Patent Application
20090031671
The invention relates generally to decorative pot wraps, and, in particular, to wraps having forming features, including bonding materials and indicia, for facilitating unrestrained wrapping of pots having pleats, pot assemblies, and methods therefor.
Wraps made from sheet material have been formed into decorative covers for various items. When the decorative cover is formed by a user or operator, the material from which the decorative cover is constructed is frequently shape-sustaining. Such shape-sustaining materials include foils with dead fold characteristics. These dead fold characteristics include malleable materials that stay in a given position when bent, folded or pressed, which allow an assembler to shape the decorative cover while manipulating the material. Further, shape-sustaining materials assist the assembler when applying the decorative cover about an object, such as a pot for containing flowers.
Other sheet materials that have non-shape-sustaining characteristics have been formed into shape-sustaining decorative covers; however, formation of a non-shape sustaining sheet material into a shape-sustaining decorative cover generally requires the use of a mold to form the material or the decorative cover. A cover molded from such a non-shape sustaining sheet material conventionally requires a band or bonding material if it is to be secured about an object. A mechanical process which uses a mold to form a non-shape sustaining sheet of material into a substantially shape-sustaining decorative cover is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,182, entitled “Article Forming System”, issued to Weder et al. on Sep. 27, 1988. Another example of the use of a mold to form a non-shape sustaining material into a shape-sustaining decorative cover is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,355,559 entitled “Cover For Containers”, issued to Renner on Nov. 6, 1940. Advantageously, the formed decorative covers are ready for assembly with an object, such as by a florist when dressing up a potted plant. Disadvantageously, formed decorative covers require rather large or bulky containers in order to ship relatively small quantities and can take up valuable floor space, such as in a floral shop. It would be desirable to provide sheet materials such that assemblers can readily make up objects with non-shape sustaining sheet material.
Proposals for making a shape-sustaining decorative cover formed from a non-shape sustaining material sheet without the use of a mold have been proposed. One such solution is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,484,442, entitled “Sheets of Material Having Forming Indicia for Forming into Flower Pots or Plant Covers and Methods”, issued to Weder on Nov. 26, 2002. This solution includes a material sheet having bonding material disposed about shaping indicia in order that one or more pleats may be formed into an object, such as a decorative cover for a pot, with or without the use of a mold. The bonding material helps to create the shape-sustaining decorative cover from the non-shape sustaining material sheet as it is folded. Because the bonding material is used to form each pleat about shaping indicia, requiring extra care be exercised by an assembler while forming the decorative cover if a uniform or decorative result is to be garnered. However, the bonding material used about the forming indicia restrains the pleats when the sheet material is folded upon itself. Once the material is folded upon itself, uncoupling the bonding material may cause damage to the sheet should adjustments or alterations be required. Further, assembly of pre-formed decorative covers without a mold either requires undesirably vast assortments of sizes, or a predetermination of sizes required by an assembler when assembling pre-formed shape-sustaining decorative covers about various sized objects if inventory is to be adequately maintained. Moreover, the bonding material disadvantageously dictates the forming process when forming decorative covers, and interferes with creative manipulation of sheet material by the operator while forming decorative covers. It would also be desirable to provide sheet materials allowing an assembler in-situ to make-up customized decorative covers for particular sized or shaped objects, such as pots, without being restrained by the bonding material. It is of further desire to allow for inventory reduction by providing sheet materials capable of fitting an array of object sizes that are conveniently storable.
Therefore, there is a need felt within the art to provide non-shape sustaining sheet materials, such as wraps, having forming features, such as bonding material and indicia thereon, that facilitate wrapping the wrap about a pot, particularly when the assembler desires wraps for unrestrained forming and creative manipulation to form decorative covers. There is also a need to have wraps that are easily stored in bulk and readily available for various object sizes, while also providing wraps that are easily manipulated when wrapping or forming decorative covers for pots.
Described herein is a wrap that facilitates unrestrained creative manipulation of the wrap about a pot to form decorative features that utilize shaping features, such as bonding material and indicia thereon. The wrap described herein also assists an assembler, particularly when assembly is in-situ, by allowing unrestrained forming and creative manipulation of the material of the wrap.
Advantageously, the wrap allows a decorative cover to be formed about a pot by an assembler, such as a florist. The wrap includes: a substantially non-shape sustaining body having a first surface and a second surface separated from the first surface by a substantially thin side border, the first surface having a center area located within an outer area that extends to the side border; a first application, or portion, of bonding material coupled to the outer area of the first surface of the body; and a second application, or portion, of bonding material coupled to the outer area of the first surface, the center area substantially separates the first application and the second application of bonding material.
A pot assembly is also disclosed.
Further, a method of forming a pot assembly is disclosed.
Reference will now be made to the Figures, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout. It will be appreciated that these Figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.
Referring first to
The word or phrase “non-shape sustaining” refers to the general characteristic of material when bent, creased, folded, crimpled or crimped. Specifically, material having “non-shape sustaining” characteristics may exhibit some shape sustaining ability, such as aluminum foil when creased, but will not retain the desired, or final, shape, particularly when not supported for sustained durations. Examples of a non-shape sustaining material, without limitation, may include cloth, burlap, foil, paper and cellophane, without limitation.
Advantageously, the string and bow 14 holds the unrestrained pleats 16 about the pot 12. The string and bow 14 may include other types of ties, belts, restraints and binders, for example and without limitation, and is not limited to the twine string having a bow tied therein as illustrated. Further, the string and bow 14 may be secured to the wrap 20, which is wrapped about the pot 12, with an adhesive. The optional adhesive applied to hold the string and bow 14 to the wrap 20 is particularly suited with arrangements of the wrap 20 forming frustoconical shapes about the pot 12, desirably preventing slippage by retaining the string and bow 14 thereto.
Referring now to
The wrap 20 is substantially flat in its pre-application state, thereby allowing for inventory reduction and improved storability of bulk stock. The wrap 20 may optionally include shaping indicia 30 thereon which help to direct an assembler in the formation of the wrap 20 into a decorative cover, as discussed herein. The term “shaping indicia” as used herein will be understood to include score lines, and/or other printed indicia including printed instructions, letters, numbers or drawings, unprinted indicia such as embossing, creases and other textures, or any combination thereof. The shaping indicia 30 may be in the form of a pattern, or, in the alternative, the shaping indicia 30 may constitute a lack of a pattern on the wrap 20 having a pattern defined by placement of a bonding agent or adhesive as will be described below.
The shaping indicia 30 includes faint lines 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, faint first fold lines 39, 40, faint second fold lines 41, 42, and a faint pot perimeter line 44. Faint lines 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38 represent approximate location of folds or creases when assembling the wrap 20 about a pot, such as the pleats 16 shown in
Located away from or substantially removed away from the shaping indicia 30 on the wrap 20 are a first portion, or application, 50 and a second portion, or application, 52 of bonding material, or adhesive. The term “bonding material” or “adhesive” as used herein will be understood to include an adhesive, such as a pressure sensitive adhesive, or a cohesive. Where the adhesive is a cohesive, a similar cohesive adhesive may be placed on the adjacent surface of a pot 12 for bondingly contacting and engaging with the adhesive of the first portion 50 and the second portion 52 of the wrap 20.
The term “bonding material” as used herein also includes materials which are heat sealable and, in this instance, adjacent portions of the wrap 20 and the pot 12 may be brought into contact and then heat may be applied to effect the retaining contact. The term “bonding material” also includes materials which have sonic, vibration and pressure sealable characteristics. The term “bonding material” when used herein also includes a lacquer, such as a sealing lacquer, which may be applied to the wrap 20 and, in this instance, heat, sound waves, or vibrations also must be applied to effect and create the bonding.
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 first portion 50 and/or the second portion 52 of the wrap 20 to effect the connection or bonding described herein. For example, the first portion 52 and/or the second portion 52 of bonding material may be a contact adhesive, such as double-sided tape.
The first portion 50 and the second portion 52 of adhesive are disposed in the outer area 48 of the first surface 22 of the wrap 20, where the first portion 50 is disposed from the second portion 52 substantially about the center area 46.
It will be understood that the bonding material of the first portion 50 or the second portion 52 may be disposed on the wrap 20 by any method of disposing a bonding material on a wrap 20 known in the art, such as painting the bonding material on the wrap 20, spraying the bonding material on the wrap 20, or applying the bonding material on the wrap 20. These methods of disposing a bonding material on a sheet of material are well known in the art and commercially available.
As shown in
In order to make the wrap 20 readily usable when receiving the wrap 20 for assembly about a pot 12, a protective cover 60 having a pull-tab 62 is releasably disposed upon the first portion 50 of bonding material and/or the second portion 52 of bonding material. The protective cover 60 may be removed by an assembler to expose the bonding material of the first portion 50 and the second portion 52 for disposing the wrap 20 about a pot 12 with minimal restraint.
The wrap 20 has a length extending between the first and the third sides 26 and 28, respectively, of the wrap 20. The wrap 20 also has a width extending between the second and fourth sides 27 and 29, respectively, of the wrap 20. The wrap 20, about side boarder 25, may have any shape, such as the shape shown in
The wrap 20 may have any thickness as long as the non-shape sustaining material of the wrap 20 is wrappable about an object, such as a flower pot or a plant contained in a growing medium, as described herein, and as long as the wrap 20 provides the some degree of rigidity, particularly in its length and or width as described herein to form a decorative cover. In this regard, the wrap 20 is of a semi-rigid nature having a thickness in a range of from about 0.1 mil to about 30 mil. The wrap 20 may be constructed of a single layer of material or a plurality of layers of the same or different types of materials. When the wrap 20 is constructed of a plurality of layers of material, the layers of material comprising the wrap 20 may be connected together such as by lamination or may be separate layers. For example, the wrap 20 may be constructed from two polypropylene films, one film having opaqueness and the other film having color. It will be understood, however, that the wrap 20 may be constructed from any suitable material that is capable of being wrapped about a flower pot and/or a plant in growing media. Particularly, the wrap 20 may be selected from the group consisting of paper (untreated or treated in any manner), foil, polymeric film, fabric (woven, nonwoven, synthetic or natural), burlap, and combinations or laminates thereof.
As used herein, the terms “rigid” or “semi-rigid” denotes a quality of the material used to make the wrap structurally supportive in relationship with the non-shape sustaining nature of folds, bends and creases used to place, for example, pleats into the wrap. In another aspect the terms “rigid” or “semi-rigid” provide for a relative self supporting material used to make pleats, for example, when subjected to or placed under the influence of gravitational forces when wrapped about a pot.
The term “polymeric film” as used herein includes a synthetic polymer such as polypropylene, polyethylene or polyvinyl chloride, or a naturally occurring polymer such as cellophane. A polymeric film is relatively strong and not as subject to tearing (substantially non-tearable), as might be the case with paper or foil; however, polymeric film is similar to paper or foil in that is substantially non-shape sustaining whether folded, bent or creased.
The wrap 20 may vary in color. Further, the wrap 20 may consist of designs or decorative patterns which are printed, etched, and/or embossed thereon using inks or other printing materials. An example of an ink which may be applied to the surface of the wrap 20 is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,706 entitled “Water Based Ink On Foil And/Or Synthetic Organic Polymer” issued to Kingman on Sep. 15, 1992 and which is incorporated herein by reference. In addition, the wrap 20 may have various colorings, coatings, flocking and/or metallic finishes, holographic images, or other decorative surface ornamentation applied separately or simultaneously thereto. Further, the wrap 20 may be characterized totally or partially by pearlescent, neon, translucent, transparent, opaque, partially clear or iridescent qualities. Each of the above-named characteristics may occur alone or in combination and may be applied to the first surface 22 and/or second surface 24 of the wrap 20. Moreover, each surface of the wrap 20 may vary in the combination of such characteristics.
Two adhesive strips 150, 152 at coupled to an outer area 148 of the wrap 120, apart and away from indicia 130, 132, 134. The adhesive strips 150, 152 are oppositely juxtaposed to a center, or inner, area 146 of the wrap 120, but may be located elsewhere in the outer area 148 so long as apart and away from indicia 130, 132, 134 so as to facilitate an assembler during assembly while not restraining the features, such as pleats, folded into the wrap 120 by the assembler.
The depicted adhesive strips 150, 152 are double-sided tape and may include a protective cover 160 releasably coupled thereto and overlaid upon the wrap 120. The protective cover 160 will protect the adhesive nature and quality of the adhesive strips 150, 152 until use for assembling with a pot.
Adhesive members 250, 252 are coupled to quadrants 270, 274, respectively, and include a protective member 260 as described above. Adhesive member 250 or adhesive member 252 may optionally be place in any other quadrant 270, 272, 274, 276 as is suitable for assembly with a pot by an assembler as described herein. The adhesive members 250, 252 are positioned within respective quadrants 270, 274 so as to not interfere with folding, bending or creasing the material of the wrap 220 about dashed lines 230. Dashed lines 230 in this embodiment of the invention are only representative of folds, bends or creases made within the material of the wrap 220 during assembly and are not formed, visibly or otherwise, upon the upper surface 222 of the wrap 220.
Optionally, an adhesive member 254 may be included in the center area 246 of the upper surface 222 to facilitate retaining an object, such as a pot, when place thereon.
The side border 325 in this embodiment includes twenty four sides having the appearance of a twelve point star. Also, the twelve point star sided side border 325 gives the wrap 320 the illusion of having been formed from three separate material sheets while accenting the number of pleats when folded in accordance with embodiments of the invention as herein described. In this embodiment, however, the wrap 320 is formed from a single material sheet. It is to be recognized that the side border 325 may have other shapes or outlines and is not limited to the twelve point star illustrated. Also, the wrap 320 may include other inventive feature herein described.
In embodiments of the invention, a wrap may be provided having two or more wraps adhered together with the bonding material of the underlying wrap. For example, the three material sheet illusion created by the boarder of the twelve point star shaped wrap 320 shown in
As described herein, the terms “unrestrained” or “unrestrained pleat” means features that exhibit loosely wrapped appearance because of being unrestrained by bonding agents or adhesives applied on or about fold, bends and creases, or about shaping or forming indicia.
While particular embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, numerous variations and other embodiments will occur to those of ordinary skill in the art. Accordingly, the invention is only limited in terms of the scope of the appended claims.
