Patent Document

RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of the Dec. 24, 2013 filing of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/920,600, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Arranging a decorative bouquet of flowers is not as easy as simply grasping a set of flowers and filler foliage (e.g., green leaves) and tying the bundle together at the stems. According to one known method used in the field to arrange flowers, a florist begins by grasping the first flower, then grasping a second flower or foliage element in such a way as to orient its stem at approximately a 45 degree angle to the first flower&#39;s stem, rotating the pair in his/her hand to allow for third flower/foliage element to be added with its stem forming approximately a 45 degree angle with a stem already in the bundle, and repeating the rotate and add flower/foliage element steps multiple times. The bundle is then tied together. 
         [0003]    This process of arranging a flower bouquet is time-consuming. Although florists can work faster with experience, proper attention must still be given at each step of the process to ensure that resulting bouquet is not only beautiful but has a relatively stable nature, that is, the relative positioning and angles of the individual flowers would not change if grasped in an unusual way. Thus, even the experience florist must carefully arrange and grip the bouquet elements throughout the arrangement procedure. 
         [0004]    The present inventor is aware of no simple tool to increase the speed of arranging a bouquet that can reduce labor costs and also the training time required for new florists to become competent in this discipline. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0005]    Embodiments of the present invention provide an easier and faster way to arrange a bouquet. With minimal training, more people can become proficient at arranging bouquets. Also, a user temporarily interrupted from arranging a bouquet can more easily resume the task after the interrupting activity has concluded. 
         [0006]    The invention may be embodied as a jig for arranging flowers. The jig has a set of multiple tubes, and each of the multiple tubes is oriented skew to the other tubes. A jig assembly for arranging flowers may be formed from this jig and multiple rods having diameters less than the inner diameters of the tubes of the jig. 
         [0007]    The invention may also be embodied as a process of using a jig assembly to arrange a bouquet. The jig assembly includes multiple tubes oriented skew to each other and multiple rods inserted into the tubes. The process includes: positioning the tubes at a height so that the rods extend out of the tubes far enough to allow insertion of flower/foliage elements deep enough into the tubes to remain in place; inserting flower/foliage elements into the tubes; and grasping the stems of the flower/foliage elements while increasing the distance between the grasped portions of the stems and the tubes such that the force of the top faces of the rods against the bottoms of the stems increases. The distance is increased enough to remove the flower/foliage elements entirely from the jig. 
         [0008]    Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are briefly described as follows: 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]    The invention is described below in the appended claims, which are read in view of the accompanying description including the following drawings, wherein: 
           [0010]      FIGS. 1-3  top, side, and perspective views, respectively, of an embodiment for arranging a bouquet; 
           [0011]      FIGS. 4A-4E  illustrate steps of an embodiment of a process of using the jig assembly of  FIGS. 1-3  to arrange a bouquet; 
           [0012]      FIGS. 5A and 5B  illustrate a jig assembly of an alternate embodiment of the invention; and 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  provides a flowchart indicating the process flow during the execution of a method of using a jig assembly to arrange a bouquet in accordance with another embodiment of the invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0014]    The invention summarized above and defined by the claims below will be better understood by referring to the present detailed description of embodiments of the invention. This description is not intended to limit the scope of claims but instead to provide examples of the invention. 
         [0015]    Described herein are embodiments of a jig that aids florists in arranging bouquets. With the jig, the individual flowers and filler foliage elements are constrained at the proper relative spatial positions and angles while freeing the florist&#39;s hands for associated or unrelated tasks. An example of an associated task is leaving the site of the jig to obtain a different flower to substitute with a flower already in the jig, should the florist decide a different flower would provide an appearance more appropriate to a given situation. An example of an unrelated task would be responding to a telephone call or to a customer entering the site, situations in which a florist would need to release his/her grasp of a partially-completed bouquet while attending to the unrelated task. 
         [0016]    Reference is now made to  FIGS. 1-3 , which provide top, side, and perspective views, respectively, of one embodiment of jig  10  for arranging a bouquet of flowers. The jig  10  comprises multiple tubes  12  of approximately the same length, each tube  12  held in place skew to each other and at an angle to a common vertical, the common vertical defining an axis of radial symmetry of the arrangement of tubes  12 . In some implementations, each tube  12  is oriented at roughly the same angle to a common vertical. Also in this embodiment is an additional tube  13  that is collinear with the common vertical and skew to each of the set of multiple tubes  12 . The diameter of the tubes  12  is selected to be large enough to enable easy insertion and withdrawal of the individual stems of the intended flowers and foliage but small enough to constrain the flowers and foliage in place well enough to allow the user (for example, a florist) to release the stem of the individual flower/foliage from his/her grip. Generally, there is one tube  12  for each flower/foliage element  26  that a user would want in a finished bouquet. 
         [0017]    The tubes  12  may be of many different materials, such as PVC or plastic, as non-limiting examples. They may be held together by epoxy, glue, or other means known in the art. The process of making the jig  10  may be as simple as taking two tubes  12 , joining them with epoxy at the appropriate relative angle, then joining a third tube  12  to the pair with epoxy at the appropriate relative angle, and so on until the jig  10  is complete. Alternatively, all tubes  12  may be constrained in place (perhaps by a specially-made second jig) and then fastened to each other by appropriately-positioned beads or lines of epoxy. Other forms of manufacturing the jig  10  are within the scope of the invention. 
         [0018]    In the present embodiment, rods  14  (a subset of the rods  14  shown in  FIG. 2  for clarity) are inserted into the tubes  12 . The rods  14  have diameters that are slightly less than the inner diameters of the tubes  12 . The combination of the jig  10  and the rods  14  may be denoted as a “jig assembly,” as labeled “ 16 ” in  FIG. 2 . The length of the rods  14  of the jig assembly  16  may be selected to equal approximately the length of the tubes  12 . The rods  14  may be made of wood, plastic, or metal, as non-limiting examples. 
         [0019]    An embodiment of a process of using the jig assembly  16  to arrange a bouquet is described with reference to  FIGS. 4A-4E . The jig assembly  16  in this embodiment includes a jig stand  18 , which is illustrated in  FIGS. 4B-4D  and described in more detail below. 
         [0020]      FIG. 4A  illustrates a user inserting a rod  14  into one of the tubes  12 . (The jig stand  18  is not illustrated in this figure for clarity.) The user continues inserting rods  14  into tubes  12  until each tube  12  has a rod  14  inserted therein. In alternate embodiments, though, a user may choose to insert rods  14  into only a subset of the tubes  12 , if he/she wants to form a bouquet with fewer flowers and/or foliage elements  26  than one element  26  for each tube  12 . In yet other embodiments, the user may choose to omit this step and to arrange a bouquet without using the rods  14 . 
         [0021]      FIG. 4B  illustrates the jig  10  with each tube  12  having a rod  14  inserted therein and the jig  10  held in place by the jig stand  18 . The jig stand  18  includes a base  20 , a post  22  extending vertically upward from the base  20 , and a sliding jig clamp  24  extending horizontally from the post  22  and holding the jig  10  as shown. Alternate constructions of jig stands may be used as would be deemed suitable or desired by one skilled in the art (one example shown below). With sufficient friction between the tubes  12  and the rod  14 , the jig stand  18  may be omitted in other embodiments of the invention. 
         [0022]    The sliding jig clamp  24  is adjusted to a height so that the rods  14  extend out from the bottoms of the tubes  12  far enough to allow insertion from the top of flower/foliage elements  26  deep enough into the tubes  12  so that the flower/foliage elements  26  remain in place (discussed in more detail next). 
         [0023]    The user then inserts flower/foliage elements  26  into the tubes  12 , each tube  12  holding one such element  26  in the present embodiment.  FIG. 4C  illustrates several flowers  26  already in place. 
         [0024]    Unlike in the prior art, the user does not need to constantly grasp multiple flower/foliage elements  26  throughout the entire assembly process. He/She may leave the assembly site to attend to an associated or unrelated task and then later return to complete the assembly from the point where he/she previously stopped. The user can also easily change individual flower/foliage elements  26  as desired. 
         [0025]    When the flowers and foliage elements  26  of the bouquet are arranged as desired, the user grasps the stems as illustrated in  FIG. 4D  (only a few flowers are illustrated for clarity) and lowers the sliding jig clamp  24  to lower the jig  10  and thereby enable removal of the bouquet. The user may gently pull the bouquet upward at the same time. (In  FIG. 4D , the user has moved his hand to re-grip the bouquet at a lower position to be close to the top of the jig  10 . Such step is optional.) For bouquets with only a few flower/foliage elements  26 , the bouquet might be easily removable by simply lifting the individual elements  26  out of the tubes  12  without simultaneously lowering the jig  10 . However, each flower/foliage element  26  exerts a frictional force against the associated tube interior when bouquet removal from the jig  10  is attempted in this fashion, so simply pulling the bouquet from the jig  10  becomes much more difficult when the bouquet contains many flowers and/or foliage elements  26 . Accordingly, bouquet removal is facilitated by the top faces of the rods  14  pressing against the bottoms of the stems of the flowers/foliage elements  26  as the jig  10  is forced downward. 
         [0026]      FIG. 4E  illustrates the user grasping the finished bouquet (only a few flowers are illustrated for clarity), which is ready to be bound together at the stems. 
         [0027]    In alternate embodiments, instead of resting the rods  14  on a lower surface and moving the jig  10  down to facilitate bouquet removal from the jig  10 , electrical or pneumatic means may be implemented to force the rods  14  through the tubes  12  as pistons through their cylinders. 
         [0028]    A jig assembly  28  of another embodiment of the invention is described with reference to  FIGS. 5A and 5B . In this embodiment, multiple tubes  30  of a jig  32  are coupled near the tops of the tubes  30  by a disk  34  oriented normal to the common vertical, that is, to the axis of radial symmetry of the jig  32 . Two handles  36  extend from the disk  34  of the jig  32  such that rotational movement of a handle  36  causes rotation of the jig  32 . Accordingly, a user may conveniently rotate the jig by rotating a handle  36  about the common vertical of the tubes  30  while inserting flowers/foliage elements into the tubes  30  to arrange a bouquet. The jig assembly  28  includes a rod support plate  38  held up by legs  40  as a table top is held up by table legs. The rod support plate  38  has an upper surface  42  that contacts the bottoms of multiple rods  44 , which are at least partially contained within the tubes  30  as discussed above. 
         [0029]    The jig assembly  28  also includes a pedal  46  that is coupled to the disk  34  of the jig  32  by a shaft  48 . The pedal  46  is suitable for the user to engage with his/her foot to effect vertical movement of the pedal  46 . A spring (not shown in drawings for clarity) biases the jig  32 , shaft  48 , and pedal  46  upward, and accordingly the user may force the pedal  46  downward with his/her foot against the spring biasing force to cause the jig  32  to descend toward the upper surface  42  of the rod support plate  38  and thereby causing the tubes  30  to surround more of the rods  44 .  FIG. 5A  illustrates the jig  32  in its upper position, and  FIG. 5B  illustrates the jig  32  in its lower position. When the jig  32  is forced downward, as shown in  FIG. 5B , the upper surfaces of the rods  44  contact the lower surfaces of the stems of the flowers/foliage elements within the tubes  30  to force them upwardly and out of the tubes  30  when the user want to extract the bouquet. 
         [0030]    Variations of the preceding embodiment are within the scope of the invention. For example, although the pedal  46  of the embodiment rotates with the rotation of the handles  36 , the disk  34  may be modified to rotate relative to the shaft  48  and the pedal  46  to enable convenient user access to all tubes  30  while the pedal  46  remains oriented optimally toward the user for engagement with the user&#39;s foot. 
         [0031]    The present invention also may be embodied as a process of using a jig assembly to arrange a bouquet. Such embodiment will be described with reference to the flow chart  50  in  FIG. 6 . The jig assembly in this embodiment has multiple tubes oriented skew to each other and multiple rods inserted into the tubes. Example jig assemblies suitable for this process are illustrated in  FIGS. 4B  (jig assembly  16 ) and  5 A (jig assembly  28 ). 
         [0032]    The method begins by positioning the tubes at a height so that the rods extend out of the tubes far enough to allow insertion of flower/foliage elements deep enough into the tubes so that the flower/foliage elements remain in place. (Step S 1 .)  FIGS. 4B and 5B  illustrate such positioning. As is apparent, a jig assembly further includes a jig stand that maintains its jig at a particular height. 
         [0033]    The next step is to insert flower/foliage elements into the tubes. (Step S 2 .)  FIG. 4C  illustrates tubes with flower inserted therein. The tubes of the embodiment of  FIG. 5A  can be rotated for convenient flower/foliage elements insertion by moving the handles at the top of the jig assembly. 
         [0034]    Next, the user grasps the stems of the flower/foliage elements while simultaneously increasing the distance between the grasped portions of the stems and the tubes such that the force of the top faces of the rods against the bottoms of the stems increases. (Step S 3 ) Eventually, the distance is increased enough to enable easy removal of the flower/foliage elements from the jig.  FIG. 4D  shows that the user lowers the sliding jig clamp to lower the tubes.  FIG. 5B  shows that the user may lower a foot pedal to lower the tubes. Alternatively, the user may push the handles  36  or disk  34  to lower the tubes. In both examples, the distance between the grasped portions of the stems and the tubes is increased by moving the tubes downward. 
         [0035]    Having thus described exemplary embodiments of the invention, it will be apparent that various alterations, modifications, and improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Alternations, modifications, and improvements of the disclosed invention, although not expressly described above, are nonetheless intended and implied to be within spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the foregoing discussion is intended to be illustrative only; the invention is limited and defined only by the following claims and equivalents thereto.

Technology Category: 1