Plant husbandry – Receptacle for growing medium
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-10
2001-08-07
Price, Thomas (Department: 3643)
Plant husbandry
Receptacle for growing medium
Reexamination Certificate
active
06269589
ABSTRACT:
2. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a planter for flowers and other vegetation. In particular, the present invention relates to a planter secured to a tree, pole or other vertical surface.
3. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Flowers and other vegetation placed in planters are used to increase the aesthetic appeal of a home or business. A planter may be placed on a window ledge, hung from a rod or displayed in various other places. In landscaping, it can be important to complement a tree with a bed of flowers planted in the ground around the trunk. The contrast of a flower bed with a tree can be quite stunning; however, a planter cannot be mounted to a tree without a nail or causing other damage to the tree. Local governments also make an effort to keep an aesthetic appeal to its streets. As a part of this effort, cities hang various displays on street lights and utility poles.
Various planters have been devised over the years. In order to increase the efficient use of ground space, planters have been devised that can be vertically stacked. These planters consist of a plurality of containers that can be secured to a pole at varying elevations. The containers may be secured by simply slipping them over the top of the pole. Although these types of planters fasten to a pole, none would be suitable for fastening to a tree having branches protruding from its trunk or to a very tall pole. Therefore, there is a need for a planter that could be secured to a tree or utility pole or other vertical surface, especially one where penetrating the surface with nails, spikes, or bolts would not be required.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to its major aspects and broadly stated, the present invention is a planter capable of attachment to a tree trunk or utility pole without the use of nails or spikes or other penetrating fasteners. Although the present planter is preferably supported by a tree or utility pole, the invention should not be limited to attachment to only these objects, but could be attached to other structures having vertical surfaces. The planter comprises at least one arcuate segment so that it can conform to a portion of the circumference of a tree trunk or pole, preferably not more than half the circumference.
Segments may be interconnected using four alternative types of fasteners: the first fastening means is a resilient cable that is wrapped around a tree trunk with each segment having a pair of hooks to allow it to be hung from the cable; the second fastening means interconnects segments by a pair of latches having holes formed therethrough with a bolt running through the holes and secured with a nut; the third fastening means also interconnects segments using pairs of pins extending from the outer walls that are held to the pins of an adjacent segments by elastic bands; and the fourth fastening means interconnects the segments using interlocking female and male edges. Segments may have spouts to be configured in a cascading manner.
A major advantage of the present invention is the ability to fasten segments of the planter to different sizes of trees or a utility pole without the use of a penetrating fastener. This advantage is created by the interconnectable segments that can surround a tree trunk or pole. As a result, a landscape designer will have more choices in picking a location to plant flowers and does not have to damage a tree to install the present planter.
An important feature of the present invention is the use of planter segments that can be interconnected to surround the tree trunk or pole. Without the use of segments having surfaces that conform to the curved tree trunk or pole, the planters will not hang well and cannot be made to surround the tree trunk. Unlike prior art planters that must be placed over the top of a pole which is impractical for a tree or tall pole, the use of segments allows the planter to be mounted to any size or height of pole or tree.
Another important feature of the present invention is the various mounting means that allow for growth of the tree trunk and avoid penetrating the trunk with spikes or nails. In one embodiment of mounting means, a resilient cable surrounds the trunk and the segments are hooked to the cable, so that the cable may expand with the growth of the trunk. Another embodiment of mounting means allows a bolt to be loosened to accommodate the growth of the trunk. Still another embodiment of fastening means uses resilient gaskets between segments so that the gaskets can expand with the growth of the trunk.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from a careful reading of the Detailed Description of a Preferred Embodiment presented below and accompanied by the drawings.
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Mann Michael A.
Nexsen Pruet Jacobs & Pollard LLC
Price Thomas
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