Apparatus and process for securing an object to the seat of an automobile

Abstract

A box or carton for storing floral arrangements or other objects on an automobile seat is disclosed. The box has openings which allow it and the object to be secured to the automobile seat by the seat belt. The box may have an automatic bottom which allows it to be stored flat and quickly erected, and may have an insert which has a slit and circular cutout and further secures the object. Instead of a box or carton, the invention may be applied by using only one or two sidewalls with openings and a bottom.

1 . An apparatus for stabilizing an item on a seat of a vehicle, the apparatus comprising: 
 a container having a sidewall, a bottom for placement on a seat of a vehicle, and an interior space for receiving an item to be stabilized, wherein the sidewall comprises at least one side panel extending generally vertically up from the bottom, and wherein the sidewall comprises at least two spaced openings; and    a vehicle seat belt extending through two of said at least two spaced openings to secure the container to the seat.    
   
   
       2 . An apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the container sidewall has four side panels and is generally rectangular.  
   
   
       3 . An apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein two of said four side panels each have one of said openings.  
   
   
       4 . An apparatus according to  claim 2 , wherein one of said four side panels has two of said openings.  
   
   
       5 . An apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the container sidewall has three side panels and is generally triangular.  
   
   
       6 . An apparatus according to  claim 5 , wherein two of said three side panels each have one of said openings.  
   
   
       7 . An apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the container sidewall has only two side panels and each of said only two side panels has at least one of said openings, so that the seat belt passed through both of said only two side panels.  
   
   
       8 . An apparatus according to  claim 7 , wherein said two side panels are on opposing sides of the bottom so that the container is generally a U-shape.  
   
   
       9 . An apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein the container sidewall has only one side panel, so that the container is generally an L-shape.  
   
   
       10 . An apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 a floral arrangement inserted into the interior space of the container, wherein the floral arrangement is the item to be stabilized.    
   
   
       11 . An apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the seat belt is pressing against a vase containing the floral arrangement to pull the vase against the sidewall of the container and stabilize the floral arrangement in the container.  
   
   
       12 . An apparatus as in  claim 1 , further comprising an automatic bottom.  
   
   
       13 . An apparatus for securing a box to a seat of an automobile comprising: 
 a box comprising four side panels; and    the box further comprising two openings on at least one of said four side panels;    wherein the box is on top of the seat of the automobile; and    a seatbelt passes through the two openings and is buckled into a seat belt buckle.    
   
   
       14 . The apparatus of  claim 13  wherein: 
 the side panels are between 4½ and 24 inches high, and between 3¾ and 15 inches wide; and    the openings are at least 2½ inches high and at least 1 inch wide.    
   
   
       15 . The apparatus of  claim 13  further comprising: 
 a floral arrangement;    wherein the floral arrangement is inside the box; and    the seat belt is pressing against the floral arrangement.    
   
   
       16 . The apparatus of  claim 13  further comprising: 
 an insert which is placed into the box;    wherein the insert is square and the width of the insert is slightly less than the width of the side panels; and    the insert comprises a slit and a circular cutout.    
   
   
       17 . The apparatus of  claim 16  wherein the insert receives a floral arrangement.  
   
   
       18 . The apparatus of  claim 13  wherein the box further comprises an automatic bottom.  
   
   
       19 . The box of  claim 13  further comprising an open top.  
   
   
       20 . A process comprising: 
 placing a generally cylindrical object into a box;    placing the box onto a seat of an automobile;    passing a seat belt through two holes in the box and across the generally cylindrical object; and    buckling the seat belt into a seat belt buckle.    
   
   
       21 . The process of  claim 20  wherein the generally cylindrical object is a floral arrangement.  
   
   
       22 . The process of  claim 20  further comprising erecting a box blank into the box.  
   
   
       23 . An apparatus for securing a carton to a seat of an automobile comprising: 
 the carton comprising a sidewall having a plurality of side panels;    wherein a shape of the carton is selected from the group consisting of a triangle, a square, and a hexagon;    the carton further comprises at least two openings on the sidewall;    wherein the carton is on top of the seat of the automobile; and    a seatbelt passes through the two openings and is buckled into a seatbelt buckle.    
   
   
       24 . The apparatus of  claim 23  wherein: 
 the side panels are between 4½ and 24 inches high, and between 3¾ and 15 inches wide; and    the openings are at least 2½ inches high and at least 1 inch wide.    
   
   
       25 . The apparatus of  claim 23  wherein a top end of the carton is wider than a bottom end of the box, and the carton is adapted to stack on top of another carton.  
   
   
       26 . The apparatus of  claim 23 , wherein the seat belt comprises a lap belt and a shoulder belt, and both the lap belt and the shoulder belt extend through the openings.  
   
   
       27 . An apparatus comprising: 
 at least one side panel and a bottom connected to said at least one side panel;    wherein said at least one side panel comprise a total of at least two openings; and    a seatbelt passes through said two openings and is buckled into a seatbelt buckle.    
   
   
       28 . The apparatus of  claim 27  comprising only one side panel.  
   
   
       29 . The apparatus of  claim 27  comprising only two side panels.