GB2250421A

GB2250421A - Container for plants

Info

Publication number: GB2250421A
Application number: GB9026353A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Gary Baker
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1990-12-04
Filing date: 1990-12-04
Publication date: 1992-06-10
Also published as: GB9026353D0

Abstract

A container 1 for displaying flowering plants comprises a main body adapted to receive plants and means for mounting the main body upon an upstanding post 3, the mounting means including an element 11 adapted to engage a free upper end of the upstanding post 3. <IMAGE>

Description

DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION "Improvements in or relating to a Container" THE PRESENT INVENTION relates to a container and more particularly to a container for displaying flowering plants.

It is known to provide a container for displaying flowers which comprises a free-standing box" having a base and upstanding front, rear and end walls. Typ ically such flower boxes are formed of plastics material as injection mouldings.

It is also known to provide a so-called hanging basket for displaying flowers. The "basket" may be formed from a wire material or from plastics and is suspended from a wall-mounted bracket or is screwed directly on to a wall.

For reasons of security and/or privacy it is often desirable, if not necessary, to erect fences around one's property or garden. Typically such a fence may comprise a series of spaced apart vertical fence posts between which fencing panels are supported.

Whilst such fences serve to provide a degree of security and privacy, they can be somewhat dull and unattractive in appearance.

The present invention seeks to provide a container for displaying flowers so that the flowers can "decorate" a fence of the type described above.

According to the present invention there is provided a container for displaying flowering plants, the container comprising a main body adapted to receive plants and means for mounting the main body of the container upon an upstanding post, the mounting means including an element adapted to engage a free upper end of the upstanding post.

Preferably the mounting means comprise an inverted cup-like element defining a downwardly opening recess adapted to receive a free, upper end of said up standing post.

Conveniently the main body of the container comprises a base and upstanding front rear and side walls, the inserted cup-like element being located at an upper edge of the rear wall.

Advantageously the rear wall of the main body is extended to be of greater height than the front and side walls of the main body, the cup-like element being located on the upper-most end of the extended portion of the rear wall.

Preferably the extended portion of the rear wall tapers as it extends away from the main body and terminates with an upwardly directed flange which extends into the inverted cup-like element.

Conveniently the rear wall has upper edges which extend in an arcuate manner from the side walls of the main body to the upwardly directed flange.

Advantageously the arcuate edges of the rear wall define a rearwardly directed lip which serves to strengthen the rear wall.

Preferably the inverted cup-like element defines an outwardly directed lip upon a lower edge defining said downwardly opening recess.

Conveniently the mounting means are formed integrally with the main body of the container.

Alternatively the mounting means are formed as a separate component to the main body, the mounting means being designed to co-operate with a portion of an upstanding wall of the main body.

In this alternative embodiment, preferably the portion of the upstanding wall with which the mounting means are designed to co-operate comprises an extended portion of a upstanding rear wall of the main body, the extended portion of the upstanding rear wall carrying a projection adapted to be supported upon a planar upper surface of an upstanding post.

In order that the present invention may be more readily understood and so that further features thereof may be appreciated, the invention will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing which is a perspective view of a container in accordance with this invention when in use.

Referring to the accompanying drawing a container 1 in accordance with this invention is shown being used to decorate a fence 2 which comprises a number of spaced apart, vertical fence posts 3 between which fencing panels 4 are supported.

The container 1 comprises a rectangular base 5, an upstanding front wall 6, opposed upstanding end walls 7 and an upstanding rear wall 8. The front wall 6 and the end walls 7 are of equal height. The rear wall 8 is of greater height than the front wall and the end walls in its central region. Thus. the rear wall 8 has two arcuate upper edges 9, each of which extend from the rear-most end of the upper edge of a respective end wall 7 in an arcuate manner towards the centre of the rear wall. The arcuate upper edges 9 of the rear wall 8 therefore extend inwardly and upwardly from the rear-most point of the upper edge of the end walls 7 until they ultimately extend in a substantially vertical direction parallel to the plane in which the end walls 7 lie. At this point the rear wall defines an upwardly directed flange 10 between the edges 9.The width of the flange 10 is approximately equal to the width of a typical fence post 3.

An inverted cup-like element 11 is formed on the upper end of the flange 10, the cup-like element 11 being substantially square in horizontal cross-section and having a downwardly directed open mouth. The front and rear lower edges of the inverted cup like element 11 each define an outwardly projecting lip 12. In horizontal cross-section, the cup-like element 11 is slightly larger than the cross section of a typical fence post 3. The cup-like member is thus able to receive a free upper end of the fence post 3 and constitutes means by way of which the container 1 may be mounted upon the fence post.

The main body of the container is designed to receive soil and flowering plants and the base 6 will therefore be provided with appropriate drainage holes 13.

In use, the main body of the container defined by the base 5, walls 6, 7 and 8 will be filled with soil and plants. The container can then be mounted upon the free upper end of a fence post by simply positioning the inverted cup-like element 11 over the upper end of the post. The container will then be supported in position in front of the post and in front of the adjacent portions of the fencing panels 4.

The container may be formed integrally as a moulded plastics component or may be formed from fibre glass.

Alternatively the container may be formed in two parts with the cup-like element 11 being formed as a separate component and with the upper-most end of the flange 10 defining a rearwardly extending planar portion adapted to sit on top of the free upper end of a fence post 3. In this case the container would be mounted upon the upper end of the fence post by seating the horizontal projection on the upper end of the flange 10 on the free upper surface of the post and then positioning the inverted cup-like element 11 over the upper end of the post so that the horizontal projection and the upper-most part of the flange 10 are received within the inverted cup-like element which thereby retains the container in position upon the fence post.

The cup-like element could be omitted entirely if the horizontal projection on the upper end of the flange 10 is formed with a hole through which a nail may be driven into the upper end of the fence post 3 in order to secure the container in position on the post. As a further alternative the container may be formed in two parts with a separate cup-like element 11 which is then attached to the upper portion of the flange 10 by way of rivets or the like.

When the container is in position upon a fence post in the manner as illustrated in Figure 1 of the drawing, the cup-like element serves to protect the fence post by preventing rain from penetrating into the material of the post at the upper end thereof. This is particularly useful where the fence post is a wooden post and rain water would eventually cause the post to rot. The lip 12 on the rear-most lower edge of the inverted cup-like element 11 serves to direct any rain water running down the rear-most surface of the element 11 away from the post 3 so that the water does not run down the back of the post. Again, this helps to prolong the life of the fence post.

If the fence post upon which the container is to be mounted does not have an upper-most portion projecting above the height of the fencing panels 4, then the container may still be mounted upon the fence post if small openings are present between the end of each fencing panel on either side of the post and the side surfaces of the post. In this case the sides of the inverted cup-like element 11 will pass down into those openings. If necessary, such openings could be formed in the ends of the fencing panels adjacent the post 3.

The container may, of course, be formed to any desired size and if the container is lengthened to have an overall length which is greater than the distance between two neighbouring fence posts 3 then the container may be provided with two upwardly extended rear wall portions 10 each carrying an inverted cup-like element 11 adapted to be mounted over the neighbouring fence posts. If the container is lengthened then it is envisaged that it will be desirable to provide a small rearwardly directed lip along the arcuate upper edges 9 of the rear wall 8 in order to strengthen that wall.

The container may be designed to be received in a corner between two fencing panels which meet at approximately 900. Thus the main container may be suastantially L-shaped. The cup-like element 11 may be provided in various sizes to fit different sizes of post. It will be appreciated that the cup-like element 11 need not be a solid-walled element but could, for example, comprise a wire frame.

The main body of the container need not be of a trough-like design but may simply define elements adapted to receive conventional circular section flower pots. Thus, for example, the container may be a wire construction having a portion adapted to engage the free upper surface of the fence post and a main body portion defining circular openings dimensioned to receive a flower pot.

It will be appreciated that various other modifications may be made to the spec-ific embodiment illustrated and described without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A container for displaying flowering plants, the container comprising a main body adapted to receive plants and means for mounting the main body of the container upon an upstanding post, the mounting means including an element adapted to engage a free upper end of the upstanding post.

2. A container according to Claim 1 wherein the mounting means comprise an inverted cup-like element defining a downwardly opening recess adapted to receive a free, upper end of said upstanding post.

3. A container according to Claim 2 wherein the main body of the container comprises a base and upstanding front, rear and side walls, the inverted cup-like element being located at an upper edge of the rear wall.

4. A container according to Claim 3 wherein the rear wall of the main body is extended to be of greater height than the front and side walls of the main body, the cup-like element being located on the upper-most end of the extended portion of the rear wall.

5. A container according to Claim 4 wherein the extended portion of the rear wall tapers as it extends away from the main body and terminates with an upwardly directed flange which extends into the inverted cup-like element.

6. A container according to Claim 5 wherein the rear wall has upper edges which extend in an arcuate manner from the side walls of the main body to the upwardly directed flange.

7. A container according to Claim 6 wherein the arcuate edges of the rear wall define a rearwardly directed lip which serves to strengthen the rear wall.

8. A container according to any one of Claims 2 to 7 wherein the inverted cup-like element defines an outwardly directed lip upon a lower edge defining said downwardly opening recess.

9. A container according to any one of Claims 1 to 8 wherein the mounting means are formed integrally with the main bod of the container.

10. A container according to any one of Claims 1 to 8 wherein the mounting means are formed as a separate component to the main body, the mounting means being designed to co-operate with a portion of an upstanding wall of the main body.

11. A container according to Claim 10 wherein the portion of the upstanding wall with which the mounting means are designed to co-operate comprises an extended portion of a upstanding rear wall of the main body, the extended portion of the upstanding rear wall carrying a projection adapted to be supported upon a planar upper surface of an upstanding post.

12. A container for displaying flowering plants substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawing.

13. Any novel feature or combination of features disclosed herein.