Combined floral display and keepsake container

A combined floral display and keepsake is described. The floral display includes a container (1) with a bottom (4) and side walls (7). Flowers (13) are displayed by positioning them into a floral foam block (14) positioned in the floral container. A keepsake top (2) is secured along the outer side of the floral container walls by an attachment mechanism (9). When the floral arrangement is no longer fresh, the container, the bracket, the foam block and the flowers may be discarded, while the top and bottom portions of the keepsake remain as a useful and decorative article.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to a combined floral display and keepsake container, 
and more particularly, to such a combination in which the bottom part of 
the keepsake container is positioned below the floral arrangement and the 
top of the keepsake container is positioned on the side of the arrangement 
as a decoration. The keepsake container maintains its decorative and 
useful functions after the floral arrangement has been discarded. 
2. Description of Prior Art 
Floral and other decorative arrangements are common gifts for a variety of 
occasions. It is popular among florists to sell floral arrangements along 
with keepsakes or decorative objects, such as decorative crystal or glass 
containers, that continue to have usefulness and meaning to the recipient 
of the gift after the floral arrangement is no longer fresh and has been 
discarded. 
In the prior art, there are four general types of devices available for 
such purposes. 
(1) Florists have tied keepsakes to the sides of floral arrangements. 
Although these devices are simple, they are difficult to transport, store 
and deliver. In addition, it is often difficult to simply attach a 
keepsake to a floral arrangement without an attachment mechanism designed 
specifically for such a purpose. 
(2) Keepsakes and floral arrangements have been combined where the 
keepsakes are positioned in a floral foam block along with the flowers. 
These arrangements are easier to transport than devices that tie the 
keepsakes to the sides of the arrangements. Placing the keepsake into the 
foam, however, limits both the flexibility of the keepsake and the floral 
bouquet. The bottom of the keepsake must be made so that it can be 
inserted into the foam. The keepsake must also be relatively tall to 
extend above the bouquet. Conversely, the floral arrangements must be 
relatively small so that the keepsake can be seen above the flowers. 
(3) Keepsakes and floral arrangements have been combined such that the 
floral arrangements are actually incorporated as part of the keepsakes. In 
these instances, the keepsakes are not independent from the floral 
arrangements but rather are integrated into the floral arrangements. If 
real flowers are used in these floral displays, the displays must be 
designed so that after the floral arrangements are discarded, the display 
still has aesthetic appeal. This requires a complicated and more expensive 
design than if the floral display can simply be discarded along with the 
flowers. Other designs of this type are specifically for artificial 
flowers. Typical of this design is U.S. Pat. No. 3,574,498, which 
describes a combined multi-purpose candle holder and flower arranger. This 
design, for artificial flowers, has no means for keeping the flowers 
fresh. In addition, as artificial flowers remain "fresh," the design does 
not deal with discarding the floral arrangement and hence is not intended 
or suitable for use independent of the floral arrangement. 
(4) Keepsake and floral arrangements have also been combined where the 
keepsake is a container that holds the floral arrangement when the floral 
arrangement is fresh and holds other objects when the floral arrangement 
is discarded. U.S. Pat. No. 4,601,403 discloses a container with an 
invertible lid. In one orientation, a recess in the lid faces upward and a 
floral arrangement can be inserted into the cavity in the lid. In an 
inverted orientation, a closed end of the lid faces upward, such that the 
lid decoratively covers the container. This arrangement, however, is 
limited in the design of the keepsake container. In addition, it does not 
provide for a decorative part of the keepsake container to be 
independently displayed along with the floral arrangement. 
The combined flower display and keepsakes in the prior art tend to be 
either simple but limited in scope, difficult to pack, store and 
transport, limited in their design, or complicated and for artificial 
floral arrangements. It should therefore be appreciated that there is a 
need for a floral configuration that: 
(a) displays real flowers along with a keepsake container that, after the 
floral arrangement is discarded, remains useful and decorative; 
(b) is flexible, allowing for a variety of sized bouquets and keepsake 
containers; and 
(c) is easy to store, transport and deliver to the recipient; and 
(d) allows for the decorative top of the keepsake container to be displayed 
along with the floral arrangement. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
A principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved 
combined floral display and keepsake container of simple and practical 
construction that is economical to manufacture and easy to assemble, 
disassemble, store, package and transport. 
This invention accordingly provides a simple means for displaying flowers 
in a floral arrangement. Flowers can be positioned in a foam block located 
in the cavity portion of a floral container. The top portion of the 
keepsake is secured to the outer wall of the floral container, either 
directly or indirectly using a bracket. If the keepsake top is secured 
using a bracket, the bracket can be positioned along the side of the 
floral container and the top portion of the keepsake container can be 
secured onto the bracket. The bracket can be independent from the wall of 
the floral container or be part of the wall itself. The lower portion of 
the keepsake container is positioned below the floral container, and used 
as the base of the floral arrangement. When the floral arrangement is 
discarded, the top of the keepsake container may be detached from the side 
of the floral container, the bottom of the keepsake container may be 
detached from the bottom of the floral container, and the keepsake 
container may be used independently, since it maintains its utility and 
aesthetic appeal after the floral arrangement is discarded.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
A typical embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 1. The 
combined floral display and keepsake container includes a floral container 
1, keepsake bottom 2, and keepsake top 3. 
As illustrated in FIG. 3, the floral container has a bottom 4. A floral 
container wall 7 is joined with the floral container bottom 4 to create a 
cavity 11 above the floral container bottom 4. The floral container bottom 
4 and floral container 7 wall can be made of disposable plastic. 
As shown in FIG. 1, a floral foam block 14 can be inserted into the floral 
container cavity 11. Once the floral foam block is in place, a floral 
arrangement can be created above the floral container by inserting the 
stems of the flowers 13 into the foam block 14. As shown in FIG. 4, the 
floral arrangement can be distributed around the central axis of the 
floral container. Water can be introduced into the floral foam block 14 to 
keep the flowers fresh. 
As shown in FIG. 1, a bracket 8 is integral to wall of the floral container 
7. The keepsake top 3 can be attached to the bracket using an attachment 
mechanism 9, thereby supporting the keepsake top 3 on the side of the 
floral arrangement. 
When the floral arrangement is no longer fresh, the floral arrangement may 
be discarded. The floral foam block 14 may be removed from the container 
cavity 11 and may either be kept and reused or discarded along with the 
floral arrangement. The floral container 1 and bracket 8 may also be 
reused or discarded. 
As shown in FIG. 2, the keepsake container 5 consisting of the keepsake top 
3 and keepsake bottom 2 remains as an independent decorative and useful 
unit that can be used to hold various items such as jewelry. The bottom 
portion of the keepsake container 2 has a bottom portion 22 and side wall 
23. This keepsake bottom 2 and top 3 may be made of transparent material 
such as crystal or glass or other material such as ceramic, wood or 
plastic. The keepsake side wall 23 is joined with the keepsake bottom 22 
to create a cavity 24 above the bottom of the keepsake bottom 22. The 
floral container 1 can be secured within this cavity 24. When the floral 
arrangement is discarded, the keepsake top 3 is positioned onto the 
keepsake bottom 2, forming a covered container. 
There are various alternative designs and shapes for the keepsake container 
5. For example, the keepsake container 5 may be in the shape of 
interlocking hearts as illustrated in FIG. 6. The top 3 and bottom 2 of 
the keepsake container, in the shape of interlocking hearts, may be made 
of such transparent material as crystal or glass or other materials such 
as ceramic, wood or plastic. The bottom of the keepsake container 2 can 
have the same basic shape as the keepsake top 3, such that when the top 
and bottom portions are attached, they mesh. 
There are numerous other types of keepsake container shapes and designs 
that can be used. For example, the keepsake container can be circular or 
square. 
There are various alternatives for the attachment mechanism 9. As shown in 
FIG. 5, in one embodiment, the attachment mechanism is a series of clips 
19. One end of each clip 19 is secured onto the edges of the bracket 8, 
staggered around the outer edge of the bracket 8. The other end of each 
clip 19 extends outward from the bracket 8. The keepsake top 3 is 
positioned on the bracket 8 such that the clips secure the keepsake top 3 
to the bracket 8 preventing the keepsake top from moving in any direction 
and preventing the keepsake top from detaching from the bracket 8. The 
keepsake top 3 can be easily removed from the bracket 8 when desired. 
Finally, FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment where the method of attaching the 
keepsake bottom 2 to the floral container 1 is a strap. A strap 30 is 
secured around the bottom of the keepsake bottom 2. The floral container 1 
is positioned above the keepsake bottom 2. Each end of the strap 30 has 
flexible teeth or ridges 30. Located at opposite ends of the floral 
container 1 are two slots 32. To secure the floral container 1 above the 
keepsake bottom 2, each end of the strap 30 is inserted through a slot 32. 
The flexible teeth or ridges 33 of each strap end prevent the strap 30 
from loosening. 
The combined keepsake container and floral arrangement thus described has a 
number of significant advantages. 
(a) The invention is simple, easy to assemble, and easy to disassemble when 
the floral arrangement is discarded. 
(b) The invention is inexpensive to manufacture. 
(c) Various types of keepsake containers can be attached to the side and 
the bottom of the floral arrangement and thereafter used when the floral 
arrangement is discarded. The present invention provides greater 
flexibility for florists since various keepsake container designs can be 
used with the various sized floral arrangements. 
(d) The design allows the owner to keep a decorative, aesthetic and useful 
portion of the arrangement even after the floral arrangement is no longer 
fresh and must be discarded. 
(e) The floral container is inexpensive, but sturdy and safe. 
(f) The floral container and bracket may be disposable. 
While the invention has been described in detail with reference to certain 
preferred embodiments, the principles involved are applicable to other 
applications as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. As 
illustrated above, various modifications can be effectuated within the 
spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the keepsake container 
designs can take various forms, including circles, squares or interlocking 
hearts. The keepsake container can be made of different materials such as 
ceramic, plastic, wood, poly resin, brass or metal. 
The floral container can also be made in various shapes. In one embodiment 
shown, the base of the container is circular and the container walls form 
a cylinder to correspond to the base. In alternative embodiments, the base 
of the container can be other shapes, for example, square, and the 
container walls would correspondingly form a square shape. 
In addition, the keepsake top can be secured directly to the wall of the 
floral container or can be secured to a bracket which is secured to the 
wall of the floral container. 
Therefore, the scope of the invention should be determined by the following 
claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given.