Patent Application
20160174466
The present disclosure relates generally to landscaping borders, and more particularly to landscaping border segments that can be joined in series to define a landscaping border.
Landscapers often desire a look that defines a clear separation between different areas. For instance, landscaping borders are often utilized to separate mulched areas from grass lawn areas. Because these borders between the different areas often include curves of various radiuses in different directions, it can sometimes be difficult to find a suitable medium in order to construct an attractive landscaping border. Canadian Patent No. CA 2667630 shows an example landscaping border segment in which individual wooden pieces that make up the landscaping border segment are attached with staples. While such a strategy permits some flexibility in forming the landscaping border segment to adapt to different curvatures, it has limited capability due to the rigid nature of the attaching staples.
The present disclosure is directed toward one or more of the problems set forth above.
In one aspect, a landscaping border segment includes a rigid unit piece with a height along an axis between a base end and a top end that is greater than both a width and depth. The base end defines a base groove oriented perpendicular to the axis, and the top end defines a top groove oriented perpendicular to the axis and parallel to the base groove. About two dozen of the rigid unit pieces are arranged in a series with the axes in parallel and with the bases defining a ground contact surface. The series includes a left end rigid unit piece that defines a left end of the series, and a right end rigid unit piece that defines a right end of the series. One of the left end rigid unit piece and the right end rigid unit piece has a male connection feature, and an other of the left end rigid unit piece and the right end rigid unit piece has a female connection feature that mates to the male connection feature. A top elastic elongate joining member is received in each of the top grooves. A base elastic elongate joining member is received in each of the base grooves. A top fastener is mounted in the top end of each of the rigid unit pieces and is positioned to affix the top elastic elongate member to the respective rigid unit piece. A base fastener is mounted in the base end of each of the rigid unit pieces and is positioned to affix the base elastic elongate member to the respective rigid unit piece. A plurality of ground penetrating stakes extend away from the ground contact surface, and each is mounted to a different one of the rigid unit pieces. Adjacent rigid unit pieces are held apart by the top and base elastic elongate joining members when the series is in a straight configuration at which the axes lie in a plane, and the series has a continuum of curved configurations in which different adjacent pairs of rigid unit pieces rotate relative to each other while all the axes remain parallel in each of the straight and curved configurations. The top and base elongate joining members are stretched in at least one of the curved configurations.
In another aspect, a landscaping border includes a plurality of identical landscaping border segments connected end to end.
In still another aspect, a sale presentation of landscaping border segments includes a pallet with a stack of layers that each include a plurality of identical landscaping border segments that are in a straight configuration. Each of the layers is orthogonal to a contiguous layer.
Referring initially to
One of the left end rigid unit piece 52 and the right end rigid unit piece 54 has a male connection feature 40, and an other of the left end rigid unit piece 52 and right end rigid unit piece 54 has a female connection feature 44 that mates to the male connection feature 40. In the illustrated embodiment, the male connection feature 40 includes a U-shaped rod 41 of a medium diameter with one leg 42 pressfit into a small diameter bore defined by the left end rigid unit piece 52. The female connector 44 includes a large diameter bore 45 defined by the right end rigid unit piece 54, with the large diameter bore 45 being oriented parallel to the axis 12. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the male and female connection features 40,44 could take different forms, and could be located on opposite ends of the landscaping border segment 50 apart from the configuration shown without departing from the intended scope of the present disclosure.
A top elastic elongate joining member 30 is received in each of the top grooves 18 of the rigid unit pieces 10. Likewise, a base elongate joining member 31 is received in each of the base grooves 17 of the rigid unit pieces 10. In the illustrated embodiment, the elastic elongate joining members 30, 31 are segments of screen spline 32 with a cross section 33 that is deformed when received in the top and base grooves 17, 18, respectively. For instance, screen spline 32 may have a hollow center and a star shaped outer perimeter that deforms when pressed into the grooves 17, 18.
A top fastener 36 is mounted in the top end 14 of each of the rigid unit pieces 10 and is positioned to affix the top elastic elongate member 30 to the respective rigid unit piece 10. Likewise, a base fastener 37 is mounted in the base end 13 of each of the rigid unit pieces 10 and is positioned to affix the base elastic elongate joining member 31 to the respective rigid unit piece 10. In the illustrated embodiment, the top and base fasteners 36, 37 may take the form of identical staples 38 that straddle the respective top and base elastic elongate joining members 30, 31.
A plurality of ground penetrating stakes 47 extend away from the ground contact surface 51, with each of the ground penetrating stakes 47 being mounted to a different one of the rigid unit pieces 10. The ground penetrating stakes 47 may take the form of rigid metallic rods that are pressfit into respective bores of the rigid unit pieces 10. Although ground contact surface 51 is shown as defining a plane, a ground contact surface 51 that is curved or otherwise not planar would also fall within the intended scope of the present disclosure.
Adjacent rigid unit pieces 10 in each landscaping border segment 50 are held apart by the top and base elastic elongate joining members 30, 31 when the series in a straight configuration 60, as shown, at which the axes 12 all lie in a plane 61. Referring additionally to
As best shown in
The present disclosure finds potential applicability in the construction of landscaping borders. In particular, the present disclosure finds specific applicability to landscaping border segments that may be joined together end-to-end to define a landscaping border. The present disclosure also finds specific application to accommodating irregular curvatures that might be desirable to landscaping experts in constructing a landscaping border.
Referring to
Referring now in addition to
It should be understood that the above description is intended for illustrative purposes only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way. Thus, those skilled in the art will appreciate that other aspects of the disclosure can be obtained from a study of the drawings, the disclosure and the appended claims.
