Abstract:
An assembly for hanging picture frames and other objects to a vertical support includes a base with locking grooves that is mounted to the vertical support and a wheel disposed on the base and which is movable thereon. The wheel includes a set of teeth disposed around its perimeter and where one of those teeth is received within one of the base&#39;s locking grooves. A mounting knob fixed off-center to the front surface of the wheel is designed to receive the item to be mounted thereon. To mount a picture frame or other object, the assembly is mounted to the vertical support, the object to be mounted is mounted on the assembly&#39;s knob, the amount of correction to the mounted object&#39;s vertical and/or horizontal position is ascertained, the object is removed from the knob, the wheel of the assembly is moved accordingly and then locked in place, and the object is re-mounted on the knob.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to an adjustable picture hanging hook and, more particularly, to a picture hanging hook capable of allowing the vertical and/or horizontal position of an item to be hung thereon to be adjusted without having to re-mount the picture hanging hook. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     A variety of picture hangers have been previously designed and sold for the purpose of hanging picture frames and other items on walls and other vertical surfaces. Standard picture hangers typically are formed pieces of metal mounted to a wall by one or more nails and that include some sort of hook on which a picture frame is supported. Typically, wire extending across the rear side of a picture frame is supported by the picture hanger&#39;s hook. 
     One common problem associated with such standard picture hangers is the difficult task of positioning the picture hanger on the wall at an appropriate location such that the picture to be mounted thereon is located at the exact, desired location. A picture hanger is mounted to a wall usually by a nail. Mounting a picture hanger too high or too low, or too far to the right, or too far to the left, of the desired location, even by a fraction of an inch, in turn leads to the undesirable task of remounting the picture hanger itself, this time at a different location on the wall. Such remounting is wasteful, time consuming and results in the creation of unnecessary holes in the wall. These additional, unnecessary holes are aesthetically undesirable, may result in reduced wall strength, and ultimately need to be repaired. Still further, an already mounted picture frame may later need to be remounted as a result of shifting of walls which often occurs after a newly constructed structure has settled. 
     In addition to standard picture hangers, a variety of hangers have been designed that attempt to overcome the above-mentioned problem of standard hangers. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,330,525, 4,611,780, and 5,605,313 disclose just a few examples of hangers designed to provide multiple positions on which a picture frame may be mounted. However, while such prior art designs attempt to simplify mounting, none provide the user with both ease of use and a range of mounting positions to enable for quick and efficient mounting of a picture frame or other item to be hung. 
     OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
     Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a picture hanging hook (sometimes called picture hanger or, simply, hanger herein) that is easy to use and manufacture and, at the same time, overcomes the above-mentioned problem associated with standard picture hooks. 
     It is a further object of the present invention to provide a picture hanging hook that enables for the easy modification of the picture hanging position in the vertical and/or horizontal directions. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a picture hanging hook that, once mounted to the wall, alleviates both the need to re-mount the picture hanging hook and alleviates any need to lengthen or shorten the wire which is attached to the frame. 
     Various other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In accordance with the present invention, an assembly for hanging picture frames and other objects to a vertical support includes a base with locking grooves that is designed to be mounted to the vertical support and a wheel disposed on the base and which is movable thereon. The wheel includes a set of teeth disposed around its perimeter and where one of those teeth is received within one of the base&#39;s locking grooves. A mounting knob fixed off center to the front surface of the wheel is designed to receive the item to be mounted thereon. 
     As an aspect of the present invention, the wheel is movable to a raised position where none of the wheel&#39;s teeth is disposed in any of the locking grooves, and the wheel is longitudinally movable relative to the base in the raised position and the wheel is not longitudinally movable in the lowered position. 
     As another aspect of the present invention, the wheel can be rotated when it is in the raised position. 
     As a further aspect of the present invention, the base includes an aperture that extends along its length, a stem is fixed to and extends from the center rear surface of the wheel, and a holding disk is fixed to the stem. The stem extends through the aperture in the base so that the holding disk is disposed behind the base. The holding disk has a diameter greater than the largest height of the base&#39;s aperture so that the wheel cannot be separated from the base. 
     As an additional aspect of the invention, the stem is sized to be received within a respective one of the cavities of the aperture when one of the wheel&#39;s teeth is received by one of the base&#39;s locking grooves. 
     As yet a further aspect of the invention, the base includes a ridge that extends along its rear surface so as to provide a gap adjacent to the vertical support on which the base is mounted, and where the holding disk is disposed in this gap and is freely movable therein. 
     In accordance with a method of mounting a picture frame on a vertical support, the base of the hanger assembly of the present invention is mounted to the vertical support, the wheel of the hanger assembly is moved relative to the mounted base, the wheel is locked on the base, and then the picture frame is mounted on the knob that is fixed off-center to the wheel. 
     As an aspect of this method, after the hanger assembly is mounted to the vertical support, the picture frame is mounted on the knob, an amount of correction of the picture frame mounting position of the mounted picture frame is ascertained, the picture frame is removed from the knob, and the wheel is moved relative to the base to a position in accordance with the ascertained amount of correction of the picture frame mounting position. 
     As a further aspect, both vertical and horizontal correction amounts of the picture frame mounting position are ascertained. 
     As another aspect, the locking step is carried out by lowering the wheel to a lowered position whereby one of the wheel&#39;s teeth is positioned within one of the base&#39;s locking grooves. 
     As an additional aspect, the moving step is carried out by rotating the wheel to a position where the knob fixed to the wheel is at a desired vertical position. 
     As yet a further aspect, the moving step is carried out by moving longitudinally the wheel to a position where the knob is at a desired horizontal position. 
     As yet another aspect, the wheel may be both moved longitudinally and rotated so that the knob is at desired vertical and horizontal positions. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The following detailed description, given by way of example and not intended to limit the present invention solely thereto, will best be appreciated in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals denote like elements and parts, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a front view of the adjustable picture hanging hook of the present invention, shown with the hook&#39;s wheel in a first position; 
     FIG. 2 is another schematic illustration of the front view of the adjustable picture hanging hook of the present invention, shown with the wheel in a second position; 
     FIG. 3 is a further schematic illustration, partially in phantom, of the adjustable picture hanging hook of the present invention; 
     FIG. 4 is a side view illustration of the movable wheel of the adjustable picture hanging hook of the present invention; 
     FIG. 5 is a rear view of the adjustable picture hanging hook of the present invention; and 
     FIG. 6 is another rear view of the adjustable picture hanging hook of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to the drawings, FIGS. 1 and 2 thereof are front view illustrations of the adjustable picture hanging hook of the present invention. As shown, the adjustable picture hanging hook  10  (or simply, hanger  10 ) includes two main components: a support base  12  and a movable wheel  30 . Support base  12  (or simply, base  12 ) and wheel  30  are movable relative to each other, as described further below. Base  12  includes a number of structural features including a set of rectangular teeth-shaped locking grooves  14  disposed on the bottom of base  12 . Locking grooves  14  includes alternating teeth  14   a  and recesses  14   b  and, as will be discussed, operate to prevent the rotation of wheel  30  once locked in place. Base  12  further includes a rim  16  extending along the base&#39;s top portion and which is disposed apart from the base&#39;s central portion  20  to provide a longitudinal gap  18  that extends along the base&#39;s top and in which a portion of wheel  30  is disposed, as will be further described. As is appreciated, rim  16  assists in retaining wheel  30  to base  12 , and provides additional strength to the device so that it can suitably support heavy items to be mounted. However, since holding disk  36  also retains wheel  30  to base  12  (to be discussed below), rim  16  can be removed. 
     Base  12  further includes a central aperture  22  disposed in its central portion  20 . Central aperture  22  extends along base  12 &#39;s width and includes, extending along its bottom, a number of rounded cavities  24 . As will be discussed, central aperture  22  and its cavities  24  serve to maintain the established horizontal position of wheel  30 . 
     Base  12  includes two holes  26  that are used for the purpose of mounting hanger  10  of the present invention to a wall, other surface or generally vertical support. In a preferred embodiment, holes  26  are angled slightly downward (from the hanger&#39;s front to back) so that two nails are hammered through the holes at an angle (e.g., 45 degree angle) relative to the mounting surface (e.g., wall). 
     Referring now to wheel  30 , the wheel is circular in shape and includes a set of teeth  32  extending outward along the wheel&#39;s perimeter. Teeth  32  are sized and spaced sufficiently apart so that each tooth can be disposed within an opposing recess  14   b  of the locking grooves  14  of base  12 , such as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Wheel  30 , along with its teeth  32 , is of sufficient size (i.e., diameter) so that when a tooth  32  is disposed within an opposing recess  14   b , wheel  30  has at least another tooth  32  that is disposed within the longitudinal gap  18  that extends below the base&#39;s rim  16 . This also is illustrated in FIG. 3, where rim  16  is shown partially in phantom. Moreover, there is sufficient distance between the tooth  32  that is disposed within gap  18  and the hidden end surface  16   a  of rim  16  (FIG. 3) so as to allow wheel  30  to be raised upwards (towards surface  16   a ) thus freeing the other tooth  32  from the opposing recess  14   b  of the locking grooves  14 . Then, in such raised position, wheel  30  is freely rotatable. As will be further described below, these features enable for the varying of a picture frame&#39;s mounting position after the hanger of the present invention is mounted to a wall. 
     Referring again to FIGS. 1 and 2, and also to FIG. 4, a knob  34  is fixed to and extends from wheel  30  and operates as the “hook” on which a picture frame is mounted. As shown in FIG. 4, which is a side view of wheel  30  and the attached elements, knob  30  is comprised of a relatively flat, round button-like portion  34   a  coupled to or integral with a narrow stem  34   b  that is fixed to wheel  30  (component dimensions not drawn to scale in FIG.  4 ). In the preferred embodiment, both button  34   a  and stem  34   b  of the knob are round in shape and are concentric with one another, so that knob  34  sufficiently is able to retain the wire of a picture frame regardless of the angular position of wheel  30  (further discussed below). 
     In both FIGS. 1 and 2, it is seen that knob  34  is fixed to wheel  30  at a position offset from the wheel&#39;s center. Preferably, knob  34  is fixed on wheel  30  at a position that maximizes the knob&#39;s vertical movement, which is achieved by fixing the knob on the wheel at a position that is able to come in close proximity to rim  16  (when wheel  30  is rotated), such as shown in FIG.  1 . Then, knob  34  can be positioned adjacent to the locking grooves  14 , adjacent to rim  16  (FIG.  1 ), or at any vertical position in between (e.g., FIG.  2 ). 
     To prevent wheel  30  from being fully separated from base  12 , a holding disk  36  is fixed via a locking stem  38  (disk  36  and locking stem  38  may comprise a single element or separate elements) to the rear of wheel  30 , as shown in FIG. 4, and during assembly of the picture hanger of the present invention, the holding disk is disposed behind the base with locking stem  38  extending through central aperture  22 . FIG. 5 is a rear view of the picture hanger and shows disk  36  disposed behind base  12  with wheel  30  disposed in front of the base (locking stem  38  not shown in FIG.  5 ). Disk  36  preferably has a diameter D greater than the largest height H of central aperture  22  so that disk  36  is unable to pass through central aperture  22  regardless of the wheel&#39;s position relative to the base. However, while it is preferred for disk  36  to be sufficiently large so as to keep wheel  30  and base  12  always together, it is not critical to actually keep these components together when the hanger of the present invention is not in use. 
     Stem  38 , in addition to coupling disk  36  to wheel  30 , serves as a locking mechanism by being retained within one of the rounded cavities  24  of the central aperture  22 , as shown in FIG. 6 (in FIG. 6, stem  38  shown in phantom, wheel  30  and ridge  40  not shown). Both disk  36  and locking stem  38  are round and concentric to one another, and are concentric to wheel  30  (see FIG.  4 ). Locking stem  38  has a diameter of sufficient size so that it is supported by one of the rounded cavities  24  when wheel  30  is fully lowered, that is, when one of the wheel&#39;s teeth  32  is disposed within an opposing recess  14   b  of the locking grooves  14  of base  12 . Moreover, the distance between the centers of adjacent cavities  24  is the same as the distance between the centers of adjacent recesses  14   b  (or teeth  14   a ) of locking grooves  14  so that locking stem  38  is accommodated by a respective cavity  24  for each possible horizontal position of wheel  30 . Then, in the lowered position, the peaks  24   a  (shown in FIG. 6) of cavity  24  in which locking stem  38  is disposed prevent wheel  30  from moving horizontally. Conversely, when wheel  30  is raised, locking stem  38  is disposed above peaks  24   a  of cavities  24  so that wheel  30  is able to be moved horizontally (longitudinally). In this raised position, wheel  30  and all of its teeth  32  are disposed above locking grooves  14  (FIGS. 1 and 2) so that wheel  30  also is freely rotatable, as previously discussed. 
     Referring again to FIG. 5, the rear side of hanger  10  of the present invention includes a ridge  40  that extends along the perimeter of base  12 . Ridge  40  is of sufficient thickness (depth) so that the base&#39;s center  20  is disposed slightly away from a wall to which hanger  10  is mounted thus enabling the movement of wheel  30 , more particularly, disk  36 . Ridge  40  needs to be only slightly thicker than disk  36  to ensure a small gap between disk  36  and the wall to which the hanger of the present invention is mounted. That is, without providing a suitably thick ridge  40 , disk  36  is in immediate contact with a wall when hanger  10  is mounted, which in turn would make it difficult to move or turn wheel  30 . Moreover, ridge  40  also extends to the vicinity of holes  26  so that nails can be properly driven and secured to a wall. 
     To utilize the adjustable picture hanging hook of the present invention, hanger  10  is mounted to a wall in a manner similar to that of prior art-devices, namely, hanger  10  is appropriately Positioned on a surface onto which it is to be mounted (hereinafter, wall) and suitably sized nails are driven through holes  26  and into the wall thus securing hanger  10  to the wall. Next, the item to be hung (hereinafter, picture frame) is mounted on hanger  10  by, for example, hanging the mounting wire disposed on the rear of the picture frame onto knob  34 . Once mounted, the user determines whether the horizontal and vertical positions of the mounted picture frame are acceptable. If either the vertical or horizontal position is not acceptable or correct, then the picture frame mounting position needs to be adjusted. At this point, in most prior art devices, either the hanger itself will need to be remounted on the wall or the wire attached to the picture will need to be lengthened or shortened. 
     The present invention, however, allows the picture frame mounting position to be adjusted without remounting the hanger and without changing the length of the wire attached to the picture frame. To adjust the picture frame mounting position, wheel  30  is moved in the manner previously discussed. In particular, if the horizontal position of the picture frame mounting position needs to adjusted, then wheel  30  is manually raised and is moved to the left or right accordingly, without any rotation of the wheel, and then lowered. FIGS. 1 and 2 show the hanger of the present invention with seven (7) recesses  14   b  (in locking grooves  14 ) thus allowing for the placement of the picture frame mounting position in seven horizontal positions. Of course, seven recesses is merely exemplary, and the hanger of the present invention may include any reasonable number of recesses (i.e., horizontal positions). Moreover, additional recesses may be provided without increasing the relative size of the entire hanger itself, simply by reducing the size of each recess  14   b  and tooth  14   a , as well as by reducing the size of each wheel tooth  32  and increasing the number of such teeth  32  on the wheel (as well as the size and number of rounded cavities  24  within central aperture  22  and the diameter of locking stem  38 ). 
     If the vertical position of the picture frame mounting position needs to be adjusted, then wheel  30  is manually raised and is rotated so that knob  34  is moved upwards or downwards accordingly, and then lowered. Of course, if only the vertical position needs to be adjusted (i.e., the horizontal picture frame mounting position is acceptable), then wheel  30  may need to be moved slightly to the left or right to maintain knob  34 &#39;s horizontal position as wheel  30  is rotated. Similarly, if both the vertical and horizontal positions of the picture frame mounting position need to be adjusted, then wheel  30  (after being raised) may be both rotated and moved left or right as needed. Wheel  30  then is lowered and locked in place by both sets of locking devices (i.e., locking grooves  14  and rounded cavities  24 ). Adjustment of the picture frame mounting position now has been achieved without remounting the hanger itself. 
     Referring back to FIG. 2, it is seen that it is possible to establish picture frame mounting positions at locations that extend beyond the hanger&#39;s support base  12 . Advantageously, the horizontal range of picture frame mounting positions extends past the left and right ends of hanger  10  of the present invention, and the vertical range of picture frame mounting positions extends between the bottom of base  12  to the base&#39;s rim  16 . Given such extended horizontal and vertical ranges, the hanger of the present invention allows a user to merely approximate the desired mounting position by mounting the hanger to a wall at such approximated position, and then to select the exact, desired picture frame mounting position by moving wheel  30  in the manner described herein. Moreover, after wheel  30  is locked in place (by lowering it fully), wheel  30  is prevented from moving in any direction and is prevented from rotating, even with the weight of the mounted picture frame on knob  34 , by means of the locking devices previously discussed. Still further, and as previously mentioned, additional mounting positions may be established by increasing the number of teeth  14   a , recesses  14   b , wheel teeth  32 , and rounded cavities  24 , and accordingly reducing their size as well as the diameter of locking stem  38 . 
     While the present invention has been particularly shown and described in conjunction with a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be readily appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, the various shapes of teeth  32 , recesses  14   b , rounded cavities  24 , as well as other components of the hanger, may be different from that shown. For example, teeth  32  and recesses  14   b  may be pointed. 
     As another example, holes  26  may be provided in different positions than that shown, such as within the base&#39;s central portion  20 , with the nails being recessed within ridge  40  so that they do not interfere with the movement of wheel  30 . Also, the hanger of the present invention may be constructed from any suitable material, such as plastic or metal (or other material), with such suitable material being chosen by one of ordinary skill depending on the particular application necessary (e.g., weight of the item to be hung). 
     Therefore, it is intended that the appended claims be interpreted as including the embodiments described herein, the alternatives mentioned above, and all equivalents thereto.