DE29602621U1 - Picture Frame - Google Patents

Description

The innovation relates to a picture frame for holding a picture according to the generic term of the protection claim

1.

Such a picture frame is known from DE-GM 86 26 791.4. This shows a one-piece picture frame, which has triangular retaining lugs on the inside of two opposite sides of the frame over a length of about half the straight profile length, which grip behind a picture inserted into the frame. The retaining lugs are located in the middle area of the side profile and are attached to the inside of the frame, which runs approximately at right angles to the picture plane. The triangular retaining lugs contain a sliding surface and a holding surface. To insert a picture, the edges of the picture are pushed over the sliding surface, whereby the retaining lug recedes. The retaining lugs are

molded in one piece onto the frame, so that springing of the retaining lugs causes the frame to bend.

DE-OS 40 00 759 shows a frame made of thermoplastic material using an injection molding process, the inner edge of which rests on the front of a picture to be inserted. The frame has a hook-shaped holding element that grips behind the picture and is made in one piece with plastic bending springs connected to the back of the frame, whereby the picture is braced by the plastic bending springs when it is inserted into the frame immediately after it has been removed from the mold, using the thermal shrinkage and the subsequent shrinkage of the plastic material. It is therefore not possible to subsequently insert a picture or replace it.

US 4,487,586 shows a writing tablet with a frame that has a longer front projection and a shorter rear projection along the entire length of all sides. The writing tablet is placed over the elastic shorter projection from behind and is pressed by it against the longer front projection.

DE-GM 80 16 247 shows a picture frame for the subsequent framing of frameless pictures lying between a pane of glass and a back wall, in which the pane of glass and back wall are held together with clamps. The frameless picture is attached to the frame using springy metal strips, which engage in additional grooves in the area of the frame mitres and are supported on the back wall of the picture.

EP 0 224 449 shows a picture frame for receiving a frameless picture holder, which is held in the picture frame by spring clips, which engage in recesses in the inside of the picture frame and in the back of the frameless picture holder.

WO 90/15560 shows a picture frame in which spring clips are clamped between a projection on the front of the picture and a projection on the back of the picture frame behind the inserted picture, which press the picture against a front inside of the frame.

GB 2 095 990 shows a picture frame in which U-shaped spring clips are inserted into a space between the edge of an inserted picture and the inside of the frame, which anchor the picture in the picture frame.

DE-GM 89 11 846.4 shows a removable frame with clamping devices formed by profile bars for fastening pictures to the rear wall. The clamping devices grip the removable frame in the edge area of the front of the picture and run around the outer edge of the removable frame to the rear, where they grip into a recess.

US 3,654,719 shows a picture holder with a back wall and a transparent pane between which a picture is inserted, and which are held together by spring clips integrated into the side wall of the frame, whereby the spring clips grip the back wall and the pane and press them against each other.

US 4,641,441 shows a corner fastening clip for fastening a picture in a picture frame. The fastening clip is clamped with its two ends into the back of a corner area of the frame and presses the picture into the picture frame from behind.

DE-GM 88 02 352.4 shows a sheet metal clamp consisting of a base clamp attached to a support plate and a clamping tab that can be moved within it. In the locking position, the clamping tab engages with its free end in a groove on the inside of a picture frame

DE-GM 91 12 538.3 shows a fastening element for holding a picture holder in a picture frame. The fastening element is inserted with one end under a projection on the inside of the frame and with the other end hooked into a retaining pin on the back of the picture holder.

US 4,949,483 shows a two-part picture frame with a front and a back part, between which for example a magazine is inserted, after which the front and back parts are joined together and locked into place by means of gears on the front and back parts.

DE-GM 90 90 066.9 shows a combination picture holder for photos, prints, etc., consisting of single-image cassettes, on the backs of which a plurality of fastening locking seats for connecting straps for mutual fastening of adjacent cassettes are formed.

Inserting and removing pictures and attaching them to picture frames using separate spring clamps, fastening clips and the like is often very cumbersome.

Picture frames with integrated retaining lugs have the disadvantage that the retaining lugs have only a small spring deflection. Therefore, the material must allow sufficient flexibility. The disadvantage of this is that picture frames for larger picture formats have limited rigidity due to the required flexibility and easily warp and bulge. On the other hand, inserting the picture into the frame is more difficult if stronger materials are used, as the retaining lugs only retreat under increased force and only compensate for small tolerances. If different materials are chosen for the frame profile with high rigidity and for retaining lugs with high flexibility, the

Production effort and thus the manufacturing costs of such picture frames.

Another disadvantage arises from the central arrangement of the retaining lugs. If a frameless picture holder, which usually consists of a pane of glass, a picture, a holding plate and spring clips that are generally arranged centrally with respect to the sides of the picture holder, which hold the picture holder together and serve as a hanger on a wall, is to be used, the retaining lug rests on the spring clips that protrude beyond the edge of the picture holder. The inserted picture holder is therefore not flush with the picture frame.

The aim of the innovation is to create a picture frame that can be mounted on pictures and in particular frameless picture holders of any format without any tools and without great technical expertise and can be manufactured with little effort.

This problem is solved with the features of claim 1. Advantageous embodiments and further developments of the innovation can be found in the subclaims.

The basic principle of the innovation is to attach spring tongues with locking lugs to the inner sides of a picture frame that run parallel to the image plane, which in their longitudinal extension run essentially parallel and at a distance from an inner side of the picture frame that runs perpendicular to the image plane, so that they can be freely pivoted in the direction of the latter.

In the following, the term "back" refers to the side of the picture frame, frameless picture holder or picture that faces the wall intended as the mounting location.

To place the frame on a picture, it is

the back is pressed onto the front edges of the picture, whereby these engage the sliding surfaces of the locking lugs of the spring tongues. This causes the spring tongues to swing outwards, i.e. away from the centre of the picture. The edges of the picture slide over the locking lugs, after which the spring tongues can swing back into a locking position and the locking lugs grip behind the picture. In this locking position, the rear edges of the picture rest on the holding sides of the locking lugs. In the edge area of the front sides of the picture, the picture rests flush on one leg of the frame profile.

The locking devices are designed for release and joining processes that can be repeated as often as required. Locking the image into place requires less force than unlocking it.

In both the side profile and the front profile, the spring tongues taper from their base on the inside of the frame towards their free end. Depending on the extent of the taper in the side profile, i.e. in the pivot plane, a spring tongue can be pivoted more easily or more difficultly. This means that the use of different elastic materials can be compensated for by setting the taper accordingly and a preferred pivoting ability can be achieved.

To further ensure the stability of the frame structure for different sized formats, the picture frame has stiffening ribs on its inside. These connect the inside that runs perpendicular to the picture plane with the inside that runs parallel to the picture plane and are perpendicular to them.

The profile of the picture frame is designed in such a way that the retaining clips of a frameless picture holder, which usually hold a glass plate, a picture and a retaining plate of the picture holder together, are in a free space between

the inside of the picture frame and the frameless picture holder. Both the stiffening ribs and the spring tongues are arranged off-center with respect to the length of the sides of the picture frame at distances from each other so that they do not collide with the retaining clips.

Another advantage of this innovation is that the picture frame can be injection-molded or cast in one piece from plastic, which reduces production effort and manufacturing costs. The plastic should have tough, elastic properties when processed. Polycarbonate is ideally suited as such a plastic.

The invention is explained in detail below using an embodiment in conjunction with the accompanying drawing. It shows:

Fig. 1 is a front view of the picture frame; Fig. 2 is a rear view of the picture frame;

Fig. 3 is a section along the line III-III in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 an enlargement of the area X in Fig. 3; Fig. 5a) a side view of a spring tongue with locking lug; Fig. 5b) a front view of a spring tongue with locking lug;

Fig. 6a) a rear view of the picture frame with inserted frameless picture holder with spring clips; and

Fig. 6b) a cross section along the line IV-IV in Fig. 6a).

Fig. 1 shows a picture frame 1 according to the innovation in the front view, in which it largely corresponds to conventional frames. In the middle of the picture frame 1 there is a recess 2 for holding a picture.

The surface of the picture frame 1 can be structured, for example to give it the appearance of wood. The aesthetic design options are very diverse and will not be discussed further here.

Fig. 2 shows the picture frame 1 with the central recess 2 in a rear view. A picture or a frameless picture holder is inserted into the picture frame from this rear side.

1. The outer edge area of the inserted picture lies on a part of the back of the picture frame, which is hatched in Fig. 2 and provided with the reference number 3 and which lies in the image plane.

The profile of the picture frame 1 in the embodiment shown consists of a leg 6 running perpendicular to the image plane, the inner side 4 of which points towards the centre of the image, a leg 7 running parallel to the image plane, which adjoins the end of the leg 6 lying towards the front of the picture frame 1, extends towards the opening

2 and has an inner side 5 pointing towards the image plane, and a leg 8 adjoining the end of the leg 7 pointing towards the center of the image, which extends in front of the inserted image essentially in the direction of the center of the image and is angled towards the back of the image relative to the leg 7 (cf. cross-section of the profile in Fig. 4).

Stiffening bars 9 extend perpendicular to the legs 6, 7 and 8 and connect the legs 6, 7 and 8 to one another. The stiffening bars 9 give the picture frame 1 the necessary rigidity and prevent deformation of the picture frame 1, particularly with larger picture formats.

The stiffening bars 9 are arranged off-center with respect to the longitudinal extension of the sides of the picture frame 1. This prevents the clamps of the frameless picture holder, which are usually arranged in the middle, from colliding with the stiffening bars when the picture frame 1 is used for frameless picture holders. In addition, the stiffening bars 9 are spaced apart from one another, so that free spaces 10 are created that are larger than the dimensions of the clamps of the frameless picture holder, so that the clamps come to rest in the free spaces. Depending on the picture format and the picture holder used, the position and distances of the stiffening bars 9 from one another can be set differently. To hang the picture frame 1 on a wall, the free spaces 10 can also be used to accommodate holding devices attached to the wall, such as nails, hooks, etc.

In the example shown, within the free spaces

10 on each side of the picture frame 1 on the leg 7 running parallel to the picture plane two spring tongues

11. The number of spring tongues 11 can be set differently; according to the innovation, spring tongues 11 are arranged on at least two opposite sides of the picture frame.

The longitudinal axes of the spring tongues 11 run essentially perpendicular to the image plane. The spring tongues 11 are arranged at a distance from the inner side 4 of the leg 6 running parallel to the image plane. The spring tongues 11 can be pivoted in the direction of the center of the image or towards the leg 6 running perpendicular to the image plane. The distance of the spring tongues 11 from the inner side 4 is determined such that there is sufficient spring travel when inserting the image and the spring tongues are decoupled from the leg 6 and can be pivoted freely.

Fig. 3 shows a cross section of the picture frame 1 along the line III-III in Fig. 2. The stiffening bars 9 fall

from the outside towards the centre of the picture and form a slope 12, whereby the spring tongues 11 with their ends in the area of the slopes 12 protrude beyond the stiffening bars 9. Thus, when inserted into the picture frame 1, the front edges of the picture grip the spring tongues 11 and not the stiffening bars 9.

The spring tongues 11 have locking lugs 13 which lock the picture inserted into the picture frame 1. The locking lugs

13 have a sliding surface 14 and a holding surface 15, which are connected to one another via a curve 16. When inserting the picture into the picture frame 1, the picture slides with its front edges over the sliding surface

14 and presses the spring tongues 11 in the direction of the leg 6, which runs perpendicular to the image plane. As soon as the rear edges of the image have slid over the curve 16, the spring tongues 11 swing back in the direction of the center of the image, after which the locking lugs 13 engage behind the image. The inserted image is held in the picture frame 1 by the locking lugs 13 and pressed against the support surface 3.

Fig. 4 shows an enlargement of the area X in Fig. 3. In the rest position, the spring tongue 11 is inclined relative to an axis perpendicular to the image plane by an angle S in the direction of the image center, whereby a spring preload is generated.

For reasons of breaking strength, the spring tongue 11 has a curve 17 on the circumference of its base on the leg 7.

In the embodiment shown, the slanted leg 8 is inclined by approx. 45° relative to the image plane in the direction of the back of the image. As a result, the support surface 3, on which the edge area of the inserted image comes to rest, is offset to the rear relative to the inner surface 5 of the leg 7 perpendicularly to the image plane. The transition from the leg 6 to the leg 7 has a

On the inside there is a bevel 6a and 7a.

Fig. 5a) shows the spring tongue 11 with the locking lug 13 in side view, i.e. in the pivot plane. The sliding surface 14 of the locking lug 13 and a straight line running perpendicular to the image plane through the tip of the locking lug 13 form an angle α, which in a preferred embodiment is 30°. The holding surface 15 of the locking lug 13 and this straight line form an angle β , which in a preferred embodiment is also 30°. The angle and the side lengths of the sliding surface 14 are selected so that inserting the image requires little effort. The angle and the side lengths of the holding surface 15 are determined so that the widest possible tolerance range with regard to the thickness of the image and a secure hold are guaranteed. Due to the longer lever arm of the pivoting force acting on the spring tongues 11 through the image when inserting the image than when releasing it, the latter requires more force than inserting.

The spring tongue 11 has a taper from the foot on the leg 7 in the direction of the free end of the spring tongue 11, whereby the taper factor from the foot on the leg 7 to the base of the holding surface 15 is 0.5 in a preferred embodiment. By setting the taper of the spring tongue 11 differently in the pivoting plane, the pivoting ability can be changed and adapted to the material properties, i.e. the elasticity of the plastic used. The use of different materials without restrictions on the release and insertion properties thus allows the use of the picture frame according to the innovation for any size picture format.

Fig. 5b) shows the spring tongue 11 in front view. Here too, the spring tongue 11 points from the foot on the leg 7 in the direction of the free end of the spring tongue 11 to the base

the holding surface 15 has a taper, the taper factor of which in a preferred embodiment is also 0.5.

Fig. 6a) shows a rear view of the picture frame 1 with an inserted frameless picture holder 18. The frameless picture holder 18 has spring clips 19 arranged centrally on each side, which hold a glass plate, a picture and a holding plate together. Both the stiffening webs 9 and the spring tongues 11 are arranged off-center with respect to the longitudinal extension of the sides of the picture frame 1, so that they do not collide with the spring clips 19. Furthermore, the stiffening webs 9 have distances that are larger than the dimensions of the spring clips 19, so that these come to lie in the free spaces 10.

The arrangement of frameless picture holder 18 and picture frame 1 can be suspended directly on the spring clips 19, as when using the frameless picture holder 18 without the picture frame 1. Optionally, the free spaces 10 between the stiffening bars 9 can be used to directly suspend the picture frame 1 on a nail, a hook or the like.

Fig. 6b) shows a cross section along the line IV-IV in Fig. 6a). There is a free space 20 between the inner sides of the legs 6, 7 and 8 and the edge area of the inserted frameless picture holder 18. The spring clips 19, which extend around the edge area of the frameless picture holder 18 and protrude above it, come to rest in this free space 20. This ensures that the glass plate of the frameless picture holder 18 lies flush in the support area 3 and that the frameless picture holder is held securely in the picture frame 1.

Claims (1)

PROTECTION CLAIMS Picture frame for holding a picture with a frame profile enclosing the picture and covering its edge area, wherein the picture frame has locking lugs on at least two opposite sides on an inner side of the picture frame running parallel to the picture plane, which engage behind the picture inserted into the picture frame,
characterized/ that the locking lugs (13) are attached to spring tongues (11), wherein the spring tongues (11) are arranged at a distance from an inner side (4) of the picture frame (1) running perpendicular to the image plane on the inner side (5) of the picture frame (1) running parallel to the image plane. Picture frame according to claim 1,
characterized, that the picture frame (1) has a leg (6) running perpendicular to the image plane, a leg (7) running parallel to the image plane adjoining the end of the leg (6) facing the image, and a leg (8) running in the direction of the image center and angled relative to the leg (7) adjoining the end of the leg (7) facing the image, so that the picture frame (1) has a substantially L-shaped profile in cross section. Picture frame according to claim 2, characterized, that a space (20) is provided between the inner sides of the legs (6, 7, 8) of the picture frame (1) and the inserted picture, so that spring clips (19) of an inserted frameless picture holder (18) come to lie in the free space (20). 4. Picture frame according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the picture frame (1) is injection-molded or cast in one piece from plastic. 5. Picture frame according to claim 4,
characterized, that the plastic has tough elastic properties when processed. 6. Picture frame according to claim 5,
characterized, that the plastic is polycarbonate or plastic with similar properties. 7. Picture frame according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the picture frame (1) has stiffening webs (9) on the inner sides of the legs (6, 7, 8) of the picture frame (1), which connect the legs (6, 7, 8) to one another and are perpendicular to them. 8. Picture frame according to claim 7,
characterized, that the stiffening webs (9) are arranged off-center with respect to the longitudinal extension of the sides of the picture frame (1). 9. Picture frame according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the stiffening bars (9) slope down from the outside towards the centre of the image so that they form a slope 12. 10. Picture frame according to one of claims 7 to 9 , characterized in that the stiffening webs (9) are spaced apart which are fixed in such a way that the spring clips (19) of the inserted frameless picture holder (18) come to lie between the stiffening webs (9). 11. Picture frame according to one of claims 7 to 10, characterized in that the spring tongues (11) with locking lugs (13) protrude with their free ends beyond the slopes (12) of the stiffening webs (9). 12. Picture frame according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the spring tongues (11) with locking lugs (13) with respect to the longitudinal extension of the sides of the picture frame (I) are arranged off-centre. 13. Picture frame according to one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that that on at least two opposite sides of the picture frame (1) at least two spring tongues (II) with locking lugs (13). 14. Picture frame according to one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that the locking lugs (13) have a sliding surface (14) and an adjacent holding surface (15) which enclose an obtuse angle between them, the sliding surface (14) and a straight line running perpendicular to the image plane through the tip of the locking lug (13) enclosing a first angle (α) and the holding surface (15) and the straight line running perpendicular to the image plane through the tip of the locking lug (13) enclosing a second angle (ß) . 15. Picture frame according to claim 14,
characterized, that the first angle (α) and the second angle (ß) is 30° each. 16. Picture frame according to one of claims 1 to 15, characterized in that the side of the spring tongues (11) facing the inner side (4) running perpendicular to the image plane with locking lugs (13) are inclined in the rest position relative to an axis running perpendicular to the image plane in the direction towards the center of the image by a third angle (S). 17. Picture frame according to one of claims 1 to 16, characterized in that the spring tongues (11) with locking lugs (13) taper by a first factor in the side profile from the foot on the inside (5) of the picture frame (1) running parallel to the picture plane to the end of the holding surface (15) directed towards the inside (5) running parallel to the picture plane. 18. Picture frame according to one of claims 1 to 17, characterized in that the spring tongues (11) with locking lugs (13) taper by a second factor in the front profile from the foot on the inside (5) of the picture frame (1) running parallel to the picture plane to the end of the holding surface (15) directed towards the inside (5) running parallel to the picture plane. 19. Picture frame according to claim 17 and 18, characterized in that the first factor and the second factor are each 0.5. 20. Picture frame according to one of claims 1 to 19, characterized in that the spring tongues (11) with locking lugs (13) on the circumference of the foot on the parallel to the image plane φ i φφ φφ φφ* ·· φ "φ Φ Φ Φ Φ Φ O Φ Φ ·■· φ φφ ···· φφ φ* The inside (5) of the picture frame (1) has a curve (17).