US 12,349,640 B2
Planting container unit and greening method using same
Shinichi Kawada, Tokyo (JP); and Yasujiro Katsuyama, Kawaguchi (JP)
Assigned to KAWADA INDUSTRIES, INC, Tokyo (JP)
Appl. No. 18/019,860
Filed by KAWADA INDUSTRIES, INC., Tokyo (JP)
PCT Filed Aug. 6, 2020, PCT No. PCT/JP2020/030238
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Feb. 6, 2023,
PCT Pub. No. WO2022/029964, PCT Pub. Date Feb. 10, 2022.
Claims priority of application No. 2020-133040 (JP), filed on Aug. 5, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0270051 A1, Aug. 31, 2023
Int. Cl. A01G 9/02 (2018.01)
CPC A01G 9/025 (2013.01) [A01G 9/023 (2013.01)] 17 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A planting container unit comprising:
an outer container having a first upper-surface opening and a first front-surface opening;
an inner container that is engaged by being inserted into the first front-surface opening; and
a fixing plate with which the inner container is fixed to the outer container, wherein:
the inner container is capable of housing a planting base and a pot plant, includes a second front-surface opening through which a plant body part of the pot plant is able to be exposed to an outside, and includes, separately from the second front-surface opening, a second upper-surface opening for housing the planting base and the pot plant;
on a front surface having the second front-surface opening, the inner container has a front-surface flange that extends across the front surface and engages with a wall of the outer container around the first front-surface opening, and the planting container unit is configured such that, by combining the front-surface flange and the fixing plate with each other, the inner container is removably housed inside the outer container while closing the first front-surface opening;
the outer container has at least one notch in the first front-surface opening, and at least one tab at a top part on a side of the first front-surface opening;
the inner container has a tab near the front-surface flange, on a side surface that is adjacent to the front-surface flange and inserted into the first front-surface opening, and hooked protrusions that are on outer sides of both side edges of the front-surface flange such that the fixing plate is insertable into the hooked protrusions;
the fixing plate has a Z-shaped cross-section as seen in a side view;
the tab is configured to pass through the notch when the inner container is inserted into the first front-surface opening of the outer container, and the wall of the first front-surface opening constituting a part under the notch of the outer container is held between the tab and the front-surface flange; and
when the fixing plate is inserted into the hooked protrusions of the inner container, a bent portion of the fixing plate is fixed to an upper edge of the front-surface flange of the inner container, and an upper edge of the fixing plate is engaged with the tab at a top part of the outer container.