Patent Publication Number: US-2004056162-A1

Title: Hanger for suspending an ornament from a tree branch

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001] Field of the invention: The present invention relates to a hanger construction designed for suspending an ornament or decorative object or the like from a tree branch, and more particularly, to such a hanger having jaws urged into a load bearing interlocking engagement with the wood or twisted wire substitute of a Christmas tree branch.  
       [0002] Description of the prior art: The well known ornament hanger made of bent wire for suspending a tree ornament from a branch of a Christmas tree has a weight sustaining capacity limited by the bent configuration and the flexibility of the wire. The hanger is provided with a hook shaped end partly wrap about the tree branch and reversely bent loop to receive the wire bail of the ornament. Conventional glass ornaments are of such in insignificant weight that the bent wire hanger will not normally elastically deform when used to suspend the glass ornament from a Christmas tree branch. When the hooked shaped end of the hanger is separated from the wood or twisted wire of a Christmas tree branch, the ornament is highly suitable to unwanted release and consequence breakage. Prized and valuable decorative ornament is placed at risk of damage or destruction unless great care is exercised to securely attache the hooked end about the tree branch. Sometimes it is necessary to relocate the attachment to assure a freely suspended relation of the ornament from the tree branch without interference with underlying branches. The ornament hanger made of thin wire has the advantage of a minimal viability, which enhances the appearance value of the ornament. U.S. Pat. No. 6,155,526 discloses a hanging device made from bent wire notably with a coiled portion with increasing radii spiraling around an end such that as more weight is applied, the spiral unwinds and tightens around the support member that the device hangs on. U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,466 discloses an ornament hook with an integral circular portion into which a twig or rod is inserted and then a horizontal leg portion is used to move a locking portion from which it extends into a locking position with a depending ornament support leg. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,530,545; 4,966,344; and 5,383,638 disclose jaws biased by resilient force to maintain a griping relation with a tree branch for hanging decorative ornaments. The jaw construction does not utilize a tooth construction to allow secure engagement with long continued integrity with the wood or twisted sire substitute of a tree branch.  
       [0003] It is an object of the present invention to provide a hanger with at least one toothed clamping jaw resilient urged into load bearing contact with the wood or twisted wire substructure of a tree branch for mounting decorative ornament and the like.  
       [0004] It is another object of the present invention to provide a decorative ornament hanger having a frontal jaw with or without an adornment weighted to counter balance the weight of an ornament hanging along a plane containing an confronting cooperative jaw for allowing the presentation of an ornament hanging freely in a vertical upright position  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005] According to the present invention there is provided a hanger for suspending an ornament from a tree branch, the hanger includes a pair of elongated jaws with one jaw having spaced apart protrusions on a clamp face pivotal into a confronting relation with a clamp surface of the other of the elongated jaws for engaging a tree branch with the spaced protrusions between the jaws, a pivot for pivotally interconnecting end portions of the jaws, a resilient member arranged for applying a resilient force in a direction to urge the pair of elongated jaws toward another under a resilient force sufficient for griping and retaining a tree branch against the spaced protrusions, and an elongated hook projecting from the pivot oppositely to the pair of elongated jaws, the elongated hook having a terminal end portion at a juxtaposition with a shank portion to form an entrance to a reversely extending loop for supporting a mounting fixture of an ornament. 
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0006] The present invention will be more fully understood when the following description is read in light of the accompanying drawings in which:  
     [0007]FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a first embodiment of a hanger according to the present invention for a decorative ornament;  
     [0008]FIG. 2 is a front elevational view taken along lines II-II of a hanger shown in FIG. 1;  
     [0009]FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along lines III-III of FIG. 1;  
     [0010]FIG. 4 is an illustration of the instillation of a ornament on the hanger shown in FIG. 1;  
     [0011]FIG. 5 is a first modified form of a hanger according to the present invention for a decorative ornament;  
     [0012]FIG. 6 is a second modified form of a hanger according to the present invention for a decorative ornament; and  
     [0013]FIG. 7 is a side elevation view of a third modified form of a hanger according to the present invention for a decorative ornament. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
     [0014] Shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and  3  is the preferred embodiment of a hanger  10  of the present invention for suspending ornament  12  from a tree branch  14  which can be comprised of wood laden with pine needles or twisted wire supporting plastic filaments to simulate pine needles of an artificial tree. The hanger includes a pair of elongated jaws  16  and  18  each with a U-shaped cross sectional configuration. At least one jaw, preferably both jaws as shown, have upstanding protrusions  20  at spaced apart locations along upturned edge portions  22  at opposite sides of a faceplate section  24 . The upstanding protrusions  20  of the jaws preferably take the form of clamp faces with confronting serrations pivotal into a mutual confronting relation for engaging a tree branch between the jaws. The confronting serrations are spaced at a predetermined minimum distance by contact surfaces  20 A at the outer most terminal ends of the pair of the elongated jaws. A pivot shaft  26  extends through apertures in the jaws at the ends. A resilient member  28  is arranged for applying a resilient force in a direction to urge the pair of elongated jaws  16  and  18  toward one another under a resilient force sufficient for griping and retaining the tree branch  14  against the serrated clamp faces of the hanger. The preferred form of a resilient member is a spring and as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 the spring is essentially made up of a coiled mid portion mounted  30  on the pivot shaft  26  and terminal end portions  32  and  34  arranged to engaged and apply the resilient force developed by the spring to urge the pair of elongated jaws  16  and  18  into mutual engagement.  
     [0015] An elongated hook  36  projects from the pivot shaft  26  in a direction opposite to the pair of elongated jaws. Preferably, the elongated hook is an integral extension of jaw  18 . As shown in FIG. 4 the hook  36  has a terminal end portion  38  at juxtaposition with a shank portion  40  and forms an entrance site  42  to a reverse extending loop section  44  for retaining a mounting fixture  12 A of the ornament  12 . FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of the present invention which features an entrance site  42 A that is narrow and forms a restricted passageway for the mounting fixture  12 A by the closely spaced apart relation between the terminal end portion of  38 A and the shank portion  40 A. An actuator arm  46  extends from the elongated jaw  16  towards the elongated hook  36  for receiving a force applied as a pitching force against jaw  18  to pivot jaw  16  in a direction away from jaw  18  for engagement or disengagement of the hanger with a tree branch. The contact surface  20 A of the elongated hook and pivot shaft  26  lie in a generally vertical plane  48  and extends between the serrated clamp faces. Shown in FIG. 6 is the hanger  10  with the addition of a latch bar  50  with bent end portions  52  pivotally supported by the shank portion  40  to releasably surround and engage with the terminal end portion  38  for forming a barrier to impede unwanted removal of a ornament from the hanger by traversing the entrance site  42  to the reversely extending loop  44 .  
     [0016]FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of the present invention which differs from the embodiment of FIG. 1 by the arrangement of the terminal end portion  38 B of the elongated hook  36  located in the position  180  degrees about the shank portion  40 B whereby the reversely extending the loop section  44 B lies in a plane  56  extending along an outer lateral side of the pair of elongated jaw  18 A. In each of the embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 7 at least one of the pair of elongated jaws  16  and  18  include the faceplate sections  24  extending along the extended length of the jaw. The section  24  of jaw  24  not only forms an adornment face but also is defined by a sufficient mass lying in a plane  60  laterally offset from a vertical plane  48  and  56  containing the reversely extending loop to counterbalance the weight of the ornament suspended by the reversely extending loop and thereby maintain the ornament in an upright position.  
     [0017] While the present invention has been described in connection with the preferred embodiments of the various figures, it is to be understood that other similar embodiments may be used or modifications and additions may be made to the described embodiment for performing the same function of the present invention without deviating there from. Therefore, the present invention should not be limited to any single embodiment, but rather construed in breadth and scope in accordance with the recitation of the appended claims.