GB2193889A

GB2193889A - Floral arrangement base

Info

Publication number: GB2193889A
Application number: GB08619826A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Jayne Rosemary Johnson; Paul Saxton Johnson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1986-08-14
Filing date: 1986-08-14
Publication date: 1988-02-24
Also published as: GB8619826D0

Abstract

A floral arrangement base 1 suitable for the display of flowers comprises a base member of relatively rigid foamed plastics material, e.g. polystyrene, having a decorative flock finish 2. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Floral arrangement base The invention relates to a floral arrangement base for use by florists for the display of flowers.

Florists are often asked to produce relatively complex floral arrangements for special occasions such as weddings, birthdays, funerals and so on. In order that such floral arrangements can be transported intact to their place of use, it is necessary to attach the flowers to some type of support. The support commonly used is the so-called "Oasis" board, which comprises two types of resilient plastics foam.

The Oasis board is soaked in water prior to use; the stalks are removed from the flowers individually, and each flower head is then attached by pins or the like to the board. It is necessary to totally conceal the board, since it is not a decorative item. Needless to say, production of such a floral arrangement is extremely time-consuming; even a relatively straight-forward arrangement will take a number of hours to make. In consequence, the cost to the consumer is correspondingly high and the use of such floral arrangements would normally only be contemplated for a few unusual occasions. Moreover, however well constructed the floral arrangement may be, its life is very short because it consists essentially only of flower heads.

We have now developed a novel type of floral arrangement base in which these disadvantages are mitigated or removed.

In one aspect, our invention provides a floral arrangement base suitable for the display of flowers characterised in that it comprises a base member of relatively rigid foamed plastics material having a decorative flock finish.

The base comprises a relatively rigid foamed plastics material such as polystyrene, urea-formaldehyde or polyurethane foam. The base member may be shaped into any desired form but will normally not be merely rectangular.

Examples of suitable shapes are cushions, pillows, hearts of various sizes, horseshoes, teddy bears, open books, and crosses for fun eral use e.g. on coffins. Other shapes include holly leaves for use at Christmas and designs based on bells for weddings.

It is an essential and novel feature of the invention that the surface of the floral arrangement base is provided with a flock finish, preferably comprising nylon or other synthetic fibres attached by electrostatic spraying onto a layer of adhesive, e.g. a water-based acrylic adhesive. A suitable length of fibre is about 1 mm. We have obtained good results with fibres of 20 denier. This process is well known per se and has been used to produce a flock or velvet finish on a number of diffeent substrates. The process has been used inter alia to produce a flock finish on expanded polystyrene packaging, but such packaging material is of course unsuitable for the display of a floral arrangement.

The flock finish may be in any desired colour, e.g. leaf green. The colour may be selected to suit the floral arrangement and the occasion.

The floral arrangement may be attached directly to the base e.g. by pins or may be mounted on the base in a pot or other container, which preferably is also treated with a flock finish. The pot or pots may indeed comprise the containers in which the flowers were grown or may. comprise a container for holding selected cut flowers. The flower container may be attached to the base by adhesive means, e.g. by double sided adhesive tape or other contact adhesive, or by clips or other attachment means. Alternatively the containers for the flowers may be formed integrally with the base, e.g. by moulding, vacuum forming or the like process. One or more containers for the flowers may be provided, depending upon the desired floral arrangement.

Thus another aspect of our invention is a floral arrangement base as defined having a floral arrangement mounted thereof.

In order to assist in locating the floral arrangement base on e.g. a coffin lid or shrine, we prefer to provide a plurality of foot members on the reverse side of the base, said foot members comprising a material having non-slip or adhesive properties.

The floral arrangement base of our invention enables a floral arrangement to be produced, dispatched to its point of use and displayed in a fraction of the time previously required. The saving in time results from the fact that it is not necessary to make the arrangement exclusively out of flower heads which are individually pinned in place, nor is it necessary that the arrangement completely covers and conceals the base. With a suitable choice of shape and colour for the base, no visual disadvantage results from leaving part of the base exposed. Also, the resulting floral arrangement may have a longer life owing to the possibility of using flowers with a reasonable length of stem, or even roots, attached.

One embodiment of our invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a plan view of a floral arrangement base according to the present invention; and Figure 2 is a perspective view of the base of Fig. 1 with a floral arrangement upon it.

Referring now to Fig. 1, the base 1 comprises a cushion-shaped block of expanded polystyrene. The block is approximately 29 cm square and 5 cm in thickness. The upper edges are rounded but the lower edges are only lightly chamfered. The block may be moulded to the desired form or carved from a sectan aS T'c\e the eAt9Re block has a flock finish 2 comprising nylon fibres (1 mm, 20 denier) applied electrostati cally and adhered by a layer of aqueous acrylic adhesive.

In Fig. 2 the base is illustrated with a flower arrangement 3 in situ, together with the mes sage card 4 attached to clip 5 whose shank has been pushed into the base. Although the flower arrangement 3 is quite small in relation to the size of the base, the visual effect is excellent.

Claims

1. A floral arrangement base suitable for the display of flowers characterised in that it comprises a base member of relatively rigid foamed plastics material having a decorative flock finish.

2. A floral arrangement base according to claim 1 wherein said relatively rigid foamed plastics material is selected from polystyrene, urea-formaldehyde or polyurethane foam.

3. A floral arrangement base according to claim 1 or 2 having a non-rectangular shape.

4. A floral arrangement base according to claim 3 shaped as a cushion, pillow, heart, horseshoe, teddy bear, open book, cross, leaf or bell.

5. A floral arrangement base according to any of the proceding ciaims wherein said flock finish comprises nylon or other synthetic fibres attached by electrostatic spraying onto a layer of adhesive.

6. A floral arrangement base according to any of the proceding claims having an integral container for flowers.

7. A floral arrangement base according to any of the proceding claims having a priority of foot members on the reverse side of the base, said foot members comprises a material having a non-slip or adhesive properties.

8. A floral arrangement base, substantially as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

9. A floral arrangement base according to any of claims 1-8 having a floral arrangement mounted thereon.

10. A floral arrangement base accordingly to claim 9 wherein said floral arrangement is contained in one or more pots or other containers attached to or integral with said base.