AU753920B2 - An ornamental display - Google Patents

Description

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AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT S.

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Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor(s): Address for Service: Invention Title: ROBERT LESLIE MCMULLEN ROBERT LESLIE MCMULLEN CULLEN CO., Patent Trade Mark Attorneys, 239 George Street, Brisbane, QId. 4000, Australia.

AN ORNAMENTAL DISPLAY

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5555 Details of Associated Application: Petty Patent No.733911 Priority Date: 21 December 2000 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us.

AN ORNAMENTAL DISPLAY TECHNICAL FIELD This invention relates to ornamental displays and has particular relevance to the display of potted and ornamental plants.

BACKGROUND ART Pot and other ornamental plants are used extensively to enhance indoor and outdoor environments where people live or gather.

Pot plants are particularly popular with unit and high rise dwellers and can be used to great effect to help create a natural and colourful environment in situations where in-earth planting is not available or viable.

It is difficult however to grow climbing plants without making permanent fixtures to walls.

Larger pot plants are not particularly easy to move or change.

Among the variety of display devices available, none are known .0 15 to provide a system to incorporate the facilities to carry the pot plant, hold :water, allow the quick and easy removal, replacement and rearrangement, either within the display device or from one display unit to another, either indoors or outdoors.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a pot plant 20 display stand that can be used in a wide variety of configurations and situations and one which will accept a number of pot plant holders that can be attached to any area of the stand without upsetting the stability of the stand.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a pot plant holder for the display stand, as above, that will contain excess water from the 25 plant and allow the plant to use that water.

V. 0:It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a pot plant holder, as above, to receive a clip on attachment that will securely support the pot plant holder and plant.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a clip on attachment that will support the pot plant and plant, as above, also attach to the display stand in a manner that will allow the quick and easy placement or removal of the pot plant holder.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided an ornamental display comprising a base, an upright extending from the base which provides a plurality of spaced and adjacent cross members and a plurality of plant containing devices suspended from the upright by suspension lugs characterised in that the suspension lugs are adapted to be releasably engaged with adjacent cross members of the upright.

The second sides of the lugs can be provided with at least one downwardly angularly orientated open channel therein for engagement over a cross member of the upright.

The upright can be a lattice framework.

The lattice framework can be substantially trough-shaped.

The lattice framework can comprise a first section and extending 15 from the base and a second section connected to the free end of the first section which creates a second tier of the upright.

The first and second sections of the framework can be connected by a connector which secures cross-members of overlapping sections of the framework and supports the weight of the second section of 20 the framework.

According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a *lug for suspending a container from a crossbar, the lug comprising an elongate body having a first side, having at least one angularly orientated open channel therein and a second opposite side provided with a pair of 25 spaced and opposed hooks which are adapted to engage with and secure the top wall and base of a container.

According to still further aspect of the present invention there is provided a clip for securing together overlapping lattice frameworks, the clip comprising an elongate bar, having at one end a single return hook and at the other end, a single or double return hook the hooks enabling overlapping ends of bars of a lattice framework to be joined together and secured against lateral movement.

According to a still further aspect of the present invention there is provided a container for an ornamental display as aforesaid.

The container having a suspension lug integrally formed in the wall thereof and being provided with at least one downwardly orientated open channel therein for engagement with a cross member or cross members of an upright or bracket.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Aspects of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which; FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an ornamental display according to one aspect of the present invention, and FIGURE 2 2A are perspective views of an ornamental display according to one aspect of the present invention, and FIGURE 3 is a side view of a lug used for suspending pot 15 containers on the upright of the display of FIGURE 1, and FIGURE 4 is a side view of an ornamental display according to the present invention, and FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of a wall mounting bracket for suspending a pot plant container according to a further aspect of the present 20 invention, and FIGURES 6, 6A and 6B are side views of a container and suspension lug according to a further possible embodiment of the present invention, and FIGURES 7 and 7A are side views of a container and integral 25 lug according to a still further aspect of the present invention.

1 With respect to the drawings an ornamental display according to the present invention comprises a base generally indicated by arrow 1, an upright generally indicated by arrow 2 which extends from the base 1, and a plurality of pot containers 3 suspended from the upright by a suspension lug 14 generally indicated by arrow 4.

The upright 3 is in the form of a lattice framework formed from intersecting rods In the example illustrated by Figure 1, the upright comprises a lower tier 6 and an upper tier 7.

The upper and lower tiers 6, 7 overlap and are secured together by a clip generally indicated by arrow 8.

The tiers 6,7, of the upright can be formed from complimentary trough-shaped lattice frameworks, formed from stock metal reinforcing mesh materials which may be painted, powdercoated or otherwise finished.

The lower end of the lower tier 6 of the upright can be fixed to the base by a cross-bar 9, the free ends of which engage with the lattice.

The cross-bar 9 can be fixed to the base by a bolt 10 or other fixture means.

The clip 8 can be formed from metal or plastics and comprises an elongate section 9 (see Figure the free ends of which are fashioned into hooks.

15 At one end a hook is fashioned from a single return 12 and at the other end a double return 13, which provides two rod engaging slots.

If the hook is made in a wider material and provided with slots on the ends for location with vertical rails of a mesh, this will ensure correct alignment.

20 As will be appreciated from the illustration, the clip 8 secures the adjacent sections of the uprights against axial displacement in either direction and overlying sections at the sides of the frameworks resist tilting.

~The lug 4 (best exemplified by Figure 3) has an elongate body 14. At one edge of the body 14 two spaced and angularly orientated open channels 15 are provided.

On another opposite edge of the body 14 an open channel 16 is provided which is flanked by two opposed hooks 17, 18. The hooks 17, 18 are used to support the side edge and bottom wall of a container 3 (shown in broken outline in Figure 3).

To engage a container 3 with the channel 16, the top lip of the side wall 19 of the container fully enters the slot formed by the hook 17 in an upward movement and the bottom wall 20 engages with and is secured by the hook 18 when the container is subsequently lowered.

The broken outline 15a of figure 3 indicates a possible modification to the lug 4. In this instance the lower channel 15 is replaced by an inverted L-shaped step as indicated by the broken lines.

Figure 5 of the drawings illustrates a container wall or post mounting accessory generally indicated by arrow 21 which performs the same function as cross members of the lattice formworks 6, 7.

The accessory 21 is provided with a U-section body 22 and two attachment brackets 23 for engagement with the channels 15 of the lug 4.

The attachment brackets are integral with the accessory 21.

Fixture holes 24 are provided for fixing the accessory to a post, wall or the like. The lug 4 can be of such a width that it fits snugly in between the sides of the U-section body 22.

It is to be appreciated that the lug 4 may form an integral part of 15 the wall of a container, however, by preference the lug is formed as a separate item and in this way the containers supplied with the system would be stackable for storage and transportation.

With respect to figures 6 to 6B of the drawings in this arrangement containers 3 are provided with one or more wall apertures 20 and the base of the container is provided with a check-out 26.

The lug 4 is substantially as previously described and the hooks 17, 18 a complimentary snap fit with the aperture(s) 25 and check-out.

As aforesaid the lug and container may be integrally formed and an example of such an arrangement is illustrated by figures 7 and 7A where a lug 4A forms part of the sidewall of a container 3A in the manner illustrated.

Modifications may be made to the container of figures 7 and 7a where a lower angularly orientated channel is replaced by the L-shaped step 5 as indicated.

The present invention provides the flexibility to change the display of plants as one desires in conjunction with the flowering of the plants, for example, one display stand may be placed in the foyer area of a building, the stand displaying a variety of colorful flowering plants, another outside the building in an appropriate place, carrying a range of other pot plants not yet flowering.

As the flowering plants indoors begin to lose their blooms, they can be quickly and easily changed to maintain the pleasant colourful aesthetic surroundings in the foyer area, by replacing them with others from outside which have started to bloom or are in full bloom.

The present invention provides a combined flower potholder, an attachment device and wire mesh upstand that marry together to create a unique plant display system.

Aspects of the present invention have been described by way of example only and it will be appreciated that modifications and additions thereto may be made without departing from the scope thereof, as defined in the appended claims.

Claims (11)

1. An ornamental display comprising a base, an upright extending from the base which provides a plurality of spaced and adjacent cross members and a plurality of plant containing devices suspended from the upright by suspension lugs characterised in that the suspension lugs each have a first side providing means for connection to the plant containing devices and second side opposite to the first side adapted to be releasably engaged with at least one adjacent cross member of the upright.

2. An ornamental display as claimed in claim 1 wherein the second sides of the lugs are provided with at least one downwardly angularly orientated open channel therein for engagement over a cross member of the upright.

3. An ornamental display as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the upright is a lattice framework.

4. An ornamental display as claimed in claim 3 wherein the lattice framework is substantially trough-shaped.

5. An ornamental display as claimed in claim 4 wherein the lattice framework comprises a first section and extending from the base and a second section connected to the free end of the first section which creates a 20 second tier of the upright.

6. An ornamental display as claimed in Claim 5, wherein the first and second sections of the framework are connected by a connector which secures cross-members of overlapping sections of the framework and supports the weight of the second section of the framework. 25

7. A lug for suspending a container from a crossbar, the lug comprising an elongate body having a first side with at least one angularly orientated open channel therein and a recess which enables the lug to engage with first and second cross members of an upright in a manner which stablises the lug against swivelling and a second opposite side provided with a pair of spaced and opposed hooks which are adapted to engage with the wall and/or base of a container.

8. A lug as claimed in claim 7 in combination with a container 9 wherein the hooks thereof engage in a snap fitting arrangement with an aperture or apertures in the wall of the container and a complementary rebate associated with the base of the container.

9. A container for an ornamental display as claimed in claim 1 the container having a suspension lug integrally formed in the wall thereof provided with at least one downwardly angularly orientated open channel therein for engagement with a cross-member or cross-members of an upright or bracket.

An ornamental display substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

11. A lug for suspending a container from a crossbar substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED this 14th day of August 2002 ROBERT LESLIE McMULLEN By his Patent Attorneys CULLEN CO. 0* *g 00 .o•1.