GB2178953A - Flower arrangement devices - Google Patents

Abstract

A flower arrangement device particularly for funeral use comprises a shaped closed cell green pigmented polyurethane foam article in a clear PVC vacuum-formed mould which forms a preferably retained protective skin over the foam. Wires penetrate flower stems and also the foam and skin to secure the flowers against the surface of the article. A support frame arrangement in which articles in the form of letters of the alphabet are mounted by clips to a support is also disclosed. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in Flower Arrangement Devices The invention relates to flower arrangement and is in particular concerned with moulded plastics shapes for use in constructing such flower arrangements as wreaths and chaplets.

Plastics material foams are in common use in flower arrangement, those sold under the trade mark "Oasis" and coloured green perhaps being the best known.

These products have been sold for a number of years in the form of regular shaped blocks for insertion into vases and the like as a base for flower stems, the block first being soaked in water over a number of hours so that it takes up water to form a reservoir of water to replenish water lost as the flower stem respires. The foam is sufficiently penetrable by the flower stems that they can readily be sunk into the block so that they can be arranged in various orientations independent of the vase surfaces which normally determine the nature of the arrangement. These foamed blocks are of particular benefit for arranging flowers in short walled vessels which could not otherwise support flower stems of any length. In addition to these comparatively simple blocks, the foams concerned are also available in moulded shapes for use in producing such products as wreaths.Moulded shapes of this kind are clearly useful but they are subject to considerable disadvantages. One is that the foam is of low strength and requires the comparatively strong and somewhat obtrusive mould in which it is made (normally a self-coloured plastics material) to be retained to ensure integrity and protection from damage due to the minor impacts ocassioned in normal handling. A further disadvantage is that the taking up of water requires a long time, making use to satisfy short term needs of customers difficult. Water-laden foams are also somewhat heavy and water can sometimes drip out from a wreath or other finished product. The low strength of the foam also limits the kinds of arrangement which can be produced and in all arrangements the foam provides a substrate which does not reliably retain flowers and the like whose stems are embedded in the foam.

The above disadvantages are generally regarded by producers of wreaths and the like as sufficiently major that plastics foam shapes are seldom used for quality wreaths. Traditional methods used over many years remain the common practice in the field, these essentially using a metallic wire frame constructed to the basic shape required. The frame then has moss wound round it until the frame is completely covered so as to present an aesthetically pleasing and continuous background into which flowers mounted on wires, which pass through the stem walls, can be secured by passing the wires through the wound-on moss in a needle-and-thread stitching type of operation. Although this is a relatively time-consuming method and is expensive in terms of materials, it has been found to be reliable over many years and to produce an aesthetically pleasing product.As costs have continued to rise, however, over the last several years and as shop orders for products are taken with less and less time for preparation, there has for some time been a need for an alternative method.

According to the invention, a flower arrangement (eg a wreath or chaplet) on a shaped substrate comprises flowers or the like whose stems are penetrated by mounting wires penetrated into and retained by a body of foamed plastics material having a reinforcing insert (eg a metallic wire frame) embedded therein and moulded to a configuration which presents the said shaped substrate.

The foamed plastics material will conveniently be foamed polyurethane but may be of other plastics material.

A closed-cell structure is preferred for the foamed plastics material.

The foamed plastics material may be moulded in a mould and then released therefrom. However, the body of foamed plastics material is preferably moulded in a mould which is left combined with the foamed body as an outer skin, such skin providing useful surface protection to the foam.

Such a mould may conveniently be made by pressure moulding (eg vacuum forming). Suitable material for the mould is polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or high impact polystyrene although it may alternatively be made of a poly (meth) acrylic resin or other material. The mould is usually thin so as to enable easy puncture by the mounting wires, an outer skin of 50 to 100 microns (eg about 80 microns) on the foamed body being preferred.

The foamed plastics material and/or any outer skin thereon is preferably coloured by addition of a colouring material thereto. A green pigment or dye is preferred as the colouring agent.

Included within the scope of the invention is a method of producing a flower arrangement which method comprises forming a shaped article of foamed plastics material such as polyurethane, penetrating the stems of a plurality of flowers each with a wire and penetrating the wires into the shaped article so that the flowers are mounted adjacent the surface of the article. The shaped article is maintained in a substantially dry condition (ie water is not taken into its foamed structure).

The following specific Example is intended to illustarte the invention.

Example A piece of cut clear PVC sheet 80 microns thick is vacuum-formed to produce a mould cavity having the configuration of a cricifix. The mould is supported flat on a worksurface with its open face upwardly facing.

A cruciform-shaped wire support of the kind conventionally sold to flower arrangers for moss winding is disposed in the mould cavity. A charge of uncured polyurethane foam prepared from isocyanate and polyol sold under the trade name Cellafoam 501 F is poured into the mould cavity and allowed to cure with the wire frame or support embedded therein. Curing is complete at room temperature after 5 - 10 minutes.

With the PVC mould in place as an outer skin, wires mounting flower stems were penetrated through the PVC skin and into the body of cured foam so that the stems and flowers were brought close to the surface of the plastics moulded body. This was repeated with a sufficient number of flower stems to cover the entire crucifix surface so as to produce an aesthetically pleasing floral arrangement suitable for funeral use.

The arrangement was light in weight and retained the stems reliably in place mounted to the plastics foam body of the crucifix. The foamed body was strong and self-supporting and resisted damage due to the impacts and stress of simulated normal handling, such as would be ocassioned, for example, in the storage and transportation which in practice will precede use.

The Example was repeated using a foam admixed with green pigment or dye with equally satisfactory results. A crucifix having a largest dimension size of about 11 inches was made by the same method but omitting the wire support and was found to be satisfactory in terms of self-support strength. A foam support base for a more complex arrangement (eg Gates of Heaven) was moulded using a sand bag ballast insert with satisfactory results.

The accompanying drawings illustrate a particular embodiment of the invention. In the drawings: Figure 1 shows a wire support stand in diagrammatic form from the rear; Figure 2 shows a side view of one of the clips used in the embodiment; and Figure 3 shows the clip of Figure 2 as a plan view.

The wire support stand is shown generally at 1 and comprises four copper wires or rods 2, 3, 4, 5 joined at their junctions by soldering. Legs 6, 7 serve as groundor other surface-support means and are of the same or smaller gauge wire also joined by soldering. Wire 8 serves as back support and is pivotable from an approximately coplanar position with respect to the plane 2, 3, 4, 5 to a position inclined thereto where the apex of the back support is ground-engaging and the plane 2, 3, 4, 5 is inclined to vertical. For this purpose, hooked over terminal portions 9 and 10 of wire 8 wrap around and locate rotatably upon wire or rod member 4.A shaped plastics foam material substrate 11 (in Figure 2, a representation of the letter "T") such as may be made according to the Example is mounted removably to plane 2, 3, 4, 5 by means of plastic clips (eg nylon clips) shown diagrammatically at 12 in Figure 1, the substrate being one of several letters 1 practice (making up the initials, name or designation of a deceased). As shown in Figures 2 and 3, each clip has a base 13 and an underlying adhesive strip 17.

Box 13 is moulded with ridges 14, the intermediate shorter one of which cooperates with hook 15 to locate the cross-section of a wire or rod (shown as 16 in Figure 2) between hook 15 and base 13 in a snap-type fit which is easily made and unmade in assembly and disasembly of the arrangement.

The invention as described earlier without reference to the accompanying drawings or to the Example may inciude any one or more features of the invention described with reference to the drawings or example or referred to in the foilowing claims.

Claims (23)

1. A method of producing a flower arrangement which method comprises forming a shaped article of foamed plastics material, penetrating the stems of a plurality of flowers each with a wire and penetrating the wires into the shaped article so that the flowers are mounted adjacent the surface of the article.

2. A method as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the foamed plastics material is a closed cell structure.

3. A method as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein the foamed plastics material is foamed polyurethane.

4. A method as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 3 wherein the shaped article comprises a body of foamed plastics material and a skin of plastics material.

5. A method as claimed in Claim 4 wherein the skin of plastics material is a moulded skin pre-formed as a mould for receiving the foamed plastics material in uncured fluid foam.

6. A method as claimed in Claim 4 or Claim 5 wherein the skin is light transmissive.

7. A method as claimed in Claim 6 wherein the skin is clear.

8. A method as claimed in Claim 6 or Claim 7 wherein the skin is colourless or the same colour as the foamed plastics material.

9. A method as claimed in any one of Claims 4 to 8 wherein the skin is made of poiyvinyl chloride or a poly(meth)acrylic resin.

10. A method as claimed in any one of Claims 4 to 9 wherein the skin has a thickness of 50 to 100 microns.

11. A method as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the shaped article of foamed plastics material has a reinforcing insert embedded therein.

12. A method as claimed in Claim 11 wherein the reinforcing insert is a metallic wire frame configured to approximate the shape of the shaped article.

13. A method as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the shaped article of foamed plastics material is formed with a cavity therein and the cavity contains ballast.

14. A method as claimed in Claim 13 wherein the ballast is sand the the sand is contained in the cavity in an envelope.

15. A method as claimed in Claim 14 wherein the envelope is made of woven or non-woven textile material.

16. A method of producing a flower arrangement substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the foregoing specific Example.

17. A flower arrangement whenever obtained by a method as claimed in any preceding claim.

18. A flower arrangement as claimed in Claim 17 and in the form of a wreath, chaplet, pillow, cushion, heart, open heart, cross or round wreath.

19. A flower arrangement on a shaped substrate which arrangement comprises flowers whose stems are penetrated by mounting wires penetrated into and retained by a body of foamed plastics material optionally having a reinforcing insert embedded therein, the body being moulded to a configuration presenting the shaped substrate.

20. A flower arrangement as claimed in Claim 19 wherein means are provided to secure the shaped substrate to the wires of a wire on a mounting frame.

21. A flower arrangement as claimed in Claim 20 wherein said means comprise members secured to the shaped substrate and each comprising a base and a portion spaced therefrom to define a space in which to sandwich a wire between the base and spaced portion.

22. A flower arrangement substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawings.

23. A base for use in forming a flower arrangement and comprised of the shaped substrate referred to and defined in any one of Claims 19 to 22.