Partially differing systems of innovative functional plant pots

Abstract

The invention relates to partially different individual or collective systems of innovative functional plant pots of all types of material and also of any size and shape, which do not consist of a single uniform part as in the traditional construction method, but are composed of at least two parts, one of which is the main or outer part, and the other part is the separable bottom part of the plant pot. If you want to repot a plant, you no longer need to grab the stem or branches of the plant, but only move the detachable bottom part of these pots upwards, which also moves the soil mass which integrates the root of the plant upwards and thus simply comes out of the plant pot. Due to the optional use of a protective covering, which is usually used for the soil of larger plants, it would be possible to lift the entire soil mass of the plant in one piece and place it in a larger pot. Furthermore, such systems could play a very effective role in the field of plant breeding, as they could function in their smallest and small formats as parts of plant breeding plates for the cultivation of seedlings or new plants and could be stacked on top of each other in the form of integration into these plates.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to the partially different systems of innovative functional plant pots of all types of material and also of any size, which may be structured in any geometric form of their horizontal as well as vertical cross-section.

[0002] Such innovative functional plant pots would no longer be constructed in their basic form as a single piece and thus structurally uniform, as has been the case until now in the traditional general construction method, but would have to consist of at least two parts.

[0003] Furthermore, each of these novel functional plant pots could optionally be provided with an inner protective or stabilizing layer, which usually consists of recycled plastic and would structurally hold the soil mass, which integrates the plant's roots, completely together when repotting the plant.

[0004] These innovative functional plant pots would therefore no longer have a base area, as has generally been the case until now, which is uniformly connected to and thus inseparable from the rest of the pots, the so-called outer shell area, but would have a so-called base part as their base area, which would have a separate existence and would therefore be easily separable from the aforementioned rest of the plant pot.

[0005] This separate base section, in the course of its use in its functional position, would typically be lowered from above, depending on its design, either only as far as the bottom area of ​​the outer part of these functional plant pots, or as far as the base itself, and placed in one of these two areas. If it were to separate from one of the two areas mentioned, it would be moved upwards again through the interior of the outer part and thus be removed from this interior.

[0006] If the surface of the separable base part of such a plant pot is manufactured to be uniform and thus has no perceptible elevations or depressions, or if it only has small and therefore non-penetrable openings, then this part may have a handle of any shape.

[0007] The material layer or wall of the outer part of these innovative functional plant pots could not simply continue in the same upper shape to its lower end for the purpose of catching and supporting the aforementioned separable base part, since this wall would have to have an extension of the arbitrary structure in the aforementioned area, which would be directed inwards.

[0008] In the first design, the outer layer, if it were to represent, for example, the outer layer of the transversely round plant pots, could have a continuous or non-continuous, ring-shaped extension towards the inside, which would be able to reach sufficiently short into the interior of the outer layer.

[0009] In the other design of the lowest part of the casing, the wall of the latter would, in this area, extend inwards and optionally also briefly upwards again, forming either a sufficiently wide internal support ring of a solid type, or a support ring in the form of a hollow support channel, upon which the circumferential zone of the single- or multi-layered base disc of the plant pot, which usually has any number of water flow openings on the one hand, and possibly also upper and / or lower support wings or layer elevations such as a support hemisphere, etc., would be placed.

[0010] In the event that the base of such plant pots has any downward-facing layer elevations and does not have a downward-facing circumferential cylinder, such a support ring would no longer be located in the lowest area of ​​the lower end zone of the outer layer, but at a corresponding distance from it and thus only in the area near the ground.

[0011] The previously described construction methods of the lowest or near-ground area of ​​the wall of such a functional plant pot would, in principle, apply equally to every shape of the transverse cross-section of these plant pots, and thus not only to transversely round plant pots, but also to transversely four-sided or generally polygonal plant pots, etc., among which box-like plant pots would also be found in individual forms or in combination.

[0012] The insertion of the base of such round, transverse-format plant pots into their outer part could, however, be done almost as well from below the latter, in such a way that, after the round base, whose circumferential zone contains alternating support elements of any structure, has first been inserted from below into the outer part and to just above the support ring, which is also not continuously structured, it could then be placed into its final position after a small rotation around its centrally located vertical axis and thus the subsequent adjustment of the support elements of the two parts in relation to each other in a vertical direction.

[0013] The use of the base part of the innovative functional plant pots with a square or other transverse cross-sectional shape, as is also the case with box pots, etc., would no longer be achieved by rotating the base part around its centrally located vertical axis, but rather around the horizontal axis of this part that is deemed suitable, while such a rotation would have to be carried out at a correspondingly greater height above the also discontinuously structured support frame.

[0014] In the two cases described above, the base of these functional plant pots would be able to be guided through two opposing gaps in the support ring of the round plant pots and the support frame of the non-round plant pots, extending above each of the latter two support zones, due to the fact that both the non-continuous support ring of the transversely round plant pots and the similarly structured support frame of the transversely square or box-shaped plant pots contain the same number of gaps in the material.

[0015] In both of the previously described cases, the outer shell could optionally have several extremely short, inwardly directed protrusions in the area directly above the already supported base section, which would have the task of holding the base section firmly in a slightly stabilized state if the empty plant pot were to be turned with its opening facing downwards.

[0016] Because the base of these pots likely has several central indentations or elevations pointing downwards or upwards, which would also serve as a gripping area, grasping the base and subsequently performing the necessary movements would be completely trouble-free, without the need for an additional handle.

[0017] The free upward movement of the base of such plant pots would mean that, in the event of a pot change, it would no longer be necessary to grasp the stem or branches of a plant to lift it out of the already small pot along with its roots and the soil containing the roots. Instead, removal from such an unsuitable pot would only occur due to pressure exerted from below on the detachable base, resulting in the vertical pushing out of the lower part of the plant from the original pot. This is caused by the downward pressure of the outer shell and the parallel counter-pressure of a cylindrical system component already placed under the base.

[0018] Afterwards, the lower part of the plant, i.e., the entire mass of soil containing the plant's root and optionally already enclosed on all sides by a two- or multi-part structured protective covering, usually with its own firmly fixed or detachable handles, along with the upper part of the plant, could be lifted by hand and then placed into the subsequent larger pot.

[0019] Depending on the choice, the detachable base of these functional plant pots could not only be completely flat, but also, quite apart from any number of water flow openings and furthermore quite apart from the fact that it could have partial areas of any depth or height, be able to have shorter, downward and / or upward extending, vertically or diagonally positioned tube-like channels, through each of which a capillary rod or bundle of rods or a water-conducting cord or bundle of cords could be pulled.

[0020] In one design version of the removable base of these functional plant pots, such tube-like channels may represent some inseparable areas, as they are likely to be cast together with it during the manufacturing process.

[0021] In the other design, these tube-like channels would be considered the areas separable from the base part, either by virtue of the snap-in function, by the screwing in, or by the actuation of an arbitrarily structured, one-sided or two-sided threaded nut system, or conversely, by being able to be detached from it.

[0022] While the base of these innovative functional plant pots, apart from optionally having the aforementioned elevations or depressions and the tube-like channels described above, could also optionally have wings of any dimension directed upwards or downwards, the outer part of these plant pots could also optionally give these pots an additional function by employing a combinatorial functionality, as a result of which these pots could also become stackable.

[0023] Such functionality could be achieved in such a special way that the outer part of these pots, completely independent of what round or square shape its transverse cross-section might have, would be able to form a three-part unit with, on the one hand, the pot saucer, which usually has a matching transverse cross-section, and on the other hand, with the so-called vertical spacer, whose transverse cross-section should usually also have the same dimensions and the same shape as the uppermost area of ​​the outer part.

[0024] In this three-part unit, in which the round and the angular or box-like outer parts of these functional plant pots, and the plant cultivation plates, would always play the central role, there could be a positive and a negative rail frame of any kind on the lower surface of the base of the saucer and at the upper end of the outer part of these pots in an interrelated manner for better stabilization of the stack, as a result of which, when stacking the pot systems on top of each other, the raised rail frame should be placed into its hollow counterpart.

[0025] While the saucer in such a stack of both round and square or box-like pot systems would have to fulfill its previous function as a water dispenser and its new function as a shelf, it could play a very important role in plant cultivation by supplying moisture to the seedlings in the new pot system and saving the farmer a lot of space by stacking the plant trays on top of each other.

[0026] The spacer, which in each of its wall types would generally be both very air- and very light-permeable, could be designed at any functionally suitable height, while it could also be assembled from its sub-areas in any way desired. The protective layer of soil surrounding a plant, the use of which would be particularly convenient when repotting larger plants.

[0027] The protective covering of the plant's soil mass, which would likely be equipped with removable or non-removable upper handles, would either be able to enclose the entire circumference of the respective soil mass, or only its upper, lower, or middle area, thus ensuring that the plant's soil mass is completely held together during potting.

[0028] After the lower part of the plant was placed in the larger pot, the rods that held the parts of the protective mantle together would be pulled out of all the alternating binding points of the protective mantle parts, thus enabling these parts to separate from each other.

[0029] The alternating binding points along each binding line of the protective mantle, located on each of the two sides of each of the semi- or fully vertically positioned parts of the protective mantle, would either have a full circular shape and thus represent small binding rings, or be partially open on the back and therefore have a hook-like shape.

[0030] After each successful placement of the lower part of the plant into the larger pot, and furthermore after the larger pot has received the additional amount of soil to fill it, the individual parts of the protective covering, which have already been separated from each other as a result of pulling out the rods holding them together from the binding points of these parts, could then simply be pulled out of the immediate vicinity of the soil mass of the plant and thus also out of the new pot.

[0031] The protective layer of the plant's soil mass can also consist, in a partial sense, of one, two, or several strip-like free segments of any desired surface structure, which were laid first on one side of the old pot and before the lower part of the plant was placed in the latter, downwards and thus to the bottom of the pot, and then past the bottom of the pot upwards again on the other side.

[0032] After placing the plant's soil into the larger pot, these strips, which are usually equipped with separable or non-separable handles, can then be pulled smoothly out of the new pot on one side of the plant's soil.

[0033] This additional type of protective covering would either be able to fulfill its function on its own, or especially in combination with the first type, if the functional plant pot were to be cylindrical rather than conical. The lower compatible water reservoir of the functional plant pots, which should be equipped with a closable water inlet, among other things.

[0034] Quite apart from the fact that, in the event of the presence of upward-facing hollows in the base of these novel functional plant pots, the soil mass of the plant itself should have its own water reserve, and furthermore quite apart from the fact that the lower water reservoir of such plant pots could have a sufficiently larger diameter, width, and length for watering than the diameter, width, and length of the lowest part of the outer layer of these pots, the lower water reservoir of the latter could have an external water intake point in the following two forms at the point of its larger dimensions.

[0035] The first form of external water intake point would be one that would look approximately like half of the conical main area of ​​a funnel and would be able to protrude from the wall of the lower water reservoir, which is dimensionally compatible with the end of the plant pot, in the upper area of ​​the wall; however, such a water intake point would likely disrupt the overall harmony of form that the plant pot and the lower water reservoir should have.

[0036] However, in order to prevent such a design disharmony and at the same time allow the lower compatible water container to easily receive water from the outside, a suitably dimensioned, half-bowl-like, sliding or foldable water receiving device would be used, the outer front surface of which would have exactly the same surface properties as the surrounding surface of the wall of the lower water container.

[0037] This semi-bowl-shaped, sliding or folding device would thus be pushed or folded out of its corresponding frame before the pouring process and then, after the aforementioned process, pushed or folded back into its frame and thus also into the interior of the lower compatible water container, as a result of which no growth could be seen on the wall of the respective lower water container. Innovative, functional plant pots in smaller formats, which can be used both individually and in collective systems.

[0038] Quite apart from the fact that the innovative functional plant pots of the smaller formats could be used just like the traditional smaller plant pots as normal pots for smaller plants, they could also be used individually or in their collective systems for cultivating the smaller plants.

[0039] Whether used individually or integrated into a bundle, innovative functional plant pots of smaller formats would have the exact same structure, consisting of a outer shell and a removable base.

[0040] In the format of their collective system, the outer part of these smaller functional plant pots could either be factoryally cast together with the rest of the plant plate from the outset and therefore be a single unit with it, or be snapped or screwed into its placement openings and thus be used both as individual separate pots and as smaller functional plant pots bound in a collective system, while the second form could just as easily be achieved by using the mother.

[0041] If they had formed parts of a plant pot plate in one or the other previously mentioned integration form, this plate itself would represent the upper part of a functional collective system, while the lower part of this system would consist of a circumferentially adjustable base tray, the base of which would be provided either with insertable or removable cylinder-like turrets of the same small pot height, either with insertable or removable mechanisms or with non-removable cylinder-like turrets.

[0042] If a farmer wants to remove seedlings from the small plant pots integrated into a tray and place them in larger pots, he lowers the plant pot tray vertically into the upper part of the base tray, where he then presses it down to the bottom of the tray with slight pressure. This causes the cylindrical turrets of the base tray to push all the soil from the seedlings upwards in parallel, out of all the small plant pots, and into the free-standing container for the farmer to handle.

Claims

[1] Innovative functional plant pots of any material, size and shape, characterized in that, unlike traditional plant pots, they no longer consist of a single and therefore uniform part, but are composed of at least two parts, namely a shell part and a base part. [2] Innovative functional plant pots of any material, size, and shape according to claim 1, the outer part of which has, either in its lowest or in its higher, near-ground area, an inner support frame of any cross-sectional shape extending briefly inwards, continuously or non-continuously, to support its separable base part, which, depending on the transverse format of the outer part, would generally be either ring-shaped, square, or in other shapes. [3] Innovative functional plant pots of any material, size, and shape according to claims 1 and 2, the base of which may generally have a central opening or several central or decentralized openings, may either have a uniformly flat plane, or whose plane may be able to include arbitrarily structured depressions or elevations. [4] Innovative functional plant pots of any material, size, and shape according to claims 1 and 2 and 3, the base of which may, depending on the choice, have only upper, only lower, or wings extending in both directions of any suitable height and length and shape. [5] Innovative functional plant pots of any material, size, and shape according to claims 1, 2, 3, and 4, the base of which, depending on the choice, could have inseparable and thus already factory-cast vertical or obliquely positioned tubes extending only downwards, only upwards, or in both directions, through each of which either a capillary rod or bundle of rods, or a cord or bundle of cords for the purpose of moisture transfer, could be drawn, while these tubes in their separable form could be attached to the base by any system such as snap-in, screw-in, or threaded-nut device. [6] Innovative functional plant pots of any material, size, and shape according to claims 1 and 2 and 3, which in their smallest and small forms, which could generally be used primarily as so-called primary and secondary plant growing pots, could also collectively form the smallest or small pots of a plant growing or plant support plate together with the rest of the area of ​​a plant pot plate. [7] Innovative functional plant pots of any material, size, and shape, according to claims 1, 2, and 3, which, apart from the stackability of their larger formats, should save every farmer a great deal of space, especially in the case of the integration of their smallest and small formats into the plant pot plates due to the stacking system already described. [8] Innovative functional plant pots of any material, size, and shape according to claims 1 and 2 and 3, which in their larger shapes could incorporate a size-compatible, usually cylindrical, auxiliary device which would serve to lift the plant soil mass out of the original, now small, plant pot. [9] Innovative functional plant pots of any material, size, and shape according to claims 1, 2, and 3, which in their smallest and small forms, which could generally be used primarily as so-called primary or secondary plant cultivation pots, could, as a result of their integration within a plant pot tray, utilize a lower tray as an auxiliary device for the collective lifting of the soil masses of the plant seedlings or new plants from the smallest or small pots integrated in a plant pot tray, [10] Lower compatible water reservoirs of the innovative functional plant pots of any material type, size, and shape according to claims 1 and 2 and 3, which optionally have a sliding or foldable water reservoir at the location of the external, semi-conical, structurally unchangeable water intake point, which could be pushed or folded into the interior of the respective lower water reservoir after the watering process.