Patent ID: 7249744

Claim:
A mounting system for supporting a ceiling fan assembly of the type having a motor, a motor housing, a plurality of blades and a downrod, the mounting system comprising; (a) a mounting plate adapted to be coupled to a supporting surface, said mounting plate having at least one tab lock; (b) a rotatable mounting bracket having one end with three locking tabs configured to mate rotatably with said tab lock and an opposite end adapted to be coupled to the downrod, said mounting bracket opposite end has a beveled, trilobular opening therein and a trilobular downrod ball joint configured to reside within said beveled opening, and wherein each locking tab is radially aligned with one lobe of said trilobular ball joint; and (c) a canopy adapted to be mounted to said mounting plate, whereby an operator may couple the ceiling fan assembly to a support surface by mounting the mounting plate to the support surface and then simply coupling the mounting bracket to the mounting plate.