Stackables

Abstract

The present invention relates generally to a stackable series of holders of different sizes and shapes. More particularly it relates to a holder with integral riser in the center and a universal stacking support between each level of holder primarily for floral applications.

Description

BACKGROUND

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates generally to a design system of several different sizes and shapes of holders for flowers and plants with risers that can be stacked for multiple presentation options. More particularly it relates to holders that completely surround a presentation platform and holders that allow presentations to be placed against a flat wall or in a corner or mixed for various design options.

2. Prior Art

Cut flowers are often inserted in blocks of foam soaked in water and other plant preservatives in various shaped containers such as wreaths, crosses, hearts and such. They have not, however, been placed in one-piece stackable holders with the variety of design options shown in present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One of the objectives of the Stackables invention is to provide a display platform that can be stacked to provide varying heights of presentation platforms. Stackables can contain water soaked foam for cut flower insertion, dry foam for dried or silk flowers, or be available for snacks, condiments, gifts or any other items that compliment the rest of the presentation platform.

Another objective is for the container to be inexpensive to fabricate, transport, assemble and be reusable.

Another objective is for the material selection and wall thickness to be sufficiently strong as to withstand the weight of water soaked foam filled holders with flowers inserted or heavy gifts or featured presentation items placed on top of display platform.

Another objective is for there to be a plurality of different size and shapes holders with riser available, some completely encircling the center riser and some only proceeding half-way around the center riser.

Another objective is for there to be stacking supports which allow the various holders with risers to stack on top of each other with several optional fixed spacing heights between levels.

Another objective is for there to be round, half-round, square, rectangular, oval or triangular holder shapes with standard risers.

Stackables are holders with central risers that can be used as stand-alone display platforms. They also can be used for various sizes and shapes of holders with riser and stacking supports to be stacked, one on top of the other, forming a tower of holders. The holders can hold water soaked foam for cut flowers, dry foam for dried or silk flowers or any combination of appropriate materials that fit in the holders and enhance the design impact. Stackables can be used for floral arrangements, as gift baskets, sympathy arrangements or celebration center pieces. All the different size holders with risers utilize either a common round or square riser shape. Therefore all sizes of round, half-round and oval shapes can be safely stacked on one another utilizing universal round stacking supports and all sizes of square, rectangular or triangular shapes can be stacked on one another utilizing universal square stacking supports. Round, half-round and oval holders nest in each other reducing the space requirements for storage and shipping. Square, rectangular, and triangular holders also nest within each other minimizing the space required for storage and shipping. Either a round or square riser may be used on all of the various shapes such that all shapes using the common riser could then be intermixed as the designer desires and nested for shipping and storage space reduction.

DRAWINGS

In order that the invention is fully understood it will now be described with reference to the following drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a stack of three different size round holders with risers.

FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of a stack of three different size half round holders with risers.

FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of a stack of three different size square holders and one rectangular holder with risers.

FIG. 4 is a front perspective view of a stack of three different size triangular holders.

FIG. 5 is a top view showing a stack of two different size round holders.

FIG. 6 is a section view showing stacking supports mounted on holders with round risers taken along cutting line 6-6 from FIG. 5.

FIG. 6A is an enlarged partial section view showing a universal round stacking support between holders.

FIG. 7 is top view of a stacking support on an oval holder.

FIG. 7 A is a front view showing a stacking support mounted over riser on an oval holder.

FIG. 8 A is a front view showing a stack of different size round holders with a framed photo as the design feature.

FIG. 8 B is a front view showing a stack of different size round holders with a bundle of gifts as the design feature.

FIG. 8 C shows a stack of one round and two half round holders with a pumpkin as a design feature.

FIG. 8 D shows a stack of round holders with an urn as a design feature.

Design features are shown in broken lines for illustrative purposes only as they form no part of this invention.

DESCRIPTION

In order that Stackables 10 are fully understood they will now be described by way of the following examples. This new invention is a convenient and easily adaptable set of stackable display holders for use in floral presentations or any other materials that fit into stackable display holders 11,12,13,17,18,19, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30 and 31. Stackables 10 can have various informative, decorative or greeting cards placed at the top of display platforms 14 or 15 indicating the donor, the celebration cause, or a trophy, an urn or any other design feature 20 suggested by the occasion. Stackables 10 may be made from a transparent or opaque material of various colors. Risers and holders can be fabricated as a single piece or attached using standard material attachment processes and can be fabricated from either plastic or metal materials. The wall thickness and shear strength of the plastic material are selected such that with universal stacking supports in place; Stackables 10 assembly will support the weight of water soaked foam with flowers inserted in all assembled holders 11,12,13,17,18,19, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30 and 31.

FIG. 1 describes a preferred embodiment of Stackables 10 in which 3 holders 11, 12 and 13 with risers 22 are stacked together. Holders 11, 12 and 13 have approximately a 12-inch diameter, a 16-inch diameter and a 20-inch diameter respectively. Riser 22 has a 6⅞-inch height, is in the center of each holder and has an approximately 6⅞-inch diameter at the base that tapers up to an approximately 6-inch diameter at display platform 14. There is an approximately ⅛-inch high by ⅛-inch thick security rib 29 around the periphery of display platform 14 to assist in keeping design feature 20 in place.

FIG. 2 describes a Stackables 10 embodiment with half-round holders 26, 27 and 28 again with standard risers 22. FIG. 3 shows a Stackables 10 embodiment with 3 sizes of square holders 17, 18, and 19 and one size of rectangular holder 30 with riser 23 and stacking support 32 in between risers 23. FIG. 4 shows a Stackables 10 embodiment with 3 sizes of half-square or triangular holders 21, 24 and 25 with risers 23.

FIG. 5 shows a top view of a stack of round holders with cutting plane 6-6. The sectional view in FIG. 6 shows universal stacking support 16 between holders 11 and 12 stacked together. Universal stacking support 16 has a matching draft to riser 22 and has a slip fit set of diameters larger than riser 22 as is shown in enlarged partial section view 6A. It is approximately 2 inches tall although different height stacking supports are available if more separation between levels of a Stackables 10 arrangement is desired. FIGS. 1 and 7A show oval holder 31 with stacking support 16.

FIG. 8 A-D show front views of different combinations illustrative of, but not limited to, various Stackables 10 embodiments.

Operation:

An exemplary embodiment of a Stackables 10 assembly with more than one holder is assembled by placing first holder 13 with riser 22 on a flat surface. Universal stacking support 16 is slipped over the top of first riser 22 until its upper lip 34 rests on the top surface of first riser 22 with holder 13. Second riser 22 with holder 12 is slipped over the top of first universal stacking support 16 until the bottom surface of second riser 22 rests on universal stacking support lower lip 36. Second universal stacking support 16 is slipped over second riser 22 with holder 12 and the stacking continues until the desired height of Stackables 10 embodiment has been reached. Floral foam can be glued into holders 11, 12 and 13 and flowers inserted, creating a floral display. The various levels can be disassembled at the florist for ease of handling and delivery and reassembled at the display site. Floral arrangements can be combined with other elements as in gift baskets, food or condiment trays or used in any manner limited only by the imagination of the designer. They can completely surround presentation platforms 14 or 15 with round holders or square. Half-round holders or triangular holders allow presentation platforms 14 or 15 to be placed against a wall or curtain, in front of, behind or to either side of display platform 14 or 15. Since risers 22 and 23 are common to the round and rectilinear holders respectively, regardless of their size, different sizes of holders can be nested together, minimizing required space for storage and shipping.

The descriptions in the above specification are not intended to limit this invention to given shape holders or risers but they are shown for exemplary purposes only. Any combinations of full, half-round or oval holders with risers 22 and rectangular, triangular and square holders with risers 23 are intended to be covered in this application. One skilled in these arts could easily scale the invention's dimensions and materials to work with any diameter or shape of tray and height of riser. Stackables 10 are also not limited to the dimension or wall thickness of the holders with risers shown here. Stackables 10 may be configured using any or all of the features disclosed here in any combination without diverging from the design intent of this disclosure.

Claims

1. A stackable holder comprising: a riser with a top side, a bottom end and side walls where said riser side walls taper outward and downward from said top side connecting,a display platform on said top side that has a security rib around the perimeter of said display platform to,a display holder on said bottom end, where said riser has an opening on said bottom end large enough to allow nesting of stackable holder risers into adjacent risers, minimizing required space for storage and shipping.

2. The stackable holder as in claim 1, where said risers with holders are chosen from a group of holders that have a common riser shape and size but where said holders are chosen from a group that includes different sizes of different shapes such as round, half-round, oval, square, triangular, and rectangular.

3. The stackable holder as in claim 1 where said risers are chosen from round or square shapes.

4. The stackable holder as in claim 1, where said risers with holders are fabricated from clear or opaque materials.

5. A stackable holder assembly comprising: risers with top sides and bottom ends and side walls where said riser side walls taper outward and downward from said top sides connecting,display platforms on said top sides that have a security rib around the perimeters of said display platforms to,display holders on said bottom ends, where said risers have openings on said bottom ends large enough to allow nesting of said risers into adjacent risers, whereby required space for storage and shipping is minimized, further comprising:universal stacking supports placed over said risers, where said universal stacking supports have top lips that extend radially inward and that rest on said display platform security ribs and bottom lips that extend radially outward where, when said universal stacking supports are placed over said tops of said first risers, and whensecond risers with holders are placed over said first stacking supports, said bottom surfaces of said second risers with holders rests on said first stacking support's lower lip andadditional stacking supports and risers with holders are placed until desired height of display is attained.

6. The stackable holder assembly as in claim 5, where said risers with holders are chosen from a group of holders that have a common riser shape and size but where said holders are chosen from a group that includes different sizes of different shapes such as round, half-round, oval, square, triangular and rectangular.

7. The stackable holder assembly as in claim 5 where said risers are chosen from round or square shapes.

8. The stackable holder assembly as in claim 5, where said risers with holders are fabricated from clear or opaque materials.

9. The stackable holder assembly as in claim 5, where said stacking supports are of different heights whereby variation in height between holders is obtained.