AU549112B2 - Plant watering tube - Google Patents

Description

4 4

68/ I I i

OU 1111.5

MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS STANDARD REFERENCE MATERIAL 1010a (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) t/83 .~PATEN FIE

COMM WEALTH OF AUST ALIA 16 1J~ 92Paet Act 1952, /16 MRA ST ANm D ATT TANDA'RD PATENT F ~AD I_

hereby apply for the gran, of a tadrptet for an Invention entitled N' Pz rr~ D ONALSPECIFICATION O

which is described in the accompanying provisional seiiain specficaion

*(To be included in the case ot a Convention application)

Details of basic application(s)

Number of basic application.......

NAme of Convention country In which basic app ,catlon was filed

Date of basic application

*(To be Included In the case of an application made by virtue of section 51)

Number of original application

SPerson by whom made

(t-,ro be Included In the case of an application for a patent of addition)

I request that the patent may be granted as a patent of addition to the patent applied for on Applicatic.rI~

S No, Patent No

n the name of

i*0-F ITPa- request that the term of the patent of addition be the same as that for the m"]Inn nrwh4 71-. OR SERVICE h patent for the main Invention as Is unexpired, DRS P6CT6P- AUE 4yaddress for service Is

dt d y.f. 9

T~ CH OMMISSIONER OF PATENTS

This form must be accompanied by either a provisional specification (Form 9 end true copy) oe by a complete specification (Fohi '10 and true copy)i

SThese %fttIois are to be completed nlywhere apiplicabl. ~4T~o~~om~oreaiiI3o~cmm rlPrnw'

4 -~94 A

e "PLANT WA VL1 NG 9?IJi a% CUaC .iy ortgprvz 4rn

This invention relates to the waterinR o~f Dlants.

I I r'

~Pdtes tsl Act 1l952-1973,2 4 eclaration in Support of Dclete, for Convention A A Applic-lon.(b) Atn Anppnlcauon )for a Patent or Patent of Addition

4. In support of the Application/Convention Application made by Insert Full Nume of JO-HiN JoS WHITE

for a patent/patent of ad4iicd or an invention entitled:

Insert Title of Inentiont. (d PLANT WATERING TUBE

Insert Full Names of I/wee tThN JFO5 cj'H WHITE

'Dnrt;Adcse)of of T :WfNSA ICK Vic 3 S6 dt solemnly and sincerey declare as follows:- F'on~o .aeivNI?Oj Vj eb~let when Applicant is a i. 1 am/we ar.e-the applicant(4~ for the pae /a4444

Delete hen: Applicant is an Ili) Y 1-4 1 kfj Ffl~lin Name of 7 J

.0 P a 444.4i 4* toj L..Z Wits IZ An 1w; 64P1... For Non-Convention Appli- U 4l';jo4a-ic eation tdoJete, Foe Conven- X I I I fill in 'TAP 'Yliation,application. d ~ihsofbasic. 1H e-*ktf-0-t---

(11 Th-le'fl For Non-Convention 3, 0) I am/,we..ap the actual inventor(s)-of the invention ,phjza~tiop by Assigned of nvto and for Convert- tlon Application, ()Deltmtcaw Non-Convention RM/ are- le-fteRiat M14-Itt"'"Mr-M-t1te Ofl-reter-rett k)Applit~on by Inventor and fk% T M, 3, 31, FP.1. aOdltv"ntion Application lor4Assine by

Delete for Application by Invttor For Application by Assignee, inset namde, address and occuiation of Inventor. j isf ar-e wie-aettffl st ef the-nwention-anwdm tam upair-w1nicat L&%twe arefuef.4i -*-eit4e-4 rntt tz, iiinrr alIot

(ti) Insert dtails of, Asgn- mn~ti etc, Date of Assign- mn;n onlyis iniufficentfl

bilote ?oe -Apiplicatl'o, Mob-Coneption I. ,zrdt nnrrn ~Mt; WM..4.A.a~X~ X frt- "c~tI r~ i" 'o'~ve"t'on CO5s~te~ Ill re~-4l~. in~NrA;~n th- iitH'--~ -F thr

Ipsor place ~zda te of tils J~#HTH dlay of OVi?11. 1983

SIGN x HERE

(12) AUSTRALIAN PATENT ABRIDGMENT (1)AU (11) AU-B-13291/83

(54) PLANT WATERING TUBE' JOHN JOSEPH WHITE (21) 1329 1/83 549112 (22) 16.4.82 (23) 8.4.83 (24) 16.4.82 Class: (43) 20.10 .83 (44) 16-1.86 I t. CI: (51)3 A01G 29/00 A01G2 25/06 (56i) 18888/53 166183 A01G 25/06, 31.9 24216/56 226062 AO1G 25/06, 31.9 25707/57 224149 A01G 29/00, 31.9 (57) Cl aim

C(omplete! 1. A~device for watering a plant growing upwards through a relatively impervious layer and adapted to act as a P'riority: sink permitting a catchment or storage of water above the layer to drain to a root system in relatively pervious sub- Related A layers~beneath it, the device being a rigid straight tube of length substantially equal to the desired\watering &44 '\elow the layer, said tube being pointed at one end for ease of .".Name of, pushing downwards through said layer until the underside of 0 4V a flange at or near the other end comes into contact with the top of said layer, said other end being open to provide a Addressc

mouth for receiving a converging gravitational influx of the wvater, said, tube defining outlet apertures permitting efflux of said water into the sub-layers under a pressure head substantially corresponding to the height of the free surface of Address f the catchmnent above the relevant sub-le~yer jJi'( aer/lrgeAe#

Complete s

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116 (W7) 31

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A

USTALIA AP 1983 PATiNTS ACT 1952-1973T

LETE SPECIFICATION (ORIGINAL) FOR OFFICE USE Class: Int, Cl:

Ak",lication Number:7829/3

Complete Specification-Lodged:- o- Accepted: Published: Priority:

Related Art:

TO BE COMPLETED BY APPLICANT J 1 Tro s e f>H 1-4H i7-

Address of Applicant: ~6~P?ScL Q a A6 4i~ o ,40iY f 0")1tL(C.

Actuak' Inventor; ZoHi U-0 J Uv -1:

Address for Service., 44G, V IgI ,r-7 T~

COomplete' SpeCificatton0 for the Invention entitled:, Pj, tPiN T >1)7"CII 16 TL' E

The followino slatem0ent Is a full deocrlption of this Invention, Including the best method Of pierferMlng it known

ONoi: ThedoqIptcn Ist6bbtyp~d Indouble apacing, pith type Ups,~ Inan area not excesdIng 250 im Indepth, and 160 mm 10 Width, on togh white popor of 0ood qsal and, it le to be inserted Inside this form. 11f~7 1 Z.4 T3IANoK Comtoo*# IOqyoraMew PergZaaEirt

I be 6614ap Icable.. cni'Priner

Titlze. "PLmT WIA[2ING TUBE" oamo na ucod for provisional-)--

This invention relates to the watering of plants,

shrubs, trees and the like.

It is known that the surface layer of earth is apt

to become relativ.ly hard and impervious to water.

Therefore a good deal of water hosed or falling as rain

upon such a surface, whether that surface be dry or already

wet, may, at least in the initial stages, run off to waste,

or it may collect in pools and thence evaporate or soak

into the ground where it is not required.

Attempts to improve the ingress of water, such

as to sub-surface roots of plants, have included the S C

digging of furrows, trenches, earth banks, ditches and S C'

the like in the vicinity of the region or area desired to be

irrigated. However such are often cumbersome and LC C inconvenient operations and are not only fraught with

substantial risk of damage to plant foots, underground

*C C'# pipes and cables, but are unsightly and can be a C' 55 substantial hazard to people walking in the neighbourhood of

the earthworks.

An object of my invention is to simplify the

irrigation process by facilitating the descent of surface

water to relatively pervious sub-surface layers.

The a'bcve and other objects and advantages will

become apparent from the following.

watoriing tube cap f.bein pushed into the ground at a

oaatioi where irrigation is desire mouth for A/ l ^Qg03^B^ o*o~czlQ^gin d^t^io 17i ~II I )-I

r t,,r i~i r o~

~D ~1 1:

Accordingly the present invention provides a\device

for watering a plant growing upwards through a relatively

impervious layer and adapted to act as a sink permitting a

catchment or storage of water above the layer to drain to a

root system in relatively pervious sub-layers\beneah it, the

device being a rigid straight tube of length substantially

equal to the desired wateringlep.4 below the layer, said tube

being pointed at one end for ease of pushing downwards through o said layer until the underside of a flange at or near the other

end comes into contact with the top of said layer, said other

"'"end being open to provide a mouth for receiving a converging

gravitational influx of the water, said tube defining outlet

apertures permitting efflux of said water into the sub-layers

Sunder a pressure head substantially corresponding to the

height of the free surface of the catchment above the relevant

a sub-laye

r imqo

o ^i^e

7 V. 7

iftetw±S e ,apt to collect in a cate hmznt are in a ne:ighbourhoo of ation, said tube defining outlet apertures permitting efflux of water 1 latively

But in order that the invention may be better

understood, reference will now be made to the accompanying

drawing which is to be considered as part of this

specification and read herewith. In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a plant watering

tube according to a practical embodiment of the invention,

and

Figure 2 is a top plan of the tube shown in Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings in more detail, the tube

illustrated therein is a plastics (or metal) tube the

closed lower end of which is conical and brought to a

point at 1 in order to facilitate insertion into or through a hard surface layer of the ground (which may

be covered by plastics sheet 5) ata location where

irrigation is desired normally in the immediate

vicinity of a plant or shrub, or, in the case of a larger

plant, shrub or tree, further away from the trunk so as to

achieve optimum watering of the roots. The tube defines outlet apertures 2 permitting

relatively free efflux of water from the -interior of the

tube into relatively pervious sub-layers of the soil,

The apertures may be of uniform size and shape and may be

uniformly disposed around and along the tube, so that if

ther of the relevant soil layer or layers is

C7II

*c bi or are horizontally isotropic, the tube will provide or t srapein permit a substantially uniforn radial flow of water into ing outlet ively C- and through the relevant layer(s). However for some pirposeS, such as when it is desired to place a number of ter a toabes around a tree, it niay be advantage'ous to have ;ik apertures on one side only of the tube, thereby enabling companying one. to restrict the efflux within 1800 or such other is ;i limited sector as may be desired. ;i The body 3 of the tube is provided at its upper tering end with a flange 4 which is at right-angles to the invention, longitudinal axis of the tube or is advantageously slightly 00gt oc' 44

4 44 dished or inclined such that the upper surface of the 0t 04 n Fig. 1. 4064 46c 0 4' 0 04 0 60 '44 flange slopes radially inwardly. Flange 4 at all events 44l 6i

the tube gO 0 0S 644 4 04

4 44 4 4 provides a mouth for receivinF a converging gravitational 64

be the 44 *r o 4B 4-

6 O 64I

0 radial influx of water which would otherwise be apt to t to a 406444 6 4" collect on or over a relatively impervious surface layer o or of the ground in a"catchment area" 6 in a neighbourhood of ch may 04 00a the location of the tube. 04 44 0 64

ere 0 0 4 444 64 644 My watering tube is capable of allowing 40 0 644 44

0rz te 64 44

relatively free descent of surface water through relatively f a larger 44o 406< impervious surface lavers into the sub-soil under a ak so as to pressure-head substantially corresponding to the height O 44 04 0\ 040B 6 40 044 0 6,6 1$ of the, free surface 7 in the catchment above the relevant bing sub-acrer. The device affords not only a simple means of I: i: )r of the irrigation, but *permits of a highly convenient mode of soil, P conveying fertilizer to the immediate vicinity of plant iad may be Ii roats for obviously if fertilizing material be spread in ~i that if i the, relevant "catchment are&' associated with the device I:; I .ayers is

3

1" b: I ii in its particular location, that material will normally be carried by the water-flow into and out of the tube.

It will be clear from the drawing that the

tube, in use, is substantially completely buried, which

tube therefore operates in-a way rather different from

another device which is intended to slowly release water

or fertilizing solution from an inverted bottle. Generally

the lastmentioned device has a neck standing clear of the

ground and over which the bottle neck fits. My device, on

the contrary, involves nothing required to stand

substantially clear of the ground. It therefore presents

no substantial obstacle to grass-mowing or other gardening e operationa. v SUl My invention finds particularly advantageous 0* application in situations wherein plants, shrubs, trees

etc-. are grown in locations where it is desired to prevent 0 Ci or inhibit surrounding growth by spreading plastics

sheeting or other growth-barrier over the soil. In the

past, substantial difficulties have been encountered in

watering plants etc. grown in such situations. However a '0 the watering tube of my invention can simply be pushed,

through the plastics sheet and down until a marginal

portion 8 of sheet 5 is firmly clamped to the ground

beneath flange 4. This operation will almost invariably

form a small depression or "catchment area" 6 in the

plastics sheeting around the mouth of the tuba so that

hosing o= other wavering operations can be directed with

Optimum eficiency to, the plant at places' near to or

spaced; fro t the place where the central stem or trunk

pasases thrpugh the she.eatiig or barier,.

f

Similam advantages flow from the use of my

invention where, pebbles, tan-bark, woodchip, sawdust and

o-ther such growth barriers are; used, with or without

plastics sheet.

In the particular case of plastics sheeting, it

will be clear that the use of my watering tube achieves

the additional advantage of securing the sheet to the

ground, by the aforementioned clamping action, wherever my

devices are located.

The tube can be conveniently be made of polyvinyl

chloride, about 150 mm in length by about 25 mm external diameter.- The apertures may be about 6 mm in diameter g 00 arranged in three groups each of three at 120 and

staggered as shown.. The flange may be about 18 mm wide. V* O;,

Normally the tube can easily be pushed into thae ground

by hand or foot. It is suggested that three or four tubes

be located around each plant to completely satisfy water

requirements.

0 0ooo Clearly, my plant watering tube is a simple,

convenient, cheap and unobtrusive device capable of 0'*0 achieving substantial economiea e.g. without the need to

pull up rockeries etc. to replace dead plants.

~My invention may &lso be applied to other

situations where it is desired to afford water more ready

access to sub-surface layers, where it would otherwise

tend to. collect in or on a relatively impervious surface

layer, or to drain away where! it is wasted. For example,

V3 a building has foundations, in r# soil of high clay conten,"i6 mfL be desirable to give rain and other surface ~watr relati-vely quick acces-s.to'the! sub-surface sawdust anid layers, in. the vicinity of' the f Oundations' in orde~r to without mnimimze expansion of' the soil by excessive drying-out with consequent- risk of damage to foundation,% Rnd building.

ting, it For' the purposes of this. specaification, terms; such

ibe, achieves as Ittap f I"lower" and "uipper" are to be uhderstood as ,et to the referring to the tube in a typical position of use an~d

wherever my are not necessarily limiting.

polyvinyl mm external 6fJ t~ diameter 0 and 0

18 mm wide. 0 the ground 0

or four tubes- atisfy water 0~. 0 mple, 0 0 9~ *4

able of the need to

0*0 00

Ir more ready

otherwise ous surf ac-e lor example,,

igh clay other

I -b asub-surf ace I order to drying-out Rnd building. a, terms, such arstood as of use and

0 0

0

S U

i T 0 *0 0

0 C' 0

0

0 4; 4 400

4

JO 40 4 0 0

Claims (2)

1. The claims defining the invention are as follows: i. A~device for watering a plant growing upwards

   through a relatively impervious layer and adapted to act as a

   sink permitting a catchment or storage of water above the

   layer to drain to a root system in relatively pervious sub-

   layers~beneath it, the device being a rigid straight 'ube of

   length substantially equal to the desired\watering depg \elow the layer, said tube being pointed at one end for ease of ,4 0 pushing downwards through said layer until the underside of

   a flange at or near the other end comes into contact with the

   top of said layer, said other end being open to provide a

   mouth for receiving a converging gravitational influx of the

   water, said tube defining outlet apertures permitting efflux

   of said water into the sub-layers under a pressure head

   substantially corresponding to the height of the free surface of 0 6 0 the catchment above the relevant sub-layer ,5;Ce er/erires 1
2. 2. A watering device substantially as herein described

   with reference to the accompanying drawing.

   DATED this 3lst day of May, 1985.

   JOHN JOSEPH WHITE

   By his Patent Attorney:

   PE NIHOLLS

   -7-

   4 VN.

   A+