GB2460292A - Two-dimensional Christmas tree - Google Patents

Abstract

A two-dimensional Christmas tree 10 comprises a sheet of flexible sheet material together with a rigid supporting frame. The frame consists of a number of pieces (40, 42, 46; fig 3) which can be connected together and to the sheet material at the rear face thereof eg in pockets (44, fig 3) to provide support. The tree can be freestanding or hung from a door or wall in which case a hook (30. fig 2a) may be provided. The frame can be disassembled and the sheet folded/rolled up for storage. The front of the sheet can have decorations 14; LED lights 18 and pockets 20 for gifts.

Description

Christmas tree ornament This invention relates to a decorative ornament, in the shape of a Christmas tree.

Artificial Christmas trees are known which can be disassembled, stored and reused in following years. However these trees are heavy and take up much volume even when disassembled. Such trees are too bulky and heavy to pack in luggage when travelling, for example when travelling by air. S...

The inventor of the present invention has realised that there is a need for an easily transportable Christmas tree which is light and does not take up much room when stored in baggage, or when it is assembled, for example in a hotel room when travelhng.

Accordingly, the invention provides an ornament in the shape of a Christmas tree, the ornament comprising: flexible sheet material of substantially two dimensional form providing a front viewing face and a rear face, having an outline of a Christmas tree and being rollable or foldable for storage; and a rigid frame including a plurality of pieces storable with the sheet material, connectable together and being connected or connectable to the sheet material at least at a peripheral area of the rear face for providing support for the sheet material to substantially maintain said two dimensional Christmas tree form.

In an embodiment, the ornament includes a hook attached or attachable to the frame or the sheet material at or adjacent an upper region of the ornament for suspending the ornament.

Alternatively, the ornament includes a base rigidly connected or connectable to the frame for supporting the ornament in a generally upstanding manner.

In one embodiment the flexible sheet material is a fabric such as felt.

In an embodiment the ornament includes integral decorations on a front face of the tree shape. Alternatively or as well as, discrete decorations, for example, formed from sheet material of a visually contrasting colour to the colour of the front face, may be provided. The front face may have means for *. S attaching said discrete decorations to the tree.

* 10 In an embodiment the means for attaching said discrete decorations S..

comprises either a loop extending from the front face or a cut or aperture in the sheet material in or through which an element of one of the discrete decorations may be located or passed.

Alternatively said discrete decorations may include a self-adhesive layer for attaching to the tree.

Conveniently the tree includes a plurality of illuminations having an electrical supply carried by one or more conductors extending from a power supply.

It may be that the illuminations include bulbs or LEDs which may extend from a rear face through the sheet material to provide light in use viewable from the front face. Additionally the illuminations may have associated electrical conductors extending on or adjacent the rear face or the frame.

Preferably a switch is provided to interrupt the supply. Preferably the battery and/or switch are mounted to the rear face.

In one embodiment, the sheet material includes a plurality of pockets for accepting objects such as gifts. The pockets may include a cover flap.

The invention can be put into effect in various ways, two embodiments of the invention only being described below, with the aid of the drawings, wherein:-Figure 1 shows a floor-mounted ornament in the form of a Christmas tree; Figure 2a shows a hanging ornament in the form of a Christmas tree; Figure 2b shows a hook for use with the ornament shown in Figure 2a; :.:: and Figure 3 shows a rear view of the ornament shown in Figure 1.

Referring to Figure 1 there is shown a Christmas tree 10 of a substantially flat, two dimensional form, such that it does not take up a significant amount of *:*. space, particularly if it is positioned against a wall. Only the front face 12 of the tree is shown in Figure 1.

The tree 10, at its front face 12 is made from a flexible sheet material, in this instance a non-woven polyester felt material 11.

Attached to the felt 11 are various decorations 14, which are either held by means of adhesive or loops 16 which extend from the front face 12. The tree includes also illuminations 18 (only some of which have been referenced) in the form of LEDs inserted through small holes in the felt material 11. Further decorations 19 are printed, for example screen-printed, to the front face 12.

The tree include pockets 20 (only one of which is shown) which are attached to the felt 11. The pockets can be used to hold small gifts or the like.

The flaps 22 of the pockets 20 may have indicia thereon so, for example, the tree can act as an advent calendar where 25 pockets are included on the tree and the indicia are numbers from I to 25.

In an embodiment the ornament 10 includes also a two-dimensional base area 24 resembling a tree holder. The ornament 10 includes also a base 26 for supporting the ornament on a flat surface 28.

Figure 2a shows an ornament 10' similar to the ornament 10 shown in Figure 1. In the embodiment shown in Figure 2a the ornament 10 has no base 26. Instead, it is provided with a hook 30 for hanging the ornament, for example from a cupboard door.

* 10 Figure 2b shows the hook 30 in more detail. Hook 30 is manufactured * from a strip of bendable material, for example, a strip of aluminium. The hook is *:*. intended to be supplied in a generally flat condition and, if required, bent into position by the user, for example, to form a hook shape 32 as shown in Figure 2b. If left flat an aperture 36 can be used to hang the ornament 10 from a suitable peg or pin. Tabs 34 which locate around the top of a spine 40 to grip that spine. Spine 40 will be described further below.

Figure 3 shows the rear face of the ornament 10. It will be appreciated that the rear face of the ornament 10' will be similar in construction to the arrangement shown in Figure 3.

The rear face 13 includes a number of peripheral pockets 44 into which are slid tubular plastic support arms 42. Support arms 42 are fitted at their inner ends to one of a number of moulded plastics "T" pieces 46, which in turn are mounted to a tubular plastics central spine 40. Centre spine 40 in this instance is connected to the base member 26 to provide upstanding support for the ornament 10. Alternatively, for the suspended ornament 10' the hook 30 shown in chain dotted lines may be attached to the spine 40 by means of engagement of the tabs 34 shown in Figure 2b with the spine 40. The spine 40 is formed from a plurality of pieces each connectable to a respective "T" piece.

The ornament 10 includes a battery and switch 50 for supplying LEDs 18 via a conductor 52 which supplies each of the LEDs 18. The conductor 52, in this case an electrical wire pair, is attached to the rear face 13 of the ornament 10. * * *S.*

With this arrangement it can be seen that the felt tree 11 is supported by * 10 the support arms 42 and central spine 40, connected by the central "T" pieces *:::* 46, together forming a frame member, and that the frame member is * disconnectable from the felt material 11 and the frame members can be stored * * * * ** with the folded or rolled felt 11. Thus, a fully portable Christmas tree can be provided which is easy to assemble and does not take up significant space.

Additional decoration can be added to the front face 12 of the tree, if desired.

It will be apparent to the skilled addressee that many variants and modifications are possible within the ambit of the invention. For example, the material described could be replaced by other suitable materials which could be man-made or natural. The outline of the Christmas tree could take any form and need not be pyramidal in shape. The frame 40 described and illustrated could be replaced by another support, for example a rigid triangular shape could be used which extends around the whole periphery of the ornament, for example within a peripheral seam. In that instance the frame member could be a resilient material such a spring steel which could be deformed into a smaller area and would spring to its original shape when released. A conductor 52 is shown for supplying each light 18, however, it is possible that the frame member 40 could replace the conductor 52. It is envisaged that the tree will be approximately I.5m to 2m high, however, other sizes are possible. To enhance the appeal of the tree, it is intended that it will be impregnated, for example using a spray, with the fragrance of a real Christmas tree, and/or of traditional Christmas smells.

Thus a pine resin fragrance can be sprayed onto the tree, together with other * ** * * S smells, if desired, such as spices, citrus etc. * .5.

*:*. The attaching of the ornaments to the tree could be accomplished using * 10 ferro-magnetic materials. Illumination of the tree could be further enhanced by ** *:::* affixing crystals in front of the LEDs described to cause propagation of the lights *:*. from the LEDS in a multitude of distinct rays of light, to emulate stars.

Claims (17)

1. Claims 1. An ornament in the shape of a Christmas tree, the ornament comprising: flexible sheet material of substantially two dimensional form providing a front viewing face and a rear face, having an outline of a Christmas tree and being rollable or foldable for storage; and a rigid frame including a plurality of pieces storable with the sheet material, connectable together and being connected or connectable to the sheet material at least at a peripheral area of the rear face for providing support for the sheet material to substantially maintain said two dimensional Christmas tree form.
2. 2. An ornament as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ornament further includes a hook attached or attachable to the frame or the sheet material at or adjacent an upper region of the ornament for suspending the ornament.
3. 3. An ornament as claimed in claim I or 2, wherein the ornament further includes a base rigidly connected or connectable to the frame for supporting the ornament in a generally upstanding manner.
4. 4. An ornament as claimed in claims 1, 2 or 3, wherein the flexible sheet material is a fabric. * .

   *5** . . .
5. 5. An ornament as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the S. * ornament includes integral decorations on a front face of the tree shape. S..
6. 6. An ornament as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein S...::: discrete decorations formed from sheet material of a visually contrasting colour to the colour of the front face, are provided.
7. 7. An ornament as claimed in claim 6, wherein the front face has means for attaching said discrete decorations to the tree shape.
8. 8. An ornament as claimed in claim 7, wherein the means for attaching said discrete decorations comprises either a loop extending from the front face or a cut or aperture in the sheet material in or through which an element of one of the discrete decorations is located or passed.
9. 9. An ornament as claimed in claim 8, wherein said discrete decorations include a self-adhesive layer for attaching to the tree shape.
10. 10. An ornament as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the ornament includes a plurality of illuminations having an electrical supply carried* by one or more conductors extending from a power supply.
11. 11. An ornament as claimed in claim 10, wherein the illuminations include bulbs or LEDs which extend from the rear face through the sheet material to provide light in use viewable from the front face.
12. 12. An ornament as claimed in claim 11, wherein the illuminations have associated electrical conductors extending on or adjacent the rear face or the frame.
13. 13. An ornament as claimed in claims 10, 11 or 12, wherein a switch is : provided to interrupt the supply. *.. .

    S.'.
14. 14. An ornament as claimed in claim 13, wherein the battery and/or switch are mounted to the rear face. S..
15. 15. An ornament as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the S...: sheet material includes a plurality of pockets on its front face for accepting * objects such as gifts.
16. 16. An ornament as claimed in claim 15, wherein the pockets include a cover flap.
17. 17. An ornament substantially as described herein, optionally with reference to the drawings. * I I *I I *** * I * Ij* S. I . * I. * II. **55I I... S. S * I I I 5$