Patent Application
20140041315
The present application relates, in general, to a wall anchor cover assembly.
Foundation walls can sometimes become damaged over time. For instance, when hydrostatic pressure builds up in soil, or if soil expands with water saturation, over time it can push against foundation walls (e.g., basement walls) and cause bowing, cracking or other damage. Wall anchoring systems are often utilized to repair and/or stabilize such walls. Such systems often include components integrated with or installed within the damaged walls.
A wall anchor cover assembly includes a securing frame further including a first side having a substantially flat surface for flush mounting against a wall and a second side opposite the first side, the securing frame further including an aperture for exposing an object about which the securing frame is mounted and a raised channel disposed peripherally about the aperture, the securing frame further including a first continuously formed peripheral edge, the first continuously formed peripheral edge including a first top edge region further including at least a first top groove and a first bottom edge region further including at least a first bottom groove; and a cover plate including an outer side; an interior side opposite the outer side; and a second continuously formed peripheral edge substantially perpendicular to the outer side and interior side, further including a second top edge region, the second top edge region including a top recess, and a second bottom edge region, the second bottom edge region including a bottom recess, the top recess and the bottom recess mating with the first top groove and the first bottom groove, respectively, to provide tool-less removable coupling of the cover plate and the securing frame.
The foregoing is a summary and thus contains, by necessity, simplifications, generalizations and omissions of detail; consequently, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the summary is illustrative only and is NOT intended to be in any way limiting. Other aspects, features, and advantages of the devices and/or processes and/or other subject matter described herein will become apparent in the teachings set forth herein.
The use of the same symbols in different drawings typically indicates similar or identical items.
With reference to the figures,
Referring generally to
The securing frame 108 may further include an aperture 116 for exposing an object about which the securing frame 108 is mounted. The aperture 116 may be substantially centrally disposed, and may encompass an area greater than the area surrounding the aperture 116. In other embodiments the area encompassed by the aperture 116 may be equal to or less than the surrounding area, while remaining at least great enough to provide access to an object about which the securing frame 108 is mounted. In this manner, all or most of a wall anchor assembly about which the securing frame 108 is mounted may be exposed in any configuration.
The securing frame 108 may also include at least one raised channel 130 disposed peripherally about and along the outer edge of the aperture 116. The at least one raised channel 130 including a continuously formed raised channel edge 114 disposed peripherally about the aperture 116 provides additional structural reinforcement for the securing frame 108, potentially reducing warping, bowing, cracking or other damage to the securing frame 108 during use and when mounting the securing frame 108 to a wall or other surface.
The securing frame 108 may further include a first continuously formed peripheral edge 122. The first continuously formed peripheral edge 122 may be substantially perpendicular to the first and second surfaces of the securing frame 108 and may be formed as a lip or skirt edge that extends generally away from a wall or surface onto which the securing frame 108 is being mounted. The first continuously formed peripheral edge 122 may include an interior surface 110. The first continuously formed peripheral edge 122 may include a top edge region having at least a first top groove 134 and a second top groove 142 and a bottom edge region having at least a first bottom groove 138 and a second bottom groove 140 (shown in
Wall anchor cover assembly 100 may further include a cover plate 102. Cover plate 102 may include an outer side further including a top edge region 104 and a bottom edge region 126. The top edge region 104 may include a top recess 106 and the bottom edge region 126 may include a bottom recess 128. The top recess 106 and the bottom recess 128 may be centrally disposed along the second top edge region and second bottom edge region of the second continuously formed peripheral edge 120. Centrally disposed top recess and/or bottom recess may also serve as hand holds. Alternatively, top recess 106 and the bottom recess 128 may run substantially the entire length of the top edge region 104 and the bottom edge region 126 respectively. The top recess 106 and the bottom recess 128 may be visibly disposed such that the recesses may be seen on the exterior surfaces of the second top edge region and second bottom edge region of the second continuously formed peripheral edge 120. In other embodiments, all or at least a portion of the top recess 106 and the bottom recess 128 may be disposed such that the recesses are formed on the interior surfaces of the second top edge region and second bottom edge region of the second continuously formed peripheral edge 120. Any disposition that allows top recess 106 and the bottom recess 128 to align with at least one of the first top groove 134 or a second top groove 142 and at least one of the first bottom groove 138 or a second bottom groove 140, which may likewise be centrally disposed, disposed along the outer portions (or any other sub-region), or run substantially the entire length of the first top region and first bottom region is contemplated. The top recess 106 and the bottom recess 126 mate with at least one of the first top groove 134 or the second top groove 142 and at least one of the first bottom groove 138 or the second bottom groove 140 of the securing frame 108, respectively.
The cover plate 102 may cover substantially the entirety of the securing frame 108 and an object about which the securing frame 108 is mounted when the cover plate 102 is coupled with the securing frame 108. That is, the inner dimensions of the cover plate 102 may correspond to the outer dimensions of the securing frame 108. The cover plate 102 may further include a second continuously formed peripheral edge 120. The second continuously formed peripheral edge 120 may be substantially perpendicular to the first and second surfaces of the cover plate 102 and may be formed as a lip or skirt edge that extends generally toward a wall or surface onto which the securing frame 108 is being mounted. The second continuously formed peripheral edge 120 of the cover plate may cover substantially the entirety of the first continuously formed peripheral edge of the securing frame 108 when the cover plate 102 is coupled with the securing frame 108. The second continuously formed peripheral edge 120 of the cover plate may at least partially contact the first continuously formed peripheral edge of the securing frame 108 when the cover plate 102 is coupled with the securing frame 108. The cover plate 102 may be a shell like plate having at least one convex surface (e.g., the outer surface). For instance, the cover plate 102 may be convex to accommodate protrusions from wall anchor components.
The cover plate 106 is removably couplable with the securing frame. Also, the cover plate 102 may affix to the securing frame 108 without the use of tools. In one embodiment, the cover plate 102 “snaps” or clasps onto (and substantially over) the securing frame 108. For instance, the cover plate 102 and the securing frame 108 may be aligned or substantially aligned and an amount of external pressure may be applied to the cover plate 102 sufficient for the top recess 106 and the bottom recess 126 of the cover plate 102 to mate with at least one of the first top groove 134 or the second top groove 142 and at least one of the first bottom groove 138 or the second bottom groove 140 of the securing frame 108, respectively. As described previously, the securing plate 108 may include a first top edge region having at least a first top groove 134 and a first bottom edge region having at least a first bottom groove 138. Thus, the first top edge region and the first bottom edge region may be formed such that the portions of the regions closest to a wall would be lower than portions of the regions further from a wall. In this manner, the cover plate top and bottom regions would need to be pushed substantially over the “high” regions and lock around the “low” regions (as depicted in
The overall dimensions of the cover assembly 100 may be such that the device can cover a wall anchor of any standard or custom size. The wall anchor cover assembly 100 may be a low profile device to minimize protrusion into the space in which it is mounted. In one embodiment, the cover assembly 100 may have a depth of about 5-8 inches. Alternatively, the cover assembly may have a depth of less than five inches. The cover assembly 100 may be substantially rectangular, having rounded or squared-off edges, thereby conforming to the general shape of a wall anchor assembly about which the device 100 may be mounted. In other embodiments, the cover assembly 100 may be round, square, or any other shape as desired or necessitated by the mounting surface or covered object.
The cover assembly 100 may be substantially opaque to conceal the wall anchor assembly or other object behind the cover assembly 100. In other embodiments, the cover assembly 100 may be partially, substantially, or completely translucent to reveal the wall anchor assembly or other object behind the cover assembly 100. The cover plate 102 and the securing frame 108 may be formed from injected molded and/or vacuum molded plastic, or other like suitable material having sufficient rigidity, or with another rigid material via any other process for forming substantially rigid components having continuously formed and/or integrated sub-components.
The herein described subject matter sometimes illustrates different components contained within, or connected with, different other components. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures are merely exemplary, and that in fact many other configurations may be implemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively “associated” such that the desired functionality is achieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality can be seen as “associated with” each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components so associated can also be viewed as being “operably connected”, or “operably coupled”, to each other to achieve the desired functionality, and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewed as being “operably couplable”, to each other to achieve the desired functionality. Specific examples of operably couplable include but are not limited to physically mateable and/or physically interacting components.
It is to be understood that the invention is defined by the appended claims. It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations. In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that such recitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recited number.
While particular aspects of the present subject matter described herein have been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that, based upon the teachings herein, changes and modifications may be made without departing from the subject matter described herein and its broader aspects and, therefore, the appended claims are to encompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as are within the true spirit and scope of this subject matter described herein.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 12854573 | Aug 2010 | US |
| Child | 14060858 | US |
