FLOWER POT

Abstract: A flower pot for plants, especially flowers, comprising a container portion (10), the lower part of which is adapted to receive a bottom insert (12), which defines a bottom chamber (18) together with the bottom wall (14) of said container part for collecting water, said bottom chamber (18) being provided with a liquid overflow (16). The bottom insert (12) comprises a sunk part (28) extending downwardly into said bottom chamber (18) past the niveau of said overflow (16), said sink part (28) at its lower end comprising a passage opening (42) towards said chamber (18), and at its upper end being open for receiving filling, e.g. earth. The filling put into said sunk part may serve as a wick for sucking up water from the bottom chamber in so reasonable quantities that the filling of the pot does not become sour.

Description: Flower pot. The invention concerns a flower pot comprising a container portion, the lower part of which being adapted to receive a bottom insert which defines a bottom chamber for collec¬ ting water together with the bottom wall of said container part, said bottom chamber being provided with a liquid overflow, and said bottom insert constituting the upper limitation, and said bottom wall constituting the lower limitation of said chamber. Said bottom chamber shall not only serve as a collecting means for surplus water, e.g. as a result of daily watering the plant, but shall also be able to receive a water supply which the plant can drain, so that it would be enough with watering fewer- times. Known flower pots of said kind are formed in such a way that the filling of the flower pot, e.g. earth gets into contact with water collected in said bottom chamber at points distri¬ buted over the total area of the bottom. This can result in moistening the lowermost layer of said filling too much, so that said layer becomes sour. It is the object of the invention to indicate a flower pot by means of which said disadvantage can be avoided. The invention is characterized in , that said bottom insert comprises a sunk part extending downwardly into said bottom chamber past the niveau of said overflow, said sunk part at its lower end comprising a passage opening towards said chamber, and at its upper end being open for receiving fil¬ ling, e.g. earth. Filling filled into said sunk part may thus serve as a wick which sucks water up from said bottom chamber for distribu¬ ting it to the remaining filling. The dimensions of said sunk part, and consequently the quantity of filling used for filling said sunk part can be limited so much that in prac¬ tice there will be no danger for the filling becoming sour. Since it is not necessary to shape the remaining part of said bottom insert with respect to receive water from said bottom chamber, the bottom insert may be shaped in such a way that said remaining part will be positioned considerably higher than the niveau of said overflow. Thus, in said bottom chamber , a satisfactory large space can be maintained bet¬ ween the maximum liquid level and said bottom insert for maintaining a cushion of air. According to the invention, said sunk part of said bottom insert may be shaped like a groove extending along the pe¬ riphery of said bottom insert. Said groove embodiment may secure an adequate distribution of the water sucked up in the filling, and moreover contribute to a stiffening of said bottom insert. According to the invention a limiting wall of said sunk part may provide a space together with the lowermost part of the wall of the container portion, said space being in open communication with said bottom chamber, and said space may be provided with overflow openings at its upper part, said openings being positioned higher than said overflow of said bottom chamber. This embodiment results in the spe¬ cific advantage, that surplus water will be poured off in case said flower pot is tilting and the main overflow, which is normally positioned at the center area of the con¬ tainer part bottom, is not able to operate because of said tilting. An embodiment considering all the features which are cha¬ racteristic for the present invention, is characterized in that said sunk part of the bottom insert is shaped as a circumferential groove, which is adapted at its bottom to rest on said bottom wall by means of spacing elements, and which is surrounded by an outwardly extending flange at its top, which extends both towards the side wall of the container portion when said bottom insert is inserted into said container portion, and in a distance of height above an inwardly extending shoulder on said container side wall, the distance of height of said shoulder from said bottom wall of the container portion being larger than the distance of height of said overflow of the bottom cham¬ ber from said bottom wall, said shoulder being provided with overflow apertures. Such a bottom insert may be readily manufactured by means of die casting. It is well stiffened in itself, and it allows to maintain a traditional positioning of the over¬ flow in the center of the container bottom wall, so that this overflow with an. adequate shape may also serve as a. support for the center area of the top wall of the insert. The peripheral flange centers the insert in said container portion and provides simultaneously a shield above the aper¬ tures in said shoulder, thus avoiding these apertures to be clogged by container portion filling. Said shield pre- vents also water supplied from above to flow directly out through said overflow apertures in said shoulder. The invention will be described in the following with refe¬ rence to the drawing showing schematically a cross-section through a flower pot according to the invention, including a bottom insert. The flower pot shown comprises a container portion 10, the lower part of which being adapted to receive a bottom in¬ sert 12, which defines a bottom chamber 18 together with the bottom wall 14 of said container part for collecting water, said bottom chamber 18 being provided with a liquid overflow 16, the bottom insert 12 constituting the upper limitation, and the bottom wall 14 constituting the lower limitation of said chamber. In the embodiment shown, said overflow 16 is defined by a central elevation 20 of the bottom of the container portion. In the top wall thereof, said elevation is provided with a number of apertures 22. The bottom insert 12 is provided with a central depression 24, the lower part of which resting on the top of the elevation 20 by means of spacing elements 26 , Moreover, said bottom insert 12 is provided with a sunk part 28 shaped as a circumferential groove extending along the periphery of the bottom insert 12, said groove being adap- ted to rest upon the bottom wall 14 by means of lower spa¬ cing ribs 3O. At its upper end the insert is surrounded by an outwardly extending marginal flange 32, which extends both towards the side wall 34.of the container portion, when said bottom insert 12 is inserted into said container portion 10, and in a distance of height above an inwardly extending shoulder 36 on the container side wall 34, the distance of height of said shoulder 36 from the bottom wall 14 of the container portion being larger than the distance of height of the overflow 16 of the bottom chamber from said bottom wall 14, said shoulder 36 being provided with overflow apertures 38. Thus, the outer surface of the sunk, groove-shaped part 28 defines a space 40 together with the opposite part of the container side wall, said space 40 constituting an open connection between said bottom cham- ber 18 and the overflow apertures 38, which preferably are positioned regularly distributed along the circumference of said container. In the embodiment shown, the container 10, and thus the in- sert 12 are generally formed circular cylindrical. At its lower end, the depressed, groove-formed part 28 is provided with apertures 42. Also these apertures are pre- ferably positioned regularly distributed along the circum¬ ference of said container. When the container 10 is filled, e.g. with earth, and the bottom chamber 18 is filled with water, the earth filling put into the groove 28 will be able to suck water through the apertures 42 and thus serve as a wick, which keeps the filling sufficiently wet. At the top, the flange 32 provides a shield over the space defined by the outer wall of the groove 28 and the opposite part of the container wall, so that said filling cannot push itself down and clogg the apertures 38, and the apertures 38 may serve as an over¬ flow, when the container is in a tilted position. Moreover, said shield prevents water supplied from above to discharge directly through said apertures 38. The bottom insert is provided with a top wall 44 which is positioned at such a height that it is'positioned at a level above the overflow apertures 38, when the bottom insert 12 is inserted in the container portion 10. In this way, an air cushion of considerable seize may always be maintained above the water level.

Claims: Claims . 1. A flower pot for plants, especially flowers, com¬ prising a container portion (10) , the lower part of which being adapted to receive a bottom insert (12), which de¬ fines a bottom chamber (18) together with the bottom wall (14) of said container part for collecting water, said bottom chamber (18) being provided with a liquid overflow (16), characterized in that said bottom insert (12) comprises a sunk part (28) extending downwardly into said bottom chamber (18) past the niveau of said overflow (16), said sunk part (28) at its lower end comprising a passage ope- ning (42) towards said chamber (18), and at its upper end being open for receiving filling, e.g. earth. 2. A flower pot according to claim 1 , characterized in that said sunk part (28) of said bottom insert ( ' 12) is shaped like a groove extending along the periphery of said bot¬ tom insert. 3. A flower pot according to claim 1 or 2, characte¬ rized in, that a limiting wall of said sunk part (28) pro- -g-ides a space (40) together with the lowermost part of the wall (34) of the container portion, said space (40) being in open communication with said bottom chamber (18), and that said space (40) is provided with overflow openings (38) at its upper part, said openings being positioned higher than said overflow (16) of said bottom chamber (18). 4. A flower pot according to claim 2 and 3,. characte¬ rized in, that said sunk part (28) of the bottom insert (12) is shaped as a circumferential groove, which is adapted at its bottom to rest on said bottom wall (14) by means of spacing elements (30) , and which is surrounded by an outwardly extending flange (32) at its top, which extends both towards the side wall (34) of the container portion (10) when said bottom insert (12) is inserted into said container portion (10) , and in a distance of height above an inwardly extending shoulder (36) on said container side wall (34), the distance of height of said shoulder (36) from said bottom wall (14) of the container portion being larger than the distance of height of said overflow (16) of the bottom chamber from said bottom wall (14) , said shoul¬ der (36) being provided with overflow apertures (38) . 5. A flower pot according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in, that said bottom insert (12) is provided with a top wall(44) which is positioned at such a height that said top wall is positioned at a level above said uppermost po¬ sitioned overflow apertures (38) when said bottom insert (12) is inserted in said container portion (10) .

Inventors: HOUGAORD ERLING, HOUGAORD, ERLING
Applicants: OS PLASTIC AS, OS PLASTIC A/S
Application year: 1983
Main classification: A01G9
IPC codes: A01G27