Abstract:
A stackable modular planter comprising a pot having a bottom, side walls and open top, the top edge of at least one side wall having a window for plants to extend therethrough, a water permeable partition divides the pot into an upper plant growing chamber and a lower water collecting and draining chamber having an opening in a side wall for draining water therefrom, said pot further including means for integrally supporting a water pump for recycling water from the lower water collecting chamber to the upper plant growing chamber.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to a stackable mobile planter, which can be used individually, or a number of such planters can be placed on top of and/or next to one another and can be modularly arranged to form partitions or columns.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    The use of potted plants and flowers for decorating homes and offices has become very popular. Particularly, arrangements in the form of hanging planters have been used extensively. Hanging planters, however, have limitations in that they are generally not stackable and watering the plants is a problems because of drainage of excess water. Usually a plate is attached to the bottom of the planter to receive the excess water. One arrangement for stacking hanging interlocking planters is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,614,056. U.S. Pat. No. 4,658,541 discloses an arrangement of interlocking planters for use in erecting decorative walls. Israel Patents 55861 teaches an assembly of bottomless elements arranged in a column for use in hydroponics and aeroponics. Israel Patent No. 83060 also discloses a stackable arrangement for growing plants wherein excess water drains from one container to the container below, with a drainage system associated with the lowest container. Israel Patent No. 94686 discloses a column planter comprising a plurality of stacked pots placed in a tank, each pot having a central opening and drainage holes in its bottom with a vertical tube running through the openings of the pots and a pump feeding water from a bottom reservoir through the tube to the top of the column, the water trickling down through the pots back into the tank. All these arrangements provide planters for stacking on top of one another so that water added to the top planter trickles down through the stack to the lowest planter. The individual planters are not modular and are not completely interchangeable nor very suitable for use alone.  
           [0003]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,490 describes a plurality of planters that may be used free standing or arranged in a bracket assembly to form a hanging garden. The planters comprise a planting chamber, a watering chamber in back of and drainage chambers on the sides of the planting chamber.  
           [0004]    DE 2822294 and DE 3220531 disclose planters stackable on top of one another with water trickling from one planter to the one below.  
           [0005]    DE 2243762, DE 2701401 and 3115691 disclose having a separate bottom section for collecting water.  
           [0006]    DE 1960336 discloses a stackable planter having a window in a wall for plants to grow out of, a funnel shaped opening in another wall for introducing water to the planter, a separate bottom section for collecting water and a perforated partition between the plant growing section and water collecting section. This patent, however, does not teach a planter provided with means for holding a pump for recycling water within the same planter and which can also be used for draining out the water.  
           [0007]    It would be advantageous to have a simple stackable modular planter with built-in water collecting and draining means that could be used individually or in any stacked assembly, whether vertically, horizontally or both, and wherein each planter is interchangeable with another one.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0008]    It is the object of the present invention to provide a simple stackable modular planter with self contained watering and draining means.  
           [0009]    Another object of the invention is to provide a simple stackable modular planter for assembling as a column.  
           [0010]    Yet another object of the invention is to provide a simple stackable modular planter for assembling as a partition.  
           [0011]    Still another object of the invention is to provide a simple stackable modular planter having vertical non-tapered walls useful in assembling non-transparent partitions.  
           [0012]    In accordance with this invention there is provided a stackable modular planter comprising a pot having a bottom, side walls and open top, the top edge of at least one side wall having a window for plants to extend therethrough, a water permeable partition divides the pot into an upper plant growing chamber and a lower water collecting and draining chamber having an opening in a side wall for draining water therefrom, said pot further comprising means for integrally supporting a water pump for recycling water from the lower water collecting chamber to the upper plant growing chamber.  
           [0013]    Preferably the water permeable partition is removable. The means for supporting a water pump preferably comprise a shaft integrally formed with either a pot wall or with the porous partition. The water pump is preferably a piston type water pump that draws water through a flexible plastic tube extending into the lower water collecting chamber, and dispenses it in the upper plant growing chamber. The flexible plastic tube is held in place in the shaft. In a further preferred embodiment, at least one side wall of the planter is vertical at 90 degrees, enabling planters to be stacked on top of each other and/or adjacent to one another to form a non-transparent partition.  
           [0014]    The drainage opening in the side wall may be an ordinary hole which can be plugged with a stopper, or it may comprise a tube or nipple extending out of the side wall that can be clamped, capped or closed by any other means, to control the outflow of water from the drainage chamber. The opening may also be detachably connected to an exterior drainage tube for leading excess water away from the draining chamber into a collection vessel.  
           [0015]    The modular planters of this invention are stackable and self supporting, so that they can be assembled to form a column, with one planter on top of another, or a partition, with several planters or columns adjacent to one another. In a preferred embodiment, at least two side walls of the pot are completely vertical, so that a continuous partition can be assembled by placing planters next to and on top of each other without leaving any space between them.  
           [0016]    The water permeable partition dividing the container into two chambers may be a net, webbing or rigid perforated board or sheet elevated from the bottom surface. In a preferred embodiment the partition is removable. This can be accomplished, for instance, by supporting the partition above the floor of the water collecting chamber on legs or on horizontal protrusions extending from inside the side walls. The water permeable partition should be strong enough to support soil or other growth and prevent water from accumulating in the plant growing chamber. The partition allows excess water to drain into the collecting and drainage chamber, where it may be drained through the hole in the side wall or stored and recycled.  
           [0017]    In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, water is allowed to accumulate in the collecting and draining chamber in order to recycle it by pumping it back into the upper chamber. This can be done a number of times before draining and discarding the water. Even without recycling, there may be an advantage to let the water accumulate in the collecting chamber water for a short period so that vapor rising from the collecting chamber will keep the soil and roots in the planting chamber moist preventing the plants from drying out. Draining of the water from the bottom chamber, according to the invention, can be accomplished either by unplugging the drain hole or by turning the pump head to face out of the pot through the window in the side wall and pumping the water out of the pot.  
           [0018]    Each planter is an independent self-contained unit and can be used as such individually for growing plants and flowers, or it can be stacked on top of and/or next to other plants to form vertical and/or horizontal planter configurations. Because of the self-contained modular feature of the planter, every planter can be removed, exchanged or added from or to any planter arrangement. When in a stacked position, flowers or plants grow out of the window sections of the walls and can be watered therethrough as well. In a preferred embodiment, the lower edge of the window may form a protruding lip extending outward to form a funnel to help guide water into the planting chamber. Since each planter has its own draining port, it is not dependent on water coming from another planter located above it and can, therefore, be re-arranged in any stacked configuration desired. In a further preferred embodiment, the drain opening from the collecting and draining chamber leads into a drainpipe extending adjacent the length of a stacked arrangement to channel the excess water into a container resting on the floor or underneath the stack.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0019]    The present invention will be better understood with reference to the following drawings, in which  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a planter in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 2 is a blown up cross-sectional plan view of a planter as in FIG. 1.  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 3 shows another drain stopper in accordance with the invention.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 4 is a blown up view of an alternative drainage opening shown in A of FIG. 1.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of a planter in accordance with the present invention.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 6 illustrates another embodiment of a planter in accordance with the invention.  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 7 shows yet another embodiment of the invention.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 8 is a top view of the planter of FIG. 7.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 9 illustrates a column made from the planters of the invention.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIGS. 10 and 11 illustrate partitions assembled from planters of this invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0030]    Referring now to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a planter  10  in accordance with the present invention. The planter  10  is shaped in the form of a rectangular container with front and rear walls  12  and  14 , side walls  16  and  18 , and bottom  20 . The top of the container  10  is open. The planter walls  12 ,  14 ,  16  and  18  have cut out windows  22 ,  24 ,  26  and  28  at the upper edges of the walls respectively, so that when stacked on top of one another, plants and flowers can grow out the windows. The upper edge  25  of cut out window  26  may extend outward from wall  16  providing a funnel shape opening to make it easier to add water to the planter. The planters may have legs  13  or casters  23  (FIG. 5) to make them easily movable from place to place, particularly if they are large and heavy. The top corners of the walls may have holes  15  or recesses into which the legs can fit, for stacking planters one on top of another. At least one wall has a drainage opening  27  near the bottom which may be plugged with a stopper (not shown). A hollow shaft  31  is vertically attached to the interior part of wall  14  and a conventional piston type liquid pump  33  with flexible plastic tube  35  is inserted into the rigid tube  31 . The flexible tube  35  reaches to the bottom of the planter (see FIG. 2) and is immersed in the water reaching the bottom, which can then be recycled by pumping it back up onto the plants.  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 2 is a blown up cross-sectional plan view of a planter illustrated in FIG. 1. The planter  10  is divided on the inside into two chambers, an upper planting chamber  32  containing a plant growing medium  21  and a lower collecting and draining chamber  34 . The chambers  32  and  34  are separated by a plate  36  resting, for example, on protrusions  38  coming out from the side walls  16  and  18 . Alternatively, the plate  36  can rest on legs (not shown). Plate  36  has perforations  39  which allow water to pass through from the planting chamber  32  to the collecting and draining chamber  34  where it is stored, or drained via opening  27  when plug  37  is pulled out. The upper surface of plate  36  serves as the base for holding soil or other growth medium  21  in planter  10 . Plants or flowers grown in planter  10  will allow roots to extend through the growth medium  21  until the perforated plate  36  but not beyond, thereby preventing the roots from being immersed in the water accumulating in chamber  34  after watering. Planter  10  also has a pump  33  with a flexible plastic tube  35  inserted in a shaft  31 . The shaft  31  is attached to the inside of wall  14  and reaches down to the plate  36 , with the flexible tube  35  protruding into the collecting chamber  34 . Water accumulating in chamber  34  gives rise to an atmosphere of water vapor surrounding the roots without liquid contact, which is often the cause of root rot. If desired, the excess water accumulated in chamber  34  can be recycled via pump  33 . The plants and flowers grow out of the windows  26  and  28  of planting chamber  32  and they may also be watered through these same windows.  
         [0032]    Another stopper for plugging up the drain hole  27  is shown in FIG. 3. This stopper comprises a transparent bent tube  39  which can be turned up or down. When it is turned up it shows the water level in the draining chamber and when it is turned down the water is drained out of the draining chamber.  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 4 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the opening  27  in the lower chamber  34  of a planter  10 . In this embodiment the opening  27  extends as a nipple  40  which can be reversibly connected to a vertical drain line  42  via connecting tube  44 .  
         [0034]    [0034]FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate other embodiments of the invention. The round planter  60  can be used either alone or anywhere in a stack of planters and comprises two chambers, a plant growing chamber  62  and a water collecting and draining chamber  64 . A perforated plate  66  separates the two chambers, for example, by resting on legs  68  that reach the bottom  70  of the planter  60 . A water pump  72  can recycle water from the draining chamber  64  to the plant growing chamber  62  or pump it out of the planter.  
         [0035]    [0035]FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate another planter  80  in accordance with this invention. This planter  80 , comprises an outer shell  82  which may be made of plastic or earthenware and an insert  84  having a water permeable bottom  86 . The insert  84  has integrally formed a shaft  88  for holding a water pump  90  whose upper end terminates in a piston type dispenser head  92  above the shaft  88 . When watering or spraying plants  91  growing in this planter, the water will trickle down  93  into a water collecting section  94  from where it can be drained out by opening plug  96 , or it maybe recycled via the pump  90 . The planter may also be drained of excess water by removing the entire insert  84  from the outer shell  82  together with the plants and draining the excess water from the shell  82 . The pump  90  may be of the kind commonly used to dispense liquid soap and cleaning solutions. This pump  90  can also be used to drain the excess water away from the planter by reversing the direction of the dispensed head  92 .  
         [0036]    FIGS.  9 - 11  illustrate stacked planters in accordance with the present invention, forming a column (FIG. 9), or wall partitions (FIGS. 10 and 11). All the planters have straight side walls  51 , windows  52  and water pumps  54  and form columns and wall partitions that are opaque.  
         [0037]    The planters according to this invention can be made from all kinds of materials, such as plastic, metal, wood, concrete casting or ceramic.  
         [0038]    The planters according to this invention may have any desired cross sectional shape. They may be round, oval, half moon shaped, square, rectangular, hexagonal or have any other curved or polygonal shape. Their side walls may be straight vertically or angled inwards or outwards from their cross sectional diameter. Planters made from semi-rigid plastic material can be used to form stacks that bend according to the curvature of the vertical surface against which they are stacked, for example, corners or columns.  
         [0039]    A major advantage of the planters of the present invention is that they are simple to manufacture, easy to use, can be placed anywhere in the home or office without fear of water leakage from them. They can be easily rearranged in stacks or individually, and they can form decorative solid partitions.  
         [0040]    It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the scope of the present invention is not limited to what has been shown and described hereinabove, merely by way of example. Rather, the scope of the invention is limited solely by the claims which follow.