Abstract:
When a wall mounted telephone is removed from its mounting plate, the telephone wall plate and jack remains and this is unsightly. The frame of the present invention allows the telephone plate to remain, but be obscured. The frame assembly includes a removable, transparent cover that releasably attaches to a base member and a photograph, a drawing, other graphic decorative material or written indicia is sandwiched therebetween.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]    The present application is a non-provisional filing based upon Provisional Application No. 61/421708, filed Dec. 10, 2010, and the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]    This invention relates generally to decorative frames for graphic works and more particularly to a frame device for concealing unattractive electrical wall plates. 
       DISCUSSION OF THE PRIOR ART  
       [0003]    With the advent of the cell phone, more and more homeowners and business establishments are dispensing with their landlines as a cost saving measure. Many such landline phones have been wall mounted where a rectangular plate having a conventional phone jack is affixed by screws to a wall surface and a telephone base unit is suspended from a pair of studs that project out from the surface of the wall plate. When the wall phone is no longer used, the wall plate is often left in place to obviate the need to patch or otherwise repair a hole in the wall surface where the phone line exits the interior of the wall to connect to the phone jack on the plate. 
         [0004]    While it is recognized that the conventional phone electrical wall plate is not particularly attractive, a need exists for a way to conceal the wall plate in a way that enhances a room decor. The present invention fulfills this need. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    The present invention comprises a decorative covering assembly for hiding an electrical outlet plate on a room wall and comprises a generally rectangular base member having a convex front surface and a concave rear surface along with a correspondingly shape transparent cover member having an arcuate curvature conforming to the convex front surface of the base member. Projecting from the concave rear surface of the base member is a mounting bracket for suspending the assembly from a bolt or a stud of the electrical outlet plate with which it is to be used and designed such that the electrical outlet plate remains completely hidden. Viewable through the transparent cover is a replaceable decorative sheet, such as a photograph, wallpaper pattern, event calendar or any other alphanumeric or graphic images. 
     
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]    The foregoing features, objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment, especially when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like numerals in the several views refer to corresponding parts. 
           [0007]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the invention; 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view thereof; 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional view taken on line  3 - 3  of  FIG. 1 ; and 
           [0010]      FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view taken on line  4 - 4  of  FIG. 1 . 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0011]    This description of the preferred embodiments is intended to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings, which are to be considered part of the entire written description of this invention. In the description, relative terms such as “lower”, “upper”, “horizontal”, “vertical”, “above”, “below”, “up”, “down”, “top” and “bottom” as well as derivatives thereof (e.g., “horizontally”, “downwardly”, inwardly, “upwardly”, etc.) should be construed to refer to the orientation as then described or as shown in the drawings under discussion. These relative terms are for convenience of description and do not require that the apparatus be constructed or operated in a particular orientation. Terms such as “connected”, “connecting”, “attached”, “attaching”, “join” and “joining” are used interchangeably and refer to one structure or surface being secured to another structure or surface or integrally fabricated in one piece, unless expressively described otherwise. 
         [0012]    Referring to  FIG. 1  the decorative frame comprising the present invention is referred to generally by numeral  10  and includes a transparent cover  12  that removably connects to a base member  14  by means of resilient clasps  16  integrally formed with the cover  12  on opposed side edges thereof. The cover  12  is preferably fabricated from a transparent plastic, such as methyl methacrylate. The base member  14  is preferably an opaque plastic formed in an injection molding operation. 
         [0013]    As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , there is disposed between the cover  12  and the base member  14  a decorative substrate  18  which may comprise any one of a number of decorative media including, but not limited to, a photograph, apiece of wallpaper matching the pattern on a wall surrounding an area on which the frame of  FIG. 1  is affixed, written information such as emergency phone numbers, an instruction to babysitters or any other pictorial or alphanumeric indicia desired. The cover, being transparent, allows viewing of the substrate that is sandwiched between the cover  12  and the base member  14 . 
         [0014]    Referring next to  FIG. 2 , the exploded view reveals that the transparent cover  12  is generally rectangular in its plan view but exhibits a convex outer surface and a concave inner surface. Likewise, the base member  14  has an arcuate cross section conforming in its curvature to that of the cover  12 . The base member  14  includes notches, as at  20 , that are adapted to be aligned with the clasp  16  on the transparent cover  12  and when the cover  12  and the base  14  are squeezed together, the barb  17  on the clasp  16  snaps in place to grip and hold the cover to the base member. 
         [0015]    With continued reference to  FIG. 2 , integrally molded on the concave rear surface is a protuberance in the form of a hollow, generally rectangular, parallelepiped shaped mount  22  that has an open bottom and a longitudinally extending slot  23  formed through the thickness dimension of a rear surface  21  thereof. The slot  23  is aligned with a longitudinal center line of the assembly when the cover  12  is secured to the base member  14 . 
         [0016]    Also illustrated in  FIG. 2  is a telephone wall plate  24  which is conventionally formed from metal and which includes a screw or a stud  25  extending outwardly therefrom on which the base unit of a wall mounted telephone is typically suspended. The telephone base unit cradles a telephone handset when not in use, The wall plate  24  includes a jack or a socket  30  designed to accommodate a phone plug  26  having contacts (not shown) that mate with contacts in the jack  30 . Extending from the phone plug  26  is a short length of multi conductor cord  28  that has a connector (not shown) that is adapted to mate with a telephone base unit in a manner well known to those skilled in the art, 
         [0017]    Referring to the cross sectional view of  FIG. 3 , it can be seen how the frame assembly of the present invention can be suspended from the screw or stud  25  forming a part of the telephone wall plate assembly  24 . The screw or stud  25  extends outward slightly from the exposed face surface of the plate  24  allowing the mount  22  to slip over the exposed portion of the screw or stud and because the head on the screw or stud  25  is of a larger diameter than the width of the slot  23 , the frame assembly including the cover  12 , the decorative substrate  18  and the base member  14  are vertically and securely suspended in covering relation to the telephone wall plate  24 . In this arrangement, the plug  26  and the cord  28  have been removed from the jack  30 . Because of the manner in which the base member  14  and cover  12  are curved, the side edges of the base member  14  can contact the wall surrounding the plate  24  to thereby completely obscure the edge surfaces of the telephone wall plate  24 . 
         [0018]    The cross sectional view of  FIG. 4  is provided to show the manner in which the cover  12  fits onto the base member  14  with the substrate  18  sandwiched therebetween. The barb  17  on the clasp  16  is sufficiently flexible to deflect without breaking as the cover is assembled onto the base unit or removed therefrom. 
         [0019]    While the present invention has been shown and described in connection with a wall mount telephone plate, those skilled in the art can appreciate that the frame arrangement of the present invention may just as well be used with electrical fittings on a wall, such as an AC outlet and on/off switch. Hence, the use of the term “electric outlet plate” is intended to include not only wall mount telephone plates, but also cover plates for electrical wall outlets and switches used to control the on/off state of an electrical circuit. 
         [0020]    This invention has been described herein in considerable detail in order to comply with the patent statutes and to provide those skilled in the art with the information needed to apply the novel principles and to construct and use such specialized components as are required. However, it is to be understood that the invention can be carried out by specifically different equipment and devices, and that various modifications, both as to the equipment and operating procedures, can be accomplished without departing from the scope of the invention itself.