US2761641A - Christmas tree stand - Google Patents

Description

' P 1956 R. LUBBERS CHRISTMAS TREE STAND Filed Aug. 1, 1952 INVENTOR. Rs/vso 4055595 United States Patent CHRISTMAS TREE STAND Renso Lubbers, Petoskey, Mich. Application August 1, 1952, Serial No. 302,097 2 Claims. (Cl. 24847) The present invention relates to a stand for supporting a Christmas tree or the like and more particularly to such a stand wherein the weight of the tree provides the force to hold the tree within the stand.

It has long been desirable to have a Christmas tree stand which can be easily and quickly applied without having to first trim oif branches from the lower end of the tree trunk and to shape the trunk to fit the stand.

The desirable stand should also be readily adjustable to compensate for irregularities in the vertical alignment of the tree as well as for an irregularly shaped cross sectional trunk. v

The stand also should preferably be operable quickly and easily by one person.

Some prior attempts to provide such a stand have involved a stand wherein legs are attached to a cup which receives the lower end of the tree trunk, said legs being so attached that when the trunk is set in the cup the legs are pivoted until the upper ends thereof engage the trunk above the cup.

Such stands, however, usually require two persons to operate, one person to hold the legs in an upright position and another person to insert the tree trunk between the legs and into the cup.

The prior art stands also have usually utilized a cup portion essentially conical in shape so that a tree trunk having an irregular cross section can not be placed therein but must first be shaped to fit centrally in the cup.

It is accordingly one object of the present invention to provide a Christmas tree stand which can be attached to a tree without having first to trim away lower branches and to shape the trunk to fit the stand.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a Christmas tree stand utilizing a cup to which legs are pivotally attached wherein the legs are normally held in an upright position so that the lower end of the tree trunk can be inserted between the legs and into the cup without having the upper ends of the legs cat-ch on the trunk during the operation.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a Christmas tree stand having a trunk receiving cup that will accommodate tree trunks having an irregular cross section.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a Christmas tree stand which provides a means to compensate for vertical misalignment of the tree trunk.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a Christmas tree stand wherein the tree is firmly and positively held within the stand by the force of the weight of the tree.

Other objects of this invention will appear in the following description and appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several views.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the Christmas tree stand of the present invention with a portion of one leg broken away to show the arrangement of the leg spring.

Fig. 2 is a top view of the central spider member of the Christmas tree stand of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the spring finger shown in Fig. 1 attached to the upper end of the legs of the stand.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the leg spring shown in place in Fig. 1.

Before explaining the present invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology orterminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. l.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 shows the Christmas tree stand of the present invention which comprises the munication between cup 14 and a container for water around cup 14. If

which may be placed under and desired hole 20 may be closed with a screw (as shown in Fig. 1) and cup 14 may be used for Water thus dispensing with a separate container. The holes 22 are provided in the ends of arms 16 to receive the belts or pins 24 (Fig. 1) which pivotally connect the legs 12 to the arms 16.

The leg spring 26 (Fig. 4) is attached as shown in Fig. 1 to normal-1y hold the leg 12 in an upright position. The spring 26 is formed of spring wire. The angle 28 thereof is disposed under bolt 24 (Fig. 1), the ends 30 are hooked over arm 16, and the loop end 32 engages the inside of leg 12. It can therefore 'be seen that spring 26 will normally hold the legs 12 at approximately a right angle to arms 16 of spider member 10 so that a tree trunk may be inserted between the legs 12 and into the cup 14.

The legs 12 are preferably of cast construction and of V-shaped cross section. The bosses 34 are provided to facilitate the pivotal attachment of the legs 12 with the ends of the arm-s 16. The lower end of leg 12 is filled and rounded to form a foot portion 12a. The upper end of leg 12 is cut at an angle so that the V-shaped cross section forms the points 12b to engage the tree trunk.

The spring finger 36 (Fig. 3) is formed to fit on the upper end of leg 12. As shown in Fig. 1 the finger portion 37 extends over the upper end of leg 12 and the ends 38 of the band portion snap into notches provided on the inner edges of leg 12. When the tree trunk is being inserted into the cup 14 the points 12b will not catch on the trunk because they are protected by spring finger 36. However, when the end of the trunk engages in cup 14 the weight of the tree on the spider 10 pivots the legs. 12 against the action of springs 26 forcing the upper ends of legs 12 to engage the tree trunk. The force thus exerted on the finger portion 37 of spring finger 36 will push the finger portion 37 down inside leg 12 and the points 12b will dig into the trunk giving a firm and positive attachment of the stand to the tree.

It is believed apparent that any vertical misalignment of the tree can be compensated for by changing the point at which the upper end of any of the legs 12 engages the tree trunk.

From the io'regoingit'can-be seen that I have provided a -Christmas tree-stand which -can bequickly --and easily attached to a tree by one person without trimming away the lower branches of the tree or shaping the trunk to fit the=stand, "which can readily accommodate tree trunks of irregular cross section, which-is adjustable tocornpensate for "vertical misalignment-bf the tree and wherein the weight of the tree provides the force necessary to hold-the tree firmly withinsaidstand.

'Havingtthus described myinvention l claim:

1. A stand for supporting a Christmas tree or the like-comprising a central spider 'mem'berhaving arms extending radially therefrom in a horizontal plane, legs pivotally attached intermediate their ends to the distal ends of said-arms and extending above and below said spider member, springs bearing-between said legs and saidarms and engaging said legs at a point above the pivotal attachment between the legsand'arms to initially restrain movement of the upper "portions of the said legs toward the vertical axis er said spider member thereby yieldingly holding .the upperends of said legs a sufficient distance apart to allow insertion of a tree trunk therebetween and permitting 'the lower portions ofsaid legs to diverge outwardly from the vertical'axis of the said spider member upon insertion of a tree trunk between the upper ends of said legs and into engagement with said spider member.

2. A stand for supporting a Christmas tree or the like and comprising a cup 'to'rece'ive the end of the trunk of said -tree,-arms extending-radially from said cup near the top thereof in a horizontal plane, legs pivotallyat- 'tached intermediatetheir ends to the distal-ends of said arms and extending above andbelow said cup,'springs bearing between the upper surface of said arms and the inner surface-of said legs and engaging said legs at a point above the pivotal attachment of said legs to initially restrain movement of the upper portions of said legs toward the vertical axis of said cup thereby yieldingly holding the upper ends of said legs a sufficient distance apart to allow insertion of the said tree trunk therebetween but permitting the lower portions thereof to diverge on insertion of the said tree trunk between the upper ends of said legs and into said "cap, each of said legs having an open channel formed on the inner surface thereof near the upper end thereof and a spring finger afiixed atone "end to the outer-surface of each-0f said legs with the free -.'end thereof extending over the upper end of the leg to prevent the upper end of said leg from catching on said tree trunk as it is being inserted into said stand, the free ends of said spring fingers being adapted to be forced down into the said channelportions'of said legs'upon 'the pivoting of the upper ends ofthe legs into firm engagement with said tree trunk.

ReferencesCited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS $650,052 Bintz Aug. 25, 11-953

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