Plant stake and clasp

Claim 1

A combination plant stake and clasp injected molded from a single piece of plastic resinous material comprising, an elongated vertically disposed plant stake having a longitudinal axis, a clasp at the top end of the stake including a pair of resilient arms of arcuate shape, said arms being laid out in a flat configuration such that the arms are spaced longitudinally with respect to one another along the longitudinal axis of the stake, each of the arms has a connected end and the connected ends of the arms are each integral with a support body, one of said support bodies is integral with the top end of the stake, a flexible strap integral with the support bodies and connecting them together, said clasp being foldable to an operating position by bending the strap, a connector means is provided for securing the supporting bodies to one another whereby, with the stake oriented in a vertical position, one of the bodies can be brought downwardly by bending the strap and said bodies secured to one another by said connector means to place said arms in left and right bilaterally opposed cooperating relationship having free ends adjacent to one another to form a clasp of circular configuration, said clasp having flat inner surfaces, the flat inner surfaces of the clasp thereby retaining the stems of the plants in place without injury, the ends of the arms having diverging ears defining a mouth between them, said divergent ears serving as cam surfaces to cause the free ends of the arms to spread apart as the plant stem is forced by light finger pressure into the mouth between them allowing the stem to pass into the center of the clasp between the arms whereupon the resiliency of the arms will cause the mouth to snap shut around the stem, holding it in place within the clasp, whereby molding of the entire article is facilitated by positioning the arms apart from one another in a flat configuration to permit separation of a simple plastic injection mold allowing the entire article to be removed from the mold.