GB2336516A

GB2336516A - Cloche

Info

Publication number: GB2336516A
Application number: GB9808597A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Trevor Simpkin
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1998-04-22
Filing date: 1998-04-22
Publication date: 1999-10-27
Also published as: GB9808597D0

Abstract

A cloche (1) is made of a transparent material and is of a conical or frustoconical shape and has four through holes 4 in the lip (3) so that it can be secured to the ground.

Description

1 CLOCHE The present invention relates to a cloche.

2336516 Cloches for garden use are well known and are used for protecting plants and seedlings from cold weather for example. Traditionally, cloches were made of glass and had a bell shape. As these traditional cloches were made of glass, they were very heavy. Furthermore, a large volume lo of storage space was required to store a number of such cloches when not in use.

More recently, cloches in the form of cylindrical tunnels" have been made available. These tunnel-like is cloches are generally semi-circular in elevation and may be made of clear plastics or plastics mesh for example. The clear plastic tunnel cloches take up a relatively large amount of storage space. The mesh tunnel cloches are often troublesome to assemble and disassemble. Moreover, the tunnel-like cloches are often rather unattractive.

According to the present invention, there is provided a conical or frustoconical cloche.

Because the cloche has a conical or frustoconical shape, and is of course hollow, a number of such cloches can be stacked in a nested arrangement for storage. A plurality of cloches of the present invention take up very little storage space when nested and, indeed, in a preferred embodiment need only take up a volume which is only very slightly greater than the volume taken up by a 2 single cloche. In contrast to the mesh cloches described above, no assembly of the cloche of the invention is normally required prior to use.

Preferably, the cloche is made from transparent plastics. The use of plastics material means that the cloche can be very lightweight. Moreover, the plastics material can be very thin which helps to reduce further the volume taken up by a plurality of nested cloches according to the present invention.

The cloche preferably has a circular base. The cloche may alternatively have a non-circular base. The cloche may have a square, triangular or other polygonal base, for example.

The cloche may have a lip extending outwardly from the base of the cloche. The lip may include at least one through hole by means of which the cloche can be pegged to a substrate.

The cloche is preferably conical.

The cloche may have a plurality of through holes in its body portion. The through holes may allow warm air to escape and/or may allow water, such as rainwater, to enter the cloche.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

3 Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a first example of a cloche according to the present invention; Fig. 2 is an elevation of the cloche of Figure 1; Fig. 3 is a plan view from above of the cloche of Figures 1 and 2; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a second example of a cloche according to the present invention; Fig. 5 is an elevation of the cloche of Figure 4; Fig. 6 is a plan view from above of the cloche of Figures 4 and 5; Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a third example of a cloche according to the present invention; Fig. 8 is an elevation of the cloche of Figure 7; and, Fig. 9 is a plan view from above of the cloche of Figures 7 and 8.

In the drawings, there is shown a cloche 1 for garden use, for example for protecting plants or seedlings against cold weather. The cloche 1 has a conical shape as shown in the drawings. The base 2 of the example of the cloche 1 shown in Figure 1 is circular. A circular lip 3 extends outwardly from the base 2 and is concentric therewith. The 4 lip 3 is in a plane which is perpendicular to the central longitudinal axis of the cloche 1, the cloche 1 being a right angled cone in the example shown. The lip 3 has four through holes 4 positioned at equal intervals around the s lip 3. The cloche 1 can be secured to the ground or other substrate by means of pegs (not shown) which can be hammered or otherwise pushed into the ground through the through holes 4.

The cloche 1 is made of a transparent material. A particularly preferred material is clear plastics, which may be polycarbonate for example. Alternatively, a biodegradable plastics material may be used for forming the cloche 1. In any event, the material of the hollow cloche 1 should be thin for several reasons. First, thin material means that the cloche 1 will be lightweight, which makes it easier to transport and install the cloche 1 in position. Secondly, the thin material minimises the loss of light passing through the cloche 1, which ensures that any plants or seedlings contained within the cloche 1 receive as much light as possible. Thirdly, a thin material means that several cloches 1 can be stacked by nesting the cloches 1 one inside the other whilst taking up as small an overall volume as possible. Indeed, by way of example, six or twelve cloches 1 according to the present invention can be stacked by nesting the cloches 1 one inside the other and will take up an overall volume which is not much greater than the volume taken up by a single cloche 1. This is in contrast to the traditional bell-shape cloches of the prior art discussed above which could not be stacked or nested at all and therefore took up much space when stored.

As shown, the cloche 1 is preferably made of a material such that the cloche 1 is waterproof to rain or other water falling from above in use. However, in some circumstances, the cloche 1 may be perforated in the conical surface of its body portion 5. Perforations in the conical surface may be large enough to allow rainwater or other water to enter the interior of the cloche 1. Perforations in the conical surface of the cloche 1 may also prevent the interior of the cloche 1 from overheating, particularly during hot weather, by allowing warm air to escape upwardly out of the cloche 1.

The cloche 1 may be of any suitable dimensions. For is example, a small cloche suitable for seedlings might have a height of 15cm. Taller cloches 1 may have heights of 30cm, 45cm, 60cm and 90 for example. It will be appreciated that variations from these particular dimensions are possible within the scope of the present invention.

Whilst the cloche 1 shown in the drawings is strictly conical (apart from the lip 3), small variations in the shape are possible. For example, the cloche 1 may be frustoconical with the top portion being cut off. The top portion of a frustoconical cloche 1 in accordance with the present invention may be closed to prevent ingress of water into the cloche 1 from above or may be open to allow water to enter and warm air to escape as required.

In the example of the cloche 1 shown in Figures 4 to 6, the cloche 1 is again conical but has a base 2 and lip 3 6 which are each equilateral triangles. In the example of the cloche 1 shown in Figures 7 to 9, the cloche 1 is again conical but has a base 2 and lip 3 which are each square. It will be appreciated that other shapes for the base 2 and s lip 3 are possible, including other regular polygons and even irregular polygons.

An embodiment of the present invention has been described with particular reference to the example lo illustrated. However, it will be appreciated that variations and modifications may be made to the exampl described within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

7 CLAIMS

1. A cloche comprising a conical or frustoconical object made of transparent material with a lip which has four through holes so that it can be secured to the ground.

2. A cloche as claimed in claim 1 which can be stacked one on top of another for storage.