US3124327A - Meszaros - Google Patents

Description

March-10, 1964 w. MEszARos CHRISTMAS LIGHT BRACKET Filed Sept. 14, 1962 v INVENTOR. MAL/4M Mesz/wos BY 7 ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,124,321 I CHRISTMAS LIGHT BRACKET William Meszaros, 161 Clear Meadow Drive, East Meadow, N.-Y; Filed Sept. 14, 1962, Ser. No. 223,786 1 Claim. (Cl. 248-74) The present invention relates to a supporting bracket, and more particularly to a bracket structure adapted to hold a section of a Christmas-light connecting wire and/ or the lights attached thereto.

It is known to use a string of white or colored lights for decorating buildings, residences, trees, fences and the like for various festive occasions, like Christmas and other holidays. A plurality of such lights or bulbs being seriesor parallel-connected in a given set of 7, 10, 12 or any other convenient number, it is customary to arrange the lights along esthetically prominent lines, e.g., the doors, windows, balconies, roofs or other portions of the buildings.

The luminous decoration being of a temporary character, the lights are usually removed after a few days and stored away until decoration is again required. For attaching said lights and their connecting wires to the buildings and the like, various conventional means have so far been used, such as nails, clips or screws; sometimes .the wires have simply been laid or stretched around protruding ledges and held thereon by the elastic effect inherent in the insulation (mostly rubber or plastic) which surrounds the wires.

The present invention has for its object the provision of a supporting bracket adapted to be secured to buildings and the like for holding one or more lights and the pertaining wires, and to be left thereon indefinitely, so that the removable luminous decoration may be installed again.

It is the object of the invention to provide a simple, cheap and easy-to-install bracket adapted to clamp the Christmas light wires and whereby the vvires are hung without the use of any tools, and to release the same in a similar manner when the set has to be stored away.

Another object is to make the bracket from one piece of material, preferably light metal or plastic, so as to Withstand the inclemencies of weather when left in the open for a prolonged period of time. Such a bracket not rust, discolor the building or structural member to which it is attached, and 'Will be capable of serving its purpose for quite a number of years.

According to one of the major features of the invention, the Christmas light bracket is made of a single piece of material by pressing, punching, molding or any suitable conventional method, the wire clamping portion being formed by a bent-up part or the bracket proper. Two or more bores may be provided for attaching the bracket to the building, e.g. by means of WOOd screws, nails or the like.

According to a further feature, the peripheral portions of the bracket may be provided with a stiffening ledge and groove which lend the bracket increased rigidity while the electric Wires are being clamped or unclamped.

Further objects, features and the attendant advantages of the preesnt invention will become more clearly understood when considering the following description in conjunction with the drawing, wherein 3,124,327 Patented Mar. 10., 1964 ice FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bracket according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a somewhat schematic perspective view illustrating the use of the inventive bracket on a building for securing a Christmas light set thereto.

In the drawing, 10 denotes a bracket according to the invention, having a substantially plane base plate 12 and a punched-out bent arm 14 with which a wire 30, or a plurality of such wires of a Christmas or similar light set (see FIG. 4) may be held between arm 14 and plate 12. Arm 14 is preferably made by stamping or otherwise cutting around its edges so that an elongated recess 16 is formed in base plate 12. It will be understood that arm v14 is left attached to plate 12, as shown at 14' (FIG. 1), Where a bending operation will bring arm 14 somewhat above but substantially parallel to the main plane of base plate 12. The gap between plate 12 and arm 14 will be made sufliciently large so that the wire or wires 30 of commercially available bulb sets may be held therein.

Base plate 12 has two or more holes 18 therein through which bracket 10 may be nailed or screwed to some struc- .ture, e.g. a portion 44 of a building, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. The bulbs 50 are shown connected to wire 30. It will be clear to those skilled in the art that wire 30 shown herein is representative of a single line (e.g., if the bulbs 50 are series-connected within an electric circuit), or of two lines (e.g., if the bulbs are connected in parallel).

According to the illustrated preferred embodiment, the bracket 10 is shown with a triangular-shape base plate 12 and with two holes 13, one in a corner of the triangle and the other about midway of the opposite side. It will be under-stood that the bracket may be rectangular, oblong, round or have any suitable shape adapted to easy manufacture, without departing from the scope of the claimed structure. Accordingly, more than two holes may be provided, e.g. at all the corners, or at the centers of the sides.

Although the base plate 12 can be made thick enough to present the degree of mechanical rigidity required for the purpose the bracket serves, alternatively, one or more sides of the plate may be provided with a stiffening ledge 20, pressed or stamped from plate 12 so that a corresponding recess or groove 22 is formed (FIG. 3). The height or the ledges 20 may be identical with or somewhat smaller than that of the bent-up arm '14. This is a feature which facilitates the clamping of the wire 30 (see FIG. 2) since the Wire section falling in the region of the bracket 10 is given a slight downward bend between the ledges 2d of opposite sides, which section is securely held by the spring-like arm 14. If a longitudinal pull should be exerted on the Wire 39, it will be urged more tightly against the ledges 20 and arm 14 so that mechanical stability increases. The same would apply if the ledges were provided only on two opposite sides of the plate 12, which are parallel to or at an acute angle with respect to the main direction of the bent-up clamping arm 14-.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing disclosure relates only to preferred embodiments of the invention and that it is intended to cover all changes and modifications of the example described which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A wire supporting bracket comprising a planar base plate, an elongated portion of said plate being partially out out and bent into a substantially parallel Ibut spacedapart position with respect to said plate, at least two sides of said plate have ribs thereon protruding on the same side of said plate from which said elongated portion is spaced apart, means for securing said bracket to a structure, the bracket being adapted to releasably hold a wire between said ribs on said base plate and said elongated portion so that said wire forms two bends over said ribs. 15

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Hartman Sept. 16, Honigbaum Dec. 6, Frey Nov. 23, Larson Nov. 30, Raitt Jan. 24, Luck Feb. 16, Hall J an. 9,

FOREIGN PATENTS Germany Nov. 7, Switzerland July 1, Great Britain Nov. 7,

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