The present invention relates to a hydro-thermo irrigation mat and particularly, but not exclusively, for heating and watering potted plants in nurseries during cold weather conditions.
Irrigation mats are known and an example of these is described in PCT application WO2004/056172 filed on Dec. 23, 2002 and relating to an irrigation mat for the irrigation of potted plants. This mat was designed primarily to absorb and retain water which is sprinkled over the mat by overhead sprinklers. U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,659 discloses a capillary root zone irrigation system utilizing an irrigation mat wherein water is supplied into the mat by rigid polyethylene pipes which are perforated. These types of mats are cumbersome and need to be assembled on site and are very expensive.
In our pending application Ser. No. 2,498,077 there is described an irrigation mat which includes drip tapes incorporated therein and wherein the mat and the drip tapes can be rolled into a bundle for shipping and storage.
In order to save energy in heating plants in greenhouses there is on the market a floor mesh in which tubes are connected thereto and which are then connected to a hot water supply whereby hot water is directed in these tubes. The tubes are disposed on a support table onto which are placed potted plants whereby to heat the plants directly. Accordingly it is not necessary to heat the entire greenhouse to provide heat to the plants and this translates into energy savings. This system is known as a root zone heating system. However, when heating potted plants the heat normally dries up the plants particularly in small cells for growing propagation plugs and accordingly it is necessary to periodically water the plants. Also, the heat is not evenly distributed on the contact surface of the pot. Also, these tubes being exposed directly onto a support table or on potted plants are subject to puncture and therefore malfunction. If one of the tubes in the assembly becomes punctured then the entire assembly is rendered inoperative and this requires for an entire arrangement of plants to be removed from the table to remove the heating tubes and then to position new tubes and reposition the plants on the table. This is time consuming and expensive. Because the tubes are exposed to ambient air, a lot of the heat is lost into the space. This system is not totally efficient.
It is a feature of the present invention to provide a hydro-thermo irrigation mat which substantially overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art.
According to the above feature, from a broad aspect, the present invention provides a hydro-thermal irrigation mat which comprises a base sheet, a water-permeable root-shielding top sheet and a capillary mat of absorbent material having capillary properties to permit water dispersion therein and held captive between said base sheet and top sheet. One or more flat pliable drip tapes are loosely disposed in spaced-apart relationship between the top sheet and the capillary mat. The drip tapes are hollow flat tubes of perforated plastics material and extend between opposed ends of the irrigation mat. Hot water convection tubes are also disposed between the base sheet and the capillary mat for heating the mat. The hot water convection tubes are disposed co-axially with the drip tapes. The base sheet and the top sheet are secured together along overlapped edge portions thereof by securement means.
According to a further broad aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of irrigating potted plants supported on a mat as described above and simultaneously providing heat to the potted plants by the mat.
According to a further feature of the present invention there is provided the use of the hydro-thermal irrigation as defined herein above to heat and irrigate potted plants inside a greenhouse during cold weather conditions.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to
Between the bottom sheet 11 and the top sheet 12 is disposed a capillary mat 15 of absorbent material having high capillary properties whereby to permit circulation of water in all direction therein. The water as retained by the mat seeps out of the top sheet through the holes or slits which have openings in a range of about 10 to 50 microns. The base sheet 11, the top sheet 12 and the capillary mat 15 are secured together along their longitudinal edges 16 and 16′ by a heat seal 17 or other suitable securing means. As herein shown the base sheet 11 has a folded over portion 11′ which wraps the ends of the capillary mat 15 and it is fused to the top sheet 12 by the heat seal 17.
One or more flat pliable drip tapes 18 are disposed between the top sheet 12 and the capillary mat of absorbent material and these drip tapes are spaced apart along the length of the mat 10, as illustrated in
The drip tapes 18 admit water within the capillary mat and this water seeps on the top surface 23 of the mat wherein potted plants 24 are disposed. The potted plants are in pots which have a perforated bottom wall or the pots are permeable whereby the roots will draw water from the top of the mat.
With reference again to
Valves 27 control the flow of hot water from the supply pipe 28 connected to the hot water tank 26 and this water flows back into the water tank by the return conduit 29. The other ends of the tubes 25 are connected to the return pipe 29 by suitable connectors 30. Accordingly, these hot water convection tubes supply heat to the mat and to the water as contained therein which act as a heat convection medium so that heat is supplied throughout the mat and not only in the areas where the tubes 25 extend. Because the heat is distributed throughout the mat, pots can be placed anywhere on the mat top surface. Also, because of the placement of these tubes and because of the thickness of the capillary mat 15 the hydro-thermo irrigation mat has a top surface which is quite stable and not bumpy as would be the case should the pot be placed directly on pipes or rigid heating tubes as is the case with the prior art.
An important feature of the hydro-thermo irrigation mat is that it provides both irrigation and heat through a single mat and it is therefore not necessary to have an overhead sprinkling system in operation, particularly during cold weather conditions where potted plants are growing inside a greenhouse. However, when growing plugs, overhead watering and misting is desired for propagation of plants.
The mats also provide good water management as well as an economical method for heating potted plants. Although in
It is within the ambit of the present invention to cover any obvious modifications of the preferred embodiment described herein, provided such modifications fall within the scope of the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2,528,416 | Nov 2005 | CA | national |
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/094,870 filed Dec. 9, 2008, which is a National Phase Entry of International Patent Application No. PCT/CA2006/001949 filed Nov. 29, 2006, which claims priority on Canadian Patent Application No. 2,528,416, filed Nov. 29, 2005.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 12094870 | Dec 2008 | US |
Child | 13352769 | US |