Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Three dimension imitation or 'treated' natural product – Flora
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-04
2001-03-13
Jones, Deborah (Department: 1775)
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Three dimension imitation or 'treated' natural product
Flora
C428S542800, C428S009000, C428S018000, C428S012000, C493S956000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06200656
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an artificial tree, such as an artificial Christmas tree, which is easy to assemble and disassemble, and when disassembled occupies a small amount of space which facilitates storage.
2. Description of Background Information
Artificial trees, such as artificial Christmas trees, have been known for many years and have been formed in various manners. In particular, such artificial trees are known to be formed from a number of natural and synthetic materials to provide individual branches which may be removably mounted or hingedly mounted to a central pole resembling a tree trunk. These known trees are thus disassembled by removing the branches or collapsed by folding the branches. However, such known trees are often difficult to assemble and disassemble, or assembly and disassembly is time consuming, and/or the disassembled condition of the tree occupies a large amount of space making storage difficult and costly.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention relates to a relatively problem-free, readily assembled artificial tree such as a Christmas tree. The artificial tree of the present invention can be quickly assembled, often in as little time as 30 seconds, and can be equally quickly disassembled. Furthermore, upon disassembly, the artificial tree of the present invention occupies a relatively compact space which is significantly smaller than previously known artificial trees. Thus, the artificial tree of the present invention is also easy to store.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a tree element or tree-shaped device is provided which includes a central generally disc-shaped member and a plurality of generally annular rings, with the rings being concentric to the central disc-shaped member and to one another. The central disc-shaped member and the rings, in the operative position, are positioned in a vertically spaced, tiered array, with the central disc-shaped member at an uppermost position such that the tiered array is configured to have a tree-shape. A plurality of connecting strips connect each tier of the array to a next adjacent tier of the array. Moreover, the outer perimeter of each ring, in a lower next adjacent tier of the array, is greater than that of the ring positioned thereabove, and the inner perimeter of each ring in a lower next adjacent tier of the array is about the same dimension as the outer perimeter of the ring position there above.
In another aspect of the invention, the disc-shaped member and the concentric rings may be formed from a unitary sheet of material. The material may be any thin sheet of material suitable for forming such a tree-shaped device, including paper, paper board, cardboard, synthetic plastic material, metallic material such as aluminum, or any other suitable material. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the material forming the tree-shaped device is formed from a thin sheet of synthetic plastic material.
According to another aspect of the invention, the plurality of connecting strips which connect each tier of the array to a next adjacent tier are formed from the same unitary sheet of material from which the disc-shaped member and the concentric rings are formed. Additionally, the disc-shaped member and the concentric rings may be formed by providing a plurality of discontinuous generally spiral slits in the sheet of material between the generally disc-shaped member and a next adjacent ring, and between each respective adjacent ring, to define the outer perimeters of the generally disk-shaped member and each of the concentric rings, except for an outermost ring, and also to define the inner perimeters of each concentric ring. Additionally, the plurality of discontinuous generally spiral slits also define the plurality of connecting strips. Furthermore, the unitary sheet of material may be formed as a thin circular sheet of material.
In another aspect of the present invention, the artificial tree may further include a central pole adapted to be fixed at one end to the disc-shaped member for supporting the tree-shaped device in an operative position. However, the tree-shaped device may be supported in its operative position by any appropriate means, such as by suspending the disc-shaped member from above, such as by hanging. Additionally, the pole may be configured at one end to facilitate insertion into a support surface. For example, the pole may have a tapered or pointed end whereby the plie may be positioned merely by pushing the pointed end of the pole into the ground. Alternatively, a stand may be provided having radiating legs and a central support member to receive the lower end of the pole for supporting the tree-shaped device in a conventional manner.
According to a further aspect of the invention, the artificial tree may further include a centering device which is adapted to engage at least one of the rings and to cooperate with the pole to center a lower portion of the tiered array with respect to the pole to thereby maintain the balance of the tree. Furthermore, the centering device may include a circular portion for engagement with the lower portion of the tiered array, a central member for engaging the pole, and a plurality of spacer elements extending radially between the circular portion and the central member.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a blank is provided for forming a tree-shaped device. The blank is formed of a sheet of relatively rigid, resilient material that is provided with a plurality of generally concentric, spaced arrays of discontinuous generally spiral slits. The spaced arrays of slits define a central, generally circular disc-shaped member, a plurality of generally annular rings, and a plurality of spirally arranged hinge strips unitarily formed between adjacent ones of the generally disc-shaped member and each of the generally annular rings. Thus, the generally disc-shaped member and at least one ofthe generally annular rings are capable of being moved away from one another to form a vertically spaced tiered array with the hinge strips providing the spacing between the tiers of the tiered array. The sheet of relatively rigid, resilient material may be formed as a thin, generally circular disc. Furthermore, the generally circular disc may be formed from any suitable material and preferably is formed from a thin sheet of synthetic plastic material. Furthermore, each slit of each of the spaced arrays of spiral slits overlaps another slit of each spaced array of spiral slits.
In another aspect of the present invention, a method of making a display device is provided. The method includes providing a sheet of relatively rigid, resilient material, providing the sheet with a plurality of generally concentric spaced arrays of discontinuous generally spiral slits arranged to define a central, generally circular disc-shaped member, a plurality of generally annular rings, and a plurality of spirally arranged hinge strips between adjacent ones of the generally disc-shaped member and each said annular ring. The method also includes moving the generally disc-shaped member and at least one of the generally annular rings away from one another to form a generally conically shaped, vertically spaced tiered array. The method may further include providing the slits in each spaced array of the spiral slits to overlap with at least one other slit in each spaced array.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1162230 (1915-11-01), Foster
patent: 2395578 (1946-02-01), Pergande
patent: 3677867 (1972-07-01), Westlund
patent: 3931948 (1976-01-01), Mason, Jr.
patent: 4746022 (1988-05-01), Benham
patent: 5085901 (1992-02-01), Johnson et al.
patent: 5486386 (1996-01-01), Rovsek
Merriam-Webster's Coillegiate Dictionary-10th ed., 1999 (No Month), p. 1105.
Boss Wendy
Greenblum & Bernstein P.L.C.
Jones Deborah
Wellpak Technical Development Limited
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