Combination floral product and display container imprinted wrap around message sleeve on floral product and display container

A rigid, hollow, bottomless container for transporting and displaying a seed ball which includes a sleeve extending about the container that allows printed indicia to be located on the exterior of the container. The container is comprised of a number of side walls integrally or separately formed and connected to form the container. Each side wall contains an upper and lower ridge on opposite ends of a central panel which define a channel extending around the exterior of the container. The sleeve is formed of a resilient material and is positioned about the container within the channel and allows an individual to display printed material on the exterior of the container, by printing directly on the sleeve, or by placing preprinted cards between the sleeve and the side wall that rest on the lower ridge of the side walls of the container. The container is able to contain a seed ball without the need for a bottom surface due to the frictional forces generated by a bag enclosing the seed ball and the interior surfaces of the passage extending through the container.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
 The present invention is directed to a combination shipping and display 
 container for various types of plants, including flowering plants, and 
 more specifically is directed to an inexpensive, hollow, bottomless 
 container used to ship and display seed balls containing plants of the 
 above-mentioned types formed of an elongate strip of a printable material.
 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
 As flowers and plants are often sent to individuals for various reasons, 
 such as birthdays and anniversaries, it is necessary to place the plants 
 within a container that protects the plants during shipment. In many 
 cases, the plant to be shipped includes a seed ball. The seed ball is 
 formed of an amount of soil bound about the roots of the plant by a 
 breathable material, such as a piece of burlap. The seed ball enables the 
 plant to survive the time period during which the plant is in transit. 
 In order to protect the seed ball during shipment, the seed ball is 
 positioned within a container suitable for enclosing and preventing damage
 to the seed ball. Normally, these containers take the form of rigid flower
 pots that are used to display the plant after delivery as well as to 
 protect the plant during shipment. However, due to the weight of a flower 
 pot, containers of this type significantly increase the overall weight of 
 the plant to be shipped. This increases the cost of shipping the plants to
 a point where the cost of sending a plant to someone becomes undesirably 
 expensive. 
 Therefore, it is desirable to develop a container for the shipment of a 
 plant including a seed ball that is lightweight, but able to protect the 
 seed ball during shipment, and that also may be used as an attractive 
 display container for the plant after the delivery of the plant. 
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
 It is an object of the invention to provide a hollow, bottomless shipping 
 and display container which is capable of displaying printed material on 
 the container in the form of a pre-printed sleeve positioned about the 
 exterior of the container, or preprinted cards inserted between the sleeve
 and the exterior of the container. 
 It is a further object of the present invention to provide a hollow, 
 bottomless shipping and display container for a seed ball that is 
 lightweight in order to reduce the costs of shipping a seed ball using the
 container. 
 It is still further object of the invention to provide a hollow, bottomless
 shipping and display container for a seed ball that is inexpensive to 
 manufacture. 
 A hollow, bottomless shipping and display container for seed balls includes
 a number of side walls connected to one another and defining a passage 
 extending through the container into which the seed ball is placed. Each 
 side wall includes a pair of ridges outwardly extending from the top and 
 bottom edges of each side wall that define a rectangular channel extending
 along the exterior of each side wall of the container. 
 A sleeve formed of a resilient, printable material is positioned within the
 channel along each side wall. The sleeve is formed of an elongate, 
 rectangular strip that includes a number of wall sections and a closure 
 tab at one end. The wall sections and tab are separated by fold lines 
 extending across the strip perpendicular to the sections. The dimensions 
 of each wall section generally correspond to the dimensions of the channel
 extending around the container such that, when the sleeve is positioned on
 the container, the closure tab overlaps the wall section opposite the tab 
 on the sleeve, retaining the sleeve on the container. The sleeve also 
 rests on the lower ridge of each side wall, allowing an individual to 
 place preprinted cards, such as business cards, in the space between the 
 sleeve and the side wall. 
 The container does not require a bottom surface as the seed ball is 
 compressed within the passage by the side walls, creating frictional 
 forces between the container and seed ball sufficient to hold the seed 
 ball within the container. During shipment, the container and seed ball 
 are wrapped in a water resistant enclosure and placed within a box 
 dimensioned to conform to the shape of the exterior. When the container is
 used to display the plant contained within the seed ball, the bag forming 
 the exterior of the seed ball extends outwardly over and frictionally 
 contacts the edge of each side wall. These frictional forces cooperate 
 with the frictional forces between the side walls and the seed ball to 
 retain the seed ball within the container when the container is used to 
 display the plants.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
 With reference now to the drawing figures in which like reference numerals 
 designate like parts throughout the disclosure, a hollow, bottomless 
 shipping and display container indicated generally at 10 is illustrated in
 FIGS. 1 and 2. The container 10, is used to hold a seed ball 26 and is 
 generally triangular in shape, and includes three side walls 12 extending 
 along each side of the container. Each side wall 12 includes an outwardly 
 extending top section 14, a central panel section 16, and an outwardly 
 extending lower section 18 formed similarly to top section 14. The 
 container 10 can be formed such that side walls 12 are integrally formed 
 with one another from a rigid thermoplastic material, as shown in FIG. 1, 
 or each side wall 12 may be formed separately from a rigid material, such 
 as wood, and later interconnected with other side walls utilizing a 
 suitable securing means, such as an adhesive. 
 The top section 14 and bottom section 18 on each side wall 12 join to form 
 a top ridge 20 and a bottom ridge 22 extending around the periphery of the
 container 10. The ridges 20 and 22 also define a channel 24 therebetween 
 with panel section 16 forming the base of the channel 24. As the container
 10 formed by the side walls 12 does not have a top or bottom surface, the 
 container defines a passage 28 between the side walls extending completely
 through the container. 
 The seed ball 26 inserted into the container 10 includes a number of plants
 and an amount of soil held within a bag 30. The bag 30 is secured about 
 the soil and a portion of the plant by a strap 32 secured around the bag 
 30 above the soil. When the seed ball 26 is positioned within the passage 
 28 of container 10, the bag 30 frictionally contacts the interior surfaces
 34 of each side wall 12 defining the passage 28. The frictional forces 
 generated by this contact serve to retain the seed bulb 26 within the 
 container 10. 
 After securely positioning the seed ball 26 within the container 10, a 
 second water-proof bag 36 may be wrapped about the seed ball 26 and 
 container 10 in an arrangement as shown in FIG. 4. This second bag 36 
 serves to prevent leakage of fluid from the seed ball 26 and damage to the
 container 10 during shipment of the seed ball and container arrangement. 
 After being secured within the second bag, the seed ball and container 
 arrangement may be positioned within a specialized shipping box 38, as 
 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The box 38 is shaped similarly to the container 
 10, and includes a triangular top wall 40, a triangular bottom wall 42, 
 and a pair of rectangular side walls 44 and 46 secured between two sides 
 of the top and bottom walls 40 and 42. The box 38 also includes a 
 pivotable side wall 48 attached at one end to the stationary side wall 44.
 Opposite wall 44, pivotable wall 48 includes a tongue 50 extending 
 outwardly from pivotable wall 48. The tongue 50 is engageable with a slot 
 (not shown) disposed in the stationary side wall 46 to secure the movable 
 wall 48 in a closed position about the seed ball and container 
 arrangement. 
 Looking now at FIGS. 1 and 2, the container 10 also includes a sleeve 52 
 formed of a resilient material which is positioned within the channel 24 
 extending about the container 10. The sleeve 52 is formed of a single 
 strip of the resilient material and includes a closure tab 54 at one end 
 and three wall sections 56 extending from the closure tab 54 along the 
 remainder of the strip. The strip also includes a number of fold lines 58 
 located between each of the closure tab 54 and the wall sections 56. The 
 fold lines 58 enable the sleeve 52 to be creased into a shape 
 corresponding to the shape of the container 10, with the closure tab 54 
 overlapping the end 60 of the wall section 56 opposite the tab. After 
 creasing the sleeve 52 along the fold lines 58, the sleeve 52 may be 
 positioned about the container 10 by positioning individual wall sections 
 56 within the sections of the channel 24 defined on each side wall 12 of 
 the container 10. The closure tab 54 is then placed over the end 60 of the
 opposite wall section 56 to reliably secure the sleeve 52 onto the 
 container 10. 
 As the sleeve 52 is formed of a printable material, the sleeve 52 may 
 include printed matter on the exterior surfaces of the wall sections 56. 
 The sleeve 52 may also function to retain preprinted cards (not shown) on 
 the container 12. The cards are inserted into the space between the wall 
 sections 56 and the side walls 12 in the channel 24 on container 10, so 
 that the cards rest on the bottom ridge 22 formed by each side wall 12. As
 the sleeve 52 is formed of a resilient material, the material may be clear
 plastic so that unimpeded viewing of the printed material on the card is 
 achieved.