US3384227A

US3384227A - Christmas tree lights storage container

Info

Publication number: US3384227A
Application number: US575744A
Authority: US
Inventors: William L Spatz
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1966-08-29
Filing date: 1966-08-29
Publication date: 1968-05-21
Anticipated expiration: 1985-05-21

Description

May 2l, 1968 w. l.. sPATz CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTS STORAGE CONTAINER Filed Aug. 29, 1966 United States Patent O 3,384,227 CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTS STGRAGE CONTAINER William L. Spatz, 1543 Cork Lane, Hazelwood, Mo. 63042 Filed Aug. 29, 1966, Ser. No. 575,744 1 Claim. (Cl. 2015-65) ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A container for storing strings of Christmas tree lights in such manner that the strings can be easily and quickly stored therein or removed therefrom.

Summary of the invention My container is adapted to store a string of Christmas lights of the type which has a plurality of sockets, each detachably receiving a corresponding bulb, and a cable connecting all of the sockets in an electric circuit.

The container comprises an elongated horizontally extending rectangular hollow box sealed at one end and open at the other. The box has upper and lower horizontal walls joined by oppositely disposed parallel vertical horizontally extending side walls. The lower wall has a slot in the center which extends along the direction of elongation. The box is adapted to receive the sockets mounted vertically side by side and resting on top of said slot and on top of the lower wall with the bulbs adjacent but below the upper wall and the cable extending in loops extending downward through the slot below the sockets.

Brief description of the drawings In the drawings:

FIGURE l is a perspective view of one form of my container; FIGURE 2 is a view through 2 2 in FIGURE 1; FIGURE 3 is a view through 3--3 in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective View of the container in FIGURES 1-3 in use; and

FIGURE 5 is a perspective View of a modification of my container.

Referring now to FIGURES 1-4, there is shown a` hollow elongated horizontally extending container having a sealed end and an oppositely disposed open end 12. This container has in cross section the shape of a hollow rectangle and has upper and lower parallel horizontal, horizontally extending

walls

14 and 16 joined by two oppositely disposed vertical parallel horizontally extending

side walls

18 and 20. Lower wall 16 has a centrally disposed slot 22 extending horizontally in the direction of elongation.

A Christmas tree light string has a plurality of sockets 24, each receiving detachably a corresponding bulb 26 and being interconnected by cable 28 disposed in loops 30.

In use, my container is adapted to detachably receive the string by removing each bulb containing socket and associated loop from a tree 32 and placing each socket upright on top of the top surface of the lower wall with the bulb on top of the socket and disposed below the 3,384,227 Patented May 21, i968 ICC upper wall. The loop extends downward through the slot and below the lower wall. Each socket is placed next to the adjacent socket in the container in side by side aligned relationship. The string can be removed from the container by revising the process.

As shown in FiGURE 5, a ilat Z shaped member having a long leg 34 and a transversely extending short leg 38 is disposed parallel and below the lower Wall. Leg 34 is pivotally secured at point 36 intermediate its ends to the bottom surface of the lower wall, whereby the member can be manually positioned in a first position (shown in FIGURE 5) at which leg 38 spans the slot and holds the loops and thus the string in stored position. Alternatively, the member can be swung into a secured position at which leg 2.8 is spaced away from the slot and the string can be freely removed from or stored into the container, a transverse flat coplanar arm 40 secured to the end of leg 34 remote from leg 38 terminates in a vertical stop 42 spaced away from a side wall 20. Spring means 44 interposed between wall 20 and stop 42 to spring bias said member in the rst position.

While I have described my invention with particular reference to the drawings, my protection is to be limited only by the terms of the claims which follows.

Having thus set forth and disclosed the nature of this invention, what is claimed is:

1. A container adopted to store a string of Christmas tree lights cornprisin7 a plurality of sockets, an electric cable connecting all of said sockets in an electric circuit a like plurality of bulbs, each bulbs being detachably secured in a corresponding socket, said container com prising an elongated horizontally extending rectangular hollow box sealed at one end and open at the other end, said box having upper and lower parallel horizontal walls joined oppositely disposed parallel longitudinally extending vertical side walls, said lower wall having a slot in the center and extending longitudinally, said box being adopted to receive said bulb containing sockets mounted vertically side by side and resting on top of said slot and on top of the lower wall with the bulbs adjacent but below the upper wall and said cable extending in loops extending downward through said slot below said sockets, said box further including a flat Z shaped member lying in a plane parallel to the lower wall and positioned therebelow, said member having a long leg pivotally secured to a portion of the lower surface of the lower wall at a point intermediate the ends of the long leg and a short leg extending transversely to the long leg whereby said member can be manually positioned in a iirst position at which the short leg extends across the slot to hold the light string in place and in a second position at which the short leg is spaced away from the slot and the string can be stored into or removed from the box as desired.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,984,347 5/1961 Kalinchuk 206-65 3,115,968 12/1963 Peterson 206-56 MARTHA L. RICE, Primary Examiner.