Polyethylene spunbond nonwoven date-bunch covers

Abstract

Polyethylene spunbond nonwoven date-bunch covers are an urgently needed, price-competitive alternative to mesh covers made of synthetic monofilament yarn. They are the first improvement to the ideal date-bunch cover that USDA researchers theorized seventy years ago, by adding dust and mold spore exclusion, yet providing sufficient shade and vapor transmission for proper ripening. Black mold is insignificant even under close tree spacing and wet summer conditions. The lowered temperature and increased humidity inside the cover promotes pliable, smooth skin instead of dry and brittle as commonly occurs with covers made of monofilament mesh fabric. Covers made of polyethylene spunbond nonwoven fabric are lighter, less abrasive, compress easier, and thus are far more user-friendly. Ripe dates can be held on-tree longer than was ever possible before without accumulating dust or losing quality, which renders unnecessary the labor-intensive practice of multiple pickings, and saves cold storage costs.

Claims

1. A protective cover, comprising a tubular configuration sized to encapsulate a date bunch, which protects the dates from rain, excludes insects and birds, allows aeration of the fruit cluster, and provides partial shade, the improvement wherein said protective cover has two panels made of polyethylene spunbond nonwoven fabric seamed horizontally to form said tubular configuration, whereby the upper panel is rainproof and the lower panel is porous.

2. A protective cover, comprising a tubular configuration made of porous fabric and sized to encapsulate a date-bunch, which excludes insects and birds, allows aeration of the fruit cluster, and provides partial shade, in combination with a sheet of rainproof material that is wrapped around the upper portion of the bunch to form a hood, either inside or outside said tubular configuration, the improvement wherein said porous fabric is polyethylene spunbond nonwoven fabric.

3. A method of protecting date bunches, comprising the steps of: (a) cutting two rectangular panels of polyethylene spunbond nonwoven fabric, one of which is rainproof and the other is porous, comprising said upper and lower portions, respectively, of a tube-shaped cover, which is sized to encapsulate a date bunch, (b) seaming one long edge of each said panel to one long edge of the other by heat-bonding, adhesive-bonding, or sewing, (c) folding said panels in half, short-edge to short-edge, and seaming them by heat-bonding, adhesive-bonding, or sewing, thereby forming said cover, (d) attaching a strap near the bottom of said cover by folding a strap over the folded side of said cover, and bonding it to said folded side of said cover, (e) slipping the top of said cover around the bottom of a bunch, raising it up and fastening it to the fruitstalk with a twist tie, (f) closing the bottom of said cover with said strap, whereby encapsulating the bunch.

4. A method of protecting date bunches, comprising the steps of: (a) cutting a rectangular panel of porous polyethylene spunbond nonwoven fabric, sized to encapsulate a date bunch, (b) seaming one long edge of each said panel to one long edge of the other by heat-bonding, adhesive-bonding, or sewing, (c) folding the short edges perpendicularly to the long edges of said panel, and seaming them by heat-bonding, adhesive-bonding, or sewing, to form a tube-shaped cover, (d) attaching a strap near the bottom of said cover by folding a strap over the folded side of said cover, and bonding it to said folded side of said cover, (e) slipping the top of said cover around the bottom of a bunch, raising it up and fastening it to the fruitstalk with a twist tie, (f) closing the bottom of said cover with said strap, whereby encapsulating the bunch, (g) wrapping a sheet of rainproof material around the upper portion of said cover, and stapling said sheet into a cone-shaped hood, (h) fastening said hood to a fruitstalk with a twist tie on the outside of said cover, thereby forming a cover, combining said fabric and said sheet.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said hood is fastened to a fruitstalk with a twist tie on the inside of said cover, thereby forming a cover combining said fabric and said sheet.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] FIG. 1 is a plan view of two panels of fabric seamed together with which to form a bunch cover in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[0010] FIG. 2 is a front plan view of the panels folded perpendicular to the seam joining them.

[0011] FIG. 3 is a rear plan view thereof.

[0012] FIG. 4 is an elevation view thereof showing the panels in a tubular configuration.

[0013] FIG. 5Prior Artis a plan view of a section of a tube formed by folding a continuous sheet of fabric perpendicular to its length and bonding its sides together in accordance with an alternate embodiment of the present invention.

[0014] FIG. 6 is a front plan view of a folded and bonded panel cut from the section with a strap attached near the bottom.

[0015] FIG. 7Prior Artis a plan view of a rectangular sheet of rainproof material with two corner cuts for making a rain hood.

[0016] FIG. 8Prior Artis an elevation view of a rain hood alone for better illustration.

[0017] FIG. 9 is an elevation view of the section of the tube shown in FIG. 6 installed on a date bunch with the rain hood on the outside.

[0018] FIG. 10 is an elevation view of the preferred embodiment installed on a date bunch.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0019] While the present invention lends itself to embodiment in various forms, there is shown in the drawings, and will hereinafter be described, the preferred embodiment and an alternate, with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments illustrated.

[0020] Referring now to the drawings, the preferred embodiment as shown in FIG. 4 combines two styles of polypropylene spunbond nonwoven fabric into a tube-shaped date-bunch cover 9, of which a heavy-weight, 50 gsm (1.5 oz/yd.sup.2), rainproof, UV-resistant style comprises roughly the upper 40 cm (16 in) to 50 cm (20 in) portion, and a medium-weight, 30 gsm (0.9 oz/yd.sup.2), porous style comprises roughly the lower 70 cm (28 in) to 80 cm (32 in). The cover measures approximately 76 cm (30 in) when laid flat.

[0021] Turning now to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, the preferred embodiment is made by seaming 7 a long side of a 150 cm (60 in)50 cm (20 in) panel of heavy-weight style 1, and a long side of the 150 cm (60 in)76 cm (30 in) panel of medium-weight style 2. Next, the joined panels are folded perpendicular to the long sides 3 and seamed on the short edges 8 to form the cover.

[0022] As shown in FIG. 3, a VELCRO brand ONE WRAP strap, 18 cm (7 in) long1.6 cm ( in) wide, is attached 7.6 cm (3 in) from the bottom of the cover, by folding 2.5 cm (1 in) 5 of the strap over the folded side of the cover, and sewing through the fabric to join the 2.5 cm (1 in) section and the 15 cm (6 in) section 4 of the strap.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 10, the cover 23 is slipped around the bottom of a bunch, raised up and fastened with a twist tie to a fruitstalk 22. The bottom of the cover is closed with the strap 24, thereby encapsulating the bunch.

[0024] In addition to protecting the dates, the cover catches the ones that naturally drop or high winds knock off the fruitstrands. The dates are harvested by opening the strap and removing the ones that dropped, hand-picking the ripe ones on the fruitstrands, and then closing the bottom. This operation can be done multiple times, or only once after all the dates have ripened.

[0025] After completing the harvest, the bottom is left open, and the cover detached from the fruitstalk and removed from the bunch. The cover is then bundled and stored until the next season. The two styles of fabric comprising the cover are serviceable one to four seasons depending on their weight.

[0026] An alternate embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, utilizes 50# wet-strength, kraft paper instead of the heavy-weight style of polyethylene spunbond nonwoven fabric for protecting the bunch against rain. FIG. 5 shows a roughly 4 m (14 ft) length 10 of a 150 m (500 ft) long76 cm (30 in) wide tube formed from a 150 m (500 ft) long150 cm (60 in) wide roll of light-weight, 19 gsm (0.55 oz/yd.sup.2), porous style, or medium-weight porous style, folded in half sideways and glued together 11. The lines 12 mark where the tube will be cross-cut into sections approximately 120 cm (48 in) long.

[0027] FIG. 6 shows one of the sections 13 with a strap attached to it in the same manner and location as described above. Each section forms a cover that is of ample size to encapsulate the bunch, and which is installed and removed in the same manner as described above.

[0028] The rain hood shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 is made from a sheet 14 of 50# unbleached, wet-strength, semi-extensible, kraft paper, 120 cm (48 in) long60 cm (24 in) wide, having two diagonal 33 cm (13 in) corner cuts as shown in FIG. 7, which give the cone-shaped hood 16 an even horizontal bottom when formed and stapled 15 in place. FIG. 9 shows the sheet wrapped over roughly 50 cm (20 in) of the upper portion of the cover 18, and fastened to the fruitstalk 21 with a twist tie 17.

[0029] After harvesting the dates, the bottom of the cover is left open, and the cover and rain hood are detached from the fruitstalk and removed from the bunch. The cover is then bundled and stored until the next season unless worn out.

[0030] The rain hood and the bunch are either burned, or buried, or disked into the soil and soaked with irrigation water to hasten decomposition, or alternatively shredded and left on the soil for mulch. The paper is FDA compliant, biodegradable and compostable.

[0031] It will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications of an obvious nature may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.