GARDEN DEVICE

Abstract

 A garden device comprising a waterfall object to be installed in a garden, as well as a water system for supplying water to the waterfall object, wherein said waterfall object includes a first row of nozzles connected to said water system, wherein said nozzles are arranged such that the water exits in a substantially horizontal direction and wherein said first row of nozzles extends horizontally, such that pressurized water exiting from said row of nozzles form a substantially parabolic downward falling first water curtain, wherein the waterfall object comprises a light source disposed adj acent to and under the first row of nozzles, and wherein the light emitted by the light source can illuminate said first water curtain from behind, and wherein said waterfall object comprises a second row of nozzles, wherein said light source is disposed adjacent to and above the second row of nozzles, and wherein the light emitted by the light source can be reflected by the first water curtain whereby the second water curtain from said second row of nozzles is illuminated from the front.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a garden device comprising a waterfall object to be installed in a garden.

[0002] Such a garden device is generally known, for instance from EP-A-2 497 577. Especially garden centres are experiencing an increasing public interest in all kinds of garden ornaments and related articles. Said public interest emanates in particular from a growing desire to arrange the surroundings of the house, in particular the garden, in an attractive manner with ornaments, such as fountains, waterfalls and the like. There has been a growing interest in waterfall obj ects from which water flows down in a decorative manner, especially illuminated waterfall objects, such as described in EP-A-2 497 577.

[0003] The object of the invention is to provide a garden device that meets the public's increasing interest in arranging a garden in a decorative manner by means of waterfall objects. Another object of the invention is to reduce noise generated by such waterfall objects.

[0004] In order to accomplish that object, a garden device of the kind referred to in the introduction is characterised in that said waterfall object includes a (at least one) first row of nozzles connected to said water system, wherein said nozzles are arranged such that the water exits in a substantially horizontal direction and wherein said first row of nozzles extends horizontally, such that pressurized water exiting from said row of nozzles form a substantially parabolic downward falling first water curtain, wherein the waterfall object comprises a light source disposed adjacent to and under the first row of nozzles, and wherein the light emitted by the light source can illuminate said first water curtain from behind. By using a row of separate nozzles instead of a continuous overflow waterfall, a substantial reduction of noise can be achieved, while achieving more or less the same visual effect.

[0005] In a preferred embodiment of a garden device according to the invention, the light source comprises several LEDs, for instance in the form of a LED strip. Preferably, said LEDs are arranged in a (at least one) row under the row of nozzles, with the row of LEDs extending along the entire length of the row of nozzles. In a preferred embodiment, the light source, such as the LED strip is detachably connected to the garden device (for instance by a clamping engagement), and preferably said light source is provide with a gripping member (for instance a lip) such that the light source can be easily replaced if necessary, while the rest of the garden device can be permanently connected to the ground.

[0006] Preferably said waterfall object comprises a (at least one) second row of nozzles connected to said water system, wherein said nozzles are arranged such that the water exits in the same substantially horizontal direction as from the first row of nozzles and wherein said second row of nozzles also extends horizontally, such that pressurized water exiting from said second row of nozzles form a substantially parabolic downward falling second water curtain substantially parallel to the first water curtain, wherein said light source is disposed adjacent to and above the second row of nozzles, and wherein the light emitted by the light source can be reflected by the first water curtain whereby said second water curtain is illuminated from the front. In this manner the water curtains behave as a light guide, as if the water forms a collection of glass fibres that keep light emitted from behind "captured" within itself and thus project it in downward direction. In this way a playful and elegant effect of falling water and light is created.

[0007] Preferably the direction of the nozzles is adjustable, such that the initial direction of the water curtain exiting form the nozzles can be chosen to be more horizontal or more downward.

[0008] Preferably, seen from above, said second row of nozzles extends behind the first row of nozzles, and said light source extends between said at first and second rows of nozzles. Preferably, seen in cross section, said garden device is substantially L-shaped, wherein the substantially horizontal leg of said L-shape extends from the top of the substantially vertical leg of said L-shape, and said waterfall object extends at the outer end of said substantially horizontal leg. Preferably the substantially horizontal leg extends sloping downward from the top of said substantially vertical leg.

[0009] In another preferred embodiment of a garden device according to the invention, the water system can be connected to the water supply system of a house. The water system in particular comprises a water pump, which is connected to the waterfall object via a (preferably flexible) water supply line.

[0010] In another preferred embodiment of a garden device according to the invention, the light source can be connected to the power system of a house. In other words, the light source is fed from the power system.

[0011] The garden device is in particular embodied as having a housing. Preferably, said housing is made of a material selected from a group consisting of: stone, metal, plastic or wood.

[0012] The invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to figures illustrated in a drawing, in which:

• Figure 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the invention, seen from the front;
• Figure 2 is another perspective view of the preferred embodiment, seen from the back;
• Figure 3 is another perspective view of the preferred embodiment, seen from the front, installed at the edge of a pond.

[0013] Figure 1 shows a waterfall object, which is connected to the water system of a house, in the form of a stainless steel, substantially upside-down L-shaped housing 1. The housing 1 comprises a top 2, a bottom 3 and four outer walls or side walls 4,5,6,7. A connector 8 is provided in the bottom 3 for connecting a water supply line 10 thereto. Furthermore, a row of LEDs 11 is provided. An electric current conductor 13 is connected to the power system of the house via a transformer near its one end and to the row of LEDs 11 near its other end. Above the row of LEDs 11a first row of nozzles 14 is provided in the housing 1, which are each connected to the water supply line 10. below the row of LEDs 11a second row of nozzles 15 is provided in the housing 1, which are also each connected to the water supply line 10.

[0014] As is shown more clearly in figure 3, the water flowing from the first row of nozzles 14 forms a first water curtain 16 which is illuminated from behind by the row of LEDs 11. The water flowing from the second row of nozzles 15 forms a second water curtain 17 is illuminated from the front by light which is reflected by the back side of the first water curtain 16. At a certain distance from the nozzles, said first and second water curtains 16, 17 will merge into one combined water curtain in which at least part of the light from the LEDs 11 is caught, before the water curtain 16, 17 reaches the surface of the pond 18. The combination of falling water and illumination increases the attractiveness of the whole.

[0015] It is noted that the invention is not limited to the embodiment as shown herein, but that it also extends to other variants that fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A garden device comprising a waterfall object (1) to be installed in a garden, as well as a water system (8) for supplying water to the waterfall object (1), wherein said waterfall object (1) includes a first row of nozzles (14) connected to said water system (8), wherein said nozzles are arranged such that the water exits in a substantially horizontal direction and wherein said first row of nozzles (14) extends horizontally, such that pressurized water exiting from said row of nozzles form a substantially parabolic downward falling first water curtain (16), wherein the waterfall object (1) comprises a light source (11) disposed adjacent to and under the first row of nozzles (14), and wherein the light emitted by the light source (11) can illuminate said first water curtain (14) from behind.

2. A garden device according to claim 1, wherein the light source (11) comprises several LEDs.

3. A garden device according to claim 2, wherein said LEDs (11) are arranged in a row under said first row of nozzles (14).

4. A garden device according to claims 1, 2 or 3, wherein said waterfall object (1) comprises a second row of nozzles (15) connected to said water system (8), wherein said nozzles (15) are arranged such that the water exits in the same substantially horizontal direction as from the first row of nozzles (14) and wherein said second row of nozzles (15) also extends horizontally, such that pressurized water exiting from said second row of nozzles (15) form a substantially parabolic downward falling second water curtain (17) substantially parallel to the substantially parabolic downward falling first water curtain (14), wherein said light source (11) is disposed adjacent to and above the second row of nozzles (15), and wherein the light emitted by the light source (11) can be reflected by the first water curtain (16) whereby said second water curtain (17) is illuminated from the front.

5. A garden device according to claim 4, wherein, seen from above, said second row of nozzles (15) extends behind the first row of nozzles (14), and said light source (11) extends between said at first and second rows of nozzles (14, 15).

6. A garden device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein, seen in cross section, said garden device is substantially L-shaped, wherein the substantially horizontal leg of said L-shape extends from the top of the substantially vertical leg of said L-shape, and said waterfall object (1) extends at the outer end of said substantially horizontal leg.

7. A garden device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said light source (11) is detachably connected to the garden device.

8. A garden device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the water system (8) can be connected to the water supply system of a house.

9. A garden device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the light source can be connected to the power system of a house.

Drawing