Patent Application
20140283482
Floral packaging materials for covering potted plants and floral groupings have been known in the art for many years. While the prior art methods for covering potted plants and floral groupings have been widely accepted, new and improved methods for providing floral packaging materials having improved aesthetic qualities are being sought which are less costly and more environmentally friendly. It is to such floral packaging materials and methods for producing same that the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) is directed.
Before explaining at least one embodiment of the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) in detail, it is to be understood that the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of the components or steps or methodologies set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) is capable of other embodiments or of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
Unless otherwise defined herein, technical terms used in connection with the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) shall have the meanings that are commonly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art. Further, unless otherwise required by context, singular terms shall include pluralities and plural terms shall include the singular.
All patents, published patent applications, and non-patent publications mentioned in the specification are indicative of the level of skill of those skilled in the art to which this presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) pertains. All patents, published patent applications, and non-patent publications referenced in any portion of this application are herein expressly incorporated by reference in their entirety to the same extent as if each individual patent or publication was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.
All of the articles and/or methods disclosed and claimed herein can be made and executed without undue experimentation in light of the present disclosure. While the articles and methods of the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) have been described in terms of particular embodiments, it will be apparent to those of skill in the art that variations may be applied to the articles and/or methods and in the steps or in the sequence of steps of the method described herein without departing from the concept, spirit and scope of the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s). All such similar substitutes and modifications apparent to those skilled in the art are deemed to be within the spirit, scope and concept of the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) as defined by the appended claims.
As utilized in accordance with the present disclosure, the following terms, unless otherwise indicated, shall be understood to have the following meanings:
The use of the word “a” or “an” when used in conjunction with the term “comprising” in the claims and/or the specification may mean “one,” but it is also consistent with the meaning of “one or more,” “at least one,” and “one or more than one.” The use of the term “or” in the claims is used to mean “and/or” unless explicitly indicated to refer to alternatives only or the alternatives are mutually exclusive, although the disclosure supports a definition that refers to only alternatives and “and/or.” Throughout this application, the term “about” is used to indicate that a value includes the inherent variation of error for the device, the method being employed to determine the value, or the variation that exists among the study subjects. For example but not by way of limitation, when the term “about” is utilized, the designated value may vary by plus or minus twelve percent, or eleven percent, or ten percent, or nine percent, or eight percent, or seven percent, or six percent, or five percent, or four percent, or three percent, or two percent, or one percent. The use of the term “at least one” will be understood to include one as well as any quantity more than one, including but not limited to, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, 100, etc. The term “at least one” may extend up to 100 or 1000 or more, depending on the term to which it is attached; in addition, the quantities of 100/1000 are not to be considered limiting, as higher limits may also produce satisfactory results. In addition, the use of the term “at least one of X, Y and Z” will be understood to include X alone, Y alone, and Z alone, as well as any combination of X, Y and Z. The use of ordinal number terminology (i.e., “first,” “second,” “third,” “fourth,” etc.) is solely for the purpose of differentiating between two or more items and is not meant to imply any sequence or order or importance to one item over another or any order of addition, for example.
As used in this specification and claim(s), the words “comprising” (and any form of comprising, such as “comprise” and “comprises”), “having” (and any form of having, such as “have” and “has”), “including” (and any form of including, such as “includes” and “include”) or “containing” (and any form of containing, such as “contains” and “contain”) are inclusive or open-ended and do not exclude additional, unrecited elements or method steps.
The term “or combinations thereof” as used herein refers to all permutations and combinations of the listed items preceding the term. For example, “A, B, C, or combinations thereof” is intended to include at least one of: A, B, C, AB, AC, BC, or ABC, and if order is important in a particular context, also BA, CA, CB, CBA, BCA, ACB, BAC, or CAB. Continuing with this example, expressly included are combinations that contain repeats of one or more item or term, such as BB, AAA, AAB, BBC, AAABCCCC, CBBAAA, CABABB, and so forth. The skilled artisan will understand that typically there is no limit on the number of items or terms in any combination, unless otherwise apparent from the context.
As used herein, the term “substantially” means that the subsequently described event or circumstance completely occurs or that the subsequently described event or circumstance occurs to a great extent or degree. For example, the term “substantially” means that the subsequently described event or circumstance occurs at least 90% of the time, or at least 95% of the time, or at least 98% of the time.
The presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) is related to floral packaging materials that are formed from a renewable and/or biodegradable polymeric material, as well as methods of producing and using same.
The term “renewable polymeric material” as used herein will be understood to refer to environmentally-friendly materials that are renewable and/or sustainable. The terms “renewable polymeric material” and “sustainable polymeric material” are therefore used herein interchangeably. Renewable polymeric materials are known in the art and have been developed to replace petrochemical polymeric materials and reduce carbon emissions. Renewable polymeric materials are formed from crop or raw materials such as, but not limited to, wheat, potatoes, corn, farmed wood, plant-derived sugars or lipids, soy or castor oil, and the like. Examples of polymers formed from these crop or raw materials include, but are not limited to, starch-based polymers, polylactic acid (PLA), cellulose, polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), and the like. In addition, the term “renewable polymeric materials” utilized in accordance with the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) will also be understood to include copolymers of any of the above.
Particular examples of renewable polymeric materials that may be utilized in accordance with the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) include, but are not limited to, a starch polymer such as MATER-BI® (Novamont, Novara, Italy); a polylactic acid, such as NatureWorks® PLA (Nature Works/Cargill, Minneapolis, Minn.); a PHA, such as MIREL™ (Metabolix, Cambridge, Mass.); and the various materials disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,679,421, issued to Brinton, Jr. on Oct. 21, 1997; U.S. Pat. No. 5,663,216, issued to Tomka on Sep. 2, 1997; U.S. Pat. No. 6,669,771, issued to Tokiwa et al. on Dec. 30, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,310,171, issued to Naito et al. on Oct. 30, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 5,922,379, issued to Wang on Jul. 13, 1999; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,705,536, issued to Tomka on Jan. 6, 1998; the contents of each of which is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. However, the above-referenced materials are provided for illustrative purposes only, and it is to be understood that the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) is not limited to use of such materials, but includes any renewable polymeric materials known in the art that are capable of functioning in accordance with the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s).
The term “biodegradable polymeric material” as used herein will be understood to refer to environmentally-friendly materials that are degradable and/or compostable. Such materials may be degradable/compostable by various living organisms or by exposure to light and/or oxygen. Therefore, the term “biodegradable polymeric material,” as used herein, will be understood to include materials that are oxo-biodegradable, photobiodegradable and microbial biodegradable. Such materials may also be referred to as “bioplastics” within the art, and therefore the term “bioplastic” may also be used interchangeably herein with the term “biodegradable polymeric material.”
Examples of biodegradable polymeric materials that may be utilized in accordance with the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) include, but are not limited to, bioplastics made with plastarch material (PSM), and polylactic acid (PLA), certain aliphatic-aromatic co-polyester compounds such as succinates and adipates, and the like. In addition, the term “biodegradable polymeric materials” utilized in accordance with the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) will also be understood to include copolymers of any of the above.
The degradation products of biodegradable polymeric materials utilized in accordance with the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) may be recycled or subjected to proper disposal methods, such as but not limited to, incineration or landfill disposal. If the degradation products are suitable for recycling, the biodegradable polymeric material may also be described as a renewable polymeric material, as described in detail herein above.
In one embodiment, the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) is related to a method for providing a decorative cover for a flower pot and/or floral grouping. The method includes providing at least one sheet of renewable/biodegradable polymeric material and forming/wrapping the at least one renewable/biodegradable polymeric material into a decorative covering for the flower pot and/or floral grouping.
In another embodiment, the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) is related to a method for providing a decorative cover for a flower pot and/or floral grouping that includes providing a sleeve formed of renewable/biodegradable polymeric material. A floral grouping and/or flower pot is then disposed in the sleeve to provide the decorative covering for the flower pot and/or floral grouping.
In yet another embodiment, the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) is related to a method for providing a decorative covering for a flower pot utilizing a preformed decorative flower pot cover. In such method, a preformed flower pot cover formed of renewable/biodegradable polymeric material is provided, and the flower pot is disposed therein to provide the decorative covering.
The renewable/biodegradable polymeric material may be selected from the group consisting of starch-based polymers, polylactic acid, cellulose, polyhydroxyalkanoates, and copolymers thereof. The sheet/sleeve/preformed flower pot cover may be provided with at least one of a color, design and decorative pattern disposed on at least a portion thereof.
Any of the sheets/sleeves/preformed flower pot covers utilized in accordance with the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) may be provided with a bonding material disposed upon a portion thereof to aid in forming the sheet or in holding the sleeve/preformed flower pot cover about the flower pot and/or floral grouping. Alternatively, the methods of the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) may further include the step of securing the decorative covering about the flower pot and/or floral grouping via a banding element.
Referring now to
The sheet of material 10 may be constructed of a single layer of material or a plurality of layers of the same or different types of materials. The layers of material comprising the sheet of material 10 may be laminated together or connected together by any method known in the art. When the sheet of material 10 is formed of more than one layer of material, at least one layer of material is constructed of a renewable/biodegradable polymeric material; however, such layer may be connected to another, non-renewable/non-biodegradable layer of material.
If desired, the sheet of material 10 may also be provided with at least a portion of at least one color, design and/or decorative pattern 28 disposed on at least a portion thereof. The color(s), design(s) and/or pattern(s) 28 may be disposed on the sheet of material 10 by any method known in the art, including but not limited to, printing, etching, embossing, texturing, flocking, coating, lacquering, application during extrusion, and the like. The color(s), design(s) and/or pattern(s) 28 may be applied separately or simultaneously or may be characterized totally or partially by pearlescent, translucent, transparent, iridescent, optical effect, paper-like, cloth-like, or other similar qualities, or may be a graphic image selected from the group consisting of a rendering of at least a portion of a masterpiece work of art, a rendering of at least a portion of a work of art of a Great Master, a rendering of at least a portion of a musical score, and combinations thereof. Each of the above-named characteristics may occur alone or in combination and may be applied to a portion of the upper surface 14 and/or a lower surface 16 of the sheet of material 10. Moreover, when the sheet of material 10 comprises two or more layers of material, each of the layers of material may vary in the combination of such characteristics.
In addition, when the sheet of material 10 is provided with two or more design(s) and/or pattern(s) 28, the design(s) and/or pattern(s) may be in register with one another or out of register with one another. Alternatively, a portion of the two or more design(s) and/or pattern(s) may be in register with one another, while another portion of the two or more design(s) and/or pattern(s) may be out of register with one another.
The term “optical effect material” as used herein is to be understood to mean any material capable of changing appearance, such as perspective and/or color, as the angle of view of such material changes. Optical effect materials include, but are not limited to, iridescent materials, materials having one or more holograms and the like. Examples of floral packaging materials having a texture or appearance simulating the texture or appearance of cloth have previously been disclosed by the inventor in U.S. Pat. No. 5,576,089, issued Nov. 19, 1996; U.S. Pat. No. 5,634,318, issued Jun. 3, 1997; U.S. Pat. No. 5,701,720, issued Dec. 30, 1997; U.S. Pat. No. 5,727,362, issued Mar. 17, 1998; U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,057, issued Jul. 7, 1998; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,061, issued Jul. 13, 1999. The entire contents of each of the above-referenced patents are hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.
The term “cloth-like” will be used interchangeably herein with the term “texture and/or appearance simulating the texture and/or appearance of cloth.” Examples of floral packaging materials having a texture or appearance simulating the texture or appearance of cloth have previously been disclosed by the inventor in U.S. Pat. No. 6,324,813, issued Dec. 4, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,387,463, issued May 14, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,463,717, issued Oct. 15, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,495,248, issued Dec. 17, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,565,958, issued May 20, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,565,963, issued May 20, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,579,603, issued Jun. 17, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,598,372, issued Jul. 29, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,702,919, issued Mar. 9, 2004; U.S. Pat. No. 6,706,379, issued Mar. 16, 2004; U.S. Pat. No. 6,708,464, issued Mar. 23, 2004; U.S. Pat. No. 6,715,261, issued Apr. 6, 2004; U.S. Pat. No. 6,720,051, issued Apr. 13, 2004; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,723,417, issued Apr. 20, 2004. The entire contents of each of the above-referenced patents are hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.
The term “paper-like” will be used interchangeably herein with the term “texture and/or appearance simulating the texture and/or appearance of paper.” Examples of decorative grass having a texture or appearance simulating the texture or appearance of paper have previously been disclosed by the inventor in U.S. Pat. No. 6,365,251, issued Apr. 2, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,401,430, issued Jun. 11, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,403,207, issued Jun. 11, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,425,224, issued Jul. 30, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,521,307, issued Feb. 18, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,613,409, issued Sep. 2, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,755,006, issued Jun. 29, 2004; U.S. Pat. No. 6,884,484, issued Apr. 26, 2005; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,887,545, issued May 3, 2005. The entire contents of each of the above-referenced patents are hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.
The term “masterpiece work of art” is defined herein as any product of one of the fine arts, such as a painting or a photograph, that is widely recognizable by the public and can generally be said to provide aesthetic satisfaction to the viewer. The term “rendering of at least a portion of a masterpiece work of art” not only includes exact reproductions of an original work but will also include reproductions and partial reproductions that resemble an original masterpiece work of art, such as a forgery or an imitation, works that contain an adoption of a general style of artistic expression that is recognizable, such as the Impressionist style of painting, and works that include alterations to a famous work, such as a negative image of a work, a change in coloration of a work, or the addition of a person, object or logo to a work. The term “works of the Great Masters” is to be understood to mean a work of art produced by an artist generally associated with at least one of the historical periods or movements. Examples of floral packaging materials produced with such graphic images disposed thereon have previously been disclosed by the inventor in U.S. Pat. No. 6,510,650, issued Jan. 28, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,691,457, issued Feb. 17, 2004; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,678,998, issued Jan. 20, 2004. The entire contents of each of the above-referenced patents are hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.
The sheet of polymeric material 10 may be employed to provide a decorative cover for a floral grouping (
As noted above, the sheet of polymeric material 10 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 (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, hormones, or any 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 is square. It will be appreciated, however, that the sheet of polymeric material 10 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 at least a portion of 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 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 shown herein is a substantially flat sheet except for any texturing, matting, embossing, flocking, application of a foamable lacquer or foamable ink, or other treatments and techniques that may be applied thereto to provide the design(s) and/or pattern(s) 28.
Any thickness or stiffness of the sheet of polymeric material 10 may be utilized in accordance with the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s) as long as the sheet of polymeric material 10 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.
As illustrated in
A plurality of sheets of polymeric material 10 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 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 on a support surface (not shown) such that the lower surface 16 of the sheet of polymeric material 10 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 polymeric material 10 may be used to wrap a flower pot or pot-type container, as noted above. Shown in
The sheet of polymeric material 10 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 disposed about the flower pot 50 illustrated in
In one embodiment, the open upper end 52 of the flower pot 50 remains substantially uncovered by the decorative cover 61 substantially as shown in
Referring now to
The term “banding element” as used herein will be understood to include, but not be limited to, strings, ribbons, elastic or non-elastic bands, elastic or non-elastic strings, elastic or non-elastic pieces of material, a round piece of material, a flat piece of material, a piece of paper strip, a piece of plastic strip, a piece of wire, a tie wrap, a twist tie, or combinations thereof.
The lower surface 16 of the sheet of polymeric material 10 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 may then be secured about the flower pot 50 by the banding element 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 banding element 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 banding element 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 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 banding element 64, the decorative cover 61 formed from the sheet of polymeric material 10 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 at least a portion of at least one of the outer peripheral surface 56 and the inner peripheral surface 57 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 shown in
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. However, other methods for forming preformed decorative pot covers known in the art are also encompassed by the presently disclosed and claimed inventive concept(s).
It is also to be understood that the decorative preformed flower pot cover 110 may further be provided with a bonding material disposed on at least a portion of at least one of the inner peripheral surface 132 and outer peripheral surface 128, as described in detail herein above, for bondingly holding the preformed flower pot cover 110 about the flower pot 134. In yet another alternative, the preformed flower pot cover 110 may be secured about the flower pot 134 utilizing a banding element, as described in detail herein above.
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 or outwardly 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 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. 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 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 portion of the inner peripheral surface 172 and/or outer peripheral surface 164 of the sleeve 162. The bonding material may also be disposed 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 the entire outer peripheral surface 164 of the sleeve 162, and/or a portion or the entirety of 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. 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 one 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 187 and as the skirt portion 198 about a portion of the plant 192, thereby 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 187 having a plant 192 disposed in a growing medium contained within the flower pot 187. The operator then disposes the flower pot 187 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
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 inventive concept(s) as defined in the following claims.
This application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 13/892,860, filed May 13, 2013, now abandoned; which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 13/117,523, filed May 27, 2011, now abandoned; which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 12/218,718, filed Jul. 17, 2008, now abandoned; which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 11/983,365, filed Nov. 8, 2007, now abandoned. The entire contents of each of the above-referenced patents and patent applications are hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 13892860 | May 2013 | US |
| Child | 14287744 | US | |
| Parent | 13117523 | May 2011 | US |
| Child | 13892860 | US | |
| Parent | 12218718 | Jul 2008 | US |
| Child | 13117523 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 11983365 | Nov 2007 | US |
| Child | 12218718 | US |
