The present invention relates to a tree stand, in particular a Christmas tree stand according to the preamble of claim 1.
A Christmas tree stand is known from DE 3932473 C2, for example. It comprises a holding vessel on which a plurality of levers, each pivotable about a horizontal axis, is arranged positioned offset in the circumferential direction. The levers are interconnected via a circumferential stay line which leads to a tensioning device. When the tensioning device is actuated, the levers are moved about the respective horizontal axis thereof onto a trunk of a tree, this trunk being inserted into the centre, the levers being arranged and orientated in such a way that the levers are each moved more or less onto the vertical axis of symmetry of a trunk which is to be adjusted.
A corresponding Christmas tree stand is also known from DE 202 18 172 U1. It comprises a housing cover and a housing base having a seam, which are permanently welded together. As a result, the internal chamber is to be sealed off in a liquid-tight manner from the adjacent regions of the stand, so as to create a large space for holding water. This should make it possible to preserve a Christmas tree, which is inserted into the stand and is to be fixed, over as long a period as possible.
A further stand for vertically fixing rod-shaped items is known from DE 38 24 675 A1. It comprises a cup-shaped foot part having a positive-locking cover part having a plurality of passage openings around a centrally-arranged passage opening, which is formed as a guide mounting for an insertion sleeve which is placed on the trunk of the inserted article, for example a Christmas tree. This embodiment requires precise fitting of the inserted article to the insertion sleeve.
Christmas tree stands are also known which dispense with techniques such as cable pull with ratchets, having an insertion region around which a plurality of wing screws having a normal thread pitch are arranged. Stands of this type only have small devices, if any, for watering or are designed as inserts into separate vessels which only have a small base surface and can therefore only fix trees of a limited height securely.
However, all of the so-called functional tree stands known thus far have the drawback that assembling the entire Christmas tree stand, including assembling the holding device having the associated pivot axles, tensioning device etc., is extremely work-intensive, and thus also time-consuming and expensive.
The conventional stands have a relatively tall construction so as to make the tree trunk sufficiently stable, and they thus have high transport costs.
The object of the present invention is to provide a tree stand, in particular a Christmas tree stand, which is improved in this respect, is of a simple construction, optimally absorbs the relevant holding and tensioning forces despite the simple construction, and nevertheless comprises a large holding container for holding water to preserve a tree which is to be fixed.
The object is achieved according to the invention by the features set out in claim 1. The dependent claims set out advantageous configurations of the invention.
The present invention provides a considerable improvement over conventional solutions in a surprisingly simple manner.
The Christmas tree stand according to the invention preferably comprises a circular shell having a circumferential rim, which is arranged on the upper edge and provides dimensional stability of the shell as well as making it possible to fix a plurality of feet arranged spaced apart. A cylindrical container having an insertion opening is preferably provided in the central interior of the shell, and in a first embodiment has a plurality of approximately evenly spaced through-threads for receiving threaded bolts, to the outwards-facing ends of which a toggle of the like is attached and of which the ends facing the central axis are provided with a circumferential notching or a groove.
So as to make the tree stable, by way of as large an upper contact zone as possible of the holding members on the tree stump, and also to achieve as flat a construction as possible for the stand because of the transport costs, easily detachable holding members may be provided which project beyond the stand when inserted into it.
Inside the cylindrical container, in the vertical axis, beneath the through-threads, cams are provided as close as possible to the base, preferably on the internal wall thereof, and together with the notches on the threaded bolts can each receive a holding member in a vertical position. The holding members are preferably provided in the axis thereof with a slot or a plurality of slots, in such a way that they engage the cams from behind and engage in the notches on the threaded bolts, and this means that when the threaded bolts are screwed into the through-threads provided therefor, the holding members remain mounted approximately in the region of the outer wall of the insertion container by the ends thereof facing the base, whilst the contact regions are pressed towards the central axis, i.e. into contact with the trunk.
The cylindrical container should contain a plurality of passage openings for the exchange of liquid towards the shell, and one or more mandrels are provided on the base for fixing the trunk.
The invention provides that the passages in the rim of the insertion container preferably have no thread, in such a way that instead of threaded bolts, push bolts having circumferential protrusions (ribs, springs etc.) which are arranged mutually spaced are provided so as to form between them grooves which preferably have guides on the outwards-facing ends for receiving an extension spring which is preferably guided around the insertion container. The holding members may be fitted with vertically extending slots for rapid assembly or removal, but extend above the contact region thereof, it being possible for the extensions to be bent outwards (towards the stand edge) at an angle of approximately 70°.
The biased spring presses the push bolts through the passage openings provided therefor in the insertion container, and with them the holding members detachably coupled thereto, towards the central axis, resulting in an insertion funnel inside the ends, which now face diagonally upwards and outwards, of the holding members.
If the tree trunk is now inserted into the funnel-shaped opening, the tree trunk slides, driven by the tree's own weight, along the inner faces of the holding members, presses these and the push bolts coupled thereto against the spring tension, further and further from the starting position thereof, until it is definitively standing on the fixing mandrel, which penetrates entirely or in part into the underside of the tree trunk. The tree trunk is now fixed at the underside thereof and pre-fixed in the region of the holding member contact, making it possible to align the tree.
A fixing ring is provided for definitively fixing the tree trunk, by means of the holding members and the push bolts coupled to these members, which fixing ring preferably comprises the upper rim of the insertion container, and preferably has, in the region of the passage openings, slots, preferably extending horizontally, which can be brought into a position overlapping the through-openings on the insertion container. In this position, the push bolts can pass through the through-openings in the fixing and/or locking ring and the through-openings positioned coincidently therewith in the insertion container. By twisting the fixing and/or locking ring, the push bolts can, then be gripped in such a way that they will no longer release a clamped tree trunk. For this purpose an elongate through-opening, extending in the circumferential direction and tapering in the locking direction, is preferably made in the fixing and/or locking ring, and the rim of said elongate through-opening can thus engage in the push bolt in the groove-shaped depressions between two protrusions, securing the push bolt against being urged out away from a tree trunk which is to be fixed. It is also possible to grip the push bolt in such a way that the protrusions and the grooves positioned between them jam against rims or edges in the region of the through-openings on the insertion container etc. Any desired variants are possible in this regard.
As has thus been mentioned above in connection with a preferred embodiment, if the fixing ring is rotated around the insertion container, the limits of the tapering slots are urged in between the protrusions (i.e. projections, ribs, webs, springs etc.); in other words the rim of the tapering slots moves into the grooves between the protrusions, fixing the push bolts in position.
In a development of the invention, a plurality of feet are provided to make the stand particularly stable and are preferably each arranged evenly spaced on the outside, facing away from the stand, for which purpose a circumferentially crimped rim on the stand shell is adapted in particular in that an indentation in the stand foot is slid from the upper side thereof onto the crimped rim from above.
The stand feet, which are preferably arranged so as to be detachable, may be formed in various configurations. The simplest embodiment is a planar stand foot, preferably manufactured from plastics material. To achieve a greater weight of the stand, hollow stand feet may be provided which can be filled with weighting materials such as sand or water.
As a result of a further embodiment, recesses preferably on the undersides of the stand feet may be used to accommodate batteries for the power supply of strings of LED lights or lighting fixtures in the circumferential rim of the stand shell. A further embodiment, which can provided increased stability, is an additional container, which may be partially filled with weighting materials or is itself manufactured from an inherently high-density material, and has a wide, smooth base, and the rim of which impinges on the crimped rim of the stand shell.
The simple final assembly by the consumer of the bulky parts, such as holding members and stand feet, additionally preferably leads to a considerably smaller packaging volume, as a result of which substantially reduced storage and transport costs are achieved. A further saving results from the fact that the entire stand apart from the spring energy store can be made of plastics material.
In the following, the invention is explained in greater detail by way of drawings, in which:
First,
Since the insertion container 2 may be of any shape, i.e. may consist of any desired construction, it is also referred to at least sometimes in the following as an insertion support means 2.
However, the aforementioned holding members 17, 17a, 17b may also be rigidly and undetachably fastened or formed at a suitable position on the inside of the stand shell 1. In principle, it would even be possible to use holding members which were connected to or impinged on by the respective push bolts 18, 18a and 18b, so as to exert pressure on a tree trunk standing in the centre. In the extreme case, the inwardly projecting end-face end of the bolts may act as holding members 17, 17a, 17b, which lie against the external circumference of a tree trunk to be fixed and are held pressed into it.
However, the holding members shown, with the upward funnel-shaped construction thereof, provide increased convenience when introducing a tree trunk to be fixed, as will be described further in the following. In this context, the aforementioned opening angle of 70° is mentioned purely by way of example. Any angle which facilitates the insertion of a tree trunk is suitable. Consequently, the angles may also be as much as 80° or 85°, forming a relatively narrow, sharp funnel, or else may if appropriate be even smaller, for example 65° or 60°.
When a tree trunk is inserted into the funnel-shaped opening of the holding members 17, 17a, 17b, the latter are urged outwards (i.e. away from the central axis) by the end of the trunk and the weight of the tree, moving the push bolts 18, 18a, 18b which are coupled thereto against the spring tension of the spring energy store 23 guided thereon. As a result, and because of the positioning of the tree trunk on a centring mandrel 24, the tree is pre-fixed and can be orientated into its final position. For fixing the tree stably, a fixing ring 25 is provided in accordance with
From the drawings and the described construction, it can also be inferred that the slot-shaped passage openings 26, 26a, 26b need not primarily be tapered to fix the bolts 18, since these passage openings 26, 26a, 26b in the fixing and/or locking ring 25 are arranged coincidently, at least in part, with the passage openings 20 in the rim region of the insertion container 2, it merely being necessary for the slot-shaped passage openings 26, 26a, 26b to be formed and/or arranged in such a way that the portion of the respective passage opening 26 covering or overlapping the container opening 20 decreases in cross-section in such a way that for example a rim portion 126 of the slot-shaped passage openings 26, 26a and 26b engages between two spaced raised portions 21 (protrusions 21), i.e. in a groove 28 between them, blocking and locking the push bolts 18, 18a, 18b against axial displacement.
The aforementioned protrusions 21, sometimes also referred to as rings 21, thus form projections 21 or raised portions 21, which may also for example be referred to web-shaped, rib-shaped, tooth-shaped or ring-shaped raised portions 21, a plurality of which are provided spaced apart, and between which a relatively deep groove 28 is formed. This results in a toothed-rod-like, rib-like or threaded-bolt-like structure having raised portions 21 and groove-shaped depressions 28 in succession. These are provided mutually offset in the longitudinal direction of the push bolts 18 or formed thereon, and as mentioned are preferably orientated at a slight angle (obliquely) to a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the bolts and thus to the longitudinal adjustability of the bolts 18, 18a, 18b, in such a way that in cooperation with the fixing means there is an axial pushing movement towards the tree trunk to be fixed, i.e. at least approximately towards the centrally positioned central or vertical axis (not shown in greater detail), when the fixing means is adjusted into the fixing position. The central or vertical axis rises extending through the centring mandrel 24 (perpendicular to the base surface) of the stand shell 1.
In principle, the push bolts 18, 18a, 18b may be of any desired construction. As mentioned, the use of screw bolts is even suitable in some cases, since they comprise teeth, springs and the like, which may be referred to as spaced protrusions or spaced projections 21, projecting through the threaded passage, between which grooves are formed in which a rim 126 of a passage opening, tapered as a whole, can engage in a groove formed between two tooth-shaped or spring-shaped protrusions of this type.
The fixing and locking ring 25 does not require any separate guide means to hold it on the outer circumference of the insertion container 2, since the push bolts 18, which pass through the corresponding openings in the fixing ring and in the upper rim region of the insertion container 2, ensure that the fixing and locking ring 25 cannot fall down or be pulled upwards. At this point, it is also noted that a corresponding fixing ring can in principle also be arranged internally in the insertion container 2, with otherwise identical or comparable operation, if corresponding requirements on the adjustment are to be met.
In the variant of
In the variant of
The variant of
The following refers to a modification according to
In this embodiment, on the one hand, the passage openings 20 in the upper rim region of the insertion container 2, i.e. in the upper rim region of the insertion support means 2, are sized considerably larger than the cross-sectional dimensions of a push bolt 18 engaging in them. Likewise, the slot-shaped or slot-like passage opening 26 in the fixing and/or locking ring 25 is sized larger; at least in the release position, than the cross-section of the push bolt 18, which in this embodiment has a rectangular or square cross-section and is provided with the corresponding rib-like projections and protrusions 21, i.e. raised portions 21, and the grooves 28 formed between them merely on two opposite sides, in this case the upper and lower sides 118a, 118b.
For this purpose, the aforementioned adjustment ring 25 rotates into the locking position, the push bolt 18 being adjusted from the release position thereof according to
The tilting movement of the respective push bolt 25, produced during the locking process upon rotating the fixing and locking ring 25, pivots downwards the front end thereof which acts on the holding members 17, the holding members being orientated extending obliquely outwards in relation to the lower fixing position (anchoring) thereof, resulting in an additional small pivot movement and pivot force being exerted on the holding lever 17 towards the central axis. This leads to force-increasing fixation of a tree trunk when the fixing ring is adjusted into the locking position.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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20 2009 001 127.5 | Jan 2009 | DE | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/EP2010/000522 | 1/28/2010 | WO | 00 | 7/29/2011 |