Patent ID: 7044427

Claim:
A Christmas tree stand, comprising: a container having a bottom wall, side walls and a top opening with a peripheral edge formation to hold water and receive a tree trunk therein; a regular plurality of stabilizing legs attached to and radiating outwardly from the side walls of the container; and a plurality of tree trunk gripping means, each comprising: (i) a plunger member having a concave tree clamping portion and a pair of generally parallel arms extending therefrom, the arms having free distal ends and common proximal ends integrally and resiliently joined to the tree clamping portion; (ii) a guide member releasably attached to said peripheral edge formation having a pair of channels therethrough to slidably receive respective arms of the plunger in radial alignment with the container as the clamping portion faces the tree trunk; and (iii) resiliently releasable cooperating locking means between the arms and channels, said locking means including cooperating projections and grooves located on respective arms and channels, whereby said plunger can be manually advanced to engage said gripping means with the tree trunk, but is locked against radially outward movement unless the arms of the plunger are squeezed together.