Wet/dry gift arrangements and method for making

United States Patent Application 20050039398

A Wet/Dry Gift Arrangement and Method for Making is disclosed. The assembly and combination provides an aesthetically pleasing floral arrangement that serves as a superior gift as well. The assembly includes a lower dry gift container for placing and displaying candy, lotions and/or other miscellaneous gifts in a dry environment. Furthermore, the assembly includes an upper wet assembly that has live plants and/or flowers and the like. When the wet assembly and dry assembly are combined, the resulting article appears to be a conventional floral arrangement, while at the same time having a receptacle to display other desirable gifts.

Corona, Jan (San Diego, CA, US)

10/643703

02/24/2005

08/19/2003

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CORONA JAN

47/66.6

A47G7/06; (IPC1-7): A47G7/02; A47G7/06

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GELLNER, JEFFREY L

Karl M. Steins (San Diego, CA, US)

1. A plant/dry gift assembly, comprising: a dry assembly comprising a dry vessel defining a bottom enclosed portion extending upwardly into a throat, said throat bounded on its exterior by throat walls and said throat terminating in a top opening, said dry vessel having non-perforated bottom portion walls; and a wet assembly comprising a wet vessel said wet vessel defined by walls having an outer surface, said wet vessel having an enclosed bottom and an open top, said outer surface cooperating with said throat walls and not said bottom portion walls, wherby said wet vessel is insertable into said top opening but not into said bottom portion and said wet vessel top is substantially adjacent to said dry vessel top opening.

2. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said dry vessel further comprises a throat adjacent to said top opening, said wet vessel and said throat cooperatively arranged whereby said wet assembly is insertible into said throat.

3. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said dry vessel is further defined by a dry chamber within which dry contents are retained, said dry chamber formed by said bottom enclosed portion.

4. The assembly of claim 3, wherein the intersection of said bottom portion and said throat of said dry vessel is designed to permit said wet vessel to be placed into said throat, yet prevent said wet vessel from being placed into said dry chamber.

5. The assembly of claim 4, wherein said dry contents comprise candy.

6. The assembly of claim 5, wherein said wet assembly further comprises block of floral foam residing within said wet vessel.

7. The assembly of claim 6, wherein said wet assembly further comprises a plurality of live plants inserted into said block of floral foam.

8. The assembly of claim 3, wherein said dry contents comprise bath products.

9. The assembly of claim 3, wherein said dry contents comprise at least one stuffed figurine.

10. A combination flower arrangement and gift assembly, comprising: a dry assembly comprising a dry vessel defining a bottom chamber formed by a bottom wall and bottom chamber side walls extending upwardly from said bottom wall, said bottom chamber side walls transitioning into a throat formed by throat side walls, said throat terminating in a top opening; and a wet assembly comprising a wet vessel, said wet vessel configured to retain an arrangement of living plants and configured to cooperate with said dry assembly such that said wet vessel defined by an open top, said wet vessel is insertible into said dry vessel top opening, but prevented from being insertible into said bottom chamber and said wet vessel top is substantially adjacent to said dry vessel top opening.

11. The combination of claim 10, wherein said dry vessel further comprises a substantially clear vessel defined by a throat adjacent to said top opening, said wet vessel and said throat cooperatively arranged whereby said wet assembly is insertible into said throat.

12. The combination of claim 11, wherein said dry vessel is further defined by a dry chamber within which dry contents are retained.

13. The combination of claim 12, wherein said dry vessel is designed to prevent said wet vessel from being placed into said dry chamber.

14. The combination of claim 12, wherein said wet assembly further comprises block of floral foam residing within said wet vessel, and said wet vessel is made from substantially clear material.

15. The combination of claim 14, wherein said wet assembly further comprises a plurality of live plants inserted into said foam block.

16. A method for assembling a plant/dry gift assembly comprising the steps of: assembling a wet assembly defined by a wet vessel; assembling a dry assembly defined by a dry vessel having a dry chamber within which dry contents are placed; and inserting said wet assembly into said dry assembly.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein said wet assembly assembling step comprises inserting an oasis block means into said wet vessel prior to said inserting said wet assembly into said dry assembly.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein said wet assembly assembling step comprises inserting live plants into said oasis block means prior to said inserting said wet assembly into said dry assembly.

19. A method for assembling a plant/dry gift assembly comprising the steps of: assembling a wet assembly defined by a wet vessel, an oasis block means and live plants inserted into said oasis block means; assembling a dry assembly defined by a dry vessel having a dry chamber within which dry contents are placed; and inserting said wet assembly into said dry assembly.

20. A plant/dry gift assembly, comprising: a dry assembly comprising a dry vessel defining a bottom enclosed portion extending upwardly into a throat, said throat bounded on its exterior by throat walls and said throat terminating in a top opening, said dry vessel having non-perforated bottom portion walls; and a wet assembly comprising a wet vessel said wet vessel defined by walls having an outer surface, said wet vessel having an enclosed bottom and an open top, said outer surface cooperating with said throat walls and not said bottom portion walls, whereby said wet vessel is insertable into said top opening but not into said bottom portion and when said wet vessel is inserted into said throat, said wet vessel outer walls are in direct contact with said throat inner walls.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to gifts and playthings and, more specifically, to a Wet/Dry Gift Arrangements and Method for Making.

2. Description of Related Art

Flower arrangements are very popular gifts. As is well-known, typical flower arrangements are either made predominantly from live flowers and plants, or they are made predominantly from dried or silk flowers and plants. In some cases, the dried or silk flower arrangements include other gifts (e.g. candy) that are placed in the arrangement holder. Never before have live flowers and plants been combined with dry gift items.

There has been an attempt at modifying the conventional live floral arrangement; this device is depicted in FIGS. 1A and 1B. FIGS. 1A and 1B are perspective and cutaway side views, respectively, of a prior art vase assembly designed by Bock, U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,546. The Bock device is a “Combination Vase and Air Fragrance Dispenser”. The combination 10 consists of an inner vessel 14 having a flanged collar 24 that is designed for placement into the top opening 18 of an outer vessel 12. The inner vessel 14 is water-tight, and defines an inner vessel chamber 22 for retaining living plants and the like therein.

The outer vessel 12 has a top opening 18 that is sized to catch the flanged collar 24 of the inner vessel 14 when the inner vessel 14 is placed therein. The walls of the outer vessel 12 form an outer vessel chamber 16. The outer vessel chamber 16 is designed to have a solid or liquid room deodorizer placed therein; the walls of the outer vessel 12 have vent holes 20 formed therethrough to permit the fragrance created within the outer chamber vessel 16 to emanate out into the room.

Another attempt at improving upon the conventional floral arrangement is shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of another prior art vase assembly, namely that shown in Sanderlin, et al., U.S. Pat. No. D450,262. The Sanderlin vase 26 assembly comprises a clear vase 38, over which a clear cover 30 is placed. The vase 38 is designed to hold wet objects, such as the fish 32 shown. Also, there is apparently a small cup 33 for holding the stems of a plurality of living plants 34. It should be understood that the previous functional description is not claimed by the Sanderlin vase 26, since that patent is a design patent; the inventor of the present invention provides that discussion simply to clarify the distinctions between her assembly and those in the prior art.

Neither Bock, nor Sanderlin permit a person to give a gift that has the pleasingly decorative features of living plants as well as the functional benefits of non-wet gifts in a single assembly. An assembly that provided these benefits would be very desirable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In light of the aforementioned problems associated with the prior devices and methods, it is an object of the present invention to provide a Wet/Dry Gift Arrangement and Method for Making. The assembly and combination should provide an aesthetically pleasing floral arrangement that serves as a superior gift as well. The assembly should include a lower dry gift container for placing and displaying candy, lotions and/or other miscellaneous gifts in a dry environment. Furthermore, the assembly should include an upper wet assembly that has live plants and/or flowers and the like. When the wet assembly and dry assembly are combined, the resulting article should appear to be a conventional floral arrangement, while at the same time having a receptacle to display other desirable gifts.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The objects and features of the present invention, which are believed to be novel, are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The present invention, both as to its organization and manner of operation, together with further objects and advantages, may best be understood by reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIGS. 1A and 1B are perspective and cutaway side views, respectively, of a prior art vase assembly;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of another prior art vase assembly;

FIG. 3 is an exemplary embodiment of a plant/dry gift assembly of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the wet assembly of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the dry assembly of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the plant/dry gift assembly of FIGS. 3-5; and

FIG. 7 is a flow chart depicting the method for assembling the plant/dry gift assembly of FIGS. 3-6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the invention and sets forth the best modes contemplated by the inventor of carrying out her invention. Various modifications, however, will remain readily apparent to those skilled in the art, since the generic principles of the present invention have been defined herein specifically to provide a Wet/Dry Gift Arrangements and Method for Making.

The present invention can best be understood by initial consideration of FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is an exemplary embodiment of a plant/dry gift assembly 40 of the present invention. As shown, the gift assembly 40 comprises a beautiful arrangement of live plants and flowers 42 on top, with dry contents 44 also being a component of the gift assembly 40. If we turn to FIG. 4, we can examine the invention in additional detail.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the wet assembly 46 of FIG. 3. The wet assembly 46 comprises a wet vessel 50, which is a water-proof container, typically made from clear plastic, that defines a rim 54 and a wet chamber therein 52. The wet assembly 46 further comprises an oasis block 48 that is cut to fit within the wet chamber 52. The oasis block 48 is also known as “floral foam”; it is a foam-type material that is used widely in the floral industry for keeping floral arrangements fresh for prolonged periods after the flowers are cut. The oasis block 48 is typically cut to size to fit within the wet chamber 52, and then it is soaked in water or other nutrient fluid for plants until it is fully saturated.

Next, the block 48 is placed into the wet chamber 52 and an arrangement of flowers and plants 42 is created by inserting the plant stems into the saturated oasis block 48. If we now turn to FIG. 5, we can examine the present invention in additional detail.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the dry assembly 56 of FIG. 3. The dry assembly 56 comprises a dry vessel 58, which is typically a clear glass or plastic vase or bowl defined by a throat 66 terminating in the top opening 64. To complete the dry assembly 56, one need simply place some sort of dry gift item, such as the candy 62 shown here, into the dry chamber 60 formed within the dry vessel 58. The user must be careful to leave adequate space at the top of the dry vessel 58 to receive the wet assembly therein as depicted below in FIG. 6.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the plant/dry gift assembly 40 of FIGS. 3-5. Once the wet and dry assemblies 46 and 56, respectively, are assembled, the wet assembly 46 is placed into the throat 66 of the dry vessel 58. At times, the user may choose to use clear adhesive tape to attach the wet vessel 50 to the dry vessel 58 in order to prevent spillage of the liquid from the wet vessel 50 into the dry vessel 58. As shown above in FIG. 3, the completed assembly 40 appears to be a floral arrangement that also has a candy gift surprise. FIG. 7 depicts the method for creating the typical plant/dry gift assembly of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart 100 depicting the method for assembling the plant/dry gift assembly of FIGS. 3-6. The method 100 comprises a process for creating the dry assembly 56 and a process for creating the wet assembly 46. The dry assembly is created by first selecting the desired dry vessel 102, and then substantially filling it with dry gift contents 104. Before, after or simultaneously, the wet assembly 46 is created by selecting live plants 106 and a wet vessel 110. The wet vessel 110 must be cooperatively designed such that it will not pass through the throat (see FIG. 5) of the dry vessel (see FIG. 5), and further will be sufficiently disguised from view so that the assembly 40 appears to be simply a floral arrangement in a vase.

The plants and oasis block are placed in the wet vessel 108 (the plants can be placed into the block either before or after placement of the block in the wet chamber 112). Liquid may be added after placement of the block in the wet chamber 114, in addition to the method discussed earlier wherein the block is wetted prior to its placement into the wet chamber.

Once the wet assembly 46 is completely assembled, it is placed into the throat of the dry assembly 116, therein completing the assembly 40 (with the exception of the optional addition of adhesive tape).

Other non-depicted examples of the present invention include: (1) a small, square shaped, see-through dry vessel having dry contents comprising shredded colored paper on the bottom of the vessel and a packaged set of baby's bib and tiny shoes, with additional shredded colored paper placed atop the baby's set. The wet assembly is then placed into the throat of the square dry vessel and fixed thereto, such as with clear tape, to retain the two assemblies together and prevent inadvertent mixing between them. In another non-depicted example, an Easter Bunny, plastic grass and Easter candy are placed into the dry chamber, with the wet assembly then placed into the throat of the dry vessel and fixed thereto. In yet another non-depicted example, a fishbowl-shaped dry vessel is filled with shredded colored paper, along with a variety of bath products (e.g. lotions, soaps, fragrances, etc.). Furthermore, Compact Discs and other wrapped gifts may be employed as the dry contents placed in the dry chamber. The dry chamber operates as a see-through gift container that also has a living plant floral arrangement extending upward from it.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various adaptations and modifications of the just-described preferred embodiment can be configured without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Therefore, it is to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced other than as specifically described herein.