US3255988A - Picture screen mounting bracket - Google Patents

Description

June 14, 1966 F. ALBEE, JR 3,255,988

PICTURE SCREEN MOUNTING BRACKET Filed Dec. 9, 1964 I G. 7 m 1' 'EN TOR.

PERCY FREDERICK ALBEE,JR

ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,255,988 PICTURE SCREEN MOUNTING BRACKET Percy Frederick Albee, Jr., Barrington, R.I., assignor to Q-Panel Corporation, a corporation of Rhode Island Filed Dec. 9, 1964, Ser. No. 417,180 6 Claims. (Cl. 248--251) This invention relates to a picture screen and a wall mounting therefor and is a continuation-impart of my application, Serial No. 251,782, filed on January 16, 1963.

Picture screens that are used for small groups and which generally comprises a fabric wound on a roller that is either attached directly to a wall or a stand are only adaptable for distant projection. When short focal lengths are used as'in many visual-aid projection devices, it is virtually impossible to orient a screen of the above described type perpendicular to the line of projection to minimize image distortion and keep the screen at a vertical height where it can be viewed by all.

It is accordingly a principal object of the invention to provide a mounting for a screen which may have its plane adjusted perpendicular to the line of projection.

Another object of this invention is to provide a screen which may be wall mounted in a bracket in such a manner that the screen may be detached from the bracket and stored in a closet or some such place while only the bracket remains on the wall.

Another object of the invention is to provide a screen which, when detached from its bracket, may be so collapsed and rolled that it will be in a compact form for easy storage. 1

Another object of the invention is to provide a screen which may be rolled into a compact form but which may be unrolled and quickly assembled into a taut form for the reception of a picture projected thereon.

Another object of the invention is to provide a construction which will be extremely simple and inexpensive and yet one which will be effective in use.

A still further object of the invention is to impart to a plastic screen a stretching force so that it will remain taut and in a flat plane and yet limit the stretch which may occur.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certain novel features of construction as will be more fully described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation illustrating a motion picture projector and the screen of this invention mounted upon a wall, the same being shown somewhat diagrammatic;

FIG. 1A is a rear elevational view of the screen of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional View with parts broken away illustrating on a larger scale the rigid bars at the upper and lower edge of the screen and portions of the tensioning rod mounted therein;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a part of the rigid bar which is at the opposite upper and lower edges of the screen;

FIG. 4 is an elevation of one of the rods utilized in tensioning the fabric or flexible screen before arched;

FIG. 5 is an elevation illustrating one of the rods in arched position ready for mounting in the bars at the opposite edges of the screen;

FIG. 6 is an elevation of the bracket which is secured to the wall;

FIG. 7 is an elevation of the bracket looking at the opposite side from that shown in FIG. 6; and

FIGS. 8, 9 and 10 are sectional views through the bracket of FIG. 6.

In proceeding with this invention, I have secured rigid bars at the opposite edges of a flexible screen of plastic fabric or the like, and I hold this screen in tension by 3,255,988 Patented June 14, 1966 securing the ends of bowed flexible rods to the bars so that as the ends of the rods tend to spring apart they tension the flexible screen. I mount brackets on the wall and then by means of these flexible rods mount the screen in the brackets in such a manner that the rods may be easily attached to or detached from the bracket. Thus only the bracket need remain in place on the wall, while the screen may be detached therefrom, disassembled and rolled into a snug bundle and stored in a closet or the like.

With reference to the drawings, 10 designates the vertical wall of a room upon which there is mounted a bracket 11 which supports a screen designated generally 12 for the reception of a picture projected from a projector 13 resting on table 14 which is supported on the floor 15 of the room.

The screen 12 comprises a plastic sheet 16 exhibiting a memory characteristic such as the vinyl family, for example polyvinylchloride, the surface of which is .embossed for screen effect or a fabric with recovery characteristics suitably treated to present a suitable surface for receiving and reflecting the light rays of a picture. The opposite top and bottom edges of this sheet are fastened to a bar or strip of rigid material which in this case is designated generally 17 and comprises a hollow metal tube with a front Wall 18 and a back wall 19 connected by a wall 20 at one side, while the edges of the front and back walls 18 and 19 are brought together as at 21 and rolled in such a manner as to provide an open groove 22 for reception of the sheet of web material of the screen 16 which is held wedged in this groove by a binding channel 23 (FIG. 2) forced into the groove to tightly bind the edge of the web material 16 in the opposite edge of the web material of the screen as will be seen in FIG. 2.

In the back wall 19 of this rigid tubular bar at locations spaced inwardly from the ends of the bar (that is, both ends of the bar), there are openings 25 provided which openings receive rubber grommets so as to prevent the edge of the opening from abrading a rod placed therein. These openings provide a means for attaching a flexible rod designated generally 28 and which is of usually a solid cylindrical construction about a quarter of an inch in diameter. This rod is slotted at its upper end as at 29 and also slotted at its lower end as at 30. A flexible wire 31 is provided with a fixed loop 32 which is inserted in the slot 29 at the upper end of the rod, and this-slot is closed by bringing the ends 33 and 34 of the slot together so as to confine the loop of the wire therein. The opposite end of the wire is provided with a loop 35 which is received in the slot 30 at the lower end of the rod 28-. This wire, however, is of a much shorter length than the length of the rod as will be indicated in FIG. 4, and the rod 28 is arched or bowed as shown in FIG. 5, and when in this arched condition, the loop 35 of the wire 31 may then be positioned in the slot 30 at the end of the rod so as to hold the rod in this arched condition.

The arched bowed rods are assembled with the rigid bars 17 on the edges of the screen 16 by inserting the ends of the rods in the openings 25 in these-bars. The lower end of the rod 28 in its arched condition is inserted in the opening 25 in the lower bar along the edge of the screen designated 17, it being noted that the bowed or arched rod has its ends further apart than the normal stretch of the screen material 16, and then the upper end of this rod is given a further bow or curvature bringing its end 37 closer to its lower end 36, and then is inserted in the opening in the upper bar 17 on the upper edge of the screen. A notch 38 is located in the rod 28 adjacent the bottom end thereof, and a bail 39 which is anchored in the bar 17' in a rockable manner may be swung into this notch to lock the rod in position. Then when the bowed or bent rod is released, it will stretch the screen 16 taut, leaving the wire 31 slightly limp but still of such a length that when each side of the plastic screen stretches, a planal surface will be maintained. Further, this wire limits the stretch of the screen so that it will not stretch beyond its elastic limit. Rods 28, 28' will accordingly be adjacent each of the opposite side edges of the screen material 16 or near the ends of each of the bars 17 and 17" with wires 31 of identical length, and also there may be a bowed rod 28A in the middle, if desired. I A screen of material such' as alluded to above, When released, will contract and may be rolled into a compact form for storage.

The mounting of the screen on the wall will be by means of two wall brackets engaging the opposite outside bowed rods. Such a wall bracket 11 comprises a plate 40 with a flange 41 bent at generally right angles thereto. This flange 41 will be provided with top and bottom openings and a middle opening for the reception of some fastening means such as screws to mount this flange 41 in face to face relation with the vertical Wall upon which the screen is to be mounted, thus presenting the plate 40 at right angles to the wall 10. Mounting lugs 42 and 43 are bent upwardly from the outer edge of the plate 40 at spaced locations adjacent the ends of the plate 40 and extend at right angles to the plane of the plate 40 but in a relation not parallel to the flange 41 as may be well 'seen in FIG. 6. These lugs will be so angled that they will present the maximum contacting surface with the rod 28 in its bowed condition and are intended to engage one side of the rod, specifically the convex side of the bowed rod, as may be well seen in FIG. 1. Intermediate the two lugs 42 and 43 there is a lug 44 located midway of the length of the brackets, which lug 44 is arched inwardly so as to partially embrace the circular rod asmay be seen in FIG. 9. Further, this lug is formed on the end of a plate 45 which engages a substantial portion of the outer surface of the bracket and is slidably mounted by means. of bent up guides 46 and 47 .formed by deflecting the stock of the bracket adjacent a notch 48- therein into which the lug 44 slides so as to engage the edges of the plate 45 and guide in its movement toward and from the flange 41. A stop 49 is raised from the stock of the bracket so as to limit the inward sliding movement of this plate and lug. The plate 45 has an abutment 50 raised thereon which engages a spring Wire 51 which wire is arched and held at its ends in struck-up portions 52 from the bracket thus this spring wire 51 tends to move the lug 44 toward the flange 41 and as this is intended to engage the opposite or concave side of the rod 28 it urges the rod against the lugs 42 and 43 thus applying a sufficient friction upon the rod so as to hold it in an adjusted position.

As may be seen in FIG. 1, the rod 28 may be moved from the full line position to the dotted line position by sliding the rod endwise through the lugs of the bracket which hold it and in order to provide for more smooth sliding action, pads of some plastic material such as nylon may be positioned on the face of the bracket plate 40 as at .55, 56, 57 and 58. While pads of nylonmay also be ,held on the engaging surfaces of the lugs, 'such as by rolling the edges 59 of the lugs over the plastic nylon pads 60 as seen in FIGS. 8 and 10 and also in FIG. 9 where the end 63 is rolled over the pad 65.

By making the bracket as above shown, some resilient action is provided on the mounting lug 44 so that as the arcuate extent changes, which it does slightly, the bracket may adjust to the different curvature of the rod 28 in its bowed condition. Thus, it will be apparent that the rod is a little straighter at the ends than it is at the center and this is accommodated by the bracket having the slidable lug 44 as above described. Further, the resilient action is found to minimize hardening of the rod 28 due to sliding action along the rod and this is also assisted by the nylon pads which engage the rod.

I claim:

1. A wall bracket and a picture screen having an arched supporting rod, said bracket comprising a plate, mounting means therefor, spaced lugs projecting from the plate at generally right angles thereto for engaging one side of said rod and a resiliently urged movable lug engaging the other side of the rod to frictionally hold it in position, saidengagement of said lugs being of a force such that said rod may be slid lengthwise of itself to adjust its position angularly with respect to the horizontal.

2. A wall bracket for a picture screen having an arched supporting rod comprising a plate having a right angular flange with a face to engage a vertical wall surface and position the plate at right angles thereto, spaced lugs fixed to and projecting from the plate at generally right angles thereto for engaging one side of said rod and a lug intermediate said spaced lugs engaging the opposite side of said rod to hold it in position, said intermediate lug being slidably mounted on said plate and resilient means urging the last said lug into engagement with said rod.

3. The subject matter of claim 2 wherein the bracket is metal and the rod engaging surfaces are non-metallic.

4. The subject matter of claim 2 wherein the bracket is metal and the rod engaging surfaces are nylon.

5. A picture screen and mounting therefor comprising a screen having an arched supporting rod in generally a vertical plane, a bracket having mounting means and means to frictionally receive and bodily mount said rod in a generally vertical plane, said friction means so gripping said rod as to permit sliding therethrough by manual endwise force thereon so as to selectively dispose and hold said screen at various angles to thevertical for projection of a picture thereon in a direction inclined to a horizontal.

6. A picture screen and mounting therefor comprising a screen having a pair of arched supporting rods in gen erally a vertical plane, brackets having mounting means and means to frictionally receive and bodily mount said rods in generally vertical planes, said friction means so gripping said rods as to permit sliding through said means by manual endwise force thereon so as to selectively dispose and hold said screen at various angles to the vertical for projection of a picture thereon in a direction inclined to a horizontal.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner. HARRISON R. MOSELEY, Examiner. P. C. KANNAN, J. F. FOSS, Assistant Examiners.

Claims (1)

1. A WALL BRACKET AND A PICTURE SCREEN HAVING AN ARCHED SUPPORTING ROD, SAID BRACKET COMPRISING A PLATE, MOUNTING MEANS THEREOF, SPACED LUGS PROJECTING FROM THE PALTE AT GENERALLY RIGHT ANGLES THERETO FOR ENGAGING ONE SIDE OF SAID ROD AND A RESILIENTLY URGED MOVABLE LUG ENGAGING THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROD TO FRICTIONALLY HOLD IT IN POSITION, SAID ENGAGEMENT OF SAID LUGS BEING OF A FORCE SUCH THAT SAID ROD MAY BE SLID LENGTHWISE OF ITSELF TO ADJUST ITS POSITION ANGULARLY WITH RESPECT TO THE HORIZONTAL.

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