Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A47—FURNITURE; DOMESTIC ARTICLES OR APPLIANCES; COFFEE MILLS; SPICE MILLS; SUCTION CLEANERS IN GENERAL
  • A47G—HOUSEHOLD OR TABLE EQUIPMENT
  • A47G7/00—Flower holders or the like
  • A47G7/02—Devices for supporting flower-pots or cut flowers
  • A47G7/06—Flower vases
  • A47G7/063—Flower vases foldable

Definitions

• French patent 2,651,663 discloses a holder which is produced by folding a rectangular blank of relatively rigid material to form a "cornet" and reducing the volume of a holder of this kind by separating material parts. This is done by providing loop-like projections, these parts being fastened to one another by melting or adhesive bonding.
• the material used is a relatively rigid plastic, and a holder of this kind is provided at the top with one or more eyelets for hanging it from the wall or in a hanging device designed specially for this purpose.
• Swifs patent 287,163 discloses a holder with a wall made of vulcanized rubber. This description does not give any dimensions for the wall thicknesses, but it can be concluded from the drawing that the wall thicknesses will be above 5 mm. The flexibility of the holder is important only for preventing breakage. This holder too will always assume the same shape in the filled state.
• the object of the present invention is to provide a holder which on the one hand is decorative and which on the other hand makes it possible to realize numerous different shapes, i.e. so that the holder or vase according to the invention can be made shorter or longer depending on the stem length and the flowers to be accommodated; furthermore, if so desired by the user, the holder or vase may have a different appearance.
• the top third of the holder wall has a thickness of between 1 and 4 mm and the bottom third of the holder wall has a thickness of at least 3 mm.
• the bottom third needs to be considerably thicker, in order to prevent the pressure exerted by the stem parts from pushing the wall of the vase outwards, i.e. so as to avoid bulges being produced at irregular locations.
• the invention is based on the insight of designing the holder wall in such a manner that, on the one hand, it has a stable shape at room temperature but, on the other hand, it can be folded over, i.e. the part in the region of the free end of the holder can be turned over downwards in the position of use and if appropriate can then be turned over again upwards.
• the use of an elastomer having the above-described properties makes it possible to reverse such folding while leaving hardly any traces. This is in contrast to holders made of cardboard and other materials.
• the flexible material comprises an elastomer.
• This preferably comprises a thermoplastic elastomer.
• This may be any thermoplastic elastomer which is known from the prior art, such as EPDM rubbers, SBR, types of acrylonitrile rubber, types of acrylonitrile- butadiene-styrene rubber (terpolymers) , block copolymers (styrene- butadiene), polybutadiene and polyisoprene.
• Such materials may, if necessary, be provided with fillers, in order to provide sufficient stiffness and colorants may be present for decorative effect.
• these materials may be present in sufficient quantity to allow injection- moulding, so that a product of this kind can be produced in large series in a particularly efficient and cost-effective manner.
• the holder wall has a thickness of preferably at least 1.0 mm.
• the foot which is used with the holder may comprise any design known from the prior art which provides sufficient stability.
• the foot may be integral with the holder, but may also be separately joined thereto.
• the foot can also be produced by injection-moulding, optionally at the same time as the holder.
• the holder wall is made more stable if its wall thickness increases from the free end in the direction towards the foot piece.
• Fig. 1 shows a side view of a cross-section through a preferred embodiment of the holder with foot according to the invention in a first, unfolded position
• Fig. 2 shows a perspective view of the holder in accordance with Fig. 1 in a second, folded position of use.
• a vase is denoted overall by 1. It comprises a top part with holder wall 2 and a bottom part or foot piece 3.
• foot piece 3 is produced separately from the top part or holder and is attached to the holder after production or after it is received at the point of sale. To do this, the foot piece 3 is provided with a cavity 6 which acco odates the bottom end of the holder wall 2.
• Holder wall 2 may be closed on the underside, but may also be open, in which case the join with foot piece 3 seals the holder with respect to the surroundings. It is also possible to produce parts 2 and 3 as one component, for example by injection-moulding.
• holder wall 2 delimits an opening 5 for the introduction of, for example, water and flowers. It can be seen from Fig. 1 that the holder wall has a slightly thickened part 4 in the region of its bottom end. This provides further stability and strength. Its thickness lies in the range from 3-7 mm and is preferably 3.5 mm. The unthickened part of the holder wall 2 has a thickness of between 1 and 4 mm, and more particularly of approximately 2 mm. The top third of the holder has an essentially constant wall thickness. This allows folding to take place in a simple manner. "Essentially constant” is obviously to be understood as encompassing slight variations, but with the narrowing of the wall thickness clearly differing from that which is shown in Swiss patent 287, 163. Fig.
• FIG. 2 shows the holder in accordance with Fig. 1 in a perspective view, with the top edge partly folded over towards the lower part of the holder wall 2. It should be understood that this top edge is not a narrowly defined part.
• the height of the folded-over edge which is indicated by 10, as well as its shape, can be varied depending on the wishes of the user.
• the flowers arranged in the vase formed in this way are denoted by 9.
• the holder wall comprises a thermoplastic elastomeric material, both the shape shown in Fig. 1 and that shown in Fig. 2 are stable.
• the material used for the holder wall 2 consists of one continuous part which is free of joining seems, is elastic, flexible and rubbery. Moreover, it has sufficient stiffne s to retain its shape at room temperature.
• the material may be generally defined as a thermoplastic elastomer.

Landscapes

• Supports Or Holders For Household Use (AREA)
• Rigid Containers With Two Or More Constituent Elements (AREA)
• Packging For Living Organisms, Food Or Medicinal Products That Are Sensitive To Environmental Conditiond (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=19764191

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (4)

Families Citing this family (3)

Family Cites Families (8)

• 1997
  • 1997-01-10 NL NL1004972A patent/NL1004972C2/nl not_active IP Right Cessation
• 1998
  • 1998-01-09 EP EP98900463A patent/EP0957734A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 1998-01-09 WO PCT/NL1998/000017 patent/WO1998030137A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 1998-01-09 AU AU55000/98A patent/AU5500098A/en not_active Abandoned

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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