Apparatus for sprouting seeds

Claim 2

Germinating apparatus for sprouting seeds, legumes, grains or the like comprising a plurality of base members and a plurality of dish members adapted to be stacked alternately in a vertical arrangement with base members being the bottom and top members of the arrangement, said base members having similar configurations, each base member having an imperforate top wall with a recessed portion for retaining a surface of water thereon and a downturned peripheral side wall flaring outwardly from and terminating below said top wall, said dish members also having similar configurations, each dish member having a foraminous bottom wall on which beans or the like can be dispersed, and an upturned peripheral side wall flaring outwardly from and terminating above said bottom wall, said base members and said dish members defining support means for maintaining the bottom wall of each dish member a preselected distance above the recessed portion of the base member on which it is stacked so that beans or the like on a foraminous bottom wall can be maintained in spaced relation to the surface of the water in the recessed portion of the dish member immediately therebelow, and said base members and said dish members also defining ventilation means for maintaining ventilation gaps around the upper periphery of each upturned peripheral side wall.

Claim 3

The germinating apparatus that is defined in claim 1, wherein each of said dish members has a central portion defining a ventilation duct open at the bottom to the space below its foraminous bottom wall and open at the top to the space above its foraminous bottom wall for aiding in maintaining a condition of high humidity in each dish member when assembled with base members containing water in their recessed portions.

Claim 4

The germinating apparatus that is defined in claim 2, wherein the top of said ventilation duct terminates below the top wall of the base member immediately thereabove.

Claim 5

The germinating apparatus that is defined in claim 1, wherein the downturned peripheral side wall of each base member overlaps in spaced relation the upturned peripheral side wall of the dish member immediately therebelow so that when the base and dish members are stacked in said vertical arrangement, the interior of the dish member will be shielded from external sources of light so as to maintain darkness therein.

Claim 6

Germinating apparatus comprising a vertical arrangement of alternately stacked base members and dish members, one of said base members being the bottom member of said vertical arrangement, and another of said base members forming the top member of said vertical arrangement, each base member and its superposed dish member forming associated members, each base member including a substantially horizontal imperforate top wall terminating in a perimetric edge, said top wall being depressed from said perimetric edge to form a recessed portion in which fluids can be retained, said base member further including substantially vertical walls integrally formed with said perimetric edge and extending downward from said top wall, each dish member including a substantially foraminous bottom wall having a surrounding bottom border, said dish member further including substantially vertical walls integrally formed with said bottom border and extending upward therefrom terminating in a top border, the vertical walls and the bottom wall of said dish member defining a basin portion in which seeds can be placed, support means integrally connected with one of said associated members and engaging the other associated member to thereby maintain the bottom wall of said associated dish member in a spaced relation above the recessed portion of the associated base member so that a clearance is provided between the bottom wall of said associated dish and the fluid retained in the recessed portion of said associated base member, said support means further maintaining the associated members in spaced relation to provide a first ventilation gap between the bottom wall of said associated dish member and the perimetric edge of said associated base member to provide for air ventilation therebetween, each dish member and base member supported thereon including spacer means formed in one member and engaging the other member so that the top wall of the base member is maintained in spaced apart relation with the top border of the dish member to thereby provide a second ventilation gap, the vertical walls of each base supported on a dish member encompassing the vertical walls of the supporting dish member, the encompassing and vertical walls defining a ventilation passageway extending between the first and second ventilation gaps.

Claim 7

Germinating apparatus comprising a vertical arrangement of alternately stacked base members and dish members, one of said base members being the bottom member of said vertical arrangement, and another of said base members forming the top member of said vertical arrangement, each base member and its superposed dish member forming associated members, each base member including a substantially horizontal imperforate top wall terminating in a perimetric edge, said top wall being depressed from said perimetric edge to form a recessed portion in which fluids can be retained, said base member further including substantially vertical walls integrally formed with said perimetric edge and extending downward from said top wall, each dish member including a substantially foraminous bottom wall having a surrounding bottom border, said dish member further including substantially vertical walls integrally formed with said bottom border and extending upward therefrom terminating in a top border, the vertical walls and the bottom wall of said dish member defining a basin portion in which seeds can be placed, support means integrally connected with one of said associated members and engaging the other associated member to thereby maintain the bottom wall of said associated dish member in a spaced relation above the recessed portion of the associated base member so that a clearance is provided between the bottom wall of said associated dish and the fluid retained in the recessed portion of said associated base member, said support means further maintaining the associated members in spaced relation to provide a first ventilation gap between the bottom wall of said associated dish member and the perimetric edge of said associated base member to provide for air ventilation therebetween, each dish member and base member supported thereon including spacer means formed in one member and engaging the other member so that the top wall of the base member is maintained in spaced apart relation with the top border of the dish member to thereby provide a second ventilation gap, the vertical walls of each base supported on a dish member encompassing the vertical walls of the supporting dish member, the encompassing and vertical walls defining a ventilation passageway extending between the first and second ventilation gaps.

Claim 8

Apparatus that is defined in claim 5, wherein said support means comprises spaced-apart shoulder members integrally formed in the top wall adjacent the top edge of each base, each shoulder member being a predetermined height to support the bottom wall of a dish member in said spaced relation with the recessed portion of a supporting base member.

Claim 9

Apparatus that is defined in claim 5, wherein said spacer means comprises a plurality of spaced-apart upward extensions integrally formed in the top border of each dish member to maintain a superposed base member in spaced relation with said top border.

Claim 10

Apparatus according to claim 7 further including a plurality of closely spaced-apart serrations integrally formed with the top border of each dish member between said upward extensions.

Claim 11

Apparatus that is defined in claim 5, wherein the bottom wall of said dish member includes means defining at least one ventilation duct for providing ventilation between the recessed portion of the associated base member and the basin portion of said dish member.

Claim 12

Apparatus that is defined in claim 5, wherein the radial dimensions of the bottom wall of each dish member are smaller than the radial dimensions of the recessed portion of each base member.

Claim 13

Apparatus that is defined in claim 5, wherein the recessed portion of each base member is provided with a plurality of upwardly extending partitions to impede the movement of the fluid being retained on said recessed portion.