Plant husbandry – Receptacle for growing medium – Irrigator
Patent
1999-06-07
2000-12-19
Poon, Peter M.
Plant husbandry
Receptacle for growing medium
Irrigator
47 75, 47 655, A01G 2500, A01G 902
Patent
active
061613320
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to a protective container for a potlike or boxlike container capable of receiving plants, flowers, bulbs, fruits and the like and provided with a substantially closed tubular wall ending in a free upper edge having an outwardly extending flange and with a lower wall having openings, wherein the protective container is provided with a substantially closed circumferential wall ending in a free circumferential edge and a bottom wall without openings and is manufactured from a resilient plastics material, wherein locking means are provided capable of coupling the protective container and the container relative to each other.
Such protective container is known from EP-A1-0 415 854, in the form of a decorative pot for a growth pot in which a plant is grown. Such decorative pot does not only have an aesthetic function, but also serves for receiving soil and water, usually coming from the holes that are always present in the bottom of the growth pot proper. In this manner, fouling problems in the path from grower to consumer at home can be solved. To prevent the protective container from becoming detached from the growth pot inadvertently, as a consequence of which the above fouling problems could as yet occur, locking means are provided in the form of a projection edge provided on the inner face of the protective container adjacent the free circumferential edge thereof. The projection edge has an inside diameter smaller than the outside diameter of the outwardly extending flange of the growth pot, so that after the growth pot has been pressed into the decorative pot, this growth pot, when moving upwards again relative to the decorative pot, has its flange striking the projection edge. This movement is possible because the growth pot and the decorative pot are dimensioned so that the growth pot can lower into the decorative pot through some distance beyond the projection edge, so that the growth pot can also be pressed into the decorative pot if for instance soil is present between the two pots. However, this play, which enables movement between the two pots, also entails the possibility of the two pots becoming detached from each other unintentionally, for instance if the decorative pot is clamped in a transport tray and the growth pot with soil and plant starts to vibrate or move during transport, on account of mass inertia. A growth pot loosened by vibration may then tilt relative to the decorative pot, with all its adverse consequences. The above-mentioned play may also have as a consequence that the protective container stays behind in the tray when the plant is taken or pulled from the tray, so that the above fouling problems could as yet occur. A similar problem may occur when products such as bulbs or fruits are accommodated in a boxlike container with protective container.
It is the object of the invention to solve the above problems in a relatively cheap and simple manner.
According to the invention, this object is attained with a protective container of the type described in the opening paragraph if at the free circumferential edge, an outwardly extending collar edge is provided which can be brought into abutting contact with the flange of the container, and the locking means comprise an annular element manufactured from a resilient material and comprising an annular wall which can be slid connectingly around at least the area of the circumferential wall adjacent the free circumferential edge, wherein at least two circumferentially extending slots are provided in the annular wall, each slot serving to receive a part of both the collar edge and the flange lying thereon. Owing to these features, there is provided a relatively cheap possibility of coupling the protective container to the container without play, while a compensation possibility for material located between the two containers is maintained, that is to say, if soil or other material should fall from the container into the protective container during insertion of the container into the protective container, this need not
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Avot Beheer B.V.
Poon Peter M.
Shaw Elizabeth
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