Patent Description:
The protective cover system will typically be used to generate a greenhouse effect by increasing the temperature in the crop field, by means of a cover that is transparent to sunlight. However, the protective cover system can also offer protection against adverse weather conditions, such as hail, frosts, or even excessive sunshine, and against birds or insects. Some of said potential uses of the protective cover can be achieved with perforated covers or meshes which allow the passage of rainwater, instead of with a cover that is transparent to sunlight.

Protective covers for crop fields are known in the state of the art.

Perforated meshes or meshes made of transparent plastic bands are often used for covering crop fields, offering protection or causing an increase in temperature by means of a greenhouse effect.

Different structures for holding the mentioned covers over crop fields are known.

A commonly used structure consists of a plurality of parallel rows of stakes, with said stakes supporting a network of tautened cables supporting the material forming the cover, offering a large, strong cover.

The material forming the cover usually consists of flexible covering bands, laid out side by side, covering the entire surface of the crop field.

The examples of covers of this type are described in documents <CIT>, <CIT>, and <CIT>.

However, in all these mentioned examples the process of placing and/or removing the covering bands is extremely laborious, and therefore expensive, given that it requires lifting said material above some or all of the tautened cables, or even requiring them to be laid out in an undulated path forming peaks and valleys, passing under some cables and over others.

Furthermore, the described solutions propose attaching the cables at the upper ends of the stakes in a non-removable manner, i.e., for example with the cables being attached to said upper end of the stakes by means of clamps, gripping devices, or screws.

Therefore, these solutions are not suitable to facilitate the removal or replacement of the covering bands, for example, seasonally, in an economically viable manner.

Document <CIT> describes an alternative cover in which there is proposed a method which facilitates the installation and occasional removal of said cover by lifting the covering band over the cables and pulling it until it is deployed over said cables, being simply transversely supported on top of several cables, with this solution being undesirable as it is not very resistant to wind that can readily lift up parts of the covering band or cause it to vibrate against the cables, causing the premature wear thereof.

Document <CIT> describes a cover formed by valley lines tautened on stakes at a first level and interspersed ridge lines tautened on stakes at a second level higher than the first level, including tautened transversal covering bands disposed transverse to the valley lines and ridge lines. Said covering bands pass over all the ridge lines and under all the valley lines.

According to this document, the valley lines and ridge lines are attached to the stakes by any known means, without specifying any preference or characteristic required for said attachment. Therefore, this document does not describe any solution referring to said attachment which allows ridge lines to be attached to or released from the stakes in quick and simple manner, and neither does it describe any quick and simple method for the installation or collection of the covering bands.

According to a first aspect, the present invention relates to a method for the installation of a cover over a crop field, the method including, in a manner that is known, the following steps:.

Valley lines and ridge lines shall be understood as cables, whether wires, metal cables with twisted strands, plastic-coated metal cables, plastic cables, or any other solution offering inelastic cables that are resistant to significant tautening and to the elements.

The stakes can be metal stakes, for example hollow tubes, but other materials such as reinforced concrete are also contemplated.

Said stakes will be in a vertical or almost vertical position and will be supported over the crop field by their lower end, for example driven into the ground or supported on a footing.

Preferably, the covering bands are made of a plastic material that may or may not be transparent depending on the passage of light recommended for each crop, so as to allow the passage of sunlight over the crop field.

The method for installation proposes, in a manner not known in the available state of the art, for:.

The method also proposes the following additional step:
d) anchoring each ridge line on supports located at the upper ends of a number of vertical stakes disposed in a longitudinal alignment forming a row of stakes, with the ridge lines being tautened over the crop field at a second level higher than the first level, with said covering bands being tautened.

The proposed method for installation therefore comprises initially disposing the ridge lines at a lower level of installation than that of the first level at which the valley lines are installed, defining a horizontal passage between the ridge lines and the valley lines.

The covering bands are laid out horizontally through said passage, being laid out under the valley lines located at the first level and over the ridge lines disposed at the level of installation.

The ridge lines are then raised until they are anchored on the supports of the upper ends of the stakes, with the ridge lines then being located at the second level above the valley lines disposed at the first level.

It will be understood that the upper end of the stake is the portion of the stake farthest away from the crop field, for example, the last <NUM> of each stake.

When said raising of the ridge lines is performed, parts of the covering bands positioned over the ridge lines will also be lifted as they are pulled along by the ridge lines, with the covering bands adopting a geometry in the form of a zigzag roof, with the covering bands being tautened downwards by the valley lines and upwards by the ridge lines.

Optionally, it is proposed for the level of installation to be equal to zero, with the ridge lines being supported on the crop field before performing step c).

This greatly facilitates the operations of installing the covering bands because it allows the covering bands to be laid out directly over the crop field on top of the ridge lines, one or more operators to move through said crop field passing over the ridge lines while laying out the covering bands in a safe and comfortable manner, or even the use of machinery that may travel over the crop field and the ridge lines laid out over said crop field for quickly laying out the covering bands transversely to said ridge lines.

According to another embodiment of the invention, it is proposed for step d) to be performed by means of raising successive segments of each ridge line to a level higher than the second level, and subsequently depositing each of said segments of ridge line on a corresponding support in the form of a bracket or cradle at the upper end of the stakes, located at the second level.

In other words, a segment of a ridge line is lifted up, raising with it the transversal covering bands superimposed on said ridge line, lifting the segment of ridge line to a level slightly higher than the second level to then deposit said segment of ridge line on a support located at the upper end of a stake located at the second level. Said support will be in the form of a bracket or cradle such that it will retain the deposited segment of ridge line due to the effect of gravity and the tautening of the ridge line, preventing it from falling.

It will be understood that a support in the form of a bracket is a side protuberance of a stake defining on a support plane that will include a housing or notch in which the portion of ridge line is fitted in order to prevent the movement thereof.

It will also be understood that a support in the form of a cradle is defined by a V-shaped or U-shaped housing accessible at the upper portion thereof, with a bottom between two opposite sides, configured for retaining the portion of ridge line at the bottom thereof between the two opposite sides. Said support in the form of a cradle can be defined at the upper end of the pillar, or inside the pillar by an inverted L-shaped cut accessible from one side of the pillar, or by means of an element laterally fixed to the pillar.

The successive segments of each ridge line can be raised, for example, with the help of at least one pole provided at its upper end with a support in the form of a bracket or cradle, by attaching a segment of ridge line on the support of the pole, raising the pole, and lowering the pole depositing the segment of ridge line on the support of the stake, and releasing it from the support of the pole.

This operation can be performed manually by one operator or by several operators, thereby distributing the weight to be raised among them.

Optionally, it is also proposed for the previously mentioned step a) of the method to furthermore include disposing a plurality of tautening lines, with each being tautened and anchored at a lower level than that of the first level at least on two stakes of two rows of adjacent stakes, said tautening line passing over the valley line located at the first level and interposed between said two rows of adjacent stakes.

In other words, said tautening lines will pull the valley line downwards, keeping said valley line, and therefore the covering bands, tautened.

A second aspect of the present invention relates to a method for the removal of the mentioned cover over the crop field.

The method for removal is essentially a reverse version of the method for installation. Said method for removal is applied on a cover, which is known per se, including:.

The method for removal furthermore includes the following steps that are not known in the existing state of the art:.

Preferably, only half the ridge lines will be released, releasing one out of every two ridge lines, alternating released and non-released lines.

Compacting the covering bands consists of longitudinally folding or crumpling up the covering bands, forming folds along the entire length of said covering bands in a direction transverse to the ridge lines and valley lines, thereby achieving that said covering bands are still supported by said ridge lines and valley lines, but with most of the crop field being uncovered.

Extracting the covering bands consists of extracting said covering bands through one of the sides of the crop field, in a direction transverse to the ridge lines and valley lines.

Optionally, it is also proposed for the step of releasing some or all of the ridge lines to be performed by means of raising successive segments of each ridge line to a level higher than the second level, releasing said segments of ridge line from the corresponding supports in the form of a bracket or cradle at the upper end of the stakes located at the second level, and subsequently lowering the mentioned segments of ridge line to the level of installation, preventing them from being deposited again on the mentioned supports on the stakes.

The successive segments of each ridge line can be raised with the help of at least one pole provided at its upper end with a support in the form of a bracket or cradle, by attaching a segment of ridge line on the support of the pole, raising the pole releasing the segment of ridge line from the support of the stake, and lowering the pole locating the segment of the ridge line at the level of installation.

Essentially, this step of the method is also a reverse embodiment of one of the proposed embodiments relative to the method for installation described above.

According to a third aspect, the present invention relates to a protective cover system for a crop field.

Said protective cover system includes, in a manner that is known in the state of the art:.

However, in the proposed cover, it is proposed, in a manner not known in the existing state of the art, for the mentioned supports at the upper end of the stakes to be in the form of a bracket or cradle defining an open housing, upper or laterally accessible, provided with a bottom fitted between two opposite sides, with each support being configured for retaining the ridge lines at the second level, with the ridge lines being pressed against said bottom, between the two opposite sides of said supports, as a result of the tautening thereof and gravity, providing a removable anchoring and configured for allowing the release of the ridge line by means of a lifting movement and lateral movement thereof, providing removably anchored ridge lines.

The present invention also proposed the inclusion in the system of at least one manually operable pole provided at its upper end with a support in the form of a bracket or cradle configured for retaining a segment of ridge line therein by raising the pole, for releasing, or depositing, the segment of ridge line from/on the support of the stake.

The described supports allow the ridge lines to be anchored to or released from said supports in quick and simple manner, allowing the level of the ridge lines to be modified using said at least one manually operable pole, without having to climb on a ladder, and without there being any need to loosen screws or release any type of retaining closure or fastener, but at the same time ensuring that the position of the ridge lines is correctly fixed even against strong wind or thunderstorm conditions.

It is also proposed for said protective cover to be able to optionally include a plurality of tautening lines, each tautened and anchored on two stakes of two rows of adjacent stakes at a lower level than that of the first level, said tautening line passing over the ridge line, interposed between said two rows of adjacent stakes.

It is also proposed for the ridge lines and/or valley lines to be metal cables with a plastic sheath. The plastic sheath reduces the wear of the covering bands in contact with the ridge lines and valley lines due to vibration caused by wind and facilitates the sliding of the covering band over or below the ridge lines and valley lines, facilitating installation, removal, compaction, or extraction operations.

Furthermore, it is proposed for a protective grating to be located above said protective cover, with said protective grating being made up of grating bands supported on the same stakes as the protective cover and provided with a construction identical to that of the protective cover, with said grating bands being supported by a number of additional ridge lines located parallel to and above the ridge lines of the protective cover, and by a number of additional valley lines located parallel to and above the valley lines of the protective cover.

In other words, in addition to the ridge line in charge of supporting the covering bands, each stake will support an additional ridge line intended for supporting a protective grating.

The additional ridge line will be anchored on a number of supports located at the upper ends of the vertical stakes disposed in a longitudinal alignment forming a row of stakes, with the additional ridge lines being tautened at a third level higher than the second level.

There are also placed between the additional ridge lines additional valley lines which will be tautened at a level higher than the first level in which the valley lines intended for supporting the covering bands are placed, but lower than the third level.

The protective grating will be made up of grating bands transverse to the additional ridge lines and the additional valley lines, with said grating bands passing over the additional ridge lines and below the additional valley lines in a tautened state.

This construction allows the protective grating to be tautened over the protective cover, without said protective grating interfering with the operations of installing and removing the protective cover described above.

The grating bands can be installed and/or removed with the same method described in relation to the covering bands.

The protective grating protects the crop field and the protective cover from elements such as, for example, hail and attack by birds, even if the protective cover is removed or compacted.

Typically, the last stakes of each row of stakes will have a number of inclined cables fixing the upper end thereof to a footing that transmits loads generated by the tautening of the ridge lines to the ground without subjecting said last stakes to bending.

It is also contemplated for the ridge lines and/or valley lines to include, at the ends thereof beyond the last stake of the rows of stakes, an inclined segment connecting same with a footing, transmitting the tautening thereof to said footing.

Similarly, the covering bands may include at their ends an inclined segment which is lowered to the ground where said bands are attached, keeping them tautened, or include at their ends a bar connected to the ground by means of inclined cables, thereby preventing the bending of the stakes of the last row of stakes.

It will be understood that references to geometric positions such as, for example, parallel, perpendicular, tangent, etc., allow deviations of up to ±<NUM>° with respect to the theoretical position defined by said nomenclature.

Other features of the invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of an embodiment.

The foregoing and other advantages and features will be more fully understood based on the following detailed description of an embodiment in reference to the attached drawings which must be interpreted in an illustrative and non-limiting manner, wherein:.

The attached figures show illustrative non-limiting embodiments of the present invention.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention shown in the attached figures, the protective cover consists of a matrix of stakes <NUM> distributed in parallel rows of stakes over a crop field <NUM>.

The protective cover furthermore includes a plurality of ridge lines <NUM> parallel to one another coinciding with the rows of stakes and of valley lines <NUM> parallel to one another and parallel to the ridge lines <NUM> interspersed between the rows of stakes.

The valley lines <NUM> are disposed horizontally tautened over the crop field <NUM> at a first distance A1. The ridge lines <NUM> are disposed horizontally tautened over the crop field <NUM> at a second distance A2 greater than the first distance A1.

A number of covering bands <NUM> are disposed in a transverse direction with respect to said ridge lines <NUM> and valley lines <NUM>, said covering bands <NUM> passing over all the ridge lines <NUM> located at the second distance A2 and under all the valley lines <NUM> located at the first distance A1, being tautened and adopting a zigzag shape, forming a protective cover for the crop field <NUM>, as shown in <FIG>, <FIG>, and <FIG>.

Preferably the covering bands are made of transparent plastic, thereby allowing the passage of sunlight towards the crop field generating a greenhouse effect while at the same time providing protection against birds, insects, rain, hail, frosts, and other elements.

At its upper end portion, each stake <NUM> has a support <NUM> in the form of a bracket or cradle located at the second level A2. Said support <NUM> will be located on top of, on one side, or inside the stake <NUM>, defining a housing in which a ridge line <NUM> is retained by gravity in a removable manner.

Once the protective cover is installed, each ridge line <NUM> will therefore be supported at the second level A2 by the supports <NUM> of the stakes <NUM> of a row of stakes.

The valley lines <NUM> will be retained at the first level A1 by the tautened covering bands <NUM>, although at least the ends of each valley line <NUM> will be configured for supporting each valley line <NUM> at the first level A1 during the operations of installing and removing the protective cover. By way of example, it is proposed to include a number of cables that reproduce the zigzag shape of the covering bands <NUM> holding the valley lines <NUM> at the first level A1 also when the covering bands <NUM> have not yet been placed or when they have been removed.

Alternatively, it is proposed for a number of supports to be located at the first level A1 on a number of stakes located coinciding with the ends of the valley lines <NUM>.

Optionally, as shown in <FIG>, it is contemplated for the valley lines <NUM> to also be tautened downwards by means of a number of transverse lines <NUM> passing over the valley lines <NUM> and tautened and anchored to the stakes <NUM> adjacent to a lower level than that of the first level A1.

<FIG> shows embodiments of said support <NUM> of the stakes <NUM> in which the ridge lines <NUM> are retained.

According to the first example starting from the left, the support <NUM> consists of a groove made on the upper head of the stake <NUM> in which said ridge line is housed and retained.

The second example, excluded from the scope of the claims, shows a support <NUM> consisting of a headed screw or headed bolt fixed to the stake <NUM> and projecting laterally in cantilever, allowing a ridge line to be supported thereon.

The third example of support <NUM> consists of a hook fixed to the side of the stake <NUM>.

Lastly, the fourth example, excluded from the scope of the claims, of support <NUM> consists of an inverted L-shaped cut made on the body of the stake <NUM> which allows the ridge line to be laterally introduced through the horizontal part of the cut communicating with the side of the stake <NUM>, and which also allows said ridge line <NUM> to be retained inside the vertical part of the inverted L-shaped cut by gravity.

The supports <NUM> of the stakes <NUM> described above allow the ridge line <NUM> to be released from the mentioned support <NUM> only by means of a slight lifting of said ridge line <NUM> along with a lateral movement thereof.

<FIG> and <FIG> show how an operator, with the help of a pole <NUM> provided at its upper end with a support <NUM> in the form of a bracket or cradle, allows the operation of releasing the ridge line <NUM> from the support <NUM> of the stake <NUM> to be readily performed, or the reverse operation of attaching the ridge line <NUM> to said support <NUM> to be performed.

The present invention proposes a method for installation consisting of releasing the ridge lines <NUM> from the supports <NUM> of the stakes <NUM>, lowering the ridge lines <NUM> to a lower level of installation A0 than that of the first level A1, as shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, and proceeding to layout the covering bands <NUM> over the ridge lines <NUM> located at the level of installation A0 and under the valley lines <NUM> located at the first level A1 in a rectilinear path transverse to the ridge lines <NUM> and the valley lines <NUM> which greatly facilitates the laying out of said covering band <NUM>.

Once all the covering bands <NUM> have been laid out, a number of operators proceed to raise the ridge lines <NUM> again, and with the help of the poles <NUM> mentioned above, proceed to attach said ridge lines <NUM> to the corresponding supports <NUM> of the stakes <NUM>, with the ridge lines <NUM> being attached at the second level A2 above the first level A1, tautening the covering bands <NUM> forming a zigzag.

When there are no transverse lines <NUM> connecting the valley lines <NUM> with the adjacent stakes <NUM>, such as in the examples shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, the ridge lines <NUM> can be lowered to the level of the crop field, if desired, in which case the level of installation A0 will be equal to zero. This allows operators and machinery to move easily over the ridge lines <NUM> allowing the covering bands <NUM> to be laid our without any obstacle.

If, in contrast, there are transverse lines <NUM> tautening the valley lines <NUM> downwards, like in the case shown in <FIG>, <FIG>, <FIG>, and <FIG>, then said transverse lines <NUM> limit the level of installation A0 at which the ridge lines <NUM> can be located, preventing the ridge lines <NUM> from being lowered below the anchoring points of the transverse lines <NUM> with the stakes <NUM>.

In this case, the covering bands <NUM> can be laid out horizontally, but at a certain distance over the crop field <NUM>.

This solution likewise allows operators and machinery to move freely over the crop field, in this case below the ridge lines <NUM> located at the level of installation A0.

The proposed method also contemplates removing the covering bands <NUM>, which can be extracted by means of a reverse operation with respect to the installation operation described up until now, or which can otherwise simply be compacted by means of folding or crumpling up in a direction parallel to the direction of the ridge lines <NUM>, as shown in <FIG> and <FIG>. For compacting the covering bands <NUM>, the tautening to which said covering bands <NUM> are subjected must be reduced. This can be achieved, for example, by releasing only some of the ridge lines <NUM>, for example, one out of every three ridge lines <NUM>, from the supports <NUM> and lowering them to the level of installation A0.

Additionally, it should be pointed out that <FIG> show embodiments in which the protective cover includes a protective grating formed by grating bands <NUM> located above the covering bands <NUM>.

In a similar manner as the covering bands <NUM>, the grating bands <NUM> will be supported by means of a number of additional parallel ridge lines <NUM> superimposed on the ridge lines <NUM> at a third level A3 and by means of a number of additional parallel valley lines <NUM> superimposed on the valley lines <NUM>.

The grating bands <NUM> can also be made of a plastic or textile material and will be configured to prevent birds and hail from entering, and to mitigate the influence of frosts that may damage the crops and also the covering bands <NUM>.

The same method for installation and removal set forth in relation to the covering bands <NUM> could be applied to the grating bands <NUM>.

Claim 1:
A method for the installation of a cover over a crop field (<NUM>), the method including the following steps:
a) disposing a plurality of valley lines (<NUM>) longitudinally tautened at a first level (A1) over said crop field (<NUM>) and parallel to one another;
b) disposing a plurality of ridge lines (<NUM>) laid out longitudinally parallel to one another and parallel to the valley lines (<NUM>), interspersed between the valley lines (<NUM>);
c) disposing a plurality of flexible covering bands (<NUM>) transversely with respect to the ridge lines (<NUM>) and the valley lines (<NUM>), with each covering band (<NUM>) passing over all the ridge lines (<NUM>) and under all the valley lines (<NUM>);
characterized in that
the ridge lines (<NUM>) are disposed during step b) over the crop field (<NUM>) at a lower level of installation (A0) than that of the first level (A1);
the covering bands (<NUM>) are disposed during step c) with the ridge lines (<NUM>) being at said level of installation (A0), the covering bands (<NUM>) being laid out horizontally between the ridge lines (<NUM>) positioned at the level of installation (A0) and the valley lines (<NUM>) positioned at the first level (A1);
and in that the method continues with the following step:
d) anchoring each ridge line (<NUM>) on supports (<NUM>) located at the upper ends of a number of vertical stakes (<NUM>) disposed in a longitudinal alignment forming a row of stakes, with the ridge lines (<NUM>) being tautened at a second level (A2) over the crop field (<NUM>) higher than the first level (A1), with said covering bands (<NUM>) being tautened.