U.S. patent application number 09/912175 was filed with the patent office on 2002-02-07 for container with diffuse extended irrigation for cultivating plants.
This patent application is currently assigned to DEROMA S.p.A.. Invention is credited to Masello, Giovanni Franco.
Application Number | 20020014038 09/912175 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 11461336 |
Filed Date | 2002-02-07 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020014038 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Masello, Giovanni Franco |
February 7, 2002 |
Container with diffuse extended irrigation for cultivating
plants
Abstract
A container with diffuse and extended irrigation for cultivating
plants, which includes porous regions in the containment walls,
which are arranged in contact with the soil of a plant, and a water
reserve for supplying the porous regions. The container further
includes a waterproofing layer for covering the porous regions, in
their parts that are not in contact, for preventing the water from
being lost by evaporation from the porous regions toward the
outside of the container. The invention solves the problems of
conventional containers, providing the soil with the right amount
of moisture in an extremely simple manner for several days,
accordingly avoiding periodic watering.
Inventors: |
Masello, Giovanni Franco;
(San Vito di Leguzzano, IT) |
Correspondence
Address: |
R. Neil Sudol
COLEMAN SUDOL SAPONE, P.C.
714 Colorado Avenue
Bridgeport
CT
06605-1601
US
|
Assignee: |
DEROMA S.p.A.
|
Family ID: |
11461336 |
Appl. No.: |
09/912175 |
Filed: |
July 24, 2001 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
47/79 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A01G 27/06 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
47/79 |
International
Class: |
A01G 025/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jul 28, 2000 |
IT |
VI2000A000165 |
Claims
1. A container with diffuse and extended irrigation for cultivating
plants, comprising porous regions in the containment walls, said
porous regions being arranged in contact with the soil, and at
least one water reserve for supplying said porous regions,
comprising at least one waterproofing layer for covering said
porous regions in their parts that are not in contact, said layer
preventing the water from being lost by evaporation from said
porous regions toward the outside of said container.
2. The container according to claim 1, comprising containment walls
which coincide with said porous regions.
3. The container according to claim 1, comprising a removable
grille-like partition which divides the internal region, delimited
by said containment walls and by the bottom, into two superimposed
chambers, one chamber accommodating said soil, the other chamber
containing said water reserve.
4. The container according to claim 1, wherein the water contained
in said reserve rises along said containment walls by capillary
action and is released by them to said soil.
5. The container according to claim 1, wherein said waterproofing
covering layer completely covers the outer lateral surface of said
containment walls and the outer surface of said bottom.
6. The container according to claim 1, wherein said containment
walls and said bottom are made of earthenware.
7. The container according to claim 1, wherein said waterproofing
covering layer is applied by means of a procedure for waterproofing
by immersion or spreading.
8. The container according to claim 1, wherein water released by
said walls toward the inside of said container keeps the soil moist
for several days, avoiding the need to introduce fresh water in
said reserve or to perform periodic watering.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a container with diffuse
extended irrigation for cultivating plants, particularly but not
exclusively useful for ornamental indoor plants.
[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art
[0004] So-called water-storage containers, which allow to maintain
the correct moisture of the soil for several days and therefore to
prevent periodic watering, are already known. Those containers are
therefore particularly appreciated by people who cannot, for
various reasons, periodically water their plants for short and
medium periods. The structure of those containers consists of a
vase, which is substantially frustum-shaped but can also be
squared, and is made of molded plastics, and of a grille-like
partition which is arranged at the bottom of the containers and
divides the internal region of the vase into two superimposed
chambers. Accordingly, the upper chamber accommodates the soil in
which the plant is bedded, while the water reserve is constituted
in the lower chamber and is introduced either through an adapted
hole, located at the partition, or from above by simple watering.
Through wicks or tubes provided at the containment walls, the water
drawn from the reserve flows over the soil and is thus distributed
uniformly inside it.
[0005] A problem of these containers is that the water introduced
in the reserve tends to stagnate and rises with difficulty along
the tubes into the soil. Accordingly, it is not ensured that the
plant receives extended and diffuse irrigation over short and
medium periods.
[0006] Another drawback is that the water-reserve system can be
applied practically exclusively to plastic vases, because in the
case of earthenware containers or vases the water contained in the
reserve tends to evaporate through the containment walls and the
bottom.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] The aim of the present invention is to overcome the
drawbacks of the cited prior art by providing a container with
diffuse and extended irrigation for cultivating plants which allows
to extend the water-storage system also to earthenware vases.
[0008] An object of the invention is to provide a container in
which the water contained in the reserve does not stagnate but
becomes a source of diffuse and extended irrigation for the
plant.
[0009] A further object of the invention is to provide a container
at lower production costs than prior art containers.
[0010] A further object of the invention is to provide a container
which can be made with any shape and provided with any kind of
decoration along its outer lateral surface.
[0011] This aim, these objects and others which will become better
apparent hereinafter are achieved by a container with diffuse and
extended irrigation for cultivating plants as claimed in the
appended claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will
become better apparent from the description of a preferred but not
exclusive embodiment thereof, illustrated only by way of
non-limitative example in the two accompanying drawings,
wherein:
[0013] FIG. 1 is a partially sectional perspective view of a
squared container according to the invention;
[0014] FIG. 2 is an enlarged-scale perspective view of a portion of
the container of FIG. 1;
[0015] FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the container of FIG. 1, taken
along a plane which is perpendicular to the extension of the
container;
[0016] FIG. 4 is an exploded view of an approximately
frustum-shaped container.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION
[0017] With reference to the accompanying figures, the container
with diffuse and extended irrigation for cultivating plants,
generally designated by the reference numeral 5, comprises porous
regions 6 formed in the lateral containment walls and placed in
contact with the soil 7 in which the plant is bedded. In the
specific case of FIGS. 1 to 3, the porous regions 6 are made of
earthenware and coincide with the lateral containment walls and
with the bottom of the squared container. In the specific case of
FIG. 4, the porous regions are again made of earthenware and
coincide with the lateral containment wall and with the bottom. The
container 5 also has a water reserve formed in a per se known
manner. The internal region formed by the structure 5 is in fact
divided into two superimposed chambers 8 and 9 by a removable
grille-like partition 10, which is provided with a plurality of
feet 11 for resting on the bottom of the container. The chamber 9
is thus adapted to accommodate the soil 7, while the chamber 8 is
adapted to contain the water reserve, which is introduced in the
container 5 through a hole 12 formed in one of the containment
walls, approximately at the height of the partition 10. If the hole
12 is not provided, the water may be introduced from above by
simple watering, penetrating the soil 7. The grille-like partition
10 can of course be arranged at different distances from the bottom
of the container 5 according to the height of the feet 11,
depending on the capacity of the water reserve to be provided. The
water reserve is adapted to feed extendedly the porous regions
6.
[0018] In the specific case, the water contained in the reserve
rises by capillary action along the containment walls of the
container 5, occupying its interstices formed by the pores in a
uniformly distributed manner. A particularity of the invention is
that the container comprises a waterproofing layer 13 that covers
the porous regions 6, in their parts that are not in contact. The
layer prevents the water from being lost through evaporation from
the porous regions toward the environment outside the container. In
the specific case, the waterproofing layer 13 consists of a
covering which covers the entire outer lateral surface of the
containment walls and of the bottom of the container 5. In
particular, the layer 13 can be provided by means of a
waterproofing process obtained by immersion or by spreading for
example with a brush. The function of the layer is to force the
water that has risen by capillary action, and is uniformly
distributed in the walls, to wet the soil 7 extendedly and in a
uniformly diffuse manner, without evaporating toward the outside
environment that surrounds the container, contrary to what occurs
with conventional earthenware vases. In this manner one obtains a
diffuse and extended irrigation of the soil 7 for several days
without having to introduce fresh water in the reserve or perform
periodic watering.
[0019] In practice it has been observed that the described
container achieves the intended aim and objects, since it allows to
keep the soil moist in a uniformly distributed manner for several
days without having to perform successive watering operations or
introduce water in the reserve. Moreover, the covering is provided
and preset in an extremely simplified manner. Finally, the
application of the covering adapts to any shape of the container
and also to the presence of relief decorations formed on the outer
lateral surface of the containment walls of the container.
[0020] The container according to the invention is susceptible of
numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the
scope of the same inventive concept expressed herein.
[0021] All the details may also be replaced with other technically
equivalent elements.
[0022] In practice, the materials used, as well as the contingent
shapes and dimensions, may be any according to requirements.
* * * * *