Abstract:
A wall mount clip for sheet like materials includes a sheet base and a sheet retainer, wherein the upper end of the sheet retainer is mounted together with the upper end of the sheet base, and the sheet retainer is extended downwardly to the curled lower end which provides resilient force due to deformation of the sheet retainer. The contact point between the curled lower end and the sheet base extends continuously and latitudinally along the elongated lower end to form a contact line to exert said resilient force to hold the sheet like materials. The user can easily slide the sheet materials from the contact point from various angles upwardly to the empty space created by the sheet base and sheet retainer. The wall mount clip will not damage the sheet materials because the resilient is smaller than that generated by conventional clips.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION  
       [0001]    1. Field of Invention 
         [0002]    This invention is to provide a wall mount slip, and more particularly to a wall mount clip wherein the sheet like material can be easily slid into the cavity of the clip by the inserting force of the sheet without causing damage on the material itself. 
         [0003]    2. Description of Related Arts 
         [0004]    Clips have been widely utilized for holding sheet like materials. A conventional clip is a strip of stainless sheet steel bent into the shape of an isosceles triangle with loops at the top thereof. Tension along the base of the triangle forces the two sides closed and the loops prevent the sharp steel edges from cutting into the paper. The loops also serve to hold two pieces of stiff wire, which serve as handles and allow the clip to be opened to hold sheet like materials. In other words, the conventional clip remains closed when not in use and external force has to be applied to open the clip to hold sheet like materials. 
         [0005]    However, the conventional clip suffers from its own limitations. First, the user has to apply certain amount of external force to open the clip and if one of the handles is missing, it is unlikely for the user to open the clip with bare hands. Furthermore, the tension along the base of the triangle is usually huge enough to cause damage on the surfaces of sheet materials. Damage usually occurs when the material is held for a long period of time or the material is vulnerable itself, such as a film. 
         [0006]    When the sheet material is wider, a series of clips has to be used to hold the material. The more the clips are used, the more damages may occur on the surface of the material as discussed above. In addition, this clip arrangement impairs the aesthetic value as a whole. 
         [0007]    When the conventional clip is used to hold sheet materials on the wall, it is difficult for the user to fasten the clip on the wall by hanging the clip on an existing pin thereon. Also, it is inconvenient for the user to apply force to the handles to open the hung clip. Finally, the clip constitutes a protruding part on the wall and injuries to people may result when inadvertent contact occurs. 
       SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION  
       [0008]    A main object of the present invention is to provide a wall mount clip for sheet materials which can be slid into the clip by the inserting force of the sheet to avoid damages on the surfaces of the materials, wherein a lower edge portion is formed to hold the sheet material. 
         [0009]    Another object of the present invention is to provide a wall mount clip for sheet materials, comprising a sheet base and a sheet retainer wherein the sheet base is mounted on the wall and the upper portions of the sheet base and the sheet retainer are mounted together with each other, wherein the upper clamping portion is formed to hold and align the sheet material in addition to the lower edge portion. 
         [0010]    Another object of the present invention is to provide a wall mount clip for sheet materials, wherein the sheet base is at least of the same length as the sheet retainer which has a spiral lower edge portion generating resilient force to hold the sheet material placed between the sheet base and the spiral lower edge portion. 
         [0011]    Another object of the present invention is to provide a wall mount clip for sheet materials, wherein the manufacturing process of the wall mount clip is less complicated and less expensive than conventional clips. 
         [0012]    Another object of the present invention is to provide a wall mount clip for sheet materials, wherein the clip can be stably fastened on the wall with no protruding portion thereon, and is convenient for the user to detach the clip and re-mounts it based on the user&#39;s needs. 
         [0013]    These and other objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
         [0014]      FIG. 1  is a schematic view of a wall mount clip according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 2  is a sectional view of the wall mount clip according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 3  illustrates an alternative mode of the fastening element of the wall mount clip according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0017]      FIG. 4  illustrates an alternative mode of the wall mount clip according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention, illustrating the sheet base with multiple sheet retainers of the present invention. 
           [0018]      FIG. 5  illustrates a first alternative mode of the sheet retainer of the wall mount clip according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0019]      FIG. 6  illustrates a second alternative mode of the sheet retainer of the wall mount clip according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0020]    Referring to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 3 , a wall mount clip  10  according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated, wherein the wall mount clip  10 , which is adapted for affixing on a wall surface  100  to hold a sheet-like material on the wall, comprises a sheet-like sheet base  20  and a sheet-like sheet retainer  30 . 
         [0021]    According to the preferred embodiment, the sheet base  20 , which is adapted for being affixed on the wall surface  100 , has a rear side  21  biased against the wall surface  100 , a front side  22 , an upper portion  23  and a lower portion  24 . 
         [0022]    The sheet retainer  30  is made of resilient material, having a lower edge portion  34  with a longitudinal holding edge  341  and an upper portion  33  overlapped with the upper portion  23  of the sheet base  20  to provide a resilient force along the holding edge  341  to substantially bias against the front side  22  of the sheet base  20 . At least one mounting slot  40  is provided at the upper portions  23  and  33  of the sheet base  20  and the sheet retainer  30  respectively to affix the sheet base  20  on the wall surface  100  via at least one pin  41  inserted into the wall surface  100  through the mounting slot  40 , wherein the mounting slot  40  of the upper portion  33  of the sheet retainer  30  is aligned with that of the upper portion  23  of the sheet base  20  to ensure the upper portion  33  of the sheet retainer  30  is overlapped and mounted to the upper portion  23  of the sheet base  20  and the pin  41  is inserted through both upper portions  23  and  3333  of the sheet base  20  and the sheet retainer  30 , and affix the clip on the wall surface  100 . 
         [0023]    Accordingly, when the upper portion  23  of the sheet base  20  is overlapped with the upper portion  33  of the sheet retainer  30 , a sheet cavity  80  is formed between the sheet base  20  and the sheet retainer  30 . The sheet cavity  80  has a width increasing from the upper portion  33  of the sheet retainer  30  towards the holding edge  341 , wherein when the holding edge  341  is spacedly moved apart from the front side  22  of the sheet base  20 , a longitudinal opening is formed between the holding edge  341  and the front side  22  of the sheet base  20 . It is worth to mention that the longitudinal opening is formed by an inserting force of a sheet  200 , such that when an edge portion of the sheet  200  is slid into the sheet cavity  80 , the sheet  200  is retained on the wall surface  100 . In other words, the inserting force of the sheet  200  will move the holding edge  341  spacedly apart from the front side  22  of the sheet base  20  to slide the edge portion of the sheet  200  into the sheet cavity  80 . 
         [0024]    In a preferred embodiment, the sheet retainer  30  is made by metal with inherent resilient force when the metal sheet is bent. The lower edge portion  34  of the sheet retainer  30  is bent in a spiral shape to form the holding edge  341  so that the holding edge  341  is tangently biased against the front side  22  of the sheet base  20  to provide an additional resilient force along the holding edge  341  of the sheet retainer  30  via the spiral shaped of the lower edge portion  34  of the sheet retainer  30 . 
         [0025]    As can be seen in  FIG. 2 , the sheet retainer  30  has a guiding edge portion  35  downwardly extended from the holding edge  341  to define a guiding area  351  between the guiding edge portion  35  and the front side  22  of the sheet base. The guiding area  351  has a width reducing towards the holding edge  341  for guiding the edge portion of the sheet  200  being inserted into the sheet cavity  80  through the longitudinal opening. In other words, the edge portion of the sheet  200  is guided to slide towards the longitudinal opening through the guiding area  351  such that the user is able to easily insert the edge portion of the sheet  200  into the sheet cavity  80  without any precise alignment. 
         [0026]    It is worth mentioning that the holding edge  341  of the sheet retainer  30  is biased against the front side  22  of the sheet base at a position above the lower portion  24  thereof, such that the sheet  200  can be inserted along with the front side  22  of the sheet base  20  to the longitudinal opening, then to the sheet cavity  80  between the sheet base  20  and the sheet retainer  30 . 
         [0027]    More specifically, a contact point is formed where the holding edge  341  tangently contacts the front side  22 . In a preferred embodiment, the lower edge portion  34  is formed in a spiral shape and the contact point is extended continuously and longitudinally along the elongated lower edge portion  34  to form a contact line. Thus, the additional resilient force can be applied to the sheet material through the contact line when the sheet  200  is inserted along with the front side  22  of the sheet base  20  to the longitudinal opening. 
         [0028]    As shown in  FIG. 2 , the guiding edge portion  35  of the sheet retainer  30  has a curved shape downwardly extended from the holding edge  341  and curved out with respect to the front side  22  of the sheet base  20  to define the guiding area  351  therebetween. More specifically, the guiding edge portion  35  of the sheet retainer  30  is inclinedly and downwardly extended from the holding edge  341  and inclinedly extended out with respect to the front side  21  of the sheet base  20  to define the guiding area  351 . The user can easily insert the sheet  200  from the guiding area  351  to the holding edge  341 , overcome the resilient force and slide the sheet  200  all the way to the upper portion of the sheet cavity  80  of the clip. It is worth mentioning that the upper portions  23  and  33  of the sheet base  20  and the sheet retainer  30  respectively are overlapped as illustrated above and each upper portion has at least one mounting slot  40  of the mounted together by at least a pin  41  to provide an upper clamping portion  81  between the sheet base  20  and the sheet retainer  30  to hold and align the edge portion of the sheet  200 . 
         [0029]    A static analysis of the present invention is illustrated in  FIG. 2 . When the clip is affixed on the wall through a pin  41  at the upper portions  23  and  33  of the sheet base  20  and the sheet retainer  30  respectively, a force F 1  is exerted back to the upper portions  23  and  33  of the sheet base  20  and the sheet retainer  30 . Likewise, a force F 2  is exerted back to the lower portion  24  of the sheet base  20 . In order to be held balancedly on the wall surface  100 , a force F 3  is exerted from the lower portion  34  to the wall surface  100  and the magnitude is equal to the summation of F 1  and F 2 . In other words, when the sheet  200  is inserted into the clip, the force which the user has to overcome is equal to that exerted from the lower portion  34  to the wall surface  100  (F 3 ), which is equal to the summation of the forces exerted to the upper and lower portion of the clip (F 1 +F 2 ). 
         [0030]    Alternatively, the lower edge portion  34  of the sheet retainer  30  can be bent in a diamond shape as shown in  FIG. 6 . Likewise, the holding edge  342  is tangently biased against the front side  22  of the sheet base  20  to provide an additional resilient force along the holding edge  342  of the sheet retainer  30  via the diamond shaped lower edge portion  34  of the sheet retainer  30 . The contact point and contact line illustrated above are also formed with the diamond shape holding edge  341 . Furthermore, a guiding portion  35 ′ of the sheet retainer  30  is inclinedly and downwardly extended from the holding edge  342  and inclinedly extended out with respect to the front side  22  of the sheet base  20  to define the guiding area  352  therebetween. Likewise, the user can insert the sheet from the guiding area  352 , upwardly slide the sheet to overcome the resilient force, and move the sheet all the way up to the upper clamping portion  81  as defined above. 
         [0031]    The wall mount clip  10  is detachably affixed to the wall by at least one pin  41 , such that it is convenient for the user to place the clip according to the user&#39;s needs. Furthermore, the protruding portion of the pins  41  can be slightly decorated to increase the aesthetic value of the clip. Alternatively, the wall mount clip  10  can be mounted on the wall by double-sided adhesives  70  as an alternative fastening element, as shown in  FIG. 3 . More specifically, the double-sided adhesive is placed on the rear side  21  of the sheet base  20 . The double-sided adhesive  70  can also be used between the upper portions  23  and  33  of the sheet base  20  and sheet retainer  30  respectively. Thus, the clip can be affixed on the wall surface  100  without using any pin, as shown in  FIG. 3 . 
         [0032]    As can be seen in  FIG. 4 , a plurality of clips in the present invention can be placed spacedly and parallelly for a wide sheet material. More specifically, a plurality of sheet retainers  30  shares the same sheet base  20 . This clip arrangement can also be used in restaurants in which the menus or orders can be properly held by the clips. Similarly, in the exhibition room, a series of pictures or photos can be displayed by using this clip arrangement. 
         [0033]    The lower edge portion  34  of the sheet retainer  30  is not necessary to be spiral as can be seen in  FIG. 5 . Alternatively, an elongated clipping member  38  with a curved edge, longitudinally protrudes along the lower edge portion  34  of the sheet retainer  30  to define the holding edge  343  at the curved edge of the clipping member  38  and to tangently bias against the front side  22  of the sheet base  20 . The sheet retainer  30  is then deformed by placing the clipping member  38  biased against the front side  22  of the sheet base  20 , and the resilient force is thus generated to hold the sheet material  200 . 
         [0034]    Likewise, the clipping member  38  has a guiding edge portion  35 ″ downwardly extended from the holding edge  343  to define a guiding area  353  between the guiding edge portion  35 ″ and the front side  22  of the sheet base. The guiding area  353  has a width reducing towards the holding edge  343  for guiding the edge portion of the sheet  200  being inserted into the sheet cavity  80  through the longitudinal opening. It is worth mentioning that the holding edge  343  of the sheet retainer  30  is biased against the front side  22  of the sheet base  20  at a position above the lower portion  24  thereof, such that the sheet  200  can be inserted along with the front side  22  of the sheet base  20  to the longitudinal opening, then to the sheet cavity  80  between the sheet base  20  and the sheet retainer  30 . The user can insert the sheet  200  from the guiding area  353 , upwardly slide the sheet  200  to overcome the resilient force, and move the sheet  200  all the way up to the upper clamping portion  81  as defined above. 
         [0035]    Comparing to conventional clips, one of the major advantages of the clip in the present invention is that the user can easily slide the sheet materials upwardly to overcome the resilient force from the lower portion, and the same amount of force is not even enough to open the conventional clip. The clip of the present invention does not require any external force applied to the clip to open the opening and then to slide the sheet  200  into the sheet cavity  80 . By simply applying the inserting force of the sheet  200 , the holding edge  341  can be pushed to move spacedly apart from the front side  22  of the sheet base  20  so as to open up the sheet cavity  80 . In other words, one simple action of sliding the sheet  200  towards the guiding area  251  can clip the sheet  200  on the wall surface  100  via the clip of the present invention. Furthermore, the force exerted on the sheet material from the lower edge portion  34  is moderate, such that the sheet material is less likely to be damaged even being held by the clip for a long period of time. Comprising with two pieces of metal and at least one pin, the manufacturing process of the present invention is much easier than conventional clips, and the manufacturing cost is thus reduced. 
         [0036]    One skilled in the art will understand that the embodiment of the present invention as shown in the drawings and described above is exemplary only and not intended to be limiting. 
         [0037]    It will thus be seen that the objects of the present invention have been fully and effectively accomplished. The embodiments have been shown and described for the purposes of illustrating the functional and structural principles of the present invention and is subject to change without departure from such principles. Therefore, this invention includes all modifications encompassed within the spirit and scope of the following claims.