GB2096451A

GB2096451A - Radiator supporting device

Info

Publication number: GB2096451A
Application number: GB8208981A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: HARA WILLIAM FRANCIS O
Current assignee: HARA WILLIAM FRANCIS O
Priority date: 1981-03-26
Filing date: 1982-03-26
Publication date: 1982-10-20
Also published as: GB2096451B

Abstract

The invention provides a support arrangement which enables a central heating radiator 10 to be pivoted away from the wall surface 12 against which it is secured to enable the wall surface to be cleaned or redecorated. A lower support bracket 16 is provided to support the inlet and outlet unions 48 of the radiator for pivotal movement thereabout, and the upper support bracket 14 comprises a wall plate 18 and a slide plate 25 having a hook member 37 which engages the radiator by its mounting strap 40 in the support position. The plate 25 can be displaced downwardly relative to wall plate 18 by a captive nut 34 and a bolt 27 which is readily accessible when the radiator is mounted on the wall. Following disengagement of the bracket 14, pivotal movement of the radiator is limited by chain 50. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Radiator supporting device This invention relates to supporting devices for central heating radiators, and more particularly to supporting devices for such radiators which are intended to secure the radiator against a wall surface.

Central heating radiators are usually intended to be secured to a vertical wall surface by one or a plurality of support brackets. Although it is usually possible to detach the radiator from the support brackets to allow the wall behind the radiator to be cleaned or redecorated, this is generally a difficult and time-consuming task, and often involves draining the entire central heating system of water.

In order to avoid this, it has been proposed to provide a supporting system for a radiator which enables a radiator of this kind to be swung away from the wall against which it is mounted whilst still maintaining the fluid connection to the bottom of the radiator from the central heating pipes. This system is described in U.K. Patent No. 1,471,887, and comprises rotatable unions for the radiator inlet and outlet together with floor supporting brackets, and retaining clips at the top of the radiator which can be released to allow the movement to take place.

The present invention provides an alternative arrangement to this system in which the existing unions and pipe-work connections are retained and the radiator is supported on the wall surface by a bracket which can be disconnected from the radiator to enable the radiator to be swung downwardly after the normal connections have been loosened.

According to the present invention, there is provided a supporting device for a central heating radiator, comprising first support bracket means having a wall element adapted to be secured to a wall surface, a radiator support element movably mounted with respect to said wall element and adapted for engagement with a radiator, and displacement means operable to move the radiator support element relative to said wall element to disengage the radiator from said support bracket means, said displacement means being readily accessible when a radiator is engaged with said radiator support element.

The readily-accessible displacement means enables a user easily to disengage the radiator from the first support bracket means to enable itto be moved away from the wall surface. In a preferred construction, second support bracket means are provided adapted to be secured to the wall surface and are operable to support the radiator after disengagement from said radiator support element.

Suitably, this second support bracket means is intended to support the radiator at for example its lower inlet and outlet points so that the radiator can be pivoted away from the wall about said second support bracket means.

Suitably, a linkage means such as a chain or other flexible element is connected to the radiator at one end and to a fixed point at its other end to limit the degree of pivotal movement of the radiator about the second support bracket means. Preferably this linkage is connected at its other end to the first support bracket means.

Preferably the displacement means comprises a rotatable screw-threaded member on either the wall element or the radiator support element engageable with a correspondingly-threaded member on the other element. For example, this element may comprise a bolt rotatablyjournalled in the wall member and engaged with a captive nut on the radiator support member, and in this configuration the radiator support member is suitably slidably mounted relative to the wall member.

In the preferred construction, the radiator support element comprises a hook member which is adapted to engage the mounting strap of the radiator, and the radiator support element is operable to move downwardly relative to the wall element to disengage this hook member from the mounting strap. In the upper most position of the hook member, height adjustment of the radiator may be achieved using the displacement means.

Suitably, two first support bracket means and two second support bracket means are provided for each radiator.

In order that the invention may be more fully understood, embodiments in accordance therewith will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 shows a side elevation of a supporting device for a central heating radiator, with the radiator shown in the supported and released positions; Fig. 2 shows a front elevation of the first support bracket means used in the support device shown in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 shows an underneath plan view of the support bracket shown in Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 shows a supporting arrangement for a central heating radiator 10 which is mounted on a wall surface 12 by means of a first support bracket 14 and a second support bracket 16. In practice, two support brackets 14 and two support brackets 16 would normally be provided for each radiator 10.

The support bracket 14 is shown in detail in Figs. 2 and 3. It comprises a wall element in the form of a wall plate 18 having therein holes 19 for receiving screws used to secure the wall plate 18 to the wall surface 12, as shown in Fig. 1.

A pair of U-shaped slots 21 are provided in the body ofthe wall plate 18, and the portions 22 bounded by these slots 21 are bent out of the plane ofthewall plate 18toform longitudinally extending flanges 23 (Fig. 3). These flanges 23 retain between them a radiator support element in the form of a slide plate 25, which is adapted to slide freely vertically between the flanges 23 relative to the wall plate 18. This movement is controlled by a displacement means in the form of a bolt 27 which is journalled in an aperture formed in a bent-over flange 28 provided along the upper edge of wall plate 18; bolt 27 is retained in a freely rotatable condition by spring washer 30.

The threaded shank 32 of bolt 27 is received in a captive nut 34 provided on the underside of a flange 35 formed at the upper edge of slide plate 25 and bent over at right angles to the plane of the plate.

Rotation of bolt 27 in one direction causes a downward movement of slide plate 25; counter rotation of the bolt 27 causes an upward movement of slide plate 25 relative to wall plate 18.

Cut and bent out of the plane of slide plate 25 is a mounting hook 37 which is formed with a slot 38 the entrance of which is directed upwardly. Hook member 37, being integral with slide plate 25, is moved upwardly and downwardly with the slide plate 25 relative to wall plate 18 on rotation of bolt 27.

As will be seen from Fig. 1, in the uppermost position of slide plate 25, the hook member 37 engages the lower edge of a conventional mounting strap 40 secured to the rear face of the radiator 10.

In the position shown in full lines in Fig. 1 (and illustrated in Fig. 2) the slide plate 25 is in its uppermost position relative to wall plate 18 with the hook member 37 supporting the radiator 10 by engaged ment with the strap 40. If desired, further upward adjustments of slide plate 25 can be employed to act as a height adjustment for the mounting brackets for the radiator. Should it be desirable to disconnect the mounting bracket 14 from the radiator, reverse rotation of the bolt 27 causes a downward movement of the slide plate 25 relative to wall plate 18, and, as will be described, this allows the hook member 37 to disengage the strap 40, thus disconnecting the radiator from the support bracket 14.

Lower support bracket 16 is provided to support the radiator both in its connected and its disconnected mode, and comprises a body part 42 formed with a flange 43 provided with holes 44 (one shown) by which the bracket 16 can be secured to the wall surface 12. The body part 42 terminates in a supporting recess 46 which is shaped to engage the pipe union 48 provided at the lower edge of radiator 10.

While the bracket 16 can be used to provide additional support for the radiator when it is engaged with the bracket 14, its primary purpose is to take the weight of the radiator when the hook member 37 of the slide plate 25 is disengaged from the radiator strap following downward movement of the slide plate 25. As will be seen from Fig. 1, a linkage is provided between the radiator 10 and the bracket 14 in the form of a chain 50 which is provided at one end with a hook 51 received in a bore 52 provided in flange 28, and at the other end with a similar hook 54 received within a hole 56 formed in radiator strap 40.

The effect of this chain 50 is to limit the pivotal movement of the radiator 10 about bracket 16 after it has been disengaged from bracket 14. If necessary, the hook 54 can be uncoupled from strap 40 to allow the radiator to be pivoted completely away from the wall surface 12.

It will be seen from Fig. 1 that the bolt 27 is readily accessible from behind the radiator 10 by means of a screwdriver or similar tool, and the sequence of operations involved in releasing the radiatorto enable the wall 12 behind to be cleaned or redecorated will now be described.

Using a screwdriver, bolt 27 is turned anti clockwise so as to move the slide plate 25 downwardly relative to the wall plate 18. The bolt 27 is unscrewed until the slide plate 25 is in the position shown in chain-dotted lines in Fig. 1, with the slot 38 of the hook member 37 clear of the radiator strap 40.

As the bolt 27 is unscrewed, the weight of the radiator is transferred onto the bracket 16. Under most circumstances, the brackets 14 and 16 will be provided in pairs, with a bracket 16 disposed at each end of the radiator supporting the inlet and outlet connections respectively, and brackets 14 provided for each radiator strap 40.

Once the hook member 37 is clear of the strap 40, the radiator nuts connecting the central heating pipes to the unions 48 are loosened, but not released completely. The radiator 10 may then be pivoted away from the wall into the position shown in chain-dotted lines in Fig. with the bracket 16 supporting the inlet and outlet unions, and the chain 50 preventing excessive outward movement of the radiator away from wall 12. When this position is reached, the radiator nuts connecting the water supply to the inlet and outlet unions are then tightened to avoid leakage whilst the cleaning or redecoration of the wall surface 12 is carried out.

Refitting of the radiator is the reverse of the above procedure.

Itwill be appreciated thatthe arrangement according to the invention offers a number of advantages over other systems. Firstly, it is unnecessary to provide special unions for connecting the radiator into the central heating system, and this avoids the necessity of draining the water from the system and also eliminates the need for expensive special fitments. Secondly, once the brackets 16 have been secured to the wall, the support brackets 14 can be mounted on the wall without removing the radiator, and once they have been fitted, they can be released and re-connected without difficulty, as the bolt 27 is readily accessible from behind the radiator using the appropriate tool.

In an alternative arrangement which is not illustrated in the drawings, the slide plate 25 incorporates a pair of vertically spaced hook members 37 which are adapted to engage both upper and lower straps 40 which are usually provided on the rear face of a radiator.

Claims

1. Asupporting devicefora central heating radiator, comprising first support bracket means having a wall element adapted to be secured to a wall surface, a radiator support element movably mounted with respect to said wall element and adapted for engagement with a radiator, and displacement means operable to move the radiator support element relative to said wall element to disengage the radiator from said support bracket means, said displacement means being readily accessible when a radiator is engaged with said radiator support element.

2. A supporting device as claimed in Claim 1, further comprising second support bracket means adapted to be secured to said wall surface and being operable to support a radiator once it has been disengaged from said radiator support element such that the radiator can be pivoted away from the wall surface about said second support bracket means.

3. A supporting device as claimed in Claim 2, further comprising linkage means adapted to be connected at one end to a radiator and being operable to limit the degree of pivotal movement of said radiator about said second support bracket means.

4. A supporting device as claimed in Claim 3, wherein said linkage means comprises a flexible link such as a chain or the like attached at its other end to said first support bracket means.

5. A supporting device as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 4, wherein said displacement means comprises a rotatable screw-threaded member on one of said wall element or said radiator support element engageable with a correspondingly screwthreaded member on the other said element

6. A supporting device as claimed in Claim 5, wherein said radiator support member is slidably mounted relative to said wall member, and said displacement means comprises a bolt rotatablyjournal- led in said wall member and engaged with a captive nut on said radiator support member.

7. A supporting device as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 5, wherein said radiator support element comprises a hook member adapted to engage said radiator by its mounting strap, and said radiator support element is adapted to be moved downwardly relative to said wall element to disengage said mounting strap.

8. A supporting device as claimed in Claims 1 and 2 and any other preceding claim depending on Claims 1 and 2 together, comprising, for a single radiator, a pair of said first support brackets and a pair of said second support brackets.

9. A supporting device for a central heating radiator, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs. 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawings.