PLANT POT WITH STORE OF WATER

The present invention relates to a plant container, comprising a supply of water.

It is well known to accommodate water supply into the bottom of a trough for receiving plant. Then the pan includes a horizontal wall which separates it into two parts, namely an upper part for receiving the soil and roots of the plant and a lower portion for containing water; said wall has chimneys protruding from its underside or has wicks for fibrous material, steeped in water and allow the passage of the water in the soil by capillary action.

Filling the lower portion of the vessel is achieved either through a chimney side that opens at the top of the vessel, above the earth, either through an opening in the side wall of the tray, which opens into the above-mentioned lower part thereof.

It is also known to provide an indicator of the level of the lower portion of the vessel. In one simple and practical embodiment, the indicator is constituted by a window formed in the side wall of the tray, which is sealed by a wafer made of transparent or translucent material. The water level can thus be read through this plate.

This type of indicator is important practical problem opacify relatively quickly, as a result of the build-up of sludge on said transparent wafer as the absorption of water by the plant. These impurities result in particular bacteria that grow in water over time or added nutrients in the water. Visual aspect hardly attractive deposits, any reading of the level of the water is relatively quickly made impossible.

The present invention aims at addressing this problem, without complicated structure of the trough and thus without making it complex and expensive to manufacture.

The bin it relates comprises, in a known manner:

• an upper portion for receiving the soil and roots of the plant and a lower portion for holding water;
• means for allowing the passage of water into the earth;
• an opening formed in a side wall of the tray, for pouring water into said lower portion of the vessel, and
• a level indicator of this lower part, constituted by a window formed in a side wall of the tray and a part made of transparent material, this part from complete this window tightly and permitting viewing of the level of the water therethrough.

According to the invention,

• said window is provided below said opening, and
• the dimensions of said opening are such that they allow the passage of a cleaning the inner face of said piece of transparent material.

The cavity can thus be easily cleaned from said opening, to remove impurities which tend to opacify. In this manner, the water level in the lower tray section always remains perfectly visible, and the visual appearance of the tub does not deteriorate over time.

Further, the bin according to the invention does not involve any extra stress relative to existing bins.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the aperture has dimensions sufficient for passage of at least one finger of the user.

This finger then constitutes the "cleaning means" above, so that the cleaning of the part made of transparent material is particularly easy to realize.

The tray can include a fixed spoiler bordering said aperture, which forms a funnel tube. It may also include a flap pivotally mounted on its wall which is arranged in said opening, said door being connected to two side walls; the head is pivotally between an open position, in which it acts as a spoiler forming a filling funnel, and a closed position, in which the flap closes said opening.

For its good understanding, the invention is again described below with reference to the appended schematic drawing representing, by way of non-limiting example, two possible embodiments of the bin it relates.

1. Figure 1 is a perspective view, according to a first embodiment;
2. figure 2 is a partial view, enlarged, sectional according to the line II-II of Figure 1;
3. figure 3 is a partial view, in perspective and in an enlarged, according to a second embodiment, and
4. figure 4 is a sectional view the IV line-IV of Figure 3.

Figure 1 represents a tray 1 for plant, comprising a water supply.

As shown in fig. 2, the container 1 comprises a transverse wall separating the 2 horizontally in two parts 3, 4, namely an upper part 3 for receiving ground 5 and the roots of the plant and a lower portion for containing water 4 6.

The wall 2 comprises a plurality of chimneys 10 protruding from its underside. These chimneys have slits 11 at their ends farthest from the wall 2 and open into the part 3. receiving light from the ground 5 and thus allow the passage of water in the ground 5 by capillary action.

The wall 2 may also include a part made of a rot fibrous material, in particular a web of tissue, a portion of which, particularly the core, passes through the wall 2 so as to be in contact with the ground 5, and another portion of which, in particular the ends, quenching in water 6 to permit passage of the water in the soil by capillary action. Such a system is operated by the company Rivieras.

In the example illustrated, the chimneys 10 are integral with the wall 2 and rest on the bottom 12 of the tub 1. they are thus able to determine the position of the wall 2 in the trough 1, the dimensions of the latter being such that its edges come in close proximity to the inner faces of the side walls 13 of the pan 1 when the chimneys are 10 rests on the base 12.

It appears that the tub to Figures 1 15 includes an opening provided in one of its walls 13. This opening 15 permits filling the portion 4 and is bordered by walls 16 which form a spoiler. The spoiler forms a funnel tube, which facilitates the pouring of water.

The opening 15 has a rectangular shape and dimensions sufficient to allow, as shown in Figure 2, the passage of the index finger of a user.

The bin 1 20 further includes an indicator of the filling level of the part 4. this indicator 20 is a window by a wafer 21 and 22. the window 21 is provided in the wall 13 which includes opening 15, below this opening. The wafer 22 is made of transparent or translucent material, and is sealingly secured to water, in particular by adhesive bonding or heat welding, to the wall 13.

Figure 2 shows that the window 21 is arranged immediately below the opening 15, so that the inner face of said wafer 22 can be cleaned by the user's finger engaged through the aperture 15.

Figure 3 shows a bin 1 very similar to that described above, otherwise it comprises a pivoting flap 25 connected to two side walls 26 are sector-shaped. The flap 25 includes a lower recess which defines a step, this step enabling the engagement of the flap 25 on the edge 13a of the wall 13 which borders the lower side of the opening 15. The walls 26 comprise two lugs 27 on their outer sides and at their opposite sides to those connected to the flap 25, and two lugs 28, projecting from their upper edges, on the side of the hatch 25. The assembly is constructed of plastic slightly flexible and resilient, so that the walls 26 are able to flex toward each other, in order to allow the lugs 27 below edges 13b of the wall 13 laterally adjoining the opening 15. The assembly can thus be easily mounted on the tray 1, by placing the aforementioned step on the edge 13a and the bending of the walls 26 to erase the lugs 27 below edges 13b, and then releasing said walls for locking said lugs 27 behind the wall 13, or can be easily removed from tray 1, by flexing the walls 26. When mounted onto the tray 1, the assembly is pivotable between an open position, in which it acts as a spoiler as above described, and a closed position, in which the flap 25 closes said opening 15. The lugs 28 engage forcibly, by elastic deformation of the material, behind the wall 13 and lock the door in the closed position 25.

The fence of this opening 15 gives a perfect visual appearance to the basin, and withdrawing said assembly allows a wide access to the wafer 22 for easy cleaning thereof.

The invention thus provides a plant container repair the problem for gradual opacification of the indicator 20 by deposit impurities present in the water in the part 4.

Of course that the invention is not limited to the embodiment described above by way of example but in cuff on the contrary all alternative embodiments. Thus, the tray could include a peripheral shoulder receiving the wall 2, in which case the chimneys 10 could not bear against the bottom 12; the tray 1 could also have a two-piece structure defining each one of the parts 3, 4 and which may be assembled to each other; the wall 2 may comprise, as shown in Figure 3 and 4, a "case" 30 facing the opening 15; the wafer 22 may be inserted into the window 21.