Abstract:
A combination wreath hanging and decoration supporting assembly for mounting on a support structure comprising a first bracket including a leg having a first end portion and a wreath supporting second end portion opposite the first end portion, a second bracket connectable with the first bracket and including first and second generally coplanar legs and an intermediate portion interconnecting the generally coplanar first and second legs, the intermediate portion including a decoration mounting surface off-set from the generally coplanar first and second legs, a first connecting member connecting the first bracket and the second bracket, and a mounting element connectable with one of the first or second brackets and engagable with the support structure.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a combination wreath hanging and decoration supporting device. In particular, the wreath hanging and decoration supporting device of the present invention is a multi-part structure which is reconfigurable and adjustable in order to provide enhanced wreath hanging and decoration supporting versatility. 
     A number of wreath hangers and wreath supporting devices are known in the art. One such device is a free-standing easel. A free-standing easel is space consuming and can not be used for mounting a wreath upon a wall or from a door. 
     Simple wall fasteners such as nails, screws and hooks have been used in the past for wall mounting of wreaths. Such wall fasteners are generally inadequate in that they do not provide sufficient support for many wreaths. 
     Sectional wreath hangers are taught by Protz, Jr. in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,553,823 and D 374,168. These multi-part hangers are used for mounting wreaths from doors; however, they are unsuitable for wall mounting purposes. Furthermore, they do not provide means for mounting decorations other than wreaths. 
     In view of the limitations of the prior art, a need exists for a versatile, multi-functional wreath and decoration supporting device. 
     OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
     It is therefor an object of the invention to provide a multi-functional wreath hanging assembly suitable for supporting a wreath and an independent ancillary decoration. 
     It is another object of the invention to provide a wreath hanging assembly which is convertible so as to be easily mounted on a variety of supporting structures. 
     It is another object of the invention to provide a wreath hanging assembly comprising multiple sections which are reconfigurable and adjustable to provide enhanced versatility. 
     It is a further objection of the invention to provide a wreath hanging assembly which is easy to use and assemble. 
     Yet a further objection of the invention is to provide a wreath hanging assembly which is inexpensive to manufacture. 
     According to a first embodiment of the invention, the wreath hanging assembly is comprised of three bracket sections, namely, a wreath hanging bracket, a decoration supporting bracket and an support mounting bracket. 
     The wreath hanging bracket includes a hook-shaped lower end portion upon which a wreath may be hung. The decoration supporting bracket is attachable to the wreath hanging bracket and includes an off-set surface for mounting a separate ancillary decoration. The support mounting bracket may be interchangeably connected to either the wreath hanging bracket or the decoration supporting bracket. The support mounting bracket includes a hook-shaped upper end portion for mounting upon a door, a horizontal rail, a tombstone or the-like. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The above and other objects and advantages of this invention and the manner of obtaining them will become readily apparent by reference to the following description of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
     FIG. 1A is an exploded perspective view of the wreath hanging and decoration supporting assembly according to a first embodiment. 
     FIG. 1B is a perspective view of the wreath hanging and decoration supporting assembly of FIG. 1A shown in an assembled state. 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the assembly of FIG. 1B with a wreath and an ancillary decoration shown in phantom lines. 
     FIG. 3 is a side-elevational view of FIG.  2 . 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the wreath hanging and decoration supporting assembly according to a second embodiment. 
     FIG. 5 is a side-elevational view of FIG. 4 with a wreath and an ancillary decoration shown in phantom lines. 
     FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the wreath hanging and decoration supporting assembly according to a third embodiment. 
     FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the wreath hanging and decoration supporting assembly according to a fourth embodiment. 
    
    
     Corresponding references numbers are used to indicate corresponding parts in the various embodiments described herein. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     According to a first embodiment as depicted in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the wreath hanging and decoration supporting assembly is comprised of a wreath hanging bracket  10 , a decoration supporting or “kick-out” bracket  12  and a support mounting bracket  14 , 
     Wreath hanging bracket  10  includes a leg  16  having an upper end portion  18  and a hook-shaped lower end portion  20 . A plurality of spaced-apart adjustment holes  22  are formed in leg  16  of wreath hanging bracket  10 . 
     Decoration supporting or “kick-out” bracket  12  includes an upper leg  24 , a lower leg  26  generally coplanar with upper leg  24 , and an intermediate portion  28  interconnecting generally coplanar legs  24  and  26 . Intermediate portion  28  includes a decoration mounting surface  30  which is off-set relative to generally coplanar legs  24  and  26 . Decoration mounting surface  30  extends generally parallel to legs  24  and  26 . Spaced-apart adjustment holes  32  are formed in upper leg  24 . Likewise, spaced-apart adjustment holes  34  are formed in lower leg  26 . Decoration mounting surface  30  is provided with decoration mounting holes  36 . 
     Mounting bracket  14  includes a leg  38  having a lower end portion  40  and a hook-shaped upper end portion  42 . Leg  38  is provided with spaced-apart adjustment holes  44 . 
     Bolts  46  and nuts  48  are provided for interconnecting brackets  10 ,  12  and  14 . 
     Bracket  12  is connected with bracket  10  by superimposing legs  26  and  16  so that one or more holes  34  in leg  26  are aligned with one or more holes  22  in leg  16 . One or more bolts  46  are then passed through the aligned holes and retained in place by nuts  48 . 
     In a similar fashion, bracket  12  is connected with bracket  14  by superimposing legs  24  and  38  so that one or more holes  32  in leg  24  are aligned with one or more holes  44  in leg  38 . One or more bolts  46  are then passed through the aligned holes and retained in place by nuts  48 . 
     While specific hole alignments are depicted in FIGS. 1A and 1B, it should be noted that other hole alignments may be chosen in order to provide adjustability between the three bracket sections  10 ,  12  and  14 , as will be discussed in greater detail hereinafter. 
     As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a wreath  50  (depicted in phantom lines) is suspended from hook-shaped lower end portion  20  of bracket  10 , while an ancillary decoration  52  (depicted in phantom lines) is independently mounted by suitable fastening means (not shown) upon off-set mounting surface  30  of bracket  12 , thereby creating a two-piece display. By mounting decoration  52  upon the off-set mounting surface  30 , decoration  52  is positioned substantially flush with the face of wreath  50 . Such a mounting arrangement allows an illusion to be created whereby decoration  52  appears to be an extension of wreath  50 . 
     The wreath hanging and decoration supporting assembly of FIGS. 1 through 3 is self-hanging in that no auxiliary hardware is required for its mounting on a support structure (not shown). The assembly may be hung directly upon a support structure such as a door, a railing, a tombstone or the like by means of the hook-shaped end portion  42  of mounting bracket  14 . 
     Through the selective choice of hole alignments in the superimposed legs of the respective brackets, various adjustments are made possible. These adjustments allow the assembly to accommodate wreaths and ancillary decorations of various sizes. These adjustments further allow alterations as to the positions of the display elements, i.e. wreath  50  and ancillary decoration  52 , relative to each other and relative to the support structure (not shown). 
     While the overall configuration of the wreath hanging and decoration supporting assembly shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is the same as that as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the hole alignments and bolt locations have been altered to show positional changes between the individual bracket sections. 
     A second embodiment of a reconfigured wreath hanging and decoration supporting assembly is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. 
     In this embodiment, mounting bracket  14  is connected to wreath hanging bracket  10 , which in turn is connected to decoration supporting bracket  12 . By rearranging the bracket sections in this manner, a new display configuration may be achieved. 
     As shown in FIG. 5, a wreath  50  (shown in phantom line) is suspended by hook-shaped end portion  20  of wreath hanging bracket  10 , while an ancillary decoration  52  (shown in phantom lines) is mounted by suitable fastening means (not shown) upon off-set mounting surface  30  of decoration supporting bracket  12 . Ancillary decoration  52  is thus positioned within the central region of wreath  50 . The off-set nature of mounting surface  30  allows the ancillary decoration  52  to lie substantially flush with the surface of wreath  50 , thereby providing the desired visual effect as previously noted. 
     The assembly of FIGS. 4 and 5 is self-hanging in that it may be hung directly from a suitable support structure (not shown) by means of the hook-shaped end portion  42  of mounting bracket  14  without the use of auxiliary mounting hardware. 
     Bracket adjustments are possible through judicious selection of hole alignments in the superimposed legs  16  and  24  and/or in the superimposed legs  16  and  38 . 
     According to a third embodiment of the invention as shown in FIG. 6, the wreath hanging assembly is comprised of two brackets, namely, hanging bracket  10  and decoration supporting bracket  12 . In this embodiment, leg  16  of wreath hanging bracket  10  is adjustably connected to lower leg  26  of decoration supporting bracket  12 . 
     A wreath (not shown) and an ancillary decoration (not shown) may be mounted upon the assembly of FIG. 6 in the same manner as previously described in conjunction with the embodiment of FIGS. 2 and 3. 
     The assembly of FIG. 6 is suitable for wall-mounting through the provision of a separate wall fastener such as a nail  54 . Other suitable wall fasteners could be used in place of nail  54  such as a screw, a wall-anchorable hook or the like. 
     The nail or other substitute wall fastener is received in a suitable adjustment hole  32  provided in bracket leg  24 . 
     A fourth embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG.  7 . This assembly is likewise comprised of a wreath hanging bracket  10  and a decoration supporting bracket  12 , however, in this instance leg  16  of wreath hanging bracket  10  is adjustably connected to upper leg  24  of decoration supporting bracket  12 . A wreath (not shown) and an ancillary decoration (not shown) may be mounted in the same manner as previously described in conjunction with the embodiment of FIGS. 4 and 5. 
     The assembly of FIG. 7 may be mounted upon a wall (not shown) by a nail  54  or by an analogous wall fastening device such as a screw, a wall-anchorable hook or the like. The nail or substitute wall fastener is received in a suitable adjustment hole  22  provided in bracket leg  16 . 
     Bracket  10  may be adjusted relative to bracket  12  by rearranging the hole alignments in superimposed legs  16  and  24 . 
     It is contemplated that each of the previously described bracket sections  10 ,  12  and  14  may be made from any suitable material known in the art. These materials include various plastics, metals, wood, composites and the like. 
     While this invention has been described in connection with different embodiments thereof, it will be understood that is capable of further modifications, and this application is intended to cover any variations, uses or adaptations of the invention following, in general, the principals of the invention and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which the invention pertains as may be applied to the essential features hereinbefore set forth and followed in the scope of the invention or the limits of the appended claims.