US2227677A - Insulator supporting bracket - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 7,194]. I SIEGEL 2,227,677

INSULATOR SUPPORTING BRACKET Filed April 15, 1938 I L. I 2

INVENTOR ATT NEY Patented Jan. 7, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention pertains to supporting means, and more particularly to the type of support which is used in conjunction with neon gas tubes, which support is particularly adapted for holding and spacing the neon tube in fixed relation to the mounting or base member.

Neon tubes which are used for signs require supports for holding the tubular members of said signs in a fixed relation in regard to the base. In forming the sign it is frequently necessary to have the tubular members thereof at various distances from the base. To enable an operator to properly set up the sign it is necessary to have a means which is readily adjustable for use in the conjunction with Varying the distances of the tube from the base.

The prior art discloses that supports of the type mentioned herein have means thereon to permit shortening of said supports by breaking off a portion thereof. The support of the type to which this invention pertains, requires a bracket which is secured to the base member. There are many types of brackets for holding the supports, but the great difficulty which is encountered is that the bracket does not fit snugly against the support which holds the neon tube. This frequently results in vibrating the sign due to street traffic and other sources, which causes the support to readily become loose in the bracket. When several of these supports are loose in their respective brackets the result is that the sign becomes very insecure and that continued vibration over a period of time will cause the sign to require frequent servicing.

The above hazards are particularly dangerous when the sign is in an inclined or inverted position so that the weight of the sign tends to pull away the supports from their respective brackets.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a bracket, having a neon tube support .which is used in conjunction with said bracket, to have a series of grooves, on said support, each groove to have a definite wedge portion adjacent thereto, so that when the support is forced into the bracket each portion between the grooves will have leading edges, so that it can be eased into the bracket gradually.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bracket for the support, which bracket has a weakened portion to enable the support to tear the material as it wedges its way into proper relation with the bracket.

A further object of the invention is to provide means in the foot portion of the bracket to permit the foot portion thereof to slide under the head of a screw. The slot in the foot portion of the bracket, is to be such that the body of the screw will move through the slot following an irregular or zig-zag path to prevent the bracket from falling over, as is frequently the case in the old style bracket which has a straight path for the body portion of the screw to enter the slot in the foot portion of the bracket.

A further object of the invention is to provide a support for a-neon tube and a bracket for said support which bracket will permit expansion of itself, and remain substantially in said expanded position even after the support is withdrawn.

Other and further objects become apparent to those skilled in the art, after a perusal of the present specification.

Fig. 1 is a front view, partly broken away, to show the neon tube support inserted in its receiving bracket.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view out along lines 2-2 of Fig. 1 to show more clearly the weakened portion of the metal.

Fig. 3 is substantially a side view, partly broken away, of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the bracket which receives the neon tube support.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the foot of the bracket taken along lines 55 of Fig. 6, shown in relation to the foot securing screw.

Fig. 6 is a view of the bracket foot taken on lines 6-6 of Fig. 5 to show the zig-zag path for movement of the body of the screw.

Fig. 7 is a view of the neon tube support shown independent of the bracket.

Referring particularly to Fig. 1, it will be noted that there is a bracket 8, and a neon tube support 9 inserted in said bracket. The bracket has a foot member Ill, which is utilized for the purpose of attaching said bracket to the wall, back board, or other rigid supporting means to which the bracket will be secured by a screw, to hold the support which engages the neon sign.

Referring to Fig. 3, we note a side view substantially of the showing in Fig. 1. In Fig. 4, a perspective view of the bracket is shown. The bracket comprises a clip portion I l which is substantially at right angles to the foot In. The clip portion II of the bracket 8 is formed from a fiat blank of metal. It will be seen in Fig. 4 that there are two upraised sections l2 and [3 with a depressed section I 4 between said upraised sections. This particular formation provides an opening or receiving portion for the support 9 which is inserted therein as in the manner shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

Referring to Fig, 1, it is pointed out that the slits I5 and I6 start at points I! and I8 and extend respectively to points I9 and 20. By observing Fig. 2, the point I! is shown to be substantially at the junction of the slit parts I2 and I4, and that point I9 is not cut all the way through to the reverse side of the clip. The material of which the clip is made varies slightly in characteristics, but it is always metal that is used. It i clearly indicated on the drawing that the slits I5 and I6 come from points I! and I8, to H! and 20 respectively, on one side, but that said slits I5 and I B on the reverse side extend from points I! and I8 to points 2! and 22 respectively. Therefore along the slit I5 there is an inclined cut from point 2| on the reverse side to point I9 on the front, and also an inclined cut from point 22 on the reverse side of the clip to point 29 on the front.

It will be seen that the inclined edges start from substantially a knife edge at points 2| and 22 respectively, and that the cut portion of the clip gradually thickens until at points I9 and 20 respectively, it has reached the full thickness of the metal. The reason for this inclined portion is to provide a weakened part on the clip so that when the wedge edge 23 of the support 9 engages the space intermediate the strips I4, and, I2 and I 3, which comprises the clip, the wedge edge of the support will be forced down, and by a gradual twisting of the support 9, the said support will be forced between the members I4, and, I2 and I3, as shown in Fig. 3, causing them to expand slightly to tear the metal until the support comes to rest fitting positively snug within the grip of the clip parts I2, I3 and I4.

Clips of the type to which this invention pertains in the past have usually been made from resilient material so that the sole gripping of the support 9 was usually caused by the resiliency of the metal clip portion.

It will be seen in Fig. 2 that the parts I2, and M, respectively have a partially dotted section shown as 24, and 25 which indicates: the expanded section of the clip caused by the wedging action of the support 9 when said support comes finally to rest. While it is possible that there may be some resiliency in the metal of which the clip is made, it is nevertheless pointed out that the firm gripping of the support by the wedging action of the clip is the primary positive holding means, and the gripping due to the resiliecy of the metal, secondary. However, both factors are to be considered depending on the characteristics of the metal of which the bracket is made. In this way, insulators or supports of somewhat different sizes will be properly gripped and held by this clip, which permits wider, production tolerances in manufacturing both the support or insulator, and the clip.

Fig. 2 indicates that the slits, or cuts, such as I5 and I1, have inclined edges from points 2I to I9, and from 22 to 20 respectively, yet the novel feature of wedging the support into place in the bracket will permit, under certain conditions, to utilize at points 2|, and 22, a transverse cut, such as shown at I! or I8, this would, under certain conditions, eliminate the necessity for the inclined cut, such as from points 2I to I9. This feature would then permit the wedged edges, or conical leading edges of the support 9, to be sufficient to properly cause the support to be frictionally gripped by the clip.

The curved portion 26 of the support 9 is used to engage the neon tube as is conventional by a perusal of the old art.

By observing Fig. 6 it will be seen that the screw 21 cannot move from the outside to the inside of the elongated opening 28, unless the screw is moved in a zig-zag manner. That is, the screw must be moved in the direction of arrow X, and then in the direction of the arrow Y, to reach the elongated loop 28.

Fig. 5 indicates that the screw must be moved in this described zig-zag manner to reach the elongated space, within the foot I0, since the size of the slot is always wide enough for the body of the screw to move therethrough, but not wide enough for the screw to be moved therethrough in a straight line.

It is one of the objects of this invention to utilize the type of bracket foot shown and described herein, so that when the bracket is temporarily spaced and held lightly by a few turns of the screw, the bracket will not fall over, since it cannot pass through the zig-zag space in the foot. The screw will therefore impinge the foot and said bracket will only tilt and not fall over, thus saving the neon sign from shock and, possible destruction.

I claim:

A bracket for mounting insulators for gaseous discharge tubes upon a support, comprising a foot and a clip member integrally formed of metal, the foot member having an aperture therein and a communicating zig-zag path from the outside of the member to the aperture and the clip member having opposing sections formed by slits cut entirely through the metal, said slits having extended portions not fully cut through the metal so that forced engagement of an insulator into the clip will tear the partially cut portions to provide an opening for frictionally and forcibly holding insulators of various sizes in position.

BENJEMIN SIEGEL.

Images