WO1994018489A1

WO1994018489A1 - Bracket for mounting an electrical device

Info

Publication number: WO1994018489A1
Application number: PCT/GB1994/000259
Authority: WO
Inventors: Richard Jeffrey Whitaker
Original assignee: Commercial Brains Limited
Priority date: 1993-02-11
Filing date: 1994-02-09
Publication date: 1994-08-18
Also published as: GB9302713D0; AU6004694A

Abstract

The invention relates to a bracket for mounting electrical devices and a hinge suitable for use in such a bracket. The bracket (2) comprises a mounting means (6) for attaching the bracket (2) to a fixed member (8), usually a wall, a support means (10) for the device (4), an arm (12) hinged part way along its length and extending between the mounting means (6) and the support means (10), the arm (12) comprising a first conduit (14, 14A) between the hinge (16) and the mounting means (6), and a second conduit (18, 18A) between the hinge (16) and the support means (10) wherein a conduit is provided through the hinge between the first conduit and the second conduit.

Description

BRACKET FOR MOUNTING AN ELECTRICAL DEVICE

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to brackets for mounting electrical devices.

Background to the Invention The number of electrical devices being used both in the home and elsewhere is constantly increasing. In particular, the number of television sets per household, or those used for public viewing, has increased dramatically in recent years. In order to accommodate this expansion it has been necessary to provide brackets to mount such electrical devices to fixed members, usually walls in order to provide good line-of-sight viewing without taking up too much space.

One such bracket is disclosed in United States Design Patent No 311,130 which comprises a bracket having a support means for an electrical device, a mounting means for attaching the bracket to the wall and an arm between the support means and the mounting means. The bracket has a hinge mounted on the mounting means enabling the bracket to pivot.

However, such an arrangement is frequently not sufficiently flexible to be used in the wide variety of applications and situations now being required of brackets of this type. Summary of the Invention

The present invention provides a bracket for mounting an electric .l device, the bracket comprising a mounting means for attaching the bracket to a fixed member, a support means for the device, an arm hinged part way along its length and extending between the mounting means and the support means, the arm comprising a first conduit between the hinge and the mounting means and a second conduit between the hinge and the support means, wherein a conduit is provided through the hinge between the first conduit and the second conduit.

Such a construction has the advantage that any cables running from the electrical device to the first conduit are not visible on the outside of the bracket. This means that the bracket is aesthetically more pleasing but also minimises the risk of entanglement with the wire which, at worst, could result in the electrical device being pulled from the support means.

Typically the fixed member may be a wall but may equally he a ceiling or a post.

In a specific construction according to the present invention, the hinge comprises two opposed generally C- shaped hinge members including holes through which a cable can run from the first conduit to the second conduit. This is a convenient construction which enables the advantages of the invention to be achieved.

Conveniently, the hinge members are attached by an at least two-part pintle, the axes of the pintles being substantially coaxial and parallel. Again, this is a convenient construction.

Preferably, the hinge is protected by a cover which prevents tampering with the hinge and makes the bracket aesthetically more pleasing. The cover preferably comprises two sleeves, one fitting over each conduit- and means covering the hinge whereby the hinging action is substantially unrestricted.

In a preferred construction, the support means comprises a plate hingedly attached to the arm, the plate having a hole therethrough whereby cable can be run from the second conduit to an electrical device on the plate through the hole in the plate. This minimises the risk of entanglement even further and gives a substantial improvement to the aesthetic appearance of the bracket.

To provide additional flexibility, the bracket can comprise two spaced hinges along the length of the arm the axes of which may be substantially parallel.

The bracket is particularly, thought not exclusively, suitable for mounting a domestic electrical appliance, such as a television.

According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a hinge for use in a bracket for mounting an electrical device, in which the bracket comprises mounting means for attaching the bracket to a fixed member, a support means for the device, an arm hinged by the hinge part way along its length and extending between the mounting means and the support means, the arm comprising a first conduit between the hinge and the mounting means and ^a second conduit between the hinge and the support means, and the hinge provides a conduit between the first conduit and the second conduit.

The invention is not limited by the means by which the bracket is attached to the wall. Any convenient method can be used. Nor is the invention limited by the specific number of hinges located between the mounting means and the support means on the arm ie the number of arm sections. Brief Description of the Drawings

The invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the drawings that follow; in which:-

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a bracket in accordance with the present invention. Figure 2 is a plan view of a bracket in accordance with .the.. present invention.

Figure 3 is a reverse plan view of a bracket in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 4 is an end elevation of a bracket in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 5 is a reverse end elevation of a bracket in accordance with the present invention.'

Figure 6 is an expanded cross-section of the side elevation of the hinge area of the bracket.

Figure 7 is an enlarged front elevation of part of the hinge shown in Fig 6.

Figure 8 is an enlarged end elevation of the part shown in

Fig 7. Figure 9 is an enlarged perspective view of a hinge cover for use in the present invention

Figure 10 is an enlarged front elevation of a hinge cover to cooperate with the cover shown in Fig 9. Description of the Preferred Embodiment Referring to Figures 1 to 6, there is shown a bracket 2 for mounting an electrical device 4, the bracket 2 comprising a mounting means 6 for attaching the bracket 2 to a fixed member which in this case is wall 8, a support means 10 for the device 4, an arm 12 hinged part way along its length and extending between the mounting means 6 and the support means 10, the arm 12 comprising a first conduit 14, 14a between the hinge 16 and the mounting means 6 and a second conduit 18, 18a between the hinge 16 and the support means 10, wherein a conduit is provided through the hinge between the support means and the first condui .

As is well known in the art, the mounting means 6 comprises an attachment plate 20 and a snap-fit plate cover 22. The reverse of the attachment plate 20 can be seen in Figure 5. The plate 20 is attached to the wall 8, in use, by screws (not shown) through holes 24. The cover 22 is snapped on to the plate 20 to conceal the screws.

As shown in Figure 6, the first arm conduit 14 is formed of a steel hollow rectangular box section extending from the attachment plate 20 to the hinge 16. The conduit 14 is welded to the attachment plate 20 as is well known in the art. The hinge 16 is shown beneath a hinge cover 26 described in more detail below. The hinge 16 itself and its component parts are shown in more detail in Figs 6-8. The hinge 16 comprises two opposing generally C-shaped hinge members 28 having hinge arms 30 and hinge body sections 32 extending between the arms 30. The hinge arms 30 of the hinge members 28 overlap each other and are connected, together by opposing countersunk self-locking socket screws 34 forming a pintle. Partially removing the nylon from the threads of the screws 34 that are used has been found to help their self-locking and prevent the screws 34 becoming undone as the hinge 16 is operated. The pintles are parallel and co-axial. Each hinge member 28 has an elongate hole 36 in its body section 32. The gap between the pintles allows a cable 38 to pass through the hinge 16 through the holes.

One of the hinge members 28 includes a semishear 31 which acts on opposing stops shown in Figure 8. This limits the relative rotation of the hinge members to 90° in each direction; giving 180° freedom of rotation.

The second conduit 18 is substantially similar to the first conduit 14 except that it links to the hinge 16 from the other side. Additionally it is attached to a second hinge 16A. In relation to this second hinge 16A, the second conduit can be regarded as a first conduit 14A (because it is between the hinge 16A and the mounting means 6). Between the second hinge 16A and the support means is a further second conduit 18A. The second hinge 16A, the first conduit 14A and the second conduit 18A are substantially similar to the first hinge 16, the first conduit 14 and the second conduit 18 respectively except as explained herein.

The second conduit 18A ends at a tilt-and-turn mechanism 40 connecting it to the support means 10. The tilt-and-turn mechanism 40 is one known to those skilled in the art in this application and allows the support means 10 to rotate through 90° in each direction and tilt through 10°. The tilt-and-turn mechanism 40 is arranged such that cable 38 passing through will be protected from external damage and from damage whilst tilting• and/or turning takes place. The support means 10 comprises a plate 42 including indentations 44 which provide slots by which the electrical appliance 4 can be secured if required. At the front (distant from the mounting means 6) edge of the plate 42 is an upstanding lip 46 which helps hold the electrical appliance 4 in place, especially if the plate 42 is slanted. At the centre of the plate 42 is a hole 48 through which the cable 38 from the electrical appliance 4 can be passed into the second conduit 18A. To secure the plate 42 in place once it has been located using the tilt- and-turn mechanism 40 are socket screws 50.

As referred to above the hinge covers 26 protect the hinges 16, 16A from tampering etc. The hinge covers 26 are shown in more detail in Figs 9 and 10. For convenience, only one of the hinge covers 26 will be described here as the two are substantially identical. Each hinge cover 26 comprises three elements: a first conduit cover 52, a second conduit cover 54 and caps 56.

The first conduit cover 52 has a first conduit sleeve 58 adapted to fit over the first conduit 14. The cover 52 has an elongate hole 60 through which the cable 38 can pass to the hinge 16. Extending from the cover 52 on the opposite side from the sleeve 58 is a disc 62, having a hole 64 through its centre, a truncated band 66 in line with and spaced from the disc 62. The band 66 extends from the opposing edges of the hole 64 leaving a gap so that the cable 38 can pass through the cover 52.

The second conduit cover 54 is generally similar to the first conduit cover 52. In Figure 9 the parts of the second conduit are identified with dashed lines for convenience. The second conduit cover comprises a second conduit sleeve 68 adapted to fit over the second conduit 18, a hole 70 through the cover 54, a disc 72 with a hole 74 therethrough and a truncated band 76. The second conduit cover 54 is placed on the second conduit 18 the other way up from the first conduit cover.

The caps 56 are adapted to snap-fit into the holes 64, 74 in the discs 62, 72 in the first conduit cover 52 and second conduit cover 54 respectively.

To construct the bracket 2 using the hinge covers 26, the conduit cover 52, 54 is placed over its respective conduit 14, 18 and the bolts 34 are screwed in. Subsequently the caps 56 are snapped into place in the holes 64, 70. This construction of the hinge covers 26 allows freedom of movement of the hinges whilst providing ease of construction. The cable 38 passes through the hinge 16 following a generally serpentine path past the bands 66, 76 (although, for clarity, this has not been shown in Figure 6).

The generally open construction of the hinge 16 and the cover 26 provides a synergistic feature in that between them they provide a clear conduit through the hinge 16 for a cable without interfering with the cable, even when the bracket 2 is pivoted about the hinges 16, 16A, and that they allow the hinges 16, 16A to be protected from interference.

Claims

1 A bracket (2) for mounting an electrical device (4) , the bracket (2) comprising a mounting means (6) for attaching the bracket (2) to a fixed member (8), a support means (10) for the device (4), an arm (12) hinged part way along its length and extending between the mounting means (6) and the support means (6), the arm (12) comprising a first conduit (14,14A) between the hinge (16) and the mounting means (10) and a second conduit (18,18A) between the hinge (16) and the support means (10), wherein a conduit is provided through the hinge between the first conduit (14,14A) and the second conduit (18,18A).

2 A bracket according to claim 1, in which the hinge (16) comprises two opposed generally C-shaped hinge members (28) including holes (36) through which a cable (38) can run from the first conduit to the second conduit.

3 A bracket according to claim 2, in which the hinge members (28 ) are attached by an at least two-part pintle (34) , the axes of the pintles being substantially coaxial and parallel. ⁴ A bracket according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the hinge (16) is protected by a cover (26) which prevents tampering with the hinge (16).

5 A bracket according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the cover (26) comprises two sleeves (58), one fitting over each conduit and means ( 66 ) covering the hinge whereby the hinging action is substantially unrestricted.

6 A bracket according to any one of the preceding claims in which the support means (10) comprises a plate (42) hingedly attached to the arm (12) , the plate (42) having a hole (48) therethrough whereby cable (88) can be run from the second conduit (18,18A) to an electrical device on the plate (42) through the hole (48 ) in the plate (42) .

7 A bracket according to any one of the preceding claims in which the bracket comprises two spaced hinges (16) along the length of the arm the axes of which are substantially parallel.

8 A bracket according to any one of the preceding claims, is suitable for mounting a . domestic electrical appliance, such as a television.

9 A bracket for mounting an electrical device arranged substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in figures 1 to 10 of the accompanying drawings.

10 A hinge (16) for use in a bracket (2) for mounting an electrical device (4), in which the bracket (2) comprises mounting means (6) for attaching the bracket (2) to a fixed member (8), a support means (10) for the device (4), an arm (12) hinged by the hinge (16) part way along its length and extending between the mounting means ( 6) and the support means (6), the arm (12) comprising a first conduit (14,14A) between the hinge (16) and the mounting means (10) and a second conduit (18,18A) between the hinge (16) and the support means (10), and the hinge (16) provides a conduit between the first conduit (14,14A) and the second conduit (18,18A). 11 A hinge arranged substantially as herein described with reference to, and as illustrated in, figures 1 to 10 of the accompanying drawings.