Abstract:
Apparatus is disclosed for protecting young trees, saplings and other plants which comprises a frame structure having a plurality of spaced legs interconnected by at least one connecting ring, a plurality of upwardly and outwardly extending arms operatively connected to the legs, and barrier material attached to and extending at least between adjacent arms.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention generally relates to plant protection apparatus.  
         [0002]     Throughout much of the world, home and other property owners that have landscaped areas are at least occasionally confronted with the problem of protecting young trees that have been planted from damage that is inflicted by many kinds of relatively large animals, including deer, elk, mountain goats, antelope and other wild animals, depending upon the geographical area that the property is located.  
         [0003]     In many rural as well as urban areas, deer are becoming ever more populated and tend to damage young trees in various ways. The bucks tend to sharpen their antlers on young trunks and most deer often browse off branches and tips of small trees, saplings and bushes. This problem is not new, and property owners have attempted to protect young trees for many decades if not longer. Often the tree may be surrounded by stakes driven into the ground around which a wire mesh, such as chicken wire is wrapped. Others use lengths of large diameter flexible drainage conduit that is cut along its length and fit around a tree. Even though the tree trunk can be protected by these and other similar materials and methods, the tree&#39;s canopy is still vulnerable to being eaten, particularly during winter when the ground may be covered by snow.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     Embodiments of the present invention for protecting young trees, saplings and other plants comprise a frame structure having a plurality of spaced legs interconnected by at least one connecting ring, a plurality of upwardly and outwardly extending arms operatively connected to the legs, and barrier material attached to and extending at least between adjacent arms.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0005]      FIG. 1  is an elevated perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0006]      FIG. 2  is a side view of one of the assembled leg and arm portions of the apparatus shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0007]      FIG. 3  is an enlarged side view of the lower end portion of the leg shown in  FIG. 2 ;  
         [0008]      FIG. 4  is a top plan view of a connecting ring of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0009]      FIG. 5  is an enlarged side view of a stem fitting of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0010]      FIG. 6  is a plan view of a portion of the barrier material that is used with the preferred embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 ; and  
         [0011]      FIG. 7  is a plan view of a portion of the preferred embodiment illustrating the manner in which a connecting ring and leg portion. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0012]     The preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown generally at  10  in the perspective view of  FIG. 1  and is configured to be placed around the trunk of a tree or shrub for the purpose of protecting it from damage that may be caused by large animals such as deer, elk, moose, or other large animals. The plant protection apparatus is configured to not only protect the trunk of a relatively small tree or sapling, but also protect its canopy from being damaged or eaten by a deer or other large animal that may be foraging in the area.  
         [0013]     The apparatus  10  is fabricated from generally commercially available components and is relatively easily assembled. Because of the materials that are used in its construction, it will have an extended useful life. Because of the simplicity of its design and installation, a young tree will be effectively protected while enabling a land owner to easily trim grass and weeds around the base of a tree or shrub in which it is installed. Also, watering and fertilizing of the plant can be easily performed without compromising the protection of the plant.  
         [0014]     Because of its elegant design, it can be easily assembled by a person using only a screwdriver and the additional manual step of securing a plastic netting to the frame structure. The apparatus  10  generally comprises four legs  12 , four arms  14  that are attached to the legs  12 , a pair of connecting rings  16  that are connected to the legs  12  and a barrier material  18  that is connected to adjacent arms  14 .  
         [0015]     While the preferred embodiment that is shown in the drawings has four legs  12  that are arranged in a rectangle and particularly a square configuration, it should be understood that the apparatus can be fabricated using as few as three legs  12  or a larger number than the preferred four legs as shown. Similarly, the configuration of the connecting rings  16  can be circular rather than square, if desired, and while an arm  14  is shown to be operatively connected to each of the legs, an arrangement can be made whereby the arms  14  can be connected to the rings rather than the legs as shown. It should also be understood that the arms can be directly connected to the rings rather than the legs, although the preferred construction is shown in the drawings. The number of arms  14  can be greater or lesser than the number of legs  12 . Additionally, while there are two connecting rings  16  shown in the preferred embodiment, it should also be understood that one connecting ring may be sufficient. Similarly, depending on the size of the apparatus  10 , two, three or more connecting rings may be utilized to increase the structural integrity of the overall apparatus.  
         [0016]     The legs  12  and arms  14  are shown in  FIG. 2  as being connected to one another by a 45° angle fitting  20 . The legs  12 , arms  14  and fittings  20  are preferably fabricated from a plastic material, such as one inch diameter PVC tubing which is preferred because of its relatively light weight and high strength. While one inch diameter tubing is preferred, it should be understood that smaller or larger sized tubing can be utilized if desired.  
         [0017]     The legs  12  have a lower section  12   a  that terminates in a straight fitting  22  in which a section  12   b  of the leg  12  fits into with the section  12   b  terminating in the angle fitting  20 . While the arms  14 , fittings  20 , and sections  12   a ,  12   b  may be unassembled, it is preferred that some assembly be performed during the manufacturing process which will facilitate ease of assembly by the ultimate user even though the apparatus may be shipped in a relatively small carton. In this regard, the arm  14 , fitting  20  and sections  12   a ,  12   b  may be polyvinyl chloride (PVC) components that are glued or fastened together. The straight fitting  22  is preferably glued to either the section  12   a  or section  12   b . Regardless of which leg section the connector fitting  22  is glued to, a screw in the fitting  22  may engage the other section to hold it in place. It should also be understood that the angle fitting  20 , while shown to be an approximately 45° angle relative to the leg  12 , may be a different angle than shown, and can be within the range of approximately 30° to approximately 60°, depending upon the size and shape of the plant that is being protected.  
         [0018]     As shown in the lower portion of  FIG. 2  and in  FIG. 3 , bottom ends  24  of the legs  12  are preferably formed or cut so that the tips are pointed to facilitate driving the legs  12  into the ground during installation. In this regard, it is preferred that the legs  12  be driven into the ground approximately 6″ to assure that the apparatus will not be easily dislodged by wind or incidental contact by animals or others. It has been found that deer will not normally contact the apparatus, particularly if white PVC tubing and fittings are used, as it is their nature to avoid such structures that are present in their environment.  
         [0019]     The angle of the fitting  20  as well as the length of the arms and legs can vary depending upon the animals that are believed to represent a danger to the plant being protected. The pointed lower end portions  24  are preferably configured by cutting the tubing from one side in a radial direction to approximately the center of the tubing and then cutting at an angle to a point from the radial cut to the end of the leg  12 . While the length of the pointed portion may vary, it is preferred that it be approximately 4″ to 6″ which will facilitate its entry into the ground.  
         [0020]     As previously stated, the fitting  22  is preferably glued to either the leg section  12   a  or  12   b  and a screw  28  may be placed through a hole in the fitting  12  and engage another hole in the unglued leg portion. It is preferred that the hole in the unglued portion be a smaller size than the diameter of the screw so that when the screw is installed, it will bind and hold the pieces together.  
         [0021]     The connecting ring  16  is shown to have a square configuration with rounded corners and has holes at the corners oriented toward the center of the ring which are sized to receive a bolt  34  for bolting the ring  16  to the leg section  12   a  which also has a hole  32  for receiving the bolt  34 . A nut  36  can then be tightened to hold each of the leg sections  12   a  to the connecting ring  16 . It is also noted that the ring  16  is bifurcated in that it has a section  16   a  and a section  16   b  that can be slip fit together. While the slip fitting intersection is shown at  38  which is offset from center, it should be understood that the two sections  16   a  and  16   b  may be generally similar in size if the slip fit junction  38  is located at the center. A second ring is preferably provided and is also connected to sections  12   b  of the legs  12  through holes that are located at position  40 .  
         [0022]     It should be understood that a bifurcated connecting ring  16  is necessary so that the apparatus can be installed around a tree with this being done by generally connecting all of the arms and legs to the connecting rings  16  while they are separated and then installing them around a tree. It is possible to refrain from pre-drilling the holes and let the user do so, however, there are advantages in pre-drilling them. If they are pre-drilled, they can be at the correct angular position to orient the arms to extend outwardly from the center of the ring  16 . Such alignment also has the benefit of a user only needing a screwdriver to assemble and install the apparatus  10 .  
         [0023]     To hold the barrier material  18  which is preferably a plastic netting, the leg sections  12   b  as well as the arms  14  have a number of holes located along their length in which a stem fitting, indicated generally at  46 , shown in  FIG. 5  as well as  FIG. 2 . Each stem fitting  46  has a generally cylindrical stem portion  48  with a beveled tip  50  and an enlarged head portion  52  that defined a retaining surface  54 . The outside diameter of the stem portion  48  is preferably slightly smaller than the holes that are placed in the leg section  12   b  and the arms  14  so that they can be press fit into them as shown in  FIG. 2 . It is preferred that the stem fitting  46  be fabricated from plastic and preferably the same material that is used to make the legs  12  and arms  14  as well as the other fittings  20  and  22 , but they can be made of a metal material that preferably does not rust. If they are fabricated of PVC material, the stem fittings  46  can be glued into the hole if desired. A cap  58  is preferably provided at the upper end of the arm  14 , and it has a hole for receiving a stem fitting  46  at the end thereof.  
         [0024]     While the barrier material  18  may be one continuous piece, it is preferred that it be made of sections having the shape as shown in  FIG. 6 , which conform to the area between adjacent arms. If the material  18  is an open plastic netting material, each of these sections can be installed by stretching them to overlie the stem fittings  46  so that they are retained by the bottom surface  54  of the fittings  46 . While the stem fittings may reliably hold the material  18  to the arms  14  and the leg section  12   b , it is desirable to use small cable ties, such as four inch Ty-Wraps®, for example, to fasten the material  18  to the arms  14  although other types of fasteners can be used.  
         [0025]     The apparatus may be assembled and installed in various ways but a convenient order or procedure for assembling it is to start with separating one of the connecting rings into its two sections and connecting one of the sections to two of the leg sections  12   a  followed by connecting the portion  12   b  with two arms  16  to the same section of the second connecting ring  16 . This then results in one-half of the total frame structure of the assembly being connected. The other half is then similarly assembled and at that point, the two halves of the frame structure can be taken to a tree for installation and this is done by placing the two halves on opposite sides and slip fitting the two connecting rings together. The legs can then be driven into the ground either by pushing them or by using a mallet or hammer using a 2×4 or other structural member that preferably spans opposite sides of a ring and the apparatus can be hammered into the ground. Once that has been completed, the netting can be installed between adjacent arms and Ty-Wraps® installed if desired and the assembly and installation is complete.  
         [0026]     While various embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it should be understood that other modifications, substitutions and alternatives are apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art. Such modifications, substitutions and alternatives can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, which should be determined from the appended claims.  
         [0027]     Various features of the invention are set forth in the following claims.