Christmas tree stand and kit therefor

1. A Christmas tree stand comprising:

a container having a base and a sidewall extending therefrom, the sidewall having a plurality of outer longitudinal slots;

a plurality of removable legs, each removable leg configured to be accommodated within a respective longitudinal slot; and

a plurality of grippers threadably connected to the sidewall, each gripper having a flexible padding layer disposed thereon for securely gripping a trunk of a Christmas tree, wherein each gripper comprises a threaded shaft joined to a gripper member by a ball and socket joint.

2. The Christmas tree stand of claim 1 , wherein the gripper member comprises an arcuate rigid portion on which the flexible padding layer is disposed.

3. The Christmas tree stand of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of removable pads, each pad being configured to be positioned on a respective removable leg, and each pad being fabricated of a resilient material for providing an anti-slip surface.

4. The Christmas tree stand of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of threaded inserts mounted within the container for accommodating the grippers.

5. The Christmas tree stand of claim 4 , wherein the threaded inserts have a thread dimension that is generally matched to a thread dimension of the grippers.

6. The Christmas tree stand of claim 1 , further comprising a support plate comprising an array of spikes extending therefrom.

7. The Christmas tree stand of claim 6 , wherein each spike is terminated by a point that is sufficiently dull so as to not significantly penetrate the trunk of the tree when the weight of the tree is fully supported by the array of spikes.

8. The Christmas tree stand of claim 1 , wherein each removable leg comprises a lateral portion and a bracket portion, the lateral portion being offset from an upper end of the bracket portion by an offset distance.

9. A kit for a Christmas tree stand comprising:

a container having a base and a sidewall extending therefrom, the sidewall having a plurality of outer longitudinal slots;

a plurality of removable legs, each removable leg configured to be accommodated within a respective longitudinal slot; and

a plurality of grippers, each gripper being configured to be threadably connected to the sidewall, each gripper having a flexible padding layer disposed thereon for securely gripping a trunk of a Christmas tree, wherein each gripper comprises a threaded shaft joined to a gripper member by a ball and socket joint.

10. The kit of claim 9 , wherein the gripper member comprises an arcuate rigid portion on which the flexible padding layer is disposed.

11. The kit of claim 9 , further comprising a plurality of removable pads, each pad being configured to be positioned on a respective removable leg, and each pad being fabricated of a resilient material for providing an anti-slip surface.

12. The kit of claim 9 , wherein the container has a plurality of threaded inserts mounted therein for accommodating the grippers.

13. The kit of claim 12 , wherein the threaded inserts have a thread dimension that is generally matched to a thread dimension of the grippers.

14. The kit of claim 9 , further comprising a support plate comprising an array of spikes extending therefrom.

15. The kit of claim 14 , wherein each spike is terminated by a point that is sufficiently dull so as to not significantly penetrate the trunk of the tree when the weight of the tree is fully supported by the array of spikes.

16. The kit of claim 9 , wherein each removable leg comprises a lateral portion and a bracket portion, the lateral portion being offset from an upper end of the bracket portion by an offset distance.