Abstract:
A bar that is to be attached to a wall includes two stanchions, each stanchion supporting a portion of an elongated piece that extends from one stanchion to the other. A supporting connector having a lower portion attaches to and extends upwardly from each of the stanchions and a portion above the lower portion. A horizontal support extends horizontally from the portion above the lower portion of the connector between the stanchions and is disposed a distance D 1  above each the stanchion. And, an adhesive is disposed beneath and attaches to the horizontal support and extends along a length thereof.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    Bath accessories used in the bathroom, such as towel bars and hooks, are typically attached to walls by screws. Screws are particularly effective in holding large loads if they are anchored in a joist. Screws may not be used to attach accessories to dry wall if they are not anchored in a joist because excess weight on the accessory may cause the screw to pull out of the drywall. Some accessories are attached to walls by adhesives and double sided tape. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0002]    According to an embodiment described herein, a bar that is to be attached to a wall includes two stanchions, each stanchion supporting a portion of an elongated piece that extends from one stanchion to the other. A supporting connector having a lower portion attaches to and extends upwardly from each of the stanchions and a portion above the lower portion. A horizontal support extends horizontally from the portion above the lower portion of the connector between the stanchions and is disposed a distance D 1  above each the stanchion. And, an adhesive is disposed beneath and attaches to the horizontal support and extends along a length thereof. 
         [0003]    According to a further embodiment described herein, an accessory that is to be attached to a wall has a stanchion supporting a piece extending from the stanchion, a supporting connector having a lower portion attaching to and extending upwardly from the stanchion and a portion above the lower portion, a horizontal support extending horizontally from the upper portion of the connector, and a tape disposed beneath and attaching to the horizontal support and extending along a length thereof 
         [0004]    According to a still further embodiment described herein, a bar that is to be attached to a wall has two stanchions, each stanchion supporting a portion of an elongated piece extending from one stanchion to the other. Each of a first and second supporting connector has a lower portion attaching to and extending upwardly from one of the stanchions and a portion above the lower portion. A first horizontal support extends horizontally from one of the portions above the lower portion of the connector between the stanchions. A second horizontal support extends horizontally from an other of the portions above the lower portion of the connector between the stanchions, wherein the first and second horizontal supports do not touch and wherein at least one of the first and second horizontal supports is disposed a distance D 1  above each the stanchion. And an adhesive is disposed beneath and attaching to each of the first and second horizontal supports and extending along lengths thereof. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0005]    The various features and advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the currently preferred embodiment. The drawings that accompany the detailed description can be briefly described as follows: 
           [0006]      FIG. 1  is a prior art depiction of a typical removable tape. 
           [0007]      FIG. 1A  represents two portions of  FIG. 1  taken along the lines  1 A 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a towel bar. 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  is a side view of the towel bar of  FIG. 2 . 
           [0010]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of another embodiment of a towel bar. 
           [0011]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a view of a further embodiment shown herein 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0012]    Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 1A , perspective view of a replaceable tape system  10  is shown. The system  10  shown herein is a 3M™ Dual Lock™ reclosable fastener that may be acquired from the 3M Corporation. Other attachment tapes, such as hook and loop tapes and adhesives, are also contemplated herein. 
         [0013]    The replaceable tape system  10  includes backing tape  15 , an outer adhesive layer  20 , an inner adhesive layer  25 , an inner releasable tape  30  having a plurality of mushroom-shaped heads  36  thereupon, and an outer releasable tape  35  having a plurality of mushroom-shaped heads  36  thereupon. The mushroom-shaped heads  36  extending from stems  37 . The mushroom shaped heads  36  have undersides  38  on releasable tape  30  that interlock with undersides  39  of mushroom heads  36  on releasable tape  35 . 
         [0014]    Typically, the backing tape  15  is removed from the inner adhesive layer  25  and attached to a surface (not shown) and then a fixture (not shown) is attached to the outer adhesive layer  20  at which point the fixture is removably affixed to the surface. To remove the fixture, the inner releasable tape  30  and outer releasable tape  35  may be pealed apart from the ends thereof. 
         [0015]    The inner and outer releasable tapes  30 ,  35  have good resistance to shear force, normal force and bending moments due to loads. However, the replaceable tape system  10  is not always usable with accessories, such as a towel bar, if higher loads are required to be supported by that accessory. While the accessory shown herein is a towel bar, other accessories such as robe hooks, toilet paper holders, towel rings etc, are contemplated herein. 
         [0016]    Referring now to  FIG. 2 , an accessory, such as towel bar  41  (e.g., an elongated piece), is shown. A bar  40  is held at either end by a stanchion  50  (e.g., a holder). The stanchions are attached together via a lower support  65  and to an upper support  55  via support connectors  60 . 
         [0017]    Referring now to  FIG. 3 , a side view of the towel bar  41  of  FIG. 2  is shown. Each stanchion  50  backs up onto lower support  65  and connector  60  attaches to the upper support  55 . The replaceable tape system  10  and its layers, adhesive layer  20 , inner releasable tape  30 , outer releasable tape  35 , and inner adhesive layer  25  attach to a piece of drywall  70 . Typically the drywall has a facing layer  75  made of paper, although other materials are known. The layers of the replaceable tape system  10  are exaggerated in dimension for ease of illustration. 
         [0018]    The towel bar extends a distance D 2  beyond the lower support  65  and the towel bar is approximately a distance D 1  below the center point  67  of the upper support  55 . Typically if the distance D 2  is 3 inches and the distance D 1  is 4½ inches, the towel bar will support 50 pounds. If the distance D 2  is reduced from 3 inches to 2½ inches, the upper stanchion support  55  the distance D 1  may only need to be 3¾ inches. The ratio of D 1  to D 2  is about 1.5:1. For example if the upper support  55  is 24″ long, the fixture will support 50 pounds of load and if the upper support  55  is 12″, for example, the fixture will support 25 pounds of load. If the distance D 2  is reduced from 3 inches to 2½ inches, the distance D 1  may only need to be 3¾ inches to support similar loads. The ratio of D 1  to D 2  is still about 1.5:1. 
         [0019]    The replaceable tape system  10  need only extend along the length of the upper support  55  to be effective to hold the required load. However, to stabilize the towel bar  41  if it experiences upward moments (e.g., if a user pulls a towel upwardly to remove it), the releasable tape system  10  can be also placed and directly behind (see  75  in  FIG. 3 ) each stanchion  45 ,  50  where they contact the lower support  65 . The placement of the releasable tape system  10  behind the right stanchion  50  and the left stanchion  45  prevents the towel bar from experiencing peal force that may separate the inner releasable tape  30  in the outer releasable tape  35 . 
         [0020]    The upper and lower supports  55  and the support connector  60  may be made of metal, plastic, or other rigid material so that the loads are borne on the releasable tape system  10  disposed under the upper support  65  and upper supports  65   a  and  65   b  as will be discussed infra. Though the upper and lower supports  55  and  65  are shown as separate pieces as are support connectors  60 , they may all be one broad piece. The releasable tape system  10  underneath the upper support  55  is typically one inch wide and runs the length of the upper support  55 . 
         [0021]    Referring now to  FIG. 4 , a second embodiment of a towel bar  87  is shown herein. In this embodiment, the lower support  65  is split into a left lower support  65   a  and a right lower support  65   b.  Similarly, the upper support  55  is split into a left upper support  55   a  and a right support  55   b.  Again, the tape is typically one inch wide and runs the length of  55   a  and  55   b . On the lower supports  65   a  and  65   b  the tape is only placed under the lower supports  65   a  and  65   b  where they contact stanchions  45 ,  50 . 
         [0022]    Referring now to  FIG. 5 , a further embodiment is shown herein. An accessory such as a robe hook  100 , which may be attached to a wall, has a stanchion  150  (e.g., a holder) attaching to an upper support  155  via a support connector  160 . A holder such as a hook  165  extends from the stanchion  150 . The holder may be any shape required to hold a particular article such as a robe, a hat, a strap or the like. As with the towel bar  41 , the system  10  is disposed between the stanchion  150  and a wall  70  (see  FIG. 3 ) and the upper support  155  and the wall  70 . 
         [0023]    Although a combination of features is shown in the illustrated examples, not all of them need to be combined to realize the benefits of various embodiments of this disclosure. In other words, a system designed according to an embodiment of this disclosure will not necessarily include all of the features shown in any one of the Figures or all of the portions schematically shown in the Figures. Moreover, selected features of one example embodiment may be combined with selected features of other example embodiments. 
         [0024]    The preceding description is exemplary rather than limiting in nature. Variations and modifications to the disclosed examples may become apparent to those skilled in the art that do not necessarily depart from the essence of this disclosure. The scope of legal protection given to this disclosure can only be determined by studying the following claims.