US20050188611A1 - Method of providing a decorative covering - Google Patents

Abstract

A decorative assembly for a floral grouping comprising a floral holding material and a sheet of material. The floral holding material is constructed of a material capable of receiving a portion of a floral grouping and supporting the floral grouping. The sheet of material is extended about a portion of the floral holding material and a crimped portion is formed in the sheet of material with the crimped portion cooperating to hold the sheet of material about the floral holding material to provide a decorative covering.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
• This application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 10/328,089, filed Dec. 20, 2002; which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 10/040,669, filed Jan. 7, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,513,304, issued Feb. 4, 2003; which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 09/901,997, filed Jul. 10, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,345,488; which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 09/603,712, filed Jun. 27, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,269,611, issued Aug. 7, 2001; which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 09/243,961, filed Feb. 3, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,101,789, issued Aug. 15, 2000; which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 08/813,850, filed Mar. 7, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,343, issued Apr. 6, 1999; which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 08/463,641, filed Jun. 5, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,615,532, issued Apr. 1, 1997; which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 08/427,014, filed Apr. 24, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,501,059, issued Mar. 26, 1996; which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 07/941,992, filed Sep. 8, 1992, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,410,856, issued May 2, 1995 which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 07/893,586, filed Jun. 2, 1992, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,364, issued Jan. 26, 1993.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
• The present invention relates generally to decorative assemblies for floral groupings and, more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a decorative assembly for a floral grouping comprising a sheet of material disposed about a floral holding material with a crimped portion formed in the sheet of material for cooperating to hold the sheet of material in position about the floral holding material to provide a decorative covering.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
• FIG. 1 is a plan view of a sheet of material constructed in accordance with the present invention.
• FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the sheet of material extended about a portion of a floral holding material with a crimped portion being formed in the sheet of material for cooperating to hold the sheet of material in the position extended about the floral grouping to provide a decorative covering in accordance with the present invention.
• FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a modified floral holding material showing the sheet of material ofFIG. 1 wrapped about the modified floral holding material to provide a decorative covering.
• FIG. 4 is a perspective view of yet another modified floral holding material.
• FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the modified floral holding material ofFIG. 4 showing the sheet of material disposed about a portion of the modified floral holding material with the crimped portion being formed and a portion of the sheet of material.
• FIG. 6 is a plan view of a modified sheet of material.
• FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a floral holding material with the sheet of material ofFIG. 6 disposed about a portion of the floral holding material and a modified crimped portion being formed in a portion of the sheet of material.
• FIG. 8 is a plan view of still another modified sheet of material.
• FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a floral holding material showing the sheet of material ofFIG. 8 disposed about a portion of the floral holding material with the crimped portion being formed in the sheet of material in a manner like that shown inFIG. 7.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
• Shown inFIG. 1 and designated by thegeneral reference numeral10 is a sheet of material constructed in accordance with the present invention. The sheet ofmaterial10 has anupper surface12, a lower surface14 (not shown) and an outerperipheral edge16.
• The sheet ofmaterial10 is constructed from any suitable flexible material that is capable of being wrapped or extended about a floral holding material18 (FIG. 2) in the manner described below. Preferably, the sheet ofmaterial10 is constructed of a material selected from a group of materials consisting of paper, metal foil, cloth (natural or synthetic or combinations thereof), denim, burlap, polymer film or cling material or combinations thereof.
• The term “polymer film” as used herein means any polymer film. For example, but not by way of limitation, one polymer film is a polypropylene film. Another example of a polymer film, but not by way of limitation, is cellophane.
• The sheet ofmaterial10 has a thickness in a range from about 0.1 mil to about 30 mil. Preferably, the sheet ofmaterial10 has a thickness in a range from about 0.1 mil to about 5 mil.
• The sheet ofmaterial10 may be any shape and a circular shape is shown inFIG. 1 only by way of example. The sheet ofmaterial10 for example only may be square or rectangular or any other geometric shape such as heart shaped for example only.
• The sheet ofmaterial10 may be constructed of a single layer of material or a plurality of layers of the same or different types of materials. Any thickness of the sheet ofmaterial10 may be utilized in accordance with the present invention as long as the sheet ofmaterial10 is wrappable about thefloral holding material18, as described herein. Additionally, an insulating material such as bubble film, preferable as one of two or more layers, can be utilized in order to provide additional protection for the item wrapped therein. The layers of material comprising the sheet ofmaterial10 may be connected together or laminated or may be separate layers.
• A decorative pattern, such as a color and/or an embossed pattern, and/or other decorative surface ornamentation may be applied to theupper surface12 and/or thelower surface14 of the sheet ofmaterial10 or portions thereof including, but not limited to printed design, coatings, colors, flocking or metallic finishes. The sheet ofmaterial10 also may be totally or partially clear or tinted transparent material.
• “Cling Wrap or Material” as used herein means any material which is capable of connecting to the sheet of material and/or itself upon contacting engagement during the wrapping process and is wrappable about an item whereby portions of the cling material contactingly engage and connect to other portions of the wrapping material for generally securing the sheet of material wrapped about at least a portion of the item. This connecting engagement is preferably temporary in that the wrapping material may be easily removed without tearing same, i.e., the cling material “clings” to the wrapping material. A wrapping material which remains securely connected to and about the wrapped item until the wrapping material is torn therefrom.
• The cling material is constructed and treated if necessary, from polyethylene such as Cling Wrap made by Glad®, First Brands Corporation, Danbury, Conn. The thickness of the cling material will, in part, depend upon the thickness of the sheet of material utilized, i.e., generally, the thicker and therefore heavier sheet of material may require a thicker and therefore stronger cling material. The cling material will range in thickness from less than about 0.2 mil to about 10 mil, and preferably less than about 0.5 mil to about 2.5 mil and most preferably from less than about 0.6 mil to about 2 mil. However, any thickness of cling material may be utilized in accordance with the present invention which permits the cling material to function as described herein.
• As shown inFIG. 2, thefloral holding material18 has anupper end20, alower end22 and an outerperipheral surface24. Thefloral holding material18 shown inFIG. 2 is spherically shaped, although thefloral holding material18 may be any shape desired in any particular application. Thefloral holding material18 is constructed of a material capable of receiving a portion of afloral grouping26 and holding or supporting thefloral grouping26 without any pot such as a separate flower pot for example.
• Thefloral holding material18 may be the type of material commonly referred to in the art as floral foam or Oasis™ or may be soil or artificial soil or other earth composition so long as the material is capable of holding its predetermined shape and capable of receiving and supporting thefloral grouping26 without any additional pot. Thefloral holding material18 may be capable of receiving and holding water for supplying water to thefloral grouping26.
• As shown inFIG. 2, thefloral grouping26 has astem end28 and abloom end30. A portion of thestem end28 of thefloral grouping26 is extended into thefloral holding material18. Thebloom end30 of thefloral grouping26 extends a distance above the floral holdingmaterial18.
• “Floral grouping” as used herein means cut fresh flowers, artificial flowers, a single flower, other fresh and/or artificial plants or other floral materials and may include other secondary plants and/or ornamentation which add to the aesthetics of the overall floral grouping.
• As mentioned before, the floral holdingmaterial18, as shown inFIG. 2, is generally spherically shaped. A flat portion (not shown) may be formed on thelower end22 of the floral holdingmaterial18 so that the floral holdingmaterial18 may be supported more easily on a flat surface such as on a table (not shown) for example.
• The sheet ofmaterial10 is disposed adjacent the floral holdingmaterial18 with theupper surface12 of the sheet ofmaterial10 being disposed adjacent the outerperipheral surface24 of the floral holdingmaterial18. In this position, as shown inFIG. 2, the sheet ofmaterial10 is extended about and covers a substantial portion of the floral holdingmaterial18 leaving theupper end20 of the floral holdingmaterial18 substantially uncovered so that thefloral grouping26 extends outwardly from theupper end20 of the floral holdingmaterial18.
• In this position, a crimpedportion32 is formed in the sheet ofmaterial10 near theupper end20 of the floral holdingmaterial18. The crimpedportion32 is formed by crimping together portions of the sheet ofmaterial10 to form the crimpedportion32. The crimpedportion32 extends a distance inwardly toward a central portion of the floral holdingmaterial18. The crimpedportion32 preferably extends circumferentially about theupper end20 of the floral holdingmaterial18, although the crimpedportion32 could be formed only in portions of the sheet ofmaterial10 thereby forming circumferentially spaced apart crimped portions if desired in a particular application.
• As shown inFIG. 2, the crimpedportion32 is formed by placing aband34 about a portion of the sheet ofmaterial10 with theband34 gathering or bringing together portions of the sheet ofmaterial10 pulling portions of the sheet ofmaterial10 toward a central portion of theupper end20 of the floral holdingmaterial18 to form the crimpedportion32 securing the sheet ofmaterial10 in a position about the floral holdingmaterial18 to provide adecorative covering38.
• The term “band” as used herein means any material which may be secured about an object such as a flower pot, such bands commonly being referred to as elastic bands or rubber bands and also includes any other type of material such as a string or elastic piece of material, non-elastic piece of material, a round piece of material, a flat piece of material, a ribbon, a piece of paper strip, a piece of plastic strip, a piece of wire, a tie wrap or a twist tie or combinations thereof or any other device capable of gathering the sheet ofmaterial10 to removably or substantially permanently form the crimpedportion32 and secure the crimpedportion32 formed in the sheet ofmaterial10. Theband34 also may include a bow if desired in a particular application.
• A portion of the sheet ofmaterial10 near the outerperipheral edge16 thereof extends a distance above and beyond the crimpedportion32 to form a skirt36 (FIG. 2) extending circumferentially about theupper end20 of the floral holdingmaterial18 and circumferentially about thefloral grouping26. The sheet ofmaterial10 secured about the floral holdingmaterial18 in the manner just described provides adecorative covering38. The sheet ofmaterial10 and the floral holdingmaterial18 together with the means for forming the crimpedportion32 comprise adecorative assembly40.
• In one preferred embodiment, theband34 is automatically placed about the sheet ofmaterial10 using any one of a number of commercially available automatic or semi automatic banding machines such as the automatic shaping machine Model No. Power 260 available from Clements Industries, Inc., South Hackensack, N.J., or the machine Model No. Model BMNS Side Bender available from Saxmayer Corporation, Blissfield, Minn., for example.
• In this last mentioned embodiment, the floral holdingmaterial18 with the sheet ofmaterial10 extended thereabout is placed in the banding machine and the banding machine is activated to automatically place theband34 about the sheet ofmaterial10.
• A system for automatically placing a band about a sheet of material disposed about a flower pot is disclosed in co-pending application entitled “BAND APPLICATOR FOR APPLYING A BAND ABOUT A SHEET OF MATERIAL AND A POT” and assigned to the assignee of the present invention and one disclosure of the letters application specifically is incorporated herein by reference. This system can be utilized for automatically placing theband34 about the sheet ofmaterial10 in accordance with the present invention.
• In one other embodiment, the sheet ofmaterial10 is placed about the floral holdingmaterial18 and then placed in a holding device of the type disclosed in copending patent application entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WRAPPING A FLORAL GROUPING WITH WATER HOLDING AND RELEASING MATERIAL”, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, the disclosure of which specifically hereby is incorporated herein by reference. This device includes a band holder. After the floral holdingmaterial18 with the sheet ofmaterial10 extended thereabout is placed in the holding device, the operator then takes a band from the band holder and pulls it over the holding device and onto the sheet ofmaterial10.
EMBODIMENT OF FIG.3
• Shown inFIG. 3 is a modifieddecorative assembly40acomprising a sheet ofmaterial10awrapped about a modifiedfloral holding material18a. Thefloral holding material18ais constructed exactly like the floral holdingmaterial18 shown inFIG. 2 and described in detail before, except the floral holdingmaterial18ahas a generally rectangularly shaped cross section as compared to the circular shaped cross section shown inFIG. 2 with respect to the floral holdingmaterial18.
• The sheet ofmaterial10ais constructed exactly like the sheet ofmaterial10 except the sheet ofmaterial10amay be rectangularly shaped.
• The sheet ofmaterial10ais extended about the floral holdingmaterial18aand a crimpedportion32ais formed in the sheet ofmaterial10avia aband34ain a manner exactly like that described before in connection with the sheet ofmaterial10 and the floral holdingmaterial18 shown inFIG. 2.
EMBODIMENT OF FIGS.4 AND5
• Shown inFIG. 4 is a modifiedfloral holding material18bwhich is constructed exactly like the floral holdingmaterial18 shown inFIG. 2 and described in detail before, except the floral holdingmaterial18bis in the shape of a solid basket.
• Shown inFIG. 5 is a sheet ofmaterial10bwhich is constructed exactly like the sheet ofmaterial10 shown inFIG. 1 and described in detail before, except the sheet ofmaterial10bis disposed or extended about the floral holdingmaterial18b. A crimped portion32bis formed in the sheet ofmaterial10bvia a band34bfor cooperating to hold the sheet ofmaterial10bin position about the floral holdingmaterial18bto provide a decorative covering38b.
• A decorative assembly40bis constructed and operates exactly like thedecorative assembly40 shown inFIGS. 1 and 2 and described in detail before, except the sheet ofmaterial10bis extended about the floral holdingmaterial18bhaving a basket like shape as opposed to a spherical shape or rectangularly shaped cross section like the floral holdingmaterial18 or18ashown inFIGS. 2 and 3 respectively.
EMBODIMENT OF FIGS.6 AND7
• Shown inFIG. 6 is a modified sheet ofmaterial10cwhich is constructed exactly like the sheet ofmaterial10 shown inFIG. 1 and described in detail before, except the sheet ofmaterial10chas aclosure bonding material42 disposed thereon. More particularly, theclosure bonding material42 is disposed on aupper surface12cof the sheet ofmaterial10cand theclosure bonding material42 is spaced adistance44 from an outerperipheral edge16cof the sheet ofmaterial10c. Theclosure bonding material42 extends circumferentially about the sheet ofmaterial10c. Theclosure bonding material42 is spaced adistance44 radially from a central portion of the sheet ofmaterial10c. It should be noted that, although theclosure bonding material42 is shown inFIG. 6 in the form on a continuous strip ofclosure bonding material42, theclosure bonding material42 may be in the form of spots or spaced apart strips and the spots or strips may be of any geometric shape desired in a particular application.
• The term “bonding material” as used herein means an adhesive, preferably a pressure sensitive adhesive, or a cohesive. Where the bonding material is a cohesive, a similar cohesive material must be placed on the adjacent surface for bondingly contacting and bondingly engaging with the cohesive material. The term “bonding material” also includes materials which are heat sealable and, in this instance, the adjacent portions of the material must be brought into contact and then heat must be applied to effect the seal. The term “bonding material” as used herein also means a heat sealing lacquer which may be applied to the sheet of material and, in this instance, heat also must be applied to effect the sealing. The term “bonding material” as used herein means any type of material or thing which can be used to effect the bonding or connecting of the two adjacent portions of the material or sheet of material to effect the connection or bonding described herein.
• Shown inFIG. 7 is afloral holding material18cwhich is constructed exactly like the floral holdingmaterial18ashown inFIG. 3 and described in detail before.
• In operation, the sheet ofmaterial10cis extended about a portion of an outerperipheral surface24cof the floral holdingmaterial18c. The crimpedportion32cis formed in the sheet ofmaterial10cby crimping together portions of the sheet ofmaterial10cnear theclosure bonding material42 and forming overlapping portions of the sheet ofmaterial10cwith the overlapping portions being substantially bonded via theclosure bonding material42 to form the crimpedportion32c. The crimpedportion32cwill cooperate to hold the sheet ofmaterial10cabout the floral holdingmaterial18cto provide a decorative covering38cin a manner exactly like that described before with respect to the crimpedportion32 formed with theband34 shown inFIG. 2, except in this instance the crimpedportion32cis formed by bringing together and bonding portions of the sheet ofmaterial10cvia theclosure bonding material42. Theclosure bonding material42 is positioned on theupper surface12cof the sheet ofmaterial10cso that the crimpedportion32cis positioned above anupper end20cof the floral holdingmaterial18c, shown inFIG. 7.
• The crimping of the sheet ofmaterial10cmay be accomplished by hand or with a machine or device.
EMBODIMENT OF FIGS.8 AND9
• Shown inFIG. 8 is a modified sheet ofmaterial10dwhich is constructed exactly like the sheet ofmaterial10cshown inFIG. 6, except the sheet ofmaterial10dalso includes a firstpot bonding material46 which extends circumferentially about a portion of the sheet ofmaterial10d. The firstpot bonding material46 is spaced a distance from theclosure bonding material42 and spaced a distance from a central portion of the sheet ofmaterial10d. The sheet ofmaterial10dalso includes a secondpot bonding material48 which is disposed on anupper surface12dof the sheet ofmaterial10dwith the secondpot bonding material48 covering a central portion of the sheet ofmaterial10d.
• Shown inFIG. 9 is a sectional view of afloral holding material18dwhich is constructed exactly like the floral holdingmaterial18ashown inFIG. 3 and described in detail before. The sheet ofmaterial10dis extended about the floral holdingmaterial18dand a crimpedportion32dis formed in the sheet ofmaterial10din a manner exactly like that described before in connection with the sheet ofmaterial10cshown inFIG. 7.
• The firstpot bonding material46 is disposed on the sheet ofmaterial10dand positioned thereon so that, when the sheet ofmaterial10dis wrapped or extended about the floral holdingmaterial18d, the firstpot bonding material46 is disposed adjacent a portion of the outerperipheral surface24dnear theupper end20dof the floral holdingmaterial18b. The portion of the sheet ofmaterial10dwith the firstpot bonding material46 thereon is bondingly connected to an outerperipheral surface24dof the floral holdingmaterial18dfor further cooperating to hold the sheet ofmaterial10dextended about the floral holdingmaterial18d. In addition, the secondpot bonding material48 is positioned on the sheet ofmaterial10dso that the secondpot bonding material48 engages a portion of alower end22dof the floral holdingmaterial18dand bondingly connected thereto for still further cooperating to hold the sheet ofmaterial10dextended about the floral holdingmaterial18dto form adecorative covering38d.
• Theclosure bonding material42 and the first and secondpot bonding materials46 and48 may be disposed on the upper surface or the lower surface or both of the sheets ofmaterial10 described herein or in any of the other positions described in the copending application entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING A DECORATIVE COVER”, owned by the Assignee of the present invention, the disclosure of which specifically hereby is incorporated herein by reference.
• The present invention particularly is useful for providing a decorative covering using a sheet of material constructed of a material which is non-shape sustaining. Non-shape sustaining means that the material may be shaped about the form of the floral holding material, but the sheet of material will not hold that shape and will relax back into substantially the non-formed shape unless held in the formed shaped by some means such as the forming of the crimped portion in the sheet of material. By comparison, a shape sustaining sheet of material would be a material such as a metal foil for example which may be formed about the floral holding material and which will substantially maintain the formed shape.
• Changes may be made in the construction and the operation of the various components, elements and assemblies described herein and changes may be made in the steps or the sequence of steps of the methods described herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

Claims (18)

1. A method for producing a floral assembly comprising a floral holding material and a decorative covering, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a floral holding material capable of supporting a floral grouping without a pot;

providing a sheet of material;

disposing the sheet of material about at least a portion of the floral holding material; and

securing the sheet of material about at least a portion of the floral holding material with at least one of a band, an adhesive and cohesive bonding material.

2. The method ofclaim 1 wherein, in the step of providing the sheet of material, the sheet of material is constructed of a material selected from a group of materials consisting of paper, metal foil, natural cloth, synthetic cloth, denim, burlap, polymer film and combinations thereof.

3. The method ofclaim 1 wherein, in the step of providing the sheet of material, the sheet of material has a thickness in a range of from less than about 0.1 mil to about 30 mil.

4. The methodclaim 1 wherein, in the step of providing the sheet of material, the sheet of material is constructed of a non-shape sustaining material.

5. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the sheet of material is secured about at least a portion of the floral holding material with a band, and wherein the band is selected from the group consisting of elastic bands, rubber bands, string, an elastic piece of material, a non-elastic piece of material, a round piece of material, a flat piece of material, a ribbon, a paper strip, a plastic strip, wire, tie wraps, twist ties, bows, and combinations thereof.

6. A method for producing a floral assembly comprising the steps of:

providing a floral holding material capable of receiving and supporting the floral grouping without a pot;

providing a sheet of material;

disposing the sheet of material about at least a portion of the floral holding material to form a decorative cover; and

securing the decorative cover about at least a portion of the floral holding material with a band.

7. The method ofclaim 6 wherein, in the step of providing the sheet of material, the sheet of material is constructed of a material selected from a group of materials consisting of paper, metal foil, natural cloth, synthetic cloth, denim, burlap, polymer film and combinations thereof.

8. The method ofclaim 7 wherein, in the step of providing the sheet of material, the sheet of material has a thickness in a range of from less than about 0.1 mil to about 30 mil.

9. The method ofclaim 6 wherein, in the step of providing the sheet of material, the sheet of material is constructed of a non-shape sustaining material.

10. The method ofclaim 6 wherein, in the step of securing the sheet of material about at least a portion of the floral holding material with a band, the band is selected from the group consisting of elastic bands, rubber bands, string, an elastic piece of material, a non-elastic piece of material, a round piece of material, a flat piece of material, a ribbon, a paper strip, a plastic strip, wire, tie wraps, twist ties, bows, and combinations thereof.

11. A method for producing a floral assembly, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a floral holding material capable of supporting a floral grouping without a pot;

providing the floral grouping;

disposing at least a portion of the floral grouping into the floral holding material;

providing a sheet of material;

disposing the sheet of material about at least a portion of the floral holding material; and

securing the sheet of material about at least a portion of the floral holding material with at least one of a band, an adhesive, cohesive bonding material, and combinations thereof.

12. The method ofclaim 11 wherein, in the step of providing the sheet of material, the sheet of material is constructed of a material selected from a group of materials consisting of paper, metal foil, natural cloth, synthetic cloth, denim, burlap, polymer film and combinations thereof.

13. The method ofclaim 11 wherein, in the step of providing the sheet of material, the sheet of material has a thickness in a range of from less than about 0.1 mil to about 30 mil.

14. The method ofclaim 11 wherein, in the step of providing the sheet of material, the sheet of material is constructed of a non-shape sustaining material.

15. The method ofclaim 11 wherein, in the step of securing the sheet of material about at least a portion of the floral holding material with a band, the band is selected from the group consisting of elastic bands, rubber bands, string, an elastic piece of material, a non-elastic piece of material, a round piece of material, a flat piece of material, a ribbon, a paper strip, a plastic strip, wire, tie wraps, twist ties, bows, and combinations thereof.

16. A method for producing a floral assembly comprising a floral holding material and a decorative covering, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a floral holding material constructed of a material capable of supporting a floral grouping without a pot;

providing a sheet of material;

disposing the sheet of material about at least a portion of the of the floral holding material; and,

disposing a band about the sheet of material in a position causing the sheet of material to engage the floral holding material for securing the sheet of material in a position extended about the floral holding material to provide a decorative covering.

17. The method ofclaim 16 wherein, in the step of providing the sheet of material, the sheet of material is constructed of a material selected from a group of materials consisting of a material selected from a group of materials consisting of paper, metal foil, natural cloth, synthetic cloth, denim burlap, polymer film and combinations thereof.

18. The method ofclaim 17 wherein, in the step of providing the sheet of material, the sheet of material is provided with a thickness in a range of from less than about 0.1 mil to about 30 mil.

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