EP0669817A1

EP0669817A1 - Christmas tree stand

Info

Publication number: EP0669817A1
Application number: EP93920683A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Villy Holland
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1992-09-21
Filing date: 1993-09-20
Publication date: 1995-09-06
Also published as: DK116492A; WO1994006332A1; DK116492D0

Abstract

A Christmas tree stand having a bowl shaped base part (2) for supporting the tree and upper lateral clamping parts (22) for holding the tree in a vertical position. For laterally supporting the lower end of the trunk is provided a loose member in the form of a screw (26) having a widely enlarged head portion (28) which, upon the mounting of the screw, is lowered into a holding depression (10) in the bottom (8) of the bowl shaped part (6), in which it is received with clamp lock action, such that it is supported both laterally and upwardly, i.e. so as to prevent a free lift-off of the tree from the stand. Thereby the stand may be designed in a simple, self clamping manner, i.e. with pivotable legs (16) continuing in clamp arms (22), without the stand as a whole being difficult to mount or becoming unstable when the tree is lifted.

Description

CHRISTMAS TREE STAND

The present invention relates to a Christmas tree stand of the type having a preferably triangular base plate portion provided at its corners with legs, which are freely pivotable in the vertical plane and are upwardly and inwardly extended into respective arm portions operable to clamp inwardly against the side of the lower end portion of the trunk of a tree placed on the base plate, means being provided in connection with the latter for holding the lower trunk end in the horizontal plane. This type of tree stand is self clamping about the trunk, as the upper arm portions will pivot or clamp inwardly against the trunk as a function of the outwardly projecting legs, by virtue of the weight of the tree against the base plate and their floor contact, being pressed further outwardly and upwardly relative to the base plate. The legs will assume reasonably uniform angular positions, whereby the upper ends of the arms will clamp the trunk in a centered manner relative to the stand. Thereby the tree can be held in a very stable manner, if only the lower end of the trunk cannot slide on the base plate.

A stand of this type is disclosed in US-A-2,071,887. The stand is almost as simple as it can be, consisting of a triangular plate having at its corners slots or recesses for pivotal mounting of the three leg/arm elements and having at the middle a hole for a screw usable for fixing the plate to the end surface of the trunk. Admittedly, the tree will be rigidly held, but it is not suitable that it is the end surface of the trunk that will determine the position of the plate, because this surface is often pronounced inclined. In this respect, a better solution is disclosed in DK-C-70,648, where the plate forms a bottom in a water bowl for receiving the trunk end. At the middle of this bottom an upstanding screw is secured by welding, whereby the entire water bowl can be used as a handle for screwing the screw into the trunk end. Here the user may hold the bowl approximately coaxial with the trunk and thus continue the screwing until it comes to stop, whereby it will be unimportant whether the end surface of the trunk is inclined.

For the latter stand, however, it will be disadvantageous that the user skall handle an entire, relatively large bowl body for screwing home the screw, and also, the bowl body will prevent an easy insight to the point of the screw at the beginning of the screwing. For this reason it may be difficult for the user to effect the screwing into just the middle of the trunk, and more attempts may be required until it is feeled that the bowl turns reasonably concentrically about the trunk. On this background even this stand will be apprehended just as many other Christmas tree stands, as difficult to mount for achieving a good result.

As to the centered screwing in, the first mentioned known stand will be suitable, as from the beginning the user will have free sight to the application point of the screw, but for one thing the said problem with respect to the possible inclination of the fixed plate will remain, and for another thing this stand will not allow the plate to be exchanged for a bowl, because the screw hole in the bottom plate is difficult to seal off. Also with the invention it is highly desirable to make use of a bowl shaped base plate for enabling access of water to the tree.

It is the purpose of the invention to provide a stand of the type referred to, which is really easy to mount with an acceptable result, and which, without problems, may comprise the said desirable bowl portion for holding water.

According to the invention the said screw is made as a special loose part of the stand, viz. with a semibroad head portion that is well suited to be gripped for manual turning of the screw with free sight to the point of application of the screw, and the base plate or a corresponding bottom in a broader water container is shaped with such an unbroken surface configuration by which, in a central area, there is provided a projection or depression adapted to receive the head portion of the screw in such a narrow manner that the head portion, when lowered against the base plate, will be fixed laterally relative to the base plate and also be locked against a fully free retraction from the base plate. In this manner the screw can be mounted in the tree with a good grip in the head portion, i.e. without requiring tools and without any limited insight to the point of the screw, whereby the user, with increased ease and safety, can mount the screw in the central area of the tree, regardless of any inclination of the end surface. When the screw is in place the tree may be mounted in being lowered to the stand, the legs/arms of which can then be brought into correct positions for laterally supporting the tree in its vertical position, even if this may require the stand itself to assume a slanting position.

Because of the head portion of the screw being locked against free retraction from the stand it is possible to lift the mounted tree without the stand falling off, i.e. in this respect the invention is not less favourable than the said stands secured by screwing. The invention provides for a considerably simplified mounting, and the stand may well be provided with a central water bowl of any desired depth, as the bowl may appear with a non-perforated bottom portion.

In the following the invention is described in more detail with reference to the drawing, in which:-

Fig. 1 is a perspective exploded view of a stand according to the invention, while

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view thereof.

The stand shown has as a main part a triangular base plate 2 made as an injection moulded plastic member having depending edge flanges 4 and a depressed central portion 6 that is usable as a water bowl. At the middle of this portion the associated bottom plate portion 8 is provided with a circular depression 10, which, as best shown in Fig. 2 , has a small upper edge narrowing 12. At its corner areas the plate member 2 is provided with upstanding console portions 14, which are open towards each other and also downwardly open such that between them they can receive an outwardly projecting leg member 16 having laterally projecting pin portions 18 receivable in the consoles 14. The latter are made with interior, lower thickenings 20 that will snap lock the pin portions 18 in their mounted positions, so that the stand plate 2 may be lifted without the leg members falling off. Thus, these elements may be compact-packaged together with the plate member 2 and easily be mounted by the user.

The projecting leg elements 16 have inwardly and upwardly extending arm extensions 22, which in a manner known per se may act to clamp against the trunk of a tree mounted in the stand.

To the stand belongs a loose screw member 24 having an upwardly extending screw element 26, the lower head portion of which is moulded into a wheel shaped body 28 having an upstanding hub portion 30. The wheel portion 28 has an outer diameter corresponding to the diameter of the central depression 10 in the bottom plate 8 of the stand. This diameter may be e.g. 5-10 cm, whereby the wheel portion is very well suited as a handle for the screwing of the screw 26 into the lower end of a trunk 32. The user can easily verify that the screw is set into the pith middle of the trunk 32 and that the wheel 28 is reasonably perpendicular on the axis of the trunk. The upstanding, relatively thin hub portion 30 will ensure that in the final phase of the screwing the wheel 28 will maintain its orthogonal position even if the trunk end is cut pronounced obliquely as indicated in Fig. 2.

When the screw member 24 has been secured to the end of the trunk the latter may be lowered against the stand 2, whereby the wheel 28 will be received in the depression 10, in being forced through the upper narrowing 12, which will thereby be expanded resiliently. Thus, a snap locking of the wheel member 28 will occur, sufficiently to make sure that by a following lifting of the trunk also the stand 2 will be lifted, while this locking, of course, should not be more efficient than still allowing for the wheel portion 28 to be pulled or tilted upwardly for liberation of the tree from the stand when the tree is to be disposed of. The screw member 28 may then be kept for the following season, parked in the depression 10.

Thus, the stand 2 may well have a water receiving ^depression 6 of a desired size, without this rendering difficult the mounting of the tree. It is not decisive that the grip area for the screw head 28 is a depression 10, as the desired supporting and locking engagement may be arranged in many other manners, e.g. with the use of upright, mutually separated spigots for engaging local areas of the outside or the inside of the the screw head portion 28, or a socket for receiving the screw head for bayonet locking thereof. If circular receiving means are used the head portion 28 shall not have to be annular, as it may be formed e.g. by outwardly projecting wing portions.

Optionally, instead of a screw 26, a pin or spire can be used, which is pressed or knocked into the tree; also in that case the added head portion will make the mounting easier, because it makes it easier to determine whether the place and direction of application is reasonably correct.

The invention is not limited to the stand being of the self clamping type, but with the disclosed retraction locking it will make it practically possible that the stand may be of just that simple type, without the stand being unstable when the tree is lifted and without the stand being difficult to mount. It should be mentioned that the base portion 2 may have other shapes, e.g. circular, whereby the water bowl 6 may be extra large.

Claims

C L A I M S :

1. A Chrismas tree stand of the type having a base portion for carrying the trunk of the tree and means connected with the base portion for stabilizing the tree, viz. side clamping means for clamping against at least three side areas of the lower end portion of the trunk and holding means for supporting the lower trunk end against horizontal sliding on the the base portion, said stand preferably being of the self clamping type, i.e. with pivotally mounted, outwardly and downwardly projecting supporting legs extened into upwardly and inwardly projecting arm portions constituting the said side clamping means, while the associated base portion is an optionally bowl shaped body that may be connected with the the trunk end by means of a holding screw or pin mounted therein, characterized in that the holding means comprise a loose part in the form of a special screw or pin (24) having a widened head portion (28) , while the top side of the base portion is provided with means (10,12) for receiving this head portion in a laterally supported manner, when the head portion is lowered thereagainst with the screw or pin pointing upwardly.

2. A stand according to claim 1, characterized in that the receiving means (10,12) are designed so as to effect a releasable locking against retraction of the head portion, e.g. by clamping, snapping, or rotation locking.

3. A stand according to claim 1, characterized in that the widened head portion is located axially spaced from a narrower intrusion stop (30) on the screw or pin (26).

4. A stand according to claim 1, characterized in that the receiving means are provided as a central, circular depression (10) in the bottom plate of a central bowl section of the base portion.

5. A stand according to claim 4 and made of die cast plastics, characterized in that the base portion is made in one piece, including said bowl section (6) and depression (10) , which is slightly narrowed at its top (at 12) , and with integrated bearings (14) for receiving laterally projecting shaft pin portions (18) on the leg/arm members (16,22), which are likewise cast in one piece.