Patent Publication Number: US-2009236243-A1

Title: Digital media system for floral arrangements and related method

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/070,319, filed on Mar. 21, 2008, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to floral arrangements and to digital media players. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Flowers are a traditional and popular gift item for almost any occasion. In addition to florist shops, flowers and flower arrangements are sold over the Internet, in supermarkets and numerous other venues. Despite their widespread appeal, flowers may sometimes be perceived as boring or unimaginative. 
     Based on the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide for the combination of digital media content with floral arrangements. According to an embodiment of the present invention, a digital media system for a floral arrangement includes a digital media player having an activation button extension adapted to facilitate manipulation when used with the floral arrangement, and a stand holding the digital media player and having at least one leg extending therefrom adapted to support the stand in a container of the floral arrangement. 
     According to a method aspect of the present invention, a method for combining digital media content with a floral arrangement includes loading digital media content onto a digital media player, and arranging the digital media player and a stand in a floral arrangement such that the stand extends into a container of the floral arrangement and the digital media player extends at least partially outside of the container. 
     These and other objects, aspects and advantages of the present invention will be better appreciated in view of the drawings and following detailed description of a preferred embodiment. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic front view of a digital media system for a floral arrangement, according to an embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic partial perspective view of the system of  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , according to an embodiment of the present invention, a digital media system  10  for a floral arrangement includes a digital media player  12  supported by a stand  14 . The player  12  and stand  14  are arranged in a container  16  with a floral arrangement  18 . 
     The digital media player  12  can include, for example, a typical flash memory-based mp3 player. Preferably, the player  12  includes enough memory to allow play of several minutes of digital media content, such as audio and/or video content. The player  12  has a control section  20  with standard controls, including an activation button  22 . Advantageously, an activation button extension  24  extends outwardly from the activation button  22 . Preferably, the activation button extension  24  is dimensioned such that it extends beyond a portion of the floral arrangement  18 , facilitating manipulation by a user. 
     The stand  14  includes a dock  30  and a plurality of legs  32 . The dock  30  allows the stand  14  to support and mate with the digital media player  12 . Speakers  34  on the dock  30  allow audio content to played to a floral arrangement  18  recipient without the need for earphones. The plurality of legs  34  extend into the container  16  and allow the digital media player  12  to extend beyond the container  16 . A stand base  36  is arranged in the bottom of the container  16  to receive the legs  32 . 
     In operation, a flower giver selects the floral arrangement  18 , with the container  16  and opts to combine digital media content with the gift of flowers. This selection could be made in connection with any method of flower sales, for example, in person, with a florist or other vendor, or remotely, over the telephone or Internet. The giver selects desired digital media content, for example one or more songs. The digital media content is then loaded on the digital media player  12 . 
     The stand  14  and the digital medial player  12  are then arranged in the container  16  such that the stand legs  32  extend into the container  16  with the player  12  supported outside of the container  16 . The activation button extension  24  extends outside of the floral arrangement  18 . The giver then gifts the flowers to the desired recipient, which could accomplished, for example, in person or via a third party carrier. The recipient pushes the activation button extension  24 , resulting in playing of the digital media content loaded in the digital media player  12 . 
     In general, the foregoing description is provided for exemplary and illustrative purposes; the present invention is not necessarily limited thereto. Rather, those skilled in the art will appreciate that additional modifications, as well as adaptations for particular circumstances, will fall within the scope of the invention as herein shown and described and the claims appended hereto.