HK1067274B - Individual plant watering device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a connection connecting a water tank and a porous enclosure formed by a ceramic cone which slowly lets this water through, so as to make a device for the continuous and individual distribution of water to plants, near their roots, and in a predetermined quantity, and in particular to potted plants. The fitting according to the invention with several different threads can fit on most plastic bottles on the market as these bottles are used as water tanks.

The device according to the invention allows a completely reliable bonding between the bottle and the porous cone. This feature is crucial, as the product is intended to keep plants alive in the absence of, and therefore unattended, flooding, especially in places where flooding must be avoided (apartments).

Several devices are known to achieve the same result but have drawbacks that make commercial exploitation impossible.

French patent No 2673356 describes a stopper whose trunk shape allows it to be fitted to several dimensions of bottle nozzles into which it is sunk. The disadvantages of this system are as follows: The contact between the cone and the bottle neck is on a single line around the cone and inside the neck, which is not sufficient to achieve good bonding between these two elements.To achieve a seal, the trunk part must be made of semi-soft plastic, which again does not allow good bonding between the cone and the bottle. The result is that when it's full,The bottle can be pulled by its weight and detached from the stopper, which can then empty in a single blow causing a flood, rendering the arrangement unusable in the apartment, and in all cases where the user relies on the water supply to keep his plant alive. - What? Swiss patent No 391368 describes another example in which water is stored in a hollow body with a pointed base fixed in the earth.which makes the device bulky when you want to put it away. - What? US Patent No. 4300309 describes a similar system with the same drawbacks. - What? French patent No. 2252806 describes a similar system to the previous one with the same drawbacks and with in addition, wires that must participate in the distribution of water, which makes the use impractical, because it is necessary to dig the earth to introduce the wires, so the device is made to be kept in the pot, which is contrary to the intended purpose of providing an object whose use is occasional.- What? - What? US patent No 6128856 describes an irrigation device which consists of a rotary valve stopper connected on one side to a tube connected to a dispersion device and on the other side to a bottle which is screwed into it. The difficulty of getting the correct setting,the likely unreliability of a product which may be dirty,the need for maintenance to maintain performance,only one type of bottle can be screwed into it,forcing the user to keep the appropriate bottle,and thus clutter.

US Patent No. 5896700 describes an irrigation apparatus with a water tank screwed onto a device with a tip designed to be sunk into the earth to allow water to flow in, with a filter in between to control the flow.

It is clear from the above that, although these proposals offer solutions for watering plants with a water tank and a water distribution system, none of them meets at the same time all the requirements of the problem, which is to combine a known means such as a porous cone commonly used for irrigation with many kinds of disposable plastic bottles, to obtain a cheap product for watering individual plants in pots without supervision during the absence of their owner and with a reduced footprint during periods of non-use.

The device according to the invention, on the other hand, satisfies all these requirements: by combining a known medium such as a porous cone with a disposable plastic bottle, the device according to the invention can achieve the following results: one can easily find a suitable bottle for the connection, because it carries two or more different types of threads.For example, when returning from holiday, you want to start taking care of your plant yourself again, you throw away the bottle and keep only the ceramic cone associated with its attachment, the whole taking up a very small volume, much smaller than the previous devices.no adjustment is necessary.You just have to refer to the package insert to choose, from the range proposed, the ceramic that gives the flow rate necessary for the plant.Because it's a plastic piece that's injected and combined with a ceramic cone.

This set of advantages does not exist in the previously mentioned, whereas on the contrary they are grouped in the invention.

These advantages are decisive for the commercial success of the product. This product is intended to water potted plants individually during the absence of their owner. It is not uncommon to have many potted plants (sometimes a dozen or more) and since it is necessary to have as many devices as plants, this product must be very cheap so that you can buy many and easy to store as soon as the owner returns to take care of his plants himself.

The number of previously unsatisfactory products offered, particularly in the documents cited, shows that the problem has been around for a long time.

The defects and complications of the proposed solutions prove that the problem was difficult to solve and above all prove that it had not been solved.

The solution proposed by the invention was therefore not obvious, despite its simplicity and probably because of its simplicity.

The inventor spent five years researching it full-time.

It was only after many steps, hundreds of prototypes, thousands of experiments and several patents that he was able to come up with a solution that was different from anything that had existed before, a product that perfectly answered the problem.

To achieve these results, the device according to the invention is a connection equipped on one side with a means of solidification with the base of a porous cone and on the other side with two means of solidification, of choice, with the neck of a bottle; each of these means being compatible with standard bottle screw steps.

The invention will be clearly understood by the description and figures. Figure 1 shows an overview of a watering device, consisting of a standard plastic bottle (1) and a porous cone (2) assembled by a connection (3) according to the invention, and placed at the foot of a plant.Figure 2 shows a way of making the connection (3), seen from above and comprising two dimensions of threads compatible with two dimensions of bottle threads.Figure 3 shows the same connection from below.Figure 4 shows the same connection according to a plane passing through its cut.Figure 5 shows the same connection in a cut, combined with the base of a cone in porous material.Figure 6 shows another connection (3) in a cone.Figure 7 shows another connection (3) in a cut.Figure 8 shows a cone.

The automatic individual plant watering device consists of a bottle (1) for holding water and a cone (2) connected by a connecting link (3) which forms a rigid connection between them to allow water to flow from the bottle (1) into the cone (2) whose walls are made up entirely or partly of porous material which, under the pressure of gravity, allows the water to flow slowly.

The fitting (3) covered by this patent application consists of an injected plastic part, consisting of three coaxial parts: a disc-shaped middle part (4) with a hole in the centre (5); a part (A) on one side of the disc (4) and intended to be fixed permanently to the porous cone (2). This part (A) consists of one or two raised parts, made up of a mortise between two roughly cylindrical surfaces, and hereinafter called cylinders.

In the examples shown in the figures, the hollow cone (2) is made of porous material such as ceramic. The base of the cone (2) is extended by a hollow cylindrical part (6) to be connected to part (A) by means of a handle in the other.

In a first embodiment shown in Figures 2, 3, 4 and 5, part (A) consists of two cylinders (8) and (7), coaxial, solid on one side of the disc (4): the cylinder (8) with an outer diameter equal to the inner diameter of the cylindrical part (6) of the cone is intended to be inserted into the inner part (6) of the cone.The cylinder (7) with an inner diameter equal to the outer diameter of the cylindrical part (6) of the cone is intended to be handled on the part (6) of the cone.

The cylinder (8) having the smallest diameter having an inner diameter equal to or greater than the diameter of the hole (5).

When mounted, the cone part (6) is pushed into the gap (9) between the two cylinders (8) and (7) until its edge (12) comes into contact with the disc part (10) between the two cylinders (4) and a seal is obtained so that any leakage is negligible in relation to the flow rate provided by the porous cone.

To facilitate the introduction of the cone between the two cylinders, it is preferable that one of the two cylinders be shorter than the other, and preferably that the cylinder (8) be shorter than the cylinder (7). The cylinder (8) may be, for example, one third of the length of the cylinder (7). Thus, when the two parts (2) and (3) are assembled, the part (6) of the cone is positioned so that it first enters the cylinder (7) as a guide to the space (9) into which it sinks until its edge (12) reaches the bottom (10) of this space.

In the preferred embodiment the walls of the two cylinders are not of equal thickness, e.g. the wall of the cylinder (8) is less thick than that of the cylinder (7), and is thin enough to have some flexibility, useful for facilitating the forceful introduction of the part (6) of the cone into the interior of the space (9).

As a non-limiting example, a method of implementation of the invention is described below.

The cone itself is about 70 mm long with a slightly rounded top. It consists of a wall about 5 mm thick, the inside (18) being empty. The cone is extended to its base by a hollow cylindrical part (6) about 17 mm long with walls about 5 mm thick, its outer diameter about 33 mm, and its inner diameter about 23 mm, with the rounded edge at its end (12).

A fitting (3) is made by PVC injection, the A part of which consists of a cylinder (7) with an inner diameter of about 32.5 mm and a cylinder (8) with an outer diameter of about 23 mm. The cylinder (7) has a length of about 15 mm and the cylinder (8) has a length of about 5 mm. The wall of the cylinder (7) is about 1.2 mm thick, giving it sufficient rigidity to ensure that the connection between the fitting (3) and the cone (2) holds well, while the wall of the cylinder (8) is only about 0.8 mm thick, giving it sufficient flexibility to allow some expansion of the space (9) necessary to accept a tolerance on the thickness of the cone part (6).

The cylinder (7) may have on its inner face, near its free edge, a circular bolt (16) of about 0.3 mm thickness, designed to tighten the part (6) of the cone to ensure its good grip and to strengthen the seal.

The cylinder (8) can be of variable thickness, for example its outer diameter can be reduced by about 0.3 mm starting from the solid side of the disc (4) and going towards the free edge. The function of this variant is to allow the edge (12) of the part (6) of the cone to be well presented at the entrance of the space (9), to enter it by pushing back the safe edge, and finally to be positioned at the bottom of the space (9) within which it is well trapped by the most rigid part of the cylinder (8).

The cone and the attachment (3) can be assembled by means of a special device with a horizontal plane on which the attachment (3) is placed, the A side facing upwards. A tool with the cone imprint in a hollow position is fixed on a drill bit and a cone is placed inside with its opening facing downwards. When the tool is lowered, the rounded edge (12) of the part (6) is at the end of the cylinder (7), into which it begins to penetrate by its rounded edge.

In a second embodiment shown in Figures 6 and 7, Part A consists of a single cylinder: either a cylinder (7) into which the cone part (6) is inserted (Figure 6),or a cylinder (8) to be inserted into the cone part (6) (Figure 7).

In all the above cases, the cylinder diameters (7) and (8) shall be such that there is no gap between the wall (s) of the cone part (6) and the wall (s) of the cylinder (s) (7) and/or (8).

Part B of the connection (3) consists of one or two cylinders, preferably coaxial with all other parts of the connection, joined at one end to the middle disc (4), and having the inner side threaded, the female thread or threads being intended to cooperate with the male thread of the bottles used as a tank (1).

The fitting (3) shown in the figures has two different threads, one thread (13) and one thread (14).

The high-diameter thread (13) allows the use of large bottles, e.g. five litres; in this case the high-diameter thread (14) is not used.

The smaller thread (14), allowing the use of a 1.5 litre bottle; in this case the thread (13) is not used.

A shoulder can be provided at the end of each thread to support the end of the bottle neck (1).

But a better seal is obtained by some conventional means usually used for plastic bottle caps, for example a circular, conical lip (17) on which the neck is supported.

To increase the number of types of threads which can be used with the fitting (3), it is planned to add an adapter with a male threaded tip (19) compatible with one of the two threads of the fitting (3), as would be the neck of a bottle, and having a different female thread (20) on its other side.

The use of the device according to the invention described in the previous examples is particularly simple: The user picks up a disposable plastic bottle and fills it with water;he screws the connector (3) fitted with a cone (2) over it;he turns the whole thing so that the cone is down and he plunges it into the earth at the foot of the plant to be irrigated.The device is thus held in a substantially vertical position and he makes a small hole with a pin at its top part which is the bottom of the bottle to allow air to enter.

The invention may, for example, propose three types of ceramic cone (2) giving three different average flow rates: 7 cl per 24 h, 20 cl per 24 h and 30 cl per 24 h.

For irrigation of ivy or zinnia, for example, the flow of 7 cl per 24 h is sufficient and with a bottle of 1.5 1, the plant will receive water for 21 days.

For watering a fuschia or a begonia, for example, the flow of 20 cl per 24 h allows a bottle of 21 to provide a sufficient amount of water for 10 days. (a 5-litre bottle at 20 cl per 24 h would last 25 days)

For example, for watering an azaleas or a misera, the flow of 30 cl per 24 hours allows a 5-litre bottle to provide enough water for 16 days.

Tests have been carried out with devices according to the invention.

With a 1.5 litre water bottle and a 7cl/24h ceramic, it was possible to continuously water a zinnia pot for 21 days.

With a 5 litre water bottle and a 20 cl/24h ceramic, it was possible to supply a fern pot with continuous water for 25 days.

The present invention can be used in all cases where a plant is to be supplied with a certain quantity of water, in a safe manner, for a predetermined period of time, and continuously.

The present invention is particularly useful for keeping plants alive when the person who usually waters them is not present.

However, although it may be used continuously for watering a plant, the device of the invention is not designed for this purpose;

In the above description, the example of a piece (2) is a cone; but it is understood that any other shape which allows the piece to be planted in the earth and allow water to flow slowly would be within the scope of the present invention.

Similarly, ceramic is an example of a porous material, but it is understood that any other porous material which allows water to flow at different desired rates would be covered by the present invention.

Claims (10)

1. A connector formed of a piece of injected plastic material, permitting to interconnect a water reservoir (1) and a hollow cone (2) of porous ceramic material to provide a device allowing to individually dispense water to plants, especially potted plants, proximate of their roots, and in predetermined volume, characterized in that it comprises three coaxial portions:

   - an intermediate portion (4) in form of a disc, having an aperture (5) at its center,

   - a portion (A) formed of one or two cylinders, arranged on one side of the disc (4) and adapted to be permanently fixed to the cone (2),

   - a portion (B) formed, like portion (A), of one or two cylinders provided with a thread on their inner surfaces, arranged on the other side of the disc (4) and adapted to threadably receive a bottle (1) so as to be removable therefrom.
2. Connector according to claim 1 adapted to be firmly attached to a hollow cone of porous ceramic material whose base is prolonged by a hollow cylindrical portion (6), characterized in that the portion (A) consists of two coaxial cylinders (8) and (7) integral with the disc (4) at one of the ends thereof:

   - the cylinder (8) whose outer diameter is equal to the inner diameter of the cylindrical portion (6) of the cone, adapted to be introduced into the interior of said cone portion (6),

   - the cylinder (7) whose inner diameter is equal to the outer diameter of the cylindrical portion (6) of the cone, adapted to fit on the portion(6) of the cone.
3. Connector according to claim 2, characterized in that the two cylinders (8) and (7) do not have the same length, and that, for example, the cylinder (8) is shorter than the cylinder (7).
4. Connector according to claim 3, characterized in that the cylinder (8) has a length which is about one third the length of the cylinder (7).
5. Connector according to any one of claims 2, or 3, or 4, characterized in that the walls of the two cylinders do not have the same thickness, the wall of the cylinder (8) having a thinner thickness than that of the cylinder (7) and being sufficiently thin so as to have a certain resiliency, appropriate to facilitate forceful introduction of the portion (6) of the cone into the interior of the space (9) delimited between the two cylinders (8) and (7).
6. Connector according to claim 5, characterized in that the cylinder (8) is of variable thickness, its external diameter decreasing for example approximately 0.3mm from the end that is integral with the disc (4) towards the free edge thereof, the external face of the cylinder (8) thereby being provided with a slightly conical shape with its base being thicker, thus more rigid, than its free edge, being thinner, and thus more flexible.
7. Connector according to any one of claims 2, or 3, or 4, or 5, or 6, characterized in that the cylinder (7) has on its internal surface, adjacent its free edge, a circular bead (16) of a thickness of about 0.3mm.
8. Connector according to claim 1, adapted to be fitted with a hollow cone of porous ceramic material whose base is prolonged by a hollow cylindrical portion (6), characterized in that the portion (A) comprises one single cylinder joined to the disc (4) at one of the ends thereof, namely:

   - a cylinder (8) adapted to be introduced into the interior of the portion (6) of the cone, or

   - a cylinder (7) into the interior of which the portion (6) of the cone is introduced.
9. Connector according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the portion (B) of the connector (3) consists of one or two cylinders, preferably coaxial with all the other parts of the connector, integral at one of their extremities with the intermediate disc (4), and having the internal face thereof threaded; this or these female threads being adapted to mate with male threads of bottles used as reservoir (1).
10. Connector according to of any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the portion (B) of the connector (3) comprises two cylinders having the inner face thereof threaded, this or these female threads being adapted to mate with male threads of bottles utilized as reservoir (1), the thread (13) of large diameter permitting use of large bottles, for example of five liters; in which case the thread (14) is not utilized; the thread (14), of smaller diameter, permitting use of a bottle of 1.5 liters; in which case the thread (13) is not utilized.