Wall hanging system for articles

A wall hanging system of the shear trap channel hook and loop fastening system type having a hooked surface portion and a looped surface portion adapted for releasably fastening shelves and other like components to a wall or the like in shear by means of a trap channel member having parallel inner faces each having one of the portions thereon and adapted to releasably receive a planar member with the other portion on its outer surfaces between the trap channel member's inner faces with the respective portions in engagement. The wall hanging system is characterized by mounting means carrying the trap channel member and adapted for mounting to a wall or the like; and, attachment means carried by the component to be releasably mounted to the wall including a planar member extending therefrom for engagement with the trap channel member. In one embodiment, the attachment means comprises a vertical fin extending normal to the back surface of the component at the point of intended mounting to a vertically disposed trap channel member. In another embodiment, the attachment means comprises a vertical fin extending upward parallel to the back surface of the component at the point of intended mounting to a horizontally disposed trap channel member. The shear trap member is preferably a resiliently rigid plastic channel having a back portion and two parallel facing side portions wherein the mounting means comprises a plurality of holes in the back portion for receiving mounting devices such as screws, nails, and bolts therethrough.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to wall hanging systems for removably 
attaching shelves, and the like, to walls and other planar surfaces, and 
more particularly, to a wall hanging system of the shear trap channel hook 
and loop fastening system type having a hooked surface portion and a 
looped surface portion adapted for releasably fastening shelves and other 
like components to a wall or the like having shear by means of a trap 
channel member having parallel inner faces each having one of the portions 
thereon and adapted to releasably receive a planar member with the other 
portion on its outer surfaces between the trap channel member's inner 
faces with the respective portions in engagement; wherein, the wall 
hanging system is characterized by mounting means carrying the trap 
channel member and adapted for mounting to a wall or the like; and, 
attachment means carried by the component to be releasably mounted to the 
wall including the planar member extending therefrom for engagement with 
the trap channel member; and wherein, the attachment means may comprise a 
vertical fin extending normal to the back surface of the component at the 
point of intended mounting to a vertically disposed trap channel member or 
may comprise a vertical fin extending upward parallel to the back surface 
of the component at the point of intended mounting to a horizontally 
disposed trap channel member. 
Wall hanging systems for releasably attaching shelves and the like, to 
walls and other planar surfaces are known in the art. Due to the stresses 
and forces involved, in order to be releasable, the components of the 
fastening systems used therewith are typically totally of metal or, at the 
very least, employ metal components at the points of the stresses and 
forces. Probably the best known and most used design employs steel 
U-shaped channels that are attached to the wall or panel with the opening 
of the U thereagainst. The brackets for the shelves (or other components 
to be mounted thereon) have ears that are wedgedly fit into slots provided 
therefor in the back of the channels. 
Wherefore, it is the object of the present invention to provide a wall 
hanging system for attaching shelves and other articles to walls, and the 
like that can be manufactured of light weight materials such as plastic, 
while, at the same time, are able to withstand the stresses and forces 
involved while being easily attachable and releasable. 
SUMMARY 
The foregoing object has been achieved by the wall hanging system of the 
present invention which employs a shear trap channel hook and loop 
fastening system of the type having a hooked surface portion and a looped 
surface portion adapted for releasably fastening shelves and other like 
components to a wall or the like in shear by means of a trap channel 
member having parallel inner faces each having one of the portions thereon 
adapted to releasably receive a planar member with the other portion on 
its outer surfaces between the trap channel member's inner faces with the 
respective portions in engagement. The wall hanging system is 
characterized by mounting means carrying the trap channel member and 
adapted for mounting to a wall or the like; and, attachment means carried 
by the component to be releasably mounted to the wall including a planar 
member extending therefrom for engagement with the trap channel member. In 
one embodiment, the attachment means comprises a vertical fin extending 
normal to the back surface of the component at the point of intended 
mounting to a vertically disposed trap channel member. In another 
embodiment, the attachment means comprises a vertical fin extending upward 
parallel to the back surface of the component at the point of intended 
mounting to a horizontally disposed trap channel member. The shear trap 
member is preferably a resiliently rigid plastic channel having a back 
portion and two parallel facing side portions wherein the mounting means 
comprises a plurality of holes in the back portion for receiving mounting 
devices such as screws, nails, and bolts therethrough.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
In my co-pending patent application entitled SHEAR TRAP HOOK AND LOOP 
FASTENING SYSTEM, filed on even date herewith and assigned to the common 
assignee of this application, I described an improvement to hook and loop 
fastening systems wherein a shear trap channel is employed to use the hook 
and loop fastening material "in shear" to provide a high holding strength. 
The shear trap channel, however, allows the hook and loop fastening 
materials to be disengaged easily when necessary. The teachings of that 
co-pending application are hereby incorporated herein by reference and, 
accordingly, only a cursory description of the basic invention as 
incorporated into this invention will be provided. 
Turning briefly to FIGS. 1 and 2, the shear trap channels are shown in 
simplified form. In both cases, the shear trap channel is indicated as 10 
and comprises a back portion 12 from which two parallel, spaced side 
portions 14 extend. In the preferred embodiment, the trap channels 10 are 
made of a resiliently rigid plastic and hinges 11 between sides and back 
are so-called "living hinges" formed into the plastic material. In the 
embodiment of FIG. 1, both side portions 14 are hingedly attached by 
hinges 11 to the back portion 12 such that both can swing outward, as 
indicated by the dotted ghost lines, for progressive release of the hook 
and loop fastening materials employed therewith. Attachment of something 
to be fastened therewith is made to the back portion. In the embodiment of 
FIG. 2, only the one side portion 14 is hingedly attached (by hinge 11) to 
the back, to permit that side portion to swing as indicated by the single 
dotted ghost line. Attachment to this embodiment is made to either the 
back portion 12 or the other side portion 14. In the preferred embodiment, 
the facing inner surfaces of the side portions 14 have the hook portion 16 
of hook and loop type fastening material thereon. The living hinges are 
indicated in both cases as 11. Thus if a planar member (not shown) having 
the loop material on outward facing parallel surfaces is inserted between 
the side portions 14, the planar member will be maintained therein with 
the hook and loop material operating "in shear". By swinging the side 
portions 14 outward, however, the hook and loop materials can be 
progressively released to allow the planar member to be withdrawn. 
In the wall fastening system of the present invention, the shear trap 
channels of FIG. 1 and/or FIG. 2 include means for mounting them to a wall 
or other surface and are employed with families of components to be 
described hereinafter, depending on whether vertical or horizontal 
mounting is desired. The mounting means may comprise a plurality of holes 
as at 13 in the back portion 12 for receiving mounting devices such as 
screws, nails, and bolts therethrough or adhesive of the peel and stick 
variety on the outside of the back portion 12 as at 15. 
The two families of components and their points of commonality will now be 
described individually. The family of components related to the trap 
channel 10 of FIG. 1 and vertical orientation will be described first. 
The simplest example is that of FIG. 3 wherein a common shelf bracket 18 is 
shown of a design well known in the art and referred to under Background 
of the Invention as normally being manufactured of metal and incorporating 
fastening ears. As shown in FIG. 3, however, the bracket 18 has been 
adapted for use in the manner of the present invention with the shear trap 
channel 10 of FIG. 1. Extending outward from the bracket 18 is a vertical 
fin 20 having the loop portion 22 of hook and loop fastening material, 
such as that sold by the assignee of the present invention under the 
trademark Velcro, attached to the opposed outward facing surfaces thereof 
as with adhesive (not shown). Since the bracket 18 is a planar member, the 
fin 20 can be a mere extension of the bracket 18 itself. For that reason, 
it is the simplest example as mentioned above. For ease of manufacture, it 
may be simpler to take an adhesive-backed strip of the loop surfaced 
Velcro material and simply wrap it around the edge of the fin, thus 
covering the end as well as the two opposed sides, rather than attempting 
to put individual strips on the two individual sides. 
The point of commonality of this family of components is shown in 
simplified top view in FIGS. 4 and 5. In FIG. 4, the component to be 
mounted in the vertically disposed trap channel 10 has a planar rear 
surface 24. The planar mounting fin 20 is disposed vertically and 
perpendicular to the rear surface 24. Where the component has a non-planar 
rear surface 26 in the manner of FIG. 5, the planar mounting fin 20 is 
disposed vertically and perpendicular to a plane 25 tangent to the rear 
surface 26. FIGS. 6-10 show various components that could be used in an 
office environment according to this general family of components for 
vertical mounting. In particular, FIG. 6 shows the back side of a waste 
recepticle or file folder holder 28. FIG. 7 shows a nest 30 of small 
containers for pencils, paper clips and the like. FIGS. 8-10 show a coat 
hanger 32, ring 34 (for a screwdriver, or such), and a hook 36, 
respectively. 
The second family of components will now be described with respect to FIGS. 
11-15. The nest 30 of FIG. 7 is shown modified for attachment to a 
horizontally disposed trap channel 10 such as that of FIG. 2 in FIG. 11 
wherein it is indicated as 30'. The principle of this family of components 
is shown in FIG. 12 in simplified form. As depicted therein, the fin 20 in 
this family is vertical but lies in a plane 38 which is parallel to or 
tangent to the back surface of the component to be mounted. In the case of 
the nest 30' the back surface 40 from which the containers 42 extend 
forward can merely be extended upward to form the fin 20. The same is true 
for the coat hanger 32', ring 34', and hook 36' of FIG. 8-10 which are 
shown modified for horizontal mounting in FIGS. 13-15, respectively. 
By way of further illustration FIG. 16 illustrates a shelf supported on two 
brackets (as described with reference to FIG. 3) mounted with their fins 
20 engaged in shear by means of hook and loop material within two 
vertically mounted shear trap channels as shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 17 shows a 
variation of the support structure of FIG. 16 in which the brackets are 
integrally formed with the shelf with fin portions 20 mounted by hook and 
loop material in shear to shear trap channels. FIG. 18 illustrates a shelf 
supported by horizontal fin 20 within a horizontally disposed shear trap 
channel 10 such as is illustrated in FIG. 2 the engagement again being by 
hook and loop material in shear. FIG. 19 utilizes two shear trap channels 
of the type illustrated in FIG. 2 but with the channels mounted vertically 
inwardly facing toward one another and with the fins 20 being on opposite 
ends of a mounting plate engaged within the channels by hook and loop 
material in shear and with the supported shelf originally attached to that 
plate. In all these embodiments the component, for example, the shelf may 
be progressively released from its shear engagement by means of hook and 
loop material by hinging a side 14 of the channel relative to the back 12. 
Thus, it can be seen that the present invention has met its objective by 
providing two entire families of components, including shelf brackets, 
that can be manufactured of economic and lightweight plastic, and the 
like, which provide for high stress and force resistant holding power 
while, at the same time, are easy to configure and reconfigure as the need 
dictates. 
A touch fastener, as used in this application, comprises a first planar 
backing material having a surface carrying hooks, mushrooms, balls on 
stems, pigtails, or the like, capable of engaging loops, hooks, mushrooms, 
balls on steams, pigtails, or the like, carried by a second planar backing 
material to releasably fasten components together. Terms herein referring 
to hook and loop fastening systems and parts thereof shall be construed to 
include other types of touch fasteners in which the fastening strength in 
shear (i.e. against forces applied in the plane of the fastener) 
substantially exceeds the fastening strength resisting peeling separation 
of the fastener by the application of force normal to the plane thereof.