Plant shelter

Claim 2

A shelter for controlling the amount of light reaching a relatively large surface in which or upon which living plants or the like are to be raised, the combination comprising: a plurality of stationary posts projecting upwardly from said surface and arranged in longitudinal and transverse rows along said surface; a plurality of parallel, longitudinal cables connected to the upper ends of said posts in said longitudinal rows, each said longitudinal cable being connected to the posts of one of said longitudinal rows; each post located intermediate the ends of said longitudinal rows having an upwardly opening slot formed in the upper end thereof, said slot extending across said post in the longitudinal direction of said longitudinal cable for accommodating an intermediate portion of said longitudinal cable therein; a pair of clamp means fixed to the intermediate portion of said longitudinal cable and positioned directly adjacent the opposite sides of each slotted post, said clamp means being larger than the width of the slot for engaging the post to prevent longitudinal movement of said longitudinal cable relative to said intermediate post; anchor cable means extending between the endmost posts of said longitudinal rows and said surface; a plurality of parallel, transverse wires extending between and connected to pairs of said longitudinal cables, said transverse wires being uniformly spaced longitudinally of said longitudinal cables with the spacing between adjacent transverse wires being substantially less than the spacing between adjacent posts located in said longitudinal rows so that several of said transverse wires are positioned between said adjacent posts; and cover means supported on said transverse wires and removable for permitting a selectively controlled amount of light to pass therethrough, said cover means including a plurality of elongated slatlike elements of substantially uniform length, said elements being removably supported on said transverse wires and positioned so that they extend perpendicularly between a pair of adjacent transverse wires; said cover means also including wirelike flexible means interconnecting said slatlike elements at uniform spaced intervals and in parallel arrangement for permitting said slatlike elements and flexible means to be formed into a roll for storage purposes, said flexible means resulting in elongated narrow openings between adjacent slatlike elements whereby a controlled amount of light can pass through said narrow openings, said slatlike elements having a length greater than the spacing between an adjacent pair of transverse wires so that a roll of said slatlike elements and flexible means can be unrolled upon and along a pair of adjacent transverse wires to provide a plant cover; said cover means including a plurality of said rolls of slatlike elements and flexible means, said rolls being individually positionable on and freely removable from said transverse wires, whereby the number of rolls positioned on said transverse wires and the spacing between said rolls permits selective control over the amount of light permitted to reach the surface located below the shelter.

Claim 3

A shelter for controlling the amount of light reaching a relatively large surface in which or upon which living plants or the like are to be raised, the combination comprising: a plurality of stationary posts projecting upwardly from said surface and arranged in longitudinal and transverse rows along said surface, the adjacent posts being longitudinally spaced approximately 100 feet apart; a plurality of parallel, longitudinal cables connected to the upper ends of said posts in said longitudinal rows, each said longitudinal cable being connected to the posts of one of said longitudinal rows, the adjacent longitudinal cables being spaced approximately 50 feet apart; anchor cable means extending between the endmost posts of said longitudinal rows and said surface; a plurality of parallel, transverse wires extending between and connected to pairs of said longitudinal cables, said transverse wires being uniformly spaced longitudinally of said longitudinal cables with the spacing between adjacent transverse wires being substantially less than the spacing between adjacent posts located in said longitudinal rows so that several of said transverse wires are positioned between said adjacent posts, the adjacent transverse wires being spaced approximately two feet apart; cover means supported on said transverse wires and removable for permitting a selectively controlled amount of light to pass therethrough, said cover means including a plurality of elongated slatlike elements of substantially uniform length, said elements being removably supported on said transverse wires and positioned so that they extend perpendicularly between a pair of adjacent transverse wires; said cover means also including wirelike flexible means interconnecting said slatlike elements at uniform spaced intervals and in parallel arrangement for permitting said slatlike elements and flexible means to be formed into a roll for storage purposes, said flexible means resulting in elongated narrow openings between adjacent slatlike elements whereby a controlled amount of light can pass through said narrow openings, said slatlike elements having a length greater than the spacing between an adjacent pair of transverse wires so that a roll of said slatlike elements and flexible means can be unrolled upon and along a pair of adjacent transverse wires to provide a plant cover; said cover means including a plurality of said rolls of slatlike elements and flexible means, said rolls being individually positionable on and freely removable from said transverse wires, whereby the number of rolls positioned on said transverse wires and the spacing between said rolls permits selective control over the amount of light permitted to reach the surface located below the shelter; and projection means on the upright posts located at the ends of the transverse and longitudinal rows for engaging and supporting at least one of the rolls of said cover means so that the unrolled roll extends horizontally across the end posts with the individual slatlike elements extending in a substantially vertical direction, said projection means engaging the wirelike flexible means of the roll when it is in an unrolled condition so that said unrolled roll extends horizontally along and is supported on a plurality of said end posts.

Claim 4

A shelter for controlling the amount of light reaching a relatively large surface in which or upon which living plants or the like are to be raised, the combination comprising: a plurality of stationary posts projecting upwardly from said surface and arranged in longitudinal and transverse rows along said surface, the adjacent posts being longitudinally spaced approximately 100 feet apart; a plurality of parallel, longitudinal cables connected to the upper ends of said posts in said longitudinal rows, each said longitudinal cable being connected to the posts of one of said longitudinal rows, the adjacent longitudinal cables being spaced approximately 50 feet apart; anchor cable means extending between the endmost posts of said longitudinal rows and said surface; a plurality of parallel, transverse wires extending between and connected to pairs of said longitudinal cables, said transverse wires being uniformly spaced longitudinally of said longitudinal cables with the spacing between adjacent transverse wires being substantially less than the spacing between adjacent posts located in said longitudinal rows so that several of said transverse wires are positioned between said adjacent posts, the adjacent transverse wires being spaced approximately two feet apart; cover means supported on said transverse wires and removable for permitting a selectively controlled amount of light to pass therethrough, said cover means including a plurality of elongated slatlike elements of substantially uniform length, said elements being removably supported on said transverse wires and positioned so that they extend perpendicularly between a pair of adjacent transverse wires; said cover means also including wirelike flexible means interconnecting said slatlike elements at uniform spaced intervals and in parallel arrangement for permitting said slatlike elements and flexible means to be formed into a roll for storage purposes, said flexible means resulting in elongated narrow openings between adjacent slatlike elements whereby a controlled amount of light can pass through said narrow openings, said slatlike elements having a length greater than the spacing between an adjacent pair of transverse wires so that a roll of said slatlike elements and flexible means can be unrolled upon and along a pair of adjacent transverse wires to provide a plant cover; said cover means including a plurality of said rolls of slatlike elements and flexible means, said rolls being individually positionable on and freely removable from said transverse wires, whereby the number of rolls positioned on said transverse wires and the spacing between said rolls permits selective control over the amount of light permitted to reach the surface located below the shelter; and projection means on the upright posts located at the ends of the transverse and longitudinal rows for engaging and supporting at least one of the rolls of said cover means so that the unrolled roll extends horizontally across the end posts with the individual slatlike elements extending in a substantially vertical direction, said projection means engaging the wirelike flexible means of the roll when it is in an unrolled condition so that said unrolled roll extends horizontally along and is supported on a plurality of said end posts.