Sheathed Wick, Self Siphoning Plant Feeding Device, System and Method
A disclosed plant watering system comprises a plurality of sheathed wicks configured in a self-siphoned arrangement to draw a watering fluid from a common raised reservoir to a crest thereof via a wicking or capillary action and therefrom to a plurality of watering destinations via a siphoning action initiated by the wicking action. A sheath or hose for each wick is water impermeable and covers a traverse of the wick. An end of a wick may be exposed for insertion into the reservoir and a second exposed end configured to siphon water to a respective destination. Any number of junction supports or discreet and separate sheathed wicks of 2, 4, 8 configurations may be included. The system also includes a common raised reservoir defining port holes in a side thereof, the port holes configured to secure and to direct each of the sheathed wicks outward toward a plant watering destination.
This application claims the benefit of the priority date of earlier filed U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/099,994, titled ‘Unclogger and Plant Nanny’ filed Jan. 5, 2015 by Robert C V Chen and Tiffany Y W Chen U.S. incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONNearly everyone has experienced the loss of a house plant upon return from an extended vacation. House plants can go days without watering but longer vacations require planning to avoid a wilted plant or irrecoverable dehydration and loss of the plant. In the alternative, overwatering before an extended vacation can pose a threat to plants as well. Some vacationers leave plants with neighbors or leave a key to their house with a friend or family but that presents its own complications and risks.
On the other hand, automated household plant feeders may involve powered electronics and control circuits which are not always dependable. Electronic feeders may also require battery power of an undetermined sustainable voltage life. Therefore, some electronic feeders may be powered off household alternating current and but are accordingly vulnerable to unplanned power outages.
In contrast, pet feeders are much more developed and available on the market to household consumers. However, pets are mobile and able to take care of themselves given a source of water and food. Pet water and food dispensers are also available which involve electronics and power sources to keep out rodents and insects and even other pets.
In the alternative, there is a long felt need in the market for an economical product and system that waters houseplants without expensive mechanisms, unproven reliability and electricity requirements of the present products.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONA disclosed plant watering structure comprises a hub and a plurality of rigid members connected thereto adapted to support and direct a plurality of sheathed wicks from a watering fluid in a raised reservoir to a crest thereof and therefrom to a plurality of watering destinations. The hub is also adapted to anchor the rigid members to the raised reservoir. A plurality of sheathed wicks is configured to draw a watering fluid from a raised reservoir to a crest thereof via a wicking action and therefrom to a plurality of watering destinations via a siphoning action wherein the sheath for each wick is water impermeable and covers a traverse of the wick.
The disclosed plant watering system comprises the hub, connecting members and a plurality of sheathed wicks configured in a self-siphoned arrangement to draw a watering fluid from a common raised reservoir to a crest via a wicking or capillary action and therefrom to a plurality of watering destinations via a siphoning action initiated by the wicking action. A sheathed wick comprises a twisted chord of wicking strings configured to create a plurality of small radii in the plurality of wicking strings and thus maximize the wicking properties of the twisted chord. The wicking strings may also comprise elongated strands of a material configured to draw watering fluid via a capillary action through each wicking string. Both ends of a wick may be exposed or uncovered from the sheath, a first uncovered end configured for insertion into the reservoir and the second uncovered end configured to siphon water to a respective destination.
A disclosed plant watering system further comprises a two-way junction configured to support a wick, but also a four-way junction support, an eight-way junction support and any number of junction supports may be included in embodiments. A plurality of discreet and separate sheathed wicks may also be included comprising a configuration of 2, 4, 8 and any number of discreet and separate sheathed wicks.
The disclosed system also includes a common reservoir defining port holes in a side thereof, the port holes configured to support and to direct each of the plurality of sheathed wicks outward toward a watering destination. At least one platform insert for the common reservoir may also be included wherein the platform insert defines holes for the direction of the sheathed wicks and a central watering hole. The raised reservoir and any container thereof may also comprise a means for a platform insert to be secured thereto including a raised ridge on an inner diameter of the raised reservoir and a plurality of slots to receive tabs on the platform.
A disclosed plant watering method comprises providing at least one sheathed wick extending from a common raised reservoir where the wick is partially exposed to at least one watering destination where the wick is also partially exposed. The method also includes draw a watering fluid from the common raised reservoir to a crest of the reservoir via a wicking or capillary action. The method additionally includes drawing the watering fluid from the crest of the reservoir to watering destinations via a siphoning action initiated by the wicking action.
Other aspects and advantages of embodiments of the disclosure will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, illustrated by way of example of the principles of the disclosure.
Throughout the description, similar or same reference numbers may be used to identify similar or same elements in the several embodiments and drawings. Although specific embodiments of the invention have been illustrated, the invention is not to be limited to the specific forms or arrangements of parts so described and illustrated. The scope of the invention is to be defined by the claims appended hereto and their equivalents.
DETAILED DESCRIPTIONReference will now be made to exemplary embodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used herein to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the disclosure is thereby intended. Alterations and further modifications of the inventive features illustrated herein and additional applications of the principles of the inventions as illustrated herein, which would occur to one skilled in the relevant art and having possession of this disclosure, are to be considered within the scope of the invention.
The term, “self-siphon” may be used in sales literature to describe portable siphons that contain a pump. With a pump, no external suction is required to start the siphon and thus the product is described as a “self-siphon”. However, the price and the inconvenience of a pump to get a watering fluid from a reservoir to a plant is high and undesirable and a deterrent to many who want to provide for their plants in their extended absence.
Liquids that are composed of long polymers and/or high tensile strength can facilitate a “self-siphon” and these liquids do not depend on atmospheric pressure. Self-siphoning polymer liquids work the same as a siphon-chain model where the lower part of the chain pulls the rest of the chain up and over the crest to a gravity feed system.
If the upper reservoir is such that the liquid there can rise above the height of the siphon crest, the rising liquid in the reservoir can “self-prime” the siphon and the whole apparatus be described as a “self-siphon”. Once primed, such a siphon will continue to operate until the level of the upper reservoir falls below the intake of the siphon. Such self-priming siphons are useful in some rain gauges and dams. However, it is the initial rise above the siphon crest that creates a problem.
Capillary action can is used to self-prime the disclosed self-siphon plant watering system. Water soaks upwards into the wick or rope and below the crest to begin the siphon gradually, and as weight is added to the downstream flow, the velocity of the water in the siphon will speed up. A slow and constant siphon is achieved that doesn't have to be as fast as the flow through a same diameter of open hose.
Throughout the present disclosure and continuances and/or divisional disclosures thereof, the term ‘sheath,’ may be used interchangeably with ‘hose’ or ‘tube’ to define a cover for a wick or a rope. The term ‘support’ used in the disclosure may also be used interchangeably with ‘hose’ or ‘tube’ to define covers of various sizes and shapes that comprise rectangular, circular and elliptical cross-sectional geometries also including channels and conduits. A ‘support’ as used herein may therefore direct or channel fluid flow from a reservoir to a plant watering or feeding destination. The term ‘crest’ used herein refers in a broadest since to a transition of the watering or feeding fluid from a fluid against gravity to a flow with or aided by gravity. The crest therefore refers to a change in vertical direction in the hose or tube which is adjacent the mouth or opening of the common raised reservoir. The term ‘raised reservoir’ refers to a container, basin or catch for keeping a watering fluid such as a vase, a jar, a jug and a pot and any other vessel of rigid form or semi-rigid and low durometer form.
A disclosed plant watering system comprises a plurality of sheathed wicks configured in a self-siphoned arrangement to draw a watering fluid from a common raised reservoir to a crest of the reservoir via a wicking action and therefrom to a plurality of watering destinations via a siphoning action initiated by the wicking action wherein the sheath for each wick is water impermeable and covers a traverse of the wick.
The common raised reservoir may be sealed against ambient evaporation to prolong an unattended plant watering period. The watering fluid may comprise a sodium chloride component or a plant food component configured to raise the tensile strength of the watering liquid to facilitate the siphoning process and increase a water flow from the common raised reservoir to the watering destinations. The watering fluid may also comprise elongated polymers suitable for plant life which may also facilitate the siphoning action.
A first end of each sheathed wick is unsheathed along a length extending from a bottom of the common raised reservoir to a top thereof. A second end of at least one sheathed wick is unsheathed along a length thereof configured to bleed the siphoned watering fluid over a watering destination area equal to the product of the length of the unsheathed wick and a width of the wick. Also, the second end of at least one sheathed wick may be unsheathed along a length thereof and configured in a circular pattern at a watering destination to bleed the siphoned watering fluid over an area equal to an area of the circular pattern.
Another embodiment of the disclosed plant watering system includes sheathed wicks comprising a twisted chord of a plurality of wicking strings, wherein each wicking string is coated with a waterproofing material configured to create a plurality of small radii in the plurality of wicking strings and thus maximize the wicking properties of the twisted chord. The wicking strings may also comprise elongated strands of a material configured to draw watering fluid via a capillary action through each wicking string. Both ends of a wick may be exposed or uncovered from the sheath, a first uncovered end configured for insertion into the reservoir and the second uncovered end configured to siphon water at a respective destination.
A further embodiment of the disclosed plant watering system includes a wick trunk within a sheath. The wick trunk may be split into a plurality of branches at a junction thereof and each junction and each branch covered by a sheath. A diameter and a length of each wick may be configured to draw a watering liquid up to the crest via a wicking capillary action. A two way junction may support a wick trunk, but also a four way junction support, an eight way junction support and any number of junction supports may be included in embodiments. A plurality of discreet and separate sheathed wicks may be included comprising a configuration of 2, 4, 8 and any number of discreet and separate sheathed wicks.
In yet another embodiment of the disclosed plant watering system, a common reservoir defines a plurality of port holes in a side thereof, the port holes configured to secure and to direct each of the plurality of sheathed wicks outward toward a watering destination. At least one platform insert for the common reservoir may also be included wherein the platform insert defines a plurality of holes for the direction of the plurality of sheathed wicks. A flanging tubular support structure may also be included, the structure also configured to guide the plurality of sheathed wicks. A collapsible flanging tubular support structure configured to guide the plurality of sheathed wicks may be included to facilitate shipping and storage of the system but may also provide a decorative aspect to the disclosure.
Capillary action caused by surface tension and intermolecular forces of adhesion between the wick and the watering or feeding fluid, draws the respective fluid through each strand of the wick.
The height h or the length of a fluid column in a wick may be given by:
where γ is the liquid-air surface tension (force/unit length), θ is the contact angle, ρ is the density of liquid (mass/volume), g is local gravitational field strength (force/unit mass), and r is the radius of the conduit (length). For water-based fluids in the hose under standard conditions, γ=0.0728 N/m at 20° C., θ=20° (0.35 rad), ρ is 1000 kg/m3, and g=9.8 m/s2. Sodium chloride (table salt) fluids may have a slightly higher density factor of approximately 1.1 times the density of water. Accordingly, the height or length of the fluid column may be approximated as:
In a 10 one-thousandths of an inch diameter wick (radius 0.0049 in), the fluid may travel 1.75 inches or nearly nine-tenths of an inch through a 5 one-thousandths of an inch sleeve-shaft conduit. The channels are therefore formed approximately 5 to 10 thousandths of an inch in depth and width and extend from a first end of the wick to a second point and have a length nominally (1.75 inches) 44.5 mm including one of a ten percent plus and a ten percent minus manufacturing tolerance.
Although the operations of the method(s) herein are shown and described in a particular order, the order of the operations of each method may be altered so that certain operations may be performed in an inverse order or so that certain operations may be performed, at least in part, concurrently with other operations. In another embodiment, instructions or sub-operations of distinct operations may be implemented in an intermittent and/or alternating manner.
Notwithstanding specific embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated, the invention is not to be limited to the specific forms or arrangements of parts so described and illustrated. The scope of the invention is to be defined by the claims and their equivalents to be included by reference in a non-provisional utility application.
Claims
1. A plant watering structure comprising:
- a hub and a plurality of rigid members connected thereto and adapted to support and direct a plurality of sheathed wicks from a watering fluid in a raised reservoir to a crest thereof and therefrom to a plurality of watering destinations, the hub also adapted to anchor the high durometer members to the raised reservoir.
2. The plant watering structure of claim 1, wherein the hub defines an open top and a tubular open bottom.
3. The plant watering structure of claim 1, further comprising a flanging tubular support stem configured to guide the plurality of sheathed wicks into the watering fluid.
4. The plant watering structure of claim 1, further comprising a collapsible flanging tubular support structure configured to guide the plurality of sheathed wicks into the watering fluid.
5. The plant watering structure of claim 1, wherein an outside diameter of the hub measures a nominal 6.0 cm at a top thereof and a nominal 9.0 cm at a bottom flanging stem portion thereof measuring a 3.0 cm thickness.
6. The plant watering structure of claim 1, wherein each rigid member measures a nominal outside diameter of 3.0 cm and extends a nominal 4.0 cm from the hub and comprises a 1.0 cm thickness.
7. The plant watering structure of claim 1, wherein the plurality of rigid members comprise a configuration of 2, 4, 8 and any number of even and odd members connected to the hub for an equal number of sheathed wicks.
8. A plant watering system comprising:
- a plurality of sheathed wicks configured to draw a watering fluid from a raised reservoir to a crest thereof via a wicking action and therefrom to a plurality of watering destinations via a siphoning action wherein the sheath for each wick is water impermeable and covers a traverse of the wick; and
- a hub and a plurality of rigid members extending therefrom adapted to support and direct the plurality of sheathed wicks at the crest thereof to the watering destinations, the hub adapted to anchor the rigid members to the raised reservoir and to direct the sheathed wicks into the watering fluid.
9. The plant watering system of claim 8, wherein any of the sheathed wicks may extend a nominal length beyond the crest and terminate within a sheath thereof and allow a wicked fluid to flow thereafter in the remaining portion of the sheath without a wick.
10. The plant watering system of claim 8, wherein a first end of each sheathed wick is unsheathed along a length extending from a bottom of the raised reservoir to a top thereof.
11. The plant watering system of claim 8, wherein a second end of at least one sheathed wick is unsheathed along a length thereof configured to bleed the siphoned watering fluid over a watering destination area equal to a product of the length of the unsheathed wick and a width of the wick.
12. The plant watering system of claim 8, wherein a second end of at least one sheathed wick is unsheathed along a length thereof configured in a circular pattern at a watering destination to bleed the siphoned watering fluid over an area equal to an area defined by the circular pattern.
13. The plant watering system of claim 8, wherein each of the sheathed wicks comprises a twisted chord of a plurality of wicking strings, wherein each wicking string is coated with a waterproofing material configured to create a plurality of small radii in the plurality of wicking strings and thus maximize a capillary action and wicking properties of the twisted chord.
14. The plant watering system of claim 8, wherein a wick trunk within a sheath is split into a plurality of branches at a junction thereof and each junction and each branch is covered by a sheath.
15. The plant watering system of claim 8, wherein each rigid member supports and guides a plurality of wicks and each sheath comprises a plurality of wicks.
16. A plant watering system comprising:
- a raised reservoir configured to define a plurality of port holes in a side and proximal a crest thereof, the port holes configured to support and to direct a plurality of sheathed wicks outward toward a plurality of watering destinations; and
- a plurality of sheathed wicks configured to draw a watering fluid from a raised reservoir to a crest thereof via a wicking action and therefrom to a plurality of watering destinations via a siphoning action wherein the sheath for each wick is water impermeable and covers a traverse of the wick.
17. The plant watering system of claim 16, further comprising at least one platform insert for the raised reservoir wherein the platform insert defines a plurality of holes for the direction of the plurality of sheathed wicks and a central watering hole.
18. The plant watering system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of sheathed wicks comprise corrugated hose configured to maintain a preformed shape.
19. The plant watering system of claim 16, wherein the raised reservoir comprises a means for a platform insert to be secured thereto including a raised ridge on an inner diameter of the raised reservoir and a plurality of slots to receive tabs on the platform.
20. The plant watering system of claim 1, wherein the watering fluid comprises one of a sodium chloride component and a plant food component configured to raise the tensile strength of the watering fluid to facilitate a siphoning process and increase a water flow from the raised reservoir to the watering destinations.
Type: Application
Filed: May 14, 2015
Publication Date: Jul 7, 2016
Inventors: Robert CV Chen (Cupertino, CA), Tiffany YW Chen (Cupertino, CA)
Application Number: 14/712,606