US3174210A - Method of making a picture hanger - Google Patents

Description

March 23, 1965 MARGULls a 3,174,210

METHOD OF MAKING A PICTURE HANGER Filed D80. 13, 1962 INVENTOR. JOSEPH M MA/PG'UL/S BY SM ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,174,210 METHOD OF MAKDIG A PICTURE HANGER Joseph M. Margulis, Jiffy Enterprises, Inc., 150 N. 13th St., Philadelphia 7, Pa. Filed Dec. 13, 1962, Ser. No. 244,490 Claims. (Ci. 29-150) In general, this invention relates to a new and improved method for making a picture hanger. More particularly, it relates to a method for making a nail-less hanger for pictures and the like capable of being secured to the surface of a wall without marring the surface or penetrating it.

In order to hang objects such as pictures, ceramics, maps, etc., usually a solid-type fastener such as a nail or wire hook is employed to secure the object to a wall. The use of such nails or wire hooks was substantially obviated by the nail-less hanger for pictures set forth in my prior Patents 2,647,711 and 2,809,001. The nail-less hangers in said patents had the advantages of being capable of quick application to any surface wherever needed and left no tell-tale cracks, breaks or marks upon the wall.

The present invention is an improvement over the nailless hangers in said patents. The nail-less hangers in said patents have evidently achieved their purpose and have been commercially successful The present invention is directed to a different mode of manufacturing a picture hanger with a resultant device which is extremely advantageous when utilized with a similar picture hanger secured to the back of the object to be hung in maintaining the object in place against swiveling or cocking of the hanger.

The nail-less hangers in my prior patents had a separate hook which was secured to a support bar by a separate rivet or by an integral tubular flange swaged over the hack of the support bar. The hooks in these patents swiveled with respect to the support bar. If such a hanger was secured to the back of an object and then used with a similar hanger on a wall to hang the object, it was necessary to move one of the swival hooks out of the way. in order for the other hook to go through the eyelet of the hanger.

In addition, it can easily be understood that manufacturing difficulties will always occur when an article is formed from two separate parts. In the case of the nail-less picture hanger of the above-mentioned Patent 2,809,001, the three parts of which it is manufactured are the adhesive-coated cloth, the metal support bar, and the hook with its integral tubular flange. The present invention improves the method of manufacturing nail-less hangers by utilizing only two parts to produce the hanger of the present invention. These two parts are the adhesive-coated cloth and the metal support bar. The hook of the nail-less hanger of the present invention is formed by a U-shaped cutout from the metal support bar during a punching operation.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a methodof manufacturing a nail-less hanger supporting device having a hook integral with the supporting her of the hanger. 7

Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved method of manufacturing a nail-less hanger from an adhesive-backed material and a metal support 3,174,210 Patented Mar. 23, 1965 ice A still further object of the present invention is to provide a nail-less wall hanger supporting device which is simple and easy to manufacture at a sufficiently low cost so that it will be readily accessible to the buying public. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing a wall hanger supporting device which is capable of being readily applied to any surface and removed therefrom Without injuring said surface.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there is shown in the drawings forms which are presently preferred; it being understood, however, that this invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.

FIGURE 1 is a schematic showing of apparatus for performing the method of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of a wall hanger built in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective showing of the cooperation between two wall hangers utilized to support an object on a wall.

FIGURE 4 is a cross sectional view of the wall hanger of FIGURE 3 taken along lines 44. I

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a wall hanger which is built in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

In FIGURE 1, there is shown schematically apparatus for performing the method of the present invention. This apparatus is generally designated by the numeral 10.

The first step in the method of the present invention requires the provision of a flexible material having an adhesive coating on one side thereof. This flexible ma-.. terial may be cloth with a layer of water-activated adhesive such as casein-type glue on one side thereof such as is shown in my prior Patents 2,647,711 and 2,809,001, or in the alternative, it may be a transparent synthetic material such as Mylar, vinyl plastic, cellophane, etc., with a layer of pressure-sensitive adhesive on one surface as shown in my U.S. Patent 3,052,436. If this latter type of material is used, it is preferable that it be provided with a sheet of calendered paper in abutting con tact with the pressure-sensitive adhesives. Calendered paper is readily removable when it is desired to aflix the hanger to a supporting wall or the like. In the interest of clarity, the method of the present invention will be described with respect to a cloth material having a water-activated adhesive on one side thereof.

In FIGURE 1, a roll 12 of water-sensitive adhesivecoated cloth is'shown mounted with its axis 14 on suitable standards 16. Thecloth 17 fed from the roll 12 has a water-sensitive adhesive coating 18 on its upper surface.

A roll of thin metal strip 20 is mounted with axis 22 on standards 24 centrally with respect to the cloth 17 so that a strip of metal 26 will move longitudinally with the cloth 17 with its side edges parallel to the side edges of the cloth. The metal and cloth pass through a pair of rollers 28 and 30 which maintain them in place while moving the strip and cloth at the same speed along a guideway or conveyor (not shown).

A water applicator 34 is provided after the roller 28 so as to moisten a strip of the water-sensitive adhesive coating 18 spaced one metal strip width away from a side edge of the metal strip 26.

The moistened adhesive-coated cloth and metal strip are then received by a folding unit 36 having a contoured folding surface 38 adapted to fold over the flap of adhesive-coated cloth which has been moistened from the side edge of the metal strip 26.

It will be understood that other methods of folding over and moistening the adhesive-coated cloth can be utilized. For instance, pre-moistened cloth can be fed perpendicular to the metal strip along one side edge thereof with a suitable folder adapted to achieve the same purposes as folder 36. The adhesive coating normally will not operate to glue the cloth to the metal strip unless a pressure roller is provided. Therefore, if the adhesive coating 18 is moistened at a point which comes in contact with the metal strip, there will be no securement thereto without pressure being applied. If desired, a heater may be included immediately after the folder to evaporate any excess moisture without drying the adhesive coating completely. The adhesive coating would then be tacky and easily susceptible to gluing by the pressure roller 42 to be discussed below.

The flap 40 folds over the metal strip 26 and onto the remaining adhesive-coated cloth designated by the numeral 41. The portion of the flap 40 moistened by the water applicator 34 is adjacent one side of the metal strip 26. This moistened portion is then glued to the adhesive coating of the flap 41 by a pressure roller 42 having a backing 44. The pressure roller 42 is activated by a suitable motor 46 to form a glued strip 48. The remaining portion of the flap 40 is designated by the numeral 72 and will not stick to the surface of flap 41 as the adhesive 18 is only activated when water is applied thereto.

It should be noted at this point that the pressure roller 42 is the only power being transmitted to the metal strip and adhesive cloth. This roller 42 is intermittently operated by the motor 46 in timed relationship with the punch 50 to be discussed below.

After the cloth and support bar have passed through the pressure roller 42 and back-up 44, a partially finished nail-less hanger has been manufactured minus the hook. The article consists of an adhesive-coated flexible matefolded over a support member and secured along the unfolded side of the support member along line 48 to form a hinge for the support member. This article could be the adhesive-coated cloth as shown in FIGURE 1 having the flap 40 glued to the flap 41 along line 48, or the flap 40 could be stitched to the flap .1 to form the hinge as shown in US. Patent 2,809,001, or the material can be transparent with a pressure-sensitive coating having calendered paper thereon as shown in US. Patent 3,052,436.

The article is then. fed to a punch and cutter assembly consisting of a movable punch 50 having an integral cutter 54 at one edge thereof reciprocal with respect to a stationary block 52. The punch 50 has a suitable die thereon to punch out a curved U-shaped tab from the support bar 26 while cutting off the portions of flaps 40 and 41 covering the U-sh-aped tab 74. The stationary member 52 has a suitable die cavity 56 therein which forms a curve in the tab 74 with its radius on the side of the tab opposite from the support bar 26. The cutter 54 stops the article at predetermined intervals to form the individual nail-less hangers 60. The nail-less hangers 60 fall onto a suitable conveyor 58 after the cutter 54 has operated.

The nail-less picture hanger 60 formed by the method discussed above consists of a fiat planar back portion 62 having an adhesive coating 64 on one side thereof. The upper portion 71 of the adhesive coating 64 extends to the joint 48 between the flap 72 and the back portion 62. The metal strip 26 forming the support bar is held in place between an overlapping portion 58 of adhesive-coated material and the fiat back portion 62 by the U-shaped tab 74. The hook 74 was formed by cutting out a U-shaped opening 78 from the metal bar 26. The excess cloth on both sides of the tab 74 has been cut off along the hinge line 76 of the tab 74 during the punching operations. Thus, the metal is exposed for a neat appearance. The U-shaped tab '74 is curved for reasons which will become apparent with respect to FIGURES 3 and 4.

In FIGURES 3 and 4, there are shown two hangers 60 and 60' interlocked in a manner whereby an object (not shown) can be simply and easily hung on a wall surface (not shown). The picture hanger 60 would have its adhesive surfaces 71 and 72 glued to the wall. The surfaces 71' and 72' of hanger 60' would be glued to the object which is to be hung. The hooks 74 and 74' of the hangers 60 and 60' respectively are interlocked in a manner whereby the hook 74' passes through the U-shaped opening 78 and the hook 74 passes through the U-shaped opening 78'. Because of the curved surface of the tabs 74 and 74, they are able to easily pass through the holes 78' and 78 while being held in place by the spring action of the tabs about their respective hinges 76 and 76'. This spring action of the tabs locks the hangers 60 and 60 one to another. There can be little or no pivotal movement between the hangers as the tabs will not rotate and the sides of the U-shaped openings 78 and 78 prevent such movement.

In FIGURE 5, there is shown a second embodiment of the present invention. The picture hanger 60" shown in FIGURE 5 is substantially similar to the hooks 60 and 60' discussed previously. The hook 60" has a top adhesive-coated portion 64" and a bottom hinged adhesivecoated portion 72" over a metal support bar covered portion 68". A U-shaped opening 78" has been made through, the covered support bar portion 68" inrthe forming of a book 74''. The hook 74" is the only pant of the picture hanger that is different from the previously described picture hangers.

That is, the hook portion 74" is L-shaped to give the standard hook appearance in combination with the picture hanger 60".

It can be easily understood that the picture hanger 60 is capable of cooperating with a similar picture hanger in the manner shown in FIGURE 4 with respect to picture hangers 60 and 60'.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof and, accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claims, rather than to the foregoing specification as indicating the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A method of manufacturing a nail-less picture hanger comprising the steps of providing a strip of folded over adhesive-coated flexible material having a metal support bar secured between the fold, and punching out a U-contoured tab from the metal support bar through the layers of adhesive-coated flexible material.

2. The method of manufacture of claim 1 including the step of cutting predetermined widths of the strip simultaneously with the step of punching out the U-contoured tab.

3. The method of manufacture of claim 1 including the step of cutting off the U-contoured tabs of adhesive-coated flexible material formed during the step of punching out the U-contoured tab from the metal support bar.

4. The method of manufacture of claim 1 wherein the step of providing the strip includes the steps of feeding a strip of material of indefinite length having an adhesive coating on one side thereof, placing a metal strip of indefinite length and a width less than half the width of the strip of material on the adhesive-coated side of the material, folding the strip of material continuously over the metal strip along one side edge of the metal strip, and continuously securing the material one layer to another along the other side edge of the metal strip.

5. The method of manufacture of claim 1 wherein the step of providing the strip includes the steps of feeding a strip of material of indefinite length having an adhesive coating on one side thereof, placing a metal strip of indefinite length and a width less than half the width of the strip of material at right angles to the adhesive coated References Cied by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 11/36 Wallin 248-28 7/38 Burke 24829 Hexdall 248301 XR Margulis 248--29 Rabinevitch 24829 Beare 29417 Bnaun 29155.55

WHITMORE A. WILTZ, Primary Examiner.

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. A METHOD OF MANUFACTURING A NAIL-LESS PICTURE HANGER COMPRISING THE STEPS OF PROVIDING A STRIP OF FOLDED OVER ADHESIVE-COATED FLEXIBLE MATERIAL HAVING A METAL SUPPORT BAR SECURED BETWEEN THE FOLD, AND PUNCHING OUT A U-CONTOURED TAB FROM THE METAL SUPPORT BAR THROUGH THE LAYERS OF ADHESIVE-COATED FLEXIBLE MATERIAL.

Images