Abstract:
A sealed container system for packaging and displaying a live plant for sale. The system has a subcontainer that is partially filled with a hydrogel, or has a divider lid that separates the hydrogel from the rest of the container system. A lid covers the subcontainer, where the lid has a tapered or elongate lumen to accommodate the plant roots while preventing the leakage of the hydrogel. The clear or transparent container, with the hydrogel, allows the container to operate as a miniature greenhouse allowing the plant to be displayed for an extended period of time without the need for interventional care by a human.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/644,105, filed Aug. 15, 2003, and is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The field of the invention is containers for holding live plants for display and sale, and more particularly, closed-system containers for holding live plants for display and sale for a long duration.  
       BACKGROUND  
       [0003]     Live plants adorn our homes, businesses and everyday surroundings. There are many types of plants, such as aquatic plants, meaning plants adapted for living in a fresh water aquarium. People who own aquariums with fish, crabs, and other aquatic life often purchase aquatic plants for their aquariums. Typically, consumers purchase aquatic plants at a store that sells aquariums and fish. Non-aquatic plants are sold at retail garden stores, where they usually sit on a shelf and require daily waterings by a human or machine. The journey that live plants take to reach these stores is long and life-threatening. Live plants require water and nutrients. These plants may travel thousands of miles, from faraway countries, on ships, trains and trucks and endure long durations of travel without interventional care. Such plants are generally transported in containers having water or soil. During packing, transportation, and unpacking, plants fall over, causing their precious water or soil to spill. Having a reduced water or soil supply puts the plant at risk of failing to survive the long journey. Once packed, no one checks the plants and refills their water supply. As a result, many plants perish before arriving at their final destination, the retail store.  
         [0004]     Even those plants that survive the journey to the retail store must further endure a significant time sitting on a shelf at the store, until a consumer purchases the plant and places the plant in its normal aquatic or in-ground environment. Retail stores must either expend significant human resources to water the plants so as to take care of their investment, or charge a higher price to make up for those plants that cannot be sold. Because it is cheaper to purchase plants (as with any item) in bulk, the time during which the plant sits on a shelf as opposed to its normal environment is increased. If the retail store places its aquatic plants in an aquarium, the cost of such care is high because of the cost of the aquariums, water, lights and electricity.  
         [0005]     Water-retaining hydrogels have been used in the prior art to enhance the hydration of the roots of live plants, where plants are planted in pots that contain hydrogel. Because the hydrogel retains water well, less water is required for plants that reside in pots containing hydrogel. Similarly, hydrogel may be added to the dirt in a hole in the ground before a plant is put into the hole. Such open systems are not effective in transporting and displaying a live plant for a long duration at a retail store, without requiring the need for interventional human care and watering.  
         [0006]     Therefore, there is a need for a container system that can hold and transport a live plant without spilling a water and/or nutrient source and also display the live plant for sale for a long duration in a self-sustaining manner.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     In the example embodiment, the improved container system comprises a body having a top and a base and defining a lumen, a water-retaining hydrogel to hydrate the roots of a live plant, and a lid including a tapered lumen, where the lumen becomes narrower as the lumen extends from the lid. The roots of the live plant extends through the tapered lumen and into the hydrogel. The tapered lumen acts to prevent the hydrogel from spilling out of the area around the roots. In this example embodiment, the body is closed so that air does not escape from the body lumen, thereby creating a greenhouse for the live plant.  
         [0008]     Other systems, methods, features and advantages of the invention will be or will become apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the invention, and be protected by the accompanying claims. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]     The components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. All illustrations are intended to convey concepts, where relative sizes, shapes and other detailed attributes may be illustrated schematically, rather than literally or precisely. Moreover, in the figures, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the different views. However, like parts do not always have like reference numerals.  
         [0010]      FIG. 1  is an illustration of an example embodiment of an improved live plant container system.  
         [0011]      FIG. 2  is an illustration of a subcontainer in the improved live plant container system of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0012]      FIG. 3A  is an illustration of a top view of the top  22  and/or base  24  of the improved live plant container system of  FIG. 2 .  
         [0013]      FIG. 3B  is an illustration of the top view of the lid and tapered lumen of the subcontainer of the improved live plant container system of  FIG. 2 .  
         [0014]      FIG. 4  is an illustration of a side edge view of the lid and tapered lumen of the subcontainer of the improved live plant container system of  FIG. 2 .  
         [0015]      FIGS. 5A-5D  are side view illustrations of example embodiments of a tapered lumen of the lid of the subcontainer of the improved live plant container system of  FIG. 2 .  
         [0016]      FIG. 6  is a side edge view of an alternative embodiment of a lid with a non-tapering lumen. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0017]     In the example embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 , the improved container system  10  comprises a body  20  having a top  22  and a base  24  and defining a lumen  26  and a subcontainer  30 . The top  22  and base  24  may be separate parts from the body  20 , or one or both of the top and base may be integrally formed with the body  20 . The optional card with a hook  60  will be explained later. As further shown in  FIG. 2 , the preferred embodiment of the subcontainer  30  has a subcontainer body  32 , a bottom  34 , and a lid  36 . The subcontainer  30  preferably slides into the lumen  26  of the body  20  and rests on the base  24  of the body  20 . The lid  36  of the subcontainer  30  includes a tapered lumen  38 , where the lumen  38  becomes narrower as the lumen  38  extends away from the lid  36 . The subcontainer  30  is adapted to contain a water-retaining hydrogel  40 , or like material.  
         [0018]     In the preferred embodiment, the hydrogel  40  is a superabsorbant polyacrylamide, such as Erisorb ES001, ES002, ES003 or ES004 sold by Eridan SA, 6 rue des Capucins, 69001 Lyon France. However, the hydrogel  40  may be other types of superabsorbant polymers or hydrogels. The hydrogel  40  made by Eridan comes in a powder or granular form. Water is added to the powder or granules to form clumps of hydrogel  40 . The shape and size of the clumps may be varied. However, the size of the clumps should be generally larger than the diameter of the portion of the tapered lumen  38  furthest from the lid  36  and thus, closest to the hydrogel  40 . Another source for a hydrogel is P4, a cross-linked copolymer polyacrylamide or a hydrophilic polymer, from Broadleaf Inc., whose internet website is www.broadleafp4.com. Still other hydrogels may be used.  
         [0019]     The roots  50  of the live plant  52  are inserted through the tapered lumen  38  of the lid  36  of the subcontainer  30  and into the hydrogel  40 . The lid  36  is then placed on the subcontainer  30  to close the subcontainer. The subcontainer  30  is then inserted into the lumen of the body  20  and the base  24  is attached to the body  20 . Preferably, the subcontainer  30  rests on the base  24 . Thus, after assembly, the plant&#39;s roots  50  reside in the hydrogel  40  within the subcontainer  30 , while the leaves of the plant  52  reside in the lumen of the body  20  of the improved container system  10 . The top  22  is placed on the body  20  to seal the body  20 . Alternatively, the subcontainer  30  may be inserted into the lumen of the body  20  and slid down the lumen to rest on the base  24  of the body  20 .  
         [0020]     The body  20  is preferably made of a clear or transparent material so as to permit sunlight and artificial light to enter the container system  10 . For instance, the parts of the improved container system  10  may be formed out of a plastic, polyurethane, polyethylene, glass, or another plastic. The parts of the container system, except the hydrogel, may be injection molded, blow molded, or vacuum molded out of a plastic, if desired.  
         [0021]     As illustrated in  FIGS. 1, 2 ,  3 B,  4  and  5 A- 5 D, an important feature of the improved container system  10  is the tapered lumen  38  of the lid  36 . The tapered lumen  38  acts to prevent the hydrogel  40  from leaking out of the subcontainer  30 . The tapered lumen  38  creates a vacuum within the subcontainer  30  that helps keep the hydrogel  40  in the subcontainer  30 . The diameter of the tapered lumen  38  should be large enough to accommodate the roots  50  of the live plant  52  and allow for some growth, while preferably be small enough to prevent leakage of the hydrogel  40  out of the tapered lumen  38  of the subcontainer  30 .  
         [0022]     As shown in  FIG. 4 , the lid  36  preferably includes a lip  37 . The lip  37  assists in securing the lid  36  to the rest of the subcontainer  30 . In an embodiment that uses a lid  36  without the rest of the subcontainer  30 , the lip  37  adds stability to prevent the lid  36  from pivoting relative to the base  24  when the lid  36  is inside the body  20 .  
         [0023]     The shape and size of each of the above parts may be changed and adapted for the particular live plant to be housed in the improved container system  10 . For example, the body  20  may be elongate if the plant  52  is elongate. Alternatively, the body  20  may be short and stout if the plant  52  is short and stout. Similarly, the shape and size of lumen  38  may be any shape and size that are appropriate for the live plant. For example, the lumen  38  may be a tapering cylindrical lumen, a tapering rectangular lumen, a tapering triangular lumen, or a tapering hexagonal lumen. The walls  61  of the tapering lumen  38  may be non-tapering such that the lumen  38  tapers internally as shown in  FIG. 5A , or the walls of the tapering lumen  38  may be uniform so that the external surface of the walls also taper, as shown in  FIG. 5B . Still alternatively, the tapering lumen  38  may have tapering portions  60  and non-tapering portions  62 , examples of which are illustrated in  FIGS. 5C and 5D .  
         [0024]     The length of the lumen  38  may also be varied as desired, although the longer the lumen  38 , the better the lumen  38  performs at preventing evaporation of water and leakage of the hydrogel  40 . Experiments by the inventor show that evaporation of the water in the hydrogel  40  or leakage of the hydrogel  40  out of the subcontainer  30  shorten the duration a live plant can live in the container system  10 . A tapering lumen  38  that is about ⅜ inch or ½ inch in length has been shown to work.  
         [0025]     Alternatively to the tapered lumen  38 , the lumen  38  may be an elongate non-tapering lumen, as shown in  FIG. 6 . If the lumen  38  is long and narrow enough, the lumen  38  may serve to provide the roots&#39; access to the hydrogel  40 , while preventing leakage of the hydrogel  40  and evaporation of the water in the hydrogel  40 .  
         [0026]     In the preferred example embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 , the body  20  is closed by the top  22  and base  24  so that air does not escape from the lumen of the body  20 . Because air and moisture is trapped, a greenhouse environment is created for the live plant. After inserting the roots of a live plant through the tapered lumen  38  and into the hydrogel  40 , moisture and nitrogen released by the plant remain in the container system, available for nourishing the plant. The improved container system  10  may be attached to a card with a hook  60 , or just a hook  60 , so that the container systems can be hung on a display for sale at a retail store. The card may include a product description and other advertisement.  
         [0027]     Once planted in the improved container system, live plants may be transported easily, without spillage of the hydrogel and death of the plant. Moreover, the improved container system may be hung on a display at a retail store for a long duration without the death of the live plant. Live plants that have been planted in the improved container system may sit on the display in a store for many months without dying and without the need for extraneous and interventional care by humans or watering sprinklers. In a sense, the improved closed container system  10 , with the presence of sunlight, provides a self-sustaining environment for a live plant. Retail stores no longer need to put aquatic plants in an aquarium, where they are eaten by fish and require electricity to maintain.  
         [0028]     Although hydrogels have been used in the prior art to hydrate the roots of live plants, where plants are planted in pots of hydrogel or holes in the ground filled with hydrogel, these prior art systems are open systems, where there is no lid or tapered lumen or elongate lumen as in the improved closed container system  10 . The purpose of the prior art systems is to enhance hydration of the plant&#39;s roots, not to enable transportation and display of a live plant for sale without maintenance.  
         [0029]     Instead of requiring a separate subcontainer  30 , another example embodiment of the improved container system  10  may simply use a divider  36  that fits snugly in the lumen of the body  20 . In this embodiment, there is no subcontainer  30  and no bottom  34  of the subcontainer. Instead, the divider  36  has a tapered lumen  38 , or an elongate lumen, and slides snugly into the lumen of the body  20  to separate the hydrogel  40  from the portion of the body that contains the leaves of the plant  52 . Such a divider  36  may have a lip, rim, or other structure  37 , as shown in  FIGS. 4 and 6 , that prevents the divider  36  from pivoting relative to the base  24  within the lumen of the body  20 .  
         [0030]     Optionally, plant food may be added to the hydrogel, especially if the live plant has special nutrient needs. Generally, however, the water-infused hydrogel is sufficient by itself to keep the live plant alive and growing. If plant food is desired, a preferred plant food for aquatic plants comprises, as macro elements, approximately: 20% nitrogen, 5% phosphorus, 16% potassium, 29% calcium, 5% magnesium and 24% sulfur. The micro elements comprise approximately: 0.066% boric, 0.132% manganese, 0.033% zinc, 0.033% copper, 0.33% ferrous, 0.00006% molybdenum, and 0.033% chlorine. Other types of plant food may be used, if desired.  
         [0031]     In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments thereof. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the reader is to understand that the diagrams described herein are merely illustrative and that each feature of one embodiment can be mixed and matched with other features shown in other embodiments. Features and processes known to those of ordinary skill in the art of live plant containers may similarly be incorporated as desired. Additionally and obviously, features may be added or subtracted as desired. Accordingly, the invention is not to be restricted except in light of the attached claims and their equivalents.