AU626129B2

AU626129B2 - Flower holder

Info

Publication number: AU626129B2
Application number: AU48754/90A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Michael J. Vanderzwet
Original assignee: MAXIFLORA Pty Ltd
Current assignee: MAXIFLORA Pty Ltd
Priority date: 1990-01-25
Filing date: 1990-01-25
Publication date: 1992-07-23
Anticipated expiration: 2010-01-25
Also published as: AU4875490A

Description

AUSTIRALIA v6 Palen Lv A ef COMPLETE SPECIFICATPION

(ORIGINAL)

Class I t. Class Application Number Lodged: SComplete Spe)c cation Lodged: Accepted: PUblished: Priority Rxlatcd Art', APPL ICANT'S RIu'.: MAXIFI40RA PTY LTD Namec(s) or Applicant(s): Acddi- s~cs) of Applicant(s): 12 16 Vi ka Aventw, Monbul k, Vi ctori a, Australia :Actual Insentor(s): Address for Service is:- III I LlI IPS, 0R.N' JNLDI- AN[D VI 17/1A VIC(K Patont and, Frade Mark Attornes 367 k. ollitis Street Melbourne, Australia, YtXX! comnplete specif'ication for the in ven tion entitled: F[LOWE~R IIOLD)FR I Ile lol lowinrg st. teien t is a lull descri pt ion ofI this inventlion,* inluingip thle best meitt hot o1' pei k'i iiin't! it kiios' 0 to applicant(s): ['14 A X4I 2 FLOWER HOLDER This invention relates to plant holders and is particularly although not exclusively concerned with holders for transporting and displaying flowers. It will be convenient to hereinafter describe the invention with particular reference to flowers but it is to be understood taat the a invention has wider application.

0 o o o When packing the flowers for transport the blooms are easily o damn.ged. The most common method for packing flowers for so transport involves selecting a desired number of individual blooms and tying the stems together by means of an elastic band or like fastening means. It will be appreciated that this method of packing often causes damage to large or delicate blooms, or to the stems of the flowers. It is also considered that this prior art method of displaying flowers does not do justice to the attractiveness of the flowers since the blooms tend to be bunched together and the overlapping blooms do not provide as an impressive display as would be the case if they were evenly spread ou It is an object o£ the present invention to provide a flower holder which allows flowers to be packaged and displayed but which minimizes damage to the blooms in particular to large or delicate blooms.

According to the invention, there is provided a flower holder for supporting and dislay a plura!ity of stemmed flowers, said holder comprising, a flower head support means having a substantially planar front face with a plurality of spaced openings extending therethrough tor receiving the stems of individual flowers, and k IDt ii-

I

1 IL II 3 a stem support means, said stem support means having a front face on one side thereof, said stem support means being connected to said flower head support means and being movable relative thereto from a first position wherein the stems of flowers can be passed through said openings to overlie the front face of said stem support means, to a second position wherein the front f4'e of the stem support means is adjacent and substantially aligned with the front face of the head support means and the stem support means engages and supports said flower stems.

It is preferred that the flower holder is formed from a single piece of self-supporting sheet material and that the head support means and stem support means are joined together by connection means which is integral with both the stem support means and the head support means.

An embodiment of the invention is described in detail in the following passages of the specification. The drawings however, are merely illustrative of how the invention might be put into effect, so that the speu .fic Form and arrangement of the various features as shown is not to be understood as limiting on the invention.

IN THE DRAWINGS: FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a flower holder according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the flower holder shown in FIGURE 1 in the plant inserting position.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the flower holder shown in FIGURE 1 in Che transportation and display position.

4 The plant holder shown in the accompanying drawings includes a flower head support means 1 and a stem support means 2.

The flower head support means 1 has a substantially planar front face 3 with a plurality of spaced openings 4 extending therethrough for receiving the stems of individual flowers.

The spaced openings may be formed in any suitable manner.

For example, flower head support means 1 may be formed of a mesh type material in which the spaced openings are formed by the mesh. Alternatively, flower head support means 1 may be formed of a planar sheet material such as cardboard 0 00 wherein the spaced openings comprise holes in the sheet. In o the embodiment illustrated, the holder is formed of a cardboard material.

o The flower head support means 1 may be connected to stem support means 2 in any suitable manner. It is preferred that the flower head support means 1 and stem support means 2 are connected together by connection means 5 which is integral with both said flower head support means and said stem support means. In the embodiment illustrated, said connection means 5 includes a pair of fold lines 6 formed in the planar sheet on each side of the head support means 1 and said stem support means 2 is pivotable relative to said flower head support means 1 about an axis which is coincident with said fold lines 6. It will be appreciated, however, that the flower head support means 1 and the stem support means 2 may be formed of different materials and joined together by some other means such as adhesive tape which allows flower head support means I to be movable relative to stem support means 2.

In the embodiment illustrated, the flower head support means 1 is of substantially circular shape and the stem support means 2 is connected to the flower head support means at diametrically opposite sides of the head support means i.

The flower head support means 1 is pivotably connected to 5 the stem support means along a pivot axis which extends substantially through the centre of the flower head support means i. Clearly, other shapes of head support means, and other positions for connecting the two support means 1 and 2 together are possible.

The flower head support means 1 may be of any size appropriate to the type of plant and a number of plants which is desired to be held in the flower holder. It has been found that the flower holder of the present invention is especially suitable for transporting and displaying such flowers as gerbera which have large and delicate blooms. It is envisaged that such flowers will be transported and displayed in numbers of for example seven and ten. The number of holes 4 provided may reflect the number of plants it is desired to be supported and displayed. The relative spacing of those holes 4 will depend on the size of bloom of the flowers to be held by the holder. For example, flower holders having between seven holes or ten holes may be provided. It will be appreciated however, that for ease of mranufacture, a flower holder with a far larger number of spaced openings could be provided and the user could determine the a number of flowers to be held, and the spacing between the individual flowers so held. This latter type of arrangement will be appropriate for a range of different flowers.

In the embodiment illustrated, the support means 2, is of substantially triangular shape, taving a sharp pointed operatively lower end 7 and an operatively upper end in the form of a pair of splayed arms 8, the head support means 1 being connected to the free ends 9 of the arms 8 at respective opposite sides of the head support means.

There io preferably a semi-circular cut line 10 extending between the fold linies 6 on each side of the flower holder Il-i-iL~IIII-l.l-l-__~-_ 6 and the diameter of that semi-circular cut line 10 lies on the pivot axis defined by the fold lines 6. Thus, the cut line permits the head support means 1 to pivot relative to the stem support means 2 about the axis defined by the fold lines 6 between an aligned position (as depicted in Figures 1 and 3) and a misaligned position (as depicted in Figure 2) in which the plane of the stem support means 2 forms an obtuse angle with the plane of the head support means i.

The purpose of providing this relative pivoting movement will be described in detail herebelow.

o The flower holder is preferably constructed of a water resistant and more preferably water proof material. A suitable material is waxed covered cardboard although plastic may be used. It is important that the material that is used substantially retains its strength, at least for a period of time, when wet.

The stem support means preferably includes a plurality of fold lines 11 extending upwardly from a lower part thereof towards the upper part thereof. The fold lines 11 facilitate the curvature of the stem support means 2 such that the front face 12 thereof adopts a concave configuration when in the second, or flower supporting position, depicted in Figure 3. When the stem support means 2 adopts a concave form this will influence the head support means 1 to also adopt a concave form. With the head support means 1 in a concave form the flowers 14 held thereon will still be held spaced apart.

In use, the flower head support means I is pivoted relative to the stem support means 2 to a first position as illustrated in Figure 2 wherein the stems of flowers can be passed through the openings 4 to extend on the stem support surface side of the stem support means. The stems 13 of the flowers 14 are inserted through the holes 4 from the front 7 face 15 of the head support means. Preferably the stem support means in this first position has been folded back through an angle of greater than 900 re' ative to the head support means 1 so that the stems 13 overlie the front face 12 of the stem support means as they pass through the holes 4. The stems are passed substantially all the way through the holes 4 so that the heads 16 of the flowers lie against the front face 15 of the head support means i. The heads are, of course, helW spaced apart by the relative spacing S0 between the holes 4 through which the individual stems have been passed. Once the flowers 14 have all been inserted through the holes 4, the stem support means 2 is rotated relative to flower head support means into a second position depicted in Figure 3 wherein front face 12 of the ctem support means 2 is adjacent and substantially aligned with the front face 15 of the head support means and the stem support surface means engages and s'uiports the flower stems 13.

The flower holder holding flowers 14 as illustrated in Figure 3 may then be inserted into a sleeve 17 to further protect and support the flowers. Such a sleeve may be made of clear plastic so that the flowers and stems max be displayed. The sleeve 17 may have tapered walls 18 to facilitate the retention of the flower holder in a concave configuration. The sleeve 17 may have an opening at a lower end 19 thereof so that the flower holder may be placed in a container of water and the water will fill the sleeve to supply water to the stems.

The flower holder may also have a means for hanging the flower holder for display. In the embodiment illustrated, this takes the form of a hole 20 at the operatively upper end of the holder.

f lim-. .n I -y~ir- ru- 8 It will be appreciated that the flower holder of the present invention is suitable for supporting and displaying stemmed flowers, blossoms, buds, blooms, bines, flowering plants, delicate plants not necessary having flowers, fronds, tendrils, ferns, and all other types of foliage, leafage, branches, sprays, etc, and including plastic flowers. The term "flower" when used herein the claims is intended to include all of the above.

Various alterations, modifications and/or additions may be introduced into the constructions and arrangements of parts previously described without departing from the spirit or ambit of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

0 0 0 ii _~i

Claims

1. A flower holder for supporting and mp-1al~d a plurality of stemmed flowers, said holder comprising, a f lower head support means having a substantially planar front f ace with a pluraliiiy of spaced openings extending therethrough for receiving the stems of individual flowers, and a stem support rn!ans, said stem support means having a front face on one side thereof, said stem support means being connected to said flower head support means and being movable relative thereto from a first position wherein the stems of flowers can be passed through said openings to o-,verlie the front face of said stem support i aans, to a second position wherein the front face of the stem support means is adjacent and substantially aligned with the front face of the head support means and the stem support means engages and supports said flower stems.

2. A flower holder according to claim 1 wherein the head support means and the 4 -4rfl support means are formed from a single self-supporting planar sheet.

3. A flower holder according to claim 2 wherein said head support means and said stem support means are connected together by a connection means wnich is integral with both said stem support means and said head support means.

4. A flower holder according to claim 3 wherein said connection means includes a fold line formed in said planar sivet and said stem support means is piVotable rel~ative to said head support means about an axis which is coincident with said fold line. ~(Ir 10 A flower holder according to any preceding claims wherein said head support means is of substantially circular shape and said stem support means is connected to said head support means at diametrically opposite sides of said head support means.

6. A flower holder accoriing to claim 5 wherein said head support means is pivotably connected to said stem support means along a pivot axis which extends substantially through the centre of said head support means.

7. A flower holder according to any preceding claim wherein said stem support m.ans is of substantially triangular shape having a sharp pointed operatively lower end and an operatively upper end in the form of a pair of splayed arms, said head support means being connected at respective opposite side thereof to the free ends of said

8. A flower holder according to 'laim 7 wherein said stem support means is formed of a plarar sheet material and a plurality of fold lines extend upwardly from a lower part of said stem support means toward an upper part thereof, said fold lines facilitating the curvature of said stem support means such that said stem support means adopts a concave configuration when in said second position.

9. A flower holder according to claim 2 wherein said sheet material is a water resilient cardboard material. A flower holder according to any preceding claim in combination with a sleeve into which the flower holder may be inserted.

11. A flower arrangement supported by a flower holder according to any preceding claim, 11

12. A flower holder substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED: u'Y 71,UARY 1990 MAXIFL~ORA PTY LTD BY th 1 Patent Attorneys PHILLIPS ORMONDE AND FITZPATRICK