Removable holder

Details Removable holder Removable holder

1999-12-13

2003-10-28

Wood, Kimberly (Department: 3632)

Supports

Brackets

Specially mounted or attached

C248S222120, C211S064000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06637707

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a holder for supporting items of various shapes and configurations on a generally vertical wall, and more particularly relates to such a holder that is (1) readily removable from its mounting base on the wall; and (2) interchangeable with holding devices of various shapes and configurations for holding a variety of items.
2. Description of the Related Prior Art
Various holding devices are in common use that incorporate: (1) a mounting base that is attached to a generally vertical surface; and (2) a removable holder that is designed to removably attach to or mount in the mounting base for holding one or more particular objects. Typical of these are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,026,016, 5,433,416, 3,915,189, 4,858,869, 5,035,389, and 5,435,511 that illustrate wall-mounted attachment receptacles for hanging a microphone, soap or lotion dispenser, aspiration container, cup, personal products container, and aquatic appliance, respectively. Various of these prior art devices also include locking mechanisms for locking the particular item in its wall-mounted mounting bracket. For instance, the microphone mount uses a spring or biased projection that mates with a cooperating detent. This type of “locking” mechanism is not necessarily a locking mechanism, in that the force applied to detach the microphone from its mount is equal to the force required to attach the microphone to its mount.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,035,389 incorporates an opposed latch mechanism that snaps outwardly to lock the container in place on a wall. Due to the very narrow space between the wall and the container, it is virtually impossible to actuate (compress) the opposed latch mechanism fingers to release the container from its wall mount. U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,511 shows a similar detachment mechanism that, while more accessible for manual detachment, is much more complicated in construction, and also includes two opposing latch mechanisms that must be released simultaneously in order for the removable container to be removed from its wall mounting.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A removable holder comprises a mounting base
10
and item holding device
12
. The mounting base
10
is intended to be semi-permanently attached to a vertical wall, and the item holding device
12
is designed to be manually mounted within a tapered dovetail receptacle
24
formed in the mounting base for manual removal from the mounting base when not in use. The item holding device
12
incorporates a male tapered dovetail section
32
for mating into the female dovetail receptacle
24
of the mounting base
10
. A locking tab
46
is formed with the mounting base
10
in a manner to be biased outwardly to snap into a locking position against a top surface
40
of the male dovetail section
32
to lock the male dovetail section in place. Pressing on the locking tab
46
pushes it out of the way so that the male dovetail section
32
of the item holding device
12
can be manually removed from the female dovetail angled surfaces
26
of the mounting base
10
.
The item holding device comprises a “U”-shaped cradle
30
having a series of “V”-shaped cradle interior members
56
made of a relatively soft and deformable rubber material so as to readily deform against the weight of an item placed in the cradle member
30
, thereby tending to grasp onto the item to help retain the item within the cradle member. The cradle member
30
also includes a resilient rubber locking strap
54
for stretching over and locking against the outside cradle member in order to retain the item placed therein.


REFERENCES:
patent: 2708088 (1955-05-01), Steinke
patent: 3878589 (1975-04-01), Schaefer
patent: 3915189 (1975-10-01), Holbrook
patent: 3931893 (1976-01-01), Elkins et al.
patent: 4450989 (1984-05-01), Bogar, Jr.
patent: 4461445 (1984-07-01), Williamson
patent: 4858869 (1989-08-01), Stang
patent: 5026016 (1991-06-01), Lisowski
patent: 5035389 (1991-07-01), Wang
patent: 5078279 (1992-01-01), Hancock et al.
patent: D329192 (1992-09-01), Susac
patent: 5344032 (1994-09-01), Ramsdell
patent: 5356038 (1994-10-01), Banks
patent: 5433416 (1995-07-01), Johnson
patent: 5435511 (1995-07-01), Hsu
patent: 5452874 (1995-09-01), Kozloff et al.
patent: D386298 (1997-11-01), Hancock
patent: D386304 (1997-11-01), Hancock
patent: 5765699 (1998-06-01), Griffin
patent: 5915572 (1999-06-01), Hancock

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