AU2015101801A4 - Bracket for supporting articles - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a bracket for supporting an article, comprising a first wall and a second wall configured in a V-shaped configuration, wherein the V-shaped 5 configuration defines a valley that extends from a mounting end to a retaining end of the bracket; a retaining formation extending upwardly from the retaining end; and a mounting formation extending from the mounting end of the bracket for enabling mounting of the bracket to an upright fixture. NG) Nu cow Nr

Description

Bracket for supporting articles Field of the invention This disclosure relates to a bracket for supporting articles, such as angle brackets. 5 Background of the invention In some instances, brackets may be stored on shelves that are affixed to a wall or in other instances the brackets may be suspended from hooks extending from holes within pegboard sheeting. When brackets are stored on a shelf they are usually stored flat, which may result 10 in the brackets stored towards the back of the shelf being obscured by the brackets located at the front of the shelf. In comparison, brackets stored using hooks generally allow for a better view of the brackets, but the type or size of bracket that can be stored in this manner is limited. For example, London brackets cannot generally be easily suspended from hooks. 15 Summary of the invention According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided a bracket for supporting an article, comprising a first wall and a second wall configured in a V-shaped configuration, wherein the V-shaped configuration defines a valley that extends from a mounting end to a retaining 20 end of the bracket; a retaining formation extending upwardly from the retaining end; and a mounting formation extending from the mounting end of the bracket for enabling mounting of the bracket to an upright fixture. According to an embodiment of the invention, the V-shaped configuration of the 25 first and second wall comprises the first wall being substantially perpendicular to the second wall. 1 According to another embodiment of the invention, the mounting formation of the bracket comprises a flange and at least a pair of mounting lugs located thereon for insertion within corresponding holes of the upright fixture. According to another embodiment of the invention, the flange of the mounting 5 formation extends perpendicularly from the first and second walls. According to yet another embodiment of the invention, the retaining formation of the bracket comprises an upturned flange extending perpendicularly from the first and second walls. As used herein, except where the context requires otherwise, the term 10 "comprise" and variations of the term, such as "comprising", "comprises" and "comprised", are not intended to exclude further additives, components, integers or steps. Further aspects of the present invention and further embodiments of the aspects described in the preceding paragraphs will become apparent from the following 15 description, given by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings. Brief description of the drawings Figure 1 is a front perspective view of a bracket in accordance with one embodiment; Figure 2 is a front view of the bracket of Figure 1 supporting a plurality of articles 20 in accordance with one embodiment; Figure 3 is a front view of the bracket shown in Figure 1 in accordance with one embodiment; Figure 4 is a top view of the bracket in accordance with one embodiment; and Figure 5 is a side view of the bracket shown in Figure 1. 25 Detailed description of the embodiments Referring to Figure 1, an embodiment of a bracket 10 for supporting articles, such as brackets, is shown. The bracket 10 comprises a first wall 11 and a second wall 12 2 positioned at 90 degrees to one another to form a V-shaped configuration. This V shaped configuration of the bracket 10 defines a valley having a fold line 13 that extends between a retaining end 14 and a mounting end 15 of the bracket 10. The V shaped configuration of the bracket 10 allows for corner components of a plurality of 5 articles 16, such as L-shaped corner brackets (shown in Figure 2), to be complementally and stably nested in the V-shaped bracket 10. This V-shaped configuration of the bracket 10 may allow for other types and sizes of angled or cornered articles and may assist in the display of these by providing a clearer view of the articles than if they were stored on a horizontal shelf. 10 In another embodiment, the shape and dimensions of the articles to be stored are accommodated by the first wall 11 and the second wall 12 being positioned at other angles to each other, for example, 60 degrees in the case of an article with a 60 degree corner or angle. As is shown further in Figure 1, a retaining formation comprising an upturned 15 flange 17 extends perpendicularly upwardly from, and across the breadth of, the retaining end 14 of the bracket 10 so as to stop articles from dislodging from of the bracket 10. Directly opposite to the retaining formation 17 is a mounting formation 18, which comprises an upturned flange 20 and two L-shaped lugs 21 brazed to the upper rear surface of the flange 22 that enable the bracket 10 to be mounted to an upright ?0 fixture, such as pegboard 23, which is shown in Figure 3. The upturned flange 20 of the mounting formation 18 extends perpendicularly from, and across the breadth of, the mounting end 15. Each L-shaped lug 21 can be inserted into corresponding holes 24 of the pegboard 23. By using L-shaped lugs 21, the bracket 10 can be re-positioned on the pegboard 23, while also allowing for the storage of multiple brackets 10 in variable 25 arrays on the pegboard 23. The lugs are spaced a multiple of pegboard holes apart to enable the brackets to be positioned at any desired location on the pegboard. In another embodiment, the bracket 10 can be attached to an upright fixture by a mounting formation 18 that comprises two downward facing lugs affixed to a downward facing flange. 30 The bracket 10 may be manufactured from a single piece of sheet metal as shown in Figure 4. The single piece of metal comprises the first 11 and second 12 side 3 walls, portions 25, 26 of which are folded upwards to produce the upward flanges 17, 20 of the retaining and mounting formations. The first 11 and second 12 side walls are then folded upwards to produce the V-shaped configuration and valley 13 of the bracket 10. L-shaped lugs 21 are then brazed into the flange 20 of the mounting end 15 of the 5 bracket 10, as shown in Figure 5. The bracket 10 is then powder coated in an appropriate colour. It will be appreciated that in other embodiments, the mounting formation 18 can comprise other means to affix the bracket 10 to an upright structure, such as hooks. It will also be appreciated that a plurality of shorter sub-flanges can extend from either the 10 retaining end 14 or mounting end 15 of the bracket 10 and that these flanges can have various sizes and be located at intermittent intervals along these ends 14, 15 of the bracket 10. It will also be appreciated that the bracket 10 can be formed from other materials, such as thermoplastic or Perspex. An advantage of the bracket in one embodiment is that it is generally capable of 15 stably supporting a variety of different types of L-shaped brackets of different shapes and sizes so that they are generally visible and accessible. It will be understood that the invention disclosed and defined in this specification extends to all alternative combinations of two or more of the individual features mentioned or evident from the text or drawings. All of these different combinations ?0 constitute various alternative aspects of the invention. 4

Claims (5)

1. A bracket for supporting an article, comprising a first wall and a second wall configured in a V-shaped configuration, wherein the V-shaped configuration defines a valley that extends from a mounting end to a retaining 5 end of the bracket; a retaining formation extending upwardly from the retaining end; and a mounting formation extending from the mounting end of the bracket for enabling mounting of the bracket to an upright fixture.

2. The bracket of either claim 1, wherein the V-shaped configuration comprises the first 10 wall being substantially perpendicular to the second wall.

3. The bracket of either claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the mounting formation comprises a flange and at least a pair of mounting lugs located thereon for insertion within corresponding holes of the upright fixture.

4. The bracket of claim 3, wherein the flange of the mounting formation extends 15 perpendicularly from the first and second walls.

5. The bracket of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the retaining formation comprises an upturned flange extending perpendicularly from the first and second walls. 5