EP4698016A1 - Anchors and assemblies for mounting objects on walls - Google Patents

Abstract

Anchors for mounting onto a wall. Such anchors may include at least first and second curved prongs and at least one foot. The curved prongs and the at least one foot may be configured so that when the anchor is mounted onto a wall, the wall-mounted anchor exhibits a mounting angle relative to the wall, that is in the range of 5 to 25 degrees. Kits and assemblies, and methods of using anchors, kits, and assemblies.

Description

PA100970W002

ANCHORS AND ASSEMBLIES FOR MOUNTING OBJECTS ON WALLS

Background

Numerous products and devices exist for installing a hook or hanging device in a wall, such as for hanging a picture frame, a mirror, or the like.

Summary

In broad summary, herein are disclosed anchors for mounting onto a wall. In some aspects, such anchors may comprise at least first and second curved prongs and at least one foot. The curved prongs and the at least one foot may be configured so that when the anchor is mounted onto a wall, the wall-mounted anchor exhibits a mounting angle relative to the wall that is in the range of 5 to 25 degrees. In various aspects, also disclosed are kits and assemblies including such anchors, and methods of using such anchors, kits, and assemblies. These and other aspects will be apparent from the detailed description below. In no event, however, should this broad summary be construed to limit the claimable subject matter, whether such subject matter is presented in claims in the application as initially filed or in claims that are amended or otherwise presented in prosecution.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the outward side of an exemplary anchor.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the inward side of the anchor of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side view of the anchor of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a side view of the anchor of Fig. 3, as mounted onto a wall.

Figs. 5A and 5B are side views of two alternative exemplary anchor designs.

Figs. 6A and 6B are outward views of an exemplary removable positioning guide, without and with anchors mounted via use of the removable positioning guide.

Fig. 7 is an outward view of a portion of an exemplary positioning support along with exemplary anchors mounted via use of the positioning support.

Fig. 8 is an outward view of a portion of an another exemplary positioning support along with exemplary anchors mounted via use of the positioning support.

Fig. 9 is an outward view of a portion of an another exemplary positioning support along with exemplary anchors mounted via use of the positioning support.

Fig. 10 is a side view of an exemplary wall-mounted anchor, with an accessory attached to the wall- mounted anchor.

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of the inward side of an exemplary accessory.

Fig. 12 is a magnified view of a portion of the inward side of the accessory of Fig. 10.

Fig. 13 is a magnified view of a portion of the inward side of another exemplary accessory.

Fig. 14 is a magnified view of a portion of the inward side of another exemplary accessory.

Fig. 15 is a magnified view of a portion of the inward side of another exemplary accessory.

Fig. 16 is a view of a portion of the inward side of another set of exemplary accessories. Like reference numbers in the various figures indicate like elements. Some elements may be present in identical or equivalent multiples; in such cases only one or more representative elements may be designated by a reference number but it will be understood that such reference numbers apply to all such identical elements. Unless otherwise indicated, all figures and drawings are not to scale and are chosen for the purpose of illustrating different embodiments of the invention. In particular the dimensions of the various components are depicted in illustrative terms only, and no relationship between the dimensions of the various components should be inferred from the drawings, unless so indicated.

Terms such as vertical, above and below, and upward and downward directions along a vertical axis; and, terms such as horizontal, and left and right directions along the horizontal axis, have their ordinary meaning with respect to an item (e.g., an anchor) that is present on a generally vertically wall. Terms such as outward and inward are defined with respect to a wall on which an item is present. Inward refers to a direction generally toward the wall; outward refers to a direction generally away from the wall.

The term “wall” generically denotes any entity with a generally vertically oriented major surface on which an anchor of the general type described herein can be mounted. The term “wall” is used for convenience; such an entity does not necessarily have to be a wall of a building or other immovable structure. Rather, the entity could be, for example, a movable partition or partial partition, a temporary partition or display panel, an interior panel of a vehicle, and so on.

Although terms such as “first” and “second” may be used in this disclosure, it should be understood that those terms are used in their relative sense only, unless otherwise noted. As used herein as a modifier to a property or attribute, the term “generally”, unless otherwise specifically defined, means that the property or attribute would be readily recognizable by a person of ordinary skill but without requiring a high degree of approximation. The term “substantially”, unless otherwise specifically defined, means to a high degree of approximation. The term “configured to” and like terms is at least as restrictive as the term “adapted to”, and requires actual design intention to perform the specified function rather than mere capability of performing such a function. Terms such as “a” and “an”, particularly when used in combination with comprises, comprising, and like terms, will be understood to mean “at least one”; e.g. the phrase “comprising an accessory” means “comprising at least one accessory”.

Detailed Description

The present disclosure provides an anchor 1 that can be mounted onto a wall and can be used to support an accessory that is attached to the anchor. Exemplary anchor 1 is depicted in outward and inward views in Figs. 1 and 2, in side view in Fig. 3, and in side view as mounted on a wall 1000, in Fig. 4. Anchor 1 will comprise a longitudinal axis L and upward U and downward D directions along axis L, as indicated in Fig. 1. Anchor 1 will comprise an inward (wallward) direction I and an outward direction O, defining an inward-outward axis, also as indicated in Fig. 1. Anchor 1 will comprise a transverse (lateral) axis T, also as indicated in Fig. 1. Anchor 1 will comprise a main body 10 that, in many embodiments, may be in the form of a plate (noting however that main body 10 does not necessarily have to be strictly or uniformly planar throughout its extent). Plate 10, and e.g. anchor 1 as a whole, may have an upper end 2 and an opposing (along longitudinal axis L) lower end 3, a first transverse edge 4 and a second, opposing (along transverse axis T) edge 5, and an inward side 6 and an outward side 7.

Anchor 1 will comprise at least first and second curved prongs 11 that that integrally extend at least generally inward from plate 10 and that are respectively located proximate the first and second transverse edges 4 and 5 of plate 10. Curved prongs 11 are located proximate upper end 2 of plate 10 (e.g. each curved prong 11 may integrally extend inward from upper end 2 of plate 10). However, the term “proximate” does not require that each prong 11 must necessarily extend from the uppermost edge of upper end 2, nor does it require that each prong 11 must necessarily extend from the outermost terminus of transverse edges 4 or 5. Rather, the term “proximate” merely implies that the outward base of the prong originates from a location that is at, or close to (e.g., within 2 mm of), the end, edge, or location in question. Each curved prong 11 extends along an arc to a wall-penetrating inward end 12 in the general manner evident in Figs. 1 and 2. In many embodiments, the curved prongs 11 will be transversely spaced apart from each other at a distance, as evident from Figs. 1-2.

Prongs 11 are configured (e.g., are shaped, and are constructed of a suitable material or materials) so that they can penetrate into a wall that is comprised of e.g. wallboard (also referred to as drywall, sheetrock, gypsum board, and so on). Such wall materials have been found to be soft enough to be penetrated with curved prongs in the general manner described herein, while being stiff enough to firmly hold the prongs (and thus the entire anchor) in place once installed. The lengths of the prongs can be varied to allow selection for a specific thickness of wallboard. Often, the prongs may comprise tapered wallpenetrating ends 12 and/or may exhibit gradual taper along a considerable portion of their length. The curved prongs can have a fixed radius of curvature, or have varying radii of curvature at various points, either discretely or continuous, along the prong. The curved prongs may have any suitable aspect ratio. Whatever the specific design, the curved prongs will typically be configured (shaped) so that the outward portions of the curved prong will follow the wall-penetrating end 12 of the prong into the wall, along a penetration path 17 (as indicated in Fig. 4) that is carved by the continued penetration of the wall-penetrating end 12.

Anchor 1 will also comprise at least at least one foot 13 that integrally extends at least generally inward from plate 10 and that is located proximate the lower end 3 of plate 10 (the term “proximate” is used in similar manner as described above). In many embodiments, the at least one foot 13 will take the form of two transversely-spaced feet 13 as evident in Figs. 1 and 2. The at least one foot 13 will comprise an inward “toe” 14 which, in some but not necessarily all embodiments, may be in contact with the wall surface when the anchor 1 is mounted on the wall. As evident in Fig. 3, in some embodiments the at least one foot 13 may extend from plate 10 in a direction that is closely or exactly aligned with the inward-outward direction of anchor 1. However, this is not strictly necessary; in some embodiments foot 13 may be angled e.g. slightly upward or downward relative to the inward-outward direction. Also, foot 13 may not necessarily be straight along some or most of its elongate length in the manner depicted in Fig. 3. Rather, in some embodiments foot 13 may be arcuate. In many embodiments, a foot 13 may exhibit a well-defined outward “heel” 15 e.g. at a junction of the foot 13 with the lower end of the plate. In some embodiments, a heel 15 may take the form of a sharp 90 degree comer (e.g. with a radius of curvature approaching zero). In other embodiments, the heel may have a more gradual comer with a larger radius of curvature, e.g. in the general manner shown in Fig. 3.

In many embodiments, an anchor 1, including curved prongs 11 and one or more feet 13, may take the form of a single, integral piece of material (e.g. a metal such as steel or aluminum, an organic polymeric material such as an injection-molded piece, etc.) with portions of the single, integral piece being formed, cut, bent, molded, etc., to form various features. In various embodiments, an anchor 1 and its various components may be made of metal, e.g. stainless steel, titanium, cobalt-chromium alloy, or a shape-memory alloy such as an alloy of nickel and titanium (e.g., Nitinol). While a single-piece anchor may comprise e.g. additional curved prongs, straight spikes or the like, a single-piece anchor by definition does not comprise any additional anchor components that are hingedly connected to plate 10. By an anchor component is meant a component that takes an active part in helping the anchor bear the load of an accessory attached thereto; the requirement of a single-piece anchor does not preclude the presence of e.g. a positioning guide or a positioning support in the manner described in detail later herein. Examples of anchors that are not single-piece anchors as defined herein include e.g. the anchors disclosed in Figs. 8-10 of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20220279945. In some embodiments, an anchor 1 may be a single-piece anchor that consists essentially of plate 10, the at least first and second curved prongs 11, and the at least one foot 13. The terminology “consists essentially of’ specifically allows the plate 10 to include a mounting aperture and/or a removal tab (both as described and discussed later herein).

With reference to Fig. 4, to mount anchor 1 on a wall 1000, the anchor may be brought to a suitable location of a wall, so that the “toe” 14 of the at least one foot 13 is in contact with wall 1000 at a toe-contact location 1002, and so that the wall-penetrating ends 12 of curved prongs 11 are likewise in contact with the wall surface 1001. Typically, anchor 1 will be oriented as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, with the longitudinal axis L of anchor 1 at generally aligned with the vertical axis V of the wall so that the at least one foot 13 of the anchor is vertically beneath the curved prongs. Wallward force is applied (e.g., manual force applied by the fingers of an end-user) to anchor 1, e.g. to upper portions of anchor 1, so that anchor 1 rotates about an axis of rotation that is proximate toe-contact location 1002 (this axis of rotation will be at least generally aligned with the transverse axis T of anchor 1). This rotation will urge wall-penetrating ends 12 of curved prongs 11 to penetrate into wall 1000, followed by the remainder of curved prongs 11. This is continued until anchor 1 is in a mounted condition in the manner depicted in Fig. 4. (Thus, by a “mounted” condition of anchor 1 is meant a condition in which curved prongs 11 are fully penetrated and seated into wall 1000.)

In many embodiments, such an anchor may be arranged (e.g. mounted on a vertical wall) so that a longitudinal axis “L” of the anchor is generally vertically oriented (but with an offset, mounting angle as discussed in detail below), and with the transverse axis “T” of the plate (and of the anchor as a whole) oriented at least generally horizontally along the wall. In many embodiments, the curved prongs 11 may be the primary means by which anchor 1 is held on wall 1000; that is, the curved prongs may bear most of the load that is generated due to the weight of an accessory (described in detail later herein) that is attached to the wall-mounted anchor. However, in some embodiments, the at least one foot 13 (even though it/they do not necessarily penetrate into the wall) may take at least a small portion of the load. In some embodiments, the presence of the at least one foot can help the wall-mounted anchor resist out-of-wall torque or shear forces. In some embodiments, the toe 14 of the at least one foot 13 may be at least slightly pointed, so as to provide at least a small amount of wall-penetration for such purposes. However, in other embodiments, the toe 14 may e.g. be rather bluntly shaped as in the Figures herein. In some embodiments, a wall-contacting surface of the toe 14 may comprise a protective layer (e.g. provided in the form of a sheath or boot) that minimizes any scratching or marring of the wall surface 1001 at the toe-contact location 1002 of the wall. In some embodiments, any such protective layer may be an anti-skid layer (e.g. made of a rubbery or grippy material and/or with a textured surface) so as to serve both purposes.

Anchor 1, when mounted onto a wall 1000 in the general manner described above, will exhibit a mounting angle 1003 in the general manner indicated in Fig. 4. Mounting angle 1003 can be described in general as an offset angle between the longitudinal axis L of anchor 1 and the vertical axis V of the wall 1000 on which anchor 1 is mounted. In many embodiments, the longitudinal axis L of anchor 1 will coincide with an overall plane of anchor 1 (e.g., a major plane with which plate 10 is coincident) as in the design depicted in Fig. 4. The vertex of this mounting angle/offset angle will be proximate the outward end of the curved prongs 11 (i.e., proximate the junctions at which the curved prongs join plate 10) and may often be proximate to an upper contact location 1004 of the upper end of anchor 1 with the surface 1001 of wall 1000. In various embodiments, this mounting angle may be at least 5, 7, 9 or 11 degrees. In further embodiments, this mounting angle may be at most 26, 24, 22, 20, 18, 16, or 14 degrees. (In the exemplary embodiment of Fig. 4, mounting angle 1003 is approximately 13 degrees.)

Such a mounting angle 1003 may be achieved by appropriately configuring the first and second curved prongs 11 and the at least one foot 13. With reference to Fig. 3, such arrangements may be characterized in terms of an inward extension ratio of an inward foot-extension distance 27 of the at least one foot 13, to an inward prong-extension distance 26 of the first and second curved prongs 11. As evident from Fig. 3, these distances will govern the tendency of anchor 1, when wall-mounted, to exhibit a suitable mounting angle 1003. These distances are measured along the inward-outward direction of the anchor in the general manner indicated in Fig. 3. In various embodiments, this inward extension ratio may be at least 0.4, 0.45, 0.5, or 0.55. In further embodiments, this inward extension ratio may be at most 0.75, 0.7, 0.65, or 0.6. (In the exemplary arrangement depicted in Fig. 3, the inward extension ratio is approximately 0.6.) The mounting angle 1003 that is achieved by anchor 1 will also be affected by the longitudinal offset distance (along a direction aligned with the longitudinal axis L of the anchor) between the inward wall-penetrating tips 12 of the curved prongs 11, and the “toe” 14 of the at least one foot 13. This distance (indicated as (L_o) in Fig. 3) can be characterized by way of a ratio of this distance L_o to the inward prongextension distance 26 described above. In various embodiments, this ratio may be at least 1.4:1, 1.6: 1, or 1.8: 1. In further embodiments, this ratio may be at most 2.8:1, 2.6:1, 2.4:1, or 2.2:1. (In the exemplary embodiment of Fig. 3, this ratio is approximately 2:1.) In various embodiments, this distance ratio may be in the range of from 1.8:1 to 2.2:1, in combination with the above-described inward extension ratio being in the range of from 0.55 to 0.65. Such arrangements may provide a mounting angle 1003 that is in the range of e.g. 10-15 degrees.

It will be appreciated that for an anchor 1 mounted onto a wall 1000 in the general manner herein, the longitudinal axis L of the anchor (as indicated e.g. in Fig. 3) will not be exactly aligned with the vertical axis V of the wall (as indicated e.g. in Fig. 4). Rather, the longitudinal axis L of the anchor will be offset from the vertical axis V of the wall, by an amount commensurate with the above-described mounting angle. Thus, the longitudinal axis L of the anchor, when the anchor is mounted on the wall, will be considered to be “generally”, but not exactly, aligned with the vertical axis V of the wall. However, the upward and downward directions of the anchor will still generally correspond to upward and downward directions of the wall.

Within the overall guidelines presented above, the curved prongs 11 and the at least one foot 13 can be configured as desired. For example, the design (e.g. shape) of curved prongs 11 may be modified from their appearance in Fig. 4. This design of curved prongs 11 is reproduced (again in side view) in Fig. 5 A. In this design, the curved prongs 11 exhibit a radial center (a “focus”, indicated in general by dotted circle 16) that is located proximate the above-described “heel” 15 of foot 13. While such a design may be suitable for many embodiments, it may give rise to one mode of behavior that may be undesirable in some particular uses. Specifically, the outward offset of the radial center 16 of the prongs 11 from the toe 14 of the foot 13, may cause toe 14 to very slightly move (e.g. slide) vertically along the wall surface as the anchor is rotated to mount it on the wall in the general manner shown in Fig. 4.

Such behavior (i.e., any slight “walking” of the toe along the wall during rotational mounting of the anchor onto the wall) can be minimized, e.g. largely eliminated, with a design of the general type shown in Fig. 5B. In Fig. 5B, anchor 101 comprises curved prongs 111 with wall-penetrating ends 112, and feet 113 with toes 114 and heels 115, in very similar manner to the anchor 1 of Fig. 5 A. The difference is that in the design of Fig. 5B, the curved prongs 11 are configured so as to exhibit a radial center (a focus, as indicated in general by dotted circle 116) that is located more closely proximate to the inward toe 114 of the foot 113. By proximate is meant with respect to a direction along the inward-outward axis of the anchor. As evident from Fig. 5B, such an arrangement does not necessarily require that the radial center 116 be located e.g. exactly even with the toe 114 along the longitudinal axis of the anchor, although this can be done if desired.

Although a design of the type exemplified by Fig. 5B has been found to provide the very least amount of “walking” of the foot/feet along the wall during rotational mounting of the anchor into the wall, it is emphasized that even with the design of Fig. 5 A, any slight “walking” is very limited in extent. Thus, both of the general arrangements depicted in Figs. 5A and 5B are acceptable for many uses and the choice between such arrangements may come down to, e.g., a user’s preference. A general arrangement as described herein, in which an anchor 1 is mounted on a wall so as to exhibit a mounting angle 1003, will provide an upwardly -tapered space 25 between the inward side 6 of the anchor 1, and the outward surface 1001 of the wall 1000. By upwardly-tapered is meant that space 25, when viewed in side view along the transverse axis of the anchor as in Fig. 4, will be generally triangular so as to be wider toward its lower end and narrower (“tapered”) toward its upper end. An anchor arrangement which comprises a mounting angle 1003 that provides an upwardly-tapered space 25 as disclosed herein will be contrasted with an anchor arrangement in which, when the anchor is mounted onto a wall, a plate portion of the anchor is substantially flush with the outward surface of the wall throughout the vertical extent of the plate portion, so that no such upwardly -tapered space 25 exists between the inward side of the anchor and the outward surface of the wall. (Any such analysis will disregard any apertures or the like that may interrupt the otherwise-flush surface of the plate portion.) Examples of anchors that are configured to be flush-mounted so as to not comprise a mounting angle or an upwardly-tapered space include e.g. the anchors disclosed in Figs. 1-6 of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20220279945.

The providing of an upwardly -tapered space 25 between the inward side 6 of the anchor 1 and the outward surface 1001 of the wall 1000 can provide several advantageous arrangements and modes of functioning. For example, such a space 25 can allow a positioning guide or a positioning support to reside therein as discussed in detail later herein. In particular, such a space 25 can allow a positioning guide or support to extend through space 25 in a generally horizontal/transverse direction. Such a space 25 (e.g. when used in combination with a mounting through-aperture 21 as provided in plate 10 of anchor 1) can accept a mounting protrusion of an accessory thereinto, so as to allow quick, easy and convenient attaching of an accessory to the wall-mounted anchor 1. Either or both of these arrangements may be used in various embodiments, as discussed later herein.

In some embodiments, an anchor 1 as described herein may be used on a stand-alone basis, e.g. one anchor 1 may be used to support one accessory. However, in some embodiments, multiple anchors 1 may be used. In some cases, each anchor 1 may separately support a single accessory. However, in some embodiments, multiple anchors 1, e.g. spaced at least generally horizontally along a wall, may be used to collectively support a single accessory, e.g. an elongate accessory such as a shelf, rail, rod or the like. In such cases, various arrangements disclosed herein, e.g. the providing of an upwardly-tapered space as discussed above, may allow a single elongate positioning guide or positioning support to extend through the upwardly-tapered spaces of multiple such spaced-apart anchors, so that the positioning guide or positioning support can enhance the ability to position and mount multiple such anchors on a wall, as discussed in detail below.

The arrangements disclosed herein thus allow the use of a positioning guide 200 in the general manner depicted in Figs. 6 A and 6B. In one straightforward embodiment, a positioning guide 200 may be e.g. an elongate, thin, sheetlike item that comprises landing zones 202 for wall-penetrating ends 12 of prongs 11. In some embodiments the landing zones 202 may be e.g. in the form of cut-outs (or, they may simply be indicated areas of the guide, through which, due to the guide’s thin and sheetlike nature, the prongs can easily penetrate). In some embodiments the cut-out landing zones 202 may be portions of larger cut-out areas 201 (as in the exemplary design of Fig. 6 A) which can make it easier to remove the positioning guide from the wall after mounting of the anchors to the wall, as discussed below. In some embodiments, such a positioning guide 200 may be adhesive-backed, e.g. with a repositionable and/or removable adhesive (a removable backing or release liner may be included that can be removed to use the guide). The guide can be mounted onto a wall e.g. using an adhesive backing, in a suitable location. The guide may be aligned horizontally by eye, or by the use of an ancillary level. Or, in some cases, the guide itself may include a built-in level of the general type discussed later herein. In any event, the guide may be adhered to the wall e.g. at a horizontal inclination in the manner depicted in Fig. 6A. One or more anchors 1 can then be positioned so that the ends 12 of the curved prongs 11 of the anchor are within landing zones 202, and so that the anchor is vertically oriented. The anchor can then be rotated in the general manner described earlier herein, so that the curved prongs penetrate into the wall until fully seated in the wall. This can be repeated for multiple anchors, to arrive at a configuration such as shown in Fig. 6B, in which multiple anchors 1 are provided in a horizontally-spaced configuration on a wall.

At this point, there may be no further use for the positioning guide 200 so it may be removed if desired. If the guide 200 included full cutouts 201 of the general type shown in Fig. 6A, the guide may be peeled off the wall bodily, as an intact whole. However, even if, for example, the guide comprised landing zones 202 in the form of discrete, isolated openings, the guide may (e.g. if made of a sufficiently thin and lightweight, e.g. paperlike, material) be removed from the wall with small portions of the guide being e.g. ripped away from other portions, so that the small portions of the guide remain on the wall. Such portions may be covered by the anchors 1 themselves and/or by an accessory that is attached to the anchor(s), and so may be of no consequence. It will be appreciated that numerous variations of such approaches (e.g. using a positioning guide that is thin, pliable, removable, rippable, etc.) are possible. With any such approach, a positioning guide and any number of anchors (e.g. one, two, three, four, or more) may be provided to an end-user as a kit.

Another approach can make use of a positioning support 300, as illustrated in exemplary embodiment in Fig. 7. A positioning support can be used in similar manner to a positioning guide, except that the term “support” denotes an item that not only provides a guide for positioning of one or more anchors, but also supports the anchor(s) in the proper position until the anchor(s) becomes mounted onto the wall. A positioning “support” is thus distinguished from an above-described positioning “guide”. It is also noted that in many herein-disclosed embodiments, a positioning support or a positioning guide may be elongated along a direction that is described as it’s “transverse” direction. This use of the term transverse is to maintain continuity with the transverse direction of the previously -described anchors. Typically, this transverse direction of the anchors and positioning guide or support will be at least generally aligned with the horizontal direction of a wall on which the anchors and the positioning support or positioning guide are placed. The exemplary positioning support 300 as shown in Fig. 7, is a relatively thin, elongate, sheetlike item that comprises landing zones 302 for the wall-penetrating ends of curved prongs of an anchor. In the depicted embodiment, the landing zones 302 are discrete, isolated apertures made e.g. by die-cutting, lasercutting, water-jetting, or the like. The positioning support 300 further comprises hinge-mounts 303. In the depicted embodiment, the hinge-mounts 303 are made by cutting out sections in the appropriate shape (e.g. by die-cutting, etc.) and then bending the sections 303 so that they extend generally outward from the main body of support 300 (so as to leave behind apertures 301). The depicted hinge-mounts 303 are thus in the general form of outwardly -extending hinge-tabs.

Orifices 304 can be provided in the hinge-mounts (e.g. by cutting and removing small pieces from within sections 303). An anchor 1 that is used with such a positioning support may look much like the previously -described anchors, excepting that the anchor comprises toe-shafts 31 that extend transversely outward from transversely -outward edges of toes 14. Toe-shafts 31 are seated in orifices 304 of hingemounts 303 of support 300, so that anchors 1 are hingedly supported by support 300 in the general manner shown in Fig. 7, and so that the anchors are each rotatable about an axis of rotation that passes through the orifices 304 and the toe-shafts 31 seated therein, the axis of rotation being at least generally horizontally oriented relative to the wall. (Similarly -functioning arrangements may be achieved in which the toe-shafts 31 are oriented so as to extend transversely inward, rather than outward, from toes 14.)

For use, the positioning support 300, bearing anchors 1 (which may, e.g., hang loosely from their hinge-mounts 303) is brought to a desired position on a wall and is oriented appropriately. (In the depicted embodiment, support 300 includes a built-in level 310 to assist in this). The positioning support 300 is then e.g. adhesively bonded to the wall e.g. using a removable pressure-sensitive adhesive provided on the inward face of support 300. Each anchor 1 is then rotated so as to penetrate its curved prongs into the wall in the general manner described earlier. In at least some uses, the positioning support 300 will remain in place on the wall (in many such cases, the support 300 will be covered by an accessory). Even if this is the case, a pressure-sensitive adhesive that is used to adhere support 300 to the wall may be a removable adhesive, e.g. to enable the support 300 to be removed from the wall at some future time at which the anchors are removed. In some particular embodiments, such a pressure-sensitive adhesive may be a stretchrelease adhesive.

Even if positioning support 300 does remains on the wall indefinitely, positioning support 300 will typically play little or no part in supporting any accessory; the anchor(s) are what support the weight of the accessory. The term positioning “support” is thus used in the sense of an entity that support the anchors themselves up until the time that the anchors are mounted onto the walls. A positioning support 300 of the general type shown in Fig. 7 (in which hinge-mounts are hinge-tabs that are provided by partially-cut portions of the support that are bent outward) may be made e.g. from a suitable material such as paperboard, chipboard, cardstock, fiberboard, or the like.

It will be appreciated that the use of a positioning support may provide that the toe 14 of the at least one foot 13 may not necessarily be in direct contact with the outward surface 1001 of the wall 1000 in the manner that was previously described. Rather (depending e.g. on the exact design of the hinge-mounts 303), the toe 14, although being in close proximity to (e.g., within 3, 2, or 1 mm of) a toe-contact location 1002 of the wall, may not quite touch the wall. (The terminology of a toe-contact location will nevertheless be retained to indicate the area of the wall that the toe is in closest approach to.)

Another general type of positioning support is depicted as support 400 in Fig. 8. Such a support 400 may be e.g. made of molded plastic and again may comprise a built-in level 410 if desired. The support 400 is somewhat scalloped in shape, so as to comprise large openings 402 that provide landing zones for the wall-penetrating ends of the curved prongs of multiple anchors 1. Support 400 comprises anchorsupports 401, each of which is in a generally T-bar shape comprising a central horizontal strut 405 (that is connected to the main body of support 400) and that comprises hinge-mounts 403 each with an orifice 404 that is configured to accept a toe-shaft 31 of a foot 13 of an anchor 1. (The anchor-support 401 is thus in the general form of a clevis.) The mode of operation is similar to that described above - the anchors 1 are supported by the support 400, which is brought into position and e.g. adhesively adhered to a wall. After this, the anchors are rotated so as to mount them onto the wall. In at least some embodiments, the support 400 may remain in place on the wall (nothing that the above-described space 25 allows this to be achieved); in many such embodiments, support 400 may be covered by an accessory.

Another positioning support 400 is depicted in Fig. 9, and is very similar to that of Fig. 8. Again, it may be made of e.g. molded plastic, can have large landing zones 402, and so on. The support 400 of Fig. 9 differs slightly from that of Fig. 8 in the design of the anchor-support 421, which differs from anchorsupport 401 of Fig. 8. Anchor-support 421 still provides hinge-mounts 403 that comprise orifices 404 that are configured to accept a toe-shaft 31 of a foot 13 of an anchor 1, but the design and orientation of the anchor-support 421 departs slightly from that of anchor-support 401. Such differences may, for example, be configured so as to allow the hinge-mounts of the anchor-support to deflect, flex or bend slightly in response to an applied force. Thus, such arrangements may accommodate any slight “walking” tendency of the anchor feet 13 (as described earlier herein) by allowing the hinge-mounts to move slightly in response. Of the particular positioning supports 300 and 400 as depicted in Figs. 8 and 9, the arrangement of support 300 of Fig. 8 has been found to allow more of the above-described deflection, while support 400 has been found to exhibit a more rigid aspect.

A positioning support that allows at least some amount of deflection may allow use of an anchor of the type depicted in Fig. 5A, rather than necessitating the use of an anchor of the type depicted in Fig. 5B. It will be appreciated that other control variables, e.g. the stiffness or flexibility of the material used to make the positioning support, the dimensions (in particular, the thickness) of the hinge-mounts and the components that support them, and so on, may be manipulated to provide any desired ability of the hingemounts to deflect so as to accommodate any slight “walking” movement of the toe-shafts as the anchor is rotated.

In any embodiment that uses a positioning support, the positioning support and one or more anchors may be provided to an end-user as a kit. In some embodiments, such a kit may have the anchor(s) pre- connected to the positioning support (e.g. with the anchors hanging loosely from the hinge-tabs) to form a mounting assembly which can be used in the general manner described above. Any such positioning support (or guide), in particular if it is configured to enable the wall-mounting of several, horizontally-spaced anchors, may be elongate generally along a transverse direction, which will correspond to a horizontal direction along the wall on which the support (or guide) and anchors are positioned. Typically, the rotation axis of the one or more anchors that are used in conjunction with the positioning guide or positioning support, will be aligned with this transverse direction of the guide or support and with the horizontal direction of the wall. In many embodiments, any such positioning support (whether made of molded plastic, or made of chipboard, paperboard, etc.) may be an integral, single-piece item (excepting any additional item such as a separately -made level that is installed on the positioning support).

Also disclosed herein are arrangements that enable the installing of one or more accessories onto an anchor. For purposes of these discussions, an anchor is defined herein as an entity that is mountable onto a wall by inserting at least first and second curved prongs of the anchor into the wall, and that further has at least one foot that is located toward a lower end of the single-piece anchor. An accessory is defined as an item that is purposely configured to be installed onto an anchor (typically, after the anchor has been mounted onto a wall), so that the assembly formed by the accessory and the anchor can be used to support one or more items. (Terminology herein will refer to the combination of an anchor and an accessory as an “assembly”, and will refer to the combination of an anchor and a positioning support as a “mounting assembly”, so that these two groupings can be distinguished.) In many embodiments, the accessory may be removably installable onto the anchor, e.g. so that the accessory can be removed from the anchor at such time as it is desired to remove the anchor from the wall.

In some embodiments an anchor and an accessory may be provided to an end user in a format in which the accessory is fitted onto the anchor. This may be done e.g. for space-savings in packaging of the product and/or so that an end user can see how the assembly is to be constructed in actual use. In such cases, the accessory will typically be detached from the anchor in order to mount the anchor on a wall, after which the accessory can be installed on the wall-mounted anchor. Of course, in a kit as provided to an end-user, an accessory need not be fitted onto an anchor; rather, any number of anchors and accessories may be provided separately within a packaged kit. Such a kit may also comprise instructions for use, and other ancillary materials.

In some embodiments, only a single accessory will be used, the single accessory being attached to, and supported by, a single wall-mounted anchor, and the single anchor and accessory functioning to support the weight of whatever item is desired to be mounted on the wall, hung from the wall, displayed, etc. The accessory may take the general form of e.g. a hook, a bracket, a post, a ring, a rod-holder, a container, etc., and may serve to directly support the weight of an item or items (e.g. an article of clothing, a towel, a curtain rod, toiletries, etc.). However, in some embodiments, an accessory that is attached to an anchor may not serve to directly support the weight of an item, but rather may serve to accept another accessory that is configured to accept an item to be supported. In such embodiments, the item-supporting accessory (which may be e.g. a hook, a bracket, a shelf, etc.) will be referred to as a primary accessory and the accessory that is attached to the anchor and that accepts the primary accessory, will be referred to as a secondary accessory. The secondary accessory will comprise features that allow the secondary accessory to be attached to the anchor; and, it will further comprise features and allow the primary accessory to be coupled to the secondary accessory. In some embodiments, a secondary accessory may provide a universal-installation system that allows any of several types of primary accessories to be coupled to a secondary accessory and thus installed onto an anchor.

In some embodiments, two (or more) accessories may be present, each accessory being separately supported by a single, dedicated anchor to which the accessory is attached. In some such embodiments, each such accessory may be a secondary accessory that is configured to accept another, primary accessory in the general manner described above. In some embodiments, a single, e.g. elongate, accessory may be supported by multiple anchors acting in cooperation. For example, multiple anchors, that are e.g. spaced at least generally horizontally along a wall, may be used to collectively support a single accessory, such as a shelf or the like. In some embodiments, any such accessory may itself comprise multiple support elements that are individually configured to support various items; for example an accessory may be a coat rack comprising an elongate base whose rear side is attachable to multiple anchors and from which multiple individual coat hooks protmde outwardly.

An anchor 1 as disclosed herein can comprise at least one mating structure that is configured to allow a complementary mating structure of an accessory to mate therewith, so as to attach the accessory to the anchor (again, this is typically done with the anchor already mounted on the wall). One implementation of such arrangements involves equipping the anchor 1 with a mating structure in the form of a mounting aperture 21 as depicted in Figs. 1 and 2. By a mounting aperture is meant an aperture that passes completely through the thickness of the plate 10 of the anchor 1, in an inward-outward direction. In some embodiments, such an aperture may be generally rectangular so as to exhibit an upper lintel 23, a lower sill 24, and first and second opposing transverse edges 22.

With reference to Fig. 10, in some embodiments an accessory 500 may comprise a complementary mating structure 501 in the form of a mounting protrusion that protrudes at least generally inward (wallward) from an inward side 504 of accessory 500. Accessory 500 can further comprise an outward side 505 from which one or more support elements 506 (e.g. a post, as shown in partial view in Fig. 10) protrudes generally outwardly, although many other arrangements are possible. Mounting protrusion 501 can penetrate generally inward (wallward) through the above-described mounting aperture 21 of anchor 1 so that an inward portion of mounting protrusion 501 resides within the previously-described upwardly- tapered space 25. Mounting protrusion 501, in addition to being generally inwardly -protruding, can have an inwardmost section that is downwardly -extending so as to define a downwardly -open-ended notch 502. Notch 502 of accessory 500 can be upwardly bounded by a downward-facing shelf 503. When mounting protrusion 501 is fully inserted and seated in place on anchor 1, the downward-facing shelf 503 of the accessory can rest upon the upward-facing lower sill 24 of aperture 21 of anchor 1. In some cases this may be the primary force-transmitting pathway by which anchor 1 bears the load resulting from the weight of the accessory (and whatever item(s) are supported by /on the accessory). However, in various embodiments, various other components, features, geometric arrangements, etc. may be present as discussed in detail later herein. Some such arrangements may bear a significant portion of the load, while some such arrangements may e.g. merely serve to enhance the holding of the mounting projection (and thus the accessory as a whole) snugly in place on the anchor.

The above-described features and arrangements are also visible in Fig. 11, which is a perspective view (from the inward side) of an accessory 500 of the type described above. The particular accessory 500 shown in Fig. 11 is a transversely -elongate body that is configured to operate in conjunction with four transversely-spaced anchors 1. Two such anchors 1 are shown in Fig. 11 while two are omitted so that details of the mounting projections 501 can be more easily seen. The combination of accessory 500 and anchors 1 as shown in Fig. 11 is an example of a general arrangement that uses multiple anchors that are horizontally -spaced along a wall and that can thus benefit from the previously -described use of a positioning guide or a positioning support that can enhance the ability to mount the anchors on the wall at the desired spacing and at the desired horizontal orientation. The accessory 500 as shown in Fig. 11 is also an example of an accessory that, when attached to a set of anchors, will outwardly cover the anchors and will also outwardly cover any positioning guide or positioning support that was used in the installation of the anchors and that remains in place on the wall.

The particular accessory 500 shown in Fig. 11 is an example of a “coatrack” style of accessory comprising a main body to which multiple support elements 506 (which may be e.g. coat-hangers, or, more generically, knobs) are attached by way of connectors 507. In some such arrangements e.g. in which the knobs 506 are permanently connected to the main body by way of connectors 507 at the factory, the entire accessory 500, including items 506 and 507, can be considered to be a unit. Many variations are possible, e.g. multiple support elements may be molded as integral portions of the accessory rather than being separately -made entities that are then attached to the main body of the accessory. In some embodiments, e.g. if knobs 506 (or in general, support elements) are removable from the main body by an end-user e.g. so as to be swappable with other support elements, the main body of accessory 500 may be considered to be a secondary accessory and the knobs 506 may be considered to be primary accessories. It is again emphasized that many variations on such arrangements are possible.

Additional features of accessory 500 are visible in Fig. 12, which is a magnified view of the inward side of a portion of the accessory 500 of Fig. 11, showing a particular mounting protrusion 501 and its surroundings (with anchor 1 having been omitted). Visible in Fig. 12 are positioning studs 511. These studs 511 are positioned so that they can contact and temporarily support an upper lintel 23 of anchor 1 so that anchor 1 is held in an appropriate position and orientation to be brought into contact with a wall. In other words, anchors 1 may be temporarily held on the inward side of accessory 500 by way of positioning studs 511. Accessory 500 may then be brought near the wall and positioned and oriented as desired. Accessory 500 may then be firmly pressed wallward so that the wall-penetrating ends 12 of curved prongs 11 of the anchors 1 contact the wall so as to impart small, but visible, indentations into the wall surface 1001. Accessory 500 may then be moved away from the wall. An anchor 1 may then be removed from its temporary residence as supported by the positioning studs 511, and positioned on the wall so that the wallpenetrating ends 12 of the curved prongs 11 of the anchor are on the above-described indentations. The anchor can then be rotated inwardly in the manner described earlier, to mount the anchor in the appropriate location on the wall. This process can then be repeated for the other anchors, after which the accessory 500 can be attached to the wall-mounted anchors by way of the mounting protrusions 501 of the accessory. (The presence of the positioning studs 511 will not interfere with this process.)

Such an arrangement, in which the accessory itself is used (temporarily) as a template or guide for positioning the anchors at appropriate locations on the wall, can eliminate the need to use a separate positioning guide or positioning support in the manner described earlier herein. It will be appreciated that the particular arrangement disclosed in Fig. 12 (the use of inwardly -projecting positioning studs 511) is one example of a general approach in which an accessory can temporarily support anchors while the accessory itself is being used as a template or guide for positioning the anchors on a wall.

Still another potentially -beneficial arrangement is depicted in Fig. 13, which is a magnified view of the inward side of a portion of another exemplary accessory 500. The arrangement is quite similar to that discussed above with regard to Fig. 12, excepting that the accessory of Fig. 13 comprises a pair of opposed, transversely -inwardly -facing notches 512. Such notches can be used in combination with an anchor 1 that is configured to have a pair of opposed, transversely -outwardly-facing projections 32 along the opposing transverse edges 4 and 5 of the anchor, as pointed out in the exemplary anchor of Fig. 7. (Such transversely- outwardly-facing projections are also visible in the exemplary anchors of Figs. 8 and 9, and can be contrasted with the straight transverse edges of the exemplary anchors depicted in Figs. 1-2, 6, 11, and 15). The edge projections 32 of an anchor 1, and the complementary notches 512 of an accessory 500, can combine to form a detent structure that is configured so that as the accessory is moved generally inward and downward onto the anchor to insert a mounting protrusion of the accessory through a mounting aperture of the anchor, the edge projections 32 of the anchor will move (e.g., snap) into place in the complementary notches 512 of the accessory. Such arrangements can enhance the fidelity with which the accessory is held in place on the anchor while not interfering with the ability to insert the mounting protrusion into place within the upwardly-tapered space of the anchor and while still allowing the accessory to be removable from the anchor at a desired time.

Still another potentially-beneficial arrangement is depicted in Fig. 14, which is a magnified view of the inward side of a portion of another exemplary accessory 500. The arrangement is quite similar to that discussed above with regard to Fig. 12, excepting that the accessory of Fig. 14 comprises an additional mounting protrusion 513 that is vertically below, and identical to, the above-described mounting protrusion 501 except for being oppositely oriented. An accessory of the general type shown in Fig. 14 may thus be mounted in a first configuration using the mounting protrusion 501; or, it can be flipped over and mounted in a second, “upside-down” configuration using the mounting protrusion 513. Such arrangements may provide additional choices of configuration and orientation, as may be desired in some situations.

Still another potentially-beneficial arrangement is depicted in Fig. 15, which is a magnified view of the inward side of a portion of another exemplary accessory 600. The arrangement is similar to those discussed above, excepting that the accessory of Fig. 15 comprises a mounting protrusion 601 is somewhat tongue-like in aspect and is configured to provide a “snap-in” functionality. In the depicted arrangement, the accessory 600 is moved generally wallward and downward so that the mounting protrusion 601 passes through the mounting aperture of the anchor 1 so that portion of the mounting protrusion resides within the previously-described upwardly-tapered space between the anchor and the wall. However, the mounting protrusion 601 of Fig. 15 is additionally configured so that it comprises transversely-inwardly-and- outwardly-deflectable edge-tabs 602. As the mounting protrusion travels generally downward within the upwardly -tapered space, the transversely -outward edges of edge-tabs 602 will impinge on the transversely - inward edges of the left and right feet 13 of the anchor. Edge-tabs 602 will deflect transversely inwardly during this passage. Once edge-tabs 602 travel sufficiently vertically below the feet 13, the edge-tabs will resiliently move back transversely outward to the position shown in Fig. 15, in which upper edges 603 of tabs 602 reside at least slightly underneath the transversely -inward edges of feet 13 of anchor 1. This can provide snap-in functionality which can enhance the fidelity with which the accessory is held in place on the anchor, while not interfering with the ability to insert the mounting protmsion into place within the upwardly-tapered space of the anchor and while still allowing the accessory to be removable from the anchor at a desired time. A mounting protmsion 601 can be configured in this general manner e.g. by choice of the geometric parameters of the various components of the mounting protrusion, as well as by the choice of the material used to make the mounting protrusion 601 and/or the accessory 600 as a whole. (In some embodiments, a mounting protrusion may be a separately-made item that is e.g. permanently attached to the main body of the accessory.) A mounting protrusion that is purposely configured to be deflectable in this manner may be contrasted to the previously -described mounting protrusions, with which deflectability may not play a role (such mounting projections may thus be relatively rigid and unyielding, although they can be made of deflectable and/or resilient or compliant materials if desired).

Still another potentially-beneficial arrangement is depicted in Fig. 16. This is a view of the inward side of another exemplary accessory 700 that is a transversely-elongate item that is configured to be supported by way of multiple, horizontally-spaced anchors. In the arrangement of Fig. 16, the actual items that are supported by the anchors are mounting plates 702, each of which is configured to reside within an inwardly -open-ended cavity 706 of accessory 700. In order to more fully illustrate the presented arrangement, in Fig. 16, a mounting plate 702 is shown as residing in the rightmost cavity 706, while the mounting plate is omitted from the central cavity 706; and, the leftmost section of the accessory 700 itself is omitted so that details of the leftmost mounting plate 702 can be more easily seen. In actuality, each mounting plate 702 will reside in a cavity 706 of accessory 700 and each such cavity 706 will typically have a mounting plate 702 residing therein. In the depicted embodiment, each cavity 706 of accessory 700 further comprises a secondary inwardly -open-ended cavity 707 that provides room for an anchor 1 to reside therein.

As depicted, each mounting plate 702 comprises a mounting protrusion 701 that, in this exemplary arrangement, is in the form of an elongate tongue that protrudes generally downward, and slightly inwardly, from an upper portion of mounting plate 702. Each mounting tongue 701 is configured to pass through a mounting aperture of an anchor 1 so that a portion of the mounting tongue resides within an upwardly- tapered space between the anchor and the wall, in similar manner as depicted for mounting protrusion 601 of Fig. 15. The mounting tongues 701 of Fig. 16 may exhibit a slight inward-outward “snap-in” functionality; however, they do not have edge-tabs of the type possessed by the mounting protrusion 601 of Fig. 15, therefore they do not exhibit the transversely-deflectable “snap-in” functionality of the type depicted in Fig. 15.

In the arrangement of Fig. 16, each mounting plate 702 comprises a support element (in the depicted embodiment, a knob) 703 that is attached thereto, e.g. by way of a fitting or coupling 704. In some embodiments this attachment may be permanent, e.g. at the factory. In other embodiments, the support element 703 may be detachable from plate 702 (in some such cases, support element 703 and plate 702 may be provided in a kit in which they are not attached to each other). In the depicted embodiment, multiple anchors can be mounted on a wall in the general manner described in detail earlier herein, after which mounting plates 702 are attached to the wall-mounted anchors by way of mounting tongues 701. After this, elongate accessory 705 can be positioned so that the individual mounting plates 702 each reside within a respective inwardly -open-ended cavity 706 of accessory 705, and accessory 705 can then be attached, e.g. removably attached, to some or all of the mounting plates. In some embodiments, this attachment of accessory 705 to the individual mounting plates 702 can be accomplished in the act of attaching support elements 703 to the mounting plates. In other words, in some such embodiments a support element 703 can serve both to support one or more items (e.g. a coat, a hat, a towel, etc.) and to hold accessory 705 in place on a mounting plate 702.

It will be appreciated that in the above-described arrangement, the mounting plates 702 can be the actual entities that bear the load resulting from the weight of each support element 703 and the weight of any item (e.g. towel, picture, plaque, etc.) that is supported by an element 703. In at least some such embodiments, the transversely -elongate accessory 705 may itself bear little or none of the load resulting from the weight of such items; thus, in some embodiments accessory 705 need not be particularly strong but rather may be primarily cosmetic so as to provide a decorative facade to cover the anchors and the mounting plates. The choices of material and construction of accessory 705 may thus be made appropriately (for example, accessory 705 may be made of medium density fiberboard). It will be appreciated that in at least some arrangements of the type shown in Fig. 16, the mounting plates 702 may each be considered to be a secondary accessory to which a primary accessory (e.g. in the form of a knob or other support element) is attached. Again, the accessory 705 may thus be a cosmetic facade, although it will be termed an accessory for ease of description. It is noted in passing that other transversely -elongate accessories as disclosed herein, e.g. accessory 500 of Fig. 11, may be load-bearing and may accordingly be rather strong and rigid in character.

Any of the anchors, accessories, positioning guides, positioning supports, and assemblies of various such entities, may be straightforwardly removed from a wall at a desired time. For example, any items that are supported by an accessory may be removed, after which the accessory can be detached from the anchor(s). If primary and secondary accessories are present, the primary accessory can be detached from the secondary accessory if this is needed prior to the detaching of the secondary accessory from the anchor. The anchor(s) can then be removed from the wall by rotating it in an opposite manner to that previously described. (In some embodiments, an upper end 2 of an anchor can include a slightly-outwardly-angled removal tab 8, as shown e.g. in Figs. 1-3, to enhance the ease of this process.) A positioning guide or positioning support, if present, can then be removed from the wall.

Again, it is emphasized that many variations are possible within the overall boundaries of the above-described arrangements. For example, a mounting protrusion of an accessory need not take any of the exact forms depicted herein, nor must a mounting aperture of an anchor take any of the exact forms depicted herein. In fact, a mounting feature of an anchor need not necessarily take the form of an aperture at all, other structures being possible. For example, a mounting feature of an anchor may take the general form of a tab 170 or a tab 180 as depicted in Figs. 1 and 2 of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 20220279945, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein. As noted earlier herein, the ‘945 publication does not disclose anchors of the type disclosed herein, e.g. single-piece anchors that exhibit mounting angles and upwardly -tapered spaces; the ‘945 publication is incorporated purely for the purpose of broadening the disclosure of the types of interactions between anchors and accessories that may be used with the anchors of the general type disclosed herein. Further along these lines, U.S. Provisional Patent Applications 63/439648 and 63/439775 disclose various features and arrangements (e.g. involving coupling structures in the general form of flanges, wings, wedges, rails, beams and so on) by which an accessory may be attached to an anchor. The application ‘648 and ‘775 provisional applications are likewise incorporated by reference in their entirety herein.

The assemblies and arrangements disclosed herein may be used to hang myriad items and objects from walls (whether painted, unpainted, etc.) such wallboard, drywall, plaster, and so on. Items that can be supported by the arrangements described herein include, but are not limited to, wall hangings, heavy art, mirrors, organizers, holders, baskets, containers, bicycles, toys, lawn games, gardening tools, decorations (e.g., holiday decorations), dispensers, wire clips, guitars, floating shelves, plants, curtain rods, heavy-duty hooks, brackets, wall sconces, articles of clothing, towels and other toiletry items, and so on.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the specific exemplary embodiments, elements, structures, features, details, arrangements, configurations, etc., that are disclosed herein can be modified and/or combined in numerous ways. It is emphasized that any embodiment disclosed herein may be used in combination with any other compatible embodiment or embodiments disclosed herein. While a limited number of exemplary combinations are presented herein, it is emphasized that all such combinations are envisioned and are only prohibited in the specific instance of a combination that is incompatible.

In summary, numerous variations and combinations are contemplated as being within the bounds of the conceived invention, not merely those representative designs that were chosen to serve as exemplary illustrations. Thus, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the specific illustrative stmctures described herein, but rather extends at least to the structures described by the language of the claims, and the equivalents of those structures. Any of the elements that are positively recited in this specification as alternatives may be explicitly included in the claims or excluded from the claims, in any combination as desired. Any of the elements or combinations of elements that are recited in this specification in open-ended language (e.g., comprise and derivatives thereof), are considered to additionally be recited in closed-ended language (e.g., consist and derivatives thereof) and in partially closed-ended language (e.g., consist essentially, and derivatives thereof). To the extent that there is any conflict or discrepancy between this specification as written and the disclosure in any document that is incorporated by reference herein, this specification as written will control.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. An anchor for mounting onto a wall to form a support assembly, the anchor exhibiting a longitudinal axis, a transverse axis, and an inward-outward axis, and the anchor comprising: a plate with upper and lower ends and first and second transverse edges; at least first and second curved prongs that integrally extend at least generally inward from the plate and that are respectively located proximate the first and second transverse edges of the plate, proximate the upper end of the plate, each curved prong extending along an arc to a wall-penetrating inward end; and, at least one foot that integrally extends at least generally inward from the plate and that is located proximate the lower end of the plate, the at least one foot comprising an inward toe; the at least one foot and the at least first and second curved prongs being configured so that when the anchor is mounted onto the wall, the wall-mounted anchor exhibits a mounting angle relative to the wall, that is in the range of 5 to 25 degrees.

2. The anchor of claim 1 wherein the at least one foot exhibits an inward foot-extension distance and the at least first and second curved prongs exhibit an inward prong-extension distance, the distances being chosen so that an inward extension ratio of the inward foot-extension distance of the at least one foot to the inward prong-extension distance of the at least first and second prongs, is from 45 to 75 %.

3. The anchor of claim 1 wherein the at least one foot comprises first and second feet that respectively integrally extend at least generally inward from the plate and that are respectively located proximate the first and second transverse edges of the plate, proximate the lower end of the plate.

4. The anchor of claim 1 wherein the at least first and second curved prongs are configured so that the prongs each exhibit a radial center that is located proximate an outward heel of the at least one foot.

5. The anchor of claim 1 wherein the at least first and second curved prongs are configured so that the prongs each exhibit a radial center that is located proximate the inward toe of the at least one foot.

6. The anchor of claim 1 wherein the plate comprises a mounting aperture that extends through the plate in an inward-outward direction and that is defined by first and second transverse edges, an upper lintel, and a lower sill.

7. The anchor of claim 1 wherein the anchor is a single-piece anchor that does not comprise any additional anchor components that are hingedly connected to the plate.

8. The anchor of claim 7 wherein the single-piece anchor consists essentially of the plate, the at least first and second curved prongs, and the at least one foot.

9. A method of mounting the anchor of claim 1 onto the wall, the method comprising: positioning the anchor so that the toe of the at least one foot of the anchor is positioned proximate a toe-contact location of the wall and so that the wall-penetrating inward ends of the at least first and second curved prongs are in contact with the wall, with the longitudinal axis of the anchor being at least generally aligned with a vertical axis of the wall; and, applying inward pressure to the anchor so that the anchor is urged to rotate about an axis of rotation that is parallel to the transverse axis of the anchor and that is located proximate the toe of the at least one foot of the anchor, so that the curved prongs penetrate into the wall until the anchor is mounted on the wall so as to exhibit the mounting angle relative to the wall, of from 5 to 25 degrees.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the method further comprises removably attaching an accessory to the wall-mounted anchor.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the removably attaching of the accessory to the wall-mounted anchor, comprising inserting a mounting protrusion on an inward side of the accessory, through a mounting aperture that extends through the plate of the anchor in an inward-outward direction.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the accessory is elongate along a transverse axis of the accessory, and wherein the method comprises mounting multiple, transversely-spaced anchors to the wall, and attaching the accessory to the multiple anchors so that the accessory is supported by the multiple anchors acting in combination.

13. The method of claim 9 wherein the method comprises a temporarily attaching a removable positioning guide to the wall and positioning the anchor relative to the guide before rotating the anchor to mount the anchor onto the wall, and wherein the method further comprises detaching the removable positioning guide from the wall after the anchor has been mounted onto the wall.

14. The method of claim 9 wherein the anchor is pre-connected to a positioning support and wherein the method comprises attaching the positioning support to the wall and then rotating the anchor to mount the anchor onto the wall.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the positioning support is elongate along a transverse axis of the positioning support and wherein multiple anchors are pre-connected to the positioning support and are spaced along the transverse axis of the positioning support, and wherein the method comprises rotating each of the multiple anchors to mount the multiple anchors onto the wall, and wherein the positioning support remains attached to the wall after the multiple anchors are mounted onto the wall.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the method further comprises attaching an accessory to the multiple wall-mounted anchors, the accessory and the positioning support being configured so that the accessory, when attached to the multiple wall-mounted anchors, outwardly covers the positioning support.

17. A kit comprising at least one anchor of claim 1, the kit further comprising a positioning support to which the at least one anchor is pre-connected, with the positioning member being configured to be attached to the wall and to support the at least one anchor so that the at least one anchor can be rotated to mount the at least one anchor onto the wall.

18. A kit comprising at least one anchor of claim 1, the kit further comprising an accessory that is configured to be attached to the at least one anchor after the at least one anchor is mounted onto the wall.

19. The kit of claim 18 wherein the kit comprises multiple anchors and wherein the accessory is elongate along a transverse axis of the accessory and is configured to be attached to the multiple anchors after the multiple anchors are mounted onto the wall, in a configuration in which the anchors are spaced apart in a horizontal direction that corresponds to a transverse axis of the anchors and the transverse axis of the accessory.