Plant saucer with overflow relief valve

A saucer for a potted plant comprises a bottom wall and a sidewall joined at its lower edge to the periphery of the bottom wall and sealed thereto and defining therewith a reservoir for receiving water for a potted plant supported on the bottom wall of the saucer. A passageway, which may include a nipple, extends through a sidewall of the saucer and joins a first end of a tube; a second, free end of the tube is moveable between an upper position preventing discharge of water from the reservoir therethrough to a lower position permitting controlled discharge of water from the reservoir therethrough.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to a water-retaining saucer, or tray, for a plant 
and, more particularly, to such a plant saucer, or tray, having an 
overflow relief valve. 
2. State of the Prior Art 
Plant saucers, or trays, are well known in the art and are used, typically 
for a potted plant, to retain excess water which either overflows from a 
pot in which the plant is potted or escapes from the pot through a drain 
hole as is typically provided in the bottom of the pot. A plant saucer 
thus protects surrounding surfaces from water damage while also serving as 
a reservoir, the water retained therein being absorbed into the soil 
within the pot by return flow through the drain hole. 
Such saucers are of various different configurations and are made of 
various different materials, including relatively lightweight molded 
plastic saucers, earthenware saucers and metallic saucers, for example. 
The plastic and metallic type saucers in many respects provide better 
protection than an earthenware for an underlying surface on which the 
saucer with the potted plant is placed, due to the impermeability of the 
plastic or metallic material of which they are formed. On the other hand, 
plastic saucers typically are very light weight and flexible. As a result, 
as the height of water approaches the rim of the saucer and an overflow 
condition, it becomes difficult to take corrective measures, such as 
moving the saucer to a safe location for discharge of the excess water, 
etc., since the plastic saucer likely will deform and water spillage then 
will occur. The resulting potential water damage to the surroundings is a 
problem which the saucer was intended to avoid at the outset. The 
earthenware and metallic saucers, on the other hand, are more rigid; 
nevertheless, even if the potted plant can be removed from the saucer 
and/or moved with the saucer to a safe location for discharge of the 
excessive water, before overflow occurs, there remains the problem of 
spillage occurring in such movement from the overly full saucer, 
especially due to the large exposed surface area of the water in a typical 
saucer configuration. 
Certain plants, such as orchids, preferably are watered by continuous 
flushing with a large volume of water, well exceeding the capacity of the 
pot and any saucer in which it is kept. In such instances, the pots and 
associated saucers must be removed from their normal surroundings and 
transported to a remote location for watering and then left to drain, 
before being returned to their normal surroundings. 
Existing plant saucers thus have significant limitations and inadequacies 
in their use and capabilities, rendering them not only inconvenient in use 
but also incapable, in many respects, of performing their intended 
functions. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a plant 
saucer which overcomes these and other problems of prior such structures 
and, more particularly, to provide a potted plant saucer having an 
overflow relief valve which permits draining off excess water which 
accumulates in the saucer during watering of the plant, and which thus 
eliminates the need presented by prior art saucers of transporting the 
potted plant and/or the saucer to a suitable water discharge location 
(e.g., a sink) to empty same or otherwise to prevent random water spillage 
and the resulting, potential water damage to the surroundings of the plant 
and saucer. 
It is another object of the present invention to provide an overflow relief 
valve for use with a plant saucer which is readily, manually adjustable 
between a secure, non-discharge ("OFF") position and a conveniently 
oriented discharge ("ON") position for draining off excessive water. 
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a plant saucer 
having an overflow relief valve which is simple and inexpensive in 
construction and which may be implemented in saucers made of any suitable 
material, e.g., plastic, metal, and earthenware materials, and of an 
appropriate configuration. 
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the 
following drawings and detailed descriptions of the invention and various 
embodiments in which it may be implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
With concurrent reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a potted plant saucer 10 of 
molded plastic has a conventional configuration of a generally cylindrical 
sidewall 12 having a radially outward, transverse flange 14 integral with 
an upper edge of the cylindrical sidewall 12 and a circular bottom 16 
integral about its peripheral edge with a bottom edge of the cylindrical 
sidewall 12. The bottom 16 includes a plurality of radially extending 
reinforcement ribs 18, shown arbitrarily to be three in number and 
identified individually as the ribs 18a, 18b and 18c; the ribs 18 support 
the bottom of a pot or container 30 (shown in phantom lines in FIG. 2), 
the bottom 31 thereof having a central drainage opening 32 therein. The 
ribs 18 thus elevate the bottom 31 of the container 30 above the main 
surface of the circular bottom 16 of the saucer 10 to permit water and 
other fluids within the pot 30 to drain through the opening 32 into the 
region 11, between the exterior of the pot 30 and the interior of the 
sidewall 12. The region 11 thus will be understood to function as a 
reservoir, not only capturing excess water which drains from the pot to 
prevent water damage to the surroundings but also retaining the excessive 
water so that it can be reabsorbed into the soil within the pot 30, as 
required. 
The overflow relief valve 40 in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises a 
flexible hose, or tube, 42 which is engaged at its lower end 42a over a 
protruding portion of a nipple 44 received through an opening 43 in the 
cylindrical sidewall 12. If desired, a hose clamp 46 may be clamped onto 
the exterior protruding end 44a of the nipple 44 to secure the hose end 
42a thereon. The nipple 44 may have a radial flange 47 at the interior end 
thereof which is engaged against an interior surface of the sidewall 12 
and, for that purpose, may have an O-ring disposed between the flange 47 
and the interior surface of the cylindrical sidewall 12 to assure a 
water-tight seal. 
As an alternative, the flange 47 may be bonded, e.g., by an epoxy resin, to 
the interior surface of the cylindrical sidewall 12 surrounding the 
opening 43. As another alternative, the nipple 44 may be molded integrally 
with the sidewall 12 of the saucer 10; moreover, the tube 42 likewise may 
be molded integrally with the nipple 44, thereby further simplifying the 
overall construction. 
To prevent inadvertent drainage through the overflow relief valve 40, the 
upper end 42b thereof is raised vertically and a portion of the tube 42 
adjacent the upper end 42b is bent over on itself, or crimped, and then 
resiliently urged into a clamp 50, through a restricted path or passageway 
51 and retained in the interior, engaging aperture 52. 
To discharge water retained within the saucer 10, the tube 42 is released 
from the clamp 50 and disposed downwardly into a bucket or other receiving 
container. 
The embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 has been shown with the nipple 44 disposed 
essentially at the level of the interior surface of the bottom wall 16, 
permitting draining substantially all of the water from within the saucer 
10 should that be desired. If it is desired to retain a level of water 
within the reservoir 11, the tube 42 simply is returned to its upward, 
cut-off position when the desired level of water in the reservoir 11 is 
reached. Since it is normally desired that a level of water be retained in 
the reservoir 11 and, as a further alternative, the nipple 44 may be 
located, instead, at a vertically higher position in the cylindrical 
sidewall 12, essentially at the level corresponding to the desired height 
of water within the reservoir 11. The highest such position, of course, 
must be selected such that it remains effective for draining sufficient 
water from the reservoir 11 to prevent spillage of water over the top edge 
of the wall 12 and flange 14. The higher position of the nipple, moreover, 
facilitates gravity drainage of the water from within the saucer 10 to a 
receiving bucket, for those circumstance in which the saucer 10 is placed 
directly on a floor. On the other hand, plants typically are maintained on 
a plant stand, providing sufficient elevational positioning of the bottom 
16 of the saucer 10 relatively to an underlying support floor on which the 
receiving bucket would be located, to assure acceptable drainage by 
gravity flow. 
FIG. 3 illustrates a second embodiment of the invention in which saucer 110 
has an overflow relief valve 140 mounted in a cylindrical sidewall 112. 
The nipple 144 is an integral part of a flexible tube, 142, the tube 142 
being received through an opening 143 in the sidewall 112 and the flange 
147 abutted against and bonded to the sidewall 12 so as to form a seal 
therewith. The embodiment of FIG. 3 may otherwise correspond to that of 
FIGS. 1 and 2. 
FIG. 4 illustrates a third embodiment of the invention which is 
particularly suitable for implementation in earthenware or metal 
materials, in which the saucer 210 has a cylindrical wall 212 from which 
protrudes an integral nipple 244 having radial ribs 245 over which an end 
of a pliable tube 240 is resiliently urged and received, and thereby is 
resiliently engaged, and retained, on the annular ribs 245 against removal 
therefrom; this arrangement, as well, assures a water-tight seal of the 
tube 242 to the nipple 244. 
FIG. 5 illustrates a fourth embodiment of the invention in which the saucer 
310, having a sidewall 312 with an opening 313 therein, is made of metal 
or of a rigid plastic (or other suitable synthetic) material and includes 
a nipple 444 having a radially outward annular flange 445 on the free end 
thereof, forming a seat for an O-ring 360. The lower end 344 of a tube 342 
has a radially inward annular flange 347 which is snap fit over the flange 
345 and the O-ring 360, resiliently engaging the O-ring 360 against the 
flange 345 and/or the nipple sidewall to provide a water-tight seal. In 
this embodiment, the tube 342 is rigid and rotated from an upward, OFF 
position to a downward, discharge (ON) position. 
As shown in FIG. 6, any of the foregoing embodiments of the invention 
furthermore is adaptable to a system implementation, in which plural plant 
stands 100a, 100b . . . 100n support respective saucers 10a, 10b, . . . 
10n having disposed therein corresponding pots 30a, 30b . . . and 30n and 
which are interconnected through discharge tubes for discharge of excess 
water into a bucket 102. If the bucket is of sufficient capacity and/or, 
instead, constitutes a drain, the discharge tubes need not be valved, but 
may remain open at all times. Preferably, however, relief valves 40a', 
40b', . . . 40n', which may have the same basic construction as the relief 
valve 40 in FIGS. 1 and 2, connect the saucers 10a, 10b, . . . 10n to the 
respective discharge tubes 42a', 42b', . . . 42n'; the latter then are 
interconnected by Y couplings 104 and 106 to provide a common discharge 
path, from the final Y coupling 106, into the bucket 102. 
The relief valves alternatively may have the configuration shown in a top 
planar view in FIG. 7A and a side elevational view in FIG. 7B and in which 
the tube 40' is effectively bent in half and crimped within the receiving 
aperture 52' of the clamp 50', such as is done with a garden hose, to stop 
the flow of water therethrough. In FIG. 6, the crimping prevents water 
from a higher saucer from back-flowing and discharging into a lower 
saucer, which could cause same to overflow. As shown in FIG. 6, the Y 
drain 104 is below the level of the bottom of the intermediate pot 30b; 
nevertheless, gravity fill from saucer 10a into saucer 10b could still 
occur, as well as into the lowermost saucer 10n. The crimping thus is a 
safeguard against such unintentional overflow occurring draining 
operations. The arrangement of FIG. 6 is particularly suitable when it is 
desired to irrigate one or more of the potted plants by applying 
sufficient water thereto for flushing same, since permitting the necessary 
drainage to occur while avoiding overflows and spillage from others of the 
interconnected lower elevational saucers. 
As an alternative to the system implementations using crimping as in FIGS. 
6-7B, an in-line ON/OFF valve may be included in the path of each drainage 
tube which would prevent a reverse flow of water from a saucer at a higher 
elevation into a saucer at a lower elevation. 
FIGS. 8A, 8B and 8C represent alternative relief valve structures, each of 
which is suitable for use in any of the foregoing embodiments. 
In FIG. 8A, the nipple 310' is integral with a sidewall 312', as in the 
embodiment of FIG. 5, but in FIG. 8A, the passageway 313' through the 
nipple 310' is sealed by a flexibly hinged cap 315 having an annular, 
inward lip 316 which engages an outwardly annular lip 345' in water tight, 
sealing relationship. Alternatively, the cap 315, rather than being an 
integral extension of the nipple, may instead be a snap-on cap having an 
annular snap rim 316 extending continuously thereabout and received over a 
continuous outward annular sealing lip 345'. 
FIG. 8B illustrates a further alternative embodiment of a nipple 210', 
similar in appearance to the nipple 210 of FIG. 4 but having male screw 
threads 250 on the outer wall 244' and employed with a cap 260 having 
female threads 264 on the interior thereof which are received on the male 
threads 250 in mechanically secure and water tight relationship. 
FIG. 8C illustrates yet a further alternative embodiment of a valve 
arrangement of a saucer 110' having a wall 112' with an aperture 143' 
therein and which receives a valve 150 in a water tight, sealed 
relationship in a groove 151 between two contiguous annular sealing ring 
152 and 154; exterior of the sidewall 112' are additional, but 
progressively smaller annular rings 156 and 158. The valve 150 is similar 
to those used in inflatable devices, such as rafts and the like, which may 
be grasped and extended axially, opening a valved passageway therein and, 
alternatively, compressed and shortened axially to the position shown, 
sealing the valved passageway therein. 
In each of FIGS. 8A, 8B and 8C, the nipples are of a sufficient axial 
length and disposed at a sufficient distance from the bottom wall of the 
respective saucer to enable collecting the drainage therethrough in a 
bucket, for disposal. 
FIG. 9 illustrates an alternative embodiment of a clamp 75 having are 
resilient central arm 77 and a pair of depending legs 78 and 79 which are 
biased into engagement in a rest condition; in use, they are resiliently 
forced apart so as to be received over and clamp therebetween the edge of 
the side wall 90. Further, the clamp 75 has a ring-like structure 80 on 
the upper surface into which a free end of a drainage tube for a saucer is 
inserted and retained, either in the open configuration as in FIG. 2 or in 
the crimped condition as in FIGS. 7A and 7B. The sidewall 90 in FIG. 9 may 
represent the sidewall of a saucer or, alternatively, the sidewall of a 
pot and, indeed, the clamp 75 may be moved therebetween. It further will 
be understood that the retaining element 80 may be positioned on the side 
of the leg 79 in either a horizontal orientation so as to hold a free end 
of a tube as seen in FIG. 2 or in the orientation shown in FIG. 9, as may 
be desired. As will also be apparent from FIG. 9, a slot may be provided 
in a top edge of the wall 90 in which a drainage tube is inserted and 
held, whether in a rigid plastic or metal saucer or pot or an earthenware 
saucer or pot. 
As will be apparent, features of one embodiment may be used in one or more 
of the other embodiments. For example, the hose clamp of FIG. 2 may 
readily be used in FIG. 4. Further, the height position of the relief 
valve relative to the height of the cylindrical sidewall of the saucer may 
be selected for the necessary functional requirements, as discussed above, 
in each of these embodiments. In addition, whereas a plastic saucer 
material is implied in many of the above descriptions, alternative 
materials such as metal may be employed for the saucer and nozzle and, if 
not integral, the nozzle may be soldered to the sidewall, as an 
alternative to use of a resin to join a plastic nozzle to a plastic 
sidewall. Thus, any suitable material is intended to be encompassed. 
Further, the saucer is not limited to the cylindrical configuration shown 
in the drawings. 
The above and numerous other modifications and adaptations of the invention 
will be apparent to those of skill in the art and thus it is intended by 
the appended claims to cover all such modifications and adaptations as 
fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.