Plant husbandry – Flower holder
Reexamination Certificate
2001-04-26
2004-01-06
Nguyen, Son T (Department: 3643)
Plant husbandry
Flower holder
C047S084000, C206S423000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06672002
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a package for transporting and displaying bunches of fresh-cut flowers.
The technical field of the invention is that of making containers, packages, or parcels for living organisms or materials sensitive to changes in atmospheric conditions or surroundings, such as cut flowers, foliage, etc.
The main application of the invention is transporting and displaying cut flowers for sale, in particular bunches of fresh roses, while paying due regard to the biological plant element, so as to ensure that customers receive flowers in the best possible state of conservation.
2. Description of Related Art
After being harvested and separated from the remainder of the plant, it is known that in order to finish growing and bloom, cut flowers can rely only on any water that might be given to them and on their own nutritional reserves. Unfortunately, various causes accelerate wilting, and in particular:
Vascular blockage due to callouses forming in the up vessels, usually near the bottom of the cut stem: these callouses are often of fungal or bacterial origin; sometimes the callouses obstructing the conductive vessels are the result of phenolics present in the cells of the stem being oxidized by enzymes released by the plant to heal the injury constituted by being cut. Water can also be prevented from rising up the stem by air penetrating into the stems due to it being left dry for a long time, e.g. during transport.
In any event, the consequence of such vascular obstruction is a lack of water, with the water that is absorbed no longer compensating losses due to transpiration, so the weight of the fresh flower decreases and the flower wilts; with roses, the top end of the stem, i.e. the flowering peduncle, becomes curved into a so-called “bent-neck” shape, particularly if the roses were picked at an early stage of development.
Degradation of protein reserves: because they are consumed by oxidation in cells and because they migrate to other portions of the flower stem, soluble sugars disappear quickly thus stopping the synthesis of proteins; with most flowers, the resulting degradation in protein reserves, or “proteolysis”, accelerates from the beginning of blooming: the degraded proteins release amino acids, and then ammonia which is toxic for cells.
Ethylene which is one of the senescence hormones of plants: it is produced naturally by certain species during blooming of their buds and it can also come from the outside (other plants, bulbs, fruit, tomatoes, internal combustion engines, factories, etc.); ethylene accelerates cell-degradation phenomena in sensitive species, even at low concentrations such as 0.5 parts per million (ppm); it causes flowers to wither, with flowers, buds, and leaves dropping off, it causes discoloration, . . . . It is produced auto-catalytically.
Absici acid (ABA) or stress hormone (which might be the cause of ethylene production), triggered by water stress, causes stomatal closure to reduce evapo-transpiration, but also correspondingly reduces the lifetime of the flower.
Thus, depending on how plants are transported, stored, and conserved, between being picked and being sold to a consumer, and even depending on how the consumer transports them to the place where they are to be put on display, one or more of the causes of wilting outlined above are accelerated. Further information on this topic can be found in the horticultural journal PHM No. 385 of October 1997 in an article entitled “La conservation des fleurs” [Conserving flowers].
Thus, for example, in present distribution systems and circuits, flowers are generally transported while dry or slightly moistened in waterproof bags or in cotton wool soaked in a conserving agent, however that does not prevent air from penetrating into the stems; in addition, some of the businesses delivering flowers in France or even in Europe do not make use of refrigerated transport means, and flowers are stored in packaging boxes made merely of cardboard, with the flowers being secured rather crudely by hooks passing through the cardboard and by rubber bands; some businesses do indeed include a bag of conserving powder with such shipments, but flowers that have traveled while dry have already suffered vascular blockage.
Supermarkets limit such blockage by transporting flowers in refrigerated trucks and by storing them in buckets filled with water, however they are protected solely by optionally perforated transparent films: thus flowers, which are often pressed together and handled, suffer damage before a customer can select them and put them in a shopping trolley or cart; flowers are then stuck upright in a corner of the cart where they run the risk of falling over and being damaged by other packages transported in the same cart, and in any event they are transported dry; they are left dry until their leaves are stripped off and they are put in a vase full of water at the purchaser's home. In addition to the vascular blockage that then takes place, it should be observed that flowers are generally put on sale close to fruit and vegetables, i.e. specifically when ethylene concentration is at its greatest; since the leaves are not pre-stripped from bunches, that can also encourage the development of bacteria in the water medium.
Thus, although the sellers of bunches of cut flowers often emphasize freshness and quality in order to improve sales, it should be observed that nothing particularly professional is done with regard to plant physiology and thus to conserving bunches and satisfying clients.
Numerous patent applications have been made for improving such transport and storage, and in particular international patent application No. WO 95/09083 describing a “gas-permeable corrugated card packaging system” suitable for extending the time during which fruit, fresh vegetables, and cut flowers can be conserved in a modified and refrigerated atmosphere, thus genuinely providing an improvement over packaging in transparent paper as is done in supermarkets, but not dealing as a whole with the problem posed.
The objects of the present invention are to be able to provide packaging for transporting and displaying bunches of fresh-cut flowers, and combining at least the following conditions:
having due regard for the biological plant element whose wilting is accelerated for the reasons outlined above, by providing protection against physicochemical attack such as heat, cold, damp, drying out, etc.;
having due regard for the biological plant element by providing protection against mechanical attack due to impacts, falling, compression, vibration, etc. throughout the circuit: from the flower producer or grower to the premises of the end consumer;
being practical and useful for the professional:
by facilitating transport, handling, storage, and packaging prior to assembly, in particular by providing a package that can be folded flat so as to save as much space as possible, i.e. a package which can be flat in shape when it is folded; and
by providing a package that is easily assembled to receive cut flowers and in which it is easy to package and protect flowers, and also a package which makes it easier to combine a plurality of packages side by side, in particular on a display unit once the package is in the assembled position, in particular containing packaged flowers so as to provide optimum space saving in this condition also;
being practical and useful for the consumer by facilitating transport, handling, and use without special preparation, once the package has been assembled and used for receiving flowers, while also ensuring the best possible conservation of the plant, from the business that made up of the bunch to the end user's home;
providing a package which enables the consumer to transform said package into a vase without damaging the flowers;
being attractive in appearance and drawing the attention of clients who need to be motivated to purchase bunches packaged in this way, whether for their own use or as gifts, while also enabl
Cohen & Pontani, Lieberman & Pavane
Nguyen Son T
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