Artificial Christmas tree stand
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention provides a symmetrical and attractive stand for holding artificial Christmas trees of a broad range of sizes and heights. There is a problem in providing a Christmas tree holder that is both simple, attractive to look at, and easy to dismantle and store when not in use. A number of prior art devices are known for holding either real or artificial Christmas trees in which the clamping devices incorporated in the stand may be described as generally pivotally retained and in which the locking is achieved through a tilting movement of each of the gripping legs. Examples of this type of holder are shown in Danner, U.S. Pat. No. 1,714,498 issued on May 28, 1929 for &#34;Christmas Tree Holder&#34;; Krick, U.S. Pat. No. 694,867 issued on Mar. 4, 1902 for &#34;Stand&#34;; and Hollander, U.S. Pat. No. 2,014,896 issued on Sept. 17, 1935 for &#34;Christmas Tree and Staff Holder&#34;. The prior art devices are subject to the problem that a low center of gravity is not maintained to provide a stable mounting. In most cases, complex threaded or other clamping devices are required to fasten the tree stem to the base. Also, it will be seen from the known prior art that Christmas tree stands generally contain a number of connecting and coacting parts and are thus not attractive so that they require decorative coverings of paper and the like in order to make them presentable for use in the house. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention includes a stand with a central opening having a tapered bottom and a tapered adapter which is slidably moveable up and down the artificial tree stem to allow the trunk to seat on the tapered bottom formed in the stand. The tapered adapter is then pushed downwardly on the stem and into the central opening. It then tightens about the stem and in the tree stand at the same time. Then, if a downward pressure is applied to the stand and an upward lifting movement is applied to the stem at the same time, the tree stem will readily become released for disassembly. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Reference is now made to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification in which similar characters and numerals of reference represent corresponding parts in all the different figures and in which: 
     FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the apparatus showing the stand in cross section; 
     FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the stand with the tree removed; 
     FIG. 3 is a side elevational view showing the adapter used with the stand; 
     FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the section line 4--4 of FIG. 3; and 
     FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the section line 5--5 of FIG. 3. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     FIG. 1 shows an artificial Christmas tree 10 fixed in a stand 12. The tree 10 includes a stem 14 and a number of limbs 16 which may or may not be removable to facilitate storage. It will be seen that the stand 12 is of a generally hemispheric configuration and it is typically formed from a high strength plastic material. The stand 12 further includes a centrally located, tapered opening 18 having a tapered bottom portion 20. The stem 14 is retained in place in the opening 18 by the action of a collar 22 better shown in FIGS. 3-5 hereinafter. The collar adapter 22, as best shown in FIGS. 3-5, includes a plurality of downwardly extending, rectangular cutout portions 24. FIGS. 4 and 5 show these to be four in number but the invention is not limited to this exact embodiment. Three or perhaps five may be used depending on the resilience of the material of the adapter 22. It will be understood that the adapter 24, in its unrestricted or free condition, is freely slidable up and down the tree stem 14. 
     As best shown in FIG. 5, the lower edge of the collar 22 also includes a plurality of upwardly disposed, rectangular cutout portions 26. While FIG. 5 shows the cutout portions 26 to be four in number, the invention is not so limited but three, five or perhaps different numbers could be used. It will also be seen that the outside periphery of the collar 22 is itself downwardly tapered. This facilitates introduction of the collar into the opening 18 of the stand 12. 
     In inserting the tree 10 into the stand, the adapter 22 is first slid upwardly on the stem 14. The bottom of the stem 14 is then inserted into the opening 18 until it seats on the tapered bottom 20. The adapter is then pushed downwardly on the stem 14 into the upper end of the opening 18. This will cause the adapter 22 to tighten both against the periphery of the opening 18 and about the periphery of the tree stem 14. This insures a secure seating of the end of the stem 14 in the stand 12. The entire assembly is readily releasable by simply lifting up on the tree stem 14 and application of a slight pressure of hand or foot against the upper surface of the stand 12. 
     It will thus be seen that we have provided by our invention a greatly improved and simplified stand for artificial Christmas trees or the like.