Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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The invention relates generally to the art of macrame,
and more particularly to artistic arrangements to provide hang-
ing supports for plant containers.
In recent years, the indoor use of tropical or semi-tropi-
cal foilage plant for residential, or commercial office decora-
tion has resulted in an increased demand for artistically worked
slings or hangers adapted for the suspended support of such plants.
The art of macrame is old, and in its simplest form uti-
lizes rope strands, knotted and woven for artistic effect. It
has been common in this art to utilize woven ropestrands in a
sling-like fashion, the lower portion of the sling being formed
in a net, by knotting adjacent rope strands. The net may be
formed in various sized to accommodate large or small pots, con-
tainers or baskets.
The artistic designs incorporated within such macrame sup-
ports, may result in relatively complex net configurations,
which, while asthetically pleasing, tend to be somewhat disad-
vantageous in a practical sense.
As will be appreciated, a great number of the more popular
foilage plants are of-the~ trailing variety, and as such are es-
pecially chosen to be utilized in hanging displays.
In the case where a young plant with minimal growth is in-
troduced into a macrame hanger or sling, problems do not arise
until such time as it becomes necessary, in view of increased
growth, to re-pot or transfer to a larger hanger. It then is
found to be extremely difficult if not impossible, to extract
a plant from the hanger without causing damage to the ~leaves,
and/or trailing portions of the plant.
The problem is even more acute however, when it is required
to arrange already large trailing plants within such hangers, the
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procedure generally requiring at least two people and some con-
siderable time before the plant can be carefully manipulated
into posltion within the hanging net. Even then, some damage
to the plant is unavoidable.
The present invention however seeks to overcome this prob-
lem by providing a device, in the manner of a releasable fasten-
ing, which when incorporated into the design of the hanger, or
sling renders it capable of disassembly, thus permitting the
extraction or insertion of plants with relative ease and conse-
quently in a less damaging manner.
Accordingly, the invention comprises a coupling devicefor detachably securing adjacent strands of a hanging macrame
plant support comprising a first component attached to at least
one major supporting strand of the assembly, a second component
attached to at least a second major supporting strand of the
assembly, the first and second components being adapted for
releasable interconnection one with the other thereby facili-
tating convenient assembly and/or disassembly of the support.
The invention will now be described by way of example
only, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a schematic representation of a conventional
form of macrame hanger embodying a plurality of devices accord-
ing to the invention;
Figure 2 shows the arrangement according to Figure 1, one
of the devices according to the invention being disconnected;
Figure 3 is a perspective view of one complete device ac-
cording to the invention; and
Figure 4 and 4a show a partial section of the two separa-
ted halves of a preferred embodiment of the device according to
the invention.
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Referring now to the drawings where like numerals have,
for ease of understanding, been utilized to refer to like com-
ponents of the system, numeral 10 designates a typical macrame
assembly adapted for the support of a plant container 11.
The assembly, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, of is relative-
ly simple design, and comprises a first portion consisting of a
number of braided rope strands 12 joined at their uppermost ends
to form a loop 13, and a second portion consisting of a number
of rope strands 12a, suitably knotted in a conventional manner
at 15 to form a supporting net for container 11.
The lower ends of strands 12a are in the embodiment shown,
braided together to form a knot 16, the distal ends of strands
12a depending therefrom in the form of a tassle 17.
The construction of each heretofor mentioned portion is
conventional and does not therefor form part of the present in-
vention, which is directed principally to the releasable inter-
connection of the two structural portions of the assemblies in
a manner to be described hereafter.
It is common in the art of macrame to include within the
design a number of beads of varying shape and size. Such beads
are normally of wood but can be manufactured from any suitable
or desired material, for example plastics.
In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, cer-
tain of these beads have been adapted to provide the means where-
by the first and second portions may be readily uncoupled. While
it is esthetically advantageous to provide the coupling elements
in the form of beads, it is to be understood that such a coupling
may be provided in a number of forms, all of which fall within
the scope of the present invention.
Figures 1 and 2 show a number of such coupling elements
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in the form of beads 14, shown slightly enlarged for clarity.
Each bead 14 as can be seen in Figures 3, 4 and 4a comprise
two interlockable half sections 14a and 14b, the bead accord-
ing to Figure 3 being manufactured from wood, whereas in the
alternative embodiment according to Figure 4 and 4a, the bead
is manufactured in plastics.
Looking specifically at the construction of the coupling
element according to Figures 4 and 4a, each half section 14a
and 14b of bead 14 is provided with a central bore 18 extending
longitudinally therethrough, bore 18 being enlarged toward one
end of each of sections 14a and 14b, into a chamber 19.
To facilitate interconnection between components 14a and
14b of bead 14, male and female components 20 and 21 respective-
ly are provided, threadably engagable one with the other. Fe-
male component 21 comprises a tubular sleeve member fixedly lo-
cated within chamber 19 of component 14a, the internal bore of
which tubular component being provided with a threaded portion
22. Male component 20 also comprises a tubular sleeve member
fixedly located in part within chamber 19 of component 14b and
projecting outwardly therefrom a distance substantially equal
to the depth of chamber 19 of component 14a. The projecting
portion of component 20 being provided, on the external surface
thereof with a threaded portion 23.
~ Each of sleeve members 20 and 21 are substantially closed
: at their innermost ends 24, each being provided however with an
aperture 25 which registers with bore 18 in their respective
; component.
Component 14a and 14b, as can be seen from Figures 4 and
4a respectively, are attached to their respective rope strands
12 and 12b by inserting the strand through bore 18 and providing
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knots 26. The knots thus formed being contained within com-
ponents 20 and 21, and effectively preventing disengagement
of the strands from their co-operating component.
In use, as will be evident from the drawings and the
previous description, the externally threaded component 20
is screwed into the tubular internally threaded component 21,
thus completing the assembly of bead 14 and affecting positive
interconnection between strands 12 and 12a.
It will therefore be readily appreciated, as shown sche-
matically in Figure 2, that by disconnecting one or more beads
14, a plant holding container 11 may be extracted from a macrame
net support with relative ease, in such a manner as to avoid
substantial damage to the plant.
While in the embodiment according to Figures 4 and 4a,
there has been described a threadably engagable plug and socket
type assembly, it is to be understood that in the embodiment
according to Figure 3 where the components are manufactured
from wood, the threadable portions of each component could be
integrally formed by convention wood-turning techniques.
It will also be appreciated that the quick connect/dis-
connect coupling may be located at any convenient point within
the assembly, and not exactly in the configuration and manner
shown herein.
Further modifications and alternative embodiments of the
invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view
of the foregoing description. Accordingly, this description is
to be construed as illustrative only and is for the purpose
of teaching those skilled in the art the manner of carrying out
the invention. It is further understood that the form of the
3n invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as the
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presently preferred embodiment. Various changes may be made
in the shape, size and general arrangement of components. For
example, equivalent elements may be substituted for those illus-
trated and described herein, parts may be used independently of
the use of other features, all as will be apparent to one skilled
in the art after having the benefits of the description of the
7 invention.
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