BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention pertains to a drapery rod support system including opposed rod end support brackets having deco¬ rative support members which give the visual impression of a continuous rod member projecting from the wall surface.

Background

Conventional drapery support systems are characterized by an elongated support rod which is typically formed from an 0 extruded metal or plastic member which is configured to form a guideway for a plurality of slide members including a master slide and individual pleat support slides which may be inter¬ connected by a traverse cord system. The support rod is typi¬ cally mounted on spaced apart wall brackets to provide for 5 support of the rod at a distance spaced from the wall surface around the window opening or other area for which the drapery is to form a closure.

Prior art type drapery rod support systems have typically been characterized by somewhat unsightly wall bracket struc- 0 ture thereby sometimes requiring the use of additional struc¬ ture which must be mounted on the wall to form a shield or cover to enclose the wall brackets. Moreover, most types of rod support brackets do not provide for closing the ends of the rod extrusion to prevent unwanted exposure and loss of the 5 pleat carrier or slide members from the open ends of the rod sections. Although separate plug members may be provided for the ends of the rod sections these items do not serve any other purpose and do not form a part of the support structure for the rod itself.

Another problem associated with prior art support bracket structure for drapery rods and the like pertains to the diffi¬ culty in assembling the rod and the support bracket to the mounted wall bracket part and suitably securing the brackets the base or wall bracket parts. Apart from the somewhat unat¬ tractive appearance of the wall bracket structure it is par¬ ticularly difficult to assemble the rod and rod support struc¬ ture to wall brackets and often requires one person to hold the rod in position while each bracket is assembled or con- nected to the wall bracket part. Accordingly, there has been need for several improvements in the art of drapery rod sup¬ port systems, particularly of the type using a decorative extruded shell like support rod for the drapery panel traverse and support system. The abovementioned problems and disadvan- tages of prior art drapery rod support systems have been largely overcome by the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an improved drapery rod support structure particularly of the type for supporting an elongated shell-l ke or tubular type support rod wherein a decorative push-on type end structure is provided for opposite ends of the drapery rod which provides the appearance of a continuous rod section projecting from the wall and to provide ease of assembly and disassembly of the rod with respect to the wall support brackets.

In accordance with an important aspect of the present invention, a drapery rod support system is provided including opposed bracket assemblies comprising a formed metal or plas¬ tic bracket part, a bracket cover plate and a decorative cor- ner member which may be preassembled and/or adapted to be pushed onto a bifurcated support bracket base part which may

be premounted against a vertical wall or other suitable sup¬ port.

In accordance with another important aspect of the pre¬ sent invention, a support bracket for a drapery rod is provid- ed wherein a decorative rod part includes a projection which is insertable in the open end of a somewhat tubular or channel shaped rod member and has a configuration corresponding sub¬ stantially to the cross sectional configuration or outline of the rod member to give the appearance of a continuation of the rod member as being bent at a right angle around the support bracket. Moreover, the corner bracket member is configured to support the end of the relatively thin cross section of the tubular rod member to provide additional support for the rod and to prevent collapse or bending thereof.

In accordance with still further aspects of the present invention there is provided a decorative drapery rod support structure which may be preassembled to the drapery rod and assembled to premounted wall brackets by merely pushing the rod brackets onto the premounted wall brackets and securing the rod assembly to the wall brackets by tightening one or more threaded fasteners which are used to hold the bracket structure in assembly prior to mounting. The support system of the present invention also provides for variable spacing of the rod with respect to the plane of the wall on which it is supported by the insertion of one or more spacer members form¬ ing continuations of the decorative corner or outside support members.

The abovementioned advantages as well as other superior features of the present invention will be further appreciated by those skilled in the art upon reading the detailed descrip¬ tion in conjunction with the drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of an improved drapery rod and support bracket assembly in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a plan view, in section, of the rod and sup¬ port bracket assembly;

Figure 3 is a detail section view taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a detail section view taken from the line 4-4 of Figure 3; and

Figure 5 is a partial section view showing the installa¬ tion of an extension section for extending the position of the rod away from a wal1.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In the description which follows like parts are marked throughout the specification and drawing with the same refer¬ ence numerals, respectively. The drawing figures are not necessarily to scale and certain features of the invention may be shown exaggerated in scale in the interest of clarity.

Referring to Figure 1, there is illustrated in disas¬ sembled relationship substantially all of the parts comprising support means for an elongated drapery panel support rod as¬ sembly, generally designated by the numeral 10. The drapery support rod assembly is characterized by two telescoping rod sections 12 and 14 which are similar in cross sectional con¬ figuration although the rod section 14 is dimensioned to be telescopingly slidable within the rod section 12. The rod

sections 12 and 14 are characterized as elongated relatively thinwalled tubular extrusions or otherwise formed members which are adapted to have an elongated slot 16 formed along one side thereof for supporting a plurality of drapery panel slide or carrier members, not shown. Conventional hardware for supporting a drapery panel, not shown, has been omitted from Figure 1 in the interest of clarity since these compo¬ nents form no part of the present invention. In like manner the traverse cord system, if used in connection with a drapery support rod such as the rod assembly 10, has also been elim¬ inated in the interest of clarity and conciseness. Those skilled in the art will recognize, however, that the rod sup¬ port structure described herein may be used in conjunction with various drapery or curtain rod assemblies.

The rod assembly 10 is adapted to be supported at a pre¬ determined distance spaced from a vertical wall 18, for exam¬ ple, by means including a pair of spaced apart base or wall bracket members 20 and 22. The wall bracket members 20 and 22 are of -so called left hand and right hand configuration al- » though in connection with the other components of the present invention the wall bracket members could be constructed to be identical wherein one member is inverted with respect to the other member when mounted on a vertical surface such as the wall 18. The wall bracket member 20 includes a base portion 24 and a laterally projecting bifurcated arm portion 26 in¬ cluding an elongated slot 28 formed therein. A fastener re¬ ceiving hole 30 is also preferably formed between the closed end of the slot 28 and the base portion 24 for a purpose to be described further herein. In like manner, the bracket member 22 includes a base portion 32 and a bifurcated arm 34 project¬ ing normal to the base portion and including an elongated slot 36 corresponding to the slot 28. A fastener receiving hole 38 is formed in the arm portion 34 between the closed end of the slot 36 and the base portion 32. The wall bracket members 20

and 22 are preferably formed of metal plate which may be bent and stamped to form the slots 28 and 36 and also to form the fastener receiving holes 30, 38 and further fastener receiving holes 40 formed in the respective base portions 24 and 32.

The rod assembly 10 is advantageously adapted to be as¬ sembled to and supported by the wall brackets 20 and 22 by opposed rod end or corner support bracket assemblies which include decorative elbow or corner members which may be con¬ figured to give the appearance that the rod sections 12 and 14 form continuous members which are bent and extend toward the wall 18. Ea-ch end of the rod assembly 10 is supported by a bracket assembly including a support bracket member 46 charac¬ terized by an elongated channel shaped portion 48 having a web 50 with a fastener clearance hole 51 formed therein and opposed flanges 52 and 54. An integrally formed tang portion 56 extends from the web 48 and projects normal thereto. The tang portion 56 includes opposed somewhat u-shaped recesses 60 and 62 and a fastener receiving hole 64 formed therein and between the recesses.

The support bracket assembly for the rod assembly 10 further includes an inner bracket cover part 68 preferably formed as an elongated and also somewhat channel shaped member having a web 70 and opposed flanges 72 and 74. The surface of the web 70 opposite the channel formed by the flanges 72 and 74 preferably includes an elongated projection or key 78 pro¬ jecting from the web surface and extending to a point adjacent to a fastener receiving hole 80. The cover part 68 is dimen¬ sioned to be nested within the channel portion 48 formed by the bracket member 46 wherein the flanges 72 and 74 are fitted within the channel formed by and between the flanges 52 and 54.

Each support bracket assembly for the drapery rod assem¬ bly 10 still further includes a decorative outer cover member,

one of which is generally designated by the. numeral 82. The outer cover member 82 is preferably formed of molded plastic or the like and has a contoured outer peripheral wall 84 and a supporting web structure, generally designated by the numeral 86, including at least one boss 88 formed with a tapped hole for receiving a threaded fastener 90. The cover member 82 further includes a spigot portion 92 which projects from a transverse surface 94 delimiting one end of the outer periph¬ eral wall 84. The spigot portion 92 is configured to fit within the open end of the rod section 14 in generally sup¬ portive relationship thereto and snuggly enough so as to mini¬ mize distortion or collapse of the generally c-shaped rod section. As illustrated in Figures 1 and 3, in particular, the outer peripheral wall 84 of the cover part 82 extends to opposed distal edge portions 85 and 87 which form a channel for receiving the bracket part 46 and the cover part 68 generally nested completely within the confines of the outer peripheral wall 84. In ^' this way, from substantially all an¬ gles which the rod assembly 10 and the associated bracket assemblies would normally be viewed when in the mounted posi¬ tion, the support bracket structure is substantially hidden from view and, when assembled with the rod assembly 10 the cover part 82 gives the appearance of being a continuous curved extension of the rod section 14 extending toward the wall 18.

The inventive drapery support rod and support bracket assembly described herein further includes a clamp part or so called pendant plate, generally designated by the numeral 100. The clamp part 100 includes an upstanding base section 102 and opposed wing portions 104 which include holes 105 for receiv¬ ing drapery support hooks or similar devices for suspending _, a drapery panel from the rod assembly and securing the drapery panel stationary at its outer end. The clamp part 100 in¬ cludes spaced apart parallel projecting tang portions 108 and 110 which are adapted to be fitted in the opposed grooves 60

and 62 and to project into slots 112 and 114, Figure 4, formed in the rod section 14, for example. The clamp part 100 and the bracket part 46 are held in assembly with the rod section

14 by a threaded fastener 118 which is threaded into the tapped fastener receiving hole 64 in the tang 56 and extends through a fastener clearance hole 120 formed in the clamp part. The fastener 118 also extends into the slot 16 in the rod section, 14 as illustrated in Figure 5.

One particular advantage of the drapery rod support bracket assembly of the present invention resides in the fact that the bracket part 46, the cover part 68 and the outer cover part 82 may be preassembled with the rod section 14 and secured thereto before mounting on the wall bracket 20. For example, the bracket part 46 is secured between the cover part 68 and the outer cover part 82 by the fastener 90; however, the fastener 90 may be left relatively loosely assembled suf¬ ficient to permit insertion of the arm- 26 of the wall bracket 20 between the web 50 and the web 70 of the respective bracket and cover parts 46 and 68 and wherein the fastener 90 extends along the slot 28 until the bracket assembly is pushed onto the arm 26 as far as desired.

An assembled arrangement of the rod section 14 with the cover part 82, the bracket part 46 and the cover part 68 is illustrated in Figures 2, 3 and 4. As illustrated, the rod assembly together with the outer cover part 82 is supported on the wall bracket 20 in such a way that the cover part is spaced only slightly away from the surface of the wall as regards its distal end surface 83, Figure 2. In this way the rod section 14 has the appearance of being a continuous member which has a portion extending normal to the wall 18. Once the bracket assembly is positioned on the wall bracket 20 as desired the fastener 90 is tightened to clamp the cover part 68 to the bracket part 46 and the outer cover part 82 between opposed surfaces of the arm 26.

The opposite end of the support rod assembly 10 is also provided with a bracket part 46, a cover part 68, a clamp part 100 and fasteners 90 and 118. An outer cover part 130 com¬ prising a mirror image of the outer cover part 82 is also provided and is assembled to the bracket part 46 and the cover part 68 in virtually an identical manner as the parts 46, and 68 are assembled to the outside cover part 82. The outer cover part 130 also includes a contoured exterior wall portion 132 and a laterally projecting spigot 134 which projects from a wall surface 136 in the same manner that the spigot 92 proj¬ ects from -the wall surface 94. A supporting web 133 and fas¬ tener receiving boss 135 are molded integral with the wall 132. Due to the particular cross sectional shape of the drapery rod assembly 10 the cover parts 82 and 130 comprise "left" and "right" handed members. If the rod assembly were comprised of members having a cross sectional configuration symmetrical about a longitudinal central axis the outer cover parts 82 and 130 could be identical parts.

The outer cover part 130 is assembled to the bracket part 46 and the cover part 68 by a fastener 90 and the bracket part 46 secured to the outside cover part 130 is also secured to the rod section 12 by a clamp part 100 and a fastener 118 in the same manner as is illustrated by way of example for the outer cover part 82. For example, the outside cover part 132 includes the boss 135 similar to the boss 88 for the cover part 82 and which is adapted to receive a fastener 90 to as¬ semble the outer cover part 130 initially rather loosely to the bracket part 46 and the cover part 68. The entire assem¬ bly of parts is mounted on the wall bracket 22 with the arm 34 extending into the channel formed between the flanges 52 and 54 of the channel portion 48 of the bracket part 46. With the fastener 90, which is holding the parts 46, 68 and 130 loosely in assembly, disposed in the slot 36 a position of the bracket assembly forming the "right hand" corner of the rod assembly

10 may be adjusted and the fastener 90 tightened to position the distal end 137, Figure 2, of the outer cover part 130 closely adjacent the wall 18.

For applications of the drapery support rod assembly 10 wherein it is desired to space the rod assembly 10 farther from the wall 18 the outer cover parts 82 and 130 may be provided with extension spacer parts 140 and 142, Figure 1, which comprise mirror images of each other. By way of example the part 140 has an outer contoured peripheral wall 144 and a web structure 146 including a fastener receiving boss 148, as shown in Figures 1 and 4. The extension part 140 also in¬ cludes contoured or curvilinear shaped projections 150 which are adapted to extend into a recess 152 formed by the outer peripheral wall 84 of the cover part 82. The web structure 86 terminates short of the distal edge 83 of the outer cover part 82 to provide clearance for the projections 150.

The extension parts - 140 and 142 may be secured to the respective wall bracket members 20 and 22 adjacent to the outer cover parts 82 and 130 by suitable threaded fasteners 160, respectively. Depending on the contour or cross section¬ al profile of the outer wall 144 required to conform to the shape and overall appearance of the outer cover part 82 and 130, for example, the parts 140 and 142 may also be identical if the configuration of the cover parts 82 and 130 is general- ly symmetrical about a longitudinal central axis or plane. The extension parts 140 and 142 may also be fabricated from cast metal or plastic. Moreover, the spacer or extension parts 140 and 142 may be supplied in various lengths within the limit of the lengths of the arms 26 and 34 of the respec- tive wall brackets 20 and 22 whereby the position of the rod assembly 10 with respect to the wall 18 may be selectively varied.

-li¬ lt will be appreciated from the foregoing that a particu¬ larly unique drapery or similar type closure support rod as¬ sembly is provided by the present invention. Upon assembly of the bracket parts 46 and 68 to the respective outer cover parts 82 and 130 the tang portions 56 of the bracket parts may be inserted in the opposite ends of the support rod assembly 10 and secured by the respective clamp members 100 to the rod sections 12 and 14, respectively. The projections 92 and 134 provide support for the respective rod sections 14 and 12 to prevent loss of drapery slide carrier members or the like and to also minimize the risk of distortion of the cross sectional shape of the relatively thin walled extruded rod sections 12 and 14.

The assembly of each of the outer cover parts 82 and 130 together with the connected rod assembly 10. may simply be pushed onto the respective wall brackets 20 and 22 in such a way that the fasteners 90 extend into the slots 28 and 36, respectively and the key or tongue portions 78 of the cover parts 68 extend into the respective slots also. The wall brackets 20 and 22 firmly support the rod assembly over vir¬ tually the entire length of the channel portions of the brack¬ et members 46 to distribute the loading thereon. When the support rod assembly has been mounted on the wall bracket 20 and 22 it may be pushed toward the wall 18 until the fasteners 90 engage the closed ends of the slots 28 and 36 whereupon these fasteners may then be tightened to securely clamp the support rod assembly to the wall brackets.

The assembled apparatus described herein gives an aes¬ thetically pleasing appearance of a continuous rod which is curved and extends from and returns to the wall 18. Of course, if the position of the rod sections 12 and 14 with respect to the wall is to be increased, the extension or spacer members 140 and 142 are inserted or supported on the

wall brackets prior to pushing the bracket assemblies onto the wall brackets as described above.

As previously mentioned the rod sections 12 and 14 may be formed of relatively thin walled extruded plastic or metal, the wall brackets 20 and 22 and the bracket parts 46 and 100 may be stamped out of relatively thin metal plate and folded by suitable metal forming operations. The cover parts 68, the outer cover parts 82 and 130 and the outer cover extension or spacer parts 140 and 142 are preferably formed of molded plas- tic or cast metal and are given a finished appearance corre¬ sponding to the finish on the rod sections 12 and 14 so that these parts have the overall appearance of a continuous piece of rod section.

Although a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described in detail herein those skilled in the art will rec¬ ognize that various detailed substitutions and modifications may be made. For example, the clamp parts 100 may be modified to serve as end pieces for connection to and support of vari¬ ous types of drapery panels. As mentioned earlier the overall contour or cross sectional shape of the rod sections 12 and 14 and the corresponding outer cover parts 82 and 130 may take various specific forms. Suffice it to say that the concept of providing a push on support bracket assembly having the ap¬ pearance of a continuous drapery support rod in accordance with the present invention may take various specific forms without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as recited in the appended claims.

What we claim is: