US3031799A - Magnetic picture hanger - Google Patents

Description

May 1, 1962 Filed May 25, 1960 T. R. BRADSBY MAGNETIC PICTURE HANGER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG...?

INVENTOR. THOMAS R0) BRADSBY ATTO/PNE S May 1, 1962 T. R. BRADSBY MAGNETIC PICTURE HANGER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 25, 1960 7 2 8 Z 7 Z 6 Z m m m m THOMAS ROY BRADSBY BY M M @Vl? ATTORNEYS Un te te P ten A 3,031,799 MAGNETIC PICTURE HANGER Thomas Roy Bradsby, 40 Terrace Court, Los Gatos, Calif. Filed May 25, 1960, Ser. No. 31,653

3 Claims. (Cl. 50-22) This invention relates to permanent magnet picture hangers in general.

An important object of this invention is to provide one or more permanent magnet devices imbedded in or mounted behind the plaster or wall board construction to cooperate with a magnetic bar attached to the backside of a picture to be supported on the wall structure by the permanent magnet devices.

Further details of this invention will be set forth in the specification, claims and drawing in which briefly:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a wall provided with a permanent magnet picture holder device of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a back view of a picture frame provided with a bar of magnetic material adapted to cooperate with the permanent magnet shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view along the line 33 of FIG. 1 showing the picture frame shown in FIG. 2 supported by the magnet;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the magnet and bracket assembly;

FIG. 6 is a side view of a wall provided with a modified magnet structure;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line 77 of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the magnet and bracket assembly shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

Referring to the drawings in detail, there is shown a magnetic picture frame support that is adapted to be imbedded in the plaster or other wall structure of a room at certain points thereof where it is customary to hang pictures whereby it is not necessary to disfigure the wall structure with nails or other projecting picture hanging supports. Thus by employing this invention the walls always maintain an unmarred appearance since it is not necessary to drive nails into the Wall for supporting pictures thereon.

In accordance with this invention, there is provided a metal, wood, or plastic bracket 12 that is equipped with laterally extending and portions 13 and 14 which are adapted to be attached by means of the nails 15 to the vertical 2 x 4 studs 10 and 11. A horseshoe shaped magnet 16 made of steel or suitable alloys such as alnico, comol or vicalloy as described on pages 66 and 67 of the May 9, 1946 issue of the Iron Age, is supported on the bracket 12 by means of the screw 17 which is positioned in suitable holes formed in this bracket and in the magnet. The magnetic poles of the magnet 16 extend through the plaster or wall board structure 18 to the outersurface thereof and these pole pieces are covered by a thin layer of wallpaper or paint layer 19 so that they are not visible. This layer 19 is not thick enough to reduce the holding power of the magnet to a point where it is insufiicient to support the picture.

A bar 21 of magnetic material is cemented by cement such as epoxy resin or the like 22 to the backside of the picture frame 20 as shown in FIG. 2 and in supporting the picture frame 20 on the wall the bar 21 of magnetic material is placed in line with the poles of the permanent magnet so as to be firmly attracted and held thereby.

Where it is desired to provide a permanent magnet structure of substantial area, the structure shown in FIGS.

3,031,799 Patented May 1, 1962 6, 7 and 8 is employed. This form of the invention employs a plurality of stacks 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 and 32 of small wafer shaped permanent magnets which may be of ceramic or sintered metal composition. These stacks are supported on the bracket 23 between this bracket and the plate 42 which are both of magnetic material, by means of the machine screws34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39 and 40, respectively extending therethrough. The bent ends 24 and 25 of the bracket 23 are attached to the 2 x 4 studs 10 and 11, respectively, by suitable nails so that the faces of the magnet stacks 26-33 are positioned flush with the front of the plaster or wallboard 18 and they are covered by the wallpaper or paint layer 19.

The magnet stacks 26-33 may be arranged in different ways to provide a strong magnetic field on the front of the wall. Thus the magnet stacks may provide alternate north and south poles on their front faces, that is, each of the front faces of the stacks 26, 28, 30 and 32 may present a north pole whereas the intermediate stacks 27, 29 and 31 may each present a south pole. On the other hand the wafers of these stacks may be arranged so that the south poles thereof for example are on the bottom so that the bracket 23 forms the south pole and the north poles of all the stacks are at the top and the plate 42 forms the north pole. I Thus the bracket 23 functions as one of the poles of the magnet and the plate 42 functions as the other pole of the magnet thereby producing a strong and well defined magnetic field spread out over a length comparable to the length of the magnetic member 21 on the back of the picture frame. Thus strong magnetic pull is brought into play over a substantial length of the member 21 so that this arrangement may be employed for supporting relatively heavy pictures.

While I have shown a preferred embodiment of the invention it will be understood that the invention is capable of variation and modification from the form shown so that its scope shouldbe limited only by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

What I claim is:

1. In a magnetic picture supporting device adapted to be positioned in the wall of a room so as to set up a magnetic field over an area of the exposed front face of the wall where a picture is to be supported, the combination of a permanent magnet, a bracket having a length equal to the distance between adjacent studs in the wall structure on which a picture is to be hung, said bracket having end portions abutting opposing surfaces of said adjacent studs, means for attaching said end portions to said studs abutted thereby, means for attaching said magnet to said bracket so that the magnetic poles thereof are imbedded in said Wall structure and the pole faces thereof are substantially flush with said wall surface and are hidden from view only by the finish paint or wall paper applied to said wall surface, and a bar of magnetic material attached to the back of a picture to be supported on said wall when said bar is magnetically gripped by said permanent magnet.

2. In a magnetic picture supporting device adapted to be positioned in the wall of a room so as to set up a magnetic field over an area of the exposed front face of the wall where a picture is to be supported, the combination of a plurality of permanent magnets, a bracket having a length equal to the distance between adjacent studs in the wall structure on which a picture is to be hung, said bracket having end portions abutting opposing surfaces of said adjacent studs, means for attaching said end portions to said studs abutted thereby, means for attaching said plurality of magnets to said bracket so that the magnetic poles thereof are imbedded in said wall structure with alternate poles thereof being of opposite polarity, the pole faces of said magnets being substantially flush with said wall surface and being hidden from view only by the finish paint or wall paper applied to said wall surface, and an elongated bar -of magnetic material attached t the ba 0 a P ct re aid bar ha a ng h ex e over all of said pole faces whereby sufiicient magnetic attraction is developed to support a relatively large picture on said wall when said bar is magnetically gripped by said permanent magnets.

3. In a magnetic picture supporting device adapted to be positioned in the wall of a room so as to set up a magnetic field over an area of the exposed front face of the Wall where a picture is to be supported, thecom bination of a plurality of permanent magnets, a bracket having a length equal to the distance between adjacent studs in the Wall structure on which a picture is to be hung, said bracket having end portions abutting opposing surfaces of said adjacent studs, means for attaching said end portions to said studs abutted thereby, means ineluding an overlaying elongated member for clamping said plurality of magnets into a row on said bracket so that the magnetic poles thereof are imbedded in said wall structure and the pole faces thereof are substantially flush with said wall surface and are hidden from view only by the finish paint or wall paper applied to said Wall surface, and an elongated bar of magnetic material having a length extending over to the back of said row of magnets, means for attaching said bar to the back of a picture to be supported on said wall when said bar is magnetically gripped by said permanent magnet.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,789,124 Wever Jan. 13, 1931 2,233,334 Austin Feb. 25, 1941 2,414,653 I Lookholder Jan. 21, 1947 2,507,559 DAndrea May 16, 1950 or was

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