AU707308B3 - Garden trim - Google Patents

Description

1 GARDEN TRIM THIS INVENTION relates to garden trim. More specifically this invention relates to a trim member and to a garden trim assembly incorporating such a trim member.

By garden trim is meant garden edging comprising a length of flexible material which is used to separate a grass lawn from a flower bed or the like. Wherever the S.term garden trim is used in the specification it is to bear this broad meaning.

i 10 1 It will be convenient to hereinafter describe this invention with reference to a domestic home garden. However, it is to be clearly understood that the invention CC is capable of broader application.

15 Previously garden trim has often been provided by lengths of bendable wood or concrete sections. However such lengths of wood simply demarcate a flower bed from a grass lawn and cannot be used to perform other functions eg assisting in oCC...

CC irrigation or conduiting of electrical cables. In addition, timber garden trim also uses up a scarce resource in timber. Another shortcoming of timber garden trim is that the wood is susceptible to rotting when exposed to wet soil for a prolonged period.

It would clearly be advantageous if an alternative to timber garden trim could be found.

According to one aspect of this invention there is provided a trim member for a garden trim assembly, the member including an upper conduit portion defining a longitudinal passageway therethrough and an operatively lower anchor portion projecting outwardly away from the conduit portion which in use is received in the ground.

Thus the lower portion is fixed in the ground, while the upper portion is capable of conduiting water therethrough for irrigating flowerbeds or the like.

Typically the passageway extends the full length of the member and opens to the outside at each end of the member. Further typically the passageway is substantially circular in cross-section, although it will readily be appreciated that other crosssectional shapes may also be used.

Typically the passageway has a diameter of 13-22mm and is sized to be complementary to standard garden hose fittings. In this way standard hose fittings, :eg tees, 900 bends and tap connectors can be attached to the conduit portion.

15 Naturally the wall of the conduit portion will be sized to withstand water at normal domestic mains pressure. Typically the wall thickness will be in the range of to 3mm.

oo Typically the anchor portion tapers inwardly to a sharp point at its free end.

S The trim member is typically made of synthetic plastics material, eg polyethylene or polypropylene. The plastics may include some recyclable plastics, typically less than 10%, as well as UV inhibitors for resisting damage due to sun exposure.

Typically each member is of a standard length, eg 2m to 3m. Typically the element is also flexible to some extent such that it can be curved along its length to provide a curved shape so as to complement a curved edge of a garden bed.

According to another aspect of this invention there is provided a garden trim assembly including at least one elongate trim member having an upper conduit portion defining a longitudinal passage therethrough through which water for gardening purposes can be conduited and an anchor portion projecting radially outwardly away from the conduit portion and extending substantially the full length of the member, the anchor portion terminating in a point which in use is received within the ground and at least one peg which is passed at an angle through the anchor portion and into the ground to further anchor the member to the ground.

.10 Preferably the garden trim assembly includes a plurality of said trim members arranged end to end, attachment elements for attaching adjacent members together, each element including two spigot-like male formations pointing outwardly in oO o opposite directions which in use are snugly received within the passages of the adjacent members, each member defining at least two angled peg passageways 15 spaced apart along the length of the member through which the pegs are passed and at least one said peg for each said peg passageway.

The conduit portions and anchor portions may include any one or more of the other optional features described above with reference to the first aspect of the invention.

.ooooi S S.i Typically the pegs are inclined at an angle to the anchor portion, defining an acute angle with the surface of the ground. Preferably this angle is 450 to 75 0, more preferably 55 o to 65 0 Preferably adjacent pegs project downwardly inwardly from the same side with substantially the same angle of inclination.

Alternatively adjacent pegs project downwardly inwardly.

Preferably the peg passageways defined in the anchor portion of each member are spaced about 0. 1-0.5m apart.

Preferably the attachment elements include spigot formations which are received within the conduit portions and which engage the conduit portions with a friction fit.

Typically each attachment element includes two said spigot formations, one for being received in each of adjacent conduit portions.

S. Some attachment elements have spigots extending outwardly away from each other in opposite directions. Other attachment elements have spigots extending at 900 to each other. The latter elements facilitate turning the garden trim assembly through a 90' turn.

o Optionally the attachment elements may be standard garden hose fittings, eg made by PPI Corporation in the same colours as the trim member.

Alternatively instead of having a plurality of trim members of standard length, the o.o 20 trim member may be supplied in a roll form and cut according to the length required S'-.i for a particular application.

According to yet another aspect of this invention there is provided apparatus for irrigating a garden, including a garden trim assembly as described above with respect to the second aspect of the invention, wherein the conduit portions of the members are operatively coupled to a water supply, and wherein irrigation components project outwardly from said members transverse thereto, such that water can flow from the water supply along the conduit portions then outwardly along the irrigation components and into the flower beds or soil.

A garden trim assembly in accordance with this invention may manifest itself in a variety of forms. It will be convenient to hereinafter describe one preferred embodiment of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. It must be understood however, that the specific nature of this description does not supersede the generality of the preceding broad description. In the drawings: FIG. 1 is an end elevation of a garden trim assembly in accordance with the invention in exploded form; o.oo FIG. 2 is a sectional end elevation of the trim assembly of FIG. 2 during installation; FIG. 3 is a sectional end elevation of the trim assembly of FIG. 1 in use; 15 FIG. 4 is a three dimensional view of the trim assembly of FIG. 3 attached to a domestic water supply and forming an integral part of a domestic irrigation system; FIG 5 is a schematic front elevation showing an attachment element for coupling adjacent trim members to each other; ooloo 20 FIG. 6 is a sectional end elevation of a trim assembly in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention; and FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of a trim member for the trim assembly of FIG. 6.

In FIGS. 1 to 3 reference numeral 1 refers generally to a garden trim assembly in accordance with the invention.

6 The assembly 1 comprises broadly a plurality of trim members 2, each of which comprises an operatively upper conduit portion 3 and a lower anchor portion 4 projecting downwardly away from the conduit portion 3. The assembly also includes a plurality of anchor pegs The conduit portion 3 is of substantially circular cross-section and typically has a diameter of about 13 30mm, eg 19mm. The conduit portion 3 extends the full length of the member 2 and is open at each end of the member 2.

10 The anchor portion 4 is thin and elongate defining two closely spaced major surfaces 6 and 7. Peg passageways 10 for receiving the pegs 5 are defined in the anchor portion 4 at spaced intervals of about 500mm along the length of the member. The peg passageways 10 are inclined at an angle of about 60' to the horizontal and are about 10mm in diameter so as to permit a peg 5 of about 5mm diameter to be passed 15 therethrough with a small amount of clearance. The anchor portion 4 terminates in a free end 11 which forms a sharp point to assist in penetrating the ground 12.

The member 2 is typically made in standard lengths of 2m to 3m. The member 2 is also made out of a structural plastic polymer, eg polyethylene or polypropylene.

20 The member 2 is made such that it can be curved along its length so as to complement the curved edge of a flower bed or the like.

In the illustrated embodiment each peg 5 is a section of 5mm diameter steel bar which has simply been cut to the appropriate length. Clearly while other more sophisticated configurations of peg 5 could be used, the illustrated form of the peg will typically be used for considerations of cost.

In use, a plurality of members 2 are arranged end-to-end along the edge of a flower bed 15 or the like. A trench is dug to receive the anchor portion 4 of the member 2 which is typically buried under earth. The conduit portion 3 projects out above the ground 12, although it is not essential that this be the case.

The members 2 are anchored to the ground by means of the pegs 5 which are passed through the openings 10 defined in the anchor portions 4 of the members 2. The pegs 5 are inserted into the ground 12 to the extent that the tops thereof are covered with a small layer of sand and do not project above the ground 12.

Adjacent members 2 are attached to each by means of an attachment element which is a standard spigot hose coupling 17 having spigot formations 18 and 19 pointing in opposed directions. Each spigot formation engages the inner wall of the conduit portion 3 with a frictional grip. This attachment is illustrated in Fig 6.

FIG. 4 illustrates a garden irrigation system with the garden trim assembly 1 described above. The conduit portions 3 of the members 2 are operatively coupled by means of a short section of hose pipe 20 to a tap 21 for a domestic water supply.

At spaced intervals along the assembly 1, eg at points between adjacent members, 20 micro-irrigation components 22 such as sprays, drip irrigation lines and the like are led off the conduit portion 3 of the members 2.

FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate an assembly 1 in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention. The assembly 1 is similar to that illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 5 and accordingly unless otherwise illustrated the same reference numerals will be used to refer to the same components.

8 The main difference between this embodiment and that in FIG. 1 is that the tip of the anchor portion 4 of the member 2 is barbed. A further difference is the shape of the peg passageway 10 defined in the anchor portion 4. The passageways 10 are considerably bigger than those illustrated in FIG. 1 with an elongate oval configuration. Further the openings 10 are spaced about 125mm apart.

Conventional tent pegs 5 having hook-like upper ends are passed through the passageways 10 with the upper end in retaining engagement with the portion of the anchor portions 4 adjacent the passageway 10. The advantage of this embodiment is that the pegs can be bought off the shelf without being custom manufactured for 10 this apparatus.

While it is envisaged that the conduit portion 3 will principally be used to convey water, it should be understood that it may also be used to house electrical cables, eg for garden lights, power for swimming pool pumps and the like.

An advantage of the trim assembly of this invention is that it provides an alternative to wood. It also provides a convenient conduit for conduiting water from a tap to a flower bed. Further the conduit can be provided in large quantities relatively inexpensively.

*I The trim assembly can also be used to act as shuttering for pouring concrete and the like. Typically the trim assembly would remain in place after the pouring of concrete was completed. It can also be used to demarcate a tiled or paved area and sand from grass on a golf course.

It will of course be realized that the above has been given only by way of illustrative example of the invention and that all such modifications and variations thereto as 9 would be apparent to persons skilled in the art are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims (3)

1. A garden trim assembly including: at least one elongate trim member having an upper conduit portion defining a longitudinal passage therethrough through which water for gardening purposes can be conduited and an anchor portion projecting radially outwardly away from the conduit portion and extending substantially the full length of the member, the anchor portion terminating in a point which in use is received within the ground; and at least one peg which is passed at an angle through the anchor portion and into the ground to further anchor the member to the ground.

2. A garden trim assembly according to claim 1, including a plurality of said trim members arranged end to end, and attachment elements for attaching adjacent members, together, each element including two spigot-like male formations pointing outwardly in opposite directions which in use are snugly received within the passages of the adjacent members, and each member defining at least two angled peg passageways spaced apart along the length of the member through which the pegs are passed, and at least one said peg for each said peg passageway.

3. A garden trim assembly according to claim 1 substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. .t.o.i 9 DATED THIS Fourth DAY OF May 1999 MDM INDUSTRIES LIMITED BY S PIZZEYS PATENT AND TRADE MARK ATTORNEYS S