PLANT CONTAINER

Abstract

Plant container The present invention relates to a container (1) for receiving plants and for resting on a ground, comprising a substantially horizontal bottom (2) and a peripheral wall (3) extending substantially vertically from the peripheral edge of said bottom, characterized in that it comprises movement means comprising at least one rolling member arranged at its lower end and a thrust means capable of moving the rolling member from a "retracted" position, in which the bottom (2) of said container 1 rests on the ground, to an "extended" position, in which said rolling member rests on the ground, and vice versa, said bottom (2) of the container (1) no longer being in contact with the ground when the rolling member is in its "retracted" position. Fig 1

Description

Title of the invention: PLANT CONTAINER Technical field of the invention

[0001] The present invention relates to the general field of plants. It relates more specifically to a large-sized container intended to receive plants and being ideally designed for outdoor use such as, for example, in a street or a courtyard, or on a square, a terrace or even a balcony. State of the art

[0002] To beautify and green a town, a house or even an apartment, it is known to place one or more containers placed on the ground and intended to receive different types of plants such as, for example, green or flowering plants, grasses, shrubs, non-spreading bamboos or even small trees such as olive trees, conifers, box trees, etc.

[0003] Conventionally, in order to be able to contain a more or less significant quantity of soil and to be placed mainly outdoors, these containers are made from a solid material resistant to bad weather and UV rays such as, for example, synthetic materials, galvanized or stainless steel or even cement fiber.

[0004] Some of these containers are even equipped with a water reserve to facilitate the maintenance of plants by limiting the number of waterings.

[0005] This type of known container is certainly effective but has a major drawback. Thus, large containers receiving a large quantity of earth have a very high mass and it is then difficult or even impossible to move it without suitable lifting equipment. Summary of the invention

[0006] The aim of the present invention is therefore to propose a large-sized container intended to receive plants and ideally designed for outdoor use such as, for example, in a street or a courtyard, or on a square, a terrace or even a balcony, said container being easy to implement and move without any particular machine while retaining its aesthetic appearance and allowing stable and secure installation.

[0007] In accordance with the invention, there is therefore proposed a container for receiving plants and for resting on the ground, comprising a substantially horizontal bottom and a peripheral wall extending substantially vertically from the peripheral edge of said bottom, remarkable in that it comprises movement means comprising at least one rolling member arranged at its lower end and a thrust means capable of moving the rolling member from a "retracted" position, in which the bottom of said tray 1 rests on the ground, to an "extended" position, in which said rolling member rests on the ground, and vice versa, said bottom of the tray no longer being in contact with the ground when the rolling member is in its "retracted" position.

[0008] Each rolling member - thrust means assembly is advantageously arranged in a housing provided in the bottom of said tank, said housing being sized so that in the "retracted" position the rolling member does not protrude from the bottom and that in the "extended" position the rolling member protrudes from said bottom.

[0009] The thrust means is advantageously a manually controlled hydraulic jack.

[0010] Advantageously, the tank comprises, at the right of each housing, an access orifice arranged on its peripheral wall and closed in a removable manner by an inspection hatch, in order to allow the installation of an actuating lever associated with said hydraulic cylinder.

[0011] The rolling member is preferably of the "jockey" wheel type.

[0012] According to a particular embodiment, the bottom also comprises a recess arranged to allow the passage of a fork of a pallet truck or a forklift.

[0013] Furthermore, the bottom is provided with at least one plate connecting the parts of the bottom arranged on either side of the recess, said plate being configured to prevent said container from tipping over during handling. Brief description of the figures

[0014] Other advantages and characteristics will emerge more clearly from the following description of an embodiment of the invention with reference to the attached schematic figures in which:

[0015] [Fig.l] is a perspective view of a tray according to the invention,

[0016] [Fig.2] is a top view of the tray of [Fig.l],

[0017] [Fig.3] is a perspective view of the tray of [Fig.l] from another angle of view,

[0018] [Fig.4] is a partial vertical section of the tank of [Fig.3] along axis IV - IV'. Description of the embodiments

[0019] With reference to Figures 1 to 4, there is shown, in accordance with the invention, a container 1, advantageously of large dimensions, intended to receive plants and ideally designed for outdoor use and to rest on the ground S, for example, of a street, a courtyard, a square, a terrace or even a balcony.

[0020] Here, the term "large dimensions" means that at least one of the three dimensions of the container 1, namely the height, the width and the length, is greater than or equal to one meter.

[0021] Said tray 1 comprises a substantially horizontal bottom 2 and a peripheral wall 3 extending substantially vertically from the peripheral edge of said bottom 2.

[0022] Here, the term "substantially horizontal" or "substantially vertical" refers to any element or part of an element of the tank 1 making an angle of between -20° and +20° with the horizontal or the vertical.

[0023] In the embodiment shown in the figures, the bottom 2 is in the general shape of a quadrilateral, more precisely in the general shape of a rectangle, and the vertical wall 3 is then made up of two longitudinal walls 3A and two lateral walls 3B. However, it goes without saying that the bottom 2 could be of any other shape such as, for example, a disc, a triangle, an oblong shape or even a hexagon, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0024] The tray 1 comprises movement means 4 which are partly retractable between a "retracted" position in which the bottom 2 of said tray 1 rests on the ground S and an "extended" position in which the lower end of the movement means 4 rests on the ground S, and vice versa. In the "extended" position, said bottom 2 of the tray 1 is no longer in contact with the ground S and said tray 1 can then be moved (Cf. [Fig.4]).

[0025] With reference to [Fig. 4], the displacement means 4 comprise at least one rolling member 5 arranged at its lower end and a thrust means 6 capable of moving the rolling member 5 from the "retracted" position, shown in a strong line, to the "extended" position, shown in a dotted line, and vice versa.

[0026] To maintain the aesthetic appearance of the tank 1, each rolling member 5 - thrust means 6 assembly is arranged in a housing 7 provided in the bottom 2 of said tank 1, said housing 7 being dimensioned so that in the "retracted" position the rolling member 5 does not protrude from the bottom 2 and that in the "extended" position the rolling member 5 protrudes from the bottom 2 so that the latter no longer rests on the ground S.

[0027] For reasons of stability when moving the container 1, the moving means 4 advantageously comprise three rolling member 5 - thrust means 6 assemblies.

[0028] However, the displacement means 4 may comprise one or two or three or more than three rolling member 5 - thrust means 6 assemblies, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0029] Thus, in the embodiment shown in the figures, the displacement means 4 comprise four rolling member 5 - thrust means 6 assemblies each arranged in a housing 7, the housings 7 being arranged at each corner of the bottom 2 in the general shape of a rectangle.

[0030] Each rolling member 5 is advantageously of the wheel type, preferably of the "jockey" wheel type.

[0031] According to an advantageous embodiment shown, each thrust means 6 is a manually controlled hydraulic cylinder. To enable the actuating lever associated with said hydraulic cylinder to be put in place, the tank 1 comprises, at the right of each housing 7, an access orifice arranged on its peripheral wall 3 and removably closed by an inspection hatch 8.

[0032] However, each thrust means 6 may be of a completely different type such as, for example, a pinion-rack assembly associated with a crank or an electric motor, or even a pneumatic or electric cylinder, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[0033] Thus configured, it is clear that the installation of the tray 1 according to the invention is carried out in complete safety. Indeed, the moving means 4 are only used to move said tray 1 and, once in place, the bottom 2 of said tray 1 rests on the ground S, thus preventing any untimely movement of the tray 1. This configuration is particularly advantageous when the tray 1 is also used to block a passage or access.

[0034] Advantageously, the bottom 2 also comprises a recess 9 arranged to allow the passage of a fork of a pallet truck or a forklift used for loading / unloading the container 1 from a truck. Even more advantageously, the bottom 2 is provided with at least one plate 10 connecting the parts of the bottom 2 arranged on either side of the recess 9, said plate 10 being configured to prevent said container 1 from tipping during its handling. For this, during the handling of the container 1, the forks of a pallet truck or a forklift are engaged in the recess above the plate 10.

[0035] To increase safety when handling the container 1, the bottom 2 of the latter preferably comprises a plate 10 at each of the longitudinal ends of the recess 9.

[0036] Finally, the lower parts of the tank 1 located on either side of the recess 9 can determine water reserves, the latter being provided with at least one draining member to avoid accumulating too much water during long periods of rain.

[0037] The container 1 according to the invention preferably finds a particular application for a container of large dimensions within the meaning of the invention, but said container 1 can however be adapted for a container of smaller dimensions.

[0038] Finally, it goes without saying that the examples of trays 1 in accordance with the invention which have just been described are only particular illustrations, in no way limiting of the invention.

Claims

Claims

1. Container (1) for receiving plants and for resting on a ground (S), comprising a substantially horizontal bottom (2) and a peripheral wall (3) originating substantially vertically from the peripheral edge of said bottom, characterized in that it comprises movement means (4) comprising at least one rolling member (5) arranged at its lower end and a thrust means (6) capable of moving the rolling member (5) from a "retracted" position, in which the bottom (2) of said container 1 rests on the ground (S), to an "extended" position, in which said rolling member (5) rests on the ground (S), and vice versa, said bottom (2) of the container (1) no longer being in contact with the ground (S) when the rolling member (5) is in its "extended" position.

2. Container (1) according to claim 1 characterized in that each rolling member (5) - thrust means (6) assembly is arranged in a housing (7) provided in the bottom (2) of said container (1), said housing (7) being dimensioned so that in the "retracted" position the rolling member (5) does not protrude from the bottom (2) and that in the "extended" position the rolling member (5) protrudes from said bottom (2).

3. Tray (1) according to any one of claims 1 or 2 characterized in that the pushing means (6) is a manually controlled hydraulic jack.

4. Container (1) according to claims 2 and 3 characterized in that the container (1) comprises, at the right of each housing (7), an access orifice arranged on its peripheral wall (3) and closed in a removable manner by an inspection hatch (8), in order to allow the installation of an actuating lever associated with said hydraulic cylinder.

5. Container (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 4 characterized in that the rolling member (5) is of the "jockey" wheel type.

6. Container (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the base (2) comprises a recess (9) arranged to allow the passage of a fork of a pallet truck or a forklift.

7. Container (1) according to claim 6 characterized in that the bottom (2) is provided with at least one plate (10) connecting the parts of the bottom (2) arranged on either side of the recess (9), said plate (10) being configured to prevent said container (1) from tipping during handling.

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