GB1589876A

GB1589876A - Mounting devices

Info

Publication number: GB1589876A
Application number: GB4885476A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: HEARD ROBERT ARTHUR H
Current assignee: HEARD ROBERT ARTHUR H
Priority date: 1977-11-22
Filing date: 1977-11-22
Publication date: 1981-05-20

Description

(54) MOUNTING DEVICES (71) I, ROBERT ARTHUR HENDERSON HEARD, of Church Farm, 63 Chuch Lane, Backwell, Bristol BS19 3JJ, a British Subject, do hereby declare the invention, for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to devices for mounting one object to another. It is particularly applicable to mounting signs to supporting posts, but could be used for mounting other objects to supporting posts, or in other situations such as in mounting cables to supporting structures.

One common method of mounting an object to a supporting post consists in securing a U-shaped bracket to the object, and passing a flexible strap around the post and through slots in the limbs of the bracket, and tightening the strap so that the bracket, and hence the object, is held firmly against the post. The bracket is secured to the object by nuts and bolts, a pair of holes being provided in the base of the bracket, and a pair of matching holes in the object, to take the shanks of the bolts. It will be apparent that two separate operations are required, firstly to secure the bracket to the object, and secondly to secure the bracket to the post. Furthermore, nuts and bolts are required, which are relatively expensive compared with the rest of the mounting device, particularly when made out of stainless steel.

I have previously invented a boltless mounting device (see my British Patent Specification No. 1,533,412), which is particularly useful for signs which carry on their rear surface reinforcing channel, the mouth of the channel being restricted by inturned lips. My earlier invention employed attachment members which were connected to the strap which is passed around the post. The attachment members are engaged in the channel so that as the strap is tightened the attachment members draw the channel towards the post. By various means, I was able to so increase the bearing area between the attachment members, which were made of stainless steel sheet, and the lips of the aluminium channel, that the soft aluminium could withstand the considerable force applied when the strap is tightened.

Now I have discovered surprisingly that if I form my stainless steel sheet attachment members with narrow stems suitable to pass them through the bolt holes normally provided in the sign plate or other object described above in relation to the first mentioned mounting device, and if the ends of those stems are cranked, preferably in mutually opposite directions so that they will engage the front surface of the plate to one side of the holes, the strap can be tightened around the post, holding the sign plate securely to the post without any apparent tendency for the cranked ends of the stems to fracture or straighten under the load, and without any undue distortion of the aluminium sign plate in the region of the holes.Accordingly, the present invention provides a simple device for mounting objects to a post, or for use in other similar applications, which does not require a separate operation of securing the mounting device to the object, nor does it require the use of nuts and bolts for that purpose.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood, three embodiments will now be described with reference to the drawings accompanying the Provisional Specification wherein: Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a first embodiment of mounting bracket Fig. 2 shofs a cross-sectional view through the mounting bracket of Fig. 1 in use, Fig. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of a second embodiment of mounting device in use, Fig. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of a third embodiment of mounting device in use, and Fig. 5 shows the front face of a sign plate mounted to a post by means of any of the mounting devices of Figs. 1 to 4.

Referring to the drawings and firstly to Figs. 1 and 2; the first embodiment of mounting device comprises a saddle 10 and a pair of attachment members 12, all made from stainless steel sheet. The saddle is of channel cross-section, having a base 14, and a pair of side walls 16. The edges of the side walls 16 remote from the base are formed with a shallow V-shape to seat against the post 18, as shown in Fig. 2, the V-edges of the walls 16 being turned inwardly to provide flanges 20, which give increased bearing surface against the post.

Each attachment member 12 has a rectangular body 22 with a transverse slot 24, and a narrower stem 26 projecting from the body and extending through a slot 28 in the base 14 of the saddle. The free end of the stem 26 is cranked at 30. The slots 28 are provided near the opposite ends of the saddle, and the ends 30 of the stems are preferably cranked in mutually opposite directions as shown. It will be seen from Fig. 2 that the stems have a J configuration, which is generally preferred, but an L configuration would suffice.

In use, as shown in Fig. 2; a panel 32, which could be a sign plate, has a pair of apertures 34 formed in it. The mounting device of Fig. 1 is offered up to the rear of the panel so that the base 14 of the saddle will contact the rear surface of the panel. The attachment members 12 are initially in the position shown in dot-dash lincs in Fig. 2, and are then raised into the position shown in full lines, the cranked ends passing through the apertures 34 in the panel 32 and engaging the front surface of the panel to one side of the apertures.

Next, a conventional flexible stainless steel strap 36 is thrcaded through the slots 24 in the attachment members, the saddle 10 is offered up to the post 18, and the ends of the strap are taken around the post and are tightened and secured with a conventional buckle 38. The tightening of the strap draws the attachment members towards the post, and thereby urges the cranked ends 30 against the front face of the panel, which is thereby clamped against the base of the saddle.

The saddle will accommodate a wide range of different diameters of post, and the precise attitude in the attachment members will vary slightly according to the size of post. For this reason, the J-shaped end to the stems is preferred, since it will allow the angle of the attachment members to vary appreciably without substantially altering the manner in which the ends of the stems bear upon the front face of the panel.

However, it has been found that L-shaped ends will work satisfactorily. The apertures 34 may be drilled or punched circular holes, similar to those originally intended to take the bolts of a conventional mounting bracket. However, for aesthetic reasons at least, it is preferred to provide rectangular slots to conform more closely to the crosssection of the stems 26.

Instead of a sign plate, the panel 32 could be part of any object, for example a litter bind, which it is desired to mount to a post. Furthermore, instead of the panel being the object which is to be mounted to a supporting post, the panel could form part of a supporting structure to which a post, pipe, cable or other object is to be mounted.

A particular advantage of the present invention, as compared with a conventional bracket using nuts and bolts, is that the surface of the panel remote from the mounting device does not have to be accessible.

It is merely necessary to form two holes to take the stems of the attachment members.

Thus, this mounting device could be used for mounting objects to a wall panel or the like.

Fig. 3 shows a modification which dispenses with the saddle. Attachment members 12 are still used. In this case, however, two separate flexible stainless steel straps 40 are used, one end of each strap being cranked so as to pass through the slot 24 of a respective attachment member, in the manner shown in Fig. 3, while the other ends of the straps can be secured together on the far side of the post, using a buckle 38 in the same way as in Fig. 2. A shallow crank 42 in the strap is in practice sufficient to hold the strap in the slot of the attachment member and withstand the strain when the straps are tightened around the post.

Blips can be formed in the strap on each side of the crank so as to prevent or resist withdrawal of the strap through the slot.

However, I prefer to spot weld the end of each strap to the body of the attachment member as the means of preventing the two from coming apart prior to use. In this embodiment of attachment member, since there is no saddle the post will bear directly upon the rear surface of the panel 32, and the angular position of the attachment members will vary considerably according to the size of post, unless the spacing of the apertures 34 is varied according to the size of post. For example, if the spacing of the apertures were made equal to the diameter of the post, the attachment members would project substantially at right angles to the rear surface of the panel. However, by providing J-shaped ends to the stems, an appreciable variation in the attitude of the attachment members can be accommodated.

Fig. 4 shows a further development from the embodiment of Fig. 3, in which rather more rigid straps 44 are employed in place of the flexible straps 40. The ends of the straps remote from the attachment members are turned outwardly to provide flanges 46, which are apertured to receive a bolt 48, which is retained by a nut 50, and pro vides the means for connecting the ends of the straps and tightening them around the post. The attachment members s;ill have stems 26 with cranked ends 30, and could be connected to the straps 44 in the manner shown in Fig. 3. However, since the straps 44 are more substantial than the straps 40, they can be made of the same stainless steel sheet as the attachment members, and hence it may be convenient to form thew integrally with the attachment members.In other words, the stems 26 are formed directly at the end of the straps 44, as shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 5 shows simply how the front face of a sign panel looks when it has been mounted to a post using any of the present mounting devices. Only the small cranked ends 30 of the attachment members are visible, and these need be no more prominant than the bolt heads which would otherwise have been used. For convenience and for aesthetic reasons the stem is narrower than the body, but in principle this need not be so.

WHAT I CLAIM IS: 1. A method for mounting one object to another by means of a strap connected to one said object passed around the other said object and tightened, using a device comprising a pair of rigid attachment members each having a body part including a said strap or connected to a said strap or adapted for connection thereto of a said strap, and a stem part the end of which is cranked; the method comprising inserting the stem parts through respective apertures in said one object so that the cranked stem parts engage (without being secured to) the surface of said one object on the side thereof remote from the body parts and to one side of their respective apertures, and tightening around said other object a strap or straps connecting the attachment members.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein the stems of the two attachment members are mutually outwardly cranked.

3. A method according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the attachment members have integral respective strap members for passing around said other object, the ends of the strap members remote from said stem parts being adapted for adjustable interconnection whereby they are tightened around said other object.

4. A method according to claim 3 wherein said ends of the strap members are outwardly flanged, the flanges having apertures through which they are interconnected and tightened by means of a nut and bolt.

5. A method according to claim 1 wherein the body parts of the attachment members are slotted to receive said strap.

6. A method according to claim 5 wherein one end of each of a pair of strap members is engaged in a respective slot and retained thereby a crank in the end portion of the strap, the other ends of the strap members being interconnected and tightened around said other object.

7. A method according to claim 1 wherein the device includes a saddle member, the body parts of the two attachment members being loosely housed within the saddle member with the stem parts extending slidably through respective apertures in the saddle member so as to project therefrom, the saddle member being interposed between the two objects and the projecting stem parts engaged in the apertures in said one object before tightening the strap.

8. A method for mounting one object to another substantially as described herein with reference to the drawings accompanying the provisional specification.

9. A device for mounting one object to another by means of a strap connected to one said object passed around the other said object and tightened, the device comprising a pair of rigid attachment members each having a body part including a said strap or connected to a said strap or adapted for connnection thereto of a said strap, and a stem part for passing through a respective one of a pair of apertures in said one object, the ends of the stem parts being cranked so as to engage the surface of said one object on the side thereof remote from the body parts and to one side of their respective apertures when the strap is tightened around said other object, the device further comprising a saddle member for interposition between the two objects, the body parts of the two attachment members being loosely housed within the saddle member with the stem parts extending slidably through respective apertures in the saddle member so as project therefrom for engagement in the apertures in said one object.

10. A mounting device according to claim 9 wherein the body parts of the attachment members are slotted to receive a said strap with the portion of the strap between the two attachment members lying wholly within the saddle.

11. A mounting device according to claim 9 or claim 10 wherein the saddle is of generally channel cross-section, the stems of the attachment members passing through apertures in the base of the channel 12. A mounting device according to claim 11 wherein the sides of the channel are flanged along their edges remote from the base of the channel so as to increase the surface area which bears against said other object.

13. A mounting device according to claim 12 wherein the flanges are mutually inwardly directed.

14. A mounting device according to any

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. vides the means for connecting the ends of the straps and tightening them around the post. The attachment members s;ill have stems 26 with cranked ends 30, and could be connected to the straps 44 in the manner shown in Fig. 3. However, since the straps 44 are more substantial than the straps 40, they can be made of the same stainless steel sheet as the attachment members, and hence it may be convenient to form thew integrally with the attachment members. In other words, the stems 26 are formed directly at the end of the straps 44, as shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 5 shows simply how the front face of a sign panel looks when it has been mounted to a post using any of the present mounting devices. Only the small cranked ends 30 of the attachment members are visible, and these need be no more prominant than the bolt heads which would otherwise have been used. For convenience and for aesthetic reasons the stem is narrower than the body, but in principle this need not be so. WHAT I CLAIM IS:

1. A method for mounting one object to another by means of a strap connected to one said object passed around the other said object and tightened, using a device comprising a pair of rigid attachment members each having a body part including a said strap or connected to a said strap or adapted for connection thereto of a said strap, and a stem part the end of which is cranked; the method comprising inserting the stem parts through respective apertures in said one object so that the cranked stem parts engage (without being secured to) the surface of said one object on the side thereof remote from the body parts and to one side of their respective apertures, and tightening around said other object a strap or straps connecting the attachment members.

11. A mounting device according to claim 9 or claim 10 wherein the saddle is of generally channel cross-section, the stems of the attachment members passing through apertures in the base of the channel

12. A mounting device according to claim 11 wherein the sides of the channel are flanged along their edges remote from the base of the channel so as to increase the surface area which bears against said other object.

14. A mounting device according to any

one of claims 9 to 13 wherein the cranked ends of the stems of the attachment members are mutually outwardly directed.

15. A mounting device according to any one of claims 9 to 14 wherein the cranked ends of the stems of the attachment members are arcuate so as to provide the stems with a generally J-shaped profile.

16. A mounting device substantially as described herein with reference to the drawings accompanying the Provisional Specification.

17. An object mounted to another object by a method according to any one of claims 1 to 8 or a device according to any one of claims 9 to 16.

18. An elongate object mounted to a plate-like surface of another object by means of a method according to any one of claims 1 to 8 or a mounting device according to any one of claims 9 to 16, wherein the stems of the attachment members pass through apertures in said plate-like surface and the strap is tightened around the elongate object.

19. A mounting according to claim 18 wherein the elongate object is a supporting post and the other object is a sign plate.