Telescoping Plant Support with Locking Cable
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing plant supports are inadequate for full-sized plants, lack adjustable length, and fail to provide optimal support throughout a plant's growth stages, limiting their versatility and effectiveness.
Innovation Solution
A plant support system featuring a telescoping tube arrangement with a locking mechanism, adjustable cable, and cable stop to secure the plant, allowing for height adjustment and secure cable loop configuration around varying plant sizes and shapes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a fixed-length plant support device is used, then the device structure is simple, but it cannot adapt to plants of different sizes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a telescoping tube mechanism where an inner tube is nested within an outer tube, allowing the support structure to extend and retract to different lengths. This nested configuration enables a single device to accommodate multiple plant heights without requiring multiple fixed-length supports, thus improving adaptability while maintaining relatively simple device structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The plant support transitions from a static fixed-length structure to a dynamic adjustable-length structure. The telescoping tubes can be extended or retracted based on the plant's growth stage and size requirements, allowing the device to adapt dynamically to different support needs throughout the plant's development cycle.
2Adaptability or versatility
If an adjustable-length plant support is provided, then versatility for different plant sizes is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The telescoping mechanism uses nested tubes where the inner tube slides within the outer tube. This nesting approach provides an space-efficient and mechanically simple method for achieving length adjustment, avoiding the need for complex extension mechanisms while maintaining structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The support structure is divided into segmented telescoping sections that can independently extend or retract. This segmentation allows for flexible length adjustment while keeping each individual tube section simple in design, distributing the complexity across multiple simple components rather than one complex mechanism.
3Strength
If prior art plant supports are used, then the device is simple, but it is insufficient for supporting full-sized plants
Solution Approach 1:
The support structure evolves from a static simple design to a dynamic telescoping design that can adapt its length to match full-sized plants at various growth stages. The ability to extend the support length while maintaining structural strength allows the device to handle larger, heavier plants without requiring an entirely different support system.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention adds the dimension of adjustability to the support structure, transforming it from a single fixed-length object to a multi-length-capable system. This dimensional change in functionality allows the same basic structure to provide adequate support for full-sized plants by adjusting its effective length and configuration.
Data Source
AI summary
A plant support for supporting a garden plant such as a flower, bush, tree, and the like. The plant support includes a first tube having an interior volume and a second tube slidably disposed within the interior volume of the first tube. A locking mechanism is disposed on the second tube and is configured to maintain the first tube in a particular position with respect to the second tube. A cable stop is disposed on the second tube. The plant support further includes a cable having a first end and a second end, each of the first and second end being removably secured to the cable stop, wherein the cable is securable around a portion of a plant. The plant support is configured to support a plant in an upright position to facilitate proper growth.