Combination support bracket and self-adjusting wedge

A combination support bracket and self-adjusting wedge for mounting and supporting objects on the upper edge of planar panels of varying thicknesses. The support bracket includes an inverted U-shaped saddle member which overlies and surrounds the upper edge of the panel and a self-adjusting wedge member is mounted within the saddle member adjacent one of the side walls thereof and is vertically slidable to vary the spacing between the wedge member and the opposite side wall of the saddle member to thereby accommodate panels of varying thicknesses.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
With the increasing use of the open office plan, as the system by which 
offices are designed and constructed, wherein a variety of screens and 
partitions separate work stations and provide visual privacy for the 
occupants, a need has arisen to provide support for various articles such 
as lighting fixtures, area and office designations, and similar items 
above the partition level. In most instances, it is required that these 
items be mounted to the top edge of the panel or partition. A typical open 
office landscape system employing planar panels and connecting support 
posts is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,762,116 to William C. Anderson et 
al, for Space Divider System and Connector Assembly Therefor. Almost all 
of these partition systems involve as their principal constituent a planar 
panel having a flat top edge of a predetermined thickness. 
In the past, many different mechanical devices have been employed to mount 
items to the top edge of fences, doors, panels, and the like, but in most 
instances these mechanical devices deformed the element to which they were 
attached to some degree. An exemplary device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 
873,488 for a spring type clip as a support for clotheslines to the top of 
a fence. A similar clamping device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,277,292 
for mounting a light supporting wand to a baseboard by use of a U-shaped 
clip which employs either screws or wing nuts to connect the device to the 
baseboard of a wall. U.S. Pat. No. 222,086 discloses a clothesline hook 
mounted to a fence in which a lever operated cam forcibly mounts the 
C-type clamp to the top edge of the fence. U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,586,173, 
1,586,244, 3,891,173 and 3,007,665 also each illustrate clamping 
mechanisms generally involving deformation, either permanent or temporary, 
of the surface to which the element is being clamped. Of particular 
interest is the Waler bracket disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,007,665, which 
employs a wedging action to clamp the bracket to a stud or similar 
structural member. This type of clamp or bracket is designed for more 
permanent connection and employs in each instance serrations which bite 
into the material causing permanent disfigurement to the member to which 
it is attached and thereby renders it unsuitable for use with movable 
office wall partitions which may require changing of the location of the 
mounting bracket from time to time. 
In most office landscape partition systems, there are slight variations in 
panel thicknesses due to both manufacturing tolerances and the different 
surfaces employed on the panel. For example, a panel having both wall 
faces of a smooth laminate will be slightly thinner than the same panel 
having cloth surfaces thereon. Any mechanism for mounting and retaining 
objects to the top edge of the panel must be able to accommodate these 
slight differences in the panel thicknesses through a limited range of 
adjustments. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The deficiencies of the above-described prior art have been obviated by the 
present invention which employs a light clamping force to mount objects to 
the top edge of a vertical wall panel by providing an inverted U-shaped 
saddle member including a top wall and a pair of downwardly extending side 
walls as its principal components. An object or support post is mounted 
centrally to the top wall of the saddle member and on the under surface of 
the top wall a resilient pad is mounted to which is attached 
self-adjusting wedge means adjacent to one of the side walls. The wedge 
means is slidably movable to vary the distance between the wedge means and 
the other side wall facilitating the accommodation of panels of varying 
thicknesses by the saddle member. The self-adjusting wedge means includes 
a central planar portion which lies in a plane essentially parallel to the 
adjacent side wall of the U-shaped saddle member. At the bottom edge of 
the planar portion, a flange extends at a slight angle toward the adjacent 
side wall and at the upper edge, a second flange portion extends at a 
slight angle away from the adjacent side wall. A pair of mounting tabs 
extend from the upper edge of the second flange portion and mount the 
self-adjusting wedge to the resilient pads. If the panel is on the thick 
end of the thickness tolerance of the mounting bracket, the central planar 
portion of the wedge member has full face contact with the panel and the 
adjacent side wall. If the panel is on the thin end of the thickness range 
of the support bracket the top of the panel as it enters the channel will 
engage the horizontal tabs of the wedge member pulling the wedge into the 
channel causing the angular flanges to take up the space difference and 
secure the U-shaped saddle member to the panel.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now in detail to the drawing, wherein like reference characters 
represent like parts throughout the several views, there is illustrated in 
FIGS. 1 and 2 similar end elevation views of the combination support 
bracket and self-adjusting wedge mounted to space dividing wall panels of 
maximum thickness (FIG. 1) and minimum thickness (FIG. 2). The support 
bracket and self-adjusting wedge are mounted to the top of a conventional 
space dividing wall panel 10 of varying thicknesses. The saddle member is 
in the form of an elongated inverted U-shaped saddle or channel 12, 
including a top wall 14, and downwardly directed side walls 16 and 18. 
Centrally disposed in the top wall 14, for purposes of illustration, is a 
tubular support post 20 which may be used to support, for example, a 
lighting fixture above the space dividing wall panel 10 in the manner 
disclosed in copending application Ser. No. 797,894, for an Illuminated 
Space Dividing Wall Panel System, filed the same day as this application 
by William C. Anderson et al and owned by the assignee of this 
application. As will be readily apparent, the mounting of the support post 
20 centrally of the top wall 14 of support bracket 12 is merely one 
possible application of the combination support bracket and self-adjusting 
wedge of this invention, and many other mounting applications will become 
readily apparent to those skilled in the art. 
On the underside of the top wall 14 are a pair of spaced resilient pad 
means 22 which are preferably of a polyurethane foam. 
The self-adjusting wedge is generally designated 24 and is constructed of 
sheet metal and includes a central planar portion 26 bounded at its upper 
and lower ends with flange portions 28 and 30 which extend at a slight 
angle from the central planar portion. The upper flange portion 30 has 
extending therefrom, in a horizontal direction, perpendicular to the 
planar portion 26, a pair of tab members 32. The tabs 32 are secured to 
the underside of the resilient pad members 22 by, for example, gluing or 
taping or some other conventional method. The tabs 32 are secured to the 
polyurethane foam pads 22 in a location such that the main planar portion 
26 of the wedge member hangs in a vertical position immediately adjacent 
the side wall 18 of the inverted U-shaped channel member 12. 
In operation, the combination support bracket and self-adjusting wedge is 
slipped over the upper edge of a planar wall panel or the like, and if the 
thickness dimension of the wall panel is the maximum which is accommodable 
by the unit the mounting will appear as illustrated in FIG. 1. If the 
panel 10 is of a thickness dimension which is the smallest accommodable by 
the support bracket and self-adjusting wedge, the panel 10 as it enters 
the saddle will abut the horizontally extending tabs 32 causing the wedge 
member 24 to slide vertically upwardly into the channel defined by the 
inverted U-shaped saddle member. More particularly, as the upper edge of 
the panel 10 engages the tabs 32 the weight of the support bracket and the 
item supported thereby will cause the resilient pad members 22 to deform 
as illustrated in FIG. 2 thus pulling the wedge into the channel member 
12. Because of the double wedge action, pressure is applied between the 
wedge member and the side wall 18 at points 34 and 36 and against the 
panel 10 at 38. As will be apparent when wall panel thicknesses are 
between the maximum thickness illustrated in FIG. 1 and the minimal 
thickness illustrated in FIG. 2, the wedge member 24 will slide up into 
the U-shaped saddle member 12 only to the extent that binding occurs 
between the lower flange member 28 and the side wall 18 of the channel. 
As will be apparent from the foregoing, the wedge member may be modified to 
accept greater ranges of wall panel thicknesses by either extending the 
length of the lower flange member 28 or increasing the angular 
relationship between the planar central portion 26 and the lower flange 
portion 28. It will also be seen that the combination support bracket and 
self-adjusting wedge of this invention provides a firm but easily 
releasable mounting to the upper edge of a wall panel without the cost or 
deformation provided by threaded adjusting screws or other positive 
locking hardware.