BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of the system of the first preferred embodiments.
FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of the system of the first preferred embodiments, wherein a sealable opening is included in the wall of the bag.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The description that follows of the invention's preferred embodiments is meant to enable someone skilled in the prior art to make and use the invention, but is not meant to limit the invention to these preferred embodiments.
1. First Preferred Embodiment
As shown in FIG. 1, the system 7 of the preferred embodiments is a plant 7 pollination bag 1 including a bag 1 made of a flexible material, a pouch 2 formed out of one or more additional pieces of material fixed to the wall of the bag 1, where a space 3 is created between the at least one additional piece of material 5 and the wall of the bag 1; at least one of a releasable closure 4 and a tear line 4 fixed to the one or more additional pieces of material and the wall of the bag 1, where the one or more of a releaseable closure 4 and a tear line 4 is adapted to seal the space 3 between the one or more additional pieces of material and the wall of the bag 1; an elongated piece of material 6 attached to the at least one of a releasable closure 4 and a tear line 4, where the elongated piece of material 6 is designed to extend from the interior of the bag 1 to a location outside of the bag 1, where the elongated piece of material 6 is further adapted to allow a user to at least one of A) open the releasable closure 4 and B) tear the tear line 4 from outside of the bag 1. The system 7 of the preferred embodiments is preferably designed to one or more of assist in the pollination of a plant 7, capture seeds 10 dropped by the plant 7, and prevent cross-pollination of the plant 7 by unintended plant 7s. The system 7 of the preferred embodiments may, however, be used for any suitable purpose.
As shown in FIG. 1, the system 7 of the preferred embodiments includes a bag 1 made of flexible material, where the bag 1 is designed to fit over at least one of a branch 7, a stem 7, a flower 7, and a portion of a plant 7. The bag 1 is preferably made out of a material including but not limited to polyethylene, cotton, wool, polyvinyl, another flexible polymer sheet material, nylon fabric, and another fabric material. The bag 1 may, however, be constructed out of any suitable material. Preferably the bag 1 can be constricted using a cinch closure 9 to at least partially close off the opening once it is placed over the branch 7, stem 7, flower 7, or other portion of the plant 7. The cinch closure 9 may be a zip tie placed around the bag 1, a string or cord tied around the bag 1, a drawstring in a channel around the rim of the bag 1, at least one spring clamp, velcro, a zipper, tape, an elastic cord, an elastic ring or band, or any other suitable form of closure. In some variations there may not be a cinch closure 9. In a preferred variation, the bag 1 may be adapted to be easily written on with a writing utensil so that information regarding the generating the seeds 10 and the plant 7 that generated the pollen 8 can be recorded on the bag 1 that will contain the seeds 10. There may, however, be any suitable form of record keeping or none at all.
As shown in FIG. 1, the bag 1 includes at least one additional piece of material 5 attached to the inside wall of the bag 1, forming a pouch 2 and creating a space 3 between the at least one additional piece of material 5 and the bag 1 wall. As shown in FIG. 1, at least one of a releasable closure 4 and a tear line 4 is included to seal the opening of the pouch 2, meaning the opening of the space 3 between the at least one additional piece of material 5 and the wall of the bag 1. The at least one of a releasable closure 4 and a tear line 4 is preferably adapted to retain contents inside the pouch 2, such as at least one of powder, granular contents, and liquid content, and which in one variation may include pollen 8. In one preferred variation, the releasable closure 4 can be a flap of material with a temporary adhesive that sticks the flap of material to at least one of the bag 1 wall and the pouch 2 to seal the opening of the pouch 2. In another preferred variation, the releasable closure 4 can be a flap of material with any other form of temporary attachment fastener to temporarily attach the flap of material to at least one of the bag 1 wall and the pouch 2, where the temporary attachment fastener can include a hook and loop fastener, a snap fastener, and any other suitable temporary attachment fastener. There may, however, be any suitable means of temporarily sealing the pouch 2.
As shown in FIG. 1, there is preferably a elongated piece of material 6 attached to the at least one of a releasable closure 4 and a tear line 4, and this elongated piece of material 6 preferably extends from the interior of the bag 1 to a position external to the bag 1. This preferably allows a user to grasp the external end of the elongated piece of material 6, which preferably allows the user to use the elongated piece of material 6 to open the at least one of a releasable closure 4 and a tear line 4. In one preferred variation, the elongated piece of material 6 is at least one of a wire, a string, a piece of cord, a rod, and any other suitable piece of material for activating the at least one of a releasable enclosure 4 and a tear line 4. In one preferred variation, the elongated piece of material 6 is used to tear the tear line 4 that seals the pouch 2. In another preferred embodiment, squeezing the pouch 2 from the outside opens the releasable closure 4. There may, however, be any suitable means of opening the at least one of a releasable closure 4 and a tear line 4.
As shown in FIG. 1, in a preferred embodiment the pouch 2 is loaded with pollen 8. Preferably when the elongated piece of material 6 is grasped by the user it can be used to open the pouch 2 and release the pollen 8 into the interior of the pollination bag 1. Preferably this contains the pollen 8 and increases the chances of pollination by that particular pollen 8, which greatly increases the ability to control which plant 7 strains are combined and the lineage of plant 7s created. Preferably the bag 1 also keeps out outside pollen 8 from other plant 7s, preventing unintended and uncontrolled pollination. The pouch 2 may, however, be loaded with any suitable contents. The bag 1 may, however, serve any suitable purpose.
As shown in FIG. 2, in a preferred variation a sealable opening 11 is included in the outer wall of the bag 1 and aligned with the space 3 inside the pocket, so that contents can be loaded into the pouch 2 from outside the bag 1 and then sealed in. The sealable opening 11 may be sealed by a flap of material with an adhesive to seal the flap. In an alternate variation the sealable opening 11 may seal with a zip-lock bag type closure or with a hook and loop fastener. The opening may, however, be sealed by any suitable closure 4.
As shown in FIG. 1, the bag 1 preferably catches seeds 10 that develop and fall off of the plant 7. This makes seed 10 collection easier for the user and also promotes keeping the seeds 10 organized by lineage and other suitable factors. The bag 1 may, however, be used for any suitable purpose.
As a person skilled in the art will recognize from the previous detailed description and from the figures and claims, modifications and changes can be made to the preferred embodiments of the invention without departing from the scope of this invention defined in the following claims.
Patent Grant
9968040
