U.S. patent application number 11/619302 was filed with the patent office on 2007-11-29 for wall-mount hanger.
Invention is credited to Sam S. WANG.
Application Number | 20070272819 11/619302 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38641228 |
Filed Date | 2007-11-29 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070272819 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
WANG; Sam S. |
November 29, 2007 |
WALL-MOUNT HANGER
Abstract
A wall-mount hanger includes: a casing; an article-hanging piece
connected slidably to the casing and having a stem portion
extending into the casing, and an article-hanging end portion
extending from the stem portion and disposed outwardly of the
casing; and a cover mounted on the casing and having an extension
that cooperates with the casing to define a protrusion-hiding
recess therebetween such that the article-hanging end portion of
the article-hanging piece is received in the protrusion-hiding
recess when the article-hanging piece is moved to a predetermined
position.
Inventors: |
WANG; Sam S.; (Yun-Lin
Hsien, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
OSTROLENK FABER GERB & SOFFEN
1180 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS
NEW YORK
NY
100368403
US
|
Family ID: |
38641228 |
Appl. No.: |
11/619302 |
Filed: |
January 3, 2007 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
248/476 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47G 25/0607 20130101;
A47G 1/202 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
248/476 |
International
Class: |
A47G 1/24 20060101
A47G001/24 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
May 24, 2006 |
TW |
095208970 |
Claims
1. A wall-mount hanger comprising: a casing adapted to be mounted
on a wall, and having first and second open ends that are
transverse to each other and that define respectively first and
second openings, said casing defining an inner space in spatial
communication with said first and second openings; an
article-hanging piece connected slidably to said casing and having
a stem portion that extends in a longitudinal direction through
said second opening and into said inner space in said casing, and
an article-hanging end portion that extends from said stem portion
and that is disposed outwardly of said inner space in said casing,
said article-hanging piece being slidable in said longitudinal
direction relative to said casing between first and second
positions; and a cover mounted on said first open end of said
casing to cover said first opening and having an extension that
extends outwardly from a junction of said first and second open
ends of said casing so as to cooperate with said second open end to
define a protrusion-hiding recess therebetween; wherein said
article-hanging end portion of said article-hanging piece is
disposed outwardly of said protrusion-hiding recess when said
article-hanging piece is disposed at said second position, and is
received and hidden in said protrusion-hiding recess when said
article-hanging piece is disposed at said first position.
2. The wall-mount hanger as claimed in claim 1, wherein said casing
further has a base wall opposite to said first open end, said cover
being provided with a pair of spaced apart confining plates that
extend toward said base wall and that have free ends which are
spaced apart from said base wall by a confining gap, said stem
portion of said article-hanging piece being received fittingly and
slidably in said confining gap.
3. The wall-mount hanger as claimed in claim 2, wherein said casing
further has two opposite side walls extending from said base wall
and formed with a plurality of tongues, said cover being provided
with a plurality of protrusions, each of which defines a groove and
each of which engages a respective one of said tongues in a
tongue-and-groove engaging manner.
4. The wall-mount hanger as claimed in claim 3, wherein one of said
side walls of said casing is formed with a notch that is disposed
adjacent to one of said tongues, said wall-mount hanger further
comprising a cover-limiting insert that is insertable into said
notch and that is engageable with an adjacent one of said
protrusions so as to prevent undesired removal of said cover from
said casing.
5. The wall-mount hanger as claimed in claim 1, wherein said second
open end of said casing has two opposite stopping wall portions
that confine two opposite sides of said second opening, said stem
portion of said article-hanging piece having a top end that is
provided with two opposite stopping protrusions which are spaced
apart from said stopping wall portions of said second open end of
said casing when said article-hanging piece is disposed at said
first position and which abut respectively against said stopping
wall portions of said second open end of said casing when said
article-hanging piece is disposed at said second position so as to
prevent undesired removal of said article-hanging piece from said
casing.
6. The wall-mount hanger as claimed in claim 1, further comprising
a positioning unit including first and second engaging members that
are provided respectively on said casing and said article-hanging
piece and that are magnetically engageable with each other, said
first and second engaging members being magnetically attracted to
each other when said article-hanging piece is disposed at said
first position, and being uncoupled to each other when said
article-hanging piece is disposed at said second position.
7. The wall-mount hanger as claimed in claim 1, wherein said casing
further has a base wall opposite to said first open end, said
wall-mount hanger further comprising a stopping mechanism including
a stopping protrusion that is provided on one of said base wall of
said casing and said stem portion of said article-hanging piece,
and an elongated slot that is formed in the other of said base wall
of said casing and said stem portion of said article-hanging piece,
said stopping protrusion extending into and being movably limited
within said elongated slot so as to prevent undesired removal of
said article-hanging piece from said casing.
8. The wall-mount hanger as claimed in claim 1, wherein said casing
further has a base wall opposite to said first open end, said
wall-mount hanger further comprising a stopping mechanism including
a pair of stopping protrusions that are provided on one of said
base wall of said casing and said stem portion of said
article-hanging piece, and a pair of elongated slots that are
formed in the other of said base wall of said casing and said stem
portion of said article-hanging piece, said stopping protrusions
extending respectively into said elongated slots so as to prevent
undesired removal of said article-hanging piece from said
casing.
9. The wall-mount hanger as claimed in claim 1, wherein said stem
portion of said article-hanging piece is formed with a guiding
groove extending in said longitudinal direction, said cover being
provided with a guiding rail that extends into said guiding groove
so as to permit sliding movement of said article-hanging piece in
said longitudinal direction.
10. The wall-mount hanger as claimed in claim 1, further comprising
an ejecting mechanism mounted in said inner space in said casing
and including a housing, a fixed rod that is fixed in said housing
and that extends in said longitudinal direction, an abutting seat
that defines a recess opening toward and aligned with said fixed
rod in said longitudinal direction and that is movable in said
longitudinal direction, an urging member that is sleeved on said
fixed rod and that extends into said recess to abut against said
abutting seat, and a pushing rod that is connected to said abutting
seat so as to be co-movable with said abutting seat, that extends
outwardly therefrom in said longitudinal direction through said
housing, and that has a free end disposed outwardly of said housing
and extending into said inner space in said casing, said stem
portion of said article-hanging piece having a top end that abuts
against said free end of said pushing rod when said article-hanging
piece is disposed at said first position, thereby permitting
ejecting movement of said article-hanging piece in an ejecting
direction from said first position to said second position when
said article-hanging piece is pushed to move in a direction
opposite to the ejecting direction against an urging action of said
urging member and is subsequently released from the pushing
action.
11. The wall-mount hanger as claimed in claim 10, wherein said
housing of said ejecting mechanism is provided with first and
second retaining members that are spaced apart and that are aligned
with each other in said longitudinal direction, said abutting seat
being movable relative to said housing in such a manner that said
abutting seat is arrested by said first retaining member when said
article-ejecting piece is moved to said first position, and is
arrested by said second retaining member during ejecting movement
of said article-ejecting piece from said first position to said
second position.
12. The wall-mount hanger as claimed in claim 11, wherein said free
end of said pushing rod is formed with a clamper that has a
plurality of resilient claws, said pushing rod being movable
together with said abutting seat relative to said housing between
first and second arresting positions, said pushing rod being
disposed at said first arresting position when said article-hanging
piece is disposed at said first position, and being disposed at
said second arresting position when said article-hanging piece is
disposed at said second position, said casing being provided with a
retaining seat disposed in said inner space in said casing,
defining a receiving space, and having an end wall that is formed
with a restricting hole in spatial communication with said
receiving space, said housing of said ejecting mechanism being
mounted in said receiving space in said retaining seat in such a
manner that said claws are disposed in said restricting hole and
are resiliently moved toward each other when said pushing rod is
disposed at said first arresting position, and that said claws are
disposed outwardly of said restricting hole and are resiliently
restored to their original states when said pushing rod is disposed
at said second arresting position, said top end of said stem
portion of said article-hanging piece being provided with a headed
rod that has a head portion which is clamped resiliently by said
claws when said article-hanging piece is disposed at said first
position, and which is released from said claws when said
article-hanging piece is disposed at said second position.
13. The wall-mount hanger as claimed in claim 1, wherein said
article-hanging end portion of said article-hanging piece is in the
form of a hook.
14. The wall-mount hanger as claimed in claim 1, wherein said
article-hanging end portion of said article-hanging piece is in the
form of a slotted member that defines a hanging slot.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The invention relates to a wall-mount hanger, more
particularly to a wall-mount hanger with a cover and an
article-hanging piece that is slidable to a position to be hidden
behind the cover.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional wall-mount hanger 1 is
adapted to be mounted on a wall surface 10 for hanging an object
(not shown). The wall-mount hanger 1 includes a panel 11 and an
article-hanging piece that has a stem portion 12 extending
downwardly from the panel 11 and an article-hanging end portion 13
extending from the stem portion 12.
[0005] The conventional wall-mount hanger 1 is disadvantageous in
that since the article-hanging piece protrudes from the wall
surface 10, and since the shape of the article-hanging piece is not
attractive, the appearance of the wall surface 10 is adversely
affected.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide
a wall-mount hanger that can overcome the aforesaid drawback
associated with the prior art.
[0007] According, a wall-mount hanger of the present invention
comprises: a casing adapted to be mounted on a wall, and having
first and second open ends that are transverse to each other and
that define respectively first and second openings, the casing
defining an inner space in spatial communication with the first and
second openings; an article-hanging piece connected slidably to the
casing and having a stem portion that extends in a longitudinal
direction through the second opening and into the inner space in
the casing, and an article-hanging end portion that extends from
the stem portion and that is disposed outwardly of the inner space
in the casing, the article-hanging piece being slidable in the
longitudinal direction relative to the casing between first and
second positions; and a cover mounted on the first open end of the
casing to cover the first opening and having an extension that
extends outwardly from a junction of the first and second open ends
of the casing so as to cooperate with the second open end to define
a protrusion-hiding recess therebetween. The article-hanging end
portion of the article-hanging piece is disposed outwardly of the
protrusion-hiding recess when the article-hanging piece is disposed
at the first position, and is received and hidden in the
protrusion-hiding recess when the article-hanging piece is disposed
at the second position.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] Other features and advantages of the present invention will
become apparent in the following detailed description of the
preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings,
of which:
[0009] FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view to illustrate a
conventional wall-mount hanger;
[0010] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the first
preferred embodiment of a wall-mount hanger according to the
present invention;
[0011] FIG. 3 is an assembled perspective view of the first
preferred embodiment with a decorative object attached thereto;
[0012] FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view illustrating a state
where an article-hanging piece of the first preferred embodiment is
disposed at a position;
[0013] FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view illustrating another
state where the article-hanging piece of the first preferred
embodiment is disposed at another position;
[0014] FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the second
preferred embodiment of the wall-mount hanger according to this
invention;
[0015] FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the third
preferred embodiment of the wall-mount hanger according to this
invention;
[0016] FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of the fourth
preferred embodiment of the wall-mount hanger according to this
invention;
[0017] FIG. 9 is a schematic sectional view of the fifth preferred
embodiment of the wall-mount hanger according to this invention,
illustrating how a clamper engages a headed rod;
[0018] FIG. 10 is a schematic sectional view of the fifth preferred
embodiment, illustrating how the damper is disengaged from the
headed rod; and
[0019] FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of the sixth
preferred embodiment of the wall-mount hanger according to this
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0020] Before the present invention is described in greater detail
with reference to the accompanying preferred embodiments, it should
be noted herein that like elements are denoted by the same
reference numerals throughout the disclosure.
[0021] Referring to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the first preferred
embodiment of a wall-mount hanger 2 according to the present
invention is shown to be adapted to be mounted on a wall 100. The
wall-mount hanger 2 includes: a casing 3 adapted to be mounted on
the wall 100 and having first and second open ends 35, 36 that are
transverse to each other and that define respectively first and
second openings 350, 360, the casing 3 defining an inner space 33
in spatial communication with the first and second openings 350,
360; an article-hanging piece 4 connected slidably to the casing 3
and having a stem portion 41 that extends in a longitudinal
direction (I) through the second opening 360 and into the inner
space 33 in the casing 3, and an article-hanging end portion 42
that extends from the stem portion 41 and that is disposed
outwardly of the inner space 33 in the casing 3, the
article-hanging piece 4 being slidable in the longitudinal
direction (I) relative to the casing 3 between first and first
positions (see FIGS. 4 and 5); and a cover 32 mounted on the first
open end 35 of the casing 3 to cover the first opening 350 and
having an extension 320 that extends outwardly from a junction of
the first and second open ends 35, 36 of the casing 3 so as to
cooperate with the second open end 36 to define a protrusion-hiding
recess 30 therebetween (see FIG. 4). The article-hanging end
portion 42 of the article-hanging piece 4 is disposed outwardly of
the protrusion-hiding recess 30 when the article-hanging piece 4 is
disposed at the second position (see FIG. 5), and is received and
hidden in the protrusion-hiding recess 30 when the article-hanging
piece 4 is disposed at the first position (see FIG. 4).
[0022] In this embodiment, the casing 3 further has a base wall 31
opposite to the first open end 35. The cover 32 is provided with a
pair of spaced apart confining plates 325, 326 that extend toward
the base wall 31 and that have free ends which are spaced apart
from the base wall 31 by a confining gap 327 such that the stem
portion 41 of the article-hanging piece 4 is received fittingly and
slidably in the confining gap 327.
[0023] The casing 3 further has two opposite side walls 37
extending from the base wall 31 and formed with a plurality of
tongues 313. The cover 32 is provided with a plurality of
protrusions 323, each of which defines a groove and each of which
engages a respective one of the tongues 313 in a tongue-and-groove
engaging manner.
[0024] Referring back to FIG. 2, one of the side walls 37 is formed
with a notch 314 that is disposed adjacent to one of the tongues
313. The wall-mount hanger 2 further includes a cover-limiting
insert 34 that is insertable into the notch 314 and that is
engageable with an adjacent one of the protrusions 323 so as to
prevent undesired removal of the cover 32 from the casing 3.
[0025] The second open end 36 of the casing 3 has two opposite
stopping wall portions 51 that confine two opposite sides of the
second opening 360. The stem portion 41 of the article-hanging
piece 4 has a top end that is provided with two opposite stopping
protrusions 52 which are spaced apart from the stopping wall
portions 51 of the second open end 36 of the casing 3 when the
article-hanging piece 4 is disposed at the first position and which
abut respectively against the stopping wall portions 51 of the
second open end of the casing 3 when the article-hanging piece 4 is
disposed at the second position so as to prevent undesired removal
of the article-hanging piece 4 from the casing 3 through the second
opening 360. The stopping wall portions 51 cooperate with the
stopping protrusions 52 to define a stopping mechanism 5 of the
wall-mount hanger 2.
[0026] The wall-mount hanger 2 further includes a positioning unit
6 including first and second engaging members 61, 62 that are
provided respectively on the casing 3 and the article-hanging piece
4 and that are magnetically engageable with each other. The first
and second engaging members 61, 62 are magnetically attracted to
each other when the article-hanging piece 4 is disposed at the
first position, and are uncoupled to each other when the
article-hanging piece 4 is disposed at the second position.
Preferably, the first engaging member 61 is a magnet embedded in
the base wall 31 and exposed from the inner space 33, and the
second engaging member 62 is a magnetically attractive metal piece
mounted on the article-hanging piece 4. Alternatively, the second
engaging member 62 may be a magnet with an opposite magnetic
polarity with respect to the first engaging member 61.
[0027] Referring back to FIGS. 2, 4 and 5, the wall-mount hanger 2
further includes an ejecting mechanism 7 that is mounted in the
inner space 33 in the casing 31 and that includes a housing 71, a
fixed rod 70 that is fixed in the housing 71 and that extends in
the longitudinal direction (I), an abutting seat 73 that defines a
recess 730 opening toward and aligned with the fixed rod 70 in the
longitudinal direction (I) and movable in the longitudinal
direction (I), an urging member 74 that is sleeved on the fixed rod
70 and that extends into the recess 730 to abut against the
abutting seat 73, and a pushing rod 72 that is connected to the
abutting seat 73 so as to be co-movable with the abutting seat 73,
that extends outwardly therefrom in the longitudinal direction (I)
through the housing 71, and that has a free end 721 disposed
outwardly of the housing 71 and extending into the inner space 33
in the casing 3. The stem portion 41 of the article-hanging piece 4
has a top end formed with an abutting plate 412 that abuts against
the free end 721 of the pushing rod 72 when the article-hanging
piece 4 is disposed at the first position, thereby permitting
ejecting movement of the article-hanging piece 4 in an ejecting
direction from the first position (see FIG. 4) to the second
position (see FIG. 5) when the article-hanging piece 4 is pushed to
move in a direction opposite to the ejecting direction against an
urging action of the urging member 74 and is subsequently released
from the pushing action. In this embodiment, the housing 71 of the
ejecting mechanism 7 is provided with first and second retaining
members 75, 76 that are spaced apart and that are aligned with each
other in the longitudinal direction (I). The abutting seat 73 is
movable relative to the housing 71 in such a manner that the
abutting seat 73 is arrested by the first retaining member 75 when
the article-hanging piece 4 is moved to the first position, and is
arrested by the second retaining member 76 during ejecting movement
of the article-hanging piece 4 from the first position to the
second position.
[0028] Preferably, the cover 32 is planar in shape. A decorative
object 101 can be attached to the cover 32 of the wall-mount hanger
2 through an adhesive (not shown) to enhance the appearance of the
wall-mount hanger 2 attached to the wall 100.
[0029] FIG. 6 illustrates the second preferred embodiment of the
wall-mount hanger 2 according to this invention. The second
preferred embodiment differs from the previous embodiment in that
the stopping mechanism 5 includes a stopping protrusion 51 that is
provided on one of the base wall 31 of the casing 3 and the stem
portion 41 of the article-hanging piece 4 (which is the base wall
31 in this embodiment), and an elongated slot 52 that is formed in
the other of the base wall 31 of the casing 3 and the stem portion
41 of the article-hanging piece 4 (which is in the stem portion 41
of the article-hanging piece 4 in this embodiment) The stopping
protrusion 51 extends into and is movable limitedly within the
elongated slot 52 so as to prevent undesired removal of the
article-hanging piece 4 from the casing 3.
[0030] FIG. 7 illustrates the third preferred embodiment of the
wall-mount hanger 2 according to this invention. The third
preferred embodiment differs from the previous embodiments in that
the stopping mechanism 5 includes a pair of stopping protrusions 53
that are provided on the base wall 31 of the casing 3, and a pair
of elongated slots 54 that are formed in the stem portion 41 of the
article-hanging piece 4. The stopping protrusions 53 extend
respectively into and are movable limitedly within the elongated
slots 54 so as to prevent undesired removal of the article-hanging
piece 4 from the casing 31.
[0031] FIG. 8 illustrates the fourth preferred embodiment of the
wall-mount hanger 2 according to this invention. The fourth
preferred embodiment differs from the previous embodiments in that,
instead of forming the confining gap 327, the stem portion 41 of
the article-hanging piece 4 is formed with a guiding groove 413
extending in the longitudinal direction (I), and the cover 32 is
provided with a guiding rail 329 that extends into the guiding
groove 413 so as to permit sliding movement of the article-hanging
piece 4 in the longitudinal direction (I).
[0032] FIGS. 9 and 10 illustrate the fifth preferred embodiment of
the wall-mount hanger 2 according to this invention. The fifth
preferred embodiment differs from the previous embodiments in that,
instead of using the magnet and the metal piece to serve as the
first and second engaging members 61, 62, respectively, the free
end 721 of the pushing rod 72 is formed with a damper 61 that has a
plurality of resilient claws 611. The pushing rod 72 is movable
together with the abutting seat 73 relative to the housing 71
between first and second arresting positions (see FIGS. 9 and 10)
such that the pushing rod 72 is disposed at the first arresting
position when the article-hanging piece 4 is disposed at the first
position (see FIG. 9), and is disposed at the second arresting
position when the article-hanging piece 4 is disposed at the second
position (see FIG. 10). The casing 3 is provided with a retaining
seat 38 that is disposed in the inner space 33 in the casing 3,
that defines a receiving space 380, and that has an end wall 381
formed with a restricting hole 3810 in spatial communication with
the receiving space 380 such that the housing 71 of the ejecting
mechanism 7 is mounted in the receiving space 380 in the retaining
seat 38 in such a manner that the claws 611 are disposed in the
restricting hole 3810 and are resiliently moved toward each other
when the pushing rod 72 is disposed at the first arresting
position, and that the claws 611 are disposed outwardly of the
restricting hole 3810 and are resiliently restored to their
original states when the pushing rod 72 is disposed at the second
arresting position. The top end of the stem portion 41 of the
article-hanging piece 4 is provided with a headed rod 62 that has a
head portion 621 which is clamped resiliently by the claws 611 when
the article-hanging piece 4 is disposed at the first position, and
which is released from the claws 611 when the article-hanging piece
4 is disposed at the second position.
[0033] In the previous preferred embodiments, the article-hanging
end portion 42 of the article-hanging piece 4 is in the form of a
hook. FIG. 11 illustrates the sixth preferred embodiment of the
wall-mount hanger 2 according to this invention. The sixth
preferred embodiment differs from the previous embodiments in that
the article-hanging end portion 42 of the article-hanging piece 4
is in the form of a slotted member that defines a hanging slot
420.
[0034] With the inclusion of the slidable article-hanging piece 4
and the cover 32 in the wall-mount hanger 2 of this invention, the
aforesaid drawback associated with the prior art can be
eliminated.
[0035] While the present invention has been described in connection
with what are considered the most practical and preferred
embodiments, it is understood that this invention is not limited to
the disclosed embodiments but is intended to cover various
arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest
interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and
equivalent arrangements.
* * * * *