AU684100B2

AU684100B2 - Prefabricated planter box kit

Info

Publication number: AU684100B2
Application number: AU74209/94A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Arthur Mizzi
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1993-09-29
Filing date: 1994-09-23
Publication date: 1997-12-04
Anticipated expiration: 2014-09-23
Also published as: AU7420994A

Description

PREFABRICATED PLANTER BOX KIT This invention relates to an article to support and present pots in which plants are growing or to support growing medium to sustain growing plants. Such articles are commonly known by the generic name "planter box" and that term as used hereinafter will be understood to mean articles which have the possible uses identified above.

Planter boxes of many types have been developed over 0 the years ranging from craftsman made expensive and decorative types to very cheap planter boxes made from moulded polystyrene. To this time there has not been eoe• available a simple to assemble, robust, prefabricated plarter box which can be supplied in kit form for assembly by the end user.

So The planter box of the invention is ideally suited to the retail market where it is desirable that bulky items can be sold as packaged knocked down kits which are easy to transport from a retail store and easy to erect at the purchaser's home.

The preferred embodiment now to be described is concerned with a slat type planter box but as will be understood from the description that follows th; concepts involved are applicable to panel type planter boxes. Both forms of the planter box would be I I---LI pl~- Y suitable for the support of a number of pots in which plants are growing. This allows the user to rotate pots between a garden or greenhouse and the planter box. It is thus possible to take advantage of plants which bloom at different times of the year, it also allows for the creation of different flower displays and the rearrangement of the plant pots to achieve aesthetically pleasing displays.

In addition the planter box as proposed by the present invention can be used to house a 'liner', which can be o of cheap construction, e.g. a polystyrene tub, where the planter box is used to provide a pleasant appearance for the flower display whic' could not be achieved if the polystyrene tub was on view.

The present invention can be broadly said to provide a kit to form a planter box having two ends, two sides and a bottom; said kit includes two end assemblies, two

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side assemblies and a bottom assemblies; the end assemblies each include an end frame of form having 20 a bottom member including slat support means and two leg members, a number of parallel slats are mounted on and extend between the legs of the end frame; the side assemblies each include a like number of parallel slats joined by at least two lateral leg elements each provided with slat engaging clamps; the bottom assembly includes parallel slats which are shorter than the slats of the side assemblies and which are joined by at -I ~R 3 least two lateral bottom elements each provided with slat engaging clamps; said bottom elements and leg elements are respectively provided with socket ends and spigots and engagement between the spigots and sockets mounts the side assemblies to the bottom assembly with the interconnected leg elements and bottom elements forming shaped intermediate frames; and wherein the lengths of the slats of the end assemblies correspond with the spacing between corresponding slats on said side assemblies when coupled to the bottom assembly thereby providing substantially abutting relationship between the ends of the end assembly slats 0 and side faces of the slats of the side assemblies to facilitate the placement of fixing means to couple the end assembly slats and the side assembly slats with the end assemblies spaced such that the ends of the slats i of the bottom assembly rest on the slat support means of said end frames.

A presently preferred form of the invention will now be 20 described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which; Fig.l is a perspective view of a planter box assembled from the kit of the invention, Fig.2 is a is a perspective view of one of two end frames of the kit, Fig.3 is an edge view of the end frame of Fig.2 and Fig.4 is a perspective view of the essential elements from which an intermediate frame of the kit can be

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4 assembled.

In Fig.l the planter box is indicated 1 and comprises two side assemblies, two end assemblies and a bottom assembly, each respectively defined by three long slats 2, three shorter slats 3 and two long slats 4. The shorter slats 3 are of different lengths to give the planter box a pleasing tapered appearance but this is not essential.

The slats 3 are parts of end assemblies 9 which are 1 0 preferably units of the kit. Each assembly 9 includes an end frame 10 as shown in Figs.2 and 3 comprising a pair of upstanding divergent legs 5 joined by a base 6 having a support flange 7. There is a number of spikes 8 punched and bent from the legs 5 leaving slots 33 in the legs 5 and the spikes 8 are pressed into the timber slats 3 in a manufacturing step so that the end assemblies 9 each comprised of an end frame and the slats 3 is complete when offered to the person assembling the kit. If desired other means could be used to secure the slats 3 to the frame legs In general terms the planter box bottom and sides are retained in relative relationship by interengagement of elements 12 and 22 of two intermediate frames, although in other configurations one or more than two intermediate frames can be used. The elements for the intermediate frame are shown in Fig.4. Each -i s M 5 intermediate frame includes a bottom element 22 to which the two bottom slats 4 are fixed and two leg elements 12 to each of which the three slats 2 of the respective sides of the planter box are fixed. Means is provided to allow the leg elements to engage in the bottom element.

The side assemblies 11 illustrated in Fig.l each include the three slats 2 and two leg elements 12, a shortened leg element 12 is shown in Fig. 4.

Each leg element 12 includes a backing plate 13 S:i incorporating a channel 33 with a lower end spigot 14 shaped as indicated for a purpose to be described and housed in-part in the channel 33 at the lower end of t. element 12. On each plate 13 three claw slat clamps 15 (only one is shown in Fig.5 but all three are the same in the full element 12. The clamps 15 are fixed in spaced relationship to provide the means whereby the leg elements are secured to the slats 2.

As will be understood by placing a slat 2 between the S toothed jaws 16 with the slats firmly abutting the inner faces 17 of the claw clamps 15 and then bending the jaws 16 so as to bring them together the teeth will be forced into the edges of the timber slats 2. In this way a very secure connection between the slats 2 ond the leg elements 12 can be achieved.

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6 To facilitate the thorough powder coating of the surfaces of the channel 33 of the leg element backing pla .3 (the preferred form of applying a decorative and hard wearing surface finish to the tie members 12) notches 18 are provided in the clamps The last component of the knocked down kit is the bottom assembly 19 of the planter box. This comprises the two slats 4 fixed to the bottom elements 22 of the two intermediate frames. Each bottom element 22 comprises a body part 23 curved at the ends at 24 and provided with a central longitudinal channel 25. Fixed to the body part 23 and overlying the channel 25 there are two claw clamps 26 similar to the claw clamps "The two slats 4 are secured to the bottom elements of the intermediate frames by forcing the jaws 27 into the sides of the wooden slats 4.

"t The assembly of the planter box is simple and involves the following steps. One side assembly is mounted to the bottom assembly by engaging the curved spigots 14 20 of the side assembly in the curved portions 24 of the channels 25 of the bottom elements 22 (the spigot size and shape is arranged to match the size and shape of the channels 25) until the free ends of the spigots 14 engage under the claw clamps 26. This firmly seats the spigot 14 in the channels 25 and the engagement of the ends of the spigots 14 under the claw clamps 26 prevents outward spreading of the side assembly -I--mB 7 relative to the bottom assembly. The other side assembly is then mounted on the bottom assembly in the same manner.

The end assemblies are then positioned with the free ends of the slats 4 supported on the flange 6 of the end frames 10 and the lengths of the slats 3 are such that their ends will lie in c-nse proximity to the side slats 2. To achieve this relationship the slats 4 of the base are shorter at each end by approximately the thickness of the end slats 3. With the assembled S arranged as aforesaid securing nails 28 are driven through the side slats 2 into the ends of the slats 3.

0 Nailing the slats 2 to the slats 3 maintains an interlocking relationship between the side, end and bottom assemblies and provides a robust and decorative planter box. The design of the planter box allows the assembly to be achieved with a minimum of skill on the part of the assembler. To further reduce the demands on the assembler, the holes for the nails 28 can be 20 provided in the slats 2 as part of the pre-fabrication of the side assemblies.

The foregoing is to be understood to be a preferred embodiment of the invention and modification can be made to the specific items described without departing from the inventive concepts herein disclosed. By way of example, there could be more than three slats in the 8 end and side assemblies of the planter box and'more than two slats in the bottom assembly.

The cross-sections shape of the planter box can be changed from that illustrated.

The slats can be replaced by panels of suitable material, such as waterproof plywood.

The claw clamps can be replaced by suitable alternatives although the particular form of claw clamp disclosed has been found to provide a very secure means 10 for coupling the planter frame members to the side and base forming slats.

A nut 32 can be fixed to the leg elements 12 in a o..

suitable place, or in multiple places one of which is shown in Fig.4, in alignment with a hole in the channel thereof. The nut is conveniently housed in the channel 33. The nut are for engagement by screws whereby the planter box could be coupled to support brackets to make a window or like fitting from the planter box.

Claims

2. A planter box kit as claimed in claim 1 wherein the legs of the end frame include spikes projecting from said legs to mount the planter box end forming slats to the end frames.
3. A planter box kit as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein each slat clamps includes a base with upstanding arms which are bendable relative to the base, and wherein the base is fixed to the bottom and legs elements of the intermediate frame and each clamp arm has a free end provided with slat gripping means, the spacing between the gripping means on the arms of each clamp is such that a slat can be placed between o the gripping means and bending the arms relative to the Dase will result in the gripping elements gripping a S. slat disposed therebetween. .i
4. A planter box kit as claimed in claim 1 where the bottom element of each intermediate frame has an inner face and an outer face and there is a channel in the bottom element open to the inner face thereof and end zones of the bottom element are curved in the length direction of the channel with the channel portions in the curved end zones facing each other and forming said 11 sockets, and said spigots of the leg elements are similarly curved to allow them to lie in said channel, said spigots each have a free end for engagement under a bridge across said channel thereby to releasably retain said leg elements in a predetermined angular relationship with said bottom element in whiclh said spigots bear on the bottom of the channel in the curved end zones of said bottom element. A planter box kit as claimed in claim 4 wherein said bridge is a slat clamp.
6. A planter box kit as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the shaped end and "intermediate frames have divergent legs.
7. A planter box kit to form a planter box having two ends, two sides and a bottom; said kit includes two end assemblies, two side assemblies and a bottom assemblies; the end assemblies each in-lude an end Io": frame of form having a bottom member including a support flange joining first ends of two leg members, a end panel mounted on and extending between the legs of the end frame; the side assemblies each include a like side panel coupled to at least two lateral leg elements each provided with panel engaging clamps; the bottom assembly includes a bottom panel which is shorter than the side panels and which is fastened to at least two lateral bottom elements each provided with bottom panel g -LLI -P Ibl 12 engaging clamps; said bottom elements and leg elements are respectively provided with socket ends and spigots and engagement between the spigots and sockets mounts the side assemblies to the bottom assembly with the interconnected leg elements and bottom elements forming shaped intermediate frames; and wherein the length of the end panels correspond with the spacing between the side panels when coupled to the .bottom assembly and said end panels are end profiled to provide substantially abutting relationship between the ends of the end assembly panel and side faces of the side panels thereby to facilitate the placement of fixing means to couple the end panel to the side panels with the end assemblies spaced such that the ends of the bottom panel rest on the flanges of the said end frames.
8. A planter box when assembled from the kit as claimed in any one of the preceding claims.
9. A planter box kit as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Dated this 3rd day of September, 1994 ARTHUR MIZZI By Ais Patent Attorneys, J L IC- b*IIIIP ~$b~ja~a~msa~e9rar--- 1 ABSTRACT A planter box kit for a planter box comprised of an end assembly two side assemblies (11) and a bottom assembly (19) respectively including slats (3,2,4) attached to slat support elements (10,12,22). The **o side assembly elements (12) have spigots (14) to engage *0i in sockets (25) of the bottom assembly elements (22) in g. an initial assembly step and the final assembly step is by means of nails (28) connecting the side assembly slats to the ends of the end assembly slats e 0 C 1 9 i b~