Patent Abstract:
A mountable bracket for hanging strands of decorative lights through a cylindrical hook with flared ends which permit the unhindered movement of the light strands through the cylindrical hook. The bracket may be remotely attached and detached to a gutter along a roof through the use of an attachment device attached to a painter&#39;s pole which couples with the bracket.

Full Description:
FIELD 
       [0001]    This system relates to brackets used for stringing rope-like decorations along rooflines. More specifically, this system relates to brackets used for stringing strands of lights along roof-lines while standing on the ground and methods of using the bracket. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    The stringing of Christmas lights or other decorations along rooflines has become common in the United States. This activity requires climbing a ladder and manually attaching the decorations to either the gutter or the roof and can be dangerous, especially in the winter months or when it is conditions are damp. Ideally it would be safer if the person hanging the decorations could install a hanging bracket and the lights from the ground. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0003]    The disclosed system is a bracket that can be attached the lip of a gutter bracket or similar support member by sliding the bracket down upon the gutter lip using an extension pole having a male coupling at the distal end which engages a female coupling at the top of the gutter bracket. The bracket possesses a partially annular tubular hanger formed from the bottom of the proximal wall of the bracket by curling the bottom away from the gutter and back toward the gutter. The first and second ends of the partial annular receptacle are flared outward so as to curl the edges away from the strand and facilitate the movement of the decoration strand laterally through the partial annular tube. 
         [0004]    The strand of decorations can be threaded through the annular receptacle prior to hanging. Upon hanging, the strand of decorations can be pulled tight laterally to minimize drooping of the strand. The flared ends of the partial annular tube 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0005]      FIG. 1  depicts a side perspective view of a mountable hook. 
           [0006]      FIG. 2  depicts a perspective view of a mountable hook with an embodiment of a female coupling and matched male coupling on an installation device. 
           [0007]      FIG. 3  depicts depicts a perspective view of a mountable hook with an embodiment of a female coupling and matched male coupling on an installation device. 
           [0008]      FIG. 4  depicts an embodiment of an installation device. 
           [0009]      FIG. 5  depicts a telescoping pole with a threaded male coupling for mating with the installation device. 
           [0010]      FIG. 6  depicts a telescoping pole coupled to an installation device preparing to engage a mountable hook for placement on a gutter lip. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0011]    The mountable hook  1 , as depicted in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , is, in appearance, generally a curved planar shape constructed from a semi-rigid material folded back upon itself along a first arcuate fold  4  so as to create a mounting clip portion oriented at the rear of the mountable hook and folded back upon itself at arcuate fold  8  to form a hook portion oriented at the front of the mountable hook. A first arcuate fold  4  comprises the mounting clip portion possesses a support retention channel  6  to at least partially enclose a support member  12  onto which the mountable hook is attached and a support passage channel  5  through which the support member  12  passes so as to be received into the support retention channel  6 . Preferably the semi-rigid material from which the mountable hook  1  is constructed is flexible to the extent that the first arcuate fold  4  comprising the mounting clip portion permits the proximal wall  2  and distal wall  3  of the mounting clip portion to articulate apart from each other about the first arcuate fold  4  so as to permit the mountable hook  1  to slide over a support member  12  as it passes through the support passage channel  5 . Once the support member  12  of greater diameter than the support passage channel  5  enters the support retention channel  6 , the proximal wall  2  and distal wall  3  of the mountable hook  1  return to their original position due to the tension created along the point of rotation of the proximal wall  2  and distal wall  3  of the mountable hook  1  along the first arcuate fold  4 . 
         [0012]    The second arcuate fold  8  is made at the bottom of the proximal wall  2  of the mountable hook  1  and creates a “hook” or article retention channel  7  at the front of the mountable hook  1  by curling the semi-rigid material forward, up, and back toward the proximal wall  2  so as to form an article retention channel  7 . In one preferred embodiment, the first arcuate fold  4  is shaped to allow retention of the lip of a common roof gutter. Further embodiments possess clamping areas of various sizes and geometries beneath the first arcuate fold  4  so as to facilitate the placement of the mountable hook  1  on tree limbs, tent supports, street lamps, and similar structures. Preferably, the article retention channel  7  acts to inhibit an article from inadvertently being removed by requiring the proximal hook wall  9  of the article retention channel  7  to be articulated away from the proximal wall  2  of the mounting clip so as to enlarge the retention channel passage  10 . 
         [0013]    The hook, as defined by  7 ,  8 ,  9 , and  10  of the mountable hook  1  preferably possesses at least one outwardly flared end  11  to facilitate the passage of articles through the article retention channel  7 . The flared end  11  facilitates the passage of articles such as strands of Christmas lights wherein the article is fashioned as a substantially smooth, rope-like structure bearing protruding attachments that could get caught on a non-flared edge if pulled through the article retention channel  7  and result in damage the retained article. 
         [0014]    The flared end  11  of the hook is outwardly flared so as to create a smooth hook lip  11  which prevents the presentation of the otherwise blunt edges of the hook to the strand of lights, roped decorations, or wires so as to facilitate the movement of a strand laterally through the hook when pulled to minimize drooping between installed mountable hooks. The flaring of the hook is present across at least the bottom portion one end of the proximal hook wall  9 . 
         [0015]    A hollow, roughly conical female coupling  15  is affixed to the top of the first arcuate fold  4 . The female coupling  15  is oriented to proximally present the female coupling entrance  16 , which is preferably larger in cross-sectional area than the rest of said female coupling  15  and becomes progressively smaller along the length of the female coupling  15 , reaching a point of smallest cross-sectional area or diameter at the female coupling end  17  so as to facilitate a snug friction fit arrangement. 
         [0016]    The mountable hook  1  is placed onto a support member  12  such as a gutter lip or tree limb. The clip installation device  50  possesses a male coupling  40  at its distal end which is inserted laterally into the female coupling entrance  16  female coupling  15  of the mountable hook  1 . The interior surface of the female coupling  15  and/or the surface of the male coupling  40  may optionally be coated with rubber or a similar material to increase friction between the male  40  and female  15  couplings so as to inhibit their unintentional decoupling. Ideally both the female  15  and male  40  couplings are conical in shape with the female coupling  15  being a hollow frustum of a cone and the male coupling being  40  a frustum of a cone so that the male coupling  40  mates with the female coupling  15  and is guided within by the progressively decreasing cross-sectional area created by the inner surface of the female coupling  15  when the female coupling  15  is oriented so as to present its largest cross-sectional area proximally. Alternatively, as shown in  FIG. 3 , other geometric shapes can be substituted for the male coupling  40  and female coupling  15 . Additionally, the male  40  and/or female  15  couplings can be magnetic. 
         [0017]    The proximal end of the clip installation device  50  possesses a means for coupling the device to an extension support  45  such as a common painter&#39;s pole. Ideally this would be an annular, threaded female painter&#39;s pole coupling  45  which would mate with the annular, threaded male painter&#39;s pole coupling of a commonly available painter&#39;s pole or telescoping extension pole. The male coupling  40  of the clip installation device  50  is preferably oriented at an obtuse angle to the male installation pole coupling  45  so as to facilitate its use at an obtuse angle when the user is situated on the ground and the target roof gutter is several feet above and in front of the user. 
         [0018]    The clip installation device  50  is optionally comprised of an male coupling  40  joined to an installation arm  42  and a means for coupling the installation device to an extension support  45  joined to a support arm  47  so as to articulate about an installation arm-support arm joint  60 . The installation arm  42  possesses a male coupling end  41  and a support arm  43  joint end. The support arm  47  possesses an installation arm joint end  46  which joins with the installation arm-support arm joint  60  and an extension support end  48  which joins with the means for coupling the installation device to an extension support  45 . 
         [0019]    The installation arm-support arm joint  60  is comprised of two opposing joint components, an installation arm joint component  62  and a support arm joint component  64 . Each joint component  62 ,  64  has a joint surface  63  which mate along the joint surface interface  66 . The installment arm  42  and support arm  47  are preferably joined across their joint surfaces  63  by a threaded fastener  65  across their mated joint surfaces  63 . Also, each joint component  62 ,  64  has a fastener hole  69  through which the threaded fastener  65  passes. Preferably, one of the two fastener holes  69  is threaded to receive the threaded fastener  65 . 
         [0020]    The joint  60  may be immobilized by tightening the fastener so as to inhibit articulation about the point of rotation once a desired angular relationship between the installation arm  42  and the support arm  47  is achieved. In a friction fit arrangement, the joint  60  need not be be tightened so as to completely prevent movement across the joint  60 , but can be tightened sufficiently to stabilize the angular relationship between the installation arm  42  and the support arm  47  yet loose enough so as to move if sufficient pressure is applied to permit the user to adjust the joint  60  angle through pressure applied from the end of the installation pole  80 , preferably a telescoping pole as depicted in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , coupled to the installation device  50 , preferably by a threaded female coupling  49  designed to receive a threaded male coupling  82  such as on the distal end of a painter&#39;s pole  80 . Additional embodiments may take advantage of other useful stops known in the art such as set screws and mated three dimensional topographies such as teeth. Further embodiments incorporate stops to limit articulation to a useful range of joint  60  angles.

Technology Classification (CPC): 5