GB2174597A - An removable support for an upstanding columnar member - Google Patents

Abstract

A removable support for an upstanding columnar member such as a Christmas tree, parasol, lamp standard or the like, comprises at least three legs (18,19,20) extending radially of a central point and all lying substantially in a common plane or shallow cone, a body (11) having openings in the form of slots into which the said legs (18,19,20) can be removably fitted, and a central interlock member (21) shaped to fit onto the radially inner end of the legs (18,19,20) and secure the latter against displacement, an upstanding projection (26) on the central interlock member (21) being provided to engage with the lower end of the columnar member, for example, by piercing. An upwardly open cup (30) may also be carried by the central interlock member (21) to receive a liquid in which the lower end of the columnar member is immersed. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A removable support for an upstanding columnar member The present invention relates to a removable support for an upstanding columnar member.

In particular, the present invention relates to such a support which is particularly adapted for use on real Christmas trees, although it is equally applicable to any other upright columnar member such as a lamp-standard, a direction sign or other such member having an upright columnar support. When such supports are required on a temporary basis for a short time, such as over the Christmas holiday period to support Christmas trees, or for temporary direction indication signs or the like, difficulties have been encountered in the past in providing adequate removable temporary supports. Estate Agents frequently position signs indicating property for sale, and conventionally these are driven into soft ground to retain them in position.Where the ground is hard or a permanent hard standing is the only available surface, such that the post cannot be driven into the ground, then such signs cannot be used. With smaller temporary signs such as those indicating directions in an estate or complex, or within a large building, it is usual to provide a permanent support arrangement comprising legs extending out from the post, or alternatively, a disc-like weight is rigidly ataached to the post. In either of these cases the support then presents considerable bulk and increases the difficulty in storage. Further, pavement parasols or sunshades, which themselves are provided with a collapsible mechanism to assist storage, are frequently supported on hard ground in heavy disclike supports which are not collapsible and which therefore present storage problems.

The present invention seeks to provide a stand for any such upstanding columnar members, which shall be collapsible to make it convenient for storage, but which nevertheless will provide an adequate support against tipping.

The present invention also seeks to provide a removable support for an upstanding columnar member which can be used on a wide range of diameters and which does not require a perfect circular or even parallel sided such member.

According to one aspect of the present invention, therefore, a removable support for an upstanding columnar member comprises at least three legs which can be positioned extending radially of a central point and all lying substantially in a common plane (or shallow cone), a body having openings into which the said legs can be removably fitted, and a central interlock member shaped to fit onto the radially inner ends of the legs and secure the latter against displacement, the said central interlock member also having means for interengaging with the lower end of the said columnar member.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the openings in the central body are in the form of slots into which the radially inner ends of the legs can be fitted.

The central interlock means is preferably of the simplest possible nature, and in a preferred embodiment it comprises a unitary body having shaped recesses for receiving the ends of the legs. In this embodiment the means for interengaging the central interlock member with the lower end of the columnar member is an upstanding tapering projection shaped to pierce the lower end of the columnar member.

Alternatively, however, other forms of interengagement means may be provided. For example, the means on the central interlock member for interengaging with the lower end of a columnar member may comprise an upstanding cup-like projection for receiving said lower end of the columnar member. Such cuplike member may be formed of several parts which are radially displaceable whereby to effect a clamping action on the said lower end of the columnar member. This clamping action may be reinforced by the weight of the columnar member.For example, the clamping members may incorporate pivoted levers one end of each of which is engaged by the lower end of the columnar member to be displaced downwardly by the weight of this latter, and the other end of which is shaped to engage the side of the columnar member, or is attached to a linkage for applying a lateral force thereto in order to engage such sideface. Alternatively, of course, the clamping action may be exerted manually, for example, by screws or other means such as levers which can be operated by the user.

Further, the clamping means may be spring loaded to retain the lower end of the columnar member by frictional engagement applied by resilient biasing means. In one embodiment it is envisaged that one or more over-centre springs may be provided, which are displaced past the centre position upon insertion of the lower end of the columnar member into the retaining assembly, such that the springs "snap" to their alternative position pulling a linkage into firm engagement with the lower end of the columnar member.

Thus far the description of the invention has discussed only the retention of the lowermost end of the columnar member. In order to provide support against tipping, however, it is necessary to interconnect the support stand with the columnar member at a position further up the columnar member, and in the preferred embodiment of the invention the body is provided with further means for firmly engaging the columnar member at a distance from the lower end thereof. Such further means, in the preferred embodiment, comprise radially extending screws threadingly engaging correspondingly threaded openings in the body.

Such screws may have enlarged heads so that they can be turned by hand without requiring any tools, or may have suitably shaped heads for engagement by a spanner or screwdriver, or hexagon or other shaped recesses for engagement with a suitable key.

The radially inner ends of the screws may be pointed or rounded or blunt depending on the intended use. For Christmas trees it is envisaged that pointed or sharply rounded radially inner ends would be suitable since these will partly pierce the surface and provide an extremely secure interconnection between the screws and the stem of the tree. For other purposes, however, where damage to the columnar member is to be avoided, the radially inner arms of the screws may be enlarged to provide a suitable bearing surface, or may be provided with caps having a larger end for spreading the load applied thereby.

Other alternative mechanisms for retaining the columnar member may be employed. For example, clamping levers with resiliently biased parts, over-centre springs, displaceable catches or the like may all be used in a manner similar to that described for the retention of the lower end of the columnar member.

In this way the columnar member is fixed at two vertically separated points to the body of the stand, which itself is securely fixed to the legs by the interengagement member to provide a rigid assembly having radially extending legs which prevent tipping, but which simply can be dismantled easily using no tools in some embodiments, or only the very simplest and commonly available tools in others, to separate the assembly into simply shaped component forms which can be stored without difficulty.

Two embodiments of the present invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a cut away perspective view of a first embodiment illustrating the component parts in the position adopted during the course of assembly; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the embodiment of Figure 1 assembled and in position supporting a Christmas tree; and Figure 3 is a cut-away perspective view of a second embodiment.

Referring now to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, the embodiment illustrated comprises a cylindrical main body member 11 having three axially extending slots or knotches in its side wall extending from a lower end 12, and three coplanar radially extending threaded holes receiving correspondingly threaded screws 13,14,15 having enlarged heads 16,17,18 respectively, with knurled or milled surfaces to assist gripping by hand.

Three legs 18,19,20 are received in the slots in the body 11. The legs 18,19,20 are each formed with a rebate at the inner end defining a longitudinal projection 18a,19a,20a which approach one another closely within the body 11. Also within the body 11 is an interengagement member 21 in the form of a unitary solid cylindrical body having three equiangularly spaced axially extending slots 22, 23 (not visible in Figure 1) and 24 which, upon assembly, receive the projections 18a, 19a, 20a respectively of the legs 18, 19, 20.

Projecting upwardly from the upper face 25 of the interengagment member 21 is a tapered spike 26 having a pointed upper end.

The three legs 18, 19, 20, the body 11 with the screws 16, 17, 18 retained therein and the interengagement- member 21 constitute the five individual elements of the assembly. When fitted together the legs 18, 19, 20 project radially and at equally spaced angles from the central axis of the body 11 as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, and the interengagement member 21 is fitted with the slots 22, 23, 24 over the ends of the radially inner projections 18a, 19a, 20a of the legs 18, 19, 20 to fix these against lateral displacement.

A columnar member such as the trunk of a Christmas tree is then introduced into the upper end of the cylindrical body 17, with the screws 16, 17, 18 screwed back to make the maximum space, and by means of a sharp downward thrust the trunk can be engaged with the spike 26. Then by screwing the screws 16, 17, 18 inwardly to engage the trunk this can be firmly engaged at a point higher up to retain it securely in the body 11.

The heads 16, 17, 18 of the screws 13, 14, 15 have hexagonal recesses for receiving a tool such as an Allen key if greater force is required to pierce the trunk and secure the pointed radially inner end of the screw in the wood.

Upon assembly the stand assumes the aspect illustrated in Figure 2 which as will be appreciated provides support for the Christmas tree without any unsightly, complicated, bulky or inconvenient members. The legs 18, 19, 20 may be entirely or partly covered with a decorative casing in the form of a downwardly tapering frusto-conical screen to represent a conventional tub. Because of the firm interengagement between the radially inner ends of the legs 18, 19, 20 and the interengagement member 21 which secures the lower end of the tree trunk, any forces applied to the tree which might cause tipping will be resisted by the legs without any loose or slack movement. At the end of the holiday period when the Christmas tree is to be disposed of it is a simple matter to release the screws 13, 14, 15 by turning the heads 16, 17, 18, to withdraw the trunk from the body 11 and to separate the component parts of the stand by raising the body 11 from the legs 18, 19, 20 and drawing these out from the slots 22, 23, 24 enabling the legs 18, 19, 20, the body 11 and the interengagement member 21 to be stored flat, parallel to one another and in a small space. With suitable dimensions the legs 18, 19, 20 when placed side by side can be introduced into the interior of the body 11 to reduce even further the space occupied upon storage.

As compared with conventional techniques utilising a container or drum which has to be filled with particulate material or soil to retain the trunk of a Christmas Tree, involving heavy and arduous lifting the present invention provides a lightweight, convenient, clean, easy to assemble and aesthetically pleasing stand which nevertheless enables- a real Christmas tree to be erected indoors for the Christmas period.

Although the invention has been particularly described with particular reference to its application to Christmas trees, it will be appreciated that the stand herein described can be applied to many of the many and various situations where an upright column must be supported on a hard surface against tipping, but where dismantling of the stand for storage may be required from time to time.

The alternative embodiment shown in Figure 3 of the drawings is again ideally adapted for the support of Christmas trees. This embodiment differs from that of Figures 1 and 2 only in the provision of an inner upwardly open container 30 which is held onto the central interlock member 21, which latter is provided with a suitable screw threaded portion 31 for this purpose. A nut 32 is screwed onto the screw thread 31 to retain the container in position, and a fibre or plastics washer 33 ensures a liquid-tight connection. It has been found that when the stand is used for supporting a cut Christmas tree, by providing a small quantity of water in the container 30 the problem of needle loss from the Christmas tree can be greatly reduced.

Claims (16)

1. A removable support for an upstanding columnar member, comprising at least three legs extending radially of a central point and all lying substantially in a common plane or shallow cone, a body having openings into which the said legs can be removably fitted, and a central interlock member shaped to fit onto the radially inner ends of the legs and secure the latter against displacement, the said central interlock member also having means for interengaging with the lower end of the said columnar member.

2. A removable support as claimed in Claim 1, in which the central interlock means comprise a unitary body having shaped recesses for receiving the ends of the legs.

3. A removable support as claimed in Claim 1 in which the means for interengaging the central interlock member with the lower end of the columnar member is an upstanding tapering projection shaped to pierce the lower end of the columnar member.

4. A removable support as claimed in Claim 1 in which the means on the central interlock member for interengaging with the lower end of a columnar member comprises an upstanding cup-like projection for receiving the said lower end of the columnar member.

5. A removable support as claimed in any preceding Claim in which the cup-like member is formed of radially displaceable parts whereby to effect a clamping action on the said lower end.

6. A removable support as claimed in any preceding Claim, in which there are means for providing a clamping action reinforced by the weight of the columnar member.

7. A removable support as claimed in any preceding Claim, in which there are means for providing a clamping action exerted manually such as by turning screws or other manually operable means.

8. A removable support as claimed in any preceding Claim, in which there are spring loaded clamping means with at least one over-centre spring triggered by insertion of the lower end of the columnar member.

9. A removable support as claimed in any preceding Claim in which the body is provided with further means for firmly engaging the columnar member at a distance from the lower end thereof.

10. A removable support as claimed in any preceding Claim in which the further means comprise radial screws threaded into openings in the body.

11. A removable support as claimed in Claim 10 in which the said radial screws have radially inner end portions tapering to a point.

12. A removable support as claimed in Claim 10, in which the said radial screws have radially inner end portions with blunt or capped ends.

13. A removable support as claimed in any preceding Claim, in which the body includes or is provided with an upwardly open cup-shape container for receiving and enclosing the lower end of the columnar member, the cup-shape container being retained in position in a liquidtight manner such that a liquid placed therein will be retained.

14. A removable support as claimed in Claim 13, in which the cup-shape container is retained in position on the central interlock member.

15. A removable support as claimed in Claim 14, in which the cup-shape container is retained on the central interlock member by a screw threaded connection.

16. A removable support for an upstanding columnar member substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as shown in the accompanying drawings.