US3044201A - Artificial tree branch - Google Patents

Description

July 17, 1962 M. J. LALlCK ARTIFICIAL TREE BRANCH Filed March 28, 1960 INVENTOR. Moms; f/mme BY United States PatentOf 3,044,201 ARTIFICIAL TREE BRANCH Michael J. Lalick, 3711 W. 97th St., Evergreen Park, Ill. Filed Mar. 28, 1960, Ser. No. 17,928 2 Claims. (Cl. 4115) My invention relates to improvements in artificial tree branches and in the method of making the same.

My invention relates more particularly to the method of making an artificial tree branch which is made by applying a metal foil fingered strip spirally about a rod base from one end to a point adjacent the other end, so that the completed branch may simulate a branch having needles thereon.

The principal object of the present invention is to make an improved artificial branch.

A further object of the invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a tree branch of the type described which results in fast and uniform construction of branches, and one by which the winding of the metal foil strip upon the base rod will require a minimum of time and efiort.

Artificial tree branches of the type to which I refer have been generally shown and described in prior patents in which a metal foil fingered strip is spirally wound on a base rod, the strip being attached at various points throughout its length by applying spots of adhesive to the rod, beginning with the end where the foil wrapping begins and finishing with a spot of adhesive at the point where the foil covering of the rod ends.

In making the artificial tree branches above described, it has been found difiicult to have uniformly formed branches, as in the art of making the same by manual efforts, different operators apply spots of glue at difierent points throughout the length of the rod and in dilferent quantities in a more or less haphazard fashion, so that in a group of branches which have been made by difierent operators there will be a considerable lack of uniformity.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an artificial tree branch so constructed that the metal foil strip that is wound on the same may be regularly spaced throughout its length and held in the exact spacing during use. A further object of the invention is to provide holding means at the point or tip of the branch for preventing outward pulling at the end to loosen the metal foil strip on the branch.

This application is directed to subject matter generally similar to that shown in my co-pending application, Serial No. 4,338 filed January 25, 19460.

The objects and advantages of this invention will be Y more apparent from the following description wherein reference is made to the accompanying drawings, upon which: Y

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a strip of the slitted foil which I employ;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of one of the metal branch rods;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of a branch rod that has been worked upon to provide holding devices for the foil strip thereon;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a modified form of tip construction;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of a branch rod constructed with a spiral thread throughout the length that the metal foil is placed; and

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of a branch made in accordance with this invention.

In the embodiment of the invention which I have chosen to illustrate and describe the same, I have shown in FIG. 1 a fragmentary portion of a roll of fingered foil strip 10 that may have the longitudinal edge portion 3,044,201 Patented July 17, 1962 12 along one side of the same and slitted strips or fingers 14 which extend from the edge 12 to the opposite side of the strip. The strip as thus provided is well known in the art and may be cut in a variety of different ways, but it is preferably cut with a shearing action so that eachof the fingers has a partial spiral turn therein throughout its longitudinal length, as shown in FIG. 1.

The branch rod 16 which I employ may be a metal rod of desired length and comparatively small diameter and may be deformed to provide fastening means for foil both at the tip 20 where a plurality of outwardly extending claws 22 may be formed by cutting into the metal towards its upper end to bend the claws outwardly, the rod also having spaced claw members 24 generally throughout the length of the same that is used for winding the foil. The lower end of the foil is preferably fastened over a plurality of claw members 26 that are formed in the rod 16 in a circle to effectively hold the lower end of a foil band that has been wrapped on' the rod. The lower end 28 of the rod is of course shoved into a suitable opening in the trunk of a tree to be formed, and thus the branch is frictionally held in position.

I have also found that by constructing the upper end 20 of the branch rod 16 with a vertical slit 30, and claws or prongs 32, a beginning portion of the edge 12 may be inserted in the slit 30 and then wound about the tip 20 with the walls being pierced by the prongs 32 to effectively hold the same both against removal and against withdrawal in an endwise direction.

In FIG. 5 I have shown a branch rod 16 which may have a tip 20 with a slit 30 therein in which the lips 32 may be bent toward each other after insert-ion of the edge portion 12 to hold the same, the edge portion 12 of the strip then being spirally wound around the rod 16 in a shallow parallel edged spiral groove 36 extending the length of the space which is to be covered with foil. In this construction again, the lower end of the foil strip 12 is fastened over the claws or prongs 36 wedged out near the lower end of the branch rod.

From the foregoing description it can be seen that in addition to the method of fastening the metal strip 10 on a branch rod shown and described in my previous application, I have added the various methods of fastening the foil that are shown in this application. By using the spiral groove as shown in FIG. 5 of the drawings, the exact spacing of the spiral winding of the foil strip may be determined so that each branch will be in eifect equal to the other, and it will thus be easy to compute the exact amount of metal foil used for making a desired number of branches. I

While my previous application is directed generally to metal fingered strip foil of such temper that when the foil strip is pressed around corners it will hold the bend and keep its fixed formation, the present application is directed to metal foil strips that are resilient to a degree of such temper that the edge strip and the fingers will spring back to normal position when released. This tension is now required in the metal foil, due to new methods of packing wherein branches are compressed in paper sleeves or tubes and the fingers must spring back to normal fullness when the branch is removed from its retaining sleeve.

I contemplate that changes and modifications may be made in the exact details shown and I do not wish to be limited in any particular; rather what I desire to secure and protect by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a branch for an artificial tree, a stem formed of a metal rod having a slit formed at one end coincident with the axis of said rod, a first group of claw members formed integral with the rod and extending about the periphery of the rod in a circle and in the region of said slit, a second group of claw members formed integral with the rod and extending about the periphery of the rod in a circle and in spaced relation to said first group of claw members, and a plurality of claw members formed integral with the rod and arranged in spaced relation between said'two groups of claw members.

2 In a branch for an artificial tree according to claim 1', wherein a fingered foil strip is wrapped about the stem to simulate tree branch foliage.

7 References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Lewis Mar. 10, 1925 Raymond May 17, 1938 Harris May 6, 1952 Hankus' June 9, 1959

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