AU717484B3 - Plant protectors - Google Patents

Description

Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A PETTY PATENT

(ORIGINAL)

NAME OF APPLICANT(S): ACTUAL INVENTOR(S): ADDRESS FOR SERVICE: INVENTION TITLE: ROSSMARG PTY.LTD.

MALCOLM WILLIAM WILSON DAVIES COLLISON CAVE, Patent Attorneys 1 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, 3000 Plant protectors The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: 1 Q:\OPER\RSH\ROSS.PET 3/11/99 P:\OPER\RSH\ROSSMARG. PET 24/1/00 -2- PLANT PROTECTORS This invention relates to plant protectors, and more particularly to plant protectors of sleeve-like form for attachment to a support wire.

There is disclosed in our earlier Australian patent application 710089 (the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference) a plant protector of tubular form erected from sheet material and held in its erected state by a series of interlocking tabs. Although this protector has a wide range of applicability, it is particularly suitable for protecting vines, primarily young vines. For use in vineyards, the protector includes at its upper end a flap foldable about a horizontal wire of a vine support system and lockable in position to secure the upper end of the protector to the wire. Although protectors of this type are supplied in a series of standard heights corresponding to standard height settings of wires for supporting vines, in practice the ground on which the protector rests may be uneven or may slope with the result that the upper end of the protector may not actually lie at the same level as the supporting wire. As a result, makeshift measures are sometimes adopted to adapt the protector to that particular situation. For example a protector of increased height may be used and either cut to the required height or buried into the ground to a depth at which its upper end corresponds to the level of the supporting wire, or alternatively the installer may devise an alternative form of system for attaching the upper end of the protector to the wire at a level above the upper end, for example using a length of wire applied to the protector. These makeshift arrangements are generally unsatisfactory and lead to increased time and effort in installing the protectors. This can be significant when the vineyard of substantial size.

According to the present invention, there is provided a plant protection system comprising a plant protector of tubular form arranged to surround a plant, an extension member of elongate form adapted to be slidingly mounted to the protector so as to be extendible by a variable distance from an upper end of the protector to connect the protector to a support, and a series of slots and/or tabs spaced lengthwise along the main body of the extension member and engageable with at least one tab and/or slot of the protector to retain the extension member in a selected extended position at least substantially against movement P:\OPER\RSH\ROSSMARG.PET 24/1/00 -3in a sense to retract the extension member into the protector.

In one preferred embodiment, the securing means comprises a flap foldable over a support wire and lockable in its folded condition to a main body of the extension member in order to lock the extension member to the wire. Alternatively the securing means can be designed to attach the extension member to another form of support such as a stake.

In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the extension member is guided for longitudinal sliding movement within the protector by the shape of the protector.

Advantageously, one from the extension member and protector is formed with a tab with interlocks with a slot in the other from said extension member and protector to lock the extension member substantially against extension and retraction relative to the protector. In one form that tab can be formed by a tab on a securing flap at the upper end of the protector foldable over a supporting wire and lockable in position to retain the protector directly to the wire in a normal mode of use absent the extension member. In another form, the said tab is formed by appropriately shaping the tabs spaced lengthwise along the main body of the extension member or by shaping the corresponding tab on the protector.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a front view of a blank for forming a plant protector; Figure 2 is a front view showing the protector in its assembled state for installation to a supporting wire; Figure 3 is a front view of a blank for forming an extension member; Figure 4 is a front view showing the extension member folded for installation into the protector of Figure 2; Figure 5 is a front view showing the extension member installed within the protector; Figure 6 is a fragmentary cross-section showing the engagement of locking tabs on the P:\OPER\RSH\ROSSMARG.PET -3/11/99 -4protector and extension member to retain the extension member in a selected position; Figure 7 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the manner in which the extension member is locked to a supporting wire; and Figure 8 is a front view of an extension member with an alternative form of locking tab.

Figure 1 shows a blank 2 for forming a plant protector substantially as described in our earlier application 710089. The blank 2 is erected around a growing plant into a plant protector of tubular form and of triangular cross-section by folding about longitudinal crease lines 4 and engaging sets of interlocking tabs 6 in the manner described in our earlier application so that the adjacent side edges are held tightly together without forming gaps through which plant material can grow (see Figure At its upper end, the blank 2 is formed with a securing flap 8 foldable about a horizontal crease line to engage over a supporting wire, with the flap 8 being secured by means of a T-shaped tab 10 which engages in a slot 12 in the adjacent part of the main body of the protector. Reference may be made to our earlier application as aforesaid, for further details.

It is however to be noted that the slot 12 for receiving the locking tab 10 is slightly different from that as shown in our earlier application and is of inverted U-shaped form to define an upwardly-directed tab 12a connected at its lower horizontal edge to the remainder of the blank.

In a normal situation where the top securing flap 8 lies at the same level as the supporting wire for the associated vine (or other plant), the protector is secured in position in the manner described in our earlier application.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided an extension member (Figures 3 to 7) which can be fitted into the upper end portion of the erected protector to secure the protector to the supporting wire, the extension member 20 having at its upper end a securing flap 22 with a T-shaped securing tab 24, similar to the flap 8, and foldable over the supporting wire 30 about a horizontal crease line, with the tab engaging 24 in a slot 26 P:\OPER\RSH\ROSSMARG.PET 3/11/99 similar to the slot 12 in order to retain the flap 22 in position. The extension member 20 is formed from a blank (Figure 3) and is erected into the configuration shown in Figure 4, by folding about fold lines 28.

The extension member 20 is slidably mounted within the upper end portion of the erected protector and can be extended to a desired height so that its flap 22 can engage the supporting wire 30. In order to lock the extension member 20 in its selected extended position, the extension member 20 is provided with a series of longitudinally spaced downwardly-directed tabs 32 defining slots 34. When the extension member has been set to the required height so that the securing flap 22 lies substantially at the level of the supporting wire 30, one of the tabs 32 and the slot 34 formed thereby will lie adjacent to the tab 12a and the slot 12 formed thereby in the protector. The tab 32 can then be engaged in the slot 12 and the tab 12a in the slot 34 (see Figures 6 and A substantial frictional locking effect will occur between the edges of the two tabs and the edges of the slots within which they engage and the interengaging slots and tabs will also define a lower stop position of the extension member 20 relative to the protector whereby the extension member 20 cannot displace downwardly past that stop position after the tabs 12a, 32 have been engaged. In practice, the actual height of the extension member beyond the protector may be such that when the tabs 12a, 32 are engaged the extension member is slightly above the lower stop position for that particular pair of tabs; however in that case substantial locking effect is still provided through frictional forces by the interengaging tabs and slots and, of course, the tabs still prevent movement beyond that particular stop position.

By appropriately spacing the tabs 32 in relation to the spacing between the securing flap 8 and tab 12a, when the two tabs 12a, 32 are engaged, the securing flap 8 of the protector will lie adjacent an upper one of the tabs 32 and its locking tab 10 can be engaged within the slot 34 of that upper tab in order to provide a further locking effect particularly against upwards movement of the extension member relative to the protector. This effect could alternatively be achieved by shaping the tabs 32 to form T-shaped locking tabs (see Figure 8) which engage within the slot 12 to lock the extension member against either upwards or downwards movement relative to the protector beyond a range of only a few millimetres.

P:\OPER\RSH\ROSSMARG.PET 3/11/99 -6- Location of the extension member within the body of the protector is achieved by providing the extension member with a cross-sectional shape which corresponds to that of the adjacent part of the protector within which it is mounted. In particular, in the embodiment shown the extension member has a base wall 40 which lies adjacent the rear wall of the protector and side flanges 42 which lie adjacent the rear parts of the two inclined side walls of the protector. Therefore, due to its shape, the extension member is securely located within the body of the erected protector and is guided thereby for longitudinal sliding movement to extend or retract the extension to a selected height.

In practice, the extension member will be fabricated from a similar plastics sheet material to that used to form the protector. For example, the protector and extension member could be made from plastics flute board such as "CORFLUTE" or from other suitable plastics sheet material.

Although in the embodiment shown, the protector is of triangular cross-section and the extension member is shaped to suit that cross-section, the protector may be of any other suitable cross-section, for example circular cross-section with the extension member being appropriately shaped to suit that cross-section; in the case of a protector of circular crosssection, the extension member will be arcuate in cross-section.

In the embodiment shown where the protector is of triangular shape the extension member will be closely guided for longitudinal sliding movement due to the co-operation between the opposite edge portions of the extension member and the two opposed corner portions of the protector which also have the effect of retaining the extension member against the rear wall of the protector and in this situation adequate retention of the extension member is obtained by interlocking of the tab on the protector with the selected tab on the extension member. However for other cross-sectional shapes of protector, for example circular, the retention and guidance function provided by the shape of the protector may not be as great, and in those cases it may be necessary for the extension member to be also secured by a second tab 12a on the protector longitudinally spaced below the level of the first tab 12a. The or each tab 12a will act to retain the extension member also against displacement relative to P:\OPER\RSH\ROSSMARG. PET 3/11/99 -7the protector in a fore-aft direction under the effect of wind forces.

It is also to be understood that although it is preferred to hold the protector in its assembled state using a series of interlocking tabs as described, other forms of releasable connection or a permanent form of connection could alternatively be used. It will therefore be understood that an extension system in accordance with the general principles of the invention is applicable to many different forms of plant protector of tubular or sleeve-like construction.

Although in the preferred embodiment of the invention, the extension member is designed to connect the protector to a supporting wire, an extension member in accordance with the general principles of the invention also has utility in connecting the protector to other forms of support, for example a stake or a support structure. Accordingly, in other embodiments of the invention the extension member may be formed at its upper end with a flap, tab, or slot appropriately configured for coupling to an alternative form of support. This alternative form of coupling could be provided instead of the flap 22, or in addition to the flap 22 to provide a multi-function extension member.

The embodiment has been described by way of example only and modifications are possible within the scope of the invention.

Throughout this specification and claims which follow, unless the context requires otherwise, the word "comprise", and variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or group of integers or steps but not the exclusion of any other integer or group of integers.

Claims (3)

1. A plant protection system comprising a plant protector of tubular form arranged to surround a plant, an extension member of elongate form adapted to be slidingly mounted to the protector so as to be extendible by a variable distance from an upper end of the protector to connect the protector to a support, and a series of slots and/or tabs spaced lengthwise along the main body of the extension member and engageable with at least one tab and/or slot of the protector to retain the extension member in a selected extended position at least substantially against movement in a sense to retract the extension member into the protector.

2. A plant protection system according to claim 1, wherein the extension member is guided for longitudinal sliding movement within the protector by the shape of the protector.

3. A plant protection system according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein one from the extension member and protector is formed with a tab which interlocks with a slot in the other from said extension member and protector to lock the extension member substantially against extension and retraction relative to the protector. DATED this 24th day of January, 2000. ROSSMARG PTY.LTD. By its Patent Attorneys: DAVIES COLLISON CAVE