None.
None.
None.
This invention relates to ready-to-assemble components used in adjustable bracket assemblies for adapting to and connecting one or more substantially external assemblies defined by the particular utility of the overall assembly. Such ready-to-assemble components can be typically, but not exclusively, employed with a plurality of elongated, elongated oriented support members.
Adjustable height supports and bracketing are well known in the art and typically comprise an upright or support member, some separate assembly for supporting a platform or similar assembly, apparatus for moving the separate assembly along the upright or support member, and an assembly for securing the upright or support member.
Designing and assembling these elements is ordinarily complicated since dimensions, load factors, code requirements, and aesthetics converge to present brackets which are labor and component intensive. Often bracketing assemblies will have many component parts and require several tools for assembly. Moreover, with current technology, bracket assembly requires more than one person and is time consuming.
Many ready to assemble bracket assemblies utilize location dependent uprights or support members that multiply the effort needed to design and assembly the bracketing components and that intensify the complexity of the process.
Presently most bracketing assemblies are installed by the seller because of the complexity of assembling. Thus, many bracketing assemblies are handled fully or most fully assembled which presents bulky cargo that takes up considerable amount of space and is difficult to transport.
Additionally, when one part of a piece of bracketing assembly is damaged, often the entire product must be returned instead of the damaged part. For example, when an upright or support member fails or is defective, often the entire bracketing assembly must be replaced.
The present invention relates to adjustable bracketing assemblies that can be employed readily over a wide array of bracketing applications to securely connect a variety of support members to external assemblies, while still satisfying the complement of requirements presented by dimensions, load factors, codes, and design preferences. Furthermore, the bracketing apparatus disclosed and claimed herein has been fashioned in such a manner as to maximize its utility over a broad range of applications, while minimizing the labor, parts and tools required for implementation. Since the apparatus is characterized by its universality and relative simplicity and ease of installation, it serves to fulfill both original and retrofit bracketing applications. The adjustability feature of the apparatus means that less “design customizing” is required for a given installation, thus leading to demonstrable cost savings.
The adjustable bracketing assembly includes connector apparatus for mounting and securing external assemblies on an elongated support member, and allowing for positional adjustment of the secured external assembly about the elongated support member longitudinal axis, and angular rotational positioning of the bracketing assembly about the elongated support member.
An adjustable connector and locking assembly is disposed at the end of an arm element embodiment of the adjustable bracketing assembly providing 360 degree rotational positioning of the external assembly about the arm element end, and whereby the external assembly may be selectively, alternatively positioned in a plurality of angular orientations orthogonally relative to an elongated support member.
An object of the adjustable bracketing assembly is to provide an adjustable bracket which offers great flexibility to the fabricator and/or installer concerning the positioning of the adjustable bracket with respect to a support counter or surface for the assembled adjustable bracket.
Another object of the adjustable bracketing assembly is to provide an adjustable bracket wherein an attached and supported panel may be set at a fixed height with at least one plane containing the panel being angularly adjustable, the height of the panel height of the panel may be adjustable, and/or the position of the panel may be adjustable within the plane which contains it.
A further object of the adjustable bracketing assembly is to provide an adjustable bracket including a series of end-to-end attached and supported panels arranged on a counter having a length which requires that more than one panel be used, and wherein successive panels may be adjusted to heights and angles different from adjacent panels.
It is a further object to provide an adjustable bracketing assembly which may be readily mounted on existing installations.
It is an additional object of the adjustable bracketing assembly is to provide an adjustable bracket which holds at least one adjustable panel and wherein the adjustable bracket(s) is/are mounted on at least one elongated support member, and each adjustable bracket provides adjustable positioning 360 degrees on the elongated support member without detachment from the elongated support member.
While the apparatus has been, or will be, described for the sake of grammatical fluidity with functional explanations, it is to be expressly understood that the claims, unless expressly formulated under 35 USC 112, are not to be construed as necessarily limited in any way by the construction of “means” or “steps” limitations, but are to be accorded the full scope of the meaning and equivalents of the definition provided by the claims under the judicial doctrine of equivalents, and in the case where the claims are expressly formulated under 35 U.S.C. §112 are to be accorded full statutory equivalents under 35 U.S.C. §112.
Any feature or combination of features described herein are included within the scope of the adjustable bracketing assembly provided that the features included in any such combination are not mutually inconsistent as will be apparent from the context, this specification, and the knowledge of one skilled in the art. For purposes of summarizing the adjustable bracketing assembly, certain aspects, advantages and novel features of the adjustable bracketing assembly are described herein. Of course, it is to be understood that not necessarily all such aspects, advantages or features will be embodied in any particular embodiment of the adjustable bracketing assembly. Additional features, advantages, objects and aspects of the adjustable bracketing assembly are apparent in the following detailed description, accompanying drawings, and claims that follow.
The above stated features, aspects, and advantages of the adjustable bracketing assembly will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings as further described.
Referring now to
Embodiments of the adjustable bracket assembly, 10, 12 and 14, include a cylindrical base 20 having a central longitudinal axis, a cylindrical base internal portion 24, and a cylindrical base external end 22,
Embodiments of the adjustable bracket assembly, 10 and 12, further include at least one cylindrical center portion 30 having a central longitudinal axis and an arm 44 affixed orthogonally to the central longitudinal axis,
Embodiments of the adjustable bracket assembly 14 further include at least one cylindrical center portion 30A having a central longitudinal axis and an arm 44A affixed orthogonally to the central longitudinal axis,
An embodiment of the adjustable bracket assembly 10 includes a cylindrical base 20 having an upper end and a lower end, with the lower end including a threaded aperture. The lower end is sized to be received and housed within an elongated support member 500 and the lower end threaded aperture is sized to be affixed to a threaded fastener within the elongated support member,
An embodiment of the adjustable bracket assembly 10 further includes two abutting cylindrical center portions 30 on the cylindrical base internal portion 24,
An embodiment of the adjustable bracket assembly 10 further includes a cylindrical ring portion 32 having a central longitudinal axis and abutting a cylindrical center portion 30 on the cylindrical base internal portion 24,
Embodiments of the adjustable bracket assembly, 10 and 12, further include a cap element 50 having a central longitudinal axis and an aperture centered on the central longitudinal axis sized to receive a threaded fastener 52,
Embodiments of the adjustable bracket assembly, 10 and 12, include a pair of clamp members positionable on opposed sides of a panel to clamp the panel there between, the clamp members having flat panel engagement surfaces disposed on opposed sides of the panel. These clamp members have a disc-like configuration and have flat panel engagement surfaces.
Embodiments of the adjustable bracket assembly, 10 and 12, provide clamp members communicating with an end of the arm portion 44. The clamp members include a rotatable head portion 100 having a locking top member 102 to secure a surface such that the surface is rotatable 360 degrees about central axis 42 of arm portion 44,
Embodiments of the adjustable bracket assembly 14 provide at least one slotted assembly 120 communicating with an end of the arm portion 44A,
An embodiment of the adjustable bracket assembly includes a secured surface 200 that is translatable in a direction transverse to an axis of rotation of the clamp members about the secured end of the arm portion 44 by varying the size and geometric aspect of the opening in the secured surface 200 to accommodate the clamp member fastener 110,
It will be appreciated that the lock arrangements shown in
An embodiment of the adjustable bracket assembly 14 includes a secured surface 200 that is translatable in a direction transverse to an axis of rotation of the slotted assembly 120 about the secured end of the arm portion 44A when the secured surface 200 is sufficiently released by adjustment of threaded fastener 126, and re-securing the assembly by tightening the threaded fastener 126 once (i) the desired secured surface 200 movement within the boundaries of the slotted assembly 120 and adjustable bracket assembly 14 according to the size and geometric aspect of the secured surface 200, and (ii) the desired configuration of the secured surface 200 has been attained,
It will be appreciated that the lock arrangements shown in
Some embodiments of an adjustable bracket assembly provide a translucent secured planar and/or non-planar surfaces. Some embodiments of an adjustable bracket assembly provide a translucent secured planar and/or non-planar panel surface made of glass.
Accordingly embodiments of an adjustable bracket assembly are provided to mount and secure external assemblies on at least one elongated support member. The adjustable bracket assembly I 0, 12 or 14 embodiments allow positional adjustment of the secured external assembly orthogonally relative the elongated, elongated support member 500 with 360 degree rotational positioning of the bracketing assembly 10, 12 or 14 about at least one elongated support member 500. An adjustable connector and locking assembly is disposed at the end of an arm element 44 of embodiment of the adjustable bracketing assembly 10 or 12, or a slotted assembly 120 is disposed at the end of an arm element 44A of embodiments of the adjustable bracketing assembly 14, allowing 360 degree rotational positioning about the longitudinal axis 42 or 42A of the arm element 44 or 44A and translation transverse to the axis of rotation. In this fashion, some embodiments of the adjustable bracket assembly 10, 12 or 14 are configured to provide lengths of adjustable planar or non-planar surfaces between at least two elongated support members 500, or among a plurality of elongated support members 500.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
54248 | Eddy | Apr 1866 | A |
147362 | Boudren | Feb 1874 | A |
255123 | Starrett | Mar 1882 | A |
257646 | Beseler | May 1882 | A |
342650 | Smith | May 1886 | A |
369143 | White | Aug 1887 | A |
369971 | Stillman | Sep 1887 | A |
384784 | Pihl | Jun 1888 | A |
406299 | Overpack | Jul 1889 | A |
423434 | Lotto | Mar 1890 | A |
432614 | Hendrick | Jul 1890 | A |
462319 | Loehner et al. | Nov 1891 | A |
476806 | Mauser | Jun 1892 | A |
502601 | Anderson | Aug 1893 | A |
546081 | Reyer | Sep 1895 | A |
551358 | Benecke | Dec 1895 | A |
554459 | Rockwell | Feb 1896 | A |
555025 | Ruffhead et al. | Feb 1896 | A |
557575 | Gibson et al. | Apr 1896 | A |
560879 | Williams | May 1896 | A |
566360 | White | Aug 1896 | A |
568649 | Whittington | Sep 1896 | A |
575711 | Haley | Jan 1897 | A |
575857 | Sly | Jan 1897 | A |
570769 | Williams | Feb 1897 | A |
577974 | Williams | Mar 1897 | A |
578014 | Homan | Mar 1897 | A |
581991 | Homan | May 1897 | A |
585406 | Rhind | Jun 1897 | A |
596689 | Aungst | Jan 1898 | A |
596762 | Sevison | Jan 1898 | A |
597947 | Bragger | Jan 1898 | A |
599467 | Beardsley | Feb 1898 | A |
600642 | Hartman | Mar 1898 | A |
621374 | Rhind | Mar 1899 | A |
625944 | White | May 1899 | A |
632858 | Weibel | Sep 1899 | A |
642906 | Hedgeland | Feb 1900 | A |
663121 | Frost | Dec 1900 | A |
763380 | Eble et al. | Jun 1904 | A |
767484 | Maltby | Aug 1904 | A |
795602 | Fyfe | Jul 1905 | A |
842007 | Parker | Jan 1907 | A |
842313 | Harrison | Jan 1907 | A |
903593 | Lowendahl | Nov 1908 | A |
926114 | Hall | Jun 1909 | A |
926840 | Bagaason | Jul 1909 | A |
953156 | Rasmussen | Mar 1910 | A |
959099 | Anderson | May 1910 | A |
963913 | Lyhne | Jul 1910 | A |
964840 | Bernau | Jul 1910 | A |
970751 | Pranke | Sep 1910 | A |
1047817 | Knight | Dec 1912 | A |
1056574 | Newton | Mar 1913 | A |
1057658 | Nichols | Apr 1913 | A |
1074272 | Kline | Sep 1913 | A |
1094272 | Thomley | Apr 1914 | A |
1106485 | Becker | Aug 1914 | A |
1132554 | Brett | Mar 1915 | A |
1137333 | Klorer | Apr 1915 | A |
1178072 | Hoag | Apr 1916 | A |
1190050 | Verba | Jul 1916 | A |
1190502 | Anderson | Jul 1916 | A |
1217838 | Schmidt | Feb 1917 | A |
1227258 | Godley | May 1917 | A |
1231635 | Nelson | Jul 1917 | A |
1266399 | Burtis | May 1918 | A |
1285352 | Kubat | Dec 1918 | A |
1290252 | Lester et al. | Jan 1919 | A |
1303249 | Brown | May 1919 | A |
1303345 | McFeaters | May 1919 | A |
1206871 | Locke | Dec 1919 | A |
1324456 | Lutz | Dec 1919 | A |
1328930 | Stern | Jan 1920 | A |
1342626 | Frank | Jun 1920 | A |
1345157 | Francisco | Jun 1920 | A |
1346402 | Glaudel | Jul 1920 | A |
1353552 | Sweet | Sep 1920 | A |
1354873 | Bartley et al. | Oct 1920 | A |
1356213 | Loyd | Oct 1920 | A |
1358159 | Kern | Nov 1920 | A |
1358262 | Sumner | Nov 1920 | A |
1358422 | D'Esopo | Nov 1920 | A |
1358792 | Shogran | Nov 1920 | A |
1359645 | Zink | Nov 1920 | A |
1371703 | Miller | Mar 1921 | A |
1372492 | Doyle | Mar 1921 | A |
1373840 | Smith | Apr 1921 | A |
1375888 | Baer | Apr 1921 | A |
1385485 | Comrie | Jul 1921 | A |
1386565 | Glaudel | Aug 1921 | A |
1389053 | King | Aug 1921 | A |
1389901 | Rosenbluth | Sep 1921 | A |
1389935 | Carroll | Sep 1921 | A |
1393158 | Pawsat | Oct 1921 | A |
1393681 | Glaudel | Oct 1921 | A |
1399461 | Childs | Dec 1921 | A |
1401402 | Hawthorne | Dec 1921 | A |
1403863 | Peat | Jan 1922 | A |
1408834 | Seavey | Mar 1922 | A |
1412690 | Leuckert | Apr 1922 | A |
1430379 | Hubbell | Sep 1922 | A |
1434714 | McMullen | Nov 1922 | A |
1435310 | Kipper | Nov 1922 | A |
1441913 | Darling | Jan 1923 | A |
1453685 | Longenbaugh | May 1923 | A |
1454390 | Loranger | May 1923 | A |
1460313 | Davis | Jun 1923 | A |
1461289 | Primrose | Jul 1923 | A |
1461398 | McMullen | Jul 1923 | A |
1465213 | Feinberg | Aug 1923 | A |
1470553 | Church | Oct 1923 | A |
1488986 | Hood | Apr 1924 | A |
1489934 | Eklund | Apr 1924 | A |
1490304 | Zink | Apr 1924 | A |
1493609 | Dailey | May 1924 | A |
1494033 | Stevens | May 1924 | A |
1503638 | Cooper | Aug 1924 | A |
1504767 | Hodny | Aug 1924 | A |
1507094 | Schoenborn | Sep 1924 | A |
1512291 | McGuire | Oct 1924 | A |
1515867 | Masone | Nov 1924 | A |
1522476 | Albright | Jan 1925 | A |
1527998 | Serpico | Mar 1925 | A |
1538340 | Hodny | May 1925 | A |
1547794 | Cury | Jul 1925 | A |
1558641 | Short | Oct 1925 | A |
1574899 | Kellogg | Mar 1926 | A |
1580316 | Moreton | Apr 1926 | A |
1590562 | Blonigen | Jun 1926 | A |
1597943 | Wilhelm | Aug 1926 | A |
1628623 | Jonnes | May 1927 | A |
1706215 | Davidson | Mar 1929 | A |
1721271 | Du Prel | Jul 1929 | A |
1732534 | Riches | Oct 1929 | A |
1735212 | Pawsat | Nov 1929 | A |
1737214 | Brown | Nov 1929 | A |
1745695 | Hunter | Feb 1930 | A |
1793911 | Dann | Feb 1931 | A |
1814500 | Summerbell | Jul 1931 | A |
1835473 | Davidson | Dec 1931 | A |
1849001 | Fisher | Mar 1932 | A |
1939529 | Taylor | Jun 1932 | A |
1941032 | Knowles | Dec 1933 | A |
1989691 | Hirt | Feb 1935 | A |
2010058 | Carlson | Aug 1935 | A |
2038906 | Ruhland | Apr 1936 | A |
2066699 | Skelton | Jan 1937 | A |
2073089 | Autenrieth | Mar 1937 | A |
2074247 | Armstrong | Mar 1937 | A |
2124006 | Parker | Jul 1938 | A |
2163859 | Ver Bookel | Jun 1939 | A |
2177921 | Zofrey | Oct 1939 | A |
2220429 | Soderberg | Nov 1940 | A |
2258175 | Coleman | Oct 1941 | A |
2287890 | Legassey | Jun 1942 | A |
2289422 | Grotnes | Jul 1942 | A |
2290874 | Graff | Jul 1942 | A |
2315132 | Powers | Mar 1943 | A |
2331132 | Nadelson | Oct 1943 | A |
2338124 | Martinek | Jan 1944 | A |
2360482 | Evans | Oct 1944 | A |
2365935 | Boggs | Dec 1944 | A |
2370748 | O'Donnell | Mar 1945 | A |
2433550 | Graham | Dec 1947 | A |
2456505 | Hastings | Dec 1948 | A |
2741497 | Risley | Apr 1950 | A |
2511590 | Keck | Jun 1950 | A |
2548650 | Brandt | Apr 1951 | A |
2596627 | Wahnigh | May 1952 | A |
2635345 | Samborski | Apr 1953 | A |
2651725 | McFarland | Sep 1953 | A |
2696996 | Engelhardt | Dec 1954 | A |
2719691 | Vance | Oct 1955 | A |
2733035 | Rocheleau | Jan 1956 | A |
2767003 | Gilmont | Oct 1956 | A |
2783015 | Kampa | Feb 1957 | A |
3026162 | Waszkiewicz | Apr 1960 | A |
2970798 | Fritchle et al. | Feb 1961 | A |
3069189 | Hollaender | Dec 1962 | A |
3096109 | Callahan | Jul 1963 | A |
3113791 | Frost et al. | Dec 1963 | A |
3118695 | Engelhardt | Jan 1964 | A |
3126100 | Christensen | Mar 1964 | A |
3126191 | Holden | Mar 1964 | A |
3160349 | Kent | Dec 1964 | A |
3212713 | Culver | Oct 1965 | A |
3237899 | Lewis | Mar 1966 | A |
3265434 | Bolotin | Aug 1966 | A |
3269683 | Shinaver | Aug 1966 | A |
D206198 | Molitor | Nov 1966 | S |
3389882 | Schlosser | Jun 1968 | A |
3405587 | Meazzi et al. | Oct 1968 | A |
3484066 | Aunspaugh | Dec 1969 | A |
3499679 | Olander | Mar 1970 | A |
3500594 | O'Brien | Mar 1970 | A |
3581354 | Usiskin | Jun 1971 | A |
3610562 | Holmes et al. | Oct 1971 | A |
3640498 | Aleks | Feb 1972 | A |
3734439 | Wintz | May 1973 | A |
3738606 | Mille | Jun 1973 | A |
3828403 | Perrin et al. | Aug 1974 | A |
3837383 | Ko | Sep 1974 | A |
3843083 | Angibaud | Oct 1974 | A |
3921539 | Berger | Nov 1975 | A |
4047684 | Kobayashi | Sep 1977 | A |
4050661 | Wooldridge | Sep 1977 | A |
4115966 | DeLee | Sep 1978 | A |
4126081 | Zdeb | Nov 1978 | A |
4132178 | Mueller et al. | Jan 1979 | A |
4162647 | Aslen | Jul 1979 | A |
4237798 | Welsch et al. | Dec 1980 | A |
4286897 | Suskind | Sep 1981 | A |
4307864 | Benoit | Dec 1981 | A |
4338875 | Lisowski | Jul 1982 | A |
4443128 | Yamamoto et al. | Apr 1984 | A |
4452416 | Templeton | Jun 1984 | A |
4483334 | Murray | Nov 1984 | A |
4511158 | Varga et al. | Apr 1985 | A |
4547092 | Vetter et al. | Oct 1985 | A |
4624374 | Murtaugh | Nov 1986 | A |
4729535 | Frazier et al. | Mar 1988 | A |
4747569 | Hoshino | May 1988 | A |
4799444 | Lisowski | Jan 1989 | A |
4801115 | Heard | Jan 1989 | A |
4821382 | Puschkarski | Apr 1989 | A |
4860909 | Leumi | Aug 1989 | A |
4884927 | Menker | Dec 1989 | A |
4892366 | Yerman | Jan 1990 | A |
D309540 | Suttles et al. | Jul 1990 | S |
4953819 | Davis | Sep 1990 | A |
4964603 | Yair | Oct 1990 | A |
4976486 | Rifaat | Dec 1990 | A |
5002247 | Dispenza et al. | Mar 1991 | A |
5023755 | Rosenberg | Jun 1991 | A |
5056854 | Rosen | Oct 1991 | A |
5111956 | Jow | May 1992 | A |
5128838 | Brandess | Jul 1992 | A |
D330555 | Lilly | Oct 1992 | S |
D332497 | Shufelt | Jan 1993 | S |
5199680 | Rivera | Apr 1993 | A |
D337462 | LaVaute et al. | Jul 1993 | S |
5259582 | DeLange | Nov 1993 | A |
5352058 | Munro et al. | Oct 1994 | A |
5359866 | Boddy | Nov 1994 | A |
5409122 | Lazarus | Apr 1995 | A |
5427344 | Beauchemin | Jun 1995 | A |
5449138 | Ciancio | Sep 1995 | A |
5509180 | Benetti et al. | Apr 1996 | A |
5566911 | Hoshino | Oct 1996 | A |
5584545 | LaVaute et al. | Dec 1996 | A |
5589903 | Speggiorin | Dec 1996 | A |
5634619 | Alessi | Jun 1997 | A |
5681017 | Clausen | Oct 1997 | A |
5704232 | Kuo | Jan 1998 | A |
5735499 | Phillips et al. | Apr 1998 | A |
5746334 | Brandenberg | May 1998 | A |
5761844 | Horschel | Jun 1998 | A |
5775652 | Crawshaw | Jul 1998 | A |
5782743 | Russell | Jul 1998 | A |
5819378 | Doyle | Oct 1998 | A |
5826850 | Goldsmith | Oct 1998 | A |
5909864 | Wang | Jun 1999 | A |
5974984 | Mitjans | Nov 1999 | A |
6061939 | Gildea | May 2000 | A |
6086284 | Callahan | Jul 2000 | A |
6093878 | Hoshino | Jul 2000 | A |
6132018 | McGrath | Oct 2000 | A |
6293035 | LaPointe | Sep 2001 | B1 |
6328269 | Krautloher | Dec 2001 | B1 |
6523230 | Weinhold | Feb 2003 | B1 |
6554238 | Hibberd | Apr 2003 | B1 |
6588863 | Yatchak et al. | Jul 2003 | B1 |
6601328 | Benaquista et al. | Aug 2003 | B1 |
6631876 | Phillips | Oct 2003 | B1 |
6854698 | Oddsen, Jr. | Feb 2005 | B2 |
6863252 | Bosson | Mar 2005 | B2 |
6886852 | Cheng et al. | May 2005 | B2 |
7261263 | Baker et al. | Aug 2007 | B2 |
20030057810 | DeWitt | Mar 2003 | A1 |
20050151043 | Kim et al. | Jul 2005 | A1 |
20080014014 | Nehls | Jan 2008 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
WO 9850728 | Nov 1998 | WO |