Implantable aerating root pruner

Details Implantable aerating root pruner Implantable aerating root pruner

2001-04-02

2003-04-22

Poon, Peter M. (Department: 3643)

Plant husbandry

Plant irrigators and/or fertilizers, apparatus or method

Reexamination Certificate

active

06550182

ABSTRACT:

This invention relates to plant growth accelerating and plant root aeration devices, more particularly to mechanical and air root pruners which are adapted to be implanted within plant medium to accelerate and enhance the development and growth rates of root balls and subsequent vegetative growth of plants grown therein, to combinations of an implantable aerating root pruner (hereinafter called “IARP”) and a root cutting implement (hereinafter called “CUTTER”) for cutting roots growing into the IARP, and to an IARP insertion/cutting implement (hereinafter called “INSERTER”) that can both cut roots growing into the IARP as well as facilitating the penetration and placement of the IARP into soil or plant media while minimizing the work required to do so.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Air root pruning devices and methods are well known in the prior art. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,442,628; 4,497,132; 4,510,712; 4,574,522; 4,716,680; 4,753,037; 5,222,326; 5,301,465; 5,557,886 and 5,761,848. In each of these devices the air root pruning structure and function is an integral element of the container in which the plant is to be grown, thereby contributing significantly to the cost of its production. U.S. Pat. No. 5,241,784 discloses a slotted air root pruning plant root container that is inserted into a plant pot. None of these prior art air root pruning devices has achieved continuing commercial success, for a variety of reasons which include the need for the use of customized pots and one or more of difficulty in removing the mature plant from the plant pot; higher production cost of such customized plant pots; loss of planting medium from the plant pots; increased shipping costs because of their lack of stackability; and incompatibility with automatic equipment used by commercial growers for filling plant pots with planting medium.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,175,356 discloses a plant aerator tube with radial perforations in it whose purpose is to reduce the undesirable effects upon the health of the plant of top watering and over watering. Structurally, the aerating tube of the '356 patent lacks a significant air root pruning effect because only a very limited number of roots of a plant growing in a pot in which it is inserted would be affected in an air root pruning way by its presence in the pot.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,550 discloses an apparatus for loosening, aerating and fertilizing soil plant roots intended for temporary insertion into a predrilled hole in soil for injecting fertilizer, high pressure air and water into the soil. U.S. Pat. No. 3,962,822 discloses a slotted physically or biologically degradable plant container adapted to block growth of roots through the slots thereof when a plurality thereof are positioned side-by-side and to permit growth there through when the containers are separately imbedded in the ground.
In our prior issued U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,782,035 and 5,918,415 we disclose an air root pruner adapted to be fitted in an automatic watering garden container. The IARP device of this invention differs inter alia from the air root pruners of the prior art by being useable in any planting medium regardless of its location be it ground soil or planting medium contained within a plant pot or other container. They are easily inserted by hand into loosely packed soil, such as common potting soil, and can also be implanted into more densely packed soils using the combination of the IARP and its companion inserter/root cutter device of this invention. The IARP can be inserted into planting medium in a plant pot, either before or after the pot contains a growing plant, or into soil proximate a plant growing in the ground. The IARP has a dramatic effect upon the rate of root ball and vegetative growth of a plant growing proximate thereto. It differs structurally from the perforated stakes of U.S. Pat. No. 3,962,822, inter alia, by providing a much larger number of perforations in the portion of the wall thereof which faces the plant, thereby achieving an enhanced aeration of the root ball and additionally providing a passive air root pruning effect as well as enabling mechanical pruning of roots with the IARP cutter or the cutter implements.
The method of this invention provides an economical way of increasing the rate of fine hair and lateral root development and thus the vegetative growth rate of a plant using inexpensive and reusable devices.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of this invention to provide an aerating root pruner which lacks most or all of the deficiencies of the above-described prior art aerating and air root pruning devices. It is another object to provide an aerating root pruner in the form of a perforated conduit whose perforations provide the conduit with a high ratio of total open area to total surface area. It is yet another object to provide an aerating root pruner whose geometry and strength facilitates its insertion into hard packed planting medium. It is a further object to provide an aerating root pruner, which provides a high level of ambient air access to the planting medium along the length of the conduit when inserted therein. A further object is to provide a device which promotes uniform distribution of water in the planting medium from its surface to the bottom of the pruning stake and which has an air root pruning effect on the roots of a plant growing proximate thereto in the planting medium.. A still further object is to provide a method of accelerating the rate of growth of a plant by growing the plant, either in a plant pot containing one or more of the IARP's of this invention in the planting medium on in ground containing one or more of them proximate to the growing plant. Other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In a first article of manufacture aspect, this invention relates to an implantable aerating root pruner (IARP) comprising a pair of thin walled substantially rigid sheet members dismountably fitted together in a spaced apart configuration which forms a stake-like conduit, at least one of which sheet members have a plurality of apertures therein which form a grate-like structure which provides the conduit with a high ratio of total open area to total surface area, a first end of each of which sheet members is tapered to form, when the sheet members are fitted together to form the first article, an edge or point to facilitate insertion of the first article into planting medium and the end portion of the other end of each sheet members lacks the apertures and is adapted to project above the surface of the planting medium, which conduit provides ambient air access to the planting medium along the length of the conduit when the first article is inserted in the planting medium and thereby promotes enhanced aeration of and uniform distribution of water in the planting medium from the surface of the planting medium to the bottom of the pruning stake and which has air root pruning effect on the roots of a plant growing proximate thereof in the planting medium.
In a preferred aspect of the first article of manufacture aspect, both sheet members are separate, apertured, flat walled and fit together to form a thin elongate rectangular box-like structure whose front and back faces are formed by the sheet members and comprise joining means which render the sheet members readily joinable together and separable from each other. In a more preferred aspect, the sheet members are identical. In other preferred aspects, the first article of manufacture is one or more of formed of injection-molded polypropylene; and the ratio of the total apertured area to total solid area is at least 2:1.
In an alternative aspect of the first article of manufacture aspect, the sheet members are semi-cylindrical and permanently joined together along one side edge thereof in a side-by-side position by flexible hinge-like connecting means which permits the sheet members to be folder together to form a cylindrical conduit and the sheet members are held in their conduit configurati

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