FR2479650A1 - Plant cultivation tower for building - has rectangular frame accommodating bottomless trays forming peripheral growth areas around core - Google Patents

Abstract

The tower is for the cultivation of small plants, vegetables or fruits, and for assembly by the user. It comprises a rectangular skeleton frame of metal angle sections, over which bottomless trays (10) are threaded and held in place. These form peripheral growth areas (13) at different levels, and are secured in the vertical position by removable or retractable transverse components. The tray walls can slope inwards towards the earth filling, and there can be a central rectangular core (8,9) of non-rotting material.

Description

The invention relates to a tower which allows the cultivation of vegetables for everyday consumption, fine herbs, fruit in plants ... at home on an open location such as - courtyard, terrace, veranda ...

The desire to own a piece of cultivable land is great among city dwellers who show themselves ready to fight to have the right to use a few square meters of land on the spaces developed around cities.

This possibility of gardening outside cities is the advantage of a minority, the other city dwellers having to be satisfied with their terrace, veranda ... which is only used for the maintenance of flowers intended for the decoration of the facade.

 To our knowledge, there are only rudimentary means of the pot or flowerpot type used for growing some herbs.

It is also possible to use any container of sufficient volume by filling it with cultivated soil. We then use all the cleared areas to plant and grow small vegetables for everyday consumption, herbs ...

Unfortunately, the usable area remains small compared to the volume occupied and the mass of soil required.

 In addition, the problem of watering and leaks from the bottom is not solved tolrt.

 For similar reasons, flat bins are not suitable.

The occupied location is too large in front of the usable space, which removes all of their interest in individual dwellings and especially in apartments.

The interesting home growing set must be able to provide for the current needs of a family in small vegetables, herbs ... so as to avoid the housewife constantly moving to the grocery store or to the big box neighbor and provide it with the freshness of a vegetable or fruit picked close to consumption.

The culture tower according to the invention corresponds exactly to the needs indicated above. It provides sufficient space for the needs of a family in greenery throughout the season and even in light cold weather.

Its ease of assembly and practicality make it an entirely interesting article.

 Its exceptional yield makes it possible to amortize its price from the first year.

Other advantages are indicated below.

 The total volume occupied makes it possible to keep an appreciable area of the terrace or veranda on which it is installed free.

We must also consider the proper av.mtK e of i; culture in volute of delimited ground. Indeed, in a conventional garden, v,% of the amount of water supplied disappears either by infiltration or by evaporation.

 With the tower according to the invention, the water is practically totally used, which makes it possible to appreciably decrease the useful cultivation area for each plant.

The design of the culture tower according to the invention allows the installation of protection against the cold by transparent sheets which promote the greenhouse effect when the sun appears.

 It is further planned to be able to install a low heating resistance in the central core inside the earth volume.

 The object of the invention is to remedy the drawbacks of the pots and tubs currently used for growing at home a few plants for everyday consumption.

 To this end, the invention relates to a home cultivation tower consisting of a parallelepipedic framework in metal profiles on which are placed and maintained superimposed trays, with open bottom and inclined walls delimiting cultivation perimeters arranged in floor floor is further provided a central core which occupies part of the central interior volume of land.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear on reading the description which follows of an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in which
- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the culture tower
according to the invention
- Figure 2 is a side view of the same culture tower
- Figure 3 is a perspective view of the frame
- Figure 4 is a perspective view of one of the tanks; walls
inclines
- Figure 5 is a perspective view of a variant.

The culture assembly according to the invention is in the form of a tower 1 with several culture stages such as 2.

 This tower comprises a parallelpipedic framework 3 formed of interlocking metal sections, rectilinear sections 4 on the one hand and corner sections 5 on the other.

The uprights of the frame are provided with transverse stop elements such as 6 removable or retractable called to maintain culture structures.

The central part 7 of the interior volume is occupied by a core 8, for example a parallelepipedic box 9 of implltrescible material with a height close to that of the tower.

 We will see below that this box saves a significant amount of cultivated soil. it also allows the installation of a means of heating of reduced power to avoid freezing and to favor the development of the plants in spite of light cold.

The culture structures are produced in the form of square or rectangular tanks 10 without bottom with inclined walls 11.

These trays are threaded onto the frame and kept horizontal by the transverse stop elements 6, for example cleats, pins or pins such as 12 arranged at regular intervals.

 The bins follow one another continuously in height without any gap between them. They delimit cultivation perimeters 13 around the tower arranged in horizontal stages.

 The width of these perimeters depends on the inclination of the walls of the tanks. We will choose it as it allows development. simultaneous of two small plants side by side.

The first tank rests on the ground or on the flat support chosen for mounting the tower.

 The interior volume-14 is filled with cultivation soil which comes to fill the tanks 10 to the brim.

 Direct watering works from above. Plants naturally develop at an angle towards - the light.

 Such a cultivation tower has a sufficient surface area for cultivation: to provide for the needs of a family with fine herbs and small vegetables.

The inner box can be extended upwards through the upper layer of soil by a support 15, for example with four feet and a tray which serves as an attachment element to a cover or to several flexible sheets of transparent material which protects the plants. cold at night and promotes the greenhouse effect during the day.

One can provide in the box a low electric resistance heater such as 16 of low power which would heat the earth from the inside, for example an electric bulb.

The general idea of the invention is that of the establishment of perimeters of culture in stages around a volume of interior soil of lm in one piece.

 As a variant, the present invention can be reduced to a one-piece box 17 which would be the above cultivation tower comprising only one single side of the 1t culture.

 More precisely, in the variant represented: in FIG. 3, the bottomless superimposed tanks are delimited p: Lr the rear side walls 19 of the cabinet and a tilted front wall - EVENINGS in the form of tilted flaps 21.

 The inclined flaps 21 are added to the edges of the side walls cut in sawtooth.

 Crop surfaces are thus produced which consist of storey edges 22 delimited longitudinally by the flaps 21.

This assembly, of smaller volume allows to realize a small culture in the dwellings of small surface.

 The invention has been described in connection with a particular embodiment, it is understood that embodiments deriving from it by the use of equivalent means, simple modifications or partial substitutions fall within its scope.

Claims (6)

 Tour for home growing of small vegetables, herbs, fruit in plants ... in outdoor places or. partially sheltered such as terraces, verandas, backyards, etc. to be fitted yourself, characterized by the fact that it consists of a rectangular frame (3) made of metal profiles on which bottomless trays are threaded and held (10 ) superimposed without discontinuity forming perimeters of culture (13) arranged in stages, immobilized in vertical position on the uprights of the frame by removable or retractable transverse elements.  2. Tower according to claim 1 characterized in that the culture tanks (10) have walls (11) inclined towards 1? inside the volume of soil. 3. Tower according to claim 1 characterized in that it has a central core (8) of the parallelepiped box type (9) of rot-proof material so as to occupy the useless volume of soil which would be in the center.  4. Tower according to claims 1 and 3 characterized in that it has a support (153 (15) 'constituting the extension of the central core or resting thereon for the maintenance of a protective cover or flexible sheets of transparent material forming a greenhouse effect.  5. Tower according to claims 1 and 3 characterized in that it comprises a heating means (16) of reduced power dans.le core (8). 6. Culture assembly of the same design characterized by a monobloc box (17) having only one culture face (18) in which the bottomless superposed tanks constituting the culture stages are delimited by the rear walls (19) and side (20) of the cabinet and an inclined front wall in the form of a flap (21) attached to the level of each tray on the edges of the side walls cut in sawtooth.