US2260436A - Plant shield or shelter - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 28, 1941.

B. C. CHAMBERS PLANT SHIELD OR SHELTER Filed March 2, 1940 start.

Patented Oct. 28, 1941 UNITED STATES "PATENT OFFICE 2,260,436 PLANT SHIELD on SHELTER. Bert 0. Chambers, Concord, Mass.

Application March 2, 1940, Serial No. 321,961

v soiaims. The invention disclosed in the following description is that of a plant shelter or shield. In

setting out or transplanting small plants it is desirable to give these plants the best possible Much of the success depends upon protecting the plant from the sun, wind, rain or cold until it has become hardened and ;adapted to conditions of open culture. The most desirable shelter is one which may be shifted to vary the amount of ventilation and light.

My invention comprises a shelter which will permit adjustment either to fit closely on the ground and thus cut off air currents and access of insects or optionally to be raised if the condition of the weather and the time of day make such desirable. Under such conditions means are provided for ventilating the top of the shelter without actually opening the top itself.

Another object of my invention is to provide a shelter which can be made cheaply, readily collapsed for handy storage and reuse and will be easy to erect and use.

Other objects of my invention will be evident from the following description of the preferred form as illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the shelter in its position for use around a young plant;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the shelter collapsed for shipment or storage and Fig. 3 is an outside view of the blank used in manufacture.

The device consists essentially of a prism of folded sheet material having an openable top, independent means for ventilating the upper portion of the enclosure on opposite sides and means for firmly supporting the shelter on stakes which permit the shelter to be adjusted close to or spaced from the level of the ground.

The shelter proper is made from a sheet of foldable suitable weather-resistant material which may be either heavy cardboard, parchment, light sheet metal or the like. This sheet is cut by dies or otherwise to form the blank 5. The blank 5 includes a series of four side panels 6, I, 8 and 9. These panels are formed by scoring the blank 5 along the vertical lines indicatedin Fig. 3. The end panel 9 has a flange II] also scored along the side edge of the panel 9.

The first panel 6 of the series has a side fiap ll extending above one end of the panel. In like manner, the third side panel 8 has a similar side flap I 2. The intermediate panel I has a cover portion l3 with an end flap l4 which is adapted to tuck in when the cover is closed.

The end panel 9 may be called the front of the shelter and has no flap. The flange I0 is extended upwardly to form the extension 15 similar in height to the side flap ll.

While I have indicated scoring as the means of providing the edges for folding between the respective panels and between the panels .of the adjacent flaps, still variations may be permitted where the material suggests the desirability of other forms of folding or hinging.

A portion of the surface of the flange I0 is given an adhesive coating l6 by which the flange may be attached to the free side edge of the panel 6. Here again equivalent means of attachment may be used such as stapling, riveting, tongue-and-slot, or the like.

Panels 6 and 8 each have two transverse slots l1, 18. These are vertically spaced as shown in the drawing and provide means for holding the stakes.

The alternate panels 1 and 9 are slotted along curved lines If] to form tabs 20 which may be pushed out as shown in Fig. 1 to provide the desired amount of upward or cross ventilation.

Two stakes 2| are provided for use with the shelter. These stakes may be flat stripsof wood or other suitable materials such as metal, wire or the like. As shown in Fig. 2 each stake is pointed at the lower end and has a length that may be equal to the overall length of the shelter when collapsed. Each stake is passed inwardly of the slot l1 and outwardly through the slot [8 thus providing a frictional sliding adjustment.

In assembling the device the flange I0 is attached to the free edge of the side panel 6 thus forminga quadrilateral prism. The number of sides, however, may vary with necessity and convenience. As thus assembled the extension l5 underlies the side flap II and serves as a reinforcement for the sides and flange as well as primarily to lock and to prevent accidental opening of the tuck-in flange I4 of the cover.

The assembly is completed by weaving the stakes 2| in the slot l1, 18. The shelter is then collapsed into a fiat position as shown in Fig. 2. Here the stakes protect the flaps l2 and cover l3 from damage during transport and storage.

The shelter may readily be placed in usable shape by being opened and the stakes pushed vertically into the ground around the plant to be protected. In this position the stakes 2| are parallel and their tops are beneath the upper edge of the side panels 6 and 8. The cover and flaps may be crossed or not as desired. The tabs 20 may also be opened for ventilation. If it is de-.

sired to give greater exposure to the plant the shelter may easily be lifted up from theground sliding on the parallel stakes 2|.

After the plant has become adapted to open culture, the shelter including the stakes may be removed and collapsed for storage and reuse.

While I have shown by way of example the preferred form which my invention may take, it; is to be understood that numerous changes in materials, proportions andequivalents are included within the scope. of the invention'as defined in the following claims.

What I claim is: t

1. A collapsible plant shelter comprising a prism of folded sheet material having vertical sides and a folded top, said prismbeing transversely slotted on two opposite sides at vertically spaced points, and separate stakes slidably held in said transverse slots, said prism being free for slidable adjustment vertically on said stakes after the latter are set vertically in the ground.

2. 'A collapsible shelter comprising a prism of folded sheet material having -at itsupper end two side flaps and a cover; said prism being transversely slotted on two opposite sides and vertical stakes slidably held in the said transverse slots'and overlying the side-flaps when the shelter is collapsed. V '3. A collapsible shelter comprising a prism of prism of folded sheet material having at its upper end two side flaps and a cover with a flange, said prism having transverse slots on two opposite sides at vertically spaced points, the other two sides of said prism being slotted to form tabs for ventilating openings and vertical stakes slidably held in the said transverse slots and overlying 1 the side flaps when the shelter is collapsed.

5. A'plant shelter comprising a prism of folded sheet material having vertical sides and a folded 'top,'sai dprism havingtransverse SIOtSOII'tWO opposite sides at vertically spaced points," the other two sides of said prism being slotted to form tabs for ventilation openings and vertical stakes slidably held in the said transverse-slots,

and forming parallel reinforcements 'for'" the shelter in both its collapsed fiat form and itsoperative position, I

BERT clonmvr'enn's. I

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