Abstract:
A device for dispensing chemical agents into a body of water includes a plastic, bucket-like container having the chemical agents disposed therein. The side walls of the container are perforated with a plurality of perforations. Wrapped around the outside walls of the container is a removable cover layer disposed over the perforations. Disposed within the container is a layer of closed cell foam to provide the container with sufficient buoyancy to float at the surface of a body of water. The device is especially useful in the fertilization of algae growth within a lake or pond.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to devices for dispensing chemical agents into a body of water and, more specifically, to such devices adapted to dispense algae fertilizer into a lake or pond. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     To maintain a lake or pond as a proper habitat for fish, it is important to maintain the upper three or four feet of the lake or pond rich in dispersed algae growth. Such algae growth provides most of the nutrition to support fish within the lake or pond. 
     To properly maintain a three to four foot upper layer rich in dispersed algae growth, a manager of a lake or pond must usually fertilize the lake or pond at regular intervals. The chemical agents used in such fertilization typically contain nitrates and phosphate. 
     The most common method used to disperse fertilizer into a lake or pond is by sowing the fertilizer into the lake or pond by hand. However, this requires a great deal of physical effort and does not properly dispense the fertilizer gradually over time. 
     Attempts have been made to create floatable fertilizer dispensers, but such prior art efforts have not been particularly successful. Most notably, such prior art efforts have resulted in complex dispensing structures which are expensive to manufacture, transport and use. Also, devices of the prior art are not particularly in successful in evenly dispensing fertilizer in gradual manner over a long period of time, such as over about two-four weeks. 
     Accordingly, there is a need for an approved pond fertilizing device which avoids the above-mentioned problems in the prior art. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention satisfies this need. The invention is a combination for dispensing chemical agents into a body of water. The combination comprises a subcombination which includes a container and chemical agents within the container. The container has a top, a bottom and side walls. The side walls are perforated with a plurality of perforations, each having an open area between about 0.004 square inches and about 0.5 square inches. Wrapped around the outside walls of the container is a removable cover layer disposed over the perforations in the side walls of the container. Such removable cover layer protects chemical agents within the container and prevents the leakage of chemical agents out of the container. When the combination is ready for use as a dispenser of the chemical agents into a body of water, the removable cover layer is removed and the subcombination is floated onto the body of water. Over time, water seeps into the container through the perforations, mixes with and dissolves the chemical agents and seeps out again through the perforations into the body of water. By use of the invention, the chemical agents are gradually dispensed into the body of water over a period of about two-four weeks, depending upon weather conditions. 
     The container is typically an inexpensive plastic-walled bucket-like device having a sealed top lid. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the container contains an upper layer of closed cell foam to give the container additional buoyancy. Also, an anchor is preferably provided to retain the container at a particular location within the lake or pond. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following description, appended claims and accompanying drawings where: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a combination having features of the invention; 
     FIG. 2 is an exploded side view of the combination illustrated in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional side view of the combination illustrated in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 is a side view of a second combination having features of the invention; and 
     FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional side view of the combination illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, this view illustrating a portion of the combination in operation. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The following discussion describes in detail one embodiment of the invention and several variations of that embodiment. This discussion should not be construed, however, as limiting the invention to those particular embodiments. Practitioners skilled in the art will recognize numerous other embodiments as well. 
     The invention is a combination  10  comprising the subcombination  12  of a container  14  with between about 2 pounds and about 50 pounds of chemical agents  16  disposed within the container  14  and a removable cover layer  18  disposed around the outside of the container  14 . 
     The container  14  is typically made from an inexpensive plastic, such as polyethylene. The container  14  has a top wall  20 , a bottom wall  22  and side walls  24 . 
     In the embodiments illustrated in the drawings, the top wall  20  of the container  14  is provided by a planar lid  26 . The lid  26  has a periphery  28  and a central portion  30 . The periphery  28  is about ½ inch wide and completely circumscribes the lid  26 . The central portion  30  is recessed a distance of about ½ inch below the periphery  28 . 
     The innermost vertical sides  32  of the periphery  28  are configured and dimensioned to match the outside periphery  34  of the bottom wall  22 . This feature allows like containers  14  to be stably stacked upon one another. Because the periphery  28  of the lid  26  matches the outside periphery  34  of the bottom wall  22 , each container  14  snugly nests into the lid  26  of the next-below container  14 . 
     Typically, the lid  26  is sealed to the side walls  24  with a suitable cement or heat treatment. 
     In the embodiments illustrated in the drawings, handles  36  are integrally formed in each of the side walls  24  to facilitate lifting and carrying of the container  14 . 
     In the embodiments illustrated in the drawings, the bottom wall  22  of the container  14  has an outside periphery  34  and a recessed central portion  38 . The central portion  38  is recessed with respect to the outside periphery  34  by a distance of about ¼ inch. The outside periphery  34  of the bottom wall  22  can be a short vertical flange having a thickness of about {fraction (3/32)} inch. 
     The bottom wall  22  preferably has a central aperture  40  disposed approximately in the center of the bottom wall  22 . The central aperture  40  typically has a diameter of about 1.25 inches. The central aperture  40  is useful in retaining an anchor  42  (as described below). 
     In the embodiments illustrated in the drawings, the side walls  24  are provided by four planar side wall panels having identical dimensions. The side walls  24  are slightly tapered outwardly from the bottom wall  22  of the container  14  to the top wall  20  of the container  14 . In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, the container  14  has a height of about 13.75 inches, the lid  26  is essentially a 9.75 inches by 9.75 inches square and the bottom wall  22  is essentially an 8.375 inches by 8.375 inches square. Such typical container  14  retains about 20 pounds of pond fertilizing chemical agents  16 . 
     In a second typical embodiment as illustrated in FIG. 4, the container  14  has four slightly tapered side walls  24  and has a height of about 7.75 inches. In this embodiment, the lid  26  is essentially a 9.750 by 9.750 inches square, the bottom wall  22  is essentially an 8.375 inches by 8.375 inches square. In this second typical embodiment, the container  14  retains about 10 pounds of pond fertilizing chemical agents  16 . 
     The side walls  24  have a plurality of side wall perforations  44  defined therethrough. The side wall perforations  44  allow the seepage of water into the container  14  and the reverse seepage of chemical agents  16  and water out of the container  16  when the subcombination  12  is in use. The side wall perforations  44  can be of any desired shape. The side wall perforations  44  can be disposed in any particular pattern or they can be disposed randomly. In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 and  5 , the side wall perforations  44  are adapted to disperse dry dissolvable chemical agents  16  such as a mixture of nitrates and phosphates. In this case, the side wall perforations  44  are provided by three rows  46  of five round perforations on each side wall  24 , each side wall perforation  44  having a diameter of about ¼ inch. The center line of each round side wall perforation  44  in each row  46  is separated from the center line of an adjacent side wall perforation  44  by a distance of about  32  mm. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, the side wall perforations  44  are provided by two rows  46  of round perforations, each having a diameter of about ¼ inch. The center line of each round side wall perforation  44  is separated from the central line of an adjacent side wall perforation  44  by a distance of about 32 mm. 
     In all cases, the size of the side wall perforations  44  will depend upon the size and type of chemical agents  16 . Where the chemical agents  16  are in liquid form, the side wall perforations  44  are relatively small, for example, 0.004 square inches to 0.02 square inches. Where the chemical agents  16  are dissolvable dry chemicals, the size the of side wall perforations  44  are somewhat larger, for example, 0.02 square inches to 0.05 square inches. Where the chemical agents  16  are non-dissolving granular material, the size of the side wall perforations  44  are relatively large, for example, 0.05 square inches to 0.5 square inches. 
     Preferably, a flotation enhancer  48  is disposed above the chemical agents  16  within the container  14 . The flotation enhancer  48  can be a solid layer of closed cell foam, such as polyurethane or styrofoam. The flotation enhancer  48  can also be any other suitable construction, such as a sealed compartment within the container  14  or a plurality of closed cell foam pieces. In the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 and  5 , the flotation enhancer  48  is a solid layer of closed cell foam which fully occupies the upper  6  inches of the container  14 . The flotation enhancer  48  is disposed within the container  14  to give the container sufficient buoyancy so that it will float, both immediately after the container  14  is placed within a body of water  50  and after the communication of liquids between the body of water  50  and the interior of the container  14  has reached equilibrium. 
     The chemical agents  16  can be any of a wide variety of chemical agents  16  which may be desired to be dispensed into the body of water  50 . The chemical agents  16  can be liquid or they can be dry. In a typical combination of the invention used to fertilize a lake or pond, the chemical agents  16  are typically dry algae fertilizers. Such fertilizers can be in powdered form or they can be in granular form. Algae fertilizers used to fertilize lakes or ponds are typically high in nitrates and phosphates. One typical algae fertilizer contains about 18 weight percent nitrates and about 46 weight percent phosphates. Another similar formula contains about 11 weight percent nitrates and about 52 weight percent phosphates. 
     The subcombination  12  is also ideal in dispersing other chemical agents  16  into a body of water  50 . Such other chemical agents  16  can be, for example, copper sulfate (such as for reducing algae within a body of water  50 ), granular cotton seed meal or meat scraps (for attracting fish within a body of water  50 ) or dehydrated algae (for directly providing a quantity of additional algae to a body of water  50 ). 
     Preferably, the invention further comprises an anchor  42  tethered to the container  14  via an anchor line  52 . The anchor line  52  is preferably made from a biodegradable material, such as cotton or jute. In the embodiments illustrated in the drawings, the anchor  42  is a disk having the shape of a large metal washer. In such embodiments, the anchor  42  is round and has an outside diameter of about 3 inches and a thickness of about ⅛ inch. Disposed near the center of the anchor  42  is an anchor aperture  54  of about ¼ inch in diameter to accept and retain the lower end of the anchor line  52 . Such anchor  42  weighs about 4 ounces. 
     Where it is desired to fully submerge the subcombination  12 , such as for use in the dispensing of granulated meat scraps, an anchor  42  having sufficient weight to overcome the buoyancy of the subcombination  12  is used. 
     Prior to use, the anchor  42  is attached to the underside of the bottom wall  22  of the container  14 , such as with double stick tape. The anchor  42  is preferably fully disposed within the recessed central portion  38  in the bottom wall  22 . 
     Preferably, the anchor line  52  is fastened to the container  14  by being attached to a horizontal spacer disk  56  which is disposed between the flotation enhancer  48  and the chemical agents  16  within the container  14 . The upper end of the anchor line  52  is attached to the spacer disk  56  as illustrated in the drawings. The spacer disk  56  is sized and dimensioned to provide a thin moveable horizontal wall separating the flotation enhancer  48  from the chemical agents  16 . The spacer disk  56  is further sized and dimensioned to allow it to move downwardly within the container  14  (while maintaining a horizontal orientation). The spacer disk  56  is made from a material which floats in water. The upper end of the anchor line  52  is attached at the center of the spacer disk  56 . By this design, the natural bobbing of the subcombination  12  at the surface of a body of water  50  (such as caused by wave action at the surface of the body of water  50 ) results in the spacer disk  56  moving up and down within the container  14 . This up and down movement creates a pumping action which tends to alternatively force fluids out of the container  14  into the body of water  50  and draw in water from the body of water  50  into the container  14 . Such pumping action has been found to effectively mix water from the body of water  50  with the chemical agents  16  within the container  14  and to effectively and completely pump the chemical agents  16  out of the container  14  into the body of water  50 . The pumping action of the spacer disk  56  is maximized when the density of the spacer disk  56  is only slightly less than the density of water. In a typical embodiment, such as illustrated in the drawings, the spacer disk  56  can be provided by a ½ inch layer of closed cell foam having an outer perimeter which is inset from the side walls  24  of the container  14  by about ¼ inch. 
     The removable cover layer  18  is initially disposed over the side wall perforations  44  to protect the chemical agents  16  within the container  14  and to prevent the leakage of the chemical agents  16  from the container  14  prior to use. The removable cover layer  18  is typically made from a flexible material, such as a plastic sheet or strip of paper. It is important that the removable cover layer  18  be easily removable when a user wishes to make use of the combination  10 . Accordingly, when the cover layer  18  is a flexible sheet of material, the cover layer  18  is typically attached to the side walls  24  of the container  14  with a suitable low-tack adhesive. The removable cover layer  18  can also comprise a plurality of individual strips, each strip being disposed over one of the rows of side wall perforations  44 . 
     Other forms of removable cover layer  18  can also be used, so long as the removable cover layer  18  seals the side wall perforations  44  and is easily removed prior to use. For example, the removable cover layer  18  can be provided by a sleeve made from a rigid material, such as from a rigid plastic. The sleeve is sized and dimensioned to readily slip over the side walls  24  of the container  14  and conform tightly, but reversibly, thereto. 
     In operation, the combination  10  is used as follows. The user first disengages the anchor  42  from the bottom wall  22  of the container  14  and removes the removable cover layer  18  from the side walls  24  of the container  14 . The user then floats the subcombination  12  at a desired location within a body of water  50 . The anchor  42  rests at the bottom  58  of the body of water  50  and tends to retain the container  14  at the desired location. (See FIG. 5.) After the container  14  is floated within the body of water  50 , water begins to seep through the side wall perforations  44  and mixes with and/or dissolves the chemical agents  16  within the container  14 . As the chemical agents  16  become thoroughly mixed/dissolved with water within the container  14 , the chemical agents  16  seep out of the container  14  via the side wall perforations  44 . This is facilitated by the pumping action of the spacer disk  56  as the container  14  bobs up and down at the surface of the body of water  50 . Because the side wall perforations  44  are relatively small, the initial mixing/dissolving of the chemical agents  16  by water seeping into the container  14  and the subsequent passage out of the container  14  by the chemical agents  16  takes place gradually over time. Thus, the chemical agents  16  are slowly and evenly released into the body of water  50 . 
     Having thus described the invention, it should be apparent that numerous structural modifications and adaptations may be resorted to without departing from the scope and fair meaning of the instant invention as set forth hereinabove and as described hereinbelow by the claims.