is on a second side of the guide, wherein the first and second sides are two opposing surfaces on the guide. 
     
     
         14 . A curing barn of  claim 9 , wherein a floor of the curing barn has dimensions that are whole number multiples of dimensions of the base of the basket. 
     
     
         15 . A curing barn of  claim 12 , wherein a width of the curing barn has a length that is a sum of whole number multiples of a length of the side wall of the basket and the widths of the guides between the baskets. 
     
     
         16 . A curing barn of  claim 9 , wherein the baskets are arranged to fill a plane of the curing barn, wherein the plane is substantially horizontal. 
     
     
         17 . A curing barn of  claim 9 , wherein there is space for airflow between the floor of the facility and the baskets. 
     
     
         18 . A curing barn of  claim 12 , wherein the guide tapers. 
     
     
         19 . A curing barn of  claim 9 , wherein the baskets are configured to be stacked on top of one another to form at least two layers of baskets. 
     
     
         20 . A method for receiving, transporting and curing tobacco leaves using a basket having a substantially cuboidal shape, comprising a base, opposing side walls rigidly attached to the base, and a back wall rigidly attached to the base and to the side walls, the basket being open to the front, opposite the back wall, and to the top, opposite the base, the method comprising:
 orientating the basket to a loading position;   loading the tobacco leaves into the basket from the open top and front;   securing the open front side of the basket;   orientating the basket to a curing position;   transporting the basket to a curing barn; and   curing the tobacco leaves loaded into the basket in the curing barn.   
     
     
         21 . A method of  claim 20 , wherein a plurality of baskets are loaded into the curing barn, and the baskets are arranged side by side such that the back wall of a first basket is adjacent to the open front side of a second basket. 
     
     
         22 . A method of  claim 20 , wherein the tobacco leaves are loaded into the basket with the stems of the tobacco leaves against the base of the basket, such that tips of the tobacco leaves point towards the open top side. 
     
     
         23 . A method of  claim 20 , wherein L-shaped metal rods are driven through the side walls of the basket, the L-shaped metal rods being supported by a wire mesh of the side walls, such that the L-shaped metal rods are configured to maintain the tobacco leaves in position. 
     
     
         24 . A method of  claim 20 , wherein the baskets are arranged in the curing barn to fill an entire area of a cross-section of the curing barn.