Hanger For Outdoor Light Sockets

Abstract

An integral hanger for attaching outdoor light sockets to eavestroughs. The hanger has a hooked upper portion for gripping the upper outer edge of an eavestrough, and an outwardly protruding portion at its lower end with an aperture for receiving the clip of an outdoor light socket.

Description

This invention relates to hanger especially adapted to attach outdoor light bulb sockets, of the kind having a clip, to eavestroughs.

It is an object of this invention to provide a single-piece hanger which can be quickly and easily manufactured, and which is especially adapted for hanging outdoor light bulb sockets from the outer upper lip of eavestroughs, the attachment of the socket to the hanger, and of the hanger to the eavestrough, being snug and secure.

Accordingly, this invention provides an integral hanger for attaching outdoor light sockets to eavestroughs, the hanger comprising: a hooked member including an upper portion, a first downwardly depending portion integral with one end of said upper portion, and a second downwardly depending portion integral with the other end of said upper portion and thus spaced from said first downwardly depending portion, the second downwardly depending portion being longer than the first downwardly depending portion and having at its lower end a projecting portion extending outwardly remote from the first downwardly depending portion, the projecting portion having an aperture for receiving the clip of an outdoor light socket.

One embodiment of this invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, of which like numerals denote like parts throughout the several views, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a partly broken-away eavestrough to which two hangers are attached, one of which has an outdoor light socket connected thereto; and

FIG. 2 is a sectional view through one hanger.

Referring now to FIG. 1, an eavestrough 10 is seen to comprise an inner upstanding wall 12, a bottom wall 13, and an outer upstanding wall 14. The outer upstanding wall 14 is S-curved in vertical section, as shown, and at its upper edge is bent inwardly to form a top wall 16, and downwardly to form a lip 17. The upper portion 18 of the outer upstanding wall 14 is substantially vertical and spaced parallelly from the substantially vertical lip 17. The top wall 16 is substantially horizontal, so that the upper portion 18, the top wall 16 and the lip 17 form a substantially rectangular upper outer edge for the eavestrough 10.

Two hangers 20 are shown attached to the upper outer edge 19 of the eavestrough. As best seen in the leftward hanger 20, each hanger includes a hooked member 22 which consists of an upper portion 24, a first downwardly depending portion 25, and a second downwardly depending portion 26. The downwardly depending portions 25 and 26 are integral with the upper portion 24 and spaced from one another. The second downwardly depending portion 26 is longer than the first downwardly depending portion 25, and has at its lower end a projecting portion 28 which extends outwardly remote from the first downwardly depending portion 25. The projecting portion 28 has an aperture 30 which is adapted to receive the clip of an outdoor light socket.

At the right in the FIG., the hanger 20 has attached thereto an outdoor light socket 32 into which a bulb 33 is screwed. Electrical wiring 34 carries power to light the bulb 33. The socket 32 is equipped with a clip 36 of the conventional kind, including an attachment portion 38 and a downwardly extending resilient clip portion 40. The resilient clip portion 40 extends through the aperture 30 in the projecting portion 28 of the hanger 20.

As can be seen particularly in the leftward hanger 20, the aperture 30 is elongated transversely to the direction in which the projecting portion 28 extends. Conventionally, the resilient clip portion 40 is made of a flattened piece of metal or plastic, and the aperture 30 is designed to be generally complementary to the horizontal section through the resilient clip portion 40.

It will also be noted that the hooked member 22 defines a substantially rectangular recess which is especially adapted to receive the outer edge 19 of the eavestrough 10.

Preferably, the hanger 20 of this invention is manufactured from a weather-resistant material, such as plastic or nonrusting metal.

As seen particularly in FIG. 2, the outermost edge 42 of the projecting portion 28 has its upper and lower surfaces flared at 44, to permit the aperture 30 to receive the clip portion 40 with the least amount of effort. Also, the flare at 44 allows the socket 32 to be easily removed from the hanger should the hanger 20 become frozen onto the eavestrough, because it maintains an open space between the top surface of the projecting portion 28 and the attachment portion 38. It will be appreciated that any similar enlargement at the edge 42 would serve the same purpose.

Claims

I claim:

1. An integral hanger for attaching outdoor light sockets to eavestroughs, the hanger comprising: a hooked member including an upper portion, a first downwardly depending portion integral with one end of said upper portion, and a second downwardly depending portion integral with the other end of said upper portion and thus spaced from said first downwardly depending portion, the second downwardly depending portion being longer than the first downwardly depending portion and having at its lower end a projecting portion extending outwardly remote from the first downwardly depending portion, the projecting portion having an aperture for receiving the clip of an outdoor light socket, the outermost edge of said projecting portion being flared in the vertical plane parallel with the direction in which the first and second downwardly depending portions are spaced from each other.

2. The invention claimed in claim 1, in which the aperture is elongated transversely to the direction in which the projecting portion extends.

3. The invention claimed in claim 1, in which the hooked member defines a substantially rectangular recess adapted to receive the outer upper edge of an eavestrough.

4. The invention claimed in claim 1, in which the hanger is of nonrusting metal.

5. The invention claimed in claim 1, in which the hanger is of weather-resistant plastic material.