Picture Support With Concealed Connectors

Abstract

A picture support for displaying a picture with the transparent front panel secured to a supporting back panel by concealed connectors with the picture lying therebetween. The transparent front panel has an opaque coating on its inner surface surrounding a transparent central portion with the opaque coating being either formed as a peelable panel or as an applied coating.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to picture supports which give the appearance of being frameless and in which the connectors are completely hidden.

2. Summary of the Invention

A picture support which includes a transparent front panel having an opaque coating on its rear face with a transparent exposed central portion for viewing the picture. A central panel is provided with a picture receiving opening and is bonded to the opaque coating on the transparent front panel. The central panel has a plurality of connector lugs extending rearwardly therefrom. The back panel has a plurality of holes to receive the connector lugs to secure the transparent front panel to the back panel. The back panel is also provided with conventional picture hanging clips for receiving a hanging wire.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a picture support which gives the appearance of being completely frameless and completely without connectors between the several panels.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent in the following specification when considered in the light of the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the assembled picture support with picture therein;

FIG. 2 is an exposed perspective of the support illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the transparent front panel with the peelable opaque coating being removed;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical cross section taken along the line 4--4 of FIG. 3, looking in the direction of the arrows; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary exploded perspective of a modified form of the invention

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the several figures the reference numeral 10 indicates generally a picture support constructed in accordance with the invention.

The picture support 10 includes a generally rectangular transparent front panel 11 formed of glass, plastic or any other rigid transparent material. The front panel 11 has a peelable opaque coating 12 adhered thereto on the inner face thereof. A central panel 13 of the peelable coating 12 is peripherally outlined by a knife cut 14 following which the central panel 13 is removed to provide a display area 15.

A generally rectangular mounting panel 16 has the same outer dimensions as the front panel 11 and has a generally rectangular opening 17 formed centerly. The opening 17 is at least as large as the display area 15 centerly of the opaque coating 12 and may be substantially larger as explained below.

The mounting panel 16 has a plurality of connector lugs 18 formed thereon and extending outwardly rearwardly therefrom. The mounting panel 16 is bonded to the peelable opaque coating 12 by any suitable bonding material or method.

A generally rectangular rear panel 19 has an outer dimension equal to the front panel 11 and is provided with a plurality of connector bores 20 throughwhich the connector lugs 18 are pressed to secure the front panel 11 to the rear panel 19. A pair of clips 21 are secured to the rear face of the rear panel 19 to receive a picture wire 22 fastened thereto, however, other hanging devices and/or supports may be used.

A picture 23 of generally rectangular configuration is positioned in the viewing area 15 in the opening 17 of the mounting panel 16 and the back panel 19 is engaged thereagainst with the lugs 18 extending through the bore 20 to provide the complete picture as viewed in FIG. 1.

The peelable opaque coating 12-13 is cut along a line 14 and the area 13 is peeled off to provide a mask for the picture 23 and any size or shape of viewing opening 15 may be provided as desired.

The connector lugs 18 cooperate with the bores 20 to maintain constant pressure therein and resist disengagement therefrom except by force.

While the coating 12 has been described as a peelable opaque coating it should be understood that non-peelable opaque coatings may also be used in which case the viewing area 15 is not coated during the coating step.

The mounting panel 16 and the rear panel 19 may be formed of any suitable material such as plastic, wood, metal, or any other material found suitable for the purpose.

Applicants picture support produces a unique appearance in that there is no visible frame, or even connectors when viewed from the front. While the support and picture have been described as generally rectangular they may have any desired outline.

In FIG. 5 a modified form of the invention is illustrated wherein the panel 16' is provided with a plurality of lugs 18' with each lug 18' having an axial threaded bore B. The back panel 19' has bores 20' which freely admit the lugs 18'. A cap screw S is threaded into the bore B and with a washer W secures the panel 19' to the panel 16'.

Having thus described the preferred embodiments of the invention it should be understood that numerous structural modifications and adaptations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A picture support comprising a transparent front panel, an opaque coating on the rear face of said panel along the peripheral edges thereof leaving a viewing area through said front panel centrally thereof, a mounting panel bonded to said opaque coating, said mounting panel having a central open area at least as large as the viewing area in the transparent panel, a rear panel for supporting a picture to be viewed through said viewing area, a plurality of connecting lugs integrally secured to said mounting panel and extending rearwardly therefrom, and a plurality of bores formed in said rear panel for tightly engaging over said lugs to secure said rear panel to said mounting panel, said bores and said lugs being positioned rearwardly of said opaque coating to be completely invisible from the front of said picture support.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said opaque coating consist of a relatively thick peelable coating partially removeable to produce the viewing area for said front panel.

3. A picture support as claimed in claim 1 wherein each of said front and rear panels comprise flat continuous bodies each of substantially constant thickness.

4. A picture support as claimed in claim 3 wherein each of said front and rear panels is of rectangular shape and substantially equal size.

5. A picture support as claimed in claim 1 wherein said connecting lugs are short cylinders and said bores in the rear panel have diameters such as to frictionally fit over said lugs.

6. A picture support as claimed in claim 1 wherein each of said connecting lugs has an axial threaded bore, and threaded means engaging in said threaded bores for releasably securing said back panel onto said lugs.