GB2093408A

GB2093408A - A decorated planter

Info

Publication number: GB2093408A
Application number: GB8203895A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Be Modern Ltd
Current assignee: Be Modern Ltd
Priority date: 1981-02-23
Filing date: 1982-02-10
Publication date: 1982-09-02

Abstract

A decorated planter includes an ornament detachably associated with and straddling its rim with one part of the ornament hanging over the outside of the side wall of the planter and the other part of the ornament extending over the rim and into the planter. Preferably the ornament represents a caricature of at least part of an animal, the one part of the ornament representing the fore part of the animal including its head so that it represents an animal peeping over or clambering out of the planter. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A decorated planter Potted plants are widely used to decorate and enhance the appearance of rooms but the conventional flowerpots containing the plants are not very decorative themselves and tend to detract from the appearance of the potted plants.

To overcome this the plant pots are frequently placed in an outer holder which carries a pattern or ornamentation and which hides the flowerpot from view. These plant pot holders or outer containers are considerably more expensive than flowerpots and, at present, there is no simple and easy way of enhancing the appearance of conventional flowerpots.

It is also known to associated some functional accessories such as plant watering devices with potted plants and one example of this is a watering device arranged to depict an open mounted frog. Such a watering device is usually made from pottery and includes an unglazed portion which penetrates into the soil contained by the flowerpot and then, when the hollow body of the device is filled with water this water gradually permeates through the unglazed portion into the soil containing the plant and so gradually meters water to the plant contained in the flowerpot. Naturally, the appearance of these functional articles is made as appealing as possible so as not to detract from the appearance of the potted plant but the various devices that have been used so far all penetrate into the soil contained in the flowerpot and are received wholly within the flowerpot.Therefore, whilst these devices are given as aesthetically pleasing an appearance as possible, they do not in any way obscure the flowerpot or enhance its appearance.

According to this invention a decorated planter includes an ornament detachably associated with and straddling its rim with one part of the ornament hanging over the outside of the side wall of the planter and the other side of the ornament extending over the rim and into the planter. The planter may be a flowerpot for holding a plant or a flowerpot holder or another container for holding a plant pot containing a plant.

Thus, in accordance with this invention a conventional flowerpot may be decorated by the inclusion of an ornament which straddles its rim.

Since one part of the ornament hangs over the outside of the side wall of the flowerpot this partly obscures the side wall of the flowerpot but more importantly the ornament breaks up the severe and angular top rim of the flowerpot and considerably enhances the overall appearance of the flowerpot and turns a conventional flowerpot into an eye catching and aesthetically pleasing article. The flowerpot may be placed in a conventional plant pot holder and particular when the holder is of a plain appearance this also may be decorated by an ornament straddling its rim and once again the ornament enhances the appearance of a plain plant pot holder by breaking up the severe and angular top rim.

It is particularly desirable for the ornament to represent at least part of an animal, the one part of the ornament representing the fore part of the animal including its head. Preferably the ornament represents a caricature of the animal and represents the animal peeping over or clambering out of the planter. When the ornament does represent an animal, it is preferred that the one part of the ornament includes the head and at least one leg of the animal represented by the ornament. Examples of the different animals that the ornament may represent are a dog, a cat, a hippopotamus, a crocodile, a frog, a lion, a donkey, a monkey, a pig, a bird, a mouse and an elephant.

By making the ornaments as caricatures, a greater eye-catching appeal is generated than when the ornaments are simple life-like representations of animals or parts of animals. The ornaments may also represent caricatures of known pop stars or sporting personalities. Again, these should also be represented as either peeping out or clambering out of the planter.

Preferably the ornament includes a groove extending upwards from its base between its one part and its other part. The groove may be inclined to the vertical axis of the ornament so that the ornament has the appropriate attitude when it is placed on a frusto-conical side wall of the flower pot. Preferably the width of the groove is sufficient to accommodate any standard flowerpot. We have found that a width of substantially 10 mm accommodates all standard flowerpots and most other planters on the market.

The groove may be stepped having a wider part towards the bottom of the ornament and a narrower part towards the top of the ornament.

When the ornament is arranged in this way, it can readily be associated with any of the conventional types of planters since the conventional clay flowerpots and pottery or earthenware flowerpot holders which have a relatively great wall thickness are received in the wider part of the groove whereas planters made of plastics materials or china which have a relatively narrow wall thickness are received by both the wide and the narrow grooves. When the ornament includes such a groove it simply rests on the rim of the planter. Typically the width of the wider portion of the groove is 10 mm whereas the width of the narrow portion of the groove is 5 mm.

A particular example of a decorative flowerpot in accordance with this invention and a modification will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings; in which: Figure 1 is a front elevation of an ornament for decorating a flowerpot; Figure 2 is a side elevation of the ornament; Figure 3 is an underplan of the ornament; Figure 4 is a scrap perspective view showing the ornament in position on the rim of the flowerpot; Figure 5 is a partly sectioned side elevation showing the ornament located on the rim of the flowerpot; and.

Figure 6 is a partly sectioned side elevation of a modification.

An ornament 1 shaped to represent a caricature of a front portion of a dog comprises a head 2, front paws 3 and 4, and a neck and back 5. The ornament 1 also includes a groove 6, between the front paws 3 and 4 and the back 5. The groove 6 has a width of 10 mm.

The ornament 1 is used to decorate a flowerpot 7 by placing the ornament 1 so that it straddles the rim 8 of the flowerpot 7. The groove 6 accommodates the rim 8 of the flowerpot 7 so that the ornament is located with the head and front paws of the dog hanging over the outside of the side wall of the flower pot 7 but with the neck and back portion 5 of the ornament on the inside of the side wall of the flowerpot 7. Thus, the ornament 1 gives the appearance of a dog hanging over the rim 8 of the flowerpot 7. The ornament 1 hanging over the top rim 8 of the flowerpot 7 breaks the harsh angular appearance of the top rim of the flowerpot and so softens and enhances its appearance.

In the modification shown in Figures 6 an ornament 9 has a stepped groove including a wide portion 10 and a narrower portion 1 The wide portion 10 has a width of 10 mm and the narrower portion 11 has a width of 5 mm.

In this figure, the flowerpot shown is a relatively thin walled flowerpot made of plastics material and in this case, the rim engages the top of the groove 11. However, when the ornament 9 is associated with a clay type flowerpot or a pottery or earthenware flowerpot holder, the rim engages shoulders 12 formed between the wider portion 10 and the narrower portion 11 of the groove.

Claims

1. A decorated planter including an ornament detachably associated with and straddling its rim with one part of the ornament hanging over the outside of the side wall of the planter and the other part of the ornament extending over the rim and into the planter.

2. A planter according to claim 1, in which the planter is a flowerpot for holding a plant.

3. A planter according to claim 1, in which the planter is a container for holding a flowerpot containing a plant.

4. An ornament for decorating a planter, the ornament being capable of being associated with the planter, by being placed on the planter so that it straddles the rim of the planter with one part of the ornament hanging over the outside of the side wall of the planter and the other part of the ornament extending over the rim and into the planter.

5. A planter according to any one of the claims 1 to 3 or an ornament according to claim 4, in which the ornament represents at least part of an animal, the one part of the ornament representing the fore part of the animal including its head.

6. A planter or an ornament according to claim 5, in which the ornament represents a caricature of an animal, and represents the animal peeping over or clambering out of the planter.

7. A planter or an ornament according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the ornament includes a groove extending upwards from its base in between its one and other part.

8. A planter or an ornament according to claim 7, in which the groove is stepped with a narrower part towards its top and a wider part towards the bottom such that in this way it is readily associable with conventional types of planters.

9. A planter or an ornament according to claim 7 or 8, in which the width of the groove or the width of the widest part of the groove is substantially 10 mm.

10. A planter or an ornament arranged substantially in accordance with the accompanying drawings.