US2951303A

US2951303A - Tree-simulating christmas card holder

Info

Publication number: US2951303A
Application number: US654332A
Authority: US
Inventors: Mary Z Hovlid
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1957-04-22
Filing date: 1957-04-22
Publication date: 1960-09-06
Anticipated expiration: 1977-09-06

Description

Sept. 6, 1960 M. z. HOVLID TREE-SIMULATING CHRISTMAS CARD HOLDER Filed April 22, 1957 MARV z. J-lOl/LID INVENTOR.

BY diam, 4 5

ATToR/vEus.

TREE-SEMULATING CHRISTMAS CARD HOLDER Mary Z. Hovlid, 5271 E. Anaheim Road, Long Beach, 'Calif.

Filed Apr. 22, 1957, Ser. No. 654,332

2 "Claims. (Cl. 40-124) played in the home. This card holder may also be substituted for the conventional Christmas tree as an ornamental display when a plurality of Christmas cards have been attached thereto so as to add to the holiday enjoyment.

Another object of the invention is to provide a treesimulating Christmas card holder which may be readily assembled and disassembled. Accordingly, the holder may be stored between Christmas seasons in a comparatively small space. Additionally, it may be shipped and merchandised in a comparatively small package.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a treesimulating Christmas card holder which is simple of design and rugged of construction whereby it may be utilized several seasons before requiring replacement.

An additional object is to provide a tree-simulating Christmas card holder which is inexpensive to manufacture.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the appended drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a preferred form of tree-simulating Christmas card holder embodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view taken on line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a branchsimulating element of said holder; and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary perspective view showing how said branch-simulating element is aflixed to the trunksimulating element of said holder.

Referring to the drawings, the preferred form of treesimulating Christmas card holder embodying the present invention includes an upright trunk-simulating post P, a base F secured to the lower portion of this post and a plurality of branch-simulating elements B mounted along the length of the post P. As will be clear from Figure 1, the branch-simulating elements B are adapted to receive a plurality of Christmas cards C.

More particularly, the post P may be formed of wood or plastic and conveniently is of square cross-section. As shown in Figure 3, the post P is formed at its opposite sides with a plurality of longitudinally spaced bores, the bores on the left side of the post being designated 10 and those on the right side being designated 11. The base F includes a rear foot 12 and a forwardly extending front foot 13. These members are of generally triangular configuration with their lower edge adapted to rest upon a floor or other horizontal supporting surface. The preferred embodiment of holder is adapted to have its rear rates Patent ice surface abut a vertically extending surface, such as a wall or the like. Accordingly, only three foot elements are disclosed. If it is desired to employ the holder at a distance spaced from a wall an additional foot element may be provided. Alternately, three generally equidistantly spaced foot elements can be employed. Preferably, the foot elements 12 and 13 will be readily securable to and removable from the lower end of the post P. Thus, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, the rear foot 12 is detachably afiixed to the post P by a bolt and nut combination 14, while the front foot 13 is detachably aflixed to the post by a second bolt and nut combination 15 vertically spaced from bolt and nut combination 14.

The branch-simulating elements B are preferably formed of resilient steel wire. In Figure 2 one of these branch-simulating elements B is shown in its relaxed condition. It will be observed that at this time this element B is disposed entirely in a horizontal plane with its first and second ends 19 and 20 in close proximity. In assembling the holder the two ends 19 and 20 of the branchsimulating elements B are moved apart vertically and inserted within the bores 10 and 11, respectively, of the post P. Inasmuch as such flexing apart of the ends 19 and 20 will place the branch-simulating elements B in tension, these elements will remain in place upon the post P. Preferably, in the interest of realism, the branch elements B will increase in length from the upper portion of the holder to the lower so as to provide an upwardly tapered overall configuration. Thereafter, the Christmas cards C may be aflixed along the length of each of the branch-simulating elements B, as by tape 22 or the like.

When the holder is to be disassembled, the wire ends 19 and 20 are removed from the bores 10 and 11. Additionally, it may be desirable to remove the foot elements 12 and 13 from the lower portion of the post P by unscrewing the bolt and nut combinations 14 and 15.

While there has been shown and described hereinbefore what is presently considered to be the preferred embodiment of the present invention it will be apparent that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A tree-simulating Christmas card holder, comprising; a vertically extending, trunk-simulating post, said post being formed with a plurality of vertically spaced bores along its length; and a plurality of card-receiving, branch-simulating, elongated elements formed of resilient material, each of said elements assuming a substantially uniplanar position when in a relaxed condition, the ends of each of said elements being flexed vertically apart and removably inserted within a pair of vertically spaced bores of said post whereby said elements are placed in tension and will remain in place upon said post.

2. A tree-simulating Christmas card holder as set forth in claim 1 wherein the length of said branch-simulating elements increases from the upper portion of said post to the lower portion thereof so as to provide said holder with a downwardly tapered configuration. v

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 157,082 Patton Jan. 31, 1950 279,810 Richards June 19, 1883 1,038,198 Randall Sept. 10, 1912 1,683,637 Trimpe Sept. 11, 1928 2,708,324 Wedden May 17, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 191,573 Great Britain Ian. 28, 1923 412,322 Great Britain June 28, 1934