Automatic watering device for plants

A watering device for plants includes a plant container which is balanced on a vertical moving rod by a spring and a water reservoir tank is operatively associated with the plant container so that as the plant container becomes lighter due to a loss of water, the spring member disposed at the opposite end of the vertical moving rod from the plant container actuates a valve in the water reservoir tank and transfers water from the water reservoir tank to the plant container until a balance is again achieved, and when the balance is reached, the valve in the water tank is again closed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to an automatic watering device for plants 
which are grown in the home or in a greenhouse and more particularly, to 
an improved automatic watering device responsive to water loss by the 
plants. 
There are many types of automatic plant watering apparatuses which are well 
known in the prior art which utilize a system which is actuated in 
response to water loss by the plants. However, these apparatuses suffer 
from a number of disadvantages such as, for example, requiring complex 
mechanisms to operate and being difficult to install in that a variety of 
complex methods are required to assemble them. Several types are provided 
with an elevated water reservoir with a spring loaded valve therein which 
is actuated by the loss of weight of water by the plants in a container 
supported by the spring. Since the springs lose their strength as the 
temperature increases, plants are frequently overwatered on hot days. In 
addition, there are several types of apparatuses which utilizes a counter 
weight member such as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,060,934. Such 
apparatuses, however, are used with a plant container which must be placed 
on the floor or ground. They cannot be utilized with plant containers 
which must be hung from a ceiling, a wall or the like. 
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an 
improved automatic watering device for plants. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic watering 
device responsive to water loss by the plants which are grown in the home 
or in a greenhouse. 
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an automatic 
watering device for hanging plants, which is structured with a vertical 
moving rod to which is connected to a spring member and a plant container 
disposed at an opposite end portion thereof so that the plant container 
can be automatically watered by sensing the amount of water weight loss in 
the plant container. 
A further object of the present invention is to provide a smart watering 
device for plants, which is easy to assemble or operate and inexpensive to 
manufacture. 
Other objects and further scope of applicability of the present invention 
will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. It 
should be understood, however, that the detailed description and specific 
examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are 
given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications 
within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those 
skilled in the art from this detailed description. 
Briefly described, the present invention relates to an automatic watering 
device for plants which comprises a plant container which is balanced on a 
vertical moving rod by a spring member. A water reservoir tank is 
operatively associated with the plant container so that as the plant 
container becomes lighter due to a loss of water, the spring member 
disposed at the opposite end of the vertical moving rod from the plant 
container actuates a valve in the water reservoir tank, and transfers 
water from the water reservoir tank to the plant container until a balance 
is again achieved. When the balance is reached, the valve in the water 
tank is again closed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
Referring now in detail to the drawings for the purpose of illustrating the 
present invention, the automatic watering device for plants as shown in 
FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises a housing 10 including a vertical moving rod 11, a 
water reservoir tank 12 disposed on the housing 10 and a plant container 
13 for plants 14 hanging from the bottom end of the vertical moving rod 11 
by a hanging member 15. 
The vertical moving rod 11 includes a elongated slot 16 disposed in the 
middle portion thereof and is connected to the bottom end of a spring 
member 17 at the top end thereof and to the plant container 13 at the 
bottom end thereof. The spring member 17 is disposed within a cylinder 18 
which is disposed in the interior of the water reservoir tank 12. The 
cylinder 18 is provided with a hanger 19 for hanging to a wall or a 
ceiling for the automatic watering device of the present invention. The 
housing has a handle 20. 
The water reservoir tank 12 is adapted to contain a supply of water 21, and 
includes a water inlet 22, an opening 23 for communicating with outside 
air, and a drain hole 24 disposed at the bottom thereof. The drain hole 24 
is adapted to receive a cylindrical tube 25 which extends from a drain 
pipe 26 for draining the water 21 from the water reservoir tank 12 to 
plants 14 in the plant container 13. The cylindrical tube 25 is provided 
with a rubber valve 27 attached thereto for mating with the drain hole 24 
to open and close the drain hole 24. 
As shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, a supporting plate 28 includes an elongated 
groove 29 disposed the middle portion thereof for slidably receiving the 
vertical moving rod 11 to move up and down and a horizontal, rectangular 
aperture 30 disposed in the lower portion thereof for receiving a movable, 
rectangular plate 31 (FIG. 4). The movable rectangular plate 31 is fixed 
to the vertical moving rod 11 by a bolt 32 and an adjusting nut 33 through 
the elongated slot 16. The movable, rectangular plate 31 is provided with 
a connecting member 34 for supporting a wheel nut 35 (FIG. 3). The 
connecting member 34 has U-shaped configuration for receiving the wheel 
nut 35. The wheel nut 35 mates with a screwed valve rod 36 which connects 
to a spring 37 disposed within the cylindrical tube 25. The spring 37 is 
connected to the valve 27 at the one end thereof for biasing against the 
valve 27 to open. The cylindrical tube 25 includes a tubular body 38 
having an aperture 39 for communicating with one end of the drain pipe 26. 
Also, the tubular body 38 is inserted into the cylindrical tube 25 with 
rubber packagings 40 and a nut 41. The wheel nut 35 is used for adjusting 
and closing the valve 27 when the automatic watering device is operated at 
the first time, if necessary. Also, the adjusting nut 33 is used for 
adjusting the movable, rectangular plate 31 to the vertical moving rod 11 
depending on the balance of the plant container 1 with water at the first 
time because all plants need a different amount of water for proper 
growing. 
In operation, the water reservoir tank 12 containing water 21 and assembled 
with a valve system therein is hung from a special area such as a ceiling. 
Thereafter, the plant container 13 with plants 14 and containing a proper 
amount of water is hung from the bottom end of the vertical moving rod 11. 
At this time, the adjusting nut 33 is placed in the appropriate portion of 
the elongated slot 16 so as to balance the weight of the plant container 
23. At this time, the valve 27 is effectively closed by adjusting the 
wheel nut 35. 
As the water is gradually lost from the plant container 13, that is, the 
weight of the plant container 13 becomes lighter than its original weight, 
the vertical moving rod 11 moves up in the direction indicated by arrow A, 
as shown in FIG. 2, due to the biasing force of the spring member 17. The 
movable plate 31 thus, moves up to push the valve rod 36 in the direction 
as indicated by arrow A' which opens the rubber valve 27 permitting water 
21 to drain from the water reservoir tank 12 to the plant container 13 
through the drain pipe 26 in the direction as indicated by arrow C (FIG. 
2). As soon as the water 21 is sufficiently supplied to the plant 
container 13 to balance the plant container 13 against the spring member 
17, the rubber valve 27 closes the drain hole member 24 to stop the flow 
of water 21 to the plant container 13. 
Accordingly, the device of the present invention automatically waters the 
plant container with a predetermined amount of water required for the 
plant. Thus, there is no need to manually water the plant since the device 
of the present invention automatically waters the plant until the water is 
exhausted which usually takes one to two months. 
The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be 
varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure 
from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as 
would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included in 
the scope of the following claims.