Ribbed post

Abstract

A post for mounting to the ground and for supporting elongate flexible filaments transverse to the post. The hollow member has opposite first and second ends. The first end is adapted for mounting to the ground. Stiffeners are mounted within the hollow post so as to extend between the first and second ends. First and second oppositely disposed elongate raised flanges are mounted on the post so as to extend outwardly therefrom. The flanges extend between the first and second ends. The raised flanges each have a longitudinally spaced apart array of filament receiving cavities. Each cavity is an aperture through a corresponding raised flange and has an opening providing access into the aperture from a distal edge of the corresponding raised flange for receiving therethrough the filament for mounting the filament into the aperture. Each opening has a constriction having an opening dimension which is substantially equivalent to a diameter of the filament.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the field of post and wire systems for supporting growing plants and trees including fruit bearing varieties, such as grapes used for making wine.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Certain plant crops such as, without intending to be limiting, grape vines, require support in order to train the plant to grow in a desired fashion and to reduce fruit spoilage by keeping developing and ripened fruit off of the ground. Plant support systems are characteristically comprised of a trellis system having one or more wires strung between posts. In a vineyard trellis system, for example, one to two wires are strung between posts spaced approximately 16 to 24 feet apart, which posts are ordinarily approximately 3 to 4 inches in diameter.

The posts are commonly made of wood which has been pressure-treated with a preservative so as to slow the rate at which they rot. One such wood preservative is chromated copper arsenate which contains arsenic. It is believed that arsenic can leach to the surface of the wood and from there, into the surrounding ground. If plants are growing in ground which into which the arsenic has leached, such plants may absorb the arsenic. Consequently, the plants themselves, and potentially any fruits borne by them may contain traces of arsenic. Once on the surface of the wood post, the arsenic can also be absorbed by the skin of those coming into contact with the treated posts as, for example, during trellis construction and maintenance. Arsenic is a known carcinogen.

Where wood posts are used, wires are ordinarily attached to the posts by means of metal staples or clips for holding the wires. The staples or clips are nailed onto the post. As the wood ages and dries, the staples or clips often loosen and pop out. This may result in damage to the plant which depended from the wire supported by the loosened staples or clips. Where the loosened staples or clips fall onto the ground, damage to vehicle tires may also result. In some instances, wires are attached to the posts by stringing the wire through holes which have been drilled through the wooden posts. Where long lengths of wires are required as in, for example, many field applications, this method requires longer construction time and is often impractical. It may also result in increased wear on the post at the points where the wire contacts the posts, particularly when the wire is bearing the weight of plants.

Less commonly, the posts may be made of metal treated so as to be rust resistant. Depending upon the manner in which they are constructed and installed, metal posts may have strength and durability problems in the field. Metal posts may also tend to absorb significant amounts of heat during the day, which heat may be released at night to the detriment of the plants and fruit proximate to such metal posts.

Hence, there is a need for, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an alternative means for supporting crop bearing plants and trees which may avoid or reduce some of the problems outlined above associated with the use of conventional post and wire systems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is for use in association with the support of plants and trees including fruit bearing varieties such as grape vines.

The present invention replaces the conventional plant or tree trellis system comprised of wooden posts with wire staples or clips attached thereto to hold wires which, in turn, support live plants or trees such as, without intending to be limiting, grape vines. The present invention employs in one embodiment hollow, cylindrical posts. One end of the post may be made flat with an adaptor cap, and the other, opposite end, chisel-shaped. The post is made of a resilient material such as, without intending to be limiting, extruded plastic such as PVC, ABS or other conventional plastic materials or plastic and wood fibre composite materials. When made with PVC it can be created with multiple layer extrusions, with an outer layer including an UV inhibitor sufficient to provide 50 years of non degradation by UV A or B rays. The internal portion of the PVC post is comprised of several other additives that will give the internal structure the strength coupled with flexibility sufficient to sustain a heavily loaded trellis, subjected to high wind loads, and durable enough to survive heavy machine-operated pruners and harvesters. Internally and longitudinally mounted within each post is any suitable form of stiffener for reinforcement such that, when the chisel shaped end of the post is driven a sufficient distance into the ground, the post becomes self-supporting and requires no additional buttressing or bracing in order to remain substantially vertical while under load. Without intending to be limiting, such internal reinforcement may be comprised of a set of oppositely disposed longitudinal ribs extending radially outwardly from a centroidal longitudinal axis of the post, so as to contact the cylindrical outer wall of the post. For example, the ribs may form an “X” or a “Y” shape in cross-section.

On the exterior of the post are two substantially co-planar ribs, ridges, clips or protrusions, collectively and alternatively referred to herein as “ridges” or “flanges”. Each ridge or flange contains an array or series of spaced-apart C-shaped mounted or formed notches or apertures to hold flexible filaments such as wires and, without intending to be limiting, trellis wires. As used herein, reference to “wires” is intended to include wires, lines, strings or other elongate flexible filaments. Each aperture, that is to say, each wire holder, has an opening oppositely disposed relative to the post. Each opening is formed between a pair of resilient opposed facing flanges. Advantageously, and without intending to be limiting, each pair of flanges is spaced apart by a distance which is slightly less than the diameter of the wire to be inserted through such opening into the wire holder cavity. When a wire is placed against the aperture opening and pressure applied against the wire in the direction of the post, the flanges are sufficiently resilient so as to slightly deform enough to allow the wire to enter through the opening. Once the wire has entered the aperture and the external pressure against the opening has ceased, the flanges return to their un-deformed state thereby inhibiting unintended dislodgement of the wire from the receiving wire cavity. In use, weight-bearing wires are mounted into the wire holders so as to alternate sequentially from a ridge on one side of the post to the opposite ridge and so on along the length of the post so that only every second wire-receiving cavity on each ridge is used and the wires are alternatingly staggered upwardly along the length of the post. The opposing forces acting on the post are thereby equalized to assist in maintaining the stability of the post while in use.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is, in front elevation view, the post according to one aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 2a is, in an enlarged view, a section of the post of FIG. 1.

FIG. 2b is, in partially cut-away right side perspective view, the section of FIG. 2a.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view along line 3-3 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is, in front perspective view, the post of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is, in side elevation view, the post of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

In the accompanying Figures, wherein like reference numerals denote corresponding parts in each view, FIG. 1 illustrates basal end 16 of post 10 driven into ground 18. It is understood that post 10 would be mounted sufficiently deeply into ground 18 so as to be free-standing when un-loaded. Post 10 is in one embodiment a hollow, cylindrical post. The post may be flat and sealed on apical end 20, and is preferably chisel shaped on basal end 16. The chiseled shape of basal end 16 of post 10 is such that post 10 may be inserted into an augered hole or into ground 18 with a post-pounder or other suitable post driving means thereby securing post 10 in ground 18 without twisting the direction of the flanges, keeping them parallel to adjoining post flanges in the trellis line. A pair of oppositely disposed ridges 12 are substantially co-planar, each ridge 12 containing a series such as linear spaced-apart arrays of notches or apertures 14 (collectively herein “apertures”). Apertures 14 are defined as cut-outs formed in ridges 12 wherein the cut-outs may be C-shaped as shown or of any other suitable shape such as circular or elliptical. Alternatively, ridges 12 may be formed as clips, whether annular or otherwise, it being intended that the present invention extend to such structures by the collective reference to ridges or flanges 12.

As is illustrated in FIGS. 2a and 2b, opening 30 of aperture 14 is defined or bounded by a pair of opposed facing resilient flanges 32 and 34 spaced apart by a vertical dimension d₁ wherein dimension d₁ is sized for a snug fit of wire 22 through opening 30 and in one embodiment d₁ is slightly less than the diameter of wire 22. If wire 22 is laid over and along opening 30, that is preferably horizontally, and force is applied against wire in direction A, resilient flanges 32 and 34 will bend or deflect slightly inwardly into the corresponding cavity of aperture 14 so as to allow wire 22 to enter aperture 14 through opening 30. That is, when wire 22 is placed horizontally against opening 30 and pressure is applied against wire 22 in direction A, resilient flange 32 will bend slightly in direction B while resilient flange 34 concurrently bends slightly in direction C or otherwise flanges 32 and 34 compress thereby slightly enlarging opening 30 sufficiently to allow wire 22 to “pop” through the opening to enter aperture 14. Once wire 22 has passed through opening 30 and the application of force in direction A has ceased, flanges 32 and 34 return to their undeformed state which returns opening 30 to its original dimension d₁. It is thought that the sizing dimension d₁ slightly less than the diameter of wire 22 reduces the likelihood of wire 22 dislodging from wire aperture 14. The internal diameter of wire aperture 14 is larger than the diameter of wire 22 such that wire 22 may move freely within the confines of aperture 14. It is thought that this freedom of movement will allow for the tightening of wire 22 to increase the tension of wire 22 as may be required from time to time. It may also allow forces applied against wire 22 such as, without intending to be limiting, when grape vines are pruned or their fruits harvested, to be longitudinally transmitted as tension along the length of wire 22 so as to attenuate the intensity of the force transmitted from wire 22 to any one ridge 12 and its corresponding post 10.

Internally and longitudinally mounted within each post 10 is any suitable form of reinforcement such that, combined with the strengthening from ridges 12, chisel shaped end 16 of post 10 may be forcefully driven in direction D into ground 18 to a depth sufficient to firmly secure post 10 in ground 18, without damage to post 10, so that post 10 becomes self-supporting and requires no additional buttressing or bracing in order to remain substantially vertical. Without intending to be limiting, FIGS. 1 and 3 illustrate one embodiment of the present invention wherein such internal reinforcement is comprised of a radially spaced apart array of ribs 40 perpendicularly disposed relative to one another and symmetrically about centroidal longitudinal axis E so as to be longitudinally mounted within and along post 10. Without intending to be limiting, post 10, ridges 12 and ribs 40 may be a unitary piece of plastic material such as PVC or ABS. Ribs 40 provide internal support to post 10 strengthening and stiffening the post sufficient to enable it to support its own weight and the weight of vines on wires 22 and to remain vertical to ground 18 once installed and somewhat asymmetrically loaded. It is further thought that ribs 40 will enable post 10 to support, with minimal deformation, stress from the loading of wires 22 in apertures 14 including the additional strain on wire 22 or aperture 14 created by the weight of plants such as, without intending to be limiting, fruit laden vines supported by wire 22. The resulting strain on the wires, or a portion thereof, is transmitted from wire 22 to ridge 12 and post 10. Being made of a resilient material, it is thought that post 10 will be sufficiently flexible so that post 10 may be able to bend so as to absorb the shock of an external force such as that created, for example, by wind, workers, or field equipment striking post 10 or wire 22, thereby avoiding breakage and consequent damage to the plants and crops supported by wire 22 and post 10 and yet be sufficiently rigid to support the weight of the loaded wires.

If post 10 is driven into ground 18 as, for example, by means of a post pounder, the application of considerable force in direction D to post 10 may be required. Accordingly, the resilient material selected for post 10 should be strong enough to withstand the application of such force. As the static and dynamic forces on post 10 and ridges 12 resulting its support of wire 22, which weight may be increased by plants supported by wire 22 such as, without intending to be limiting, grape vines, the resilient material selected for post 10, ribs 40 and ridges 12 should also be sufficiently rigid and strong enough to support such weight without significant deformation. The resilient material selected for ridges 12 should also be sufficiently resilient so as to allow the deformation required to allow wire 22 to enter opening 30 as discussed above.

Without intending to be limiting, post 10 may have the following dimensions:

	External diameter d2 of post 10 (FIG. 3):	1.875	inches
	Ridge 14 width d6 (FIG. 3):	0.500	inches
	Post 10 length d5 (FIG. 1):	8	feet
	Post wall 42 thickness d7 (FIG. 3):	0.160	inches
	Rib 40 thickness d4 (FIG. 3):	0.128	inches
	Ridge 14 thickness d3 (FIG. 2b):	0.160	inches
	Width of opening 40 d1 (FIG. 2b):	0.080	inches

The use of post 10 of the present invention, which may have a diameter smaller than the conventional wood and metal posts, may also facilitate the planting of additional rows of plants in a field which may, in turn, improve overall productivity and profitability. Although Applicant does not wish to be bound by any particular theory of operation, it is postulated that where posts 10 are intended for use with certain crops such as grape vines, the coating of resilient post 10 with a reflective material such as Titanium Dioxide at a minimum concentration of 10 phr may be used such that post 10 refracts and reflects rather than absorb long and short wave radiant heat. It is thought that a resilient post 10 with such refractive qualities would benefit the fruit and plant located closest to post 10 as post 10 would absorb less heat during the day and, consequently, would release less heat overnight thereby allowing the plants and fruit closest to post 10 an opportunity to recover during the night from the heat of the preceding day.

As will be apparent to those skilled in the art in the light of the foregoing disclosure, many alterations and modifications are possible in the practice of this invention without departing from the spirit or scope thereof. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is to be construed in accordance with the substance defined by the following claims.

Claims

1. A post for mounting to the ground and for supporting elongate flexible filaments transverse to the post, comprising: wherein each said opening has a constriction having an opening dimension which is substantially equivalent to a diameter of said filament, wherein said filament is mounted into said aperture by sliding said filament in a snug fit through said opening, whereby unintentional removal of said filament from said aperture is thereby inhibited.

a) a hollow member having opposite first and second ends, said first end adapted for mounting to the ground, stiffeners mounted within said hollow post so as to extend between said first and second ends;

b) first and second elongate raised flanges mounted on said post so as to extend outwardly therefrom, said flanges mounted to said post in substantially oppositely disposed relation and extending between said first and second ends;

c) each of said first and second raised flanges having therein a longitudinally spaced apart array of filament receiving cavities wherein each cavity of said filament receiving cavities is an aperture through a corresponding raised flange of said first and second flanges, each said aperture having an opening providing access into said aperture from a distal edge of said corresponding raised flange for receiving therethrough said filament for mounting said filament into said aperture;

2. The post of claim 1 wherein said opening dimension is smaller than said filament diameter and wherein said corresponding raised flange adjacent said opening is resilient whereby during said snug fit of said filament through said opening, said raised flange at said opening resiliently deforms.

3. The post of claim 2 wherein said first and second raised flanges are each continuous raised ribs extending entirely along substantially the length of said post.

4. The post of claim 3 wherein each said aperture is substantially C-shaped.

5. The post of claim 4 wherein said arrays of apertures on said first and second flanges are aligned so that when said post is substantially vertical, said apertures in said first and second flanges are aligned as substantially horizontal pairs.

6. The post of claim 5 wherein said arrays of apertures on said first and second raised flanges include at least four apertures in each said array.

7. The post of claim 6 wherein said stiffener comprises a rigidly spaced apart array of rigid planar members mounted to each other coaxially along a longitudinal axis substantially coinciding with a longitudinal centroidal axis of said post, said planar members extending from said longitudinal axis to an interior surface of said post.

8. The post of claim 7 wherein said post is a hollow cylinder and wherein said rigidly spaced apart array of planar members is +-shaped in cross-section laterally horizontally through said post.

9. The post of claim 8 wherein one pair of said planar members are oppositely disposed relative to each other on either side of said longitudinal axis, and are aligned so as to be substantially co-planar with said first and second raised flanges.

10. The post of claim 9 wherein said first end is shaped as a point for insertion into the ground.

11. The post of claim 10 wherein said pointed shape of said first end is substantially chisel shaped.

12. The post of claim 11 wherein said first end is open.

13. The post of claim 12 wherein said second end is sealed.

14. The post of claim 1 wherein said stiffener comprises a rigidly spaced apart array of rigid planar members mounted to each other coaxially along a longitudinal axis substantially coinciding with a longitudinal centroidal axis of said post, said planar members extending from said longitudinal axis to an interior surface of said post.

15. The post of claim 14 wherein said post is a hollow cylinder and wherein said rigidly spaced apart array of planar members is±shaped in cross-section laterally horizontally through said post.

16. The post of claim 15 wherein one pair of said planar members are oppositely disposed relative to each other on either side of said longitudinal axis, and are aligned so as to be substantially co-planar with said first and second raised flanges.

17. The post of claim 1 wherein said first end is shaped as a point for insertion into the ground.

18. The post of claim 17 wherein said pointed shape of said first end is substantially chisel shaped.

19. The post of claim 18 wherein said first end is open.

20. The post of claim 19 wherein said second end is sealed.