Patent Publication Number: US-6663075-B2

Title: Height adjustable picture hanger

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation-in-part of prior filed U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/783,267 filed Feb. 12, 2001, now abandoned and claims the benefit thereof under 35 USC 120. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present invention relates to wall mounted picture hangers and, more specifically, to wall a mounted picture hanger with a height adjustable hook. 
     2. Related Art 
     Wall mounted adjustable picture and mirror hangers are old. Generally, such hangers can be divided between those that have one unit fixed to the wall and a second unit fixed to the back of the picture and those that have a first unit fixed to the wall and a second adjustable unit movably mounted on the first unit. In the first type of hangers, the second unit travels on and is supported by the first unit, see for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,432,206; 2,569,622; 2,943,831; 2,975,994; 3,285,549; 4,228,982; 5,878,987; 6,032,915; and 6,095,479. In the second type of picture hanger, the second unit has a hook from which the picture hangs by means of wire conventionally attached to the back of the picture. This second type of hanger is exemplified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,182,702; 4,892,284; and 6,003,825. 
     The second type of picture hanger is preferable over the first type because most pictures are mounted in frame and have wire attached to the back of the frame for hanging the picture from the wall. Thus, only one step is necessary to employ the hanger, i.e. attach the hanger to the wall. 
     There is a need for a simple height adjustable picture hanger which is easy to attach to the wall and has a hook which is adjustable in height and from which a picture can be conventionally hung by means of wire. 
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     A height adjustable picture hanger has now been discovered that is easy to attach to the wall and has a vertically adjustable hook. The present invention is employed for both pictures and mirrors which have a wire, hole or hook on the back to which the hook of the present invention is attached. 
     It has been discovered that a simple height adjustable picture hanger can be made by employing two opposed vertical oriented crenelated tracks which are affixed to the wall in conjunction with two biased, crenelated cars which travel in the crenelated tracks. The cars are housed in a frame which keeps the cars horizontally aligned with each other and allows for horizontal movement of the cars. A hook is attached to the frame. The hook attaches to the wire, hole, or hook of the picture. The frame moves vertically with the cars while maintaining the horizontal alignment of the cars in the tracks. The frame also prevents the cars from falling forward out of the tracks. 
     By moving the cars in the tracks, the hook moves vertically, thereby providing height adjustment for the picture or mirror. The use of a crenelate track with crenelate cars housed in a frame provide stability to the picture hanger. 
     Broadly, the present invention is a height adjustable picture hanger comprising: two opposed, vertically oriented, crenelated tracks which are affixed to the wall; two opposed spring biased cars positioned between the tracks, each car has a crenelated surface that mates with one of the crenelated tracks, the cars being movable along the tracks; a frame positioned between said tracks, housing said cars and movable therewith; and a hook attached to said frame and movable therewith. 
     The term “crenelated” as used herein means a straight surface with evenly spaced and dimensioned teeth. The tracks have a plurality of such teeth while each car has at least one and preferably two, three or four teeth. 
     Preferably, stability is provided to the present invention by employing a back plate which is affixable to the wall and on which the tracks are mounted. The back plate provides stability to the tracks as well as the overall hanger. 
     The frame which houses the cars can take the form of a block or a plate hereinafter referred to as a traveling block or a traveling plate. 
     In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the hanger employs a back plate which is attachable to a wall; a channel which is vertically oriented and centrally located in the back plate, both ends of the channel being closed; a rod which is centrally located in said channel and extended between both ends of the channel; and a traveling block which is positioned in the channel and having a hole therethrough in which the rod passes, the block is vertically movable on said rod. The block is the frame and is attached to the hook and houses the cars while the tracks are attached to the back plate and positioned on either side of the channel. 
     In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the hanger employs a back plate which is attached to the wall and on which the tracks are mounted, the tracks are spaced away from the back plate thereby providing a space therebetween; and a traveling plate attached to the hook, houses the cars and extends into the space between the tracks and back plate. 
     The traveling block provides stability in combination with a vertically oriented rod. The rod is attached to the back plate and the traveling block is affixed to and movable along the rod through a hole within the traveling block. Thus, the cars cannot be removed from the picture hanger by the weight of a picture or mirror. 
     The traveling plate provides stability since it is positioned between the back plate and the crenelated tracks. When such an arrangement is utilized, the weight of a picture or mirror cannot disengage the cars from the picture hanger, since the cars are interconnected to the traveling plate, and the traveling plate always remains between the back plate and the crenelated tracks. 
     Preferably, the back plate of the picture hanger of the present invention has one or more holes through which a screw can pass so as to affix the hanger to the wall. If one single hole is used, it is suitably positioned half-way across the back plate in the upper half of the back plate so as to affix the picture hanger evenly (horizontally level) to the wall. Alternatively, when the back plate is not present, the crenelated tracks can be directly attached to the wall by screws passing through holes in the crenelated tracks. 
     Preferably, the picture hanger of the present invention has four holes positioned around the back plate through which a screw can pass so as to affix the hanger to the wall. 
     More preferably, the picture hanger of the present invention has a bubble gauge. The bubble gauge affixes to the back plate and allows the user to insure that the hanger is horizontally level. 
     In a preferred embodiment, the present invention is a wall mounted picture hanger having a height adjustable hook which comprises: a back plate attachable to a wall; a channel is vertically oriented and centrally located in the back plate, both ends of the channel are closed; a rod is centrally located in the channel and extends between both ends of the channel; two opposed, vertically oriented, crenelated tracks are mounted on the back plate on either side of the channel; a traveling block is positioned in the channel and has a hole therethrough in which said rod passes, said block is vertically movable on said rod; two spring biased cars are housed in the block and positioned between the crenelated tracks, each of the cars having a crenelated surface which mates with one of the crenelated tracks; and a hook is affixed to the block for hanging a picture therefrom. 
     In another preferred embodiment, the wall mounted picture hanger of the present invention comprises: a back plate attachable to a wall; two opposed, vertically oriented, crenelated tracks mounted on said back plate and spaced away from said back plate so as to create a space between said back plate and said tracks; a traveling plate positioned between said crenelated tracks and extending into the space between said back plate and said tracks and vertically movable therein; two, spring biased cars housed in said traveling plate and positioned between said crenelated tracks, each of said cars having a crenelated surface which mates with one of said crenelated tracks; and a hook affixed to said traveling plate for hanging a picture therefrom. 
     These and other aspects of the present invention may be more fully understood by reference to the following drawings and the detailed description of the invention. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 illustrates a front view of one embodiment of the picture hanger of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 illustrates a top view of the hanger taken along line  2 — 2  of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 illustrates a front view of the back plate with the channel, the rod, the gauge and the two crenelated tracks; 
     FIG. 4 illustrates a top view of the hook, traveling block, and two crenelated cars; 
     FIG. 5 illustrates the traveling block; 
     FIG. 6 illustrates the two crenelated cars with coil springs therebetween; 
     FIG. 7 illustrates the traveling block with cars; 
     FIG. 8 illustrates a front view of another embodiment of the picture hanger of the present invention; 
     FIG. 9 illustrates a top view of the hanger taken along lines  9 — 9  of FIG. 8; 
     FIG. 10 illustrates a top view of another embodiment of the hanger of FIG. 8; 
     FIG. 11 illustrates a front view of the hanger of FIG. 8 without the longitudinal holes and without the tabs; 
     FIG. 12 illustrates a top view of the hanger of FIG. 11 taken along lines  12 — 12 ; and 
     FIG. 13 illustrates a front view of a traveling plate. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION 
     In FIG. 1, picture hanger  10  has a back plate  12  which has four holes  14  in the frame for attachment of plate  12  to the wall. Plate  12  has bubble gauge  16  for horizontally orienting picture hanger  10 . In the center of plate  12  is located channel  18  in which rod  20  resides. Bordered on either side of channel  18  are crenelated or toothed tracks  22  which are mounted on back plate  12  by screws  23 . Residing in and movable in channel  18  is traveling block  30 . Screws, not shown, can be used in holes  14  to affix hanger  10  to a wall. 
     FIG. 2 is a top view taken along lines  2 — 2  of FIG.  1 . As shown in FIG. 2, block  30  extends into channel  18 . Rod  20  passes through hole  36  of traveling block  30 . 
     FIG. 3 illustrates a front view of the back plate  12  without traveling block  30  therein. 
     FIGS. 4 through 7 illustrate the various elements associated with traveling block  30 . FIG. 4 is a top view of traveling block  30  while FIGS. 5 through 7 illustrate the different parts associated with traveling block  30 . 
     Traveling block  30  comprises frame section  32  with back block  34  that extends into and travels in channel  18 . Back block  34  has hole  36  for accommodating rod  20 . Inside of frame section  32  resides two spring biased crenelated cars  38  which are forced outward by coil springs  40 . Each one of cars  38  has teeth  42  which match the teeth in tracks  22 . Cars  38  have finger grips  44  which allow the user to compress springs  40  and disengage teeth  42  from the teeth of tracks  22 , thereby allowing the vertical movement of traveling block  30 , cars  38  and hook  50 . Positioned on the outside of block  30  is hook  50 . Hook  50  is attached to front plate  52  of frame section  32  while back block  34  is attached to the back of frame section  32 . 
     Front plate  52  extends over one side of each of cars  38  as shown in FIG. 4 so as to maintain cars  38  in traveling block  30 . The horizontal ledges  33  of frame section  32  maintain the horizontal orientation of cars  38  while allowing cars  38  to move horizontally when the user compresses springs  40  using grips  44 . 
     FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate picture hanger  60  with back plate  62  and tracks  64  positioned away from the face of plate  62  to create space  65 . Traveling plate  70  with extensions  74  move in space  65  therebetween. Each track  64  has longitudinal holes  66  in which tabs  76  travel. Tabs  76  are affixed to extensions  74 . Tabs  76  and holes  66  help maintain alignment between plate  70  and tracks  64 . Longitudinal guide holes  66  extend through tracks  64 , however, they need not extend completely through tracks  64  but can be channels  68  as shown in FIG.  10 . Alternatively, no longitudinal holes  66  and no tabs  76  are employed as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12. 
     Tracks  64  are attached at either end to back plate  62  by screws  69  or other conventional means. 
     As illustrated in FIGS. 11 and 12, tracks  64  have no longitudinal hole and traveling plate  62  has no tabs. 
     In FIG. 11, picture hanger  60  has a back plate  62  which has one single hole  84  positioned half-way across back plate  62  in order to properly align picture hanger  60 . 
     Crenelated tracks  64  as shown in FIGS. 8 and 11 can be alternatively mounted directly to the wall using screws  69  without the need for back plate  62 . With such an arrangement, the wall performs a similar function to back plate  62 , i.e., crenelated tracks  62  are screwed into the wall, and traveling plate  70  moves between crenelated tracks  64  and the wall. 
     FIGS. 8-12 illustrate tracks  64  which have an L-shaped cross-section and screws  69  are moved horizontally outward not in line with space  65 . 
     As shown in FIG. 13, traveling plate  70  has frame section  71  which is C-shaped in cross-section. Each end of frame section  71  is U-shaped  72  to provide an upper and lower channel in which cars  38  ride horizontally. Hook  50  is mounted on frame section  71 . 
     As can be seen in FIGS. 8 and 11, hook  50  extends outward from frame section  71  between springs  40 . 
     As shown in FIG. 12, the top and bottom of space  65  is open to allow extensions  74  to enter and exit. Tabs  76  can be removable, allowing traveling plate  70  with cars  38  to be moved onto and removed from tracks  64 . 
     Finger grips  44  can be small finger grips  44  as shown in FIGS. 8-10 or can be the majority of car  38  as shown in FIGS. 11-12. 
     As will be appreciated, traveling block  30  or plate  70  can be formed as one piece. 
     Suitably, the hanger of the present invention is small enough to fit behind and be hidden by the picture. Suitably, the back plate and, thus, the overall dimensions of the unit, are about four (4) inches in height, about three (3) inches in width, and no more than one (1) inch thick. Since both the size and weight of pictures and mirrors can vary, the dimensions of the hanger of the present invention can vary. 
     The hanger of the present invention can be made from any conventional material such as plastic or metal, however, metal is preferred for strength. 
     It will be understood that the claims are intended to cover all changes and modifications of the preferred embodiments of the invention herein chosen for the purpose of illustration which do not constitute a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention.