Tying System Employing an Accessory Bearing a Quick Attachment Hook for Tying a Plastic Film Covering For Linear Cultivations

Abstract

The invention refers to a tying system employing an accessory bearing a quick attachment hook, for tying a plastic cover film for agricultural crops such as soft fruit covers. Cultivation of soft fruits in covered space has been growing in recent decades. Several solutions have been developed including greenhouses or gable systems. The placement, fastening and fixing of the plastic film is achieved with ropes, elastic cords or soft PVC tubing. However, the cost of binding the plastic film is significant as skilled staff and considerable amounts of man hours are required to tie the plastic film to the supporting structure. Tying the film, in most cases, is carried out by employing knots on grommets that the plastic films.

Claims

1. A tying system employing an accessory bearing a quick attachment hook for tying a plastic film covering for linear cultivations that bears grommets along both its sides that is characterised in that it consists of at least two distinct parts of which one constitutes the tying material and the second part is an injection, in particular moulded and/or 3D printed, plastic part that is connected to the tying material, and said second part bears at least a set of grips and protrusion and to fix the tying material and a hook boasting a formed lip or lips (L1 and/or L2) at its entry/exit point that facilitate the insertion of the wire rope while deflects any obstructions from entering when the tying system is pulled with the film on the field.

2. The tying system employing an accessory bearing a quick attachment hook for tying a plastic film covering for linear cultivations that bears grommets along both its sides according to claim 1, wherein the formed lips (L1 and L2) are cylindrical, ellipsoid, trapezoid or indeed of any geometry, of the same or varying geometry along their length, so that the lips protrude towards the outer boundaries of the main body of the accessory or additionally towards both directions in relation to the imaginary line that connects said lips through the formed gap.

3. The tying system employing an accessory bearing a quick attachment hook for tying a plastic film covering for linear cultivations that bears grommets along both its sides according to claim 1, wherein the formed lips (L1 and L2) are positioned symmetrically in relation to the transverse axis of the main body of the accessory, hence both flaps are of equal length.

4. The tying system employing an accessory bearing a quick attachment hook for tying a plastic film covering for linear cultivations that bears grommets along both its sides according to claim 1, wherein the formed lips (L1 and L2) are positioned asymmetrically in relation to the transverse axis of the main body of the accessory, hence the two flaps have different lengths, one being shorter than the other.

5. The tying system employing an accessory bearing a quick attachment hook for tying a plastic film covering for linear cultivations that bears grommets along both its sides according to claim 1, wherein the formed lips (L1 and L2) are straight in relation to the transverse axis of the main body of the accessory, or have a converging or diverging geometry.

6. The tying system employing an accessory bearing a quick attachment hook for tying a plastic film covering for linear cultivations that bears grommets along both its sides according to claim 1, wherein the top part of the accessory consists either of one or of two sections, in the former case bearing one set of grips and protrusion while in the latter having the left-hand section, bearing a set of grips G4 and G1 and a protrusion P2, and the right-hand section, bearing a set of grips G2 and G3 and a protrusion Pl, being either symmetric or asymmetric in relation to axes of the main body of the accessory.

7. The tying system employing an accessory bearing a quick attachment hook for tying a plastic film covering for linear cultivations that bears grommets along both its sides according to claim 1, wherein the flaps (F1 and F2) when seen from a side view can be both inclined towards or away the main body of the accessory, or one can be inclined towards while the second is inclined away the main body of the accessory.

8. The tying system employing an accessory bearing a quick attachment hook for tying a plastic film covering for linear cultivations that bears grommets along both its sides according to claim 1, wherein the formed flaps (F1 and F2) can be of the same or different thickness thus, they can bend in unison when pressed or the thinner flap of the two will bent more than the thicker flap.

9. The tying system employing an accessory bearing a quick attachment hook for tying a plastic film covering for linear cultivations that bears grommets along both its sides according to claim 1, wherein the formed lips (L1 and L2) when seen from above can be parallel to one another, or follow any geometry between them.

10. The tying system employing an accessory bearing a quick attachment hook for tying a plastic film covering for linear cultivations that bears grommets along both its sides according to claim 1, wherein bearing grips that have notches that can have walls of decreasing wall distance characterized in that said notches comprise of two imaginary chambers namely GS1 and GS2, the former (GS1) leading to a geometry that expands into a cylindrical or prismoidal cavity (GS2), where the tying material is allowed to expand when compressed, thus creating a mating force that needs to be overcome when trying to release the tying material.

11. The tying system employing an accessory bearing a quick attachment hook for tying a plastic film covering for linear cultivations that bears grommets along both its sides according to claim 1, wherein the formed cavities are coated with an elastic or elastomeric material so that the friction between the tying material and the grips is increased.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] FIG. 1A shows an elevated side view;

[0020] FIG. 1B shows the gable system (front view);

[0021] FIGS. 1C-1E are details zooming into the tying system;

[0022] FIGS. 2A-2C depict the tying system proposed with its two components

[0023] FIGS. 3A-3B depict the accessory bearing the quick attachment hook;

[0024] FIGS. 4A-4B depict the accessory with the quick attachment hook and the variables that define it;

[0025] FIGS. 5A-5F depict alternative versions of the accessory;

[0026] FIGS. 6A-6C depict the accessory with the sets of grips and protrusions on its top part;

[0027] FIGS. 7A-7I depict different geometries of the cross section of the grips; and

[0028] FIGS. 8A-8D depict lips L1 and L2 that form a straight line between them, or either converging or diverging geometries.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] According to the principal embodiment of the invention the tying system comprises at least of two components namely a tying material and an accessory, produced preferably by injection moulding or 3D printing. The tying material can be a rope, an elastic cord, or a soft PVC tube. The accessory is a plastic part that can be made of Polypropylene, Polyamide, ABS or any other material that can accommodate high tensile and/or compression forces. The two components are produced in two separate phases as the tying material and the plastic part can be of different materials and different production processes such as extrusion and injection moulding. In case of the system comprising two components the tying material would form an imaginary loop (FIG. 2). One free end (E1) will be inserted manually in the first set of grips and protrusion in the accessory, then through the hole of the grommet on the plastic film and the second free end (E2) into the second set of grips and protrusion. This configuration distributes the forces applied on each grommet on the plastic film symmetrically onto two separate files (T1 and T2) of the same tying material, thus doubling the maximum force that the system can accommodate before failing. This configuration in comparison to a single file is more suitable for high wind areas being equally efficient for fields exposed to less strong winds. The accessory can be designed in such a fashion that it bears a lid that once the tying material is inserted it can be closed so that the grips and the protrusions constitute an internal part of the accessory adding additional protection from entanglement.

[0030] According to the second embodiment of the invention the tying system comprises two components namely the tying material and the accessory two copies of which are used to complete the tying system. In this case the tying material is inserted into the accessory's grips and protrusion on one side of the accessory then the tying material is inserted through the hole of the grommet and then fixed again in the same accessory's second set of grips and protrusion. The first accessory is positioned at a distance of preferably 5 to 50 cm and preferably 10-30 cm and more preferably 10-15 cm from the grommet's outer boundaries towards the edge of the film. The tying material is selected to be of such a length that after inserting it into the first accessory there is still a free end that is inserted to the second accessory that is identical to the first, using one set of grips and protrusion only, while the second set remains empty. The second accessory's hook is then inserted into the wire rope to fix the plastic film on the supporting structure.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0031] A accessory

[0032] C cap

[0033] E1, E2 free end

[0034] F1, F2 flaps

[0035] FD1, FD2 distance

[0036] FL1, FL2 distance

[0037] G1 to G4 grips

[0038] Gd1, Gd2 distance

[0039] GS1, GS2 imaginary chamber

[0040] L1, L2 lip(s)

[0041] P1, P2 protrusions

[0042] S1 to S6 accessory

[0043] T tying material