Supports – Brackets – Article holding means
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-06
2001-10-09
King, Anita (Department: 3632)
Supports
Brackets
Article holding means
C248S231410, C248S311200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06299116
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a hanger for a plant container and more particularly, to a hanger which is suitable for mounting on a horizontal member.
Gardening is one of the most widely practiced leisure activities and as such, there have been many proposals in the art for various types of hangers for plant containers. Such hangers have been designed for use in virtually any environment such as railings, eaves troughs, walls, and for suspending from different objects. The present invention is particularly concerned with a hanger for a plant container and which hanger is adapted to use with a horizontal member such as is found on a deck railing or a patio railing.
Such railing hangers are popular since typically, the railings exist for one purpose or another in most urban and rural environments. The type of railings may vary from a typical metallic railing about patios in many urban environments to fence or wood type railings in the more rural locations.
The known railing hangers engage the upper edge of the railing and usually extend downwardly either on the interior or exterior of the railing to support the plant container. While such hangers have been widely used, they do suffer from several disadvantages.
Firstly, the method of attaching the hanger to the railing must be adaptable to receive different size railings. Furthermore, not all railings are uniform and accordingly, if the attachment of the hanger to the railing does not take this into account, problems can arise and even safety concerns can exist when the hanger is located at a substantial height such as is the case with balcony railings in high rise buildings.
Furthermore, the hanger should be designed to provide sufficient space between the railing and plant. Still further, the hanger should be preferably adaptable for different types of containers and designed to securely hold the containers therein.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a hanger for a plant container wherein the hanger is adaptable for attachment to many different sizes and configurations of railings.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a hanger for a plant container wherein the hanger may be made as a one-piece molded unit of a plastic material.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a hanger wherein the plant container is securely retained therein.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided, in combination, a plant container and a hanger, the hanger comprising first means for retaining the hanger on a generally horizontal member; second means for retaining the plant container; the first means comprising a front wall, a rear wall, and a top wall extending between the front wall and the rear wall to thereby define a downwardly open U-shaped channel, a pair of screws being screw threadably engaged with the front wall and extending therethrough towards the back wall, a flexible plate member secured to a distal end of each of the screws, the arrangement being such that tightening of the screws causes the flexible plate member to move towards the back wall and thereby narrow the channel; the second means comprising a section extending outwardly from the front wall, a generally circular aperture formed in the outwardly extending section, an inwardly facing wall surrounding the aperture, the inwardly facing wall having a plurality of protrusions on the surface thereof, each of the protrusions having a protrusion top wall located downwardly from a top marginal edge of the inwardly facing wall, and an arcuate convex side wall extending downwardly from the protrusion top wall, the container having a side wall sized to at least partially fit within the generally circular aperture formed in the outwardly extending section.
In greater detail, each of the protrusions extending from the inwardly facing wall surrounding the aperture preferably has a top wall which is located downwardly from a top marginal edge of the inwardly facing wall and also has an arcuate convex side wall extending downwardly from the top wall.
In one embodiment, each of the protrusion side walls of the arcuate convex configuration tapers inwardly and downwardly such that a bottom portion thereof has a thickness less than the top portion thereof.
In one embodiment, the front wall, rear wall and top wall which define the downwardly open U-shaped channel each has a plurality of reinforcing ribs running in a general vertical direction, the ribs being located on the wall surfaces defining the channel. The reinforcing ribs on the front wall terminate short of a bottom peripheral edge to thereby provide room for the flexible plate member.
The screws which are screw threadably engaged with the front wall preferably comprise thumb screws formed of a plastic material. Furthermore, the screws are preferably press fittingly engaged with an aperture in the flexible plate member.
The hanger may also, in one embodiment of the present invention, be adaptable to use as a support surface/tabletop.
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Fincham Eric
King Anita
LandOfFree
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