Method and apparatus for making floral baskets
AssigneeGeorge Koch Sons, Inc.
InventorStanley E. Williams
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A collapsible frame for supporting a container is manufactured from two loops formed from a single length of wire which are intertwined to form a handle and sprung to form base members which are yieldably urged apart. An inwardly narrowed neck portion is formed intermediate the handle and the base members to provide points of support for the container. A containment loop encompasses the neck portion of the frame and inwardly urges the points of support against the container as it is pushed into position within the containment loop. The base members are capable of being pressed into a planar assembly when the container is removed to allow a plurality of similarly constructed frames to be compactly stacked.
Claims13
In a method of making a collapsible florist stand, the steps comprising forming two generally rounded loops from a single wire generally in a single plane, the wire at the end of one loop being wrapped about the wire of the other loop to form a handle by retaining a portion of the two loops together, positioning the wire loops about a generally rounded mandrel and two spaced posts located outside and spaced from the rounded mandrel with the handle portion adjacent the mandrel, bending the two loops adjacent the handle portion generally against the rounded mandrel by forcing the wire loops inwardly against the mandrel at two points between the mandrel and the spaced posts to complete formation of the handle portion, and bending the two loops generally in the direction of the mandrel at a point between the two spaced posts to form four support points, and bending the portion of the two wire loops adjacent the spaced posts and outside of the handle portion apart to form a four point base.
Apparatus for the manufacture of a collapsible florist stand from two wire loops comprising a stationary portion and a bifurcated portion including juxtaposed members capable of pivoted movement into two positions at an acute angular relationship with respect to one another, the bifurcated portion being capable of holding and bending one loop to one position and the other wire loop to the other position, a mandrel with a generally rounded portion on the apparatus, two stationary posts located at the bifurcated portion spaced equally from an axis that bisects the generally rounded mandrel, two wire bending posts that are located in the bifurcated portion between the generally rounded mandrel and the stationary posts and that extend through slots in the bifurcated portion and are drivable in the direction of the rounded mandrel and a third wire bending post that is located between the two stationary posts and that extends though a slot in the bifurcated portion and is drivable in the direction of the rounded mandrel, first manipulation means to drive the three wire bending posts in the direction of the rounded mandrel and second means to move the bifurcated portion of the apparatus into an angular relationship, whereby two wire loops, positioned on the apparatus about the rounded mandrel and the stationary loops and within the three wire bending posts, are bent into a collapsible florist stand with a rounded handle portion and four container support points, by operation of the first means and the two loops are sprung apart to form a four point base by operation of the second means.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.