Patent Application
20120110905
The present invention relates to polymeric materials having a matte or textured finish on a surface thereof, and more particularly but not by way of limitation, to flower pot covers, floral wrappings and ribbon materials made from such polymeric materials. In one aspect, the present invention relates to methods for producing flower pot covers and methods of wrapping floral groupings and flower pots with a sheet of polymeric material having a matte or textured finish on a surface thereof to provide a decorative cover for such floral groupings and flower pots.
Referring now to
The sheet of polymeric material 10 having a matte or textured finish has an upper surface 14, a lower surface 16, and an outer peripheral edge 18. The lower surface 16 is matted or textured as described above to provide the sheet of polymeric material 10 with a matte or textured finish. The outer peripheral edge 18 of the sheet of polymeric material 10 comprises a first side 20, a second side 22, a third side 24, and a fourth side 26. A bonding material 27 (
The sheet of polymeric material 10 having a matte or textured finish (as well as other sheets, rolls or pads of material described herein) is produced or otherwise obtained by a supplier of materials and may be sold and delivered, either directly or indirectly, to a customer (such as, but not limited to, a grower, a wholesale distributor or a retail distributor). The customer utilizes the sheet of polymeric material to provide a decorative cover for a floral grouping (
As noted above, the sheet of polymeric material 10 having a matte or textured finish can be utilized to form a decorative cover for a floral grouping or a flower pot. The term “flower pot” as used herein refers to any type of container for holding a floral grouping, or a plant, or even another pot type container. Examples of flower pots and/or pot type containers include, but are not limited to, clay pots, wooden pots, plastic pots, pots made from natural and/or synthetic fibers, or any combination thereof. Such flower pots and/or pot-type containers are provided with a retaining space for receiving a floral grouping. The floral grouping may be disposed within the retaining space of the flower pot with a suitable growing medium described in further detail below, or other retaining medium, such as floral foam. It will also be understood that in some cases the floral grouping, and any appropriate growing medium or other retaining medium, may be disposed in a sleeve formed from the sheet of material 10 if the sleeve is adapted to contain a medium.
“Floral grouping” as used herein will be understood to include cut fresh flowers, artificial flowers, a single flower or other fresh and/or artificial plants or other floral materials and may include other secondary plants and/or ornamentation or artificial or natural materials which add to the aesthetics of the overall floral grouping. Further, the floral grouping may comprise a growing potted plant having a root portion as well. However, it will be appreciated that the floral grouping may consist of only a single bloom or only foliage, or a botanical item (not shown), or a propagule. The term “floral grouping” may be used interchangeably herein with the term “floral arrangement”. The term “floral grouping” may also be used interchangeably herein with the terms “botanical item” and/or “propagule.”
The term “growing medium” when used herein will be understood to include any liquid, solid or gaseous material used for plant growth or for the cultivation of propagules, including organic and inorganic materials such as soil, humus, perlite, vermiculite, sand, water, and including the nutrients, fertilizers or hormones or combinations thereof required by the plants or propagules for growth.
The term “botanical item” when used herein will be understood to include a natural or artificial herbaceous or woody plant, taken singularly or in combination. The term “botanical item” also includes any portion or portions of natural or artificial herbaceous or woody plants including stems, leaves, flowers, blossoms, buds, blooms, cones, or roots, taken singly or in combination, or in groupings of such portions such as bouquets or floral groupings.
The term “propagule” when used herein will be understood to include any structure capable of being propagated or acting as an agent of reproduction including seeds, shoots, stems, runners, tubers, plants, leaves, roots or spores.
In the embodiments shown in the drawings, the sheet of polymeric material 10 having a matte or textured finish is square. It will be appreciated, however, that the sheet of polymeric material 10 having a matte or textured finish can be of any shape, configuration or size as long as the sheet of polymeric material 10 is sufficiently sized and shaped to wrap and encompass a floral grouping or a flower pot. For example, the sheet of polymeric material 10 may have a rectangular, round, oval, octagonal or asymmetrical shape. Further, multiple sheets of the polymeric material 10 may be used in a single circumstance to provide a decorative cover or sleeve for a floral grouping or a flower pot. Moreover, when multiple sheets of the polymeric material 10 having a matte or textured finish are used in combination, the sheets of polymeric material 10 need not be uniform in size or shape. Finally, it will be appreciated that the sheet of polymeric material 10 having a matte or textured finish shown herein is a substantially flat sheet except for the texturing, matting, embossing, flocking, application of a foamable lacquer or foamable ink, or other treatments and techniques employed to provide the sheet of polymeric material 10 with the desired textured or matte finish.
Any thickness or stiffness of the sheet of polymeric material 10 may be utilized in accordance with the present invention as long as the sheet of polymeric material 10 can be modified to provide the sheet of polymeric material 10 with a matte or textured finish and the sheet of polymeric material 10 having a matte or textured finish can be wrapped about at least a portion of a floral grouping or a flower pot, as described herein. Generally, the sheet of polymeric material 10 will have a thickness in a range of from about 0.1 mil to about 30 mil, and more desirably a thickness in a range of from about 0.5 mil to about 2.5 mil.
The terms “polymer film”, “polymeric film” and “polymeric material” when used herein will be understood to refer to a synthetic polymer such as a polypropylene, a naturally occurring polymer such as cellophane, an extruded polymeric material having an expanded core such as extruded polypropylene having an expanded core and combinations thereof, including but not limited to, laminated materials. The extruded polymeric material having an expanded core (which is sometimes referred to herein as an expanded core polymeric material) will generally have a thickness in the range of from about 0.6 mil to about 10 mil, more desirably in the range of from about 0.6 mil to about 1.25 mil. “Extruded polymeric material having an expanded core” as used herein refers to any extrudable polymeric material in which the core is expanded during extrusion, such as by incorporation of a blowing agent in the polymeric resin which is being extruded.
The sheet of material 10 may also be constructed, in whole or in part, from a cling material. “Cling material” when used herein includes any material which is capable of connecting to the sheet of material and/or itself upon contacting engagement during the wrapping process and is wrappable about an item whereby portions of the cling material contactingly engage and connect to other portions of another material, or, alternatively, itself, for generally securing the material wrapped about at least a portion of a flower pot. This connecting engagement is preferably temporary in that the material may be easily removed, i.e., the cling material “clings” to the flower pot.
The cling material is constructed, and treated if necessary, from polyethylene such as Cling Wrap made by Glad®, First Brands Corporation, Danbury, Conn. The thickness of the cling material will, in part, depend upon the size of sleeve and the size of the flower pot in the sleeve, i.e., generally, a larger flower pot may require a thicker and therefore stronger cling material. The cling material will range in thickness from about 0.1 mil to about 10 mil, and preferably from about 0.5 mil to about 2.5 mil and most preferably from about 0.6 mil to about 2 mil. However, any thickness of cling material may be utilized in accordance with the present invention which permits the cling material to be modified as hereinbefore described to provide the cling material with a matte or textured finish.
In one embodiment, a sleeve may be constructed from two sheets of polypropylene film wherein at least a lower or outer surface of one of the sheets of polypropylene film is modified as hereinbefore described to provide at least one of the sheets of polypropylene film with a matte or textured finish. The sheets of polypropylene film employed to produce the sleeve may be connected together or laminated or may be separate layers. In an alternative embodiment, the sleeve may be constructed from only one sheet of polypropylene film having a matte or textured finish. It should also be noted that two or more separate sheets of material can be provided by the material supplier and sold and delivered to the customer to be used to form a decorative cover for a floral grouping, or a decorative cover for a flower pot, or a preformed flower pot cover for covering a flower pot, or a sleeve for wrapping or covering a floral grouping or a flower pot as long as one of the sheets of material is modified or textured to provide the sheet with a matte or textured finish.
The sheet of polymeric material 10 having a matte or textured finish may vary in color. Further, the sheet of polymeric material 10 may comprise other decorative patterns or designs in addition to the matting, texturing, flocking, application of flammable lacquers or foamable inks, or embossing employed to impart the matte or textured finish to the sheet of polymeric material 10 wherein such decorative patterns or designs enhance the overall aesthetic characteristics of the sheet of polymeric material 10. Such decorative patterns may include a printed pattern and/or an embossed pattern, and when used in combination, the printed and embossed patterns may be in or out of registry with one another, or a portion of the printed and embossed patterns may be in registry with one another and a portion of the printed and embossed patterns may be out of registry with one another.
As illustrated in
The material supplier supplies at least one sheet of polymeric material 10 to a customer, and desirably, the material supplier supplies a plurality of sheets of polymeric material 10 to a customer. A plurality of sheets of polymeric material 10 having a matte or textured finish may be connected together to form a roll as is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,459,976, issued to Weder et al. on Oct. 24, 1995, entitled “MATERIAL AND ADHESIVE STRIP DISPENSER”, the specification of which is hereby expressly incorporated in its entirety herein by reference. Optionally, the plurality of sheets of polymeric material 10 may be connected together to form a pad of sheets of material, as is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,477, issued to Weder on Aug. 9, 1994, entitled “METHOD OF WRAPPING A FLORAL GROUPING”, the contents of which are hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.
The bonding material 27, if present, may have a backing or release strip (not shown). The backing or release strip may be left applied for a period of time to the bonding material 27 after it is disposed on a surface of the sheet of polymeric material 10 prior to its use as a wrapping material, to protect the bonding qualities of the bonding strip. In operation, an operator may dispose the sheet of polymeric material 10 having a matte or textured finish on a support surface (not shown) such that the lower surface 16 of the sheet of polymeric material 10 (which has been modified to provide the sheet of polymeric material 10 with a matte or textured finish) is in contact with the support surface.
Referring more specifically to
In another embodiment, illustrated in
In another version of the invention, the sheet of polymeric material 10 having a matte or textured finish may be used to wrap a flower pot or pot-type container, as noted above. Shown in
The sheet of polymeric material 10 having a matte or textured finish may be wrapped about the flower pot 50 by any one of numerous methods used to wrap sheets of material about flower pots to form decorative pot covers for flower pots, such as a decorative cover 61 having a matte or textured finish disposed about the flower pot 50 illustrated in
Referring now to
The lower surface 16 of the sheet of polymeric material 10 (which has been modified to provide the matte or textured finish) is positioned on an upper surface 76 on the support platform 72 such that the sheet of polymeric material 10 is positioned over the opening 74 in the support platform 72. The flower pot 50 is positioned above the sheet of polymeric material 10 and is moved in a direction 78 into the opening 74 of the flower pot cover former and band applicator apparatus 66. As the flower pot 50 is moved into the opening 74, the sheet of polymeric material 10 is pressed about the outer peripheral surface 56 of the flower pot 50 thereby forming the decorative cover 61 about the flower pot 50. The decorative cover 61 (which has a matte or textured finish) is then secured about the flower pot 50 by the elastic band 64. The flower pot 50 having the decorative cover 61 secured thereto is then moved in a direction 80 out of the opening 74 in the support platform 72.
The elastic band 64 can be applied manually or automatically such as by the method shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,599, entitled “Means For Securing A Decorative Cover About A Flower Pot”, issued to Weder on Apr. 21, 1993 which is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference. The band 64 can also be applied as a tie using a method such as described in “Single Station Covering and Fastening System”, U.S. Pat. No. 5,609,009, issued to Weder et al. on Mar. 11, 1997, the specification of which is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference. The sheet of polymeric material 10 having a matte or textured finish can also be applied automatically about the flower pot 50, for example, by methods shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,521 entitled “Cover Forming Apparatus” issued to Weder et al. on Mar. 29, 1988, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,291,721, entitled “Cover Forming Apparatus Having A Voting Forming Members”, issued to Weder et al. on Mar. 8, 1994, both of which are hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.
Instead of securing the decorative cover 61 about the flower pot 50 via the band 64, the decorative cover 61 formed from the sheet of polymeric material 10 having a matte or textured finish may be secured to the flower pot 50 by the use of one or more bonding materials. For example, the upper surface 14 of the sheet of polymeric material 10 may have a bonding material such as the bonding material 27 disposed upon a portion thereof. When the sheet of polymeric material 10 is disposed about the flower pot 50, at least a portion of the upper surface 14 of the sheet of polymeric material 10 contacts the outer peripheral surface 56 of the flower pot 50 and is thereby bonded and held about the flower pot 50 via the bonding material.
The bonding material may cover a portion of the upper surface 14 of the sheet of polymeric material 10, or the bonding material may entirely cover the upper surface 14 of the sheet of polymeric material 10. The bonding material may be disposed on the upper surface 14 of the sheet of polymeric material 10 in the form of a strip or in the form of spaced-apart spots. One method for disposing a bonding material on the sheet of polymeric material 10 is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,637, entitled “Method For Wrapping A Floral Grouping”, issued to Weder, et al. on May 12, 1992, which is expressly incorporated herein by reference.
The term “bonding material” when used herein refers to an adhesive, frequently a pressure sensitive adhesive, or a cohesive or any adhesive/cohesive combination having adhesive qualities (i.e., qualities of adhesion or adhesion/cohesion, respectively) sufficient to cause the attachment of a portion of the sheet of polymeric material 10 to itself, to a floral grouping 34, or to a flower pot 50. Since the bonding material may comprise either an adhesive or an adhesive/cohesive combination, it will be appreciated that both adhesives and cohesives are known in the art, and both are commercially available. When the bonding material is a cohesive, a similar cohesive material must be placed on the adjacent surface for bondingly contacting and bondingly engaging with the cohesive material. The term “bonding material” also includes materials which are heat sealable and, in this instance, the adjacent portions of the material must be brought into contact and then heat must be applied to effect the seal. The term “bonding material” also includes materials which are sonically sealable and vibratory sealable. The term “bonding material” when used herein also includes a heat sealing lacquer or hot melt material which may be applied to the material and, in this instance, heat, sound waves, or vibrations, also must be applied to effect the sealing.
The term “bonding material” when used herein also includes any type of material or thing which can be used to effect the bonding or connecting of the two adjacent portions of the sheet of polymeric material 10 to effect the connection or bonding described herein. The term “bonding material” may also include ties, labels, bands, ribbons, strings, tapes (including single or double-sided adhesive tapes), staples or combinations thereof. Some of the bonding materials would secure the ends of the material while other bonding materials may bind the circumference of a cover, or a sleeve, or, alternatively and/or in addition, the bonding materials would secure overlapping folds in the material and/or sleeve. Another way to secure the cover and/or sleeve is to heat seal the ends of the material to another portion of the material. One way to do this is to contact the ends with an iron of sufficient heat to heat seal the material.
Alternatively, a cold seal adhesive may be utilized as the bonding material. The cold seal adhesive adheres only to a similar substrate, acting similarly as a cohesive, and binds only to itself. The cold seal adhesive, since it bonds only to a similar substrate, does not cause a residue to build up on equipment, thereby both permitting much more rapid disposition and use of such equipment to form articles and reducing labor costs. Further, since no heat is required to effect the seal, the dwell time, that is, the time for the sheet of material to form and retain the shape of an article, such as a flower pot cover or flower pot, is reduced. A cold seal adhesive binds quickly and easily with minimal pressure, and such a seal is not readily releasable. This characteristic is different from, for example, a pressure sensitive adhesive.
The term “bonding material” when used herein also includes any heat or chemically shrinkable material, and static electrical or other electrical materials, chemical welding materials, magnetic materials, mechanical or barb-type fastening materials or clamps, curl-type characteristics of the film or materials incorporated in material which can cause the material to take on certain shapes, cling films, slots, grooves, shrinkable materials and bands, curl materials, springs, and any type of welding method which may weld portions of the material to itself or to the pot, or to both the material itself and the pot.
Referring now to
As previously stated, the modification of the sheet of expanded core polymeric film 114 to provide the sheet of flexible material 112 with the desired matte or textured finish can be accomplished by printing a desired pattern on the sheet of expanded core polymeric film 114 and thereafter laminating a matte material, such as a translucent polymeric film, over the printed pattern. To further enhance the matte or textured finish, the matte material may or may not have a plurality of spatially disposed holes extending therethrough. A matte or textured finish can also be produced by printing a sheet of expanded core polymeric film 114 with a matted (i.e., dull finish) ink, by lacquering at least one surface of the sheet of expanded core polymeric film 114 with a dull finish lacquer or a matting lacquer, by embossing the sheet of expanded core polymeric film 114 to provide an embossed pattern simulating the weave or texture of cloth or other textured material, or by embossing and printing the sheet of expanded core polymeric film 114 to provide embossed and printed patterns wherein the embossed and printed patterns may be in registry, out of registry or wherein a portion of the embossed and printed patterns are in registry and a portion of the embossed and printed patterns are out of registry. In addition, a matte or textured finish capable of providing the sheet of flexible polymeric film 114 with a matte or textured finish can be achieved by extruding a polymeric resin onto a matted or textured chill roll to produce the sheet of expanded core polymeric film 114 or by laminating a second sheet of material to the sheet of expanded core polymeric film 114. When the sheet of flexible material 112 is formed into the decorative preformed flower pot cover 110, a plurality of overlapping folds 122 are formed and at least a portion of the overlapping folds 122 are connected to adjacently disposed portions of the decorative preformed flower pot cover 110 via the acrylic heat sealable lacquer 120.
As shown in
As stated above, the decorative preformed flower pot cover 110 is provided with a plurality of overlapping folds 122 which are formed in the base 124 thereof, and at least a portion of the overlapping folds 122 are connected so that the decorative preformed flower pot cover 110 may be substantially flattened and then unflattened to assume the original shape of the decorative preformed flower pot cover 110. A substantial portion of the overlapping folds 122 extend over different distances and at various and arbitrary angles. The decorative border 138 of the decorative preformed flower pot cover 110 is substantially free of permanently connected overlapping folds.
In another embodiment, a laminated sheet of flexible material 112a (
The sheet of expanded core polymeric film 114a desirably has a thickness in a range of from about 0.6 mil to about 10 mil, and more desirably from about 0.6 mil to about 1.25 mil, and the substantially water impervious polymeric film 120a desirably has a thickness in a range of from about 0.6 mil to about 10 mil. The substantially water impervious polymeric film 120a is desirably laminated to the sheet of expanded core polymeric material 114a with a colored adhesive so as to impart a desired color to the laminated sheet of flexible material 112a. While the thickness of the laminated sheet of flexible material 112a can vary widely, and will generally depend on the thickness of the sheet of expanded core polymeric film 114a and the thickness of the substantially water impervious polymeric film 120a, desirable results can be obtained where the laminated sheet of flexible material 112a has a thickness in the range of from about 1.5 mil to about 2.5 mil.
As previously stated, the decorative preformed flower pot cover 110 may be constructed of the sheet of flexible material 112 (
The method and apparatus employed to form the preformed flower pot cover is substantially identical whether one uses one or more sheets of the flexible material 112 (
The decorative preformed flower pot cover 110 may be formed using a conventional mold system 140 comprising a male mold 142 and a female mold 144 having a mold cavity 146 for matingly receiving the male mold 142 (
Methods for forming such preformed decorative pot covers are well known in the art. Two methods of forming such covers are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,182, entitled “ARTICLE FORMING SYSTEM” issued to Weder et al. on Sep. 27, 1998, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,291,721, entitled “COVER FORMING APPARATUS HAVING A VOTING FORMING MEMBERS”, issued to Weder et al. on Mar. 8, 1994, each of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference.
Shown in
The sleeve 162 has an opening 170 at the upper end 166 and may be open at the lower end 168, or closed with a bottom at the lower end 168. The sleeve 162 also has an inner peripheral surface 172 which, when the sleeve 162 is opened, defines and encompasses an inner retaining space 174. When the lower end 168 of the sleeve 162 has a closed lower end 168, a portion of the lower end 168 may be inwardly folded to form one or more gussets (not shown) for allowing the lower portion of the inner retaining space 174 to be expandable, for example, for receiving the circular bottom of a pot or growing medium.
The sleeve 162 is generally frusto-conically shaped, but the sleeve 162 may be, by way of example but not by way of limitation, cylindrical, frusto-conical, a combination of both frusto-conical and cylindrical, or any other shape, as long as the sleeve 162 functions as described herein as noted above. Further, the sleeve 162 may comprise any shape, whether geometric, non-geometric, asymmetrical and/or fanciful as long as it functions in accordance with the present invention. The sleeve 162 may also be equipped with drain holes (if having a closed bottom) or side ventilation holes (not shown), or can be made from gas permeable or impermeable materials.
The material from which the sleeve 162 is constructed is the same as previously described above for the sheet of polymeric material 10 having a matte or textured finish, or the sheet of flexible material 112 or 112a. Any thickness of material may be utilized in accordance with the present invention as long as the sleeve 162 may be formed as described herein, is provided with a matte or textured finish, and as long as the formed sleeve 162 may contain at least a portion of a flower pot or a floral grouping, as described herein. Additionally, an insulating material such as bubble film, preferable as one of two or more layers, can be utilized in order to provide additional protection for the item, such as a floral grouping, contained therein.
In
Similarly, it may generally be desired to use the sleeve 162 as a decorative cover for a flower pot (not shown). The flower pot will generally contain a botanical item or plant. The flower pot can be deposited into the open sleeve 162 in a manner well known in the art, such as manually wherein the sleeve 162 is opened by hand and the flower pot deposited therein.
As noted above, a bonding material may be disposed on a portion of the sleeve 162 or any sleeve described herein to assist in holding the sleeve 162 to the flower pot when the flower pot is disposed within the sleeve 162 or to assist in closing the upper end 166 of the sleeve 162 or adhering the sleeve 162 to the flower pot after the flower pot has been disposed therein, as will be discussed in further detail below.
It will be understood that the bonding material, if present, may be disposed as a strip or block on a surface of the sleeve 162. The bonding material may also be disposed upon either the outer peripheral surface 164 or the inner peripheral surface 172 of the sleeve 162, as well as upon the flower pot. Further, the bonding material may be disposed as spots of bonding material, or in any other geometric, non-geometric, asymmetric, or fanciful form, and in any pattern, including covering either the entire inner peripheral surface 172 and/or outer peripheral surface 164 of the sleeve 162 and/or the flower pot. The bonding material may be covered by a cover or release strip which can be removed prior to the use of the sleeve 162 or flower pot. The bonding material can be applied by methods known to those of ordinary skill in their art. One method for disposing a bonding material, in this case an adhesive, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,637, entitled “METHOD FOR WRAPPING A FLORAL GROUPING”, issued to Weder et al. on May 12, 1993, which is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.
As noted above, a bonding material may be disposed on at least a portion of the inner peripheral surface 172 of the sleeve 162 (or any other sleeve described herein), or, alternatively, the bonding material may be disposed on the outer peripheral surface of a flower pot contained within the sleeve 162, while the sleeve 162 may be free of the bonding material. In a further alternative, the bonding material may be disposed both on at least a portion of the flower pot as well as upon at least a portion of the inner peripheral surface 172 of the sleeve 162. In addition, a portion of the bonding material may also be disposed on the outer peripheral surface 164 of the sleeve 162 as well. It will be understood that the bonding material may be disposed in a solid section of bonding material. The bonding material, when present, is disposed on the sleeve 162 and/or flower pot by any method known in the art.
Certain versions of sleeves described herein may be used in combination with a preformed pot cover. For example, a preformed pot cover may be applied to the pot, then the covered pot wrapped or disposed within a sleeve. Either the cover or the sleeve, or both, may have a matte or textured finish. Examples of sleeves which may be used in this invention are shown in the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 5,625,979, entitled “SLEEVE HAVING A DETACHABLE PORTION FORMING A SKIRT AND METHODS”, issued to Weder on May 6, 1997, which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Equipment and devices for forming sleeves are commercially available, and well known in the art.
Shown in
The sleeve 162b has an upper end 166b, a lower end 168b, and an outer peripheral surface 164b. The sleeve 162b has an opening 170b at the upper end 166b thereof, and the sleeve 162b may be open at the lower end 168b or closed with a bottom at the lower end 168b. In a flattened state, the sleeve 162b has a first side 171 and a second side 173. The sleeve 162b also has an inner peripheral surface 172b which, when the sleeve 162b is opened, defines and encompasses an inner retaining space 174b as shown in
As shown in
In a preferred embodiment, as shown in
In the intact sleeve 162b, the skirt portion 198 comprises an upper peripheral edge congruent with the detaching element 194 which is connected to a lower peripheral edge, also congruent with the detaching element 194, of the upper portion 188 of the sleeve 162b. In
The upper portion 188 of the sleeve 162b is thereby separable from the lower portion 190 of the sleeve 162b by tearing the upper portion 188 along both the detaching element 200 and the detaching element 194, thereby separating the upper portion 188 from the lower portion 190 of the sleeve 162b. The lower portion 190 of the sleeve 162b remains disposed as the base portion 196 about the flower pot 176b and as the skirt portion 198 about the plant 192 forming a decorative cover 202 as shown in
“Detaching element” as used herein, includes any element, or combination of elements, or features, such as, but not by way of limitation, perforations, tear strips, zippers, and any other devices or elements of this nature known in the art, or any combination thereof. Therefore, while perforations are shown and described in detail herein, it will be understood that tear strips, zippers, or any other “detaching elements” known in the art, or any combination thereof, could be substituted therefor and/or used therewith.
In a general method of use of sleeve 162b as a decorative cover for a flower pot, an operator provides a sleeve 162b, and the flower pot 176b having a plant 192 disposed in a growing medium contained within the flower pot 176b. The operator then disposes the flower pot 176b having the plant 192 contained therein into the sleeve 162b by opening the sleeve 162b at its upper end 166b and assuring both that the opening 170b therein is in an open condition, and that the inner peripheral surface 172b of the sleeve 162b is somewhat expanded outward as well, as shown in
Referring now to
Any polymeric material capable of being textured or otherwise modified to provide the polymeric material with a matte or textured finish can be employed in the formulation of the polymeric ribbon material 210. For example, the polymeric material employed to produce the polymeric ribbon material 210 can be polypropylene film having a thickness in a range of from about 0.1 mil to about 30 mil, and more desirably in a range of from about 0.5 mil to about 2.5 mil, or an expanded core polymeric film having a thickness in a range of from about 0.6 mil to about 10 mil.
Referring now to
Referring now to
Any polymeric film capable of being textured or otherwise modified to provide the polymeric material with a matte or textured finish can be employed in the formulation of the polymeric ribbon material 230. For example, the polymeric film 232 employed to produce the polymeric ribbon material 230 can be polypropylene film having a thickness in a range of from about 0.1 mil to about 30 mil, and more desirably in a range of from about 0.5 mil to about 2.5 mil, or an expanded core polymeric film having a thickness in a range of from about 0.6 mil to about 10 mil.
Changes may be made in the construction and the operation of the various components, elements and assemblies described herein or in the steps or the sequence of steps of the methods described herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.
This application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 13/093,488, filed Apr. 25, 2011, now abandoned; which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 11/637,297, filed Dec. 12, 2006, now abandoned; which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 10/603,491, filed Jun. 25, 2003, now abandoned; which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 10/378,960, filed Mar. 4, 2003, now abandoned. Said U.S. Ser. No. 10/603,491 is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 10/419,531, filed Apr. 21, 2003, now abandoned; which is a divisional of U.S. Ser. No. 09/921,678, filed Aug. 3, 2001, now abandoned; which is a divisional of U.S. Ser. No. 09/143,732, filed Aug. 29, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,324,813, issued Dec. 4, 2001; which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 09/098,898, filed Jun. 17, 1998, now abandoned; which claims benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of U.S. Ser. No. 60/050,867, filed Jun. 26, 1997. U.S. Ser. No. 10/419,531 is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 10/180,206, filed Jun. 18, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,584,729, issued Jul. 1, 2003; which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 09/461,800, filed Dec. 14, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,460,291, issued Oct. 8, 2002; which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 09/062,277, filed Apr. 17, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,178,689, issued Jan. 30, 2001; which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 08/749,626, filed Nov. 18, 1996, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,829,194, issued Nov. 3, 1998. The entire contents of each of the above referenced patents and patent applications are hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference. Not applicable.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60050867 | Jun 1997 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 09921678 | Aug 2001 | US |
| Child | 10419531 | US | |
| Parent | 09143732 | Aug 1998 | US |
| Child | 09921678 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
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| Parent | 13093488 | Apr 2011 | US |
| Child | 13351281 | US | |
| Parent | 11637297 | Dec 2006 | US |
| Child | 13093488 | US | |
| Parent | 10603491 | Jun 2003 | US |
| Child | 11637297 | US | |
| Parent | 09098898 | Jun 1998 | US |
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| Parent | 09461800 | Dec 1999 | US |
| Child | 10180206 | US | |
| Parent | 09062277 | Apr 1998 | US |
| Child | 09461800 | US | |
| Parent | 08749626 | Nov 1996 | US |
| Child | 09062277 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 10378960 | Mar 2003 | US |
| Child | 10603491 | US | |
| Parent | 10419531 | Apr 2003 | US |
| Child | 10378960 | US | |
| Parent | 10180206 | Jun 2002 | US |
| Child | 10419531 | US |
