GB2431861A

GB2431861A - Two-part magnetic mounting bracket

Info

Publication number: GB2431861A
Application number: GB0522648A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Leslie William Spruce; Stephen Robert Spruce
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-11-07
Filing date: 2005-11-07
Publication date: 2007-05-09
Anticipated expiration: 2025-11-07
Also published as: GB2431861B; GB0522648D0

Abstract

A mounting bracket for supporting curtains or blinds is made up of two parts which are magnetically attachable. A first part 5 comprises a generally planar body that is affixed to a vertical surface 13 by means of screws 1. A recess in the body accommodates a permanent magnet 2. A second part forms a break away portion and comprises a body 9 with a recess accommodating a magnetically attractive material 7 that co-acts with magnet 2. Body 9 has an upper portion (11, fig 2) extending at right angles to it which serves as a support arm for various articles. Both parts have mating surfaces, with the first part having a lip 6 engaging with a lug 10 on the second part such that these two elements act together as a hinge and provide additional vertical support. A cut-out 4 on the first part engages with a protrusion 8 on the second part to resist torsional movement. The bracket is arranged to support a structure but will yield if excessive load is used. The bracket may be used for supporting a shower head or light fittings. The assembly is intended for use in places where suicide attempts may be made since it does not offer any facility for hanging any large mass.

Description

I

Safety Mountings This invention relates to safety mountings and, in particular, to a safety mounting providing a re-useable breakaway linkage for use in suspending an article e.g a window mounted blind or curtain rail, from a surface

Background Art

A problem in institutions where persons are held or are present/waiting for attention (e.g. Prisons, Hospitals) is the increasing number of attempts to commit suicide by hanging themselves by the neck from suspended articles, including, for example, overhead rails for a bed modesty curtain, light fittings, clothing hanging rails or a curtain or blind fitted to a window or reveal There are known safety joint systems to address the problems associated with the overhead curtain rails as disclosed in GB-2 308 406 and GB-2 359 732 where a plug and socket joint is provided and in GB-2 351 758 where a horizontal magnetic release system is employed.

Both of these systems are primarily designed to operate using a vertical release mechanism and thus incorporate a fixed height drop from the top fixing to incorporate the depth of the safety fitting itself The disadvantage with this sort of system is the difficulties and operational constraints imposed when used in confined space operations and when mounted on a vertical surface where the vertical release mechanism will not function or the equipment mounted on the safety mounting requires the insertion or addition of a special bracket or operating modification to enable it to function. Both of these issues mean that these other systems are less unsuitable to use for blinds fitted to windows or vertical fix surfaces and they require modification in areas where a horizontal mounting surface is difficult to access. This is especially true when mounting blinds or fittings which need an offset from the vertical face to allow the rotation of the blind.

Summary of the invention

According to this invention there is provided a mounting bracket for direct or indirect attachment to a building or other suitable vertical surface, said bracket having a recess therein A permanent magnet retained within the recess of the mounting bracket in a manner in use to provide a vertical magnetised surface: A release means provided by the design of the mounting bracket projected vertically from the magnetised surface containing a specific hinge point to facilitate a controlled release: An element of material that is magnetically attractive to said permanent magnet, the said element being attached, directly or indirectly via the breakaway bracket, to the article to be mounted from the safety mounting. Said element being dimensioned for location within the breakaway bracket and in contact with the magnetic surface so as to be held onto the vertical plane The breakaway bracket is, in normal use, held by the magnetic force within the mounting bracket in a substantially vertical plane and the release mechanism afforded by the design of the mounting bracket, hinge point and breakaway bracket lugs acting to lever the breakaway bracket away from the mounting bracket magnet at a pre-determined vertical force applied either to the breakaway bracket which fixes to the curtain, blind or other article or to the curtain, blind or other article itself.

The design of the mounting bracket and breakaway bracket are such as to provide a positive vertical and horizontal location for the breakaway bracket while providing an effective release at a force below that required for a person or persons to commit self harm by use of the bracket or suspended article as a ligature point.

The breakaway bracket is designed with a slip point (see figure 2) along its length to ensure any ligature attached to the bracket is retained in a position to facilitate the release of the bracket The overall design of the safety housing system is constrained to provide an effective and aesthetic method of mounting a safety housing on specifically, but not limited to, a window or reveal without interfering with the visual aspect of the window and without positioning the blind and or curtain at an unnecessary distance from the window frame or reveal.

The design also provides for the suspension of vertical blinds or like mechanisms from in a reveal with limited depth or a flat vertical surface, or in such a manner as to allow the blind vanes or mechanisms to swivel to their fully open position without impinging on that vertical surface It will be appreciated that providing the safety mounting with a vertical, size constrained, magnetic surface allows a plurality of these devices to be used to suspend elongated tracks or blinds by placing said devices at intervals along the suspended article and that release and refitting of the article is easily and repeatably achieved providing secure and proper location of the suspended article.

In one preferred version the safety mounting is provided with the correct depth in the mounting bracket and breakaway bracket units to match the depth of profiles commonly found on institutional window fittings and thus not obscuring any glass area while still providing a safe release mechanism In another preferred form the breakaway bracket is designed to suspend a vertical blind at such a distance from a vertical surface as to allow the full rotation of the vertical blind vanes In another preferred form the breakaway bracket is designed with a fitting which allows a clothes hanging device to be fitted onto a plain, vertical surface while still retaining the vertically mounted magnetic system and the use of the leverage device to affect the release while providing the vertical location ability, preventing magnetic slip.

In a further preferred form the breakaway bracket is modified to act as the end bracket on a horizontal run of curtain rail or other such horizontal mounting device that may afford a ligature point In another preferred form the breakaway bracket is designed as the holder for a shower head fixed to a vertical wall so as to prevent the use of the shower head or the bracket as a ligature point In a further preferred form the breakaway bracket is modified to act as the holder for an electrical light fitting fixed to a vertical surface so as to prevent the use of the light fitting or the bracket as a ligature point The magnetic element can be made of a variety of materials including but not limited to samarium-nickel-cobalt (samnico) or neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) The choice of magnetic material is dependent upon the desired release force, the number of safety devices employed per suspended item and the design of the mounting bracket and breakaway bracket and hence the degree of leverage provided In the preferred embodiment of the invention the preferred material is NdFeB.

In all cases it is preferable that the magnetic material should be housed within a steel casing, as is typically found with these systems, to improve the density of magnetic flux, thus increasing its power at the interface between the magnetic surface and the element within the breakaway bracket The magnetically attractive element can be steel or any other magnetically attractive material including but not limited to other magnetic materials as specified for the magnetic element

Description of the Drawings

By way of example, embodiments of this invention are now described with reference to figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 Figurel: Mounting Bracket with magnetic retainer plan and side elevation Figure 2 Blind attachment breakaway bracket with magnetic attractant rear plan and side elevation Figure 3: Operation of horizontal magnetic release side elevation Figure 4 Examples of Alternative Applications: side elevations In figure 1, The mounting bracket, depth D, consists of a formed metal, plastic or composite material body 5, into which is fixed a vertical magnetic 2, which can, as in this example be encased in a steel former 3 to improve its magnetic power. The bracket body 5, is fixed to a vertical face via the two screws 1, mounted through predrilled holes in the bracket body The dimension A is designed to accommodate the dimensions of the magnetic unit and to fit within the constraints of the mounting area. Dimension A is minimised for aesthetic effect while still providing adequate strength for the device being mounted. When used to suspend items onto a window frame the dimension C is designed to fit within the constraints of the depth of the window frame whilst allowing the optimum release loading for the installed system (The longer C the higher the release load, all other variables being constant) The mounting bracket, in this example, has two female location cut-outs 4, 6, which match with their male counterparts on the breakaway bracket (figure 2). These provide stability and positive location in the vertical and horizontal planes while also minimising the effect of twisting forces from rotational movements parallel to the vertical mounting surface. The mounting bracket top face is angled to eliminate any horizontal face which may be used as a ligature point.

When the mounting bracket is installed the potential to remove it from the vertical surface will be minimised by the use of glue-fixed screw coverings or high security screw systems 1, requiring a specialised tool for their removal Figure 2 Illustrates a particular breakaway bracket design which comprises a formed metal or plastic or composite material bracket 9, in which is mounted a magnetically attractive material element 7, attracted to the magnet in the housing unit (Fig 1 item 2). The vertical portion of the retainer bracket is designed to have an angled male lug at it's lower end 10, which fits into a female cut-out in the housing (Fig I item 6), forming a location mechanism for both vertical and horizontal stability and providing a hinge point for the release mechanism. The angles of the lug and the cut-out are such as to allow the bracket to release safely while avoiding the potential for the bracket to hang-up in a vertical plane and thus not release freely. At a pre-determined distance above the lower end of the bracket 10, is a further lug 8, which in this example is formed as a protruding pyramidal ridge. On assembly of the safety device this locates into a female slot of the same shape (Fig 1 item 4) within the mounting bracket. This serves to further increase the vertical and horizontal stability of the mounting device and also minimises torque effects of sideways forces, twisting the breakaway bracket away from the magnet within the mounting bracket. This also provides a further positive location for the breakaway bracket onto the mounting bracket. The position and depth of these locating lugs is designed to suit the particular suspension duty being carried out and enables the system to be design to release at selected loads for different systems The horizontal part of the breakaway bracket provides the anchorage point for the suspended unit, in this example it could be used as a blind mounting device. The bracket type chosen will be provided with fixing holes 11, drilled to accept attachments to suit the types of unit being suspended. By varying the length (G) and the and the off-set E,F and size of the mounting holes 11 the same breakaway bracket can be used for a wide range of suspended units including but not limited to curtains, roller blinds, vertical blinds, and venetian blinds. In this example the dimension G could be selected to off-set the blades of a vertical blind from the vertical mounting surface to enable them to swivel without impinging on the said vertical surface. In this example the breakaway bracket incorporates a notch or slip point 12, designed to locate any potential ligature point at a position which will enable the breakaway bracket to be leveraged away from the mounting bracket thus minimising the chance of harm Figure 3 serves to illustrate the operation of an assembled safety mounting bracket.

The application of a vertical force to the breakaway bracket top face has resulted in the magnetic element 7, being leveraged apart from the magnet 2, set within the mounting bracket. This has caused the breakaway bracket 9, to swivel about the hinge point formed by the female cut out in the mounting bracket 6, and the male lug on the breakaway bracket 10, effecting the safety release mechanism required to minimise self harm Figure 4 serves to illustrate the versatility of application for this safety mounting unit, in providing an effective and aesthetically acceptable safety mounting system.

Examples are given of a shower head mounting bracket and of a clothes hook. In both cases the units are mounted on a vertical surface 13. The application of a vertical force causes the breakaway bracket to be leveraged away from the mounting bracket by swivelling about the hinge point formed by the female cut out in the mounting bracket 6, and the male lug 10, on the breakaway bracket effecting the safety release mechanism required to minimise self harm.

Claims

CLAIMS

1 A safety mounting comprising: A mounting bracket for indirect or direct attachment to a vertical building surface, said bracket having location and stability devices built into its structure to provide positive location for the breakaway bracket and those items suspended thereon A permanent magnet mounted within a recess in the mounting bracket in such a manner as to present it, in use, as a vertical magnetic surface A breakaway bracket which will allow the suspension of various items such as, but not limited to vertical blinds, venetian blinds, curtains, etc An element of material that is magnetically attracted to the magnet within the mounting bracket held vertically within the breakaway bracket such that in use it is presented parallel to and aligned with the magnet, offering optimum attractive force
2. A safety housing according to claim 1 which will fit within the confines of a window frame or other such like constrained space and is sized to match the available space so as not to detract from the aesthetics of said confined area or to reduce the effectiveness of a release mechanism to prevent harm by attempted ligature attachment
3. A safety housing according to claim 1 which will fit within the confines of mounting onto a window frame or other such like constrained space without the need for extension brackets or other such additional devices, which may position the suspended article in such a way as to impede or detract from its function, without detracting from the efficacy of a release mechanism to prevent harm by attempted suicide 4 A safety housing according to claim 1 which will allow the fitting of vertical blinds, or other systems to a vertical surface which require a suspension system giving an effective operating distance from said vertical fixing surface, without the need for extension brackets or other such additional devices, 5. A safety mounting bracket according to claim 1 which is fixed directly to a vertical surface so as to present a vertical magnetic element to any attached breakaway bracket or other suspension device where the mounting bracket itself does not present a ligature point 6. A safety mounting according to claim 1 in which the breakaway section is designed to provide a method for the provision for the safe mounting of clothing hooks, shower heads or any such other such items which could be seen to present a ligature point onto a vertical surface to maximise the aesthetic effect without compromising safety 7 A safety mounting according to any preceding claim where the recesses and lugs are designed to provide a positive location in both a lateral and vertical direction 8. A safety mounting according to any previous claim, where the positioning of the magnetic element and the design of the recesses and lugs prevents any twisting movement being imparted to the housing thus providing dimensional stability to the mounted article 9. A safety mounting according to any preceding claim where the design of the positioning of the lugs and recesses along its length enables a range of release forces to be engineered into the finished product by changing the length of leverage afforded by the breakaway bracket A safety mounting according to any preceding claim wherein the housing and or breakaway bracket is moulded from plastic, composites or metallic materials 11. A safety mounting according to any preceding claim wherein the housing and or breakaway bracket is moulded from plastic, composites or metallic materials which is coloured to match in with the surrounding decor 12. A safety mounting according to any preceding claim wherein the housing and or breakaway bracket is moulded from plastic, composites or metallic materials and coloured so as to be differentiated from its surroundings and indicate its purpose as a safety mounting 13. A safety mounting according to any preceding claim where the permanent magnet comprises neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) either alone or in a steel casing 14. A safety mounting substantially as described herein or as illustrated in the accompanying drawings A plurality of safety housings each according to any preceding claims to be used to suspend any elongated article e g curtain rail or blind system by positioning individual safety housings along the length of the elongated article