US3011748A

US3011748A - End mounting means for curtain rods

Info

Publication number: US3011748A
Application number: US845517A
Authority: US
Inventors: Breuer Karl
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1959-10-09
Filing date: 1959-10-09
Publication date: 1961-12-05
Anticipated expiration: 1978-12-05

Description

Dec. 5, 1961 K. BREUER END MOUNTING MEANS FOR CURTAIN RODS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 9, 1959 INVENTO/P KARL BREUE/P (211% 90% A 7TORNEYS Dec. 5, 1961 K. BREUER 3,011,748

END MOUNTING MEANS FOR CURTAIN RODS Filed 001:. a, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVE N T O)? KARL B/PEUEP BWQgi 99% A TTOPNEY United States Patent Gfifice 3,011,748 iatented Dec. 5, 1961 3,011,748 END MOUNTING MEANS FOR CURTAIN RODS Karl Breuer, 288300 Geary, Toronto, ()ntario, Canada Filed Oct. 9, 1959, Ser. No. 845,517 4 Claims. (Cl. 248-265) This invention relates to end mounting means for curtain rods.

It has been the practice in the past to mount curtain rods from brackets secured to the Wall at each end of the rod. Usually these brackets are adjustable as to space the rod from the wall and/or opening therein which the rod may traverse. More usually, an end fitting is employed to receive and support the rod and which is secured to the bracket by means of screws and the like Whereas the securement of the bracket in adjusted position is usually achieved by use of screws and the like also. This provides for complication in mounting of the rods since the user must employ tools to accomplish the purpose, not only in initial mounting but also in subsequent removal or'adjustment of the mounted fixture.

The present invention seeks to overcome disadvantages of this kind and to provide a simple, economical construction which may be easily manipulated and readily mounted Without the employment of tools for adjustment of the bracket and/ or securement of the rod thereon.

The invention generally embodies mounting means for curtain rods including in combination with a mounting bracket, of a mounting element disposed to project at an angle to said rod for detachably receiving the mounting bracket and spring means co-acting between said mounting element and said bracket for detachably securing said element to said bracket without the aid or" tools.

The invention will be clearly understood by reference to the following detailed specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the cooperative arrangement of an end fixture for mounting and supporting a curtain rod and an adjustable bracket for receiving the fixture constructed according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a rear elevation of the end fixture.

FIG. 3 is a section taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a front elevation of the end fixture.

FIG. 5 is a perspective illustration of the partitioning structure employed in conjunction with the end fixture.

FIG. 6 is a perspective illustration of an alternative form of mounting bracket.

FIG. 7 is a perspective illustration of an alternative form of end fixture and mounting bracket in cooperative arrangement.

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary perspective illustration of an end fixture in cooperative arrangement with an alternative form of mounting bracket; and

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary transverse section taken through the end fixture and mounting bracket of FIG. 8 to illustrate it in locked assembly.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 5, A indicates an end fixture for receiving and supporting the end of a curtain rod which is adapted to be engaged with and secured on a mounting bracket B. End fixture A is made up of a body 10 having a face plate 11 and an end plate 12 bent substantially at right angles to the face plate 11, and a top plate 13 bent from the face plate substantially at right angles thereto as to provide between the face plate, end plate and top plate a housing for receiving and supporting other parts of the end fixture. In the type of fixture shown, a socket 14 is provided at one end for receiving and securing one end of a curtain rod indicated at C in dotted lines. The socket is of known character formed by bending portions of the face plate as shown.

A partitioning structure 15 is mounted in the end fixture A which is preferably constructed as shown in FIG. 5 including a longitudinal wall 16, an end wall 17 bent substantially at right anglm to wall I16, and a top flange 1S bent substantially at right angles from wall 16. The flange is recessed at one end as at 19 and preferably the portion 29 of this flange removed to form the recess is bent substantially at right angles in the opposite direction to flange 18, as a projecting lug, to form a spacer for the wall 16 in relation to the face plate 11 of the end fixture A. As shown particularly in FIGS. 1 and 2, the flange 18 of the partition structure is secured to the top plate 13 of the end fixture such as by the

rivets

21 and 22, the wall 16 being spaced from the face plate 11 by means of the lug 29, whereas the partition structure is so located longitudinally of the end fixture as to space the end wall 17 from the end plate 12 of the fixture and thus provide the socket 23 adapted to receive the end bracket B. The Wall 16 of the partition structure serves in known manner to mount, in conjunction with the face plate, the pulleys 24 for receiving the draw cords when the fixture is of the kind for use in the suspension of draw curtains.

The end wall 17 of the partition structure is recessed in its top edge as at 25 in a manner to register with the recess 19 in the top flange 18 and is adapted to receive the free end 26 of a leaf spring 27 designed to form a detachable locking means for locking the end fixture on an end bracket such as B or B, as shown in FIG. 6. This spring preferably has the extended shank 28 which is secured by the rivet 22. Preferably also, the spring is formed with the second extension 29 formed by splitting the spring 27 longitudinally for a part of its extent and offsetting the extension 29 in spaced relation to the shank 28 as to dispose extension 29 at a lower level in terms of a mounted bracket. The end of extension 29 is preferably bent to form the stop member 3i) which is disposed in line with the normal channel or slot 7 31 of a tubular curtm'n rod mounted and supported in the socket 14 of the end fixture. As shown in FIG. 2, the stop member 30 terminates just short of the end of the curtain rod received therein so that it forms a stop member to prevent curtain suspension members carried by the rod from disengaging therefrom. This, therefore, provides a very simple and economical stop member which may be swung from its stop position by pressing spring extension 29 upwardly as to clear the slot 31 in the curtain rod, thus permitting the withdrawal of suspension elements from the rod or the addition of further suspension elements thereto as the case may be.

The bracket B and the bracket B are provided with the recesses 32 and 32', respectively, in their side edges spaced inwardly from the free end of the bracket a distance as to locate such recesses in registry with the recess 25 of end Wall 17 when the bracket is fully projected into the socket 23. Consequently, by reason of the rounded or bevelled end edge 33 formed on the bracket, it will be obvious that when the bracket is projected into the socket 23, the free end 26 of spring 27 which traverses the socket 23 will be momentarily deflected from its normal location in the recess 25 of end wall 17 and will return to this position once the recess 32 or 32 of end brackets B or B registers with recess 25, in which position the end edge of the bracket preferably will butt the face plate 11 of the fixture and such fixture will then be securely locked on the bracket. To release, it is only necessary to press the spring 27 as to raise the free end 26 clear of

recesses

25 and 32 or 32' of the end fixture and bracket respectively as to release the end fixture from the bracket.

Where an adjustable end bracket such as B is employed, I prefer to form it as shown in FIG. 1 wherein mounting section 34 which carries the mounting plate 35 and fixture engaging section 36 are formed with a plurality of longitudinally extending

ribs

37 and 38, respectively, so that when these sections are assembled in butting sliding relation, the channels formed on one side of one section will mate with the ribs projecting on one side of the other section as to provide a slide-way. In particular, this form of construction lends to the adjustment and locking of the sections in desired adjusted relation by means of a simple locking element 39 which can be locked or released in a simple rotating motion and which obviates the necessity of using screws or other fastening devices requiring tools for manipulation. The section 36 is provided with the longitudinal slot 40 through which the pin 41 carried by section 34 projects and is secured to the rotatable locking element 39. The length of the pin 41 is such that the inner face of the head 42 locates the inner face of the rotary locking member 39 at a level just slightly below the level of the ribs 33 so that when the locking member 39 is swung, from an unlocked position aligned with the slot 40, to a position at right angles thereto, shown in FIG. 1, the bar portion of the locking element 39 between the handle lugs 43 will ride over the curved surfaces of the ribs 38 and will clamp the sections firmly together in their adjusted position under a resiliently applied pressure. Thus, by a simple rotation of the locking member 39 to or from locked position, the sections of the adjustable bracket B may be adjusted with facility. It will be noted, of course, that the bracket serves as a right-hand or left-hand bracket through the fact that recesses 32 are provided in both side edges of the bracket which is, of course, also the case in respect of bracket B and the recesses 32'.

Both the bracket B and the end fixture A are of particularly simple construction and it will be noted that the end fixture A is constituted by threesimple parts, viz. the housing, the partition structure and the spring, which are readily secured together merely by a pair of rivets although, of course, securement could be achieved by welding or other means. It should be noted also that the securement of the end fixture A to the bracket is by horizontal projection of the socket of the end fixture onto the mounted projecting end of the bracket where it is securely locked in a simple manner against dislodgment except when it is desired to detach it. In some prior proposals, the end fixture is mounted on the bracket by moving the end fixture vertically downwardly cooperatively to engage the projecting bracket specially formed for this purpose and which fixture can be accidentally dislodged by an inadvertently applied upwardly directed force, which disadvantage is completely avoided by the present invention while providing a detachable fixture of much simpler construction.

It is obvious, of course, that the principle of the present invention may be followed by alternative constructions, two of which are illustrated in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9. In the case of FIG. 7, the end fixture A is shown as a simple housing body wherein the end plate 44 is spaced from the top plate 45 and constitutes a freely projecting shank having a recessed upper edge as at 46 traversed by the free end of the spring 47 which is formed as a simple leaf spring, the opposite end of which is ofiset as at 48 and bent to provide the stop member 49 to perform a similar stop function as in the case of stop member 30 of FIG. '1. The top plate 45 is formed with the recess '56 which is positioned to register with the location of recess 46 in the end plate 44 so that the free end of spring 47 may be pressed upwardly when it is desired to remove it from recess 46 in disengaging the spring from locked engagement with the bracket 51. In this instance, it will be noted that end bracket 51 is of channel form having the inturned side flanges 52 which form a socket for end wall or shank 44-. Therefore, when this d shank is projected into the channel of bracket 51 until recess 46 of shank 44 registers with the recess 53 of end bracket, then the free end of spring 47 is caused firmly to lock these two parts together preferably so located that the ends of the inturned flanges 52 of the bracket will engage the face plate of the end fixture A.

A further alternative construction employing the principle of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 8 wherein the end fixture A is somewhat similarly formed to that shown in FIG. 7 as to provide the end plate 54 as a freely projecting shank. In this case, the shank is recessed or orificed as at 55 so that when it is received within the channels of end bracket 56, it will register with the offset end portion 57 of the leaf spring 58 riveted or otherwise secured to the side wall of bracket 55. The sloped offset 59 of spring 58 will tend to depress the spring as shank 54 and bracket 56 telescopically engage but when the shank has been projected into the channel of bracket 56 to its required extent, the free end of spring 57 will in effect register with one end of slot 55 as shown in FIG. 9 whereby automatically to lock the shank within the channel of bracket 56. As shown in dotted lines in this figure, it is only necessary for one to press the spring 58 towards the side wall of bracket 56 to release the shank 54 from locked engagement with the bracket 56.

It will be clear from the foregoing that the invention embodies a comparatively simple mounting means for curtain rods, basically embodying the detachable connection of rod to bracket by simple spring means eliminating the necessity of tools for rod mounting and adjustment of adjustable brackets and while preferred embodiments have been illustrated, variation may occur in structure.

What I claim as my invention is:

I 1. End mounting and supporting means for curtain rods comprising a body including a faceplate, an end plate and a top plate, securing means for a curtain rod at one end thereof, socket means at the other end thereof removably receiving a mounting bracket normally disposed substantially perpendicularly to said face plate a partition structure secured to said body having a wall disposed parallel to said end plate and forming with said end plate said socket means, and leaf spring means carried by said top plate, having a depressible free end traversing said socket means and projecting adjacent to said end plate and engaging and detachably locking said bracket to said body said spring means having a depressible portion inwardly of said partition wall accessible to the digit of a hand for releasing said free end from said mounting bracket.

2. End mounting and supporting means for curtain rods comprising a body including a face plate, a top plate and an end plate, disposed in angular relation to one another, securing means for a curtain rod on said body at one end thereof, a partition structure secured to said body in spaced relation to the face plate and end plate and forming with said end plate a socket removably receiving a mounting bracket disposed substantially perpendicular to said face plate, leaf spring means mounted from said top plate having a free end intersecting the socket and engaged with said bracket within said socket detachably to lock the bracket therein.

3. End mounting and supporting means for curtain rods as claimed in claim 2 in which said spring means is formed with a free end opposed to the first mentioned free end, said second mentioned free end being disposed adjacent the securing means for the curtain rod and positioned to extend adjacent to the end of a mounted curtain rod and forming depressible stop means for controlling mounting or demounting of curtain suspension elements to be carried by said rod.

4. End mounting and supporting means for curtain rods, comprising a body having a face plate and an end plate disposed perpendicularly thereto, a partition structure secured to said body in spaced relation to the inner surface of said face plate and end plate securing means for a curtain rod at one end of said body and socket means formed between said end plate and partition structure at the other end of said body removably receiving a notched mounting bracket disposed substantially perpendicularly to said face plate, and a depressible spring element rigidly mounted on said body rearwardly of said face plate having a free end providing a spring-urged References Cited in the file of this patent latch projecting transversely across said socket in the path 10 2,913,212

of said bracket and engaged in the notch thereof to secure the bracket to said body.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Provencher Euly 27, Straub Nov. 6, Hinderli-ter May 1, Boye May 11, Brunner July 7, Bell June 9, Bell Nov. 17,