FLORAL CLIP

Abstract

A floral clip for attaching a floral arrangement to a clothing material can have a clip body comprising a horizontally elongate member and a vertically elongate member extending transverse from the horizontally elongate member. The floral clip includes a floral support device pivotally coupled to the clip body and having at least one floral attachment member attached to the floral arrangement. A compliant device (e.g., spring) can be coupled between the horizontally elongate member and the floral support device to exert a biasing force to bias the floral attachment member toward the horizontally elongate member. The horizontally elongate member and the floral support device cooperatively pinch a clothing material in a non-destructive manner. The vertically elongate member extends downwardly from the horizontally elongate member to bias against the wearer to resist gravitational forces acting on the floral arrangement and to stabilize the floral arrangement.

Description

BACKGROUND

People often wear floral arrangements attached to their clothing for special events, such as a boutonniere worn on a suit jacket, for example. A variety of clips or pins have been used to attach such floral arrangements to a wearer. Many floral arrangements are attached to the wearer by a clip or pin at or near a shank of the floral arrangement, in a manner such that a substantial majority of the weight of the floral arrangement is positioned above the attachment point of the clip or pin to the stem. This can cause the floral arrangement to sag downwardly on the wearer or be otherwise unstable on the wearer, which can lead to deformation of the suit jacket, for instance. This is particularly problematic during capturing of images, where the floral arrangement may be misplaced on the wearer due to the failure of the clip to properly secure the floral arrangement to the wearer. Moreover, many such clips are destructive to clothing because they have pins that pierce through the clothing to secure the floral arrangement to the wearer, or the clips wrinkle or otherwise deform the clothing material, for instance.

SUMMARY

A floral clip is disclosed having a clip body comprising a horizontally elongate member and a vertically elongate member extending transverse (e.g., perpendicular) from the horizontally elongate member. The floral clip comprises a floral support device that is pivotally coupled to the clip body and has at least one floral attachment member configured to be attached to a floral arrangement. The floral clip comprises a compliant device operatively coupled between the horizontally elongate member and the floral support device to exert a biasing force to bias the at least one floral attachment member toward the horizontally elongate member. Thus, when the floral clip and the floral arrangement are worn by a wearer, the horizontally elongate member and the floral support device cooperatively pinch a clothing material via the biasing force of the compliant device. Advantageously, the vertically elongate member is sized and configured to bias against the wearer to assist supporting the weight of the floral arrangement.

The floral clip can comprise a pin that pivotally couples the floral support device to the horizontally elongate member. The floral support device can comprise at least one piercing member extendible through only a shank of the floral arrangement, such as a pair of piercing shafts that pierce the shank. Thus, the floral clip is configured such that the at least one piecing member does not pierce through the clothing material when worn by the wearer to provide a non-destructive floral clip.

In some example, the horizontally elongate member has a horizontal axis and the vertically elongate member has a vertical axis generally perpendicular to the horizontal axis of the horizontally elongate member. Thus, the vertically elongate member can extend downwardly from the horizontally elongate member, and therefore is positioned below a center of mass of the floral arrangement to resist gravitational forces acting on the floral arrangement.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the front side of a floral clip in a closed state in accordance with an example of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the rear side of the floral clip of FIG. 1 in accordance with an example of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of the side of the floral clip of FIG. 1 in accordance with an example of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of the floral clip of FIG. 1 in an open state and attached to a floral arrangement in accordance with an example of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is an isometric view of the floral clip of FIG. 1 in an installed state coupling the floral arrangement to a clothing material in accordance with an example of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is top plan view of a section of the floral clip of FIG. 1 in an installed state coupling a stem of a floral arrangement to a clothing material in accordance with an example of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of the floral clip and attached floral arrangement of FIGS. 5 and 6 on a wearer in accordance with an example of the present disclosure.

These drawings are provided to illustrate various aspects of the invention and are not intended to be limiting of the scope in terms of dimensions, materials, configurations, arrangements or proportions unless otherwise limited by the claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

While these exemplary embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, it should be understood that other embodiments may be realized and that various changes to the invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, the following more detailed description of the embodiments of the present invention is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, as claimed, but is presented for purposes of illustration only and not limitation to describe the features and characteristics of the present invention, to set forth the best mode of operation of the invention, and to sufficiently enable one skilled in the art to practice the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention is to be defined solely by the appended claims.

Definitions

In describing and claiming the present invention, the following terminology will be used.

The singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “a member” includes reference to one or more of such features and reference to “coupling” refers to one or more such steps.

As used herein with respect to an identified property or circumstance, “substantially” refers to a degree of deviation that is sufficiently small so as to not measurably detract from the identified property or circumstance. The exact degree of deviation allowable may in some cases depend on the specific context.

As used herein, “adjacent” refers to the proximity of two structures or elements. Particularly, elements that are identified as being “adjacent” may be either abutting or connected. Such elements may also be near or close to each other without necessarily contacting each other. The exact degree of proximity may in some cases depend on the specific context.

As used herein, a plurality of items, structural elements, compositional elements, and/or materials may be presented in a common list for convenience. However, these lists should be construed as though each member of the list is individually identified as a separate and unique member. Thus, no individual member of such list should be construed as a de facto equivalent of any other member of the same list solely based on their presentation in a common group without indications to the contrary.

As used herein, the term “at least one of” is intended to be synonymous with “one or more of.” For example, “at least one of A, B and C” explicitly includes only A, only B, only C, or combinations of each.

Numerical data may be presented herein in a range format. It is to be understood that such range format is used merely for convenience and brevity and should be interpreted flexibly to include not only the numerical values explicitly recited as the limits of the range, but also to include all the individual numerical values or sub-ranges encompassed within that range as if each numerical value and sub-range is explicitly recited. For example, a numerical range of about 1 to about 4.5 should be interpreted to include not only the explicitly recited limits of 1 to about 4.5, but also to include individual numerals such as 2, 3, 4, and sub-ranges such as 1 to 3, 2 to 4, etc. The same principle applies to ranges reciting only one numerical value, such as “less than about 4.5,” which should be interpreted to include all of the above-recited values and ranges. Further, such an interpretation should apply regardless of the breadth of the range or the characteristic being described.

Any steps recited in any method or process claims may be executed in any order and are not limited to the order presented in the claims. Means-plus-function or step-plus-function limitations will only be employed where for a specific claim limitation all of the following conditions are present in that limitation: a) “means for” or “step for” is expressly recited; and b) a corresponding function is expressly recited. The structure, material or acts that support the means-plus function are expressly recited in the description herein. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined solely by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the descriptions and examples given herein.

Floral Clip

With reference to FIGS. 1-7, a floral clip 10 is illustrated in various views and configurations in accordance with an example of the present disclosure. Specifically, FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the front side of the floral clip 10, and FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the rear side of the floral clip 10, and FIG. 3 is an isometric view of a side of the floral clip 10, with all such views showing the floral clip 10 in the closed state A. FIG. 4 illustrates the floral clip 10 in an open state B, while FIG. 5 shows the floral clip 10 in an installed state C attached to a floral arrangement 12 and coupled to a clothing material 14. Finally, FIG. 6 shows a top plan view of FIG. 5 (only showing the stem), and FIG. 7 shows the floral clip 10 and the floral arrangement 12 as worn by a wearer.

With general reference to FIGS. 1-5, the floral clip 10 can comprise a clip body 16 comprising a horizontally elongate member 18 and a vertically elongate member 20 extending transverse from the horizontally elongate member 18. The floral clip 10 can further comprise a floral support device 22 pivotally coupled to the clip body 16 and having at least one floral attachment member 24 configured to be attached to the floral arrangement 12 (e.g., FIGS. 5-7). The floral clip 10 can comprise a compliant device 26 (FIG. 3) operatively coupled between the horizontally elongate member 18 and the floral support device 22 to exert a biasing force to bias the at least one floral attachment member 24 toward the horizontally elongate member 18. That is, the compliant device 26 is configured to nominally place the floral clip 10 in a closed state A (FIGS. 1-3), and when actuated/operated by a user, the floral clip 10 can be placed in an open state B (FIGS. 4 and 5) for attachment of the floral arrangement 12 and for coupling the floral arrangement 12 to the clothing material 14 of the wearer when the floral clip 10 is in the installed state C (FIGS. 5-7).

In some examples, the vertically elongate member 20 can extend transverse and downwardly from the horizontally elongate member 18. In this configuration, the horizontally elongate member has a horizontal axis H (FIG. 2) and the vertically elongate member 20 has a vertical axis V generally perpendicular to the horizontal axis of the horizontally elongate member 18.

In some examples, the floral support device 22 can be comprised of an actuator body 28 and a pair of piercing members 30 attached to the actuator body 28; however one piercing member 30 can be used (i.e., “the at least one floral attachment member 24” could be just one piercing or other attachment device). The pair of piercing members 30 (or single piercing member) can extend generally horizontal along and relative to the horizontally elongate member 18. The piercing members 30 can be comprised a material that is capable of having a piercing tip small enough that can pierce through a stem of a floral arrangement, such as rigid metal (stainless steel, aluminum, tin, etc.), or even other materials such as certain plastics and composites.

Note that the stem of a floral arrangement can be comprised of numerous flower stems, papers, fabrics, and other materials. These stems are usually wrapped fairly tight with paper and ribbon, for instance, such that one or more piercing members 30 would be frictionally engaged to the stem with enough friction force to prevent the floral arrangement from sliding or falling off. However, in one example the piercing members 30 can be replaced with another attachment device, such as an alligator clip, a serrated blade, an O-ring clamp, or other suitable device.

The actuator body 28 can have a pair of attachment members 32 that attach the pair of piercing members 30 to the actuator body 28 by a suitable means, such as by UV welding, adhesive, fasteners, etc., in examples where the floral support device 22 is plastic, of instance. The actuator body 28 can include a finger actuation portion 34 sized and shaped to provide sufficient surface area for a user to depress a finger against the finger actuation portion 34 to actuate the compliant device 26 and open the floral clip, as shown on FIG. 4. The actuator body 28 can further include a pair of flange supports 36 (FIG. 3) that extend outwardly from the actuator body 28 and adjacent the finger actuation portion 34. The actuator body 28 can be formed as one unitary component (as further discussed below), or it can be multiple parts coupled together.

The horizontally elongate member 18 can comprise a generally planar body 38 having a leading end section 40, a middle section 42, and an aft end section 44 (FIGS. 1 and 2). In some examples, the generally planar body 38 comprises a cavity area defined by a raised edge perimeter portion 48 that extends around the body 36, as shown on FIG. 1. Notably, the sharp tips of the piercing members 30 can touch or rest against the planar body 38 in the cavity area adjacent the raised edge perimeter portion 48 when the floral clip 10 is in the nominally closed state A, which helps prevent the floral clip 10 from accidentally piercing a user or other object when being stored or handled. Alternatively, the sharp tips can ride in a slot or aperture of the horizontally elongate member 18.

The horizontally elongate member 18 can further comprise a finger actuation portion 50 sized and shaped to provide sufficient surface area (e.g., 5+ square mm) for a user to depress a finger against the finger actuation portion 50, as illustrated by FIG. 4, to open the floral clip 10. The horizontally elongate member 18 can similarly include a pair of flange supports 52 that extend outwardly from the generally planar body 38 and adjacent the finger actuation portion 50. As shown on FIG. 3, the flange supports 36 of the actuator body 28 are positioned inside of the space between the flange supports 52 of the horizontally elongate member 18 to provide a pivot point. Accordingly, a pin 54 (e.g., a steel rivet) extends through apertures in each of the pairs of flange supports 36 and 52 to pivotally couple the floral support device 22 to the horizontally elongate member 18. The pin 54 can be flanged on both ends so that it remains in place.

In some examples, the compliant device 26 is a spring, such as a 90 degree torsional spring having a right hand wind direction with at least 3 coils, as shown on FIG. 3. The spring has an opening sized to receiving the pin 54 (the pin can be approximately 1 mm to 5 mm diameter or more, for instance). In the present example, the spring is positioned between the floral support device 22 and the horizontally elongate member 18 adjacent respective finger actuation portions 34 and 50, such that the compliant device 26 is pre-loaded when installed such that the spring arms are each biased to respective finger actuation portions 34 and 50. This biasing force causes an outward force to the finger actuation portions 34 and 50, which, due to the pivot point defined by the pin 54, causes the piercing members 30 to be biased toward the generally planar body 38.

Other types of compliant devices can be used to achieve the aforementioned biasing force to attach the floral clip 10 to a piece of clothing. For instance, a leaf spring could be coupled between each of the horizontally elongate member 18 and the actuator body 28, and pre-loaded in-place to provide a biasing force. Alternatively, one or more coil springs could be used in a similar manner. In another aspect, a threaded shaft could be coupled laterally between the horizontally elongate member 18 and the actuator body 28, which can be rotated to move the floral clip 10 between the closed and open states.

In some examples, the horizontally elongate member 18 has a width/thickness from 3 mm to 25 mm, and a horizontal/lateral length from 2.5 cm to 8 cm, or more in some aspects. In some examples, the vertically elongate member 20 has a thickness from 1 mm to 10 mm, and a vertical length from 2 cm to 10 cm, or more in some instances. Alternatively, the vertically elongate member 20 need not be a thin elongate member, as illustrated in the drawings. Rather, it could have a generally flat, wide planar shape (like the horizontally elongate member 18), or it could be a wide panel that extends downwardly from the horizontally elongate member 18.

Although dimensions of the floral clip 10 can vary based on the type of floral arrangement, selection of materials, and other factors, the horizontally elongate member 18 can have a high aspect ratio, such as from about 3:1 to about 10:1. The clip body 16 and other portions (actuation portion 28) can be formed of any suitable material such as, but not limited to, polymers (e.g. polyethylene, HDPE, polycarbonate, polyurethane, etc), metal (e.g. aluminum, steel, etc), carbon fiber, composites or alloys thereof, and the like.

In some examples, the horizontally elongate member 18 and/or the at least one support member 24 can include a friction feature (such as ribs, waves, rubber surface, etc.) that provides increased friction forces to the clothing material and/or the floral arrangement to prevent slippage. In some examples, the at least one support member 24 can include a separate attachment device for attachment to the shank of a floral arrangement, such as a loop, hook, clip, and/or surface variations of the support member to attach to the floral arrangement.

In some examples, the horizontally elongate member 18 may have a planar surface on a y-plane that corresponds to a y-plane about which the vertically elongate member 20 extends from the horizontally elongate member 18 (FIG. 2). In some examples, the vertically elongate member 20 can have a high aspect ratio of length to width, such as for example from 4:1 to 20:1, and in some cases from about 5:1 to 15:1. In many cases, the vertically elongate member 20 can have a width less than a width of the elongate support body 12, and in some cases less than 60% of the horizontally elongate member 18 width. In some examples, the piercing members 30 may be spatially separated approximately a height of the horizontally elongate member 18 (or slightly less), and may be substantially parallel to each other.

In any event, as shown on FIGS. 4 and 5, when a user's fingers (e.g., thumb and index finger) pinch respective finger actuation portions 34 and 50, the spring or biasing force of the compliant device 26 is overcome to transition the floral clip 10 from the closed state A to the open state B. Then, a stem or other portion of the floral arrangement 12 can be pierced (or otherwise attached) by a user with one or both of the pair of piercing members 30 (or other attachment device). Once pierced, and as shown on FIGS. 5 and 6, a portion of the clothing material 14 (e.g., a lapel of a suit jacket) can be slid or disposed between the pierced portion of the flower arrangement 12 and the inside portion of the horizontally elongate member 18 proximate the middle section 42. Then, the user can release his/her gripping pressure from the floral clip 10 so that the stem 13 of the floral arrangement 12 biases the clothing material 14 against the horizontally elongate member 18, thereby coupling the floral arrangement 12 to the clothing material 14. This is best shown on FIG. 6, illustrating the advantage that the floral clip 10 does not pierce the clothing material 14 (or otherwise deform or destroy fabrics). Rather, the floral clip 10 tends to cause a pinching or gripping force to the clothing material 14, as shown on FIG. 6, with sufficient force (e.g., 1-5 pounds) to couple the floral arrangement 12 to the wearer.

With further reference to FIG. 7, the floral clip 10 can be almost entirely hidden from view (perhaps except for the front side of the finger actuation portion 34 of the floral support member 28). Thus, when worn, the vertically elongate member 20 extends downwardly from the horizontally elongate member 18 and proximate a piercing point P (FIG. 6) of the stem of the floral arrangement 12 at a vertical distance (e.g., 2-10+ cm) positioned below a center of mass M of the floral arrangement 12 to resist gravitational forces acting on the floral arrangement 12. That is, because a majority of the weight of the floral arrangement 12 is above the piercing point P, the floral arrangement 12 may have a tendency to rotate downwardly and forward away from the wearer, particularly when the wearer leans or bends over, or even when walking. However, because the vertically elongate member 20 is vertically positioned at or near the piercing point P of the floral arrangement 12, and because the vertically elongate member 20 extends a selected distance below the pierce point P and below the center of mass M, the vertically elongate member 20 acts as a vertical stabilization member. That is, when the floral arrangement 12 will tend to rotate forward due to its weight, the vertically elongate member 20 will bias against the wearer's body (e.g., chest) to resist such movement, thereby maintaining the desired position of the floral arrangement 12.

In addition, the lateral length of the horizontally elongate member 18 (e.g., 2-10+ cm) tends to resist undesirable lateral movement of the floral arrangement 12 when the wearer moves from side to side, for instance. When worn, the backside of the general planar body 38 rests against the wearer's body along the surface length of the horizontally elongate member 18 to provide lateral support to resist such undesirable lateral movement of the floral arrangement 12 to further stabilize it on the wearer. Thus, the horizontally elongate member 18 and the vertical elongate member 20 cooperate to stabilize the floral arrangement and to prevent movement in various lateral and downward directional movements.

In one example, a method is disclosed for making a floral clip for coupling a floral arrangement to a clothing material, such as the floral clip 10 exemplified above. The method can comprise the operation of forming a clip body (e.g., 16) comprising a horizontally elongate member (e.g., 18) and a vertically elongate member (e.g., 20) extending transverse from the horizontally elongate member (e.g., FIGS. 1 and 2). Such forming can achieved by manufacturing operations such as injection molding, machining, 3D printing, etc., with materials such as plastics, polymers, etc., as discussed above. The clip body can be one unitary body, or multiple components coupled together. The method can comprise attaching at least one piercing shaft (e.g., 30) to the floral support device, which can be achieved as discussed above, such as UV attachment, adhesive, etc.

The method can comprise the operation of pivotally coupling (e.g., with pin 54) a floral support device (e.g., 22, 30) to the horizontally elongate member. The method can comprise the operation of coupling a compliant device (e.g., 26) between the horizontally elongate member and the floral support device. These two operations can be one single operation wherein the pin 54 is extended through each of the elongate members 18 and 20, and concurrently through the compliant device 26, as shown as a final product example of FIG. 3.

In one example, a method is disclosed for attaching a floral arrangement (e.g., 12) to a floral clip (e.g., 10), and then attaching both to a clothing material (e.g., 14) of a wearer, such as disclosed above throughout the description of FIGS. 1-7.

The foregoing detailed description describes the invention with reference to specific exemplary embodiments. However, it will be appreciated that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in the appended claims. The detailed description and accompanying drawings are to be regarded as merely illustrative, rather than as restrictive, and all such modifications or changes, if any, are intended to fall within the scope of the present invention as described and set forth herein.

Claims

1. A floral clip, comprising: a clip body comprising a horizontally elongate member and a vertically elongate member extending transverse from the horizontally elongate member;a floral support device pivotally coupled to the clip body and having at least one floral attachment member configured to be attached to a floral arrangement;a compliant device operatively coupled between the horizontally elongate member and the floral support device to exert a biasing force to bias the at least one floral attachment member toward the horizontally elongate member; andwherein, when the floral clip and the floral arrangement are worn by a wearer, the horizontally elongate member and the floral support device cooperatively pinch a clothing material via the biasing force of the compliant device, and wherein the vertically elongate member is configured to bias against the wearer to assist supporting the weight of the floral arrangement.

2. The floral clip of claim 1, further comprising a pin that pivotally couples the floral support device to the horizontally elongate member, and wherein the compliant member comprises a spring coupled to the pin.

3. The floral clip of claim 1, wherein the floral support device comprises at least one piercing member extendible through a shank of the floral arrangement.

4. The floral clip of claim 3, wherein the at least one piecing member includes a pair of piercing shafts each extending in a horizontal direction relative to the horizontally elongate member.

5. The floral clip of claim 3, wherein the floral clip is configured such that the at least one piecing member does not pierce through the clothing material when worn by the wearer.

6. The floral clip of claim 1, wherein each of the clip body and the floral support device includes a finger actuation portion to facilitate moving the floral clip between the closed and open states.

7. The floral clip of claim 1, wherein the horizontally elongate member has a horizontal axis, and wherein the vertically elongate member has a vertical axis generally perpendicular to the horizontal axis of the horizontally elongate member.

8. The floral clip of claim 7, wherein, when worn by the wearer, the vertically elongate member extends downwardly from the horizontally elongate member and is positioned adjacent a middle section of the horizontally elongate member.

9. The floral clip of claim 1, wherein the at least one floral support device extends generally parallel to the horizontally elongate member, and wherein the vertically elongate member extends generally perpendicular from the horizontally elongate member.

10. The floral clip of claim 1, wherein, when worn by the wearer, the vertically elongate member extends downwardly from the horizontally elongate member and is positioned below a center of mass of the floral arrangement to resist gravitational forces acting on the floral arrangement.

11. The floral clip of claim 1, wherein a vertical length of the vertically elongate member is at least the same length as a horizontal length of the horizontally elongate member.

12. The floral clip of claim 1, wherein the horizontally elongate member has a width from 3 mm to 25 mm.

13. The floral clip of claim 1, wherein the horizontally elongate member has a horizontal length from 2.5 cm to 8 cm.

14. The floral clip of claim 1, wherein the vertically elongate member has a thickness from 1 mm to 10 mm.

15. The floral clip of claim 1, wherein the vertically elongate member has a vertical length from 2 cm to 10 cm.

16. The floral clip of claim 1, wherein the horizontally elongate member and the vertically elongate member are formed of plastic.

17. A floral clip for non-destructive attachment of a floral arrangement to a clothing material of a wearer, comprising: a clip body comprising a horizontally elongate member and a vertically elongate member extending generally perpendicular from the horizontally elongate member;a floral support device pivotally coupled to the clip body and having at least one piercing member;a pin that pivotally couples the floral support device to the horizontally elongate member;a compliant device coupled to the pin and operatively coupled between the horizontally elongate member and the floral support device, the compliant device configured to exert a biasing force to operate the floral clip between closed and open states; andwherein, when the floral clip couples a floral arrangement to a clothing material of a wearer, the at least one piercing member is configured to only pierce a stem of the floral arrangement such that the horizontally elongate member and the floral support device cooperatively pinch the clothing material via the biasing force of the compliant device, and wherein the vertically elongate member is configured to bias against the wearer to assist supporting the weight of the floral arrangement.

18. A method of making a floral clip for coupling a floral arrangement to a clothing material, the method comprising: forming a clip body comprising a horizontally elongate member and a vertically elongate member extending transverse from the horizontally elongate member;pivotally coupling a floral support device to the horizontally elongate member, the floral support device having at least one floral attachment member configured to be attached to a floral arrangement; andcoupling a compliant device between the horizontally elongate member and the floral support device, the floral clip configured to pinch a clothing material via the compliant device, and the vertically elongate member configured to bias against the wearer to assist supporting the weight of the floral arrangement.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising pivotally coupling the floral support device to the horizontally elongate member with a pin, and wherein the compliant device is a spring that coupled to pin.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising attaching at least one piercing shafts to the floral support device, the at least one piercing shafts configured to only pierce a stem of the floral arrangement when worn by the wearer.