GB2171750A - Device for securing a cane upright in a plant pot - Google Patents

Abstract

A clip for securing a cane H upright in a plastic plant pot consists of one or more parts A,B with slots to grip the pot rim and one or more loops capable of gripping the cane, and is preferably made of a semi- flexible plastic material. In the drawing two slotted parts A and B make a tight press fit onto the pot rim O and the cane is pushed through loop C which grips it; attempted withdrawal will lift loop C, and alter the angle it makes with the cane, causing its grip to tighten. The triangular arrangement of ABC prevents lateral movement of C. Adjustable loops may be employed. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Device for securing a cane upright in a plant pot This invention is a device for securing a cane or other plant support upright in a rigid or semi-rigid plant pot, generally but not necessarily made of a plastic material. For simplicity in what follows the word cane should be taken to include other types of plant support that are not canes but perform the same function.

Plants with flexible or weak stems are often held upright by means of a cane to which they are frequently tied. Where they are grown in plant pots however it is commonly found that there is insufficient depth of soil or other growing medium in the pot to hold the cane firmly and this is particularly likely to be the case if an artificial growing medium is used consisting mainly of peat or similar materials.

In the commercial production of climbing plants in pots various methods have been employed to overcome this problem including the use of a tripod of three canes secured at the apex or the use of especially tall and narrow pots to give more support to the cane, but these expedients have only been partially successful.

In the present invention a cane is held firmly by the device to be described at approximately the level of the top of the pot, the lower end being held in the growing medium in the pot. This gives the cane sufficient rigidity for most applications. However a further improvement in rigidity may be obtained by using two canes on opposite sides of the pot joined together at the top and each secured by one of the devices. In some circumstances it may even be desirable to use three or more canes, some or all being secured by the devices. But for most purposes a single cane secured by the device gives adequately firm support.

A further advantage of the present invention is that the device is so constructed that it grips the cane so that, providing the pot and growing medium are not too heavy, the potted plant may be lifted by taking hold of the top of the cane. In commercial handling of climbing plants grown in pots this ability can save a great deal of labour. Further, when such plants are exposed for sale in a garden centre they can be picked up and handled by customers without adversely affecting their appearance. Naturally if two or more canes joined at the top are used and gripped by these devices the structure will be even more robust.

The device consists essentially of connected components of two different types, one designed to grip the rim if the pot and the other the cane. The part designed to grip the pot may be made of rigid or slightly flexible material, suitably a plastic material, with a slot in it at least 2mm and preferably 6mm or more deep, and of such width that when pushed onto the rim of the pot it gives a sufficiently tight press fit to grip the rim. The sides of the slot need not be parallel and indeed may desirably contain protrusions on one or both sides so that the pot rim (which in the case of plastic pots generally has a somewhat wider lip) will be retained in it once it has been pressed on.

One or several such pot-gripping parts may be employed in the device. If only one, then to obtain a firm grip without excessive lateral flexibility it is desirable that the slot should be made to extend at least 4mm and preferably 8mm or more horizontally along the rim of the pot. Lateral flexing will however be much less if two pot-gripping parts are used spaced more widely apart on the rim, and, for the greatest rigidity, the parts may be arranged in the form of a rough triangle having the enclosed section of the pot rim as its base and the cane-holding part of the device at its apex.

Gripping the cane may be effected in several possible ways, but our preferred method employs an elongated loop of semi-flexible material, which may be made to taper at one or both ends and which grips the cane in one or more of the following ways. Firstly, its greatest width being less than that of the cane, when the latter is pushed into it the sides of the loop are sprung apart and, trying to return to their original position, grip the cane. Secondly the loop is connected at one end to the part or parts of the device which grip the pot rim; therefore when an attempt is made to withdraw the cane from the growing medium the loop is pulled upwards so altering the angle of the device and causing the top of the loop to be pressed against the cane on the one side and its bottom end against the cane on the other side.Thirdly the grip so produced may be augmented by making one or both ends of the loop tapering so that upon attempted withdrawal the side of the cane is forced into this tapered part and gripped more firmly than it would otherwise be.

In our preferred embodiments of the invention described above a single cane-gripping loop is employed for each cane. However it is also possible to use two or more loops to grip the same cane. By attaching two such loops to arms connected to the two ends of a long pot-rim-gripping part and then putting the cane through both loops, a triangular configuration is achieved which will support the cane firmly. The long pot-rim-gripping part referred to will desirably extend to between one thirtieth and one half of the pot's circumference, and may be made to grip the pot along its whole length or less, but it should preferably grip it in at least two places at or near its two ends.

For a fuller understanding of the invention reference may be made to the accompanying drawings which show, solely by way of illustration, two embodiments of the invention.

In Drawing No I Fig. 1(1) represents the top view of the whole clip. Fig. 1(2) shows a side view of the loop. Fig. 1(3) shows a cross section of the loop. Fig. 1(4) shows a side view of the pot-rim-gripping part.

In Drawing No 2 the same clip is shown, side view, attached to the pot and holding the cane in position.

In Drawing No 3 Fig. 3(1) represents the top view of the complete clip. Fig. 3(2) and 3(3) show a cross section and top view of the strip with rachet ends. Fig. 3(4) shows the top view of the pot-gripping part and the square tube with bars. Fig. 3(5) represents the side view of the same.. Fig. 3(6) represents the end view of the square tube. (See below).

Drawing No 1 shows a triangular configuration of the device which gives very litte lateral flexing and may be made from a single injection moulding of a semi-flexible plastic material. Two rim-gripping parts A and B are shown connected to the cane-gripping loop C so as to form an approximate triangle having the section of pot rim enclosed between A and B (dotted line 0) as its base and the loop C attached at its apex. In this example each of the pot-rim-gripping elements A and B has two protrusions D and E to assist the grip and prevent removal, the upper one E fitting under the outward-projecting iip which is a feature of many plastic pots. The loop C which grips the cane tapers markedly at the left -hand end so assisting the grip in the manner described above.It is also chamferred on the upper inner part of both sides, as shown in the cross section 1(3), to allow the cane to be pushed in more easily.

Drawing No 2 shows the above example of the device in use. The pot F is filled with a peat-based growing medium G. The cane H has been pushed through the loop C and then into the growing medium G, and the two potrim-gripping parts A and B have been pressed onto the rim of the pot. It can be seen that because the joints formed by A/B and the pot rim are somewhat flexible, any movement to withdraw the cane from the growing medium (as indicated by the arrow marked I) will result in an alteration in the angle of the device (as shown by the arrow marked J) so that the loop will grip the cane more tightly for the reasons previously described.

Drawing No 3 shows another embodiment of the invention using a single relatively wide rim-gripping component K and a cane-gripping loop L. In this case the loop is made of a strip of plastic material which can be bent into a U-shape and placed around a cane that may be already in place in the growing medium of the pot, and then the arms of this strip can be pushed into the square tube M. The inner surface of this tube and the outer faces of the arms of the strip have grooves, ridges or bars to give the effect of a ratchet as the loop is pushed in and so prevent its withdrawal. This illustrates an effective method for adjusting the size of the loop to take a greater range of cane sizes than is possible with the fixed loop shown in drawings Nos 1 and 2.

Claims (13)

1. A device for attaching to the rim of a plant pot in order to hold a cane upright in the growing medium or contents of the pot, comprising a loop or loops for gripping the cane and one or more slotted parts which when pressed onto the rim of the pot give a tight gripping fit holding the device securely to the pot.

2. A device as in claim 1 employing two pot-rim-gripping slotted parts each capable of gripping the pot rim.

3. A device as in claim 2 where the two pot-rim-gripping slotted parts connect to the cane-gripping loop to form an approximate triangle having the enclosed section of pot rim as its base and the loop attached at its apex.

4. A device as in claim 1 using a single pot-gripping slotted part connected to the loop.

5. A device as in any of claims 1 to 4 where the cane-gripping loop is elongated with its greatest width less than the diameter of the cane.

6. device as in claim 5 where the upper inner surface of the loop is chamferred to facilitate pushing a cane into it from above.

7. A device as in any of claims 1 to 6 where the cane-gripping loop has one or both ends tapered so that the cane is gripped because its side is forced into the tapered part or parts upon its attempted withdrawal from the growing medium and consequent change in the angle of the loop.

8. A device as in any of claims 1 to 7 where the loop may be discontinuous or able to be opened at one or more points and subsequently closed around the cane and secured.

9. A device as in claim 8 where the size of the loop may be varied by changing the point or points at which the securing mechanism operates.

10. A device as in any of claims 1 to 9 where two cane-gripping loops are attached to arms at the ends of a long pot-rim-gripping part.

11. A device as in any of claims 1 to 10 made of somewhat flexible plastic material.

12. A device for holding a cane upright in a plant pot as hereinbefore described.

13. A device for holding a cane upright in a plant pot as illustrated in any of the drawings.