Patent Publication Number: US-2006005438-A1

Title: Vase-like carrier for long stem candy

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention is broadly concerned with novel display assemblies in the form of an upstanding carrier preferably formed of angularly oriented paperboard panels, together with one or more comestible articles (e.g., candy) supported by the carrier. In more detail, the invention is concerned with such display assemblies, as well as the improved display carrier and a blank used to form the carrier. The display assemblies of the invention are preferably decorated and provide novel, relatively inexpensive and aesthetically pleasing gifts for special occasions.  
      2. Description of the Prior Art  
      Those wishing to commemorate weddings, graduations or other special occasions, or desiring to lift the spirits of the ill, often send candy or flowers to mark the occasion or illness. Traditionally, candy has been sent in box or bag form, while flowers may be in the form of bouquets or plants. These tributes, while of long standing acceptability, can be relatively expensive for the sender and may be deemed trite. Therefore, a less expensive and innovative type of tribute is often sought.  
      Candy bouquets have also been proposed in the past, which can be in the form of a plurality of individual, brightly colored and specially shaped candy pieces each supported by an elongated stem. The stems in such a candy bouquet are tied or otherwise affixed together and may be placed in a traditional glass or other type of vase. Additionally, it is known to place such candy bouquets within a heart-shaped pocket card for gift-giving purposes. However, simple candy bouquets or pocket card bouquets are not free standing and cannot be readily displayed by the recipient.  
      U.S. Pat. No. 4,910,913 describes a paper vase for flowers. U.S. Pat. No. 6,061,955 also describes a collapsible flower vase assembly.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention overcomes the problems outlined above and provides a display assembly in the form of an upstanding carrier including a pair of interconnected, angularly oriented panels each presenting a base and an upper end. At least one comestible article supported on an elongated stem is operatively coupled with one of the panels and oriented with the article above the panel upper end. Preferably, the dual-panel carrier display is configured so that one of the panels has an upper open mouth and an elongated pocket or passageway; in this fashion the supporting stem(s) of the comestible article(s) can be inserted into the open mouth and along the length of the passageway, to provide full support for the articles while maintaining the ability of the carrier to stand  
      The interconnected panels are preferably each of generally trapezoidal configuration with the lowermost panel bases being longer than the opposed upper ends. If desired, at least one of the panels may be imprinted with a region on a face thereof to receive a written inscription.  
      The display carrier is advantageously fabricated from a unitary blank of material such as paperboard. Such a blank comprises first, second and third trapezoidal sections each including a relatively long base edge, a relatively short top edge, and a pair of angularly oriented side edges extending between the ends of the base and top edges. The first and second trapezoidal sections are interconnected at and along a transverse common fold line, whereas the first and third sections are interconnected at and along a common side edge. The second section is foldable along the transverse common fold line to come into face-to-face relationship with the first section, thereby forming the desired stem-receiving passageway in one of the panels of the display carrier.  
      Another aspect of the present invention concerns a candy display assembly comprising at least one candy article supported on an elongated stem and a carrier including an elongated panel that presents a pocket in which the stem is received. The stem and pocket present respective lengths that are complementally dimensioned so that the stem is substantially received in the pocket. Preferably, pocket length is at least about two-thirds as long as the stem length. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a plan view of a paperboard blank used in the construction of the preferred display carrier of the invention;  
       FIG. 2  is an elevational view of a display carrier in accordance with the invention, illustrated with decorative indicia on the outer faces of the carrier panels;  
       FIG. 3  is an elevational view similar to that of  FIG. 2 , but illustrating the inner faces of the carrier panels, wherein one of the inner faces includes a region for receipt of an inscription;  
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a simulated bouquet of candy made up of a plurality of separate pieces of candy each supported on an elongated stem, the stems being secured together;  
       FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a completed display assembly in accordance with the invention, wherein the candy bouquet of  FIG. 4  is inserted into one of the panels of the display carrier; and  
       FIG. 6  is a view similar to that of  FIG. 5 , but illustrating the inner faces of the carrier panels. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
      Turning now to the drawings, and particularly  FIGS. 5 and 6 , a display assembly  10  in accordance with the invention is illustrated. Broadly speaking, the assembly  10  includes an upstanding carrier  12  together with a plurality of comestible articles  14  (preferably arrayed as a simulated bouquet  15 ) supported by the carrier  12 . In the illustrated embodiment, the articles  14  are in the form of individual pieces of candy  16  each supported on an elongated stem  18 .  
      In more detail, and considering first the carrier  12 , it will be seen that the carrier is in the form of an upright body including a pair of interconnected, angularly oriented panels  20  and  22  of generally trapezoidal configuration. The panel  20  presents a relatively long lowermost base edge  24  and an upper, relatively shorter edge  26 . Additionally, the panel  20  has corresponding, angularly oriented side edges  28  and  30  extending between the edges  24  and  26 . In like manner, the panel  22  has an elongated lower base edge  32 , a somewhat shorter upper edge  34  and corresponding angular side edges  36  and  38 . The edges  28  and  36  are essentially coincident owing to the interconnection of panels  20 ,  22 .  
      The display carrier  12  is preferably fabricated from a single, unitary blank  40  of paperboard or like material. As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the blank  40  presents first, second and third generally trapezoidal sections  42 ,  44  and  46 . The sections  42  and  44  are interconnected along a common fold line  48  and have opposed upper edges  42   a  and  44   a . Additionally, the sections  42  and  46  are interconnected along a common fold line  50  and have outboard edges  42   b  and  46   b  remote from the fold line. The section  46  presents the bottom edge  32  and top edge  34  previously described.  
      The section  44  includes a pair of elongated, side marginal flaps  52  and  54  respectively secured along corresponding fold lines  56  and  58 . The section  46  also has a flap  60  interconnected along a fold line  62  remote from section  42 . The stippled regions of  FIGS. 164, 66  and  68  represent regions for application of adhesive used during construction of the display carrier.  
      In order to construct the preferred carrier  12 , the flaps  52 ,  54  are folded inwardly against the adjacent portions of section  44  and the section  44  is then folded about fold line  48  until the outer faces of the flap  52 ,  54  come into contact with the adhesive regions  64 ,  66 . Next, the flap  60  is folded about line  62  until the adhesive carried thereby comes into contact with the adjacent region of section  46 . It will be appreciated therefore that the fold line  48  ultimately becomes the bottom edge  24  of panel  20 , and that the edges  42   a  and  44   a  cooperatively define the upper edge  26  thereof. Moreover, the juxtaposition of fold line  56  and edge  42   b  cooperatively define the side edge  30 , whereas fold line  50  serves as the side edge  28 . Finally, the fold line  62  defines the side edge  38  of panel  22 .  
      It will also be appreciated that the face-to-face juxtaposition of trapezoidal sections  42  and  44  as described, with the adhesive interconnection of the flaps  52 ,  54  to section  42 , creates an elongated pocket or passageway  70  extending along the length of panel  20 ; this passageway terminates at upper edge  26  with an open mouth  72 .  
      Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the principles of the present invention are also applicable to various other carrier designs and configurations. For example, the panels need not be superposed or have the same shape. That is to say, it is entirely within the ambit of the present invention to provide panels having different shapes. The principles of the present invention also encompass other forms of interconnection between the panels. For example, the panels may alternatively be swingably connected along non-vertical junction (e.g., a hinge may alternatively extend generally horizontally to interconnect the panels).  
      The candy pieces  16  and stems  18  are preferably configured so as to create simulated bouquet  15 . To this end, each of the candy pieces  16  is supported on an elongated, tubular synthetic resin stem  18  which preferably has a length of at least about 6 inches. Additionally, and as best seen in  FIG. 6 , the central stem  18  is surmounted by a transversely extending rear reinforcing strip  74  (e.g., an adhesive transparent tape) which provides a backing for the candy pieces  16 . In the form shown, it will be observed that each of the candy pieces  16  is individually encased within a flexible, bag-like wrapper  76  with a tie  78  at the base of each such wrapper for closure purposes. A band-like retainer  80  (e.g., an adhesive transparent tape) is secured to the stems  18  beneath the candy pieces  16 , so as to interconnect the stems and enhance the bouquet simulation effect.  
      In use, the simulated bouquet  15  is inserted into panel  20 , i.e., the stems  18  are inserted into mouth  72  and slid downwardly along the length of passageway  70  to thereby support the bouquet  15  with the candy pieces  16  above the upper edge  26  of the panel  20 . At this point the panels  20  and  22  are separated so that they are angularly oriented and provide a stable base. The display carrier can then be placed upon any level support surface such as a table or counter, in order to provide a pleasing aesthetic effect. Most preferably, the passageway  70  and stems are complementally configured so that each of the stems is substantially received within the passageway  70  (e.g., about two-thirds of each stem  18  below the candy piece  16  is received in the passageway  70 ) and thereby concealed by the panel  22 . Additionally, the stems  18  are preferably not all of the same length so that at least some of the candy pieces are at different vertical positions.  
      It is particularly noteworthy that the illustrated carrier  12  forms a greeting card, although the principles of the present invention are not limited to such a greeting card configuration. The panel  20  presents a front face  82  of the card, the panel  22  presents an opposite rear face  84  of the card (e.g., see  FIG. 2 ), and the panels  20  and  22  cooperatively present opposed inner faces  86  and  88  of the card (e.g., see  FIG. 3 ). The front face  82  is preferably provided with preprinted greeting indica  90  that corresponds with a particular occasion. In the illustrated embodiment, the occasion concerns wishing the recipient better health. In this regard, the indicia includes a textual sentiment in the form of the wording “GET WELL!”. The illustrated greeting indicia also includes a number of shapes in the form of flowers. The illustrated greeting card also includes preprinted greeting indicia  92  in the form of flowers. Although not essential to the invention, in preferred forms one of the inner faces  86  is provided with an inscription area  82  allowing the user to inscribe an personalized greeting or message.  
      The preferred forms of the invention described above are to be used as illustration only, and should not be utilized in a limiting sense in interpreting the scope of the present invention. Obvious modifications to the exemplary embodiments, as hereinabove set forth, could be readily made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the present invention.  
      The inventors hereby state their intent to rely on the Doctrine of Equivalents to determine and assess the reasonably fair scope of the present invention as pertains to any apparatus not materially departing from but outside the literal scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.