COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to (copyright or mask work) protection. The (copyright or mask work) owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all (copyright or mask work) rights whatsoever.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to assembling floral arrangements, and in particular to the placement of fragile or preserved floral stems into an arrangement base.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

As of yet floral arrangements are typically formed by embedding floral stems or other floral decorations or topiaries into a dense foam base, wherein the foam retains the relative desired position of the flower or other item by retaining the stem within the foam, wherein the foam is usually hidden or covered by additional decorative elements.

It has been recognized by the inventors herein, that often, various floral stems of particular flowers or other ornamentals can be fragile or brittle due to being too thin or due to various preservation techniques. In addition, often, various floral stems of particular flowers or other ornamentals can be too short such that when the floral stems are inserted into the base material the floral element will not be retained in a desired position with respect to the base material and with respect to other elements of the overall arrangement. As such, such floral elements can often break upon insertion into the base material, i.e. foam.

The present embodiments described herein are meant to address the problems described above, as well as others, which will become clear to those skilled in the art upon reading this disclosure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

These aspects of the invention are not meant to be exclusive and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art when read in conjunction with the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings.

In one embodiment, a stem bayonet clip system is comprised of a compression portion having opposing main body portions movable with respect to one another. A locking mechanism can be provided about an edge portion of the opposing main body portions, and can be configured to inhibit movement of the opposing main body portions so as to retain a compressive force applied to the stem of a floral element inserted between the opposing main body portions. These compression keeps the stem of the floral element in place, where a bayonet portion extending downward from the compression portion is formed.

In one variation of the above embodiment the bayonet portion can further comprises a tapered tip portion configured to be inserted into a foam material. This bayonet portion can take on many shapes, and cross-sections, each usually having a tip portion that makes it easily insertable into foam material.

In some embodiments, the bayonet portion further comprises a protective cavity formed on an interior thereof. This can be a hollow portion where a portion of the stem is inserted into or simply for purposes of reducing material in the system.

In some variations to the compression portion, the compression portion can be provided with a provided with a plurality of compression features, some of these features include ribs that are provided at varying axial heights along the inner wall portion of the opposing main body portions. The compression portion can also be formed of or include a tacky or gripping material layer. The compression portion can also include texturing along the surfaces used for compressing stems of floral elements.

With regards to the compression ribs, each can be arranged opposite an opposing compression rib provided on the opposing main body portion at a corresponding axial height.

These plurality of compression ribs in one variation can be oriented in a generally horizontal direction when a tapered tip portion of the bayonet clip is inserted into a foam material.

The compression ribs further comprise one or more texture elements provided thereon including recess and protruding portions.

In another embodiment the stem bayonet clip system can include a second locking mechanism provided at an upper edge of the opposing main body portions.

The stem bayonet clip system can also comprise of a first hinge connecting the opposing main body portions. In some variations this hinge extends the height of the opposing main body portions, while in other variations this hinge portion is positioned in a lower portion section of the opposing main body portions.

In yet another embodiment, a second hinge can be provided connecting the opposing main body portions, wherein the second hinge is provided at an upper portion of the main body portions above the first hinge.

The main body portions can also include one or more flexure slots located on an exterior surface of the compression portion. In one embodiment a flexure slot is located on the exterior surface at a location corresponding to the first hinge. The flexure slots can be configured to allow the main body portions to conform around the stem of a floral element and provide a spring-like force in conjunction with the locking mechanism that provides a compression force on the stem. These flexure slots and the positioning of the locking mechanism along an edge of the compression portion can be configured to create a gradient compression force along the length of the stem. This provides stability and spreads the gripping or compressive forces across a greater portion of the stem.

As mentioned, the locking portion can be formed in multiple places including near a lower portion of the compression portion.

The stem bayonet clip can be formed of a single material or multiple materials including those with varying durometers and that are deformable in design.

In an embodiment, the stem bayonet clip can further comprise a gripping area configured to be gripped between fingers to facilitate the locking of the opposing main body portions and for handling of the inserting of the bayonet portion into floral foam or other types of materials used as a base for floral arrangements.

The gripping area can include a flat portion configured to have a design or logo, which can be drawn, painted, placed or otherwise formed thereon. In some variations the design or logo is either raised or recessed to provide additional gripping features.

