GB2300563A - Festive decoration - Google Patents

Abstract

A festive Christmas decoration comprises a base member 1, a decorative rigid front panel 2, and a plurality of storage enclosures 4, each having a floor member for supporting a gift and also having a reusable access door 5. The decoration has decorative electrical lights 12 with a supply wiring array 14 behind the front panel. Alternatively, the decoration may take the shape of a snowman, reindeer or Father Christmas. The decoration is intended to be an Advent decoration in which small gifts may be concealed, one for each day of Advent.

Description

FESTIVE DECORATION The invention relates to festive decorations and particularly to seasonal Advent or Christmas decorations in which small gifts maybe concealed, one for each day of Advent. Such decorations may have seasonal shapes such as a Christmas Tree, or alternatively a snowman, or reindeer or Father Christmas.

Festive symbols as aforesaid are herein referred to as a festive Christmas decoration.

Advent is the festival of expectation and the Advent Tree combines the Advent Calendar and the Christmas Tree to create a welcoming festive symbol and traditional seasonal decoration. The Advent Tree has great appeal and charm, especially to children, for it helps them count the days to Christmas, at the same time curbing their impatience and increasing their excitement.

The invention provides a festive Christmas decoration comprising a free-standing festive symbol comprising a base member, a decorative rigid front panel mounted on said base member with the panel extending upwardly from the base, a plurality of storage enclosures each secured to said front panel and each having a floor member for supporting a gift and a reusable access door to permit repeated opening and closing of the storage location.

Preferably each storage enclosure is mounted behind said front panel with each said door being located adjacent the front panel.

Preferably each enclosure comprises a rigid rectangular box having in addition to said floor member, a roof, side walls and rear wall with said door forming a front wall.

Each said door may be mounted on hinges secured to said front panel.

Preferably a rigid rear panel is secured to said front panel and spaced relative thereto and said storage enclosures are mounted between said front and rear panels.

Preferably electrical lights are mounted at spaced locations on said front panel.

Preferably an electrical wiring array is mounted behind said front panel and interconnects a supply lead to each electrical light location on said front panel.

Preferably further electrical lights are provided on said base member.

Preferably an electrical interconnection is provided between said further electrical lights and said wiring array.

The festive decoration may be made of wood and represent a Christmas tree.

Twenty four said enclosures may be provided each marked with a respective number in the sequence of 1 to 24.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention there is provided a self-supporting structure, in this instance in the shape of a Christmas Tree, within which are concealed twenty four numbered enclosures. The enclosures have "doors" to hide their contents, the doors in this instance are hinged, but may equally take the form of a drawer or sliding screen. The enclosures are distributed randomly about the structure, which may be decorated to increase it's festive appeal and charm. Indeed the structure supports a number of electric lights, in this instance in the form of candles, again to enhance the seasonal ambience.

A specific embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows the front elevation, decorations omitted for clarity.

Figure 2 shows the rear elevation, omitting the wiring array for clarity.

Figure 3 shows a cross section through the centre of the structure.

The festive decoration in this example is in the form of an Advent Tree comprising a supporting base 1 in the form of a section of tree trunk with a rigid front panel 2 in the shape of a Christmas Tree. A rigid rear panel 3 is secured to the front panel 2 and mounted behind the front panel as shown in Figure 2 so as not to be visible from the front of the decoration. Between the front and rear panels are located a plurality of storage enclosures 4 each arranged to store a gift. Each storage enclosure is in the form of a rigid rectangular box having a rear wall formed by the rear panel 3 and a front door 5 mounted in the front panel 2. Each enclosure also has a floor member 6, a roof member 7 and spaced side wall members all extending across the gap between the front and rear panels 2 and 3.In this way each enclosure provides a safe storage location for a gift which may be concealed when the front door 5 is closed. In this example each door 5 is mounted by hinges on the front panel 2 so as to lie flush with the front panel 2 when closed. Each door is reusable so that it permits repeated opening and closing to provide access to the respective storage location. To provide improved rigidity to the structure, a spacer 9 is secured to the front and rear panels in their lower region 10. Lower region 10 is mounted by closely fitting in a slot 11 formed in the upper part of the base 1. On the front face of the panel 2, a plurality of electrical lights 12 are provided each in the form of a candle. Similarly electric candles 13 are provided on the upper surface of the base 1.To provide an electrical supply to the candle locations, a wiring array 14 is secured to the rear of the front panel 2 and passes through the panel to provide an electrical connection to each candle mounted on the panel 2. The wiring array 14 passes through the block 9 to join a connector 15 housed in the bottom of slot 11 and coupled to an electric supply cable 16. The connector 15 is also connected to wiring 17 which passes through channels in the base member 1 to connect the electrical supply to the candles 13 on the base 1. The connector 15 may be a push-fit connector to allow separation of the electrical circuits for the candles 12 when the tree structure is removed from the base 1. In this way the two parts may be separated for ease of storage. As shown in Figure 2 the rear panel 3 is surrounded by trimming strips 18 which extend between the front and rear panels so as to conceal the internal structure between the front and rear panels.

As is shown in Figure 1, each of the enclosures has a respective number in the sequence of 1 to 24 indicating the order in which they may be opened to remove the gifts when operated as an Advent calendar. Generally each enclosure has a single door but the enclosure to be opened on Christmas Eve (December 24th) is treated as a special enclosure and has double doors 19 both of which may-be opened.

Although the example shown in the Figures is in the form of a Christmas Tree other festive symbols such as a snowman, reindeer or Father Christmas or the like may be used. The front face of the front panel may also carry additional festive decorations.

Claims (13)

CLAIMS:

1. A festive Christmas decoration in the form of a freestanding festive symbol, said decoration comprising a base member, a decorative rigid front panel mounted on said base member with the panel extending upwardly from the base, and a plurality of storage enclosures each secured to said front panel, each said storage enclosure having a floor member for supporting a gift and also having a reusable access door to permit repeated opening and closing of the storage location.

2. A festive decoration according to claim 1, in which each storage enclosure is mounted behind said front panel with each said door being located in the front panel.

3. A festive decoration according to claim 1 or claim 2, in which each enclosure comprises a rigid rectangular box having, in addition to said floor member, side walls and a rear wall with said door forming a front wall.

4. A festive decoration according to any one of the preceding claims, in which each said door is mounted in hinges secured to said front panel.

5. A festive decoration according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprises a rigid rear panel secured to said front panel and spaced relative thereto, said storage enclosures being mounted between said front and rear panels.

6. A festive decoration according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising electrical lights mounted at spaced locations on said front panel.

7. A festive decoration according to claim 6, further comprising an electrical wiring array mounted behind said front panel and interconnecting a supply lead with each electrical light location on said front panel.

8. A festive decoration according to claim 6 or claim 7, comprising further electrical lights provided on said base member.

9. A festive decoration according to claims 7 and 8, comprising an electrical interconnection provided between said further electrical lights and said wiring array.

10. A festive decoration according to any one of the preceding claims, which is made of wood and represents a Christmas tree.

11. A festive decoration according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising twenty four said enclosures.

12. A festive decoration according to claim 11, in which the door of each enclosure is marked with a respective number in the sequence of 1 to 24.

13. A festive decoration substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.