Patent Application
20120234478
The presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) relates to material having a cloth-appearing finish on a surface thereof, and more particularly but not by way of limitation, to flower pot covers, floral wrappings, ribbon materials made from polymeric materials, paper and laminates thereof. In one aspect, the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) relates to methods for producing decorative flower pot covers and methods of wrapping floral groupings and flower pots with a sheet of polymeric material, a sheet of paper and laminates thereof having a cloth-appearing finish on a surface thereof to provide a decorative cover for such floral groupings and flower pots. In yet another aspect, the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) relates to a flower pot formed of polymeric material, paper and laminates thereof wherein the flower pot is provided with a cloth appearing finish.
Referring now to
The sheet of material 10 having a cloth-like appearance 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 material 10 with a cloth-like appearance. The outer peripheral edge 18 of the sheet of material 10 includes a first side 20, a second side 22, a third side 24, and a fourth side 26. A bonding material 27 (
The sheet of material 10 having a cloth-like appearance may be employed to provide a decorative cover for a floral grouping (
As noted above, the sheet of material 10 having a cloth-like appearance 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 a 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, 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 material 10 having a cloth-like appearance is square. It will be appreciated, however, that the sheet of material 10 having a cloth-like appearance can be of any shape, configuration or size as long as the sheet of material 10 is sufficiently sized and shaped to wrap and encompass a floral grouping or a flower pot. For example, the sheet of material 10 may have a rectangular, round, oval, octagonal or asymmetrical shape. Further, multiple sheets of the 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 material 10 having a cloth-like appearance are used in combination, the sheets of material 10 need not be uniform in size or shape. Finally, it will be appreciated that the sheet of material 10 having a cloth-like appearance 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 material 10 with the desired texture or matting so that the sheet of material 10 has the appearance of cloth.
The term “sheet of material” as used herein is to be understood to include a sheet of polymeric film, a sheet of expanded core polymeric film, a sheet of paper, combinations and laminations of polymeric films and paper, laminations of expanded core polymeric film and paper, laminations of polymeric film and expanded core polymeric film, or sheets or laminations of any other types of material which are capable of being modified or treated to provide such laminations or sheets of material with a cloth-like appearance on a surface thereof.
Any thickness or stiffness of the sheet of material 10 may be utilized in accordance with the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) as long as the sheet of material 10 can be modified to provide the sheet of material 10 with a cloth-like appearance and the sheet of material 10 having a cloth-like appearance can be wrapped about at least a portion of a floral grouping or a flower pot, as described herein. Generally, the sheet of 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 presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) which permits the cling material to be modified as hereinbefore described to provide the cling material with a cloth-like appearance.
The term “paper” as used herein is to be understood to include, but not be limited to, a felted sheet of usually vegetable fibers laid down on a fine screen from a water suspension, paper board, papier-mâché, cardboard, wallpaper, newsprint and the like.
In one embodiment, a sleeve may be constructed from two sheets of material e.g., two sheets of polypropylene film or a sheet of polypropylene film and a sheet of paper, wherein at least a lower or outer surface of one of the sheets of material is modified as hereinbefore described to provide at least one of the sheets of material with a cloth-like appearance. The sheets of material 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 or paper having a cloth-like appearance.
The sheet of material 10 having a cloth-like appearance may vary in color. Further, the sheet of material 10 may include 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 cloth-like appearance to the sheet of material 10.
As illustrated in
A plurality of sheets of material 10 having a cloth-like appearance 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.
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 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 material 10 having a cloth-like appearance on a support surface (not shown) such that the lower surface 16 of the sheet of material 10 (which has been modified to provide the sheet of material 10 with a cloth-like appearance) is in contact with the support surface.
Referring more specifically to
In another embodiment, illustrated in
In another version of the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s), the sheet of material 10 having a cloth-like appearance may be used to wrap a flower pot or pot-type container, as noted above. Shown in
The sheet of material 10 having a cloth-like appearance 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 cloth-like appearance disposed about the flower pot 50 illustrated in
Referring now to
The lower surface 16 of the sheet of material 10 (which has been modified to provide the sheet of material 10 with a textured or matted surface simulating cloth) is positioned on an upper surface 76 on the support platform 72 such that the sheet of material 10 is positioned over the opening 74 in the support platform 72. The flower pot 50 is positioned above the sheet of 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 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 cloth-like appearance) 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 material 10 having a cloth-like appearance 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 PIVOTING 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 material 10 having a cloth-like appearance 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 material 10 may have a bonding material such as the bonding material 27 disposed upon a portion thereof. When the sheet of material 10 is disposed about the flower pot 50, at least a portion of the upper surface 14 of the sheet of 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 material 10, or the bonding material may entirely cover the upper surface 14 of the sheet of material 10. The bonding material may be disposed on the upper surface 14 of the sheet of 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 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 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 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.
The sheet of material 10 can also be provided with a coating of acrylic heat sealable lacquer disposed on at least one surface thereof so that the sheet of material 10 can be formed into a decorative preformed flower pot cover in the same manner as described herein with reference to
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. 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 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 a providing the sheet of flexible polymeric film 114 with a cloth-like appearance 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. 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
In another embodiment, a flexible sheet of laminated material 112a (
The thickness of the sheet of expanded core polymeric film 114a and the sheet of substantially water impervious polymeric film 120a can vary widely, as can the flexible sheet, , 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 flexible sheet of laminated 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 PIVOTING 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 is closed, 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 a 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 have any shape, whether geometric, non-geometric, asymmetrical and/or fanciful as long as it functions in accordance with the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s). 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 cloth-like appearance, or the sheet of flexible material 112 or the flexible sheet of laminated material 112a. Any thickness of material may be utilized in accordance with the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) as long as the sleeve 162 may be formed as described herein, is provided with a cloth-like appearance, 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, and then the covered pot wrapped or disposed within a sleeve. Either the cover or the sleeve, or both, may have a cloth-like appearance. Examples of sleeves which may be used in accordance with the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) 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 has 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 therefore 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 material capable of being textured or otherwise modified to provide the material with a cloth-like appearance can be employed in the formulation of the ribbon material 210. For example, the material employed to produce the ribbon material 210 can be a polymeric film, both synthetic and naturally occurring, paper, laminations of polymeric film, laminations of polymeric film and paper, or any other material which is capable of being modified or treated to provide the ribbon material 210 with a cloth-like appearance on a surface thereof. When the ribbon material is polypropylene film or paper, or a laminated polypropylene film and paper, the ribbon material 210 often has 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; whereas, when the ribbon material 210 is formed of an expanded core polymeric film, the ribbon material 210 has a thickness in a range of from about 0.6 mil to about 10 mil.
Referring now to
Referring now to
Any polymeric film or paper capable of being textured or otherwise modified to provide the polymeric film or paper with a cloth-like appearance can be employed in the formulation of the ribbon material 230. For example, the polymeric film or paper 232 employed to produce the ribbon material 230 can be polypropylene film and the polypropylene film or paper 232 is desirably provided with 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.
Referring now to
The flower pot 250 has an upper end 252, a lower end 254 and an outer peripheral surface 256, an opening 258 intersects the upper end 252, forming an inner peripheral surface 260 which defines a retaining space 262 within which may be disposed a growing medium and a botanical item, such as a plant. If desired, a floral support medium, such as floral foam, may be used in place of the growing medium to support a floral grouping within the retaining space 262 of the flower pot 250.
The flower pot 250 may include one or more apertures in the lower the end 254 thereof, such as the aperture 264 as shown in
The flower pot 250 can be formed using any conventional method known in the art. For example, the flower pot 250 can be formed using the method hereinbefore described for forming a preformed flower pot cover; or the flower pot 250 can be formed using a male mold and forming the sheet of material about the male mold in such a manner that the flower pot 250 maintains its shape; or the flower pot 250 may be formed by hand.
When forming the flower pot 250 using a male and a female mold, the sheet of material employed to form the flower pot 250 is desirably provided with a bonding material on at least a portion thereof or with a coating of heat sealable lacquer on at least one surface thereof so that when the sheet of material is formed into the flower pot 250, the flower 250 so produced retains it shape without the requirement of bands and the like.
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 presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) as defined in the following claims.
This application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 13/086,437, filed Apr. 14, 2011, abandoned; which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 13/022,711, filed Feb. 8, 2011, abandoned; which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 12/839,802, filed Jul. 20, 2010, now abandoned; which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 12/822,761, filed Jun. 24, 2010, abandoned; which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 12/315,476, filed Dec. 3, 2008, abandoned; which is a divisional of U.S. Ser. No. 12/156,166, filed May 30, 2008, abandoned; which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 11/003,078, filed Dec. 3, 2004, abandoned; which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 10/698,090, filed Oct. 31, 2003, abandoned; which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 10/202,048, filed Jul. 23, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,708,464, issued Mar. 23, 2004; which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 09/638,585, filed Aug. 15, 2000, U.S. Pat. No. 6,463,717, issued Oct. 15, 2002; which is a divisional of application U.S. Ser. No. 09/143,732, filed Aug. 29, 1998, 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, abandoned; which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/050,867, filed Jun. 26, 1997. The entire contents of each of the above-referenced patents and patent applications are hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60050867 | Jun 1997 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 12156166 | May 2008 | US |
| Child | 12315476 | US | |
| Parent | 09143732 | Aug 1998 | US |
| Child | 09638585 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 13086437 | Apr 2011 | US |
| Child | 13460424 | US | |
| Parent | 13022711 | Feb 2011 | US |
| Child | 13086437 | US | |
| Parent | 12839802 | Jul 2010 | US |
| Child | 13022711 | US | |
| Parent | 12822761 | Jun 2010 | US |
| Child | 12839802 | US | |
| Parent | 12315476 | Dec 2008 | US |
| Child | 12822761 | US | |
| Parent | 11003078 | Dec 2004 | US |
| Child | 12156166 | US | |
| Parent | 10202048 | Jul 2002 | US |
| Child | 10698090 | US | |
| Parent | 09638585 | Aug 2000 | US |
| Child | 10202048 | US | |
| Parent | 09098898 | Jun 1998 | US |
| Child | 09143732 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 10698090 | Oct 2003 | US |
| Child | 11003078 | US |
