Background Art In general, since most people like flowers, they are often used as a means for sharing one's confidence with someone or a person having a special relationship with him/her.

People often present flowers as a means for congratulating a person on graduation/entrance, birthday, anniversary, etc., to celebrate a special day or to confirm a special relationship with someone.

In most cases, people buy flowers at a flower shop and hand them over personally. However, a person who doesn't have much time or who is in another place of some distance away, can use a flower delivery service which has become increasingly popular.

However, flowers are sold mostly in packages by flower delivery services, and these tend to be overpriced.

It is quite common to send a single flower to someone, and for its meaning to be equally symbolic as a large bouquet of flowers.

However, although it is usually no problem to personally hand over one or two flowers in a fresh state to the recipient, when sending the flowers to a person at a great distance, there is a problem in that the flower may wilt or die because it takes a long time to deliver them.

Recently, artificial flowers that look so genuine are used instead of natural flowers. However, artificial flowers are generally used for the purpose of ornament, and are not often used as a gift for sharing one's confidence since they actually have symbolic meaning different to that of natural flowers.

Disclosure of Invention The present invention is conceived to solve the problems in the prior art as mentioned above. An object of the present invention is to provide a can for containing a natural flower which can maintain the freshness of the natural flower held within it for a lengthy amount of time allowing the flower to be presented in its fresh natural state even to someone who is far away.

In order to achieve the above object, the can for containing the natural flower according to the present invention comprises: compost suitable for fixing the natural flower, a flowerpot for containing the compost, end a can body made of transparent material for receiving the flowerpot. The can body further comprises an opener portion which can be opened by a one-touch action.

It is characterized in that the can may further comprise a memory chip which gives out a predetermined vocal message when the opener portion is opened.

It is also characterized in that the compost may be comprised of porous synthetic resin material in the form of sponge, and contain nutritive ingredients and moisture necessary for the natural flower.

It is further characterized in that the can body may be a transparent case which can be opened by separating it into an upper part and a lower part and which may further comprise a memory chip which gives out a predetermined vocal message when the case is opened.

Brief Description of Drawings FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a can for containing a natural flower according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the removal of the natural flower from the can shown in Fig. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the can for containing the natural flower in a state packaged by a packing member.

FIGS. 4a and 4b show another embodiment of a can for containing a natural flower according to the present invention.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show a further embodiment of a can for containing a natural flower according to the present invention.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a can for containing a natural flower according to the present invention. As shown in the figure, a can 20 for containing a natural flower hermetically accommodates a flowerpot 6, in which compost 2 is contained.

The can 20 has an opener portion 22 so that one end thereof can be opened by a one- touch action. Additionally, for the sake of protection and easy delivery of the can 20, a packing member 30 can be used.

The compost 2 can be ordinary soil or porous synthetic resin material taking the shape of sponge (generally referred to as an'oasis') into which one end of a stem of the natural flower is fixed. The compost holds moisture containing nutritive ingredients including sugar, and if required, it can be formed with a plurality of recessed holes 4 as many as the number of the stems of the natural flowers.

Moreover, 85 % of nitrogen and 0.03 % of carbon dioxide can be injected into the can 20, and the can is made of transparent material such as vinyl, plastic, etc. which keeps the natural flower fresh by helping photosynthesis and transpiration of the natural flower.

Of course, the can 20 according to the present invention can contain not only natural flowers but also various kinds of ornamental plants such as orchids and cactii.

The orchid may be placed on charcoal, which in turn, may be sat in the flowerpot.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the state in which the natural flower is being removed from the can 20. When the user pulls a ring 24 formed at one side of the opener portion 22, the can is opened, and at this time, the natural flower can be taken out from the can 20. Although it will be explained below, a memory chip which stores various kinds of messages or melodies can be installed at the bottom side of the opener portion 22 of the can 20. The memory chip is constructed to give out a

message or melody simultaneously when the opener portion 22 is opened. Of course, the can 20 can also be in a closed state.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a can for containing the natural flower in a state packaged by the packing member 30. As shown in the figure, the can 20 for containing the natural flower according to the present invention is finally accommodated in the packing member 30 which is used for printing the characteristics and trademark of the contents thereon. A lid 32 which can be easily opened and closed is provided at one end of the packing member. The lid is preferably made of a cardboard or synthetic resin, but it is not limited thereto.

In addition, a memory chip 26 storing various kinds of messages and melodies is installed at the bottom side of the opener portion 22 of the can 20. The memory chip 26 is constructed to operate simultaneously when the opener portion 22 of the can 20 is opened. The technology for such operation is well known. Therefore, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

FIGS. 4a and 4b show another embodiment of a can for containing a natural flower according to the present invention. The figures show that the can 20 can be comprised of a transparent case 40 that can be opened by separating an upper part 42 and a lower part 44. In this case, the memory chip can be installed on the upper part 42 of the transparent case 40.

FIG. 5 shows a further embodiment of a can for containing a natural flower according to the present invention. It shows that the flowerpot 6 which is received in a cylindrical transparent member 10 with an upper end opened is accommodated in the can 20 that is able to be opened and closed by a threaded engaging portion 42. In the figure, three handle strings 12 are connected to the transparent member 10 at the upper end.

FIG. 6 is a view showing that the can 20 in Fig. 5 is finally received in a packing member 30 after the can 20 is closed by engagement of the threaded engaging portion.

As mentioned above, the preservation period of the natural flower can be prolonged since the flower is prevented from being exposed to external conditions by

means of the accommodation within the sealed can 20 or transparent case 40.

Additionally, since nitrogen and carbon dioxide are injected into the can 20 or transparent case 40, the nutritive ingredients such as moisture and sugar are fed from the compost 2, and the light energy is transmittable, the flower can be kept fresh for a long time.

As a result of experiments tested with a natural flower sealed in a state as mentioned above, it has been found that the natural flower can be kept fresh for about 60 days. This result is 3 times longer than the preservation period of 20 days of the natural flower in a natural state.

Although the can, the transparent case and the packing member according to the preferred embodiments of the present invention are formed to take the shape of a cylinder, they are not limited thereto, and they can take various shapes such as square or polygonal pillar.

Industrial Applicability As mentioned above, by using the can for containing the natural flower according to the present invention, it is possible to preserve the natural flower for a long time and to send a fresh natural flower to a person at a great distance.

Also, due to the prolongation of the preservation period, it can be sold at supermarkets, marts and retail stores. Therefore, it has an advantage in that it can always easily provide fresh flowers at any time and anywhere.