Lockable bracket for attachment to wire grid

Disclosed is a bracket for lockably attaching various items to first and second, generally parallel support wires as may be incorporated within a section of rigid wire grid. The attachment bracket comprises a generally flat bracket body having a J-shaped curl at one longitudinal end thereof and an L-shaped flange at the opposite longitudinal end thereof. The bracket is specifically sized so that the J-shaped curl may be hooked over the first wire member while the L-shaped flange is slid under the second wire member. A slidable locking means is disposed on the body of the bracket so as to be slidably moveable between a "locked" position wherein it will hold the second wire member firmly within the angular convergence of the L-shaped flange and an "unlocked" position wherein the L-shaped flange of the bracket may be freely pulled away from the second wire member to allow subsequent detachment of the L-shaped curl from the first wire member. Specific items which may utilize the lockable attachment bracket include a garment hanging rod, a slotted garment hanging rack, and a merchandise display shelf.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This application relates broadly to the various applications wherein 
articles are attached to or suspended from wire grids. More particularly, 
the invention relates to a device which may be used for connecting 
articles such as garment display racks of the type used in retail clothing 
establishments to wire grid support structures. 
Because the invention is particularly applicable to garment display racks, 
it will be described herein with particular reference thereto. It must be 
appreciated, however, that the invention has broader applications and may 
indeed find utility in connection with any application wherein an article 
or accessory is to be connected to two or more generally parallel support 
wires. 
Garment racks of the type used in retail clothing establishments have 
heretofor included many adjustable racks for hanging garments. One 
particular type of garment rack comprises a series of hanger supporting 
rods which are detachably connected to a wire grid support structure. The 
support structure generally comprises a series of parallel, rigid, 
horizontal wire members which extend along one or more walls in the 
customer display area of the store. One or more hanger rods are attached 
to and extend perpendicularly from the wire grid by way of connector 
brackets. Each such connector bracket generally comprises a flat bar 
having a hook-shaped curl portion formed along the upper edge thereof. 
Such hook-shaped curl fits over and frictionally engages one of the 
horizontal wires of the grid while the lower end of the flat bar abuts an 
adjacent one of the horizontal wires. The result is that the bracket is 
held firmly on the wire grid and the hanger bar remains perpendicularly 
suspended therefrom. Such garment racks of the prior art provide a 
versatile and readily changeable means of displaying merchandise. Indeed, 
numerous garments may be hung from the hanger bars for customer perusal 
while the hanger rods remain slidably moveable along the horizontal wires. 
Also, if desired, each hanger bar/connector bracket may be disconnected 
and reconnected to higher or lower cross wires thereby altering the height 
of the garment hanger. 
One drawback associated with such prior art garment hangers, however, is 
that the bottom end of the connector bracket is not locked in place. Thus, 
if a customer accidentally bumps or exerts upward pressure on the garment 
hanging rod, the upper end of the connector bracket may become detached 
from the wire grid, causing the hanger support rod and the displayed 
garments to fall to the floor. 
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for a modified connector 
bracket which may be easily connected to the wire grid and which will 
remain slidably movable therealong while at the same time being 
sufficiently locked into place so as to prevent inadvertent dislodgement 
of the connector bracket and resultant falling of the garments. 
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention overcomes the above-described problems of the prior 
art, and others, by providing a bracket which is lockably yet releasably 
connectable to two parallel wire members of a wire grid. The bracket of 
the present invention comprises a generally flat bracket body having first 
and second longitudinal ends. A J-shaped curl portion is formed at one of 
the longitudinal ends. The J-shaped curl defines therewithin a 
transversely extending groove or channel which renders the J-shaped curl 
positionable over one of the parallel wire members in a hook-like fashion. 
The opposite longitudinal end of the flat bracket body is provided with a 
rigid L-shaped flange comprising a perpendicular leg extending from the 
bracket body. The perpendicular leg of the L-shaped flange is positionable 
beneath a second one of the parallel wire members so as to receive the 
second parallel wire member above the upper surface of the perpendicular 
flange and against the inner surface of the flat bracket body. 
A locking member is slidably disposed on the bracket body. Such locking 
member is operative to frictionally hold and capture the second parallel 
wire member above the perpendicular leg of the flange and against the rear 
surface of the bracket body. When, however, the slidable locking member is 
slidably lifted away from the L-shaped flange, the second wire member will 
be released from its position within the angular convergence of the 
L-shaped flange, thereby allowing the bracket body to be pulled away from 
the second parallel wire member. After the bracket body has been pulled 
away such that the L-shaped flange and locking member is disengaged from 
the second wire member, the opposite end of the bracket body may be easily 
lifted upwardly so as to disengage the J-hook from the first wire member, 
thereby fully detaching the bracket body from the supporting wire grid. 
In accordance an even further aspect of the invention a clothing hanger rod 
may be connected to the front surface of the bracket body such that the 
clothing hanger rod will extend outwardly therefrom to permit the hanging 
of various garments therefrom. 
In accordance with an even further aspect of the invention, two or more of 
the locking brackets may be employed jointly to provide individual 
anchoring points for multiple interconnected clothing hanger bars so as to 
form an interconnected network of hanger bars in the form of a display 
rack or the like. Such multiple connecting brackets may also be used to 
support a display shelf for holding other types of merchandise. 
Even further in accordance with the invention, the locking member, which is 
slidably disposed upon the body of the connector bracket, may be 
fabricated in the form of a metal clip, such metal clip being loosely 
formed around the transverse edges of the bracket body so as to be 
longitudinally slidable therealong. The clip is further provided with a 
downwardly extending "keeper projection" which abuts the perpendicular leg 
of the L-shaped flange so as to trap the second wire member against the 
bracket body and the L-shaped flange. The distance between the keeper 
projection and the bracket body may be approximately equal to the width of 
the second wire member so as to result in a somewhat compressed fit of the 
wire member between the keeper projection and the bracket body. Such 
compressed fit will firmly hold the slidable locking member in its locked 
position. 
In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, the flat bracket 
body may be provided with cutout notches on either side thereof to 
facilitate assembly of the bracket body/locking member combination at the 
time of manufacture. Such cutout notches will be positioned sufficiently 
high on the bracket body so as not to interfere with the normal slidable 
movement and functioning of the locking member. 
A principal object of the invention is to provide a lockable attachment 
bracket for connecting various articles to horizontal or vertical wire 
members of an existing wire grid. 
A further object of the invention is to provide a lockable attachment 
bracket bearing a garment-hanging rod or rack for lockably yet releasably 
attaching such garment-hanging rod or rack to an existing wire grid. 
An even further object of the invention is to provide a lockable attachment 
bracket which may be slidably yet lockably attached to two parallel 
horizontal wire members of the wire grid. By such arrangement, the bracket 
will remain slidable from side to side along the horizontal wire members 
while being securely locked in place so as not to be inadvertantly 
detached from such supporting wire members. 
Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to 
those skilled in the art upon reading of the following description of a 
preferred embodiment and consideration of the accompanying drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring now to the drawings wherein showings are made for the purposes of 
describing the preferred embodiments of the invention and not for purposes 
of limiting its scope, FIGS. 1 and 4 show the lockable mounting bracket 10 
of the present invention as it is lockably connected to adjacent 
horizontal wire members 12 and 14 of a wire grid. The bracket 10 comprises 
a generally flat bracket body 16 having a J-shaped curl portion 18 formed 
on the upper end thereof and a L-shaped perpendicular flange 20 extending 
from the lower end thereof. The J-shaped curl 18 is sized to fit over the 
upper wire member 12 in a hook-like fashion while the L-shaped flange 20 
is sized to extend under the lower wire member 14 as shown. 
Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, the specific functional aspects of the 
lockable bracket may be appreciated. The body 16 of the bracket 10 is 
formed of a section of flat stock. The formation of the J-shaped curl 18 
creates a transversely extending groove or channel 19, the inner confines 
of which are defined by the underside of the L-shaped curl. Such groove 19 
is sized and configured to be slidably positionable over wire member 12. 
The L-shaped flange 20 at the base of the bracket body 16 extends generally 
perpendicular to the body 16. A locking member 22 is slidably mounted upon 
the body member 16 and is provided with a keeper projection 24 adjacent 
its lower end. The keeper projection 24 is laterally spaced from the rear 
surface 15 of the body member 16 through a distance slightly greater than 
the diameter of the lower wire member 14. 
The distance X from the top surface of the upper transverse hook-like 
groove 19 and the upper surface 21 of the perpendicular leg of the 
L-shaped flange 20 is equal to or slightly greater than the distance X' 
between the upper surface of the upper wire member 12 and the lower 
surface of the lower wire member 14. Such specific sizing of the lockable 
bracket member 10 permits the J-shaped curl 18 to be hooked over the top 
wire member 12 while the bracket body is subsequently pivoted downward to 
a point where the rear surface 15 of the mounting bracket 10 abuts the 
lower wire member 14. Additionally the L-shaped flange 20 extends beneath 
the lower wire member 14 so as to maintain the bracket in its operative 
position shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. 
The manner in which the locking member 22 functions to lockably retain the 
bracket 10 upon the bar members 12 and 14 is best appreciated from FIGS. 2 
and 4. The locking member 22 comprises a clip-like structure having 
crimped ends 40, 42 which wrap loosely around the transverse edges of the 
bracket body 16. Thus, as shown in FIG. 4, the locking member 22 is easily 
slidable over the center portion of the bracket body 16. When the bracket 
is positioned, as shown in FIG. 4, the force of gravity or sufficient 
manual pressure may be employed to pull the slidable locking member 22 
downwardly such that the keeper projection 24 will abut against the upper 
surface 21 of L-shaped flange 20 and the keeper 24 will capture the lower 
wire member 14 between the flange 20 and rear surface 15 of the body 16. 
Accordingly, the keeper projection 24 will capture the lower wire member 
14 firmly within the angular convergence formed between the upper surface 
21 of the flange 20 and the rear surface 15 of the bracket body so as to 
prevent the bracket 10 from being pulled away from the lower wire member 
14. 
When it is desired to remove the lockable mounting bracket 10 from the wire 
grid 11, the locking member 22 may be grasped by hand and slidably pushed 
upwardly on the bracket body 16 so as to release the lower wire member 14 
thereby permitting the lower end of the bracket 10 to be pulled away from 
the wire member 14. Thereafter, the J-shaped upper roll 18 of the bracket 
member 10 may be simply unhooked from the upper wire member 12, thereby 
fully releasing the bracket 10 from the wire grid 11. 
The lockable bracket 10 of the present invention may be utilized to connect 
many different types of articles to many different types of wire grids. In 
one preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the bracket is used to support a 
garment hanging rod 50 which extends outwardly from the body 16 of the 
bracket 10 and is firmly connected to the bracket body so as to extend 
opposite the J-shaped curl 18 and the L-shaped flange 20. The garment 
hanging rod 50 is provided with an end stop 52 which serves to prevent 
garments on hangers from sliding off the end of the rod 50. 
So long as the lockable bracket 16 is lockingly disposed on the parallel 
wire members 12 and 14 of the wire grid 11, it will remain freely slidable 
from side to side thereon but may not be inadvertently knocked off the 
wire grid due to the locking feature of the bracket 10. Of course, the 
bracket 10 may be positioned on any two parallel horizontal wires of the 
grid, including the lower wires shown with respect to grid 11. Thus, the 
height of the garment hanging rod 50 may be adjusted by manually detaching 
the lockable bracket 10 and reconnecting it to higher or lower wire 
members on the wire grid 11 as desired. 
An alternative garment hanging rod is shown in FIG. 5 wherein the lockable 
bracket 10 is provided with a slotted garment hanging rack 60 which 
extends outwardly from the side of the bracket body 16 opposite the 
J-shaped curl 18 and L-shaped flange 20. The slotted garment hanging rack 
60 is provided with individual slots 62 to receive individual garment 
hangers. 
A still further alternative embodiment is the merchandise shelf 70 shown in 
FIG. 6. The shelf 70 comprises a flat horizontal surface contained within 
frame members 72, 74, and 76. Frame members 74 and 76 are attached to 
independently attached to separate lockable mounting brackets 10 of the 
present invention in a manner similar to that described with reference to 
the single-bracket embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 and 5. By such 
arrangement, the shelf may be periodically adjusted to different positions 
on a supporting wire grid but will be lockably held in each such position 
so as to prevent inadvertent bumping and release of the attachment 
brackets and resultant falling of the shelf and the merchandise contained 
thereon. 
At the time of manufacture, the locking bracket shown in FIGS. 1-6 is 
formed by crimping or bending the lateral ends of the locking member 22 
around the edges of the bracket body 10 as shown. However, an alternative 
notched bracket body, shown in FIG. 7, may be employed to minimize the 
degree of handling, and thus the expense of manufacturing the lockable 
mounting bracket of the present invention. 
As shown in FIG. 7, cutout notch 80 is formed on one side of the bracket 
body 16, near the top end thereof. Such cutout notch 80 is sized and 
configured to permit the crimped end 42 of the locking member 22 to pass 
easily therethrough. At the same time the opposite crimped end 40 of the 
locking member may be passed outside of the opposing lateral edge 82 of 
the bracket body. Thereafter, the locking member 22 may be slid downwardly 
on the bracket body 16 to its locking position at the bottom of the 
bracket as shown. With the locking member 22 so positioned at the bottom 
of the bracket, a metal punch is driven into the outer surface of the 
bracket body, just below the notch 80. Such will cause the formation of a 
raised protrusion 84 on the opposite (inner) surface of the bracket. This 
raised protrusion 84 will be sufficiently large to prevent the locking 
member 22 from sliding upwardly past such protrusion 84. Thus, once the 
locking member has been placed on the bracket body 16, the protrusion 84 
will prevent the locking member 22 from being subsequently removed through 
notch 80. By such arrangement, the locking member 22 may be fully 
prefabricated/preformed and subsequently positioned on the bracket body 
16, rather than requiring the ends 40, 42 of the locking member to be 
forceably bent around the bracket body at the time of manufacture. 
Of course, the variety of articles which may be connected to the lockable 
mounting bracket 10 of the present invention is virtually limitless. The 
garment hanging racks 50 and 60 and the merchandise shelf 70 shown in the 
preferred embodiments are mere examples of a few presently preferred uses 
that the lockable mounting bracket may enjoy. Various other applications, 
alterations, and modifications to the lockable mounting bracket of the 
present invention may be made and it is certainly intended to include all 
such applications, alterations, and modifications within the scope of the 
following claims and the equivalents thereof.