Robust artificial foliage

Robust artificial foliage (physical themed set material).

An apparatus comprises a wire mesh that is shaped according to an artificial foliage pattern. The wire mesh is coated with a coating to match a characteristic of the artificial foliage pattern. The coating fills in spaces between the wire mesh to produce a translucent structure in the spaces that filters light. The mesh size, mesh materials, and the type of coating, e.g., type of paint, are selected so that the coating fills in the spaces to produce a translucent structure that is thin yet strong. The thin translucent structure allows light to filter through in a natural manner. A process performs the shaping and coating of the wire mesh.

BACKGROUND(1) 1. Field(2) This disclosure generally relates to the field of foliage. More particularly, the disclosure relates to artificial foliage.(3) 2. General Background(4) Artificial foliage is used in a variety of environments, e.g., theme parks, commercial properties, highways, etc. to enhance the visual appearance of the environment without incurring the much more significant expense associated with real foliage. The regular maintenance costs associated with real foliage, e.g., watering, trimming, etc., can be avoided by using artificial foliage.(5) To be effective, artificial foliage needs to visually recreate the experience of real foliage while also being low maintenance and environmentally robust. Typical artificial foliage is fabricated from plastic, silk, nylon, paper, or other materials that are adapted for indoor use in controlled environments. Such artificial foliage is difficult to use in outdoor environments. For example, plastics fade and break down in sunlight, fragile materials tear and break as a result of inclement weather, etc. Further, the materials used for such artificial foliage are typically difficult to clean in an efficient manner such as with power sprayers or power washers.(6) Therefore, current artificial foliage products do not maintain their intended visual appearance for extended periods of time. A robust artificial foliage configuration is needed to provide artificial foliage that is visually convincing and durable.SUMMARY(7) An apparat