U.S. patent number 3,881,674 [Application Number 05/450,569] was granted by the patent office on 1975-05-06 for flower delivery holder.
Invention is credited to Oliver Watson Greene, III.
United States Patent |
3,881,674 |
Greene, III |
May 6, 1975 |
Flower delivery holder
Abstract
A flower delivery holder is provided for accepting a wide
variety of vases employed in the floral trade and is conveniently
formed of corrugated board which, when folded to the proper
configuration, provides a wide mouth that will accept a variety of
vases and particularly the bottom portions thereof and grip the
same so as to prevent tipping during transportation and delivery of
the floral arrangement contained in the vase.
Inventors: |
Greene, III; Oliver Watson
(West Kingston, RI) |
Family
ID: |
23788608 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/450,569 |
Filed: |
March 13, 1974 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
248/152;
47/41.01; 206/426; 428/23; 206/423; 206/486; 215/374; 215/376;
248/346.03 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47G
7/00 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A47G
7/00 (20060101); A47g 007/00 (); A47g 023/02 ();
A47g 029/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;248/146,174,152,346,346.1,27.8 ;47/34.11 ;206/45.19 ;215/100.5
;211/73 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Foss; J. Franklin
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Barlow & Barlow
Claims
I claim:
1. A floral holder comprising a blank having a base portion and a
top wall portion, at least one fold line separating said portions,
the top wall portion being foldable over the base portion about the
fold line, the top wall portion having a free end with a V recess
medially thereof, the bottom wall having a free end with a tongue,
a fold line adjacent the tongue, said tongue being folded about its
adjacent fold line and received in the V recess juxtaposed to the
bottom wall.
2. A floral holder as in claim 1 wherein the base portion and the
top wall portion are separated by a pair of spaced fold lines.
3. A floral holder as in claim 1 wherein an integral flap portion
is formed adjacent the free end of the bottom wall, said flap being
foldable over the free end of the top wall.
4. A floral holder as in claim 1 wherein a pair of tabs are cut
from the bottom wall and are bendable out of the planar extent of
the bottom wall, said top wall having slits, the tabs engaging in
said slits.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In the past it has been rather common to utilize a flat cardboard
base and to place the foot of a vase on this cardboard base and
then secure the same to the cardboard vase by utilizing strings,
elastics, and tape. This does not provide a secure holder for the
vase and is of course quite time consuming in order to secure the
bottom of the vase to the cardboard base. Certain types of
arrangements have been suggested in the prior art for solving the
general problem of tipping over of a vase in a truck when the same
is filled with some moisture for keeping the cut flowers in proper
condition, as, for example, the plastic carrier disclosed in U.S.
Pat. No. 3,661,350 and a cardboard delivery holder as illustrated
in U.S. Pat. No. 3,297,289. This latter mentioned patent is a
corrugated cardboard type of delivery holder and it when in
assembled relationship must be stapled together, thus necessitating
another operation and unstapling in order to remove the vase from
the delivery holder. This is another operation. Additionally, the
U.S. Pat. No. 3,661,350 which is directed to a cast plastic holder
has certain disadvantages in that it will not readily adapt itself
for re-use, the delivery holders being maintained by the floral
shop in its truck and not delivered to the customer.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A floral vase holder is provided which may be made out of cardboard
and suitably cut so that a bottom wall and a hinged-over top wall
are provided, the top wall having a V-shaped cutout section which
forms a mouth to receive and press against the pedestal portion of
the vase, the top wall being embraced against the bottom wall by a
flap section which has a tongue that is adapted to fit into the
mouth portion and lie normally underneath the bottom of the vase
when the same is inserted into the mouth thereof. In this manner
the folded-over flap portion of the bottom wall maintains the top
wall in proper position. The present invention provides a holder
for flower vases which will maintain a vase or other type of
stemware or footed container upright during the delivery thereof
and which provides an inexpensive holder which is readily adaptable
for holding various sizes of flower containers. It is therefore one
of the primary objects achieved by this invention to provide a
holder for flower vase containers which will save packing time
during the preparation of the flowers for delivery and which can be
readily re-used by the florist for the next delivery.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the floral delivery holder in its
assembled relationship with a typical vase shown in phantom in the
proper position with a portion broken away to show the locking
tab;
FIG. 2 is a plan view of a blank for the floral holder made in
accordance with the invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring now to the drawing 10 designates the blank from which the
floral holder is made and which conveniently may be made out of one
or two ply corrugated cardboard or any other similar stiff material
that will stand up in the handling during delivery and trucking and
be sufficiently durable to be re-usable on a number of occasions.
The holder 10 is made up basically of a base portion 11 and an
upper wall portion 12. Between the base portion and upper wall
portion are a pair of parallel fold lines 13 and 14 which are
provided in the usual fashion with a creaser impressing the
corrugated board at the location shown by the dotted lines 13 and
14. Medially of the outer edge 15 of the top wall 12 is a V-shaped
recess denoted at 16 and this V-shaped recess conveniently
terminates in an arcuate inner end at 17. The recess 16 is cut in
such a way that it has a pair of stepped portions 18 and 19
therealong which protrude inwardly from the general V shape of the
recess 16 and these portions form flaps which are impressed
respectively at 20 and 21 by a creaser bar of a forming machine so
that the same may be bent along the lines 20 and 21 that are
denoted by the dotted line showing which indicates the fold line.
Parallel to and adjacent the outer edge 15 of the top wall 12 and
extending generally parallel to the extent thereof are a pair of
slits 22 and 23, the purpose of which will presently appear.
The base section 11 has an outer edge 25 and protruding from this
outer edge 25 is a tongue 26. Just inwardly from the outer edge 25
is a fold line or crease 27 so that between the outer edge 25 and
the fold line or crease 27 there is formed a flap designated 28.
The base section 11 just adjacent the fold line or crease line 27
is provided with a pair of tabs 30, 31 which are formed by slitting
the base section along the lines 32, 33 so that they are free to be
bent upwardly along fold lines 34, 35.
In FIG. 1 it is shown how the device may be used to hold a flower
vase designated 40. From the base 11 the top wall is bent thereover
about the fold lines 13 and 14 so as to overlie the bottom wall.
The tabs 30 and 31 are inserted into the slits 23 and 22
respectively to assist in holding the top and bottom walls together
and the flap 28 is then folded over the outer edge 15 of the top
wall and the tongue 26 inserted into the V-shaped recess 16. The
flaps 18 and 19 are also bent upwardly slightly about their crease
lines 20 and 21 respectively. In the example as illustrated, the
base of the vase 40 is large enough so that it will slip under the
tabs 18 and 19 and underneath the top wall 12 and be held by
frictional engagement of the top wall onto the configured pedestal
of the vase 40. The flaps 18 and 19 also assist in pressing
downwardly on the pedestal of the vase and hold it in position. The
base of the vase which rests on the tongue 26 also assist in
holding the entire holder together so that the tabs 30 and 31 being
received in the slits 23 and 22 is not relied on as the sole
securing means when the device is in use.
After the vase has been secured in the holder as shown in FIG. 1,
wax paper or the like or other protective paper may be placed over
the floral arrangement in the vase in a fashion that is normally
performed by florists and the complete structure can then be
delivered to the truck for the delivery to the customer. In this
fashion the cut flowers received in the vase may be maintained
upright during delivery and the water that is used for keeping the
flowers fresh that is in the vase will not be spilled during
delivery. Further the vase will not tip over and damage the floral
arrangement during delivery by the use of the instant
invention.
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