DECORATION MEANS AND A METHOD OF MAKING IT

The present invention relates to a decoration which can be used especially in the florist trade, and to a method of making such a decoration.

A common task of florists is to make wreaths for use in connection with funerals or cremations. Such a wreath substantially consists of two parts, namely a wreath body and a decoration, such as flowers, ribbons etc, fixed to the wreath body. Today, ready-made wreath bodies are available, which may consist of straw held in place by a plastic sheeting wrapped around the wreath body. Other types of wreath bodies, such as those disclosed in US-A-3,526,992 or EP-A1-0,241,341, are previously known. Most often, they consist of a porous foam material which in some cases is supported by a waterproof backing (cf. GB-A-1,544,630). Naturally, the technical development in respect of wreath bodies and wreath body materials facilitates the task of the florist when making wreaths. Thus, the florist need not waste any time on shaping the wreath body, provided the customer is content with the wreath sizes available. This of course has a favourable effect on the end price of the wreath.

The wreath body must be decked with some type of decoration, such as flowers, leaves, ribbons etc. No actual development has taken place in this respect, save that use is now made of leaves of plastic or cloth, or silk, which are easier to handle and do not wither. That no technical development has in principle occurred largely depends on the fact that the very decoration of the wreath body is considered dependent to a large extent on the craftsmanship of the florist, excluding all technical development. Although the craftsmanship of the florist is of decisive importance for the final appearance of the wreath, there are certain ways of facilitating the florist's work when making wreaths.

Thus, from DE-B-27,50,670 it is previously known to fix to a wreath body a block of flower foam which is soaked with water and used for fixing and continuously watering flowers on the wreath. However, before the florist gets that far, the wreath body must be provided with a suitable basic decoration, such as natural or artificial plant leaves. These are fixed to the wreath body by means of a steel wire which is wound around the wreath, whereby the leaves will be squeezed between the steel wire and the wreath body. A plurality of plant leaves are fixed to the wreath body for each turn of the winding, so that these leaves will cover the wreath body, and the following leaves must cover the preceding turn of the steel wire and the wreath body. After this operation, flowers, ribbons and the like can be attached to the wreath body for accomplishing the wreath.

Attaching the separate plant parts is a very time-consuming and, thus, costly operation. Apart from this, there is a substantial risk that these separate plant parts attached with steel wire may be displaced or torn loose during transportation of the wreath from the florist to e.g. a church ceremony, which, if things come to the worst, may mean that both the steel wire and the wreath body become visible, thus ruining the aesthetical appearance of the whole wreath.

DE-C-921 540 discloses a permanent wreath, consisting of a wreath body covered by elastic strips. A plurality of natural coniferous cone scales are arranged in close proximity on each strip. Attaching natural coniferous cone scales to the elastic strips is as time-consuming as attaching separate plant parts to a wreath body. Also, there is a substantial risk that these coniferous cone scales may be displaced or torn loose during handling of the wreath.

One object of the present invention therefore is to provide a wreath and a wreath cover mat where there is no risk that the separate plant parts may be displaced or torn loose.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a wreath cover mat with which different-sized wreath bodies can be decorated in a cost-effective way.

To achieve these objects, a wreath cover mat is provided which comprises a plurality of elongated and lobated strips, each strip having lobes along one of its longitudinal edges representing a plurality of overlapping artificial plant parts, said strips successively overlapping each other such that the lobes of one strip cover an area of an overlapped strip facing away from the lobes of said overlapped strip, and each successive pair of strips being fastened to each other along a fastening line extending along the full length of the strips, said fastening line being covered by the lobes of the next successive strip.

A wreath according to the invention comprises a wreath body and a plurality of artificial plant parts covering a front side of said body. The plurality of artificial plant parts forms at least one wreath cover mat separately fastened to said body and comprising a plurality of elongated and lobated strips, each strip having lobes along one of its longitudinal edges representing a plurality of overlapping artificial plant parts, said strips successively overlapping each other such that the lobes of one strip cover an area of an overlapped strip facing away from the lobes of said overlapped strip, and each successive pair of strips being fastened to each other along a fastening line extending along the full length of the strips, said fastening line being covered by the lobes of the next successive strip.

Other preferred embodiments are recited in the sub-claims.

The attached drawing illustrates one embodiment of a decoration according to the invention to be fixed to a wreath body, as will be described in more detail herein below.

Fig. 1 shows an inventive working operation for joining together separate, artificial plant parts.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line A-A in Fig. 1.

Fig 3. shows a 1/4 of a circular-arc-shaped decoration according to the present invention.

Fig 4 shows a wreath body immediately before applying the inventive decoration shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 shows a lobated strip where the lobes resemble a plant part.

Figs 1 and 2 illustrate a working method according to the invention for joining together separate, artificial plant parts 2, 4 so as to form a decoration which can be used in the making of wreaths. In this illustrative embodiment, separate, juxtaposed first plant parts 2 are sewn together (8a) at a distance from a front edge 6 of the respective plant part, such that adjacent plant parts will overlap each other. This yields a row of inter-connected, mutually overlapping first plant parts 2. Similarly, there is provided a row of mutually overlapping second plant parts 4 sewn together (8b).

In the following phase of operation, the row of the second plant parts 4 is applied on the row of the first plant parts 2 at a distance from the front edge 6 of the respective first plant parts 2, such that an overlapping portion 4a of the respective second plant parts 4 will cover the seam 8a and the end of the first plant parts 2 facing away from the front edge 6 thereof. The row of the second plant parts 4 is thereafter sewn (10) to the row of the first plant parts 2. When a plurality of such rows have been fixed to each other in this manner, a "mat" of interconnected plant parts is obtained without any visible joints (in this case, seams 8a, 8b, 10), where each separate plant part is anchored to prevent any displacement and/or extraction thereof, thus obviating the risk that the connection between different separate plant parts or the wreath body becomes visible after this "mat" has been applied to the wreath body.

If, when joining together the different rows, one proceeds along circular arcs corresponding, respectively, to the inner and the outer periphery of the wreath body, an arcuate "mat" is thus obtained, it being preferred to make a 1/4 circular-arc-shaped "mat" (see Fig. 3).

Fig. 4 shows a wreath body 12 immediately before applying a 1/4 circular-arc-shaped "mat" of separate, artificial interconnected plant parts, which mat, depending on the material of the wreath body, is glued, riveted or fixed in any other suitable manner to the wreath body 12.

Thus, the wreath body can be completely covered with a basic decoration which here consists of four separate pieces of decoration. It will be appreciated that 1/3 circular-arc-shaped mats may also be used, like completely circular-arc-shaped mats of separate, artificial plant parts.

Also, it is possible to apply the separate, artificial first and second plant parts to a carrier, for instance a thin woven fabric, which would facilitate the joining together of the separate plant parts and make it easier to follow the above-mentioned circular arc. Also, the mat or mats would become less sensitive to tensile forces and, hence, more resistant.

Although the connection of the different plant parts in the embodiment of the present invention described above consists of sewn seams, a man skilled in the art will realise that there are other suitable means for fastening and joining the separate, artificial first and second plant parts to each other, such as glue, rivets etc.

It has thus been shown that a decoration made in the manner described above will provide a basic decoration, e.g. for a wreath body, which is safely anchored against displacement and/or extraction, and that basic decorating can be done more rapidly and, hence, in a more cost-effective way. Thus, the florist may concentrate on what is essential for the final appearance of the wreath, that is the choice and arrangement of flowers, ribbons etc.

It is of course obvious to a man skilled in the art that the detail implementation of the inventive method and the detail design of the inventive decoration may be varied or modified. Thus, the separate leaves may be replaced by lobated strips which should give the impression of being composed of individual plant parts and which should then be overlappingly connected to each other as described above. Of course, it is also possible to use other artificial plant parts, and the method of joining them together may be carried out in other suitable ways, giving the same technical effect. It therefore is understood that the accompanying claims should be considered to comprise all changes and modifications falling within the scope of the inventive concept.