Suspension device

Application filed March 21, 1932, Serial No. 600,243, and in Canada March 2, 1932.

This invention relates to an arrangement for suspending objects, and more particularly to an arrangement for suspending pictures and the like on a wall.

The present method of hanging pictures or like objects, which consists in attaching a wire to the back of the picture and passing this wire over a hook attached to the wall, has a number of disadvantages. Of these the 10 most important is that a picture hung by this method invariably slips over to a non-horizontal position owing to vibration, draughts, jars in cleaning and other causes. Moreover, with the present method hanging of the pic25 ture is attended by a number of difficulties.

In hanging pictures it is almost always considered desirable that the hanging means should not show. In order to achieve this the wire loop attached, to the picture must 20 be made so short that when passed over the hook on the wall it will hold the upper edge of the picture high enough to conceal this hook. If, however, the wire is made of this short length it is difficult to hang the picture 25 since as the latter is being held the wire cannot be seen or easily caused to pass over the hook on the wall. When close to the picture in the act of hanging it, difficulty is almost always experienced in adjusting it to a true 30 horizontal level and one must survey the effect at some distance and usually make one or more readjustments before the desired result is achieved. These difficulties, and particularly the last mentioned, are aggravated 35 if hanging is effected at a height such that the position of the person hanging the picture may not be entirely secure.

_ Once the picture has been hung, a further disadvantage, of the present hanging method 40 often becomes evident. Almost all picture wire stretches to a certain extent in use and loosens at the point of its connection to the picture. Thus, even if the wire loop on the picture were originally short enough to cause 45 the picture, to hide the hook on the wall, it frequently happens that the wire stretches and the hook appears, with the result that the picture must be taken down and the wire shortened.

By my invention I propose to simplify the process of hanging pictures and eliminate all the disadvantages of the present method mentioned above. My invention consists essentially in a strip having a portion of chan^ηθ1 formation extending along one side there- 55 of, one such strip being attached to the wall m such a way that its channel portion extends along its lower side and another strip being fastened to the picture so that its channel portion extends along its upper side.' The so two channel portions are then caused to engage with one another and the picture is held securely in a vertical direction but left free to slide in a horizontal direction.

Using.the arrangement just outlined, exact £5 positioning of the strip attached to the wall is unnecessary, since if a slight vertical adjustment of the picture is found necessary, it may be effected by moving the strip attached to the picture and horizontal adjustment is '«'0 effected without moving either strip. Once the picture has been hung it cannot easily move out of position and is positively held in the horizontal plane in which the wall strip was positioned. Moreover, the hang- 15 ing means are immovably held out of sight while the picture is hanging.

My invention will now be described in a more detailed manner with reference to the attached drawing in which, so .Figure 1 is a perspective view of one form of strip according to my invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged section taken on the line 2—2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a modi-^; S5 lied form of strip especially adapted for attachment to a. picture.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a strip especially adapted for attachment to a wall and used to cooperate with the strip , of Fig- 90 lire 3.

Figure 5 is a sectional view of the strip shown in Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a sectional view of the strip shown in Figure 1. 95

Figures 7, 8 and 9 are sectional views of modified strips.

Figures 10 and 11 are sectional views of other modified strips showing the way in which the strip attached to the pictuie and 100

1,908,200 strip could very easily be made, to be attached to either picture or wall indiscriminately. In this case, the scoring lines 7 would be spaced as in Figure 3 and both the holes 9 . and the holes 10 and 11 would be provided. 7»

A slightly modified form of strip, where the upper edge is bent over to.guide the securing means in an angular direction, is shown in Figure 7.

In Figures 8 and 10 strips are shown hav- 75 ing portions of rounded channel formation, while in Figure 9 the strip has a portion of angular channel formation.

The modified form shown in Figure 11 is designed to secure against a picture falling ⁸⁰clown by being knocked upward to a degree which might be sufficient to disengage the channel portions of the strip· shown in, for instance Figure 6. In this modification a projection 12 extends inwardly for some ctis- ⁸⁰tance from the edge of the outer wall 4 of the portion 2. .

In Figure 12 is shown the manner in which the picture hangs on the wall when the strips according to my invention are used. In the figure one strip is attached.to a wall oy nails 13 and the other strip is attached to the picture by screw eyes 14. · .

Figure 13 shows the relative lengths of the strip attached, to the picture and that attached to. the wall. The strip attached to the ' ' picture will be substantially as long as the oicture is wide, but. the strip attached to the wall may be of any desired length, though the longer it is the more stability the picture ^ιυυhas. The dotted strip in Figure .13 shows approximately the proportions wnich I consider the best between the picture strip; and wall strip. _1ίκ>

Figure 14 shows a member, of the type shown in Figure 4 but m which the outer wall 4 of the channel portion 2 has a series of slots 15 formed therein. This form of strip is designed to'be. attached to. the wall and used when the attachment of a corresponding strip to a picture is not desired. With the use of this strip it is only necessary to attach two screw eyes to the picture.which is then held by the engagement of these _n{_ screw eves with the slots 15, as shown, diagrammatically in the figure. The method described in connection with this figure has the' disadvantage .of not permitting horizontal adjustment of the picture within narrow ₁₂o limits irrespective of the position of the wall strip and for this reason ί prefer the method in which two strips are used.

I do not intend to limit myself to the invention exactly as shown and described since, 125 particularly in the case of an invention of this kind, all modifications falling within the spirit and scope of the invention cannot be shown. The embodiments shown should, therefore, be taken, only as illustrative of 1αθ that attached to the wall will engage with one another.

Figure 12 is an elevation partly in section of a picture hung on the wall by strips of 5 the type shown m Figures 3 and 4.

Figure 13 is a perspective view of part of the back of. a picture showing the strip attached to the picture and, in dotted lines, how the wall strip engages with the picture strip, 10 and . . . j. :.

Figure 14 is a perspective view of a form of strip used in a modified form of my invention. .

In Figure 1 of the drawing, tne strip 15 shown in preferably formed of comparatively thin sheet metal and has a portion, indicated generally by 2, of rectangular channel formation, this portion having a base 3 and outer wall 4, its inner wall being formed by 20 the main part 5 of the strip. A series of holes 6, through which means for attacmng the strip to the picture or wall may pass, is provided in the part 5. _

As shown in Figure 1 and in detail in 25 Figure 2, the strip is weakened in any suitable manner, such as by scoring at regularly spaced intervals along lines 7 perpendicular to the direction of its length. The purpose of this scoring is to enable the strip go to be broken off to a length convenient for the particular purpose for which it is desired. As shown in Figure 3, the strip may, if desired, have a reinforced portion along the side opposite the portion 2, this portion being 3.5 -formed, by. an inturned, upper, edge 8. The strip shown in Figure 3 is especially adapted for attachment to the, picture or like object to be hung and for this reason the intervals between the lines of scoring 7 are compara40 tively small so that the length of the strip broken off to attach to a picture may be chosen within narrow limits. The strip is provided with a series of holes 9, one be: tween each line of scoring, for the introduces tion of screw eyes or other means to attach .it to the picture. . .

In Figures 4 and 5 is shown the strip for attachment to the wall to cooperate with the 'member of Figure 3. In the wall strip tne so lines, of scoring 7 are spaced at wider intervals since the length of this strip does not have to be chosen within such narrow limits as that of the picture strip. In the wall strip holes 10 are formed in the inturned edge 8 55 and holes 11 in the part 5 through which a nail or other securing means may pass, as •shown in Figure 4. .

It would of course be possible, if desired, to use the strip of Figure 3 for attachment 60 to the wall as well as to the picture and likewise the strip of Figure 4 ror attachment to a picture as well as to a wall.

Although in the arrangement just described the picture strip and the wall strip 65 differ slightly from .one another, yet one

1,908,300 those which fall within the scope of my invention.