US 4,221,078 AGranted

Sealed globular display device

OwnerJohn F. Latham, Elaine L. Lathaminventors

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Abstract

A flexible rubber disk serving as a base for a transparent globular display container adapted to be filled with liquid, and as an effective seal for a circular opening in the latter bounded by a flared lip. The upper face of the base is provided with a central socket for a cylindrical block of yieldable porous plastic material in which are seated the components of a natural or artificial floral arrangement, or any other desirable ornament. The block is secured against displacement by arcuate ribs at the edge of the socket which impale substantially the entire lateral wall of the block. An annular recess in the upper face of the base permits the insertion thereinto of said flared lip at said circular opening, to form a liquid seal at the base of the annular slot and at the convexity of the flared lip against the inner lateral wall of the central portion of the disk delineated by the annular slot. Diametral slots in said central portion extending between the annular slot and socket afford passages between the interior and exterior of the container and a fine control of the seal adjacent the outer ends of the diametral slots. A slight flexing of the disk at these outer points breaks the seal sufficiently to expel air and/or water from the container, or to add water thereinto, if necessary, at the outer edge of the annular slot. The seal is re-established immediately upon the release of the flexing, - all this being done without disturbing the retention of the display in the socket of the base.

Claims3

Dependent claims

In combination with a transparent globular display container for liquid having a circular opening at the bottom defined by an annular flaring lip,

(a) a fluid-tight sealing base for said opening comprising an integral disk of resilient material having a bottom supporting surface and an annular slot defined by spaced parallel cylindrical walls in the upper surface inwardly from the outer margin of said disk to form an outer annular flexible flange surrounding the periphery of said lip at said opening and spaced therefrom,
(b) a member at said upper surface defined by the inner cylindrical wall of said slot, said member being in fluid-tight sealing engagement along a substantial depth of said last-mentioned wall with the internal wall of said container at said opening, while said disk at the bottom of said slot is in fluid-tight sealing engagement with the outer extremity of said lip,
(c) said member having a recessed cylindrical socket at the center thereof, of substantial surface area of about half of that of the base,
(d) a cylindrical block of porous yieldable material for supporting a display within said container seated detachably within said socket,
(e) said member having opposed diametral rectangular slotted fluid passages bisecting said member between said slot and cylindrical socket to facilitate limited flexing of said annular flange in lateral directions to control finely the passage of air and/or liquid between the interior and exterior of said container, and
(f) an integral arcuate retaining projection extending inwardly from the top of each of the bisected portions of said member at the top of said socket, with each projection having an edge of reduced area for impaling the lateral surface of said block of porous material to enhance the retention therof within said socket.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.