Colonisation device

Abstract

The invention relates to a colonisation device (1) for supporting the colonisation of medium to small living organisms up to microorganisms, plants and fungi, the colonisation device comprising an interior, which is enclosed by a base (3), which can be placed on a substrate, and an opposite roof (4) and by four side walls which each extend from the base (3) to the roof (4). Two mutually opposite side walls form protective walls (5) which are closed by wall elements (6). Two further side walls, which are mutually opposite and adjoin a protective wall (5) on both sides, form opening walls (7) which each have a number of openings (8) through which the interior is accessible. A colonisation passage (9) is formed in each opening wall (7) behind a plurality of openings (8) and is accessible through the associated opening (8), which colonisation passage extends from the relevant opening (8) into the interior and can be closed at an end of the colonisation passage (9) opposite the opening (8). A plurality of colonisation passages (9) each have a passage bottom (10) with a passage gradient, directed from the opening (8) into the interior space towards the base (3), of between 5° and 33°, preferably between 20° and 30°, relative to the bottom (3) of the colonisation device (1).

Description

[0001] Settlement facility

[0002] The invention relates to a settlement device for supporting the settlement of small organisms, with an interior space surrounded by at least two side walls extending from a base that can be placed on a surface to a top surface of the settlement device opposite the base, wherein at least one side wall forms a shielding wall which is closed by wall elements, and at least one side wall adjacent to the shielding wall forms an opening wall which each has a number of openings through which the interior space is accessible.

[0003] Human influence on the environment alters the living conditions of plants and animals. Large-scale structures, such as cultivated fields used temporarily or permanently for monocultures, lead to a decline in biodiversity in these natural areas, as the living conditions for many animals and plants fundamentally change, and often a sufficient supply of habitat and food for survival is scarce or nonexistent.

[0004] It is common practice, for example in urban areas, to erect habitats in gardens or at residential complexes to provide animals or plants with the most favorable living conditions possible. For instance, birdhouses are set up or hung, particularly during the colder months, and stocked with birdseed. Nesting boxes provide nesting opportunities for birds. Abandoned gardens or parks, or green spaces intentionally left in a natural state, attract many insects, birds, small mammals, plants, and microorganisms, which can find a habitat and sufficient food there. Furthermore, there are shelters and nesting aids for insects, in which several chambers or compartments are lined with different, usually natural, materials, creating a comfortable environment for insects.

[0005] When using natural areas outside of urban areas, increasing emphasis is placed on ensuring that, despite the management of these areas, for example, peripheral areas are left unmanaged or planted and maintained in such a way as to promote favorable living conditions for animals. Often, the framework for managing these natural areas is also designed to be as favorable as possible for animals or for a diversity of animal and plant species.

[0006] There are also isolated examples of settlement devices that are artificially manufactured and placed or erected in urban or natural environments, with the specific aim of supporting and promoting the settlement of various animal or plant species. Such settlement devices serve to increase the number of individual animals or plants that reside or settle in or on such a device long-term, and are intended to increase genetic diversity and biodiversity.

[0007] It has been shown that a settlement facility should offer a beneficial habitat to as many different small organisms as possible, since the introduction of various small organisms not only promotes biodiversity but also improves living conditions for the different organisms and provides an ecosystem that is as close to nature as possible. Small organisms are considered to include insects, birds, and small mammals, but also plants and fungi, as well as bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes, for example.

[0008] It is therefore considered an object of the present invention to design a settlement device of the type mentioned at the outset in such a way that, with the smallest possible area requirement, the most advantageous living conditions are offered as efficiently as possible for various animal and plant species, so that as many animals and plants as possible settle on or in such a settlement device.

[0009] This problem is solved according to the invention by providing a settlement tunnel behind each of several openings in the opening wall, accessible through the associated opening, which extends from the respective opening into the interior, and by separating each settlement tunnel from other settlement tunnels by tunnel walls. The individual settlement tunnels offer small organisms a favorable habitat. The organisms can retreat or settle in the settlement tunnels and are protected from harsh environmental conditions. Several openings advantageously have a sufficiently large cross-sectional area, which, for example, allows small rodents or insectivores access to the settlement tunnel formed behind them. For this purpose, the cross-sectional area of ​​the openings has, for example, an area of ​​more than 25 cm² or more than 50 cm².The cross-sectional area of ​​such openings can also have a maximum diameter of more than 5 cm or more than 10 cm, whereby a minimum diameter should not be less than 3 cm or 2 cm, respectively. A settlement passage can extend from an opening in an opening wall through the entire settlement device to an opposite opening wall or to a spaced-apart area of ​​the same opening wall, and can also be accessed there via an associated opening. The two openings can have different sizes or cross-sectional areas. Advantageously, the settlement passage can be designed so that it does not have a straight course, and neither opening is visible from the other, nor can they be connected by a straight line running within the settlement passage.

[0010] According to a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, it can be provided that several or all of the settlement tunnels are each closed at a distance from the associated opening. The closed end of the settlement tunnels prevents drafts or air currents, which are unpleasant for many animals and plants, from forming through such a tunnel. Furthermore, soil materials such as earth or sand, as well as leaves or plant debris, can accumulate in the settlement tunnels or be collected there by the animals. The settlement tunnels, closed at one end, can also be used by the animals as storage for collected food and as nests or sleeping places.

[0011] According to a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, several colonization tunnels, accessible from an opening wall, each have a tunnel floor with a gradient of between 5° and 33°, preferably between 20° and 30°, directed from the opening into the interior towards the floor, relative to the floor of the colonization device. It has been shown that the colonization tunnels, which slope downwards towards the center, are particularly sought out and intensively used by crawling insects and small mammals. Due to the downward slope, each colonization tunnel can be designed and constructed to be comfortable and inviting for colonization by many different animal species.

[0012] It has been shown that, for example, loose sand can form a slope up to a natural angle of repose of approximately 33°, so that the floor of a settlement tunnel can be largely or completely covered with loose sand. The gradient of the tunnel also ensures that any tunnel floor material brought into or accumulating in the settlement tunnel remains there permanently, and that this material, such as sand or soil, cannot be largely or completely blown or washed out of the settlement tunnel by typical weather conditions like wind or rain.If soil, leaf debris, or plant twigs naturally accumulate in a settlement tunnel, or are intentionally deposited there through human care or by animals, a permanent covering can form on the sloping tunnel floor. This covering is not easily dislodged by external influences such as wind or rain and is almost completely blown or washed into the lowest part of the settlement tunnel. The downward slope of the settlement tunnel creates a cavity below the lower edge of the associated opening in the opening wall, providing an attractive retreat and nesting area for many animals.Furthermore, the downward sloping settlement tunnel, which is closed at its end, ensures that over time, due to the gradient, any substrate that accumulates in a settlement tunnel migrates away from the opening towards the closed end and accumulates there.

[0013] In an opening wall, a few openings can be distributed across a wall surface and spaced apart from one another, each leading into a settlement passage whose cross-sectional area can be larger than the cross-sectional area of ​​the opening. In order to create and provide as many settlement passages as possible within a given volume of the interior of the settlement device, an advantageous embodiment of the invention provides that each opening wall is formed by adjacent openings, each bounded by passage walls that define the settlement passages extending from the openings into the interior.At least within a peripheral area adjacent to the wall surface of the opening, the settlement device preferably has passage wall sections extending transversely to the opening wall. These passage sections extend from further inwards to the associated opening, forming an opening edge and defining the opening. In this way, the largest possible volume of space is provided for the settlement of animals and plants within the passageways, and the interior, at least in the peripheral area adjacent to the wall surface of the opening, is traversed only by passage walls that may be thin. The wall surface of the opening is essentially formed by the openings, which are separated from each other only along their respective edges by passage wall sections running transversely to the wall surface and terminating there.

[0014] The settlement device can have a frame-like supporting structure that absorbs the forces and mechanical loads typically acting on it and transfers them to a substrate. The side walls and floor, as well as a number of settlement tunnels extending into the enclosed interior, can be inserted into and attached to this frame-like supporting structure. The components inserted into or attached to the supporting structure, such as the settlement tunnels, can be made of a textile material or a mesh of natural fibers or environmentally friendly synthetic fibers. It is also conceivable that the individual components are made of a different material or have a shape that is not suitable for absorbing significant forces and mechanical loads compared to the supporting structure.

[0015] According to a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, the walls of the settlement tunnels are designed, at least in certain areas, as plates and are connected to one another to form a support structure for the settlement device. During normal use of the settlement device, this support structure can then be used to support and carry a further settlement device. It has been shown that with suitably designed and arranged plate-shaped tunnel walls, not only can the individual settlement tunnels be defined and delimited, but a dimensionally stable and mechanically robust support structure can also be formed, eliminating the need for an additional supporting structure. This saves the space required for the supporting structure, which can then be used for settlement tunnels or other areas or elements that promote the settlement of animals and plants.

[0016] The settlement device can also be largely or entirely constructed from flat, panel-shaped tunnel walls, and thus from a single material. This facilitates environmentally sound recycling of the tunnel wall material after the device's intended use and eliminates the need for complex material separation. The tunnel walls can be made from suitably cut, flat material panels, which can then be assembled to form the settlement tunnels and subsequently the settlement device itself. The individual material panels can either be positively interlocked using appropriately designed connecting areas or joined together with suitable fasteners such as environmentally friendly adhesives and separate fixings.

[0017] It is also conceivable that the settlement device could be manufactured in one piece using a suitable additive manufacturing process such as fused deposition modeling or selective laser sintering. The use of such an additive manufacturing process makes it possible to produce settlement devices with complex shapes for the individual settlement tunnels in an economically viable manner. With suitable 3D printing devices, various materials can be used for additive manufacturing processes that are environmentally friendly and exhibit beneficial properties for animals and plants both during the intended use of the settlement device and can be easily recycled or disposed of in an environmentally sound manner after its intended use.

[0018] Advantageously, the walls of the colonization tunnels are provided to be porous at least in sections or to have a number of small climate openings through which an exchange of air and moisture between adjacent colonization tunnels is made possible, without allowing significant quantities of biological material and in particular of the respective tunnel floor material such as sand or soil to pass from one colonization tunnel to an adjacent colonization tunnel through these climate openings.

[0019] The cross-sectional area of ​​a settlement passage can have almost any shape. The cross-sectional area of ​​the settlement passage can be identical to the cross-sectional area of ​​the associated opening in the opening wall. The cross-sectional area of ​​the settlement passage can remain essentially constant along its entire length or change along its course.

[0020] Optionally, at least several settlement tunnels may have a diamond-shaped or honeycomb-shaped cross-sectional area over at least one section of the respective settlement tunnel. It has been shown that settlement tunnels with a diamond-shaped or honeycomb-shaped cross-sectional area, at least in some sections, not only create advantageous spatial conditions for the settlement of animals and plants due to the flat areas and the edges that define these areas, but can also form comparatively stable and mechanically resilient support structures with minimal material expenditure for the tunnel walls.With their low weight and minimal space requirements for thin-walled tunnels, these structures allow for the production of dimensionally stable settlement devices that can absorb and store large quantities of natural materials such as sand and soil, as well as plants and plant debris, and moisture and water. This creates an attractive habitat for insects, birds, small animals, plants, and microorganisms. Individual settlement devices can also be designed to be so stable and mechanically robust that multiple devices can be stacked or connected to each other to maximize the amount of space available for the settlement of animals and plants.

[0021] To facilitate the movement of animals and plants from one settlement tunnel to another, it can optionally be provided that several adjacent settlement tunnels are connected by passageway openings. In this way, larger populations of individual animal or plant species can spread across multiple settlement tunnels within a single settlement device, and individual organisms can move and disperse across several settlement tunnels via the passageway openings, without requiring the individual to exit a settlement tunnel through its opening and the subsequent settlement tunnel to be entered or reached only through its opening in the opening wall.

[0022] Furthermore, natural material that accumulates in individual settlement passages or has been intentionally deposited there can be transported through passage openings to other settlement passages, either by environmental conditions such as wind, rain, snow, or ice formation, or by animal or plant growth. Such material can also contribute to the overall stability of the

[0023] Contributing to the settlement structure. The passage openings are expediently designed and arranged so that the exchange of rainwater and moisture between some settlement passages is hindered, while between other settlement passages such an exchange is supported and promoted. In this way, several different environmental conditions for animals and plants can be created within a settlement structure, which can be kept either rather dry and airy or rather humid or with stagnant air over longer periods. The passage walls can have passage openings that connect two adjacent settlement passages and allow small organisms or plants to move from one settlement passage to an adjacent one.Between settlement passages that are arranged in close proximity but not directly adjacent to each other, a connecting passageway or several passageways can also be formed in order to enable the highest possible connectivity of the settlement passages in the interior of the settlement device.

[0024] The passage openings can also be strategically designed to promote plant growth across multiple colonization passages and to provide additional space and support for roots. The opening size of such passage openings is expediently chosen so that radial root thickening cannot lead to roots of such large and strong proportions that unintentional damage or destruction of the colonization structure must be feared.

[0025] To encourage or prescribe the use of different settlement tunnels by different animal species, it can optionally be provided that the opening of a settlement tunnel is covered by an access restriction cover. This cover may have one or more access openings through which an organism can move into or out of the settlement tunnel. For example, an access restriction cover may have a large number of small access openings, so that only small insects are able to reach and use the settlement tunnel behind it through a small opening. Other settlement tunnels, and especially those located at a distance from a substrate, may have an opening with an access restriction cover that has a single large opening hole, similar to a birdhouse, and may be located near the

[0026] The access opening in the access control cover may have an outwardly projecting rod or step, allowing birds easy access through the opening into the settlement tunnel behind it. They can then use this tunnel, like a nesting box, to raise their young. Alternatively, the access control cover may have an opening covered with a grid or fabric, ensuring that only animals or plants capable of passing through the grid or fabric can settle in the tunnel. The access control cover may be integral with the opening wall and, for example, be formed during the same manufacturing step when producing the settlement device using an additive manufacturing process.The access restriction cover can also be manufactured separately and subsequently attached to the edge of an opening in the opening wall. When using access restriction covers that can be subsequently attached to an opening, a uniformly designed opening wall of a settlement device can be individually fitted with different access restriction covers, each arranged differently. This allows a single settlement device to be adapted and specified by differently designed opening walls, either depending on the intended location or depending on the season or changing environmental conditions.

[0027] Advantageously, it can optionally be provided that at least one wall of a nesting passage projects from the interior over an outer surface of the opening wall to form a wall barrier between openings on opposite sides of the projecting wall. With such a projecting wall, it is easy to separate the openings to the right and left of this barrier, allowing nesting birds in the respective nesting passages, for example, to experience more peace and privacy. Furthermore, access to adjacent nesting passages is made more difficult, as crawling or climbing animals cannot easily move between nesting passages located on different sides of the wall barrier.Furthermore, these passage walls, extending beyond the opening wall, can create shading of adjacent openings. The further such a passage wall projects beyond the opening wall, the greater the shading and separation. This shading reduces direct sunlight into adjacent settlement passages, thus minimizing unwanted evaporation of water and moisture from the settlement passage.

[0028] According to one embodiment of the invention, the interior may include a water basin that can be filled with water. Such a basin can store and hold a supply of water for the organisms in the colonization device. The water basin can, for example, be column-shaped or plate-shaped and extend from an area near the bottom to the top of the colonization device, so that many colonization tunnels adjoin the water basin and can be supplied with moisture from it. The water basin can also be designed to hold a supply of drinking water for the organisms in the colonization device.

[0029] The water basin can be held in place by the surrounding side walls and reinforced with mechanically sound structures. This allows for the storage of relatively large quantities of water within the settlement structure. As a result, a moor-like biotope can be created within the settlement structure.

[0030] Depending on the intended use of the settlement device, a roof panel may be arranged on the top of the device. The roof panel may, for example, be funnel-shaped or have several funnel-shaped collection areas for rainwater, in order to fill a water basin located inside the device with the rainwater collected from the roof panel.

[0031] It may also be provided that the roof panel provides a mechanically resilient cover for the settlement device, so that further objects can be arranged on top of the settlement device.

[0032] In particular, a suitably designed roof panel can facilitate the stacking of several settlement devices. In this way, a large-volume network of settlement devices can be created from several initially separately manufactured and delivered devices, enabling and promoting the settlement of numerous and diverse small organisms.

[0033] According to one embodiment of the invention, it can be provided that outwardly projecting settlement elements are arranged on an outer surface of the shielding wall or, if applicable, of several shielding walls. The settlement elements, like the access control covers, can either be formed integrally with the shielding wall in question or manufactured separately and permanently connected to the shielding wall. It is also possible that the outwardly projecting settlement elements can be subsequently attached to the shielding wall. These settlement elements can be designed in a variety of ways. For plants, grid-shaped or trough-shaped settlement elements are suitable, as they promote plant growth.For animals, protruding running and climbing elements may be suitable for running, crawling or creeping animals, or overhangs where birds can build a nest on the screen wall.

[0034] Optionally, the shielding wall can be designed with channel-like or plate-shaped cavities filled with a filling material. This allows additional filling material to be introduced into closed or closable cavities within the shielding wall. The shielding wall can also be designed as a double-wall structure. Optionally, a vertical honeycomb structure can be incorporated into the double-wall structure. A fine powder or slurry can be introduced into this double-walled shielding wall, thereby improving and significantly increasing its tightness. It is also conceivable to inject a preferably biodegradable plastic into the cavities or into the double-wall structure. The filling material can also improve and increase the mechanical stability and load-bearing capacity of the colonization device.The settlement device can have any desired outer contour. For example, it can be barrel-shaped, with the shielding wall and the opening wall each being sections of the cylindrical outer wall surface. In a barrel-shaped design, large opening walls can be formed relative to the volume of the settlement device, thus promoting the settlement of animals and plants. Depending on the manufacturing process, particularly with additive manufacturing, virtually any shape and volume with a wide variety of basic geometric forms can be achieved. Besides the cuboid or barrel-shaped design, which is advantageous for many applications, a conical, spherical, or prismatic design is also conceivable.Ideally, the space requirements of a settlement device are specified such that it can be transported on a truck or in a shipping container. However, for ease of handling during installation at the desired location, significantly smaller volumes, for example slightly more or less than one cubic meter, can also be advantageous.

[0035] For many applications, a simple and space-saving arrangement of several settlement devices is advantageous, which can be connected to one another and, for example, stacked on top of each other or placed side by side. According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, it is therefore optionally provided that the settlement device is cuboid in shape and has two opposing shielding walls and two opposing opening walls. The individual settlement devices can then be placed side by side on a base or on a row of settlement devices arranged below, with their shielding walls facing each other, in a space-saving manner, forming a row-like or wall-like structure of settlement devices, the opening walls of which are each freely accessible.

[0036] To ensure maximum stability and mechanical strength of the settlement device, it may be designed to have two or more shielding walls and two or more opening walls, arranged and configured alternately adjacent to one another in the circumferential direction. Adjacent shielding walls and opening walls may be connected across a side edge or merge seamlessly, so that their adjacent outer surfaces form an angle to each other. The adjacent shielding walls and opening walls may also merge flush with one another. For many applications, it would likely be advantageous for the settlement device to have two shielding walls arranged opposite each other and two opening walls likewise arranged opposite each other, each positioned between two shielding walls.

[0037] To allow fresh air and small animals to move between adjacent nesting devices, the edges between the floor, side walls, and roof are optionally chamfered. When two or more nesting devices are arranged adjacently, the individual chamfers advantageously form a passage opening with a clear width that corresponds to more than 25%, and preferably more than 50%, of the cross-sectional area of ​​an adjacent nesting tunnel. In many applications, it can be advantageous if the chamfers of adjacent nesting devices have a cross-sectional area that approximately corresponds to the largest cross-sectional area of ​​an opening in a nesting tunnel.The chamfers make a network of directly adjacent settlement devices permeable to, for example, air or small animals, without requiring a minimum distance between the individual settlement devices. Furthermore, neighboring settlement devices can be arranged flush against each other or connected with separate fasteners to create a bonded effect without making this bond impermeable to air or animals.

[0038] In a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, the settlement device is made of or coated with a material that promotes the settlement of living organisms. For example, the settlement device can be predominantly or entirely assembled from plate-shaped tunnel walls made of a ceramic material or a foamed ceramic material. The settlement device can also be made of a plastic material, preferably a foamed plastic material, which may subsequently be coated with a suitable coating. For many applications, it is considered advantageous for the settlement device to be preferably lightweight and made of a material with the lowest possible weight while maintaining high dimensional stability and mechanical strength.It is also considered advantageous if the colonization device is made of a porous material or has an open-pored material structure. In this way, the pores and capillary action facilitate advantageous water transport through the material itself, allowing the individual colonization tunnels to be supplied with water or moisture penetrating from the outside. If a water basin is formed inside the colonization device, water can also be drawn from this basin and distributed throughout the entire device via the porous material structure. The porous material can also facilitate the entry and distribution of oxygen into the interior of the colonization device.

[0039] Preferably, several settlement tunnels are at least partially filled with a substrate that promotes the settlement of living organisms. This substrate can be, for example, humus, soil, or sand, or a mixture of such soil components. The substrate can also contain stones or consist entirely of stones. It can also be provided that the substrate contains suitable fertilizers or substances that promote plant growth. The substrate can also contain plant remains such as bark, grasses, or leaves to encourage the settlement of insects, birds, or small animals such as dormice or squirrels. By artificially filling the settlement tunnels with a suitable substrate, the tunnels in question can offer plants and animals an advantageous habitat immediately after the settlement device is erected, thereby promoting settlement.It may also be provided that the settlement tunnels are initially made available empty and are filled with a substrate or suitable nesting material by the organisms settling there themselves.

[0040] The following section explains exemplary embodiments of the invention, which are illustrated in the drawings. It shows:

[0041] Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of an exemplary design of a settlement device.

[0042] Fig. 2 shows a sectional view through the settlement device shown in Fig. 1 along a section plane I I-II in Fig. 1.

[0043] Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the settlement device shown in Fig. 1 with several access restriction covers, which cover individual openings to settlement passages extending into an interior of the settlement device; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of an opening wall with several openings and several access restriction covers shown in an expanded view.

[0044] Fig. 5 shows a perspective view of a side wall of the settlement device designed as a shielding wall with laterally arranged settlement elements and two separated

[0045] Representation of separately shown settlement elements,

[0046] Fig. 6 shows an exemplary arrangement of several settlement devices arranged side by side and one above the other to form a settlement wall.

[0047] Fig. 7 shows an enlarged partial view of area VII in Fig. 6,

[0048] Fig. 8 shows an enlarged partial view of area VIII in Fig. 6,

[0049] Fig. 9 shows a perspective view of a settlement device with several corridor walls projecting from the interior outwards over an outside of the opening wall, forming a wall screen.

[0050] Fig. 10 shows a sectional view through a shielding wall and adjacent areas of the settlement device shown in Fig. 9 along a line XX in Fig. 8.

[0051] Fig. 11 is a sectional view through the shielding wall shown in Fig. 10 along line XI-XI in Fig. 9, Fig. 12 is a perspective view of a

[0052] Settlement device with a centrally arranged

[0053] Water basins,

[0054] Fig. 13 shows another perspective view of the settlement device shown in Fig. 12,

[0055] Fig. 14 shows a perspective view of an exemplary settlement device with a roof slab.

[0056] Fig. 15 shows a perspective view of a comparable settlement device with a funnel plate.

[0057] Fig. 16 shows a perspective view of a comparable settlement device without a roof plate or funnel plate.

[0058] Fig. 17 shows a perspective view of a settlement device whose dimensions are adapted to an overseas shipping container.

[0059] Fig. 18 shows an exemplary compilation of various basic geometric shapes, each of which can be used as a basis for the design of a settlement device.

[0060] Fig. 19 shows a perspective sectional view through a settlement device with settlement passages, not all of which are closed and which allow passage between adjacent settlement passages via passage-changing openings; Fig. 20 shows a perspective sectional view of the settlement device shown in Fig. 19 with a roof slab arranged at the top.

[0061] Fig. 21 shows a sectional view of a partial area of ​​the settlement device shown in Fig. 20 around an edge area of ​​the roof slab, and

[0062] Fig. 22 shows a sectional view through a differently designed settlement device with settlement passages.

[0063] Figures 1 to 8 show various views and configurations of a settlement device 1, which can be erected on a surface and serves to support the settlement of insects, birds, and small mammals. The settlement device 1 has an interior space 2, which is surrounded by a base 3 that can be placed on the surface and an opposing roof 4, as well as by four side walls, each extending from the base 3 to the roof 4. Two opposing side walls are designed as screen walls 5, which are closed off by wall elements 6. Two further side walls, also opposing each other and adjoining a screen wall 5 on both sides, form opening walls 7, each of which has a number of openings 8 through which the interior space is accessible.

[0064] In each opening wall 7, behind several openings 8, a settlement passage 9 is formed, accessible through the associated opening 8 and extending from the respective opening 8 into the interior. Each settlement passage 9 is closed at one end opposite the opening 8 and separated from other settlement passages 9 by passage walls 10. All settlement passages 9 accessible from an opening wall 7 each have a passage floor 11 with a gradient of approximately 30° relative to the floor 3 of the settlement device 1, directed from the opening 8 into the interior towards the floor 3. For many applications, a slope between 5° and 33°, preferably between 20° and 30°, is advantageous.

[0065] Each opening wall 7 has a large number of openings 8 arranged directly adjacent to one another, which are only bounded and separated from each other by thin passage walls 10. The passage walls 10 also form the boundaries for the individual settlement passages 9 and, in particular, the passage floor 11, which, in the exemplary embodiment shown, does not have a horizontal floor slab but is formed by two passage walls 10 arranged in a V-shape relative to each other. The individual passage walls 10 are each plate-shaped and connected to one another.

[0066] The interconnected passage walls 10 form a supporting structure 12 for the settlement device 1, which, despite a comparatively small footprint and lightweight construction, provides the settlement device 1 with high dimensional stability and sufficient mechanical load-bearing capacity. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the settlement passages 9 each have a uniformly defined rhomboid cross-sectional area. It is also conceivable that the settlement passages 9 have a different cross-sectional area, for example, a honeycomb, cuboid, or round one, or that adjacent settlement passages 9 have different cross-sectional areas.

[0067] Several adjacent colonization tunnels 9 are connected to each other within the interior of the colonization device 1 by tunnel-change openings 13, which are visible in Fig. 2. These tunnel-change openings 13 are designed and arranged so that small organisms can move from one colonization tunnel 9 to an adjacent colonization tunnel 9 through a tunnel-change opening 13 without first having to leave a colonization tunnel 9 through the associated opening 8 in the opening wall 7 in order to then enter the adjacent colonization tunnel 9 through its opening 8. Furthermore, plants and their roots can spread across several colonization tunnels 9 through such tunnel-change openings 13.

[0068] Figure 5 shows, by way of example, some V-shaped and laterally projecting settlement elements 14, which are arranged projecting outwards on an outer surface 15 of the shielding wall 5 and fixed to the outer surface 15. This further promotes the settlement of birds and small animals on the outer surface 15 of the completely closed shielding wall 5.

[0069] The opening 8 of each settlement passage 9 can be covered by an access control cover 16 as shown in Figures 3 and 4. An access control cover 16 can completely close the opening 8 of a settlement passage 9, so that the settlement passage 9 in question is accessible only via passage change openings 13 in the interior of the settlement device 1. An access control cover 16 can also have one or more access openings 17 through which a living being can move into or out of the settlement passage 9.The dimensions of the access openings 17 in an access restriction cover 16 can be adapted to different animal species, so that with the help of the access restriction cover 16, animal species specified in terms of size can be assigned to individual settlement passages 9, which will predominantly settle there and less frequently in other settlement passages 9.

[0070] The settlement device 1, shown by way of example in Figures 1 to 8, is cuboid in shape and has a substantially flat roof slab 18 on its roof 4. A chamfer 19 is formed along edges running laterally along the base 3, along the side walls, and along the roof 4. Due to the cuboid shape of the settlement device 1, several settlement devices 1 can be easily arranged side by side and one above the other to form a settlement wall 20, shown by way of example in Figure 6, which consists of a group of several settlement devices 1. A second row of further settlement devices 1 can be arranged on the flat and horizontally oriented roof slab 18 of settlement devices 1 that are placed side by side on the ground.If necessary, further rows of additional settlement devices 1 could be provided, forming an even higher settlement wall 20. The chamfers 19 create passage openings 21 between adjacent settlement devices 1, through which air can flow and animals can move through the settlement wall 20.

[0071] Each colonization device 1 is made of or coated with a material that promotes the colonization of living organisms. Several colonization tunnels 9 are at least partially filled with a substrate that promotes the colonization of living organisms.

[0072] Figure 9 shows an example of a settlement device 1, also cuboid in shape. In an opening wall 7 with an otherwise flat outer surface 22, several adjacent passage walls 10 of several adjacent settlement passages 9 project from the interior outwards over the outer surface 22 of the opening wall 7. The projecting sections 23 of the passage walls 10 form a wall screen 24 between openings 8 on opposite sides of the wall screen 24. Furthermore, the wall screen 24 can shade the adjacent areas of the opening wall 7 and thus the openings 8 and the settlement passages 9 behind them.

[0073] Figures 10 and 11 show two sectional views of a shielding wall 5 with adjacent areas of the settlement device 1 shown in Figure 9. The shielding wall 5 is double-walled and has a plate-like cavity 25 between the outer surface 15 and the adjacent settlement tunnels 9. This cavity 25 is filled with a filling material 26. Wave-shaped or honeycomb-shaped support structures 27 can be formed in the cavity 25, as shown by way of example in Figure 11.

[0074] Figures 12 and 13 show two perspective views of a settlement device 1 with a centrally arranged water basin 28. The water basin 28 can be artificially filled with water or collect and store rainwater falling onto the settlement device 1. The water basin 28 can have any shape and comprise a small or large volume of the interior of the settlement device 1. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the water basin 28 has a comparatively large volume, so that the settlement device 1 can be used like an artificial pond or an artificial bog. It is also possible for the water basin 28 to be divided into several basin sections by partitions. Several smaller water basins 28 can also be formed and arranged in the interior 2 of the settlement device 1.

[0075] Figures 14 to 16 show several otherwise comparable settlement devices 1 as examples, the upper surfaces 4 of which are designed differently. In the embodiment shown in Figure 14, a substantially flat roof plate 18 is arranged on the upper surface 4 of the settlement device. Other objects or further settlement devices 1 can be easily arranged on this roof plate 18. In the embodiment shown in Figure 15, a funnel plate 29 is arranged on the upper surface 4, the outer surface 30 of which has a slope towards a centrally arranged funnel outlet opening 31. With such a funnel plate 29, rainwater can be efficiently collected and fed into the interior of the settlement device 1 or into a water basin 28 arranged therein.

[0076] In the embodiment shown in Fig. 16, the upper surface 4 is formed by the passage walls 10 of the settlement passages 9.

[0077] Fig. 17 shows an example of a settlement device 1, the shape and dimensions of which are adapted to a usable volume of an overseas container 32.

[0078] In Fig. 18, various basic geometric shapes such as cuboids 33, cones 34 or spheres 35 are shown for illustration, each of which can be used as a basis for shaping a settlement device 1.

[0079] Figure 19 shows a perspective and sectional view of a differently designed embodiment of a settlement device 1. Each individual settlement passage 9 has passage-change openings 13 in its passage walls 10, connecting to adjacent settlement passages 9. In this way, the multiple settlement passages 9 are interconnected. Each individual settlement passage 9 is accessible from the interior 2 of the settlement device 1. A living organism can reside or settle in a settlement passage 9 without necessarily being able to reach that settlement passage 9 only through the associated opening 8 in the opening wall 8.

[0080] Fig. 20 shows another view of the settlement device 1 shown in Fig. 19, wherein a roof panel 18, shown in detail and enlarged in Fig. 21, is arranged on the roof 4 of the settlement device 1. The roof panel 18 has a rounded edge 36 extending along its entire circumference. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the roof panel 18 is loosely placed on the roof 4, with positive-locking interlocks preventing the roof panel 18 from slipping or unintentionally detaching from the roof 4. A top surface 37 of the roof panel 18 has a slight convex and upwardly projecting curvature. Any rainwater or condensing moisture that falls on the top surface 37 of the roof panel 18 then runs to the edge of the roof panel 18 and around the rounded edge 36 to a more interior area of ​​the roof panel 18 and can from there be directed into the interior 2 of the settlement device 1.In this way, water can be collected and supplied to the interior 2 of the settlement device 1 without, for example, falling leaves clogging this water supply.

[0081] Figure 22 shows a sectional view of another embodiment of the settlement device 1, comparable to Figure 2. Unlike the settlement device 1 shown in Figure 2, not all settlement passages 9 are closed off in a central area by a closing wall 38, which divides the settlement passages 9 leading from opposing opening walls 7 to a central area of ​​the interior 2 into two approximately equal settlement passages 9. It is also possible that a continuous settlement passage 9 is open in a central area 39 or has a passageway.This continuous settlement passage 9 only has a change of direction in the central area 39, so that the opposing openings 8 could not be connected by a straight line running within the settlement passage 9 and consequently there is no visual connection between the two openings 8.

[0082] In other settlement passages 9, an end wall 38 can be arranged off-center and limit the settlement passage 9 in question to a comparatively short length.

[0083] It is also possible that several end walls 38 completely cut off an internal section 40 of a settlement passage 9 from an associated opening wall 7 and that it is accessible only via a passage change opening 13.

Claims

PATENT CLAIMS 1. Settlement device (1) for supporting the settlement of insects, birds and small mammals as well as amphibians, reptiles, plants and fungi or other small living organisms, with an interior space surrounded by at least two side walls extending from a base (3) that can be placed on a surface to a top (4) of the settlement device (1) opposite the base (3), wherein at least one side wall a shielding wall (5) which is closed by wall elements (6), and at least one side wall adjoining the shielding wall (5) forms an opening wall (7) which has a number of openings (8) through which the interior space is accessible, characterized in that in the opening wall (7) behind several openings (8) a settlement passage (9) is formed and is accessible through the associated opening (8), which extends from the respective opening (8) into the interior space, and that each settlement passage (9) is separated from other settlement passages (9) by passage walls (10).

2. Settlement device (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that several or all settlement passages (9) are each closed at a distance from the associated opening (8).

3. Settlement device (1) according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that several settlement passages (9) accessible from the opening wall (7) each have a passage floor (10) with a passage slope directed from the opening (8) into the interior towards the floor (3) of between 5° and 33°, preferably between 20° and 30° relative to the floor (3) of the settlement device (1).

4. Settlement device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the opening wall (7) is formed by adjacent openings (8), each of which is bounded by passage walls (10) which define the settlement passages (9) extending from the openings (8) into the interior.

5. Settlement device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least several settlement passages (9) have a rhomboid or honeycomb-shaped cross-sectional area over at least one section of the respective settlement passage (9).

6. Settlement device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that several settlement passages (9) arranged side by side are connected to each other by passage change openings (13).

7. Settlement device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the opening (8) of a settlement passage (9) is protected by an access restriction cover. (16) is covered, which has one or more access openings (17) exhibits, through which a living being can move in can move into or out of the settlement passage (9).

8. Settlement device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one passage wall (10) of a settlement passage (9) is designed to project from the interior outwards over an outer surface (20) of the opening wall (7) in order to form a wall shield (22) between openings (8) on opposite sides of the projecting passage wall (10).

9. Settlement device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a water basin which can be filled with water is formed in the interior.

10. Settlement device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a roof plate (18) is arranged on the upper side (4) of the settlement device (1).

11. Settlement device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that on an outer side (15) settlement elements (14) projecting outwards from the shielding wall (5) are arranged.

12. Settlement device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that channel-like or plate-shaped cavities are formed on the shielding wall (5) which are filled with a filling material.

13. Settlement device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the passage walls (10) the settlement passages (9) are at least partially plate-shaped and are connected to each other to form a support structure (12) of the settlement device (1), on which, during intended use Use of the settlement device (1) another settlement device (1) can be supported and carried.

14. Settlement device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the settlement device (1) is cuboid in shape and has two opposing shielding walls (5) and two opposing has opening walls (7).

15. Settlement device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that edges between the bottom (3) and the side walls, between the side walls and between the side walls and the top (4) have a chamfer (19).

16. Settlement device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the settlement device (1) is made of or coated with a material that promotes the settlement of living organisms.

17. Settlement device (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that several settlement passages (9) are at least partially filled with a substrate that promotes the settlement of living organisms.

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