Abstract:
A floral display includes small pieces of colored foam positioned within a vase, enabling the vase to hold more water than prior displays and allows easier insertion of weak flower stems. In addition, the floral display enhances the decorative nature of the floral display by facilitating easy use of color foam pieces that coordinates with the flower colors used in the display. The foam elements are small in comparison to the size of the vase.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    This application claims the priority benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/332,797, filed Nov. 6, 2001, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     
       TECHNICAL FIELD  
         [0002]    The present invention relates generally to floral displays and more particularly to a floral display that has a vase or the like and small foam elements.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    In the past, “water absorbing floral foam” has been used in forming fresh floral displays (arrangements). To form the display using the water absorbing floral foam, a florist cuts a piece of the foam to size and shape it to fit within a vase, and adds water to the vase to soak into the foam. After placing the foam in the vase, the stems of cut flowers and/or plants can be inserted into the foam. In this way, the foam supports the flowers stems and enables an upright display of the flowers. In addition, the water within the flower foam provides moisture to the flower stems or plant stems and prolongs the flowers&#39; and/or plant&#39;s life. The stems of fragile flowers, such as tulips, can break in trying to force the stems into the foam. In response to this problem, some floral designers have constructed conventional floral displays using a less rigid foam for these weaker stems. Alternatively, larger stems may warrant using wire in addition to the foam for supporting the display.  
           [0004]    Despite the development in the area of floral displays, conventional solutions do not provide an entirely satisfactory solution for displaying plants with various stem sizes and strengths. In addition, using a single piece of foam within a vase can considerably limit the amount of water that the vase can hold. Thus, a need still exists for a floral display that can effectively support stems of varying size and strength. It is to the provision of such a floral display that the present invention is primarily directed.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    The present invention meets the needs described above in a more decorative and functional floral display that includes a plurality of relatively small foam elements. The invention includes relatively small pieces of foam positioned within the vase that allow easier insertion of weak flower stems. By using small foam elements, the present invention also limits waste created by cutting a block of floral foam to fit a particular vase size. Finally, the present invention enhances the decorative nature of the floral display by facilitating easy use of color foam pieces that coordinate with the flower colors used in the display.  
           [0006]    Generally described, the invention is a floral display for supporting at least one stem. The invention includes a transparent (or at least translucent) container for receiving the stem. A plurality of geometric foam elements is positioned within the container. Collectively, the foam elements are operable for at least partially supporting the stem either directly or indirectly.  
           [0007]    Preferably, the foam elements are small, having an average volume of between about 0.1 and 9 cubic inches. More preferably, the foam elements have an average volume of between about 0.5 and 3 cubic inches. In a preferred form the foam elements are cubic in shape, although other shapes can be employed.  
           [0008]    By virtue fo their small size in relation to the interior of the vase, the individual foam elements are more easily displaced to make way for a stem being inserted therein. In this way, the small foam elements allow relatively easy insertion of stems. By contrast, if one were to sue a single, large foam element within a vase, the user would typically be required to force the stem into the foam, which can be difficult with weak stems. By using the small, loose foam elements, the floral display of the present invention is more adept at receiving relatively weak stems therein.  
           [0009]    In view of the foregoing, it will be appreciated that a floral display according to the present invention avoids the drawbacks of prior systems. The specific techniques and structures employed by the invention to improve over the drawbacks of the prior systems and accomplish the advantages described herein will become apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments of the invention and the appended drawings and claims. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]    [0010]FIG. 1A is a side view of a floral display according to a first preferred form of the invention and shown having a plurality of small foam elements.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 1B is a side view of foam elements illustrating alternative shapes for the foam elements of FIG. 1A.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 2 is a side view of the floral display of FIG. 1A shown with water added and surrounding some of the foam elements.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 3 is a side view of the floral display of FIG. 1A depicting the insertion of plant stems into the display and multi-color foam elements.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a transparent bag used in packaging the multicolor foam elements of FIG. 1A prior to use.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 5 is a side view of an alternative construction of the floral display of FIG. 1A illustrating foam elements in combination with a foam log. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0016]    In describing the embodiments of the present invention, specific terminology is employed for the sake of clarity. The invention, however, is not intended to be limited to the specific terminology so selected.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 1A is a side view of a floral display illustrating a first embodiment of the invention. The floral display  100  includes a container such as a vase  110  with an opening  112 . The vase  110  can be formed from a substantially transparent material such as glass, plastic, or some other suitable material. Preferably, the vase is at least translucent such that the contents are easily visible. Most preferably, the vase is substantially transparent. The floral display  100  also includes several, preferably dozens, of three-dimensional foam elements  120 . The dimensions of the foam elements  120  are chosen so as to facilitate easy insertion into the vase  110  through the opening  112 . The number of elements  120  inserted into the vase  110  can vary depending upon design constraints. For example, the floral display  100  can include a large number of elements  120  when used with flowers with fairly short stems. Also, the size of the foam elements influences the number of elements. The smaller the foam elements, the greater the number employed, typically. As shown in FIG. 1A, the foam elements  120  are relatively small cubes (small relative to the size of the interior of the vase). Suitable sizes for cubes has been found to be from about 0.5 to about 3 inches, preferably about 0.75 to about 1.5 inches, and most preferably about 1 inch. If other shapes are utilized, suitable sizes have an equivalent volume of from about 0.1 to about 9 cubic inches, preferably from about 0.4 to about 4 cubic inches, and most preferably about 1 cubic inch. If the foam elements are of varying sizes, these ranges should be considered the average size of the foam elements.  
         [0018]    Turning now to FIG. 1B, foam elements  120  are shown illustrating some alternative shapes for the foam elements. Instead of the cubic foam elements  120  shown in FIG. 1A, the foam elements  120  can take a variety of shapes, such as a sphere  130  or a pyramid  132 . Alternatively, the shapes could be a diamond  134  or a hexagon  136 . Alternatively, the geometric foam elements  120  could be formed in other shapes including a cylinder, or some other suitable polygon. Moreover, the foam elements can be irregular shapes and can all have the same shape or different shapes can be mixed. Though not shown, the geometric foam elements  120  could be of varying sizes.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 2 is a side view of the floral display  100  illustrating water  210  surrounding the foam elements  120 . The foam elements  120  can be “wet foam” used for fresh flowers and plant stems or “dry foam” (which absorbs water) for silk flowers and dried flowers. The foam elements can be made of fire-resistant, open-cell phenolic foam, urea foam, polyurethane foam, or some other suitable material that is non-toxic to plant life. The small size of the foam elements  120  creates space between them and allows the water  210  to surround these foam elements. Consequently, more water  210  can be stored in the vase  110  using the small foam elements  120  than if a single piece of foam was used. The use for the water held by the foam elements  120  will become more apparent with the description of FIG. 3. In this manner, the foam elements  120  can effectively support the stems of plants while at the same time increasing the available water stored in the vase for consumption by the flower stem or plant stem.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 3 is a side view of floral display of FIG. 1 depicting the insertion of plant stems within the vase and into the midst of multi-color foam elements. The floral display  300  includes plant stem  310 , plant stem  312 , and plant stem  314 . Though not shown, these stems could be the stems of various flowers such as roses, tulips, carnations, sunflowers, or other plants. By inserting those stems into the vase  320 , the geometric foam elements  330  begin shifting, allowing the stems  310 - 314  to proceed downwardly toward the bottom of the vase  320 . On occasion, the stem  310  actually pierces a geometric foam element, see element  333 , although most simply are jostled out of the way as the stem moves downwardly. The stems  310 - 314  can even pierce several of the geometric foam elements  330 . Water within the foam elements  330  and in the interstitial spaces is held proximate to the stem  310  and prolongs the life of that stem. In addition, the geometric foam elements  330  can either support the stems  310 - 314  directly or indirectly. For example, the foam element  333  supports the stem  310  directly. In contrast, the foam element  334  supports the stem  310  indirectly. For plants with larger stems, more foam elements  330  can be added to the vase  320 . In this manner, the floral system  300  can effectively support plant stems of varying size.  
         [0021]    In addition, the foam elements  330  can enhance the decorative nature of the display  300 . The geometric elements  330  can be divided into layers with a color associated with each layer that coordinate with the colors of the flowers for stems  310 - 314 . The layer  340  could be green, the layer  342  could be yellow, and the layer  344  could be orange  346 . For this example, each of the foam elements  330  in layer  340 , layer  342 , and layer  344  would be green, yellow, and orange respectively. Alternatively, the colors could be red, purple, blue, brown, black, or some other suitable color. Consequently, the colors of the geometric elements  330  can be selected so as to coordinate with the colors in the flowers with the stems  310 - 314 . Thus the foam elements  330  enhance the decorative nature of the display  300 .  
         [0022]    As shown in FIG. 4, a bag  400  can be used in packaging the foam elements  120 . The bag  400  may include a closure  410  that facilitates sealing the bag  400 . Generally, the bag  400  is composed of a translucent, or partially transparent, material that easily identifies the color of the foam elements  120 . While the bag  400  illustrates an airtight packaging means, alternative packaging means may be used such as bags used with twist tie closures, transparent shrink wrap, storage compartments, or some other suitable packaging means.  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 5 illustrates is an alternative construction illustrating a floral display  500  that uses foam elements  120  in combination with a foam brick  510 . Using the foam brick  510  reduces the number of foam elements  120  needed to fill the container  520 . Like the foam elements  120 , the color of the foam brick  510  can correspond to the color of the plant stems, not shown. In addition, including the foam elements  120  on top of and around the foam brick  510  facilitates securing stems of varying lengths. For example, the foam elements  120  can secure short plant stems. In contrast, the foam elements  120  and the foam brick  510  can secure longer plant stems.  
         [0024]    In view of the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the present invention provides a more decorative and functional floral display that uses relatively small foam elements. While the invention has been disclosed in preferred forms for illustration purposes, those skilled in the art will readily recognize that many modifications, additions, and deletions can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.