Portable greenhouse
AssigneeGeneral Aluminum Products, Inc.
InventorsRichard L. Trumley, Randy W. Linn
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A portable, self-contained greenhouse includes a base pan having longitudinally extending troughs adjacent the sides thereof and a curved bottom panel. A transparent enclosure including a plurality of slidable, transparent wall and roof panels is supported on the base pan. An automatic heating arrangement is disposed partially within the base pan for uniformly heating the soil mixture contained therein. Artificial lights and a control system are included for selectively, artificially stimulating the plants as a function of ambient lighting conditions. A moisture indicator is also provided.
Claims16
A portable, self-contained greenhouse comprising:
- a base pan adapted to receive a soil mixture;
- a transparent enclosure supported on said base pan;
- lighting means mounted to said enclosure for artificially stimulating the plant life growing in the soil mixture;
- heating means positioned within said base pan and buried within the soil mixture for uniformly heating the soil mixture, said heating means including
- a pair of superimposed heat spreading shields adapted to be placed within said base pan and buried within the soil mixture, said shields each having a plurality of spaced apertures arranged in vertically spaced pairs when said plates are superimposed;
- a plurality of clips each extending through one of said pairs of vertically spaced apertures being generally U-shaped and including wire retaining tabs extending inwardly between the legs of the clip;
- and
- a resistance type heating wire sandwiched between said shields and retained by said tabs between the legs of each of said clips in a serpentine manner, said wire contacting said heat shields at spaced points.
A portable, self-contained greenhouse comprising:
- a base pan having longitudinally extending troughs adjacent the sides thereof and a curved bottom panel intermediate the troughs, said pan adapted to receive a soil mixture;
- a transparent enclosure supported on said base pan, said enclosure including end panels, transparent wall members and means for slidably mounting said transparent wall members between said end panels;
- heating means supported within said pan and buried within the soil mixture for uniformly heating the soil mixture;
- sensing means for sensing the soil temperature and actuating said heating means;
- lighting means supported by said enclosure for artificially stimulating the plants growing in the soil mixture;
- lighting control means electrically connected to said lighting means for automatically activating said lighting means as a function of ambient light, and wherein said heating means includes;
- a pair of superimposed heat spreading shields adapted to be placed within said base pan above the troughs and buried within the soil mixture, said shields each having a plurality of spaced apertures arranged in vertically spaced pairs when said plates are superimposed;
- a plurality of clips each extending through one of said pairs of vertically spaced apertures being generally U-shaped and including wire retaining tabs extending inwardly between the legs of the clip;
- a resistance type heating wire sandwiched between said shields and retained by said tabs between the legs of each of said clips in a serpentine manner, said wire contacting said heat shields at spaced points.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.