Supports – With means to facilitate installation – repair – or...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-10
2001-06-12
Ramirez, Ramon O. (Department: 3632)
Supports
With means to facilitate installation, repair, or...
C248S475100, C248S494000, C248S903000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06244558
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention relates to a mounting device or catch and specifically to a mounting device or catch for objects such as mirrors, unframed pictures covered with a sheet of glass, or other generally flat objects. These devices can be used for mounting such objects, for example, on walls, doors, cabinets or the like, and also on boxes which are provided with hinged lids.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is to improve such mounting devices or catches so as to expand their usefulness and make their operation more secure. In particular the present invention addresses the problem of a high in-service failure rate experienced for this type of mounting device.
Mirrors and other glass sheets are heavy, hard, and frequently have sharp rectangular edges. Devices similar to the present invention are commonly used for hanging mirrors and other glass sheets to walls, doors, cabinets and other flat surfaces. This family of hangers are typically made from hard plastics, which are aesthetically pleasing, inexpensive to fabricate and soft and resilient enough to preclude damaging the mirror or glass sheet. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,651 teaches a plastic mirror mounting clip similar to the present invention, with a slidable mounting configuration. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,199 teaches a similar hanger having two pieces that are slidably connected.
In-service failures of these types of mounting devices have been experienced whereby the vertical lip and/or horizontal flanges break, allowing the mirror, glass sheet or other flat object to fall with predictable catastrophic results. This failure mode is a result of the weight of the glass impacting the plastic mounting devices. The local forces on the plastic clips may be further magnified during installation by the speed of the vertical movement when placing the glass sheet on the lower clips, and by the relatively sharp edges of glass sheets, which may concentrate the forces on the clip.
Mirrors and other glass sheets are virtually ubiquitous in American homes, and the number of in-service mounting devices therefore number in the hundreds of millions. Therefore any reduction in the failure rate for these devices will have a significant aggregate economic impact. For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for an inexpensive mounting clip with improved strength that will support heavy objects such as mirrors and glass plates without breaking.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a mounting clip for mounting mirrors and other flat objects that will better withstand the stresses of supporting heavy, hard objects, and will experience fewer in-service failures.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a mounting clip that will provide a secondary support means such that damage to the supported object will be mitigated even in the event of certain modes of failure of the mounting device.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such mounting clips that retain the aesthetic characteristics of prior mounting devices.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such mounting clips that are reasonably inexpensive.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such mounting clips that are not significantly more difficult to install than prior mounting clips.
The present invention is intended to function as the lower, weight-supporting clips, in concert with conventional mounting clips on the upper end of the glass sheet. The present invention achieves its superior structural characteristics by the use of a metal insert designed to fit cooperatively with a plastic shell similar to existing, prior-art mounting devices.
These and such other objects of the invention as will become evident from the disclosure below are met by the invention disclosed herein. In addition to the explicitly claimed apparatus described herein, it is to be understood that all new and useful devices or components described herein are considered to constitute a part of the invention, claimable in their own right, whether such is stated with particularity herein or not.
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patent: 6053468 (2000-04-01), Francis
Garrison David L.
Garrison & Associates PS
Ramirez Ramon O.
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