The present disclosure relates to an apparatus configured to house botanicals during transport. The apparatus may be capable of conversion to a display assembly for displaying the botanicals after transport.
Different types of packaging for shipping and transporting botanicals and/or flowers are known. Types of packaging may protect flowers from damage during transport. Structures for displaying flowers are known (e.g., vases, stands, racks, etc.). Typically, the recipient of packaged and/or shipped flowers simply removes the flowers from the packaging and displays them in a separate structure (e.g., a vase or other structures). The packaging in which the flowers were shipped may be discarded.
The present disclosure describes an apparatus that provides both (i) protection for botanicals during transport, and (ii) a structure in which the botanicals may be displayed subsequent to transport. The apparatus may be configured to house botanicals during transport and may be capable of being converted into a display assembly for displaying the botanicals after transport. In some implementations, the apparatus may comprise a covering component, a sleeve component, a holding component, and/or other components.
In some implementations, the covering component may be formed from a first flat piece of packaging material that is shaped into a longitudinal shape. The longitudinal shape may have a primary opening at a first end. The primary opening may be of an internal cavity formed within the longitudinal shape. The longitudinal shape of the covering component may include a permeable structure formed at a second end of the longitudinal shape that is opposite the first end.
In some implementations, the sleeve component may be formed from a second flat piece of packaging material that is shaped into a longitudinal shape. The longitudinal shape may have a providing opening at one end and a receiving opening at the other end opposite the providing opening. The providing opening and/or the receiving opening may communicate an internal cavity formed within the longitudinal shape of the sleeve component. The providing opening may include a support structure formed of one or more tabs extending across the providing opening. The longitudinal shape of the sleeve component may be sized to slide inside the primary opening of the covering component. Responsive to the sleeve component being slid inside the primary opening, the sleeve component may be housed partially within the internal cavity of the covering component. The providing opening of the sleeve component may be disposed inside the internal cavity of the covering component and/or the end of the sleeve component with the receiving opening may extend out of the primary opening of the covering component. The sleeve component may include one or more perforated segments along the length of the longitudinal shape and/or other components. Individual ones of the perforated segments may run around the circumference of the longitudinal shape of the sleeve component.
In some implementations, the holding component may be formed from a third flat piece of packaging material. The third flat piece of packaging material may be water resistant. The holding component may shaped to form a chamber having a secondary opening at one end and a chamber wall at the other end opposite the secondary opening. The longitudinal shape of the holding component may sized to slide inside the receiving opening of the sleeve component. Responsive to the holding component being slid into the receiving opening, the holding component may be housed partially within the receiving opening, such that the secondary opening of the holding component may be disposed inside the internal cavity of the sleeve component.
In some implementations, in order to facilitate the apparatus being converted into the display assembly, the sleeve component may be removable from the primary opening of the covering component. The one or more perforated segments of the sleeve component may be removable to facilitate access to the holding component. The holding component may be configured to be inserted into the internal cavity of the covering component via the primary opening. Responsive to the holding component being inserted into the internal cavity of the covering component, the chamber wall of the holding component may be positioned within the internal cavity at or near the end of the covering component having the permeable structure.
As used herein, any association (or relation, or reflection, or indication, or correspondency) involving components, openings, segments, cavities, tabs, edges, flaps and/or another entity or object that that is part of the apparatus and/or plays a part in the apparatus, may be a one-to-one association, a one-to-many association, a many-to-one association, and/or a many-to-many association or N-to-M association (note that N and M may be different numbers greater than 1).
These and other features, and characteristics of the present technology, as well as elements of structure and the combination of parts and economies of manufacture, will become more apparent upon consideration of the following description and the appended claims with reference to the accompanying drawings, all of which form a part of this specification, wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding parts in the various figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration and description only and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention. As used in the specification and in the claims, the singular form of “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
Covering component 10 may be configured to couple with sleeve component 12 while apparatus 100 is configured in the transport state. The longitudinal shape of covering component 10 may be size such that sleeve component 12 may be configured to be slid and/or inserted into primary opening 20. In some implementations, one or more connecting tabs 19a-d of covering component 10 may be configured to be inserted into one or more corresponding slits 30a-d of sleeve component 12 subsequent to sleeve component 12 being slid into primary opening 20. Responsive to the one or more connecting tabs 19a-d being inserted into one or more corresponding slits 30a-d, covering component 10 may be secured to sleeve component 12 such that sufficient effort by a user may be required to separate the components. In some implementations, covering component 10 and sleeve component 12 may be secured through one or more adhesive surfaces positioned on the interior surface of the longitudinal shape of covering component 10 and/or on the exterior surface of a longitudinal shape of sleeve component 12. While configured in the transport state, covering component 10 may facilitate covering (i.e., housing, casing, etc.) the bloom portions of the botanicals being housed within apparatus 100.
In some implementations, one or more of fastening tabs 22a-b may be configured to be inserted into one or more corresponding slits 24a-b to secure the first flat piece of packaging after folding and/or shaping. By way of non-limiting illustration, the first flat piece of packaging may be folded and/or shaped according to the direction indicated by the dotted arrow and/or or folded along the indicated lines, such that fastening tab 22a may be inserted into slit 24a and/or fastening tab 22b may be inserted into slit 24b. In some implementations, the first flat piece of packaging may not include the one or more fastening tabs 22a-b and/or slits 24a-b, rather a first edge of the first flat piece of packaging may be glued or otherwise affixed to a second side edge to secure the longitudinal shape of covering component 10.
As shown in
Referring to
In some implementations, the longitudinal shape of covering component 10 may facilitate inserting holding component 14 into primary opening 20 (as indicated by the dotted arrow), such that holding component 14 may be positioned wholly or partially within the internal cavity of covering component 10. Connecting tabs 19a-d may be removed from covering component 10 and/or may be folded inwardly toward the internal cavity of covering component 10 such that connecting tabs 19a-d are not visible or readily accessible in the transport state.
Referring to
In some implementations, support structure 28 may be positioned at and/or across providing opening 26 and may be configured to support the stems of the botanicals housed within apparatus 100 configured in the transport state. Support structure 28 may be formed of one or more tabs 29a-h arranged in a grid-like configuration across providing opening 26. The one or more tabs 29a-h may be configured to engage (i.e., attach, secure) with one or more other tabs included in sleeve component 12. For example, tab 29a may be configured to secure to tab 29f. Tab 29a may be positioned across the circumference of the longitudinal shape of sleeve component 12 from tab 29f. Similarly, tab 29b may be configured to engage with tab 29e, tab 29c may be configured to engage with tab 29h, and so on and so forth (as shown in
The one or more perforated segments 32a-b may be positioned along the length of the longitudinal shape of sleeve component 12 and may extend around the circumference of the longitudinal shape. Sleeve component 12 is shown as having two perforated segments, however this is not intended to be limiting. In some implementations, sleeve component 12 may have 1, 2, 3, 4, and/or other numbers of perforated segments. Individual ones of perforated segments 32a-b may include one or more tags 34a-b extending from the surface of perforated segments 32a-b. The one or more tags 34a-b may facilitate tearing of perforated segments 32a-b so that perforated segments 32a-b may be removed during the conversion of apparatus 100 from the packaging to the display assembly.
Sleeve component 12 may be configured to be partially housed within covering component 10 while apparatus 100 is configured in the transport state. The longitudinal shape of sleeve component 12 may be sized so that the end of sleeve component 12 having providing opening 26 may be inserted into primary opening 20. Responsive to sleeve component 12 being partially housed within covering component, providing opening 26 and/or support structure 28 may be disposed within the internal cavity of covering component 10. Sleeve component 12 may be secured within covering component 10 by connecting tabs 19a-d (of covering component 10) being inserted into the corresponding slits 30a-d. Slits 30a-d may be positioned near providing opening 26 along the length of the longitudinal shape of sleeve component 12. In some implementations, the portion of sleeve component 12 extending from the slits 30a-d to providing opening may be housed within covering component 10 and therefore not visible during the transport state.
Sleeve component 12 may be configured to partially house holding component 14 while apparatus 100 is configured in the transport state. The longitudinal shape of sleeve component 12 may be sized so that holding component 14 may be inserted into receiving opening 28. One or more connecting tabs 42 of holding component 14 may be configured to be inserted into one or more corresponding slits 40 of sleeve component 12. Responsive to the one or more connecting tabs 42 being inserted into one or more corresponding slits 40, sleeve component 12 may be secured to holding component 14 such that sufficient effort by a user may be required to separate the components. In some implementations, sleeve component 12 and holding component 14 may be secured through one or more adhesive surfaces positioned on the interior surface of the longitudinal shape of sleeve component 12 and/or on the exterior surface of a longitudinal shape of holding component 14. In some implementations, holding component 14 may be inserted into and/or secured to sleeve component 12. The stems of the botanicals may then be inserted through the grid of support structure 28 into an internal cavity formed by the attachment of the sleeve component 12 and the holding component 14. Sleeve component 12 (attached to holding component 14 and/or containing the botanicals) may then be inserted into and/or secured to covering component 10.
In some implementations, one or more of fastening tabs 36a-c may be configured to be inserted into one or more corresponding slits 38a-c to secure the second flat piece of packaging after folding and/or shaping of sleeve component 12. By way of non-limiting illustration, the second flat piece of packaging may be folded and/or shaped according to the direction indicated by the dotted arrow and/or or folded along the indicated lines, such that fastening tab 36a may be inserted into slit 38a, fastening tab 36b may be inserted into slit 38b, and/or fastening tab 36c may be inserted into slit 38c. In some implementations, the second flat piece of packaging may not include the one or more fastening tabs 22a-b and/or slits 24a-b, rather a first edge of the second flat piece of packaging may be glued or otherwise affixed to a second side edge to secure the longitudinal shape of sleeve component 12.
Referring to
Referring to
Holding component 14 may be configured to be housed within sleeve component 12 while apparatus 100 is configured in the transport state. The shape of the chamber may be sized to facilitate inserting holding component 14 into receiving opening 28 of sleeve component 12. Responsive to housing component 14 being inserted into receiving opening 28, secondary opening 44 may be disposed within the internal cavity of sleeve component 12. Holding component 14 may be secured to sleeve component 12 subsequent to connecting tab 42 being inserted into slit 40 of sleeve component 12. In some implementations, holding component 14 and sleeve component 12 may be secured through one or more adhesive surfaces positioned on the interior surface of the longitudinal shape of sleeve component 12 and/or on the exterior surface of the chamber of holding component 14. In some implementations, holding component 14 may be configured to house/contain the bottom portions of the stems of the botanicals during the transport state.
Referring to
Holding component 14 secured to one or more of the second section of sleeve component 12 and/or the third section of sleeve component 12 may be inserted into covering component 10 (as indicated by the dotted arrow shown in
Although the present technology has been described in detail for the purpose of illustration based on what is currently considered to be the most practical and preferred implementations, it is to be understood that such detail is solely for that purpose and that the technology is not limited to the disclosed implementations, but on the contrary, is intended to cover modifications and equivalent arrangements that are within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. For example, it is to be understood that the present technology contemplates that, to the extent possible, one or more features of any implementation can be combined with one or more features of any other implementation.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 17713440 | Apr 2022 | US |
Child | 18168892 | US |