US20070056700A1

US20070056700A1 - Quick Install/Remove Curtain Rods/Brackets

Info

Publication number: US20070056700A1
Application number: US11/162,486
Authority: US
Inventors: Ajit Hemmady
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-09-12
Filing date: 2005-09-12
Publication date: 2007-03-15

Abstract

A method or technique to easily and quickly install curtain rods and window shades without drilling holes in walls, door or window sills to attach/install and detach/remove brackets. The invention has come up with a unique use of an existing product developed by 3M™ Company that is currently used for hanging picture frames and other items that are hung on room/bathroom walls, doors etc. The invention has come up with a technique that attaches this unique sticky material to specially designed end/center brackets that are used to hang curtain rods or window shades. It has the unique advantage of an easy install without making invasive drilled holes in walls, door/window sills that are currently used to attach these brackets using some kind of fastener. It also provides the unique advantage of easy removal of these brackets (and curtain rods/shades) without causing any damage to the surface on which these brackets are installed.

Description

This invention is a utility invention that makes it very easy to install or de-install (remove) curtain rods or brackets without the need for drilling holes in walls or window/door sills. It is based on existing technology designed by 3M™ company and extends the use of that technology in this unique application. The invention can be used for quick and easy install of curtain rods, window shades without drilling holes in walls etc. Current 3M™ technology is manifested for use in hanging picture frames, utility tools, bathroom tools/accessories etc. The technology will be extended for use in hanging curtain rods, window shades hanging rods etc.
The current art consists of end and center brackets of several types that are mounted on the wall, door or window sills using some kind of fasteners (regular screws, anchor screws etc.). All of these brackets require holes to be drilled in the walls, door or window sills. Curtain rods or window shades are then attached to these brackets. Several patents exist on brackets or rods that are based on this existing art of drilling holes in the walls. The invention that is being patented does not require any holes to be drilled in the walls, door/window sills and does not require fastening of these brackets via any type of fastener (e.g., a screw) It is based on a specially designed bracket that makes use of existing generic bracket (although several types of brackets can be used to implement the art of this patent) to which a special type of adhesive backing is attached. This adhesive backing makes it very easy to install the brackets without drilling any holes. It also makes it very simple to remove the brackets when the curtain rods or shades have to be removed. The installation or removal of these specially designed brackets does not damage the walls, door/window sills and thus does not require any follow up maintenance activity that is time consuming and expensive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present invention, and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with accompanying drawings/figures, wherein the like numbers designate the objects, and in which:
FIG. 1 illustrates one manifestation of the present invention by way of which a generic curtain rod 120 is affixed to a wall, a door or window sill using the special purpose (current invention based) end brackets 100, center bracket 110 and special purpose pull tabs 130.
FIG. 2 illustrates another manifestation of the present invention by way of a generic window shade 120 that is affixed to a window sill using special purpose (current invention based) end brackets 100 and special purpose pull tabs 110.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1 and 2 describe below the various embodiments of principles of the present invention and are by way of illustration only and should not be considered in any way to limit the scope of the invention. The scope is covered by the claims filed earlier.
FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of the present invention wherein the special purpose end brackets 100 and center bracket 110 are designed using a special purpose adhesive backing (e.g., manufactured by 3M™ company). These end and center brackets are affixed to a wall, a door or window sill and the curtain rod 120 is then inserted into these brackets. The special adhesive brackets are also designed with a special purpose “tab” 130 (e.g., manufactured by 3M™ company) that allows easy removal of the end brackets or the center bracket and hence the removal of the curtain rod. This design thus allows easy removal of the brackets 100/110 and the curtain rod 120, without any physical damage to the wall or the door/window sill.
FIG. 2 illustrates another embodiment of the present invention wherein the special purpose end brackets 100 are designed using a special purpose adhesive backing (e.g., manufactured by 3M™ company). These end brackets are affixed to a door or window sill and the window shade 120 is then inserted into these brackets. The special adhesive brackets are also designed with a special purpose “tab” 110 (e.g., manufactured by 3M™ company) that allows easy removal of the end brackets and hence the removal of the window shade. This design thus allows easy removal of the brackets 100 and the window shade 120, without any physical damage to the door/window sill.

Claims

1. It is claimed that using the process and methodology described in this utility patent, it will be very simple to install/remove curtain brackets/rods, window shade brackets/rods using a unique technique of installing brackets using existing 3M™ technology.

2. It is claimed that by installing appropriate strength unique adhesive backing designed by 3M™ Company to the back of specially designed end and or center brackets that hold a curtain or window shade, it will be very easy to install curtains and shades without drilling holes in walls or window/door sills.

3. It is claimed that there is no existing art that uses such technology that allows users to install curtains rod brackets and/or window shade brackets without drilling wholes in walls and then attaching such brackets using screws etc. This invention removes the need for drilling holes in the walls etc. and using some sort of fastener to attach the brackets to walls, windows and door sills.

4. It is claimed that by using this invention users can conveniently install curtains, shades and remove them without leaving any tell-tale marks (such as holes, scratches, unmatched paint) of such installation on the walls or any supporting structure.

5. This invention is based on a unique use (described via diagram 1) existing technology invented by 3M™ company and hitherto not used in similar or existing products that are used to hang curtain rods or window shade brackets.

6. This invention claims any that this is the first application of the existing technology to attach curtain rod brackets or window shade brackets in this manner. It prohibits any company or individual from coming up with any variations of this concept or design that may accomplish the same desired result by redesigning the shape or size or weight of brackets or by using different strength of glue adhesive product in place of that provided by 3M™ company product or any other company. The patent is for the concept and the art of using the adhesive patch affixed to the brackets and not for product piece parts (i.e., brackets or the adhesive patch).