GB2202427A - Corner wall bracket and shelf - Google Patents

Abstract

A corner wall bracket comprises a support plate 1 on which a pair of triangular gripper members 2,3 are mounted so that they can be moved laterally outwards in directions perpendicular to the walls to bring side edges 4,5 of the members into firm frictional engagement with the walls to fix the bracket in position, the sides edges 4,5 carrying short spikes 8,9 which penetrate the surfaces of the wall to increase the grip. The grippers 2,3 are moved simultaneously by means of an axially movable actuator screw 30 which acts on the crossed ends of two pivoted levers 24,25 which are pivotally connected to the members 2,3 respectively, the actuator screw being mounted on the support plate 1 so that the reaction from the force exerted to press the members 2,3 against the walls is directed inwards towards the corner. A triangular cover sleeve is arranged to fit over the fixed bracket to form a corner shelf. <IMAGE>

Description

CORNER WALL BRACKET AND SHELF The invention relates to a corner wall bracket which can be fixed in position easily and quickly without the use of screws or other fixings which need to be secured in the walls, and also relates to a corner shelf incorporating the bracket.

According to the invention, there is provided a corner wall bracket comprising a support on which a pair of gripper members are mounted for movement laterally in directions which, in use, are substantially perpendicular to the walls defining the corner in which the bracket is to be fitted, and actuating means, also mounted on the support, for moving the gripper members, in use, away from each other into firm engagement w.ith the walls in such a manner that the net reaction force exerted on the support urges the support inwards towards the corner, and the gripper members are rnaintained firmly in engagement with the walls to hold the bracket in position.

We have found that, as a result of arranging for the net reaction force exerted on the support to be directed substantially inwards towards the corner when the actuating means is operated to force the gripper members laterally outwards into engagement with the walls, and provided the support does not actually extend right into the corner or otherwise engage the walls, sufficient frictional force can be generated and maintained between the gripper members and the walls to hold the bracket firmly and reliably in position, and that quite considerable loads can be safely supported by the bracket.

However, in order to improve the frictional grip of the gripper members, and also to prevent possible "creep" of the members which could gradually lead to failure of the bracket to stay in position, each gripper member preferably has small spikes projecting from its wall-engaging surface for penetrating the surface of the wall.

The actuating means preferably acts on both gripper members simultaneously, and for this purpose the actuating means preferably comprises an actuator member, for example in the form of a screw, which is movable on the support in a direction which, in use, substantially bisects the corner, and a pair of pivoted levers each of which is acted on at one end by the actuator member and is pivotally connected at its other end to a respective one of the gripper members.

As will be appreciated, this arrangement provides for movement of both gripper members into operative engagement with the walls at the same time by operation of a single actuator member, thus making the fixing of the bracket particularly simple.

Preferably the bracket is provided with means for guiding each gripper member to move in the desired direction on the support and for maintaining the gripper member in a plane substantially parallel to the support. Furthermore, the bracket may also include means for clamping each gripper member firmly to the support when the gripper members have been moved into firm engagement with the walls to fix the bracket in position. This should relieve some of the forces acting on the actuating means when the bracket is fixed in position.

The support is preferably a flat, rigid plate, but may take any suitable shape and form provided it will carry the gripper members and the actuating means in the required manner and without distorting during use. Similarly, the gripper members may also take any suitable form, but preferably each comprises a rigid triangular plate which is arranged to engage the wall along one edge and is connected to the actuating means at the opposite apex.

The bracket will usually be made out of metal'or a suitably strong, rigid plastics material, or a combination thereof, and may be used to support any article which is to be mounted on the wall in a corner. For example, a corner wall cabinet may be secured by a pair of the brackets fixed one at the top and one at the bottom of the cabinet, being hidden from view by the cabinet cornice and pelmet respectively.

Usually, however, the bracket in accordance with the invention will be used as the fixing part of a corner shelf, the shelf preferably comprising a triangular cover sleeve which fits over and sandwiches the bracket, and which comprises a pair of spaced triangular leaves connected along one edge by a front edge strip. The cover sleeve will thus completely enclose the bracket to give the shelf an extremely neat appearance with the fixing bracket totally hidden from view. The cover sleeve may be provided in any one of a variety of different materials and finishes to suit the decor of the room in which the shelf is to be fitted.

A particular example of a corner wall bracket in accordance with the invention, and of a shelf incorporating the bracket, will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a top plan view of the bracket; Figure 2 is a scrap view showing a detail of Figure 1 to a larger scale; and, Figure 3 is a perspective view of a cover sleeve for fitting over the bracket to form the shelf.

The bracket, which is designed for a substantially rightangled corner, comprises a flat, rigid support plate 1 in the shape of a right-angled triangle with its corners cut off. Two smaller right-angled triangular rigid gripper plates 2,3 are mounted flat on the upper surface of the support plate 1 so that their hypotenuse sides 4,5 respectively lie beyond and parallel to the mutually perpendicular sides 6,7 of the support plate. These hypotenuse sides 4,5 of the gripper plates each have a series of short (e.g. about 5 mm) outwardly projecting spikes 8,9 equally spaced apart along its length, and in the present example there are three spikes on each plate.Each of the gripper plates 2,3 also carries, on its upper surface adjacent the hypotenuse sides 4,5, a shelf support rib or sledge 10,11 which extends along the length of the side 4,5 and projects parallel thereto from the inner corner 12,13 of the plate. Similar shelf support ribs or ledges (not shown) are also provided on the underside of the gripper plates adjacent their sides 4,5, although these lower ribs or ledges may alternatively be located on the underside of the support plate 1.

Each gripper plate 2,3 has a central slot 14,15 extending in a direction normal to its hypotenuse side 4,5, and a pair of spaced studs 16,17 which are screwed into the support plate 1 project through each slot 14,15 so that each gripper plate 2,3 is guided to move on the support plate in the directions of the slots 14,15, i.e. in a direction perpendicular to its hypotenuse side 4,5. The studs 16,17 are fitted with nuts 18,19 (edge wing nuts) which, together with retaining brackets 20,21 which are fixed to the support plate 1 and overlie portions of the gripper plates 2,3 near their inner corners 12,13, serve to hold the gripper plates substantially flat on the support plate 1.

Two levers 22,23 are pivotally mounted on the support plate 1 at positions 24,25 between the gripper plates 2,3, and are pivotally connected at their outer ends to the gripper plates 2,3 respectively at positions 26,27 near their apices. Each lever 22,23 lies approximately at right-angles to the axis of the slot 14,15 of the corresponding gripper plate (preferably just under a right-angle when the gripper plates are in the retracted and inoperative position as shown), and the inner ends of the levers, each of which is provided with a longitudinally extending slot 28,29, overlap and cross each other as best shown in Figure 2.Also mounted on the support plate 1 is an actuator screw 30 having a forked end 31 which extends above and below the inner ends of the levers 22,23 and which carries a connecting pin 32 projecting through the overlapping slots 28,29 to pivotally and translationally connect the screw 30 to the levers 22,23.

The screw 30 lies parallel to the perpendicular bisector of the support plate 1 midway between the gripper plates 2,3, and extends through a support bush 33 fixed to the support plate 1 into one end of a sleeve nut 34. The opposite end of the sleeve nut 34 receives a support rod 35 extending from a reaction block 36 fixed to the support plate adjacent its inner corner, and the sleeve nut 34 is thereby rotatably mounted on the screw 30 and the rod 35. Axial movement of the sleeve nut 34 is prevented by the bush 33 at one end and the reaction block 36 at the other, and hence rotation of the sleeve nut will move the screw 30 axially in a direction depending on which direction the nut is turned.

When the bracket is to be fixed in a corner, the bracket is first placed in the desired position in the corner with the gripper plates 2,3 in the retracted position such that the spikes 8,9 will still engage the walls before any part of the support plate 1 or the reaction block 36 fixed thereto at its inner corner. The corner should preferably be substantially square and the walls reasonably flat, although a certain amount of deviation can be accommodated successfully by the bracket.With the bracket then held horizontally in position with one hand, the sleeve nut 34 is then turned with the other hand using a spanner so that the actuator screw 30 is moved axially to cause the levers 22 and 23 to pivot in opposite directions and push the gripper plates 2 and 3 simultaneously outwards in directions perpendicular to the walls as shown by the arrows A, and to exert a reaction force on the support plate 1 directed inwards towards the corner as indicated by the arrow B. The sleeve nut 34 is turned until the gripper plates 2,3 have been moved outwards sufficiently for the spikes 8,9 to become fully embedded in the walls and the edges 4,5 of the plates to be pressed very tightly against the surfaces of the walls.Guide marks (not shown) on the gripper plates and the support plate adjacent the guide slots 14,15 may be provided for indicating when sufficient movement and pressure has been applied. The bracket should then be firmly fixed in position, and when this stage is reached the nuts 18 and 19 are screwed down tightly on the studs 16 and 17 to clamp the gripper plates 2 and 3 in position relative to the support plate 1.

A cover sleeve 37 for fitting over the fixed bracket to form a shelf is shown in Figure 3. The cover sleeve, which may be made of brass, copper, chromium plated steel, stainless steel, wood, plastics, or any other desired finish material, comprises a pair of parallel spaced right-angled triangular leaves 38,39 joined along their hypotenuse edges by a front edge strip 40 which is preferably formed integrally with at least the upper leaf 38. The dimensions of the cover sleeve 37 are such that it will slide snugly over the bracket to fit right into the corner with the upper leaf 38 resting on the leaf support ribs 10,11 on khe top of the gripper plates 2,3, and the lower leaf 39 in engagement with the corresponding support ribs on the underside thereof.

It will thus be appreciated from the foregoing that the invention provides a corner wall bracket and shelf which can be fixed easily and quickly in position without requiring any prior preparation of the walls such as is necessary when fixing a conventional bracket using screws or the like, and without requiring any special expertise or ability. Also, the shelf can be removed and fitted elsewhere just as easily, and the only repair work which may be necessary to the walls where the bracket was previously fixed will be to the very small holes made by the spikes 8 and 9.

Claims (14)

1. A corner wall bracket comprising a support on which a pair of gripper members are mounted for movement laterally in directions which, in use, are substantially perpendicular to the walls defining the corner in which the bracket is to be fitted, and actuating means, also mounted on the support, for moving the gripper members, in use, away from each other into firm engagement with the walls in such a manner that the net reaction force exerted on the support urges the support inwards towards the corner, and the gripper members are maintained firmly in engagement with the walls to hold the bracket in position.

2. A corner wall bracket according to claim 1, in which the actuating means acts on both gripper members simultaneously.

3. A corner wall bracket according to claim 2, in which the actuating means comprises an actuator member which is movable on the support in a direction which, in use, substantially bisects the corner, and a pair of pivoted levers each of which is acted on at one end by the actuating member and is pivotally connected at its other end to a respective one of the gripper members.

4. A corner wall bracket according to claim 3, in which the ends of the levers adjacent the actuator member overlap each other, and the actuator member is connected to the levers by means of a connecting pin which extends through crossing slots in the overlapping ends of the levers.

5. A corner wall bracket according to claim 3 or claim 4, in which the actuator member is a screw.

6. A corner wall bracket according to any one of the preceding claims, in which each gripper member has small spikes projecting from its wall engaging surface.

7. A corner wall bracket according to any one of the preceding claims, in which each gripper member comprises a triangular plate which is arranged to engage the wall along one edge and is connected to the actuating means at the opposite apex.

8. A corner wall bracket according to any one of the preceding claims, having means for guiding each gripper member to move in the desired direction on the support and for maintaining the gripper member in a plane substantially parallel to the support.

9. A corner wall bracket according to claim 8, in which the guide means for each gripper member includes a pair of studs which project from the support through a guide slot in the gripper member extending in the desired direction.

10. A corner wall bracket according to claim 9, in which at least one stud of each guide means carries a nut which overlaps the gripper member on each side of the slot, and which can be screwed on the stud to clamp the gripper member to the support.

11. A corner shelf comprising a corner wall bracket according to any one of the preceding claims, and a triangular cover sleeve which fits over and sandwiches the bracket, the cover sleeve comprising a pair of spaced triangular leaves connected along one edge by a front edge strip.

12. A corner shelf according to claim 11, in which the upper and lower leaves of the cover sleeve engage and are supported by ribs carried by the gripper members of the bracket.

13. A corner wall bracket according to claim 1, substantially as described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings.

14. A corner shelf according to claim 11, substantially as described with reference to Figures 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawings.