GB2477303A - Collapsible planter - Google Patents

Abstract

A collapsible planter10for use in a garden or other outdoor area comprises a back panel11and side walls12which are hingedly connected to the back panel11. A support member25is also hingedly connected to the back panel11and extends between the side walls12. The support member25is adapted5selectively to secure to the side walls12so as to define a trough27between the support member25, the side walls12and the back panel11. The trough27may provide a reservoir for growing medium22such as soil in which produce28may be grown.

Description

PLANTER

This invention relates to a planter for use in a garden or other outdoor area. In particu'ar this invention relates to a space saving coUapsible planter which is compact, easy to assemble and easy to use.

Gardening for some is merely a hobby, but for others it can be considered as a means to be self sufficient by growing their own fruit and vegetables. In times of economic downturn, there is an increasing need to economise and more and more people start to grow their own food. Not only can it cost far less to grow your own fruit and vegetables, but arguably home grown produce tastes better. The term produce" as used herein should be io construed as meaning anything which can be grown in a garden and includes fruit, vegetables and flowers.

For some there are significant obstacles which make growing your own produce difficult, if not impossible. Firstly, in order to grow produce, one needs garden space. Most peop'e have some form of outside space, even if merely a is balcony of a flat. However, many people do not have gardens or do not have space sufficient enough for growing produce. Garden allotments provide an area specifically for this purpose. However, allotments are in increasing demand and most require a membership fee to be paid. Secondly, while gardening provides a good form of exercise, and thus is beneficial to overall physical fitness, for some peop'e physical activity can be difficult. It is often not possible for disabled or elderly persons to bend over in order to tend to their produce.

It is thus a principal aim of the present invention to provide a garden planter which can be used in areas of limited space, which is simple in both its construction and use, and which may be used by a standing person without the need to kneel or squat on the ground.

According to this invention, there is provided a planter comprising: -a back panel; -side walls hingedly connected to the back panel; -a support member hingedly connected to the back panel, extending between said side walls and adapted selectively to secure to the side walls io thereby to define a trough between the support member, side walls and back panel.

The planter may be located against a surface or may be free standing, and is compact so as to enable it to be located in an area of limited space. The trough may provide a reservoir for growing medium such as soil in which is produce may be grown. To facilitate ease of access to the trough, the support member can be located at an upper region of the back panel with the panel being a suitable height.

Preferably, the back panel comprises a front wall and a rear wall and a cavity defined therebetween. The cavity may hold a growing medium, such as soil or compost. This cavity may provide additional stability for the planter, and when growing medium is contained therein and the top of the cavity is open it may define a further location at the upper end thereof for the growing of produce. This arrangement is particularly advantageous for people of limited mobility, because the plant growing locations are at the upper end of the planters and can be accessed easily. Both the cavity and the trough may be used to grow produce.

An opening may be defined In the front wail between the trough and the cavity. In this arrangement, the roots of plants growing In the trough grow Into 6 the cavity. In this way, the produce has access to nutrients and water In the growing medium provided In the cavity. The amount of nutrient to which the produce would effectively have access to Is sIgnIficantly greater than that which the produce would receive if planted in a standard garden pot. In an alternative arrangement, the cavity may be filed with growing medium with produce planted io at the top thereof and the trough used to provide water to the growing medium.

ldealIy the front wall is moveable with respect to the rear wall. In this way, the planter may be at least partially collapsible, which facilitates ease of storage when not assembled. To facilitate this, the front wall may have any suitable arrangement, but It has been found that a parallelogram motion Is 16 advantageous. Movement of the front wall may be effected slrrply by moving the front wall relative to the rear wall between collapsed and erected positions.

Preferably, the planter further comprises a base plate to dose the lower end of the cavity and thus hold growing medium within the planter. The base plate may be integrally formed with or secured to the walls and/or back panel of o the planter. In a preferred arrangement the base Is pivotally secured to the walls and/or back panel in order to facilitate movement relative thereto into a collapsed configuratIon. DraInage means may be provided In a lower portIon of the planter or in the base plate, so that excess water which remains, following watering of the produce (or a raIn shower), may flow out of the planter.

To prevent accidental coUapse of the planter when assembled, it s preferred that interlocking means are provided, releasably to secure the support member to the side was. The interlocking means may comprise inter-engageable parts provided on the side wars and each end of the support member that engages with the side wal's. These interlocking means may include a groove formed in each side wall adapted to receive an abutting edge of the support member. Alternatively each side wail may comprise an abutment with a recess adapted to receive a corresponding projection provided on the support member.

Preferably the planter has at least two support members, each support member being adapted selectively to secure to the side waUs. In this arrangement a plurality of troughs for the growing of produce may be formed in a single planter. Each support member may be arranged such that the troughs are vertically spaced.

The planter may have a fixing member provided thereon for attachment of the planter to an externa' structure, such as a wall, building, balcony or fence. The planter may be adapted to interconnect with one or more like planters, in a space saving arrangement.

n a preferred embodiment, the side walls and the or each support member are moveable from a storage position, whereat the side walls and the or each support member are generally p'anar with or overlying the back panel, to a use position, where the side walls are substantially perpendicu'ar to the back panel and the or each support member is angled relative to the back panel so as to define a trough (or troughs) between the support member, back panel and side waUs.

The planter of this invention is compact, easy to assemble and may be collapsible for easy storage. It provides a plurality of locations for planting and may have a cavity through the centre thereof for growing medium. The planter may be used in locations of limited space, such as on balconies and may be secured at a suitable height to facilitate ease of access. It may also be angled optimally relative to the light.

By way of example only, one specific embodiment of garden planter of io this invention will now be described in detail, reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which:-Figure 1 is a perspective view of a planter in use in accordance with the present invention; Figure 2a is a perspective view of the planter in a collapsed is configuration; Figure 2b is a plan view of the planter of Figure 2a; Figure 2c is a side view of the planter with the side walls removed; Figure 3a is a perspective view of the planter of Figure 2a with the side walls in an open position; Figure 3b is a plan view of the planter of Figure 3a; Figure 3c is a side view of the planter of Figure 3a; Figure 4a is a perspective view of the planter of Figure 3a with the back panel in an open position; Figure 4b is a plan view of the planter of Figure 4a; Figure 4c is a side view of the p'anter of Figure 4a with the side was removed; Figure 5a is a perspective view of the planter of Figure 4a in an erected configuration; Figure 5b is a plan view of the planter of Figure 5a; Figure 5c is a side view of the p'anter of Figure 5a with the side was removed; and Figure 6 is a p'an view of a base plate of the planter.

The planter according to the present invention is adjustable between a coapsed storage configuration and an open use configuration. M of the Figures show the same embodiment of planter but in different configurations in some cases with parts removed for c'arity. In each case the p'anter 10 comprises a substantially rectangular back panel 11 and side walls 12 which are connected to the back panel 11.

Each side wall 12 has a fixed portion 13 and a movable portion 14 pivotally connected thereto by hinges 15 to enable the movable portion 14 to be moved into a position which is substantially parallel to the back panel 11. In this way, it is possible to have the planter 10 in a col'apsed configuration for storage or transportation as illustrated in Figure 2a.

The back panel 11 comprises a front wall 18 and a rear wall 19. The front and rear waUs are connected to each other by a parallelogram linkage arrangement 20. This parallelogram inkage arrangement 20 enables the front wall 18 to be movable relative to the rear wall 19 whilst remaining parallel thereto. Figures 2a to 3b illustrate the back panel 11 in a collapsed configuration where the front wall 1 8 abuts the rear wall 19. Figures 1 and 4a to 5c illustrate the back panel 11 in a use configuration where the front wall 18 is spaced from the rear wall 19. In the use configuration, a cavity 21 is formed between the front wall 18 and the rear waIl 19 in which growing medium 22 such as soil may be located.

Four support members 25 are pivotally connected to the front wall 18 in a vertically spaced arrangement by hinges 26, as illustrated in Figures 2c, 4c and 5c. The support members 25 may be rotated about the hinges 26 between a closed position where the support member 25 lies substantially parallel to the io front wall 18 and an open position where the support member 25 is ang'ed r&ative to the front wall 18. The relative position of a support member 25 with the front wall 18 and side walls 12, when the support member 25 is in an open position, defines a trough 27 which also holds growing medium 22 such as soil in order to grow produce 28.

The front wall 18 has openings 31 extending thereacross, between each side wall 12, and adjacent each support member 25 thereby linking the cavity 21 and each trough 27. Produce 28 planted in the troughs 27 therefore has access to the growing medium 22 within the cavity 21 and hence the nutrients therein.

A locking arrangement 32 is provided in order to prevent accidental collapse of the garden planter 10. The locking arrangement 32 is adapted reeasably to secure the front wall 18, support members 25 and side waIls 12 in their respective open, use positions. The ocking arrangement 32 comprises four abutments 33 on each side wall 12 and four corresponding projections 34, with each projection 34 being provided on a support member 25. Each abutment 33 has a recess 35 formed therein which is adapted to receive the projection 34 on the respective support member 25, so as to secure the support member 25 and the side waUs 12 together in an open position. As best seen in Figures 3a and 4a, each abutment 33 is verticaUy spaced from the next and is positioned on each side wa 12 so as to hold the support members 25 at a suitable angle relative to the front wall 18.

A base plate 38 as shown in Figure 6, having drainage holes 39 therein may be located at the lower end 40 of the cavity 21 between the front wall 18 io and rear wall 19. The base plate 38 serves to retain the growing medium 22 within the cavity 21 whilst allowing water to drain through the holes 39.

Fixing members 41 are also provided which allow the garden planter 10 to be connected to an external structure, such as a fence or wall.

The sequence of steps required to assemble the garden planter 10 from is a collapsed configuration to a use configuraation is discussed hereinafter with reference to Figures 1 to 6.

Firstly, the moveable portion 14 of each side wall 12 is rotated about the connecting hinge 1 5 as shown in Figures 3a and 3b, so as to lie substantially perpendicular to the fixed portion 13. As illustrated in Figures 4a and 4b, the front wall 18 is then moved away from the rear wall 19 by movement of the parallelogram linkage arrangement 20, so that the lower end of the front wall 44 locates on the ground and a cavity 21 is formed between the front wall 18 and rear wall 19. Each support member 25 is then rotated about the connecting hinges 26 until the projections 34 of each support member 25 are received in the respective recess 35 of the corresponding abutment 33 on each side wall 12, as shown In Figures 5a and Sb. The base plate 38 is then located In and releasably secured tothe lowerend 40 of the cavlty2l so as toclosethe lower end 40.

6 Anally produce growing medium 22 can be placed within the cavity 21 and the toughs 27 for the growing of produce 28 thereIn.