Plastic pot hanger and mould for manufacture thereof
A plastic pot hanger includes a support edge which has an upper edge lying in one plane and a number of elongate carrying members. Each carrying member is connected to the support edge by a deformable connection close to the upper edge and is pivotable between a rest position, wherein it lies at least practically in the plane of the upper edge, and a carrying position folded up out of this plane and wherein the support edge and the carrying members are formed integrally by injection moulding. Further, a mould is disclosed for manufacturing a plastic pot hanger. The mould includes a mould cavity for forming the support edge, wherein the part of the mould cavity forming the upper edge of the support edge and the mould cavity for the at least one carrying member are situated on a separating surface of the mould, which is a single mould.
The present application hereby claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 on Dutch patent application numbers NL 1029305 filed Jun. 21, 2005 and NL 1029661 filed Aug. 2, 2005, the entire contents of each of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
FIELDThe invention generally relates to a plastic pot hanger which comprises a number of elongate carrying members which can be connected to a pot in order to enable hanging of this pot.
BACKGROUNDPot hangers are used in large numbers in horticulture. A plant which is planted in a pot provided with such a pot hanger can be hung at a desired position.
Arranging pot hangers on pots is difficult and time-consuming work. The object of the invention is to provide a plastic pot hanger of the above specified type which does not have these drawbacks.
SUMMARYBecause the carrying members are formed integrally with the support edge in at least one embodiment of the invention, the carrying members do not have to be attached one by one. The pot can simply be placed in the support edge while the carrying members are in the rest position. The carrying members can then be folded up out of the plane of the upper edge of the support edge and into the carrying position, whereafter the pot with pot hanger is ready for further use. Arranging of the pot hanger in this manner can take place both when the pot has yet to be provided with a plant or when this has already taken place.
Because the carrying members lie in the plane of the upper edge of the support edge they do not impede potting.
The deformable connections can be formed in suitable manner by per se known film hinges. The measure of claim 3 is preferably applied here.
According to a further suitable development of at least one embodiment, the deformable connections are embodied as pin-like elements. When the carrying members are folded up out of the rest position into the carrying position, the pin-like elements twist about a longitudinal axis.
The measure of at least one embodiment may be applied in suitable manner. The carrying members hereby remain properly fixed in both their rest position and in their folded-up carrying position. It is favourable when the carrying members remain arrested in a rest position, since they then with certainty do not impede the potting. It is moreover favourable when the carrying members remain in arrested manner in the folded-up position, since this prevents the carrying members automatically moving back gradually from the folded-up position to the rest position due to elastic phenomena in the material.
The carrying members are preferably mutually connected at their end not connected to the support edge. Folding up of the carrying members from a rest position into the carrying position can then take place in simple manner by gripping the mutually connected ends of the carrying arms and pulling them upward.
The pot with pot hanger can then be hung up using the hook.
In order to achieve a smooth progression of movement of the carrying members from the rest position into the folded-up carrying position, at least one of the elongate carrying members in at least one embodiment is preferably connected to the other carrying members or the hook member by a hinge connection. This furthermore ensures that, in the folded-up carrying position, the carrying members extend, to a considerable extent, straight from the upper edge up to the mutually connected end.
In the case that the free ends of the carrying members are connected to each other or to a hook member, at least one of the carrying members will be bent quite strongly in rest position. In order to ensure a good movement from the rest position to the carrying position and to ensure that the carrying members extend substantially straight in the carrying position, the measure of at least one embodiment is preferably further applied.
In a suitable embodiment of the pot hanger according to the invention the shape of the support edge is adapted to the shape of the top side of a pot to be accommodated, and the pot to be accommodated can rest in the support edge.
According to a further development however, it is also possible that the support edge forms part of a pot, and that the pot carrier is thus formed integrally with the associated pot by injection moulding.
At least one embodiment of the invention also relates to and provides a mould for manufacturing a plastic pot hanger as according to any of the embodiments as specified above. Such a mould comprises a mould cavity for forming the support edge, wherein the part of the mould cavity forming the upper edge of the support edge and the mould cavity for the at least one carrying member are situated on a separating surface of the mould, which is a single mould.
The manufacturing costs of the mould are hereby relatively limited. The carrying members and the hinged connections with which they are connected to the support edge can be formed in the separating surface of the mould.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSEmbodiments of the invention will be further elucidated in the following description of example embodiments with reference to the accompanying figures.
The pot hanger 1 according to an embodiment of the invention shown in
For reasons to be described further the carrying member 5 is provided halfway along its length with a hinge 8, whereby parts 6, 7 of carrying member 5 can pivot relative to each other.
The free ends of carrying members 3-5 are connected to each other and to a hook member 11.
Pot hanger 1 is shown in
The situation as shown in
The situation as shown in
Hinge 8 is arranged in carrying member 5 in order to facilitate folding-out of this carrying member 5 and in order to ensure that carrying member 5 is relatively straight in the carrying position as shown in
Hinge 8 can be embodied in the manner as shown in
In the example embodiment shown here, carrying member 3 is also connected to hook member 11 by way of a hinged connection 16. The mould cavity corresponding with
The example embodiments of the hinges of carrying members 3-5 shown in
Resilient brackets 25, 26 are formed on either side of this plate member 23. Together with wall parts 24 these brackets 25, 26 form arresting means, which can arrest hinge 10, or more particularly the bottom end of the relevant carrying member 3-5, in the rest position of
Hinge 8 in carrying member 5 has a similar construction. In
Example embodiments being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the present invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.
Claims
1. Plastic pot hanger, comprising:
- a support edge, including an upper edge lying in one plane and including a number of elongate carrying members, each carrying member being connected to the support edge by a deformable connection close to the upper edge and being pivotable between a rest position, each carrying member lying at least practically in the plane of the upper edge, wherein a carrying position folded up out of this plane and wherein the support edge and the carrying members are formed integrally by injection moulding.
2. Plastic pot hanger as claimed in claim 1, wherein the deformable connections are film hinges.
3. Plastic pot hanger as claimed in claim 2, wherein the film hinges are formed in each case between a protrusion on the upper edge and an end of a carrying member.
4. Plastic pot hanger as claimed in claim 1, wherein the deformable connections are pin-like elements.
5. Plastic pot hanger as claimed in claim 1, wherein at the position of the hinge connection, arresting members are formed to arrest the carrying member in at least the carrying position or the rest position.
6. Plastic pot hanger as claimed in claim 5, wherein the deformable connections are pin-like elements, wherein the arresting members are formed by a pair of wall parts on the support edge which lie on either side of the pin-like element and a pair of wall parts on the carrying member which lie on either side of the pin-like element, and wherein the wall parts of the one pair fall inside the wall parts of the other pair and have a width substantially equal to the distance between the wall parts of the other pair.
7. Plastic pot hanger as claimed in claim 1, wherein the carrying members are mutually connected at their end not connected to the support edge.
8. Plastic pot hanger as claimed in claim 7, wherein the mutually connected ends are connected to a hook member.
9. Plastic pot hanger as claimed in claim 7, wherein at least one of the elongate carrying members is connected by a hinge connection.
10. Plastic pot hanger as claimed in claim 7, wherein at least one of the elongate carrying members is provided at an intermediate position with a hinge.
11. Plastic pot hanger as claimed in claim 1, wherein the support edge forms part of a pot.
12. Mould for manufacturing a plastic pot hanger as claimed in claim 1, comprising:
- a mould cavity for forming the support edge, wherein the part of the mould cavity forming the upper edge of the support edge and the mould cavity for the at least one carrying member are situated on a separating surface of the mould, which is a single mould.
13. Plastic pot hanger as claimed in claim 8, wherein at least one of the elongate carrying members is connected by a hinge connection.
14. Plastic pot hanger as claimed in claim 8, wherein at least one of the elongate carrying members is provided at an intermediate position with a hinge.
15. Plastic pot hanger as claimed in claim 9, wherein at least one of the elongate carrying members is provided at an intermediate position with a hinge.
16. Plastic pot hanger as claimed in claim 2, wherein at the position of the hinge connection, arresting members are formed to arrest the carrying member in at least the carrying position or the rest position.
17. Plastic pot hanger as claimed in claim 16, wherein the deformable connections are pin-like elements, wherein the arresting members are formed by a pair of wall parts on the support edge which lie on either side of the pin-like element and a pair of wall parts on the carrying member which lie on either side of the pin-like element, and wherein the wall parts of the one pair fall inside the wall parts of the other pair and have a width substantially equal to the distance between the wall parts of the other pair.
18. Plastic pot hanger as claimed in claim 2, wherein the carrying members are mutually connected at their end not connected to the support edge.
19. Plastic pot hanger as claimed in claim 2, wherein the support edge forms part of a pot.
20. Mould for manufacturing a plastic pot hanger as claimed in claim 2, comprising:
- a mould cavity for forming the support edge, wherein the part of the mould cavity forming the upper edge of the support edge and the mould cavity for the at least one carrying member are situated on a separating surface of the mould, which is a single mould.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 16, 2006
Publication Date: Dec 28, 2006
Inventors: Maarten Wilschut , Hendrik De Jong
Application Number: 11/453,774
International Classification: A47F 5/00 (20060101);