Abstract:
A bloom support device for protecting a cut flower during shipping, the bloom support device having a concave body providing a substantially closed proximal end clearingly disposed about a stem of the flower and a substantially open distal end compressingly folding a bloom of the flower into a folded arrangement and retaining the folded arrangement in a secure shipping arrangement. The concave body has a stress intensification feature for tearing the bloom support device off of the bloom.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 10/043,600, filed Jan. 10, 2002, entitled “FLOWER BLOOM PROTECTIVE DEVICE”; which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 09/796,938, filed Feb. 28, 2001, entitled “FLOWER BLOOM PROTECTIVE DEVICE,” now abandoned; which is a divisional of U.S. Ser. No. 09/416,718, filed Oct. 13, 1999, entitled “FLOWER BLOOM PROTECTIVE DEVICE,” now U.S. Pat. No. 6,354,039, issued Mar. 12, 2002. 
     
    
     
       STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT  
         [0002]    Not applicable.  
         FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    The present invention relates generally to the field of shipping and storage devices for blooming flowers, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a device for protecting a flower bloom during shipping and storage.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0004]    The present invention provides a bloom support device for protecting the bloom of a cut flower during shipment and storage. The bloom support device has a concave body, substantially closed at a proximal end and forming an open distal end for receiving engagement of the bloom. An aperture is provided at the proximal end through which a stem of the flower is disposed as the concave body is moved along the stem toward the bloom in operatively placing the bloom support device about the bloom. In the operative position the concave body encapsulates the bloom, providing a compressive support to the bloom&#39;s delicate petals which are urged into a folded arrangement. A stress-intensification member is provided in the concave body to facilitate a tearing away of the bloom support device from the bloom in such a manner that in response to an applied tearing force, the stress-intensification member imparts a tearing of the concave body along a tear line extending between the distal end of the concave body with the aperture of the proximal end of the concave body. The stress intensification member can be a notch formed in the concave body extending a distance from the distal end and having an apex directed toward the aperture in the proximal end. A plurality of notches so arranged can also be provided at the distal end of the concave body to facilitate the presentation of a notch to an operator. The stress-intensification member can also be a plurality of perforations defining such a tear-line.  
           [0005]    The stress intensification member permits an effective tearing action from a vantage point most likely to be used by an employee who is unpackaging a batch of flowers. Namely, it is most likely that one unpackaging the flowers will tear the bloom support device from the outermost extremity, that is, from the more accessible distal end, because the operator is typically motivated to unpackage the flowers quickly. The stress intensification member provides the ability to tear away the bloom support device so as to unpackage the flowers in a minimal amount of time while preventing damage to the flower bloom and stem. These and other advantages and features of the present invention will be apparent from the following description when read in conjunction with the drawings and appended claims.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0006]    [0006]FIG. 1 is a pictorial representation of a flower well-suited to receive a bloom support device of the present invention for protection during shipment and storage.  
         [0007]    [0007]FIG. 2 is a pictorial representation of a cut flower of FIG. 1 having a bloom support device constructed in accordance with the present invention disposed about a bloom portion of the cut flower.  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 3 is a pictorial representation of a bloom support device constructed in accordance with the present invention.  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 4 is a diagrammatical illustration of a stress distribution imparted to the stress intensification member of the bloom support device of FIG. 3.  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 5 is a pictorial representation of a bloom support device constructed in accordance with the present invention having a plurality of stress intensification members.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 6 is a pictorial representation of a bloom support device constructed in accordance with the present invention having a plurality of longitudinal perforations.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0012]    Referring to FIG. 1, shown therein is a cut flower  10  having a stem  12  and a bloom  14 . The bloom  14  is illustrated as having a plurality of petals  16  which can be susceptible to damage at critical times such as during shipping.  
         [0013]    Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, shown therein is a bloom support device  18  for preventing damage to the petals  16  of the bloom  14 . The bloom support device  18  has a concave body  20 . The concave body  20  has proximal end  22  with an aperture  24 , an open distal end  26 , a sidewall  27 , a notch  28 , and a cavity  29 . The sidewall  27  extends in a concave configuration from the aperture  24  in the proximal end  22  to the open distal end  26 . The aperture  24  is sized and shaped to receive and closely conform to the stem  12  of the flower  10 . The concave body  20  in this manner provides the cavity  29  for receiving the bloom  14 . The open distal end  26  communicates with the cavity  29  for passage of the bloom  14  into the cavity  29 . The aperture  24  in the proximal end  22  permits passage of the stem  12  as the bloom  14  passes into the cavity  29 . The sidewall  27  of the concave body  20  is sized and shaped such that upon disposing the stem  12  of the flower  10  into the aperture  24  of the proximal end  20  of the concave body  20  and moving the concave body  20  of the bloom support device  18  upwardly toward the bloom  14  the sidewall  28  of the concave body  20  gently urges and compresses the petals  16  of the flower  10  into a folded arrangement and closely conforms to a middle portion  31  of the bloom  14 . The proximal end  22  is sized and shaped to abut a lower portion of the bloom  14  after the sidewall  27  has urged and compressed the petals  16  of the bloom  14  into the folded arrangement. The open distal end  26  of the concave body  20  is sized and shaped so as to substantially conform to a top portion of the bloom  14  after the sidewall  27  has urged and compressed the petals  16  of the bloom  14  into a folded arrangement. In this folded arrangement, the bloom support device  18  supports the petals  16  of the bloom  14 , and substantially encapsulates the bloom  14  so as to protect and maintain the bloom  14  in a protected configuration. Thus, the aperture  24  of the concave body  20  is disposed about the stem  12  and the sidewall  27  of the concave body  20  is supportingly disposed about the middle portion  31  of the bloom  14 .  
         [0014]    The concave body  20  can be provided by any of a number of conventional manufacturing methods. The bloom support device  18  can be made of a polymeric material and cut into a flat pattern, then thermoformed to provide the concave shape. Alternatively, the bloom support device  18  made of a polymeric material may be cut from a stack of two sheets that are appropriately seamed together. The bloom support device  18  may also be made of paper, foil, laminations and combinations thereof.  
         [0015]    It should be understood that removal of the bloom support device  18  from the bloom  14  can be achieved without damage to the stem  12  or the bloom  14 , as described hereinbelow. To enhance removal of the bloom support device  18  from the cut flower  10 , the open distal end  26  of the concave body  20  is provided with the notch  28 . The notch  28  provides a stress intensification member facilitating a tearing action. The tearing action may be directed along a tear line, as defined by another stress intensification member along the concave body  20  such as a crease  38  shown in FIG. 3. In this manner, an operator removing the bloom support device  18  grasps it on opposing sides of the notch  28  and pulls the concave body  20  apart. FIG. 4 diagrammatically illustrates the resultant stress field  30  that acts on the distal end  26  as a tearing force “F” is applied in opposite directions across the notch  28 , the force denoted by arrows  32 ,  33 . The stress vectors act orthogonally to the sloping edges  34  of the notch  28 , the apex  36  of which creates a stress intensification member to decrease the magnitude of the force “F” necessary to shear the material to propagate a tear. Once the tear forms, it will be noted the stress field acts on the material in a substantially parallel direction to that of the applied force “F,” such that an even lesser magnitude of force “F” is necessary to continue the tearing action once the tear is initially propagated. A relatively sharp notch  28 , having steeply sloped edges  34 , provides a relatively large stress intensification member. By providing a sharp notch  28 , the resulting force “F” necessary to initiate a tear can be provided as substantially the same force “F” that is required to continue the tear once initiated.  
         [0016]    It will be noted that in tearing the concave body  20  of the bloom support device  18  along the tear line that extends between the notch  28  with the aperture  24 , the notch  28  is formed with the apex  36  at a desired axial plane  40  that includes the axial center line of the concave body  20 . The edges  34  of the notch  28  are substantially equilaterally disposed about the axial plane  40 . By selecting an appropriate material for the bloom support device  18 , the tear propagates in a tear line along the axial plane  40  and thereby separates the bloom support device  20  from the flower  10  by tearing along a line extending between the notch  28  and aperture  24  without the aid of a stress intensification member along the concave body  20 , such as the crease  38  in FIG. 3.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 5 shows a bloom support device  18   a  wherein a distal end  26   a  has a plurality of notches  28   a , at least one of which can be selected for use in initiating the aforementioned tearing action. Although shown as a plurality of notches, only one of the notches is designated by the reference numeral  28   a . By providing a plurality of notches  28   a  it is contemplated that the operator will use the most accessible notch  28   a  and therefore not need to reposition the flower  10  to access one of the notches  28   a . This is beneficial wherein a number of flowers  10  are bulk packaged closely together. By providing a number of notches  28   a  the operator has a choice of notches from which to initiate the tearing action.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 6 shows yet another bloom support device  18   b  wherein a plurality of perforations  42  is provided between a notch  28   b  and an aperture  24   b . Like the crease  38  of the concave body  26  of FIG. 3, the plurality of perforations  42  provides a stress intensification member defining a tear line extending between the notch  28   b  and the aperture  24   b  independent of the material characteristics associated with the direction of the tear line. Other stress intensifications will work as well, such as a seam. It will be noted that a longitudinal stress intensification member along the concave body  20  may be used in conjunction with one notch  28   b  as in FIG. 6, as well as a plurality of stress intensification members each used with a corresponding notch  28   a  as in FIG. 5.  
         [0019]    The foregoing description thus provides a method for packaging one or more flowers  10 , at a shipping location and subsequently unpackaging the flowers  11  at a destination location. The bloom support device  18  is placed onto the bloom  14  to urge the petals  16  of the bloom  14  into a folded arrangement to prevent damage to the petals  16 . The flower  10  is then shipped to the destination in the folded arrangement. At the destination the bloom support device  18  is removed quickly and easily by tearing the bloom support device  18  as facilitated by a stress intensification member, that is, at an accessible notch or perforation.  
         [0020]    It is to be understood that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of various embodiments of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of various embodiments of the invention, and changes may be made in details especially in matters of structure and arrangement of parts within the principles of the present invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.