Abstract:
A wall mounting fixture assembly including a wall mounting fixture having a cavity on its back side, an attaching piece disposed within the cavity and secured to the wall mounting fixture, and a receiving piece for mounting on a wall surface. The attaching piece has a first engagement structure and the receiving piece has a second engagement structure, and the two engagement structures are shaped to engage with each other to mount the fixture assembly onto the wall surface. Also described is an improved household fixture of a towel holder ring for bathrooms and kitchens, which includes a ring for hanging a towel, a hub for retaining the ring, a wall mounting base, and an internal plastic sleeve placed around the section of the ring being retained by the hub and is inserted inside the opening of the hub.

Description:
[0001]     This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/588,235, filed Jul. 13, 2004, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     The present invention generally relates to small household fixtures, and in particular, to wall mounting assemblies for wall mounted fixtures and other like items.  
         [0004]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0005]     Small household fixtures such as towel holder rings for bathrooms and kitchens are widely used by general consumers. Various wall mounting assemblies have been used in the past for mounting wall mounted fixtures and other like objects to a wall surface. A typical mounting assembly often includes a hanger or loop type of device to be mounted on the back surface of an object, and a nail or hook type of device to be affixed to the wall surface, where the object is mounted to the wall by attaching the hanger or loop type device on the back of the object to the nail or hook type device on the wall surface.  
         [0006]     However, since in most situations the hanger or loop type device mounted on the back surface of the object is protruding from or extending beyond the back surface of the object, when the object is amounted to the wall surface, its back surface often cannot abut flush against the wall surface, resulting in various degrees of tilting of the object which is often undesirable. In addition, in most wall mounting fixtures and like items, the fixture and its hanger or loop type mounting device are separate pieces which are required to be attached to each other either before or after the mounting device is attached to the nail or hook type device attached to the wall surface. This type of conventional mounting assemblies is not only cumbersome as it requires multiple steps to mount an object to a wall surface, but also easy to become loose after its assembly, resulting in insecure mounting of the object to the wall surface.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     Accordingly, the present invention provides a wall mounting fixture assembly that substantially obviates one or more of the problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.  
         [0008]     An object of the present invention is to provide an improved wall mounting fixture assembly for mounting a wall mounting fixture to a wall surface in a concealed and secure way.  
         [0009]     Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the descriptions that follow and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims thereof as well as the appended drawings.  
         [0010]     To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as broadly described, one aspect of the present invention provides a wall mounting fixture assembly for mounting on a wall surface, which includes a wall mounting fixture defining a cavity on a back side, an attaching piece disposed within the cavity and secured to the wall mounting fixture, the attaching piece having a first engagement structure, and a receiving piece for mounting on the wall surface, the receiving piece having a second engagement structure, wherein the first engagement structure and the second engagement structure are shaped to engage with each other.  
         [0011]     Another aspect of the present invention is an improved household item holder fixture such as a towel holder ring used in bathrooms and kitchens. The household item holder fixture includes a ring for hanging the household item, a base for mounting on a surface, a hub for retaining the ring in a hollow opening thereof, the hub being connected to the base, and an internal sleeve disposed in the hollow opening of the hub and covering a section of the ring.  
         [0012]     It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]      FIG. 1  is an exploded prospective view of a wall mounting fixture assembly according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0014]      FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional top view showing an integral wall mounting fixture of the embodiment of  FIG. 1  mounted to a wall surface.  
         [0015]      FIG. 3  is a prospective view of a wall mounting fixture assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention showing another fixture.  
         [0016]      FIG. 4  is a prospective view of a wall mounting fixture assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention yet showing another fixture.  
         [0017]      FIG. 5  is a prospective view of a towel holder ring according to another embodiments of the present invention.  
         [0018]      FIG. 6  is a cross-sectional view taken along line VI-VI of  FIG. 5 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0019]     One feature of a small household fixture according to embodiments of the present invention is a wall mounting fixture assembly. Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , a wall mounting fixture assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown and generally referred to by the reference numeral  10 . In this embodiment, the wall mounting fixture assembly  10  includes a wall mounting fixture  2  (in this example an end piece of a towel rack), an attaching piece  20  located within a cavity on the back side (back surface) of the fixture  2 , a receiving piece  30  for mounting onto a wall surface  4 , and a supporting piece  40  embedded within the fixture  2 .  
         [0020]     The receiving piece  30  has a central base portion  32  for mounting onto the wall surface  4 , and two oppositely disposed symmetric end portions  34  for engaging with the attaching piece  20 . The central base portion  32  of the receiving piece  30  has two small openings  36  for accommodating two mounting screws or nails  38  for mounting the receiving piece  30  to the wall surface  4 . The receiving piece  30  may be made of metal, plastic or other suitable materials, and preferably is made of a metal material.  
         [0021]     The attaching piece  20  also has a central base portion  22  and two oppositely disposed symmetric end portions  24  for engaging with the receiving piece  30 . The attaching piece  20  may be made of metal, plastic or other suitable materials, and preferably is also made of a metal material.  
         [0022]     The two oppositely disposed symmetric end portions  24  each wraps inwardly, forming a channel in which the receiving piece  30  can slide. The respective end portions  24  and  34  of the attaching piece  20  and the receiving piece  30  are slanted. The slanted profile of the end portions  24  results in a larger bottom opening and a smaller top opening of the channel formed by the two end portions  24 , such that as the two oppositely disposed symmetric end portions  34  of the receiving piece  30  slide into the channel formed by the two end portions  24 , the engagement between the respective end portions of the attaching piece and the receiving piece becomes tighter and tighter. The narrower top opening of the channel formed by the two end portions  24  prevents further insertion of the two end portions  34  of the receiving piece  30 . This provides a tight engagement between the attaching piece  20  and the receiving piece  30 . A small indent  26  is provided at the bottom of each one of the two oppositely disposed symmetric end portions  24  which will abut the lower edge of a respectively fully engaged end portion  34  of the receiving piece  30 . The indent  26  will provide a “click” that can be felt by a user when the attaching piece  20  of the fixture  2  slides along the receiving piece  30  during installation. This informs the user that the attaching piece  20  and the receiving piece  30  are fully engaged.  
         [0023]     One end  42  of the supporting piece  40  is connected to the attaching piece  20  by press fitting, welding, or other suitable methods. The middle shaft  44  of the supporting piece  40  is embedded inside the fixture  2  and serves as a “backbone” of the fixture  2  to reinforce and increase the structure integrity of the fixture  2 . The other end  46  of the supporting piece  40  may be exposed for attachment of other component(s) of the wall mounting fixture (in this example a horizontal bar for the towel rack).  
         [0024]     The main body of the wall mounting fixture  2  may be made of any material suitable for molding with the attaching piece and the supporting piece. The main body is molded with the supporting piece  40  after the supporting piece  40  is securely connected to the attaching piece  20 . This forms an integral wall mounting fixture with the supporting piece  40  embedded inside and the attaching piece  20  located within the cavity at the back surface of the fixture  2 . This integral fixture is ready to be attached to the receiving piece  30 .  
         [0025]     Once the receiving piece  30  is mounted on the wall surface  4 , the integral fixture  2  can be mounted to the receiving piece  30  by engaging the attaching piece  20  of the integral fixture with the receiving piece  30 . This is done by first positioning the end portions  24  of the attaching piece  20  directly above the end portions  34  of the receiving piece  30 , and then sliding the integral fixture downwardly so that the respective end portions of the attaching piece  20  and the receiving piece  30  are engaged.  
         [0026]     As the respective end portions of the attaching piece and the receiving piece are engaged, the end portions  34  of the receiving piece  30  are slightly deflected which creates a spring tension that helps to keep the attaching piece  20  firmly engaged with the receiving piece  30 , which in turn keeps the fixture  2  securely mounted on the wall surface  4 .  
         [0027]     As shown in  FIG. 2 , when the fixture  2  is mounted on the wall surface  4 , both the attaching piece  20  and the receiving piece  30  of the wall mounting fixture assembly  10  are concealed within the cavity on the back surface of the fixture  2 . This also allows the back surface of the fixture  2  to abut flush against the wall surface  4 , thereby eliminating any space gap between the back surface of the fixture  2  and the wall surface  4  as well as any tilting of the fixture  2  as it is mounted on the wall surface  4 .  
         [0028]     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modification and variations can be made to the structures shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . In  FIGS. 1 and 2 , while the two end portions  24  of the attaching piece  20  are structured to form a channel and the two end portions  34  of the receiving piece  30  are structured to slide into the channel, any other suitable engagement structures on the attaching piece  20  and the receiving piece  30  may be provided to allow the attaching piece  20  and receiving piece  30  to engage with each other to achieve the mounting function. For example, an engagement structure on the receiving piece  30  may form a channel into which an engagement structure on the attaching piece  20  may be inserted. Multiple channels and insertion pieces may be provided. In lieu of a vertical sliding engagement of the attaching piece  20  and the receiving piece  30 , a horizontal or other directional sliding engagement may be used. Alternatively, the engagement structures on the attaching piece  20  and receiving piece  30  may be made such that the two pieces are engaged by pressing the attaching piece  20  against the receiving piece  30  in a direction perpendicular to the wall surface.  
         [0029]     The wall mounting fixture may be any appropriate household items. Examples of some of the fixtures are shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4  (a hanging knob and a towel ring, respectively, as indicated by the broken lines). The configuration of the embedded piece may also be different from those shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  depending on the structure of the fixture.  
         [0030]     A novel and unique wall mounting fixture assembly according to embodiments of the present invention may have the following functions and advantages. The wall mounting fixture assembly can be used for mounting various sized and shaped fixtures to a wall surface or other interior surface of a building, a vehicle, a vessel, an airplane, or other suitable surface of an object that can be used for mounting fixtures (collectively referred to as wall surfaces). It keeps the fixture securely and firmly mounted on a wall surface. It prevents downward sliding or tilting of the fixture when it is mounted on a wall surface, thereby keeping the fixture securely mounted on the wall surface. It conceals the mounting assembly pieces from being visible when the fixture is mounted on a wall surface. It allows the back surface of the fixture to abut flush against a wall surface, thereby eliminating space gaps between the fixture and the wall surface. The wall mounting fixture assembly has structural features that will provide a “click” sound and feel to a user during installation of the wall mounting fixture assembly to ensure that the different components of the wall mounting fixture assembly are all in their intended positions and correctly assembled on the wall surface. It has an embedded supporting piece to increase or provide structural integrity to the wall mounting fixture especially when the fixtures are made of materials that cannot support the required loads. The wall mounting fixture assembly can be easily used for attachment of various household wall mounting fixtures or like items. It has a simple and sturdy structure which is easy and quick to assemble and use and can be easily manufactured.  
         [0031]     Another feature of a small household fixture according to embodiments of the present invention is an integral sleeve for the hub of a towel holder ring or other small fixture, shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 . A conventional small fixture of this type often has a ring for hanging a towel or similar items, a hub for retaining the ring, a base that can be mounted on a wall or other surfaces, and a short shaft connecting the hub to the base. Referring to  FIG. 5 , a towel holder ring fixture according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown and generally referred to by the numeral  110 . In this embodiment, the towel holder ring fixture  110  includes a ring  112  for hanging a bath or kitchen towel (not shown), a hub  114  for retaining the ring  112 , a wall mounting base  116  for mounting the fixture on a surface of a wall or cabinet or other like places, and a shaft  118  for connecting the hub  114  to the base  116 . The towel holder ring  112  is preferably circular shaped, but may also be of any other suitable shape. In addition, the hub  141  is shown in  FIG. 5  in a spherical shape, but it may be of other suitable shapes.  FIG. 5  also shows the base  116  in a particular configuration, but the base  116  may also be configured in many different ways. Moreover, while the short shaft  118  in  FIG. 5  is shown as a cylindrical shaft, other types of shaft may be used. Alternatively, the hub may be connected directly to the hub without a shaft.  
         [0032]     A feature of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 5  is an internal sleeve  120  shown in detail in  FIG. 6 . The sleeve  120  is positioned in a hollow opening or through a bore  122  of the hub  114  and covers a section of the ring  112  which has a metal inner core  124  and decorative outer layer  126 . The decorative layer  126  may be slightly deformable when the sleeve  122  is attached to the ring  112  which allows a tight fit between the ring  112  and the sleeve  120  that prevents relative movement between the ring  112  and the sleeve  120 . In this embodiment, the sleeve  120  is made of a plastic material and of a straight cylindrical shape which is slightly widened or thickened at its opposite ends  128  that prevents the sleeve  120  from sliding out of the hub bore  122 . The sleeve may be made of other suitable materials and have other suitable shapes.  
         [0033]     As shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , when the ring  112  is held by the hub  114  with the internal sleeve  120 , the ring  112  can freely swing back and forth in the directions indicated by the arrows S, while the rotation or sliding of the  112  through the bore  122  of the hub along the directions indicated by the arrows R is prevented. If the ring  112  can slide or rotate through the hub  114 , the relative movement may cause scratches or damages to the decorative layer  126  of the ring  112 . The sleeve  120  prevents such damage to the ring  112 .  
         [0034]     It is envisioned that the internal sleeve described above may be incorporated in other small household fixtures with similar arrangement, where a component is held by a hub in a manner that allows the component to swing while preventing the component from sliding through the hub. Such a small fixture may be mounted on the surfaces of a wall, a cabinet or other like areas using either the wall mounting assembly described earlier in this disclosure or any other suitable mounting techniques.  
         [0035]     The main advantage of the plastic sleeve is that it allows the ring to swing back and forth while prevents the ring from rotating through the hub which could damage the decorative finish of the ring. A household fixture with such a plastic sleeve has a very simple yet very sturdy and durable structure which can be easily manufactured and used.  
         [0036]     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modification and variations can be made in the wall mounting fixture assembly of the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations that come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.