Bracket for Adjustably Supporting a Headrail

It is common practice to mount headrails for various window coverings using a spring clip device having an intermediate portion adapted to overlie the headrail and front and rear leg portions that extend downwardly from the intermediate portion for supportably engaging a head rail. In ceiling mount installations, the intermediate portion of the clip device is fastened by a screw or the like directly to the overhead support. In wall mount installations, the intermediate portion of the clip device is fastened by a screw, bolt or rivet either directly to the horizontal leg of a wall bracket or to a slidable extension of the wall bracket, for example as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,363,459. In order to adjust the spacing of the headrail from the wall or other vertical mounting surfaces, it is generally necessary to remove or at least loosen the fastener that attaches the clip to the wall bracket to enable adjustment of the clip relative to the upright support surface. However, the fastener that attaches the spring clip to the wall bracket is not readily accessible when the headrail is installed on the spring clip.

It is on object of the present invention to provide a bracket assembly which reduces the number of separate parts which must be formed and assembled and which does not require the use of tools to assemble the headrail on a wall bracket.

Another object of this invention is to provide a bracket assembly for adjustably supporting a headrail of a window covering, and which can be easily adjusted without the use of tools toward and away from the wall, while the headrail is mounted on the bracket assembly.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a bracket assembly for adjustably supporting a headrail of window covering comprising a wall bracket having a generally horizontal bracket arm and a unitary slide body slidably mounted on the arm and having an upper portion that overlies the arm and at least one lower cross portion that underlies the arm. A clip device having an intermediate portion overlies and is supported on the lower cross portion of the slide member and has front and rear leg portions extending downwardly from the intermediate portion for supportably engaging a headrail below the cross portion. The slide body is adjustable along the arm to positions in which the arm overlies the clip device to retain the clip device on the lower cross portion of the slide body.

Means are provided on the slide body for engaging the arm to releasably retain the slide body in different adjusted positions along the bracket arm. In accordance with one embodiment, a latch member is integrally joined by a flexible section to the slide body for pivotal movement in a generally horizontal plane and the latch member has a nose adjacent one end thereof engagable with the detent means on the arm for retaining the slide body in different adjusted positions along the arm. The latch member is manually movable to a release position in which the nose disengages the detent means on the arm and means are provided on the slide body for releasably retaining the latch member in its release position.

In a presently preferred embodiment, a cam member is interposed between an upper side of the bracket member and the upper portion of the slide body. The cam member is selectively movable between a release position in which it is loosely disposed between the arm and the slide body and a clamp position in which it is wedged between the bracket arm and the slide body. The cam member is preferably mounted on the upper portion of the slide body for angular movement between the release and clamp positions.

FIG. 1 is an exploded isometric view of the bracket assembly;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view through the bracket assembly illustrating the bracket assembly with one type of spring device for use with one style and size of headrail;

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the plane 3--3 of FIG. 2, and illustrating parts on a larger scale than FIG 2;

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view through the bracket assembly illustrating the bracket assembly with a second style /spring clip for use with a different size and style headrail;

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view through the bracket assembly illustrating the bracket assembly with a third type of spring clip for still another form and size of headrail;

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view through the bracket assembly with a headrail supported thereon;

FIG. 7 is a transverse sectional view taken on the plane 7--7 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a top plan view of the bracket assembly;

FIG. 9 is a transverse sectional view taken on the plane 9--9 of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a bottom view of a clamp device for clamping the slid to the bracket arm; and

FIG. 11 is a front view of the clamp device taken on the plane 11--11 of FIG. 10.

Referring first to the embodiment of FIGS. 1-5, the bracket assembly in general includes a wall bracket 10, a slide body 11, and a headrail mounting clip 12 for supporting a headrail 13, of a window covering, for example the headrail of a vertical blind.

The wall bracket 10 is a generally L-shaped configuration and includes a generally upright leg or pad 16 having fastener receiving openings 17 for attaching the wall bracket to an upright support surface such as a wall, and a generally horizontal arm 18 that extends forwardly from the leg portion 16. The arm has relatively parallel side edges 18a, 18b (FIG. 1) and a plurality of notches or detents 19 are provided in at least one of the side edges 18a.

The slide body is slidably mounted on the arm 18 for adjustment therealong and includes at least one and preferably two lower cross portions 21 and 22 that are adapted to underlie the arm 18. The slide body also includes an upper cross portion 23 adapted to overlie the arm. The slide body is preferably molded in one piece of a synthetic resin material that is relatively rigid in thick sections and sufficiently resilient to allow limited flexing in thin sections, for example medium impact ABS. As best shown in FIG. 1, an elongated latch member 25 is formed integrally with the slide body and is integrally joined intermediate its ends to the slide body by flexible section 26, arranged to allow limited pivotal movement of the latch member in a generally horizontal plane relative to the slide body. The latch member 25 has a nose portion 25a on one end engageable with the notches or detents 19 in the arm to releasably retain the slide body in different adjusted positions along the arm. The latch member has a portion 25b at the end remote from the nose 25a and which can be depressed by a finger of the user toward the slide body to move the latch member to a release position in which the nose 25a disengages the detents. As will be readily understood, two or more bracket assemblies are required to support a headrail and, in order to facilitate adjustment of the headrail along its entire length, a catch 28 is provided on the slide body and arranged to engage an end 25c on the latch member to releasably retain the latch member in its release position. Thus, the portion 25b of the latch member can be depressed toward the slide body to a position in which the end 25c is engaged by the latch 28 to enable free adjustment of the slide body along the arm. The catch 28 is joined to the slide body with a thin resilient section so that the catch 28 can be manually pressed out of engagement with end 25c, to allow the latch member to move back into its detent engaging position.

The clip device 12 is preferably formed of spring steel and includes an intermediate portion 31 and front and leg portions 32 and 33. In general, the intermediate portion 31 is adapted to overlie and span the width of a headrail 13, and the front and rear leg portions 32 and 33 are arranged to engage forward and rear ribs 34, 35 on the headrail to support the headrail. The intermediate portion 31 of the clip device is positioned to overlie the lower cross portion 21 of the slide for support thereon. As best shown in FIG. 1, the lower cross portion 21 has a depressed area 21a for receiving the intermediate portion on the clip device and a prong 21b extends upwardly from the cross portion and into an aperture 31a in the intermediate portion of the clip device to locate the clip device on the cross member. As best shown in FIGS. 2-5, the slide body is adjustable along the arm to positions in which the arm closely overlies the clip device 12, to retain the clip device on the cross portion of the slide body.

In the modified clip device 12' shown in FIG. 4 for supporting a modified headrail 13', the clip device has forward and rear legs 32' and 33' arranged to supportably engage ribs 34' and 35' on the headrail 13'. In this embodiment, the intermediate portion 31' of the clip device 12' engages a forward face on the rear lower cross member 22.

In the embodiment of FIG. 5, the headrail 13" is somewhat wider than in the embodiments of FIGS. 2 and 4 and the intermediate portion 31" of the clip device 12" overlies both the front and rear or cross portions 21 and 22 of the slide body. Front and rear leg portions 32", 33" extend downwardly below the lower cross portions on the slide body and engage ribs 34", 35" on the headrail.

Reference is now made to the presently preferred embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 6-11. As in the preceding embodiment, the bracket assembly includes a wall bracket 50, a slide body 51 and a headrail mounting clip 52 for supporting a headrail 53 of a window covering, for example the headrail of a vertical blind. The wall bracket 50 has a generally L-shaped configuration and includes a generally upright leg or pad 56 having fastener receiving openings for attaching the wall bracket to an upright support surface such as a wall, and a generally horizontal arm 58 that extends forwardly from the leg portion 56. The bracket arm 58 has relatively parallel side edges 58a and 58b (FIGS. 7-9), and a forward end 58c. The bracket arm also has lengthwise extending depressions 58d and lengthwise extending slots 58e that terminate inwardly of the forward end 58c to form a rearwardly facing abutment 58f. The slide body 51 is movable along the bracket arm and has parallel side portions 70, front and rear lower cross portions 71 and 72 that extend between the side portions and underlie the arm, and an upper portion 73 that extends between the side portions and overlies the bracket arm. The slide body is conveniently molded in one piece of a synthetic resin material such as high impact ABS.

The clip device 52 includes an intermediate portion 81 that is adapted to overlie and span the width of the headrail 53, and front and rear leg portions 82 and 83 arranged to engage forward and rear ribs 84 and 85 on the headrail to support the headrail. As described in connection with the embodiments of FIGS. 1-5, the intermediate portion of the clip device is constructed and arrange to overlie at least one of the lower cross portions for support thereon. Thus, clip devices such as shown at 31 and 31' in FIGS. 2 and 4, respectively can overlie the forward cross portion 71. The clip device 81 illustrated in the embodiments of FIGS. 6-11 is similar to the clip device shown at 31" in FIG. 5 and the intermediate portion of the clip device is arranged to overlie both the front and rear lower cross portions 71 and 72. Provision is made for laterally positioning the clip device on the lower cross portions and as shown in FIG. 6, the intermediate portion 81 of the clip device has openings for receiving upwardly extending prongs 71a and 72a on the forward and rear cross portions respectively.

A clamp device is mounted on the slide body and is engageable with the bracket arm for releasably retaining the slide body in different adjusted positions along the bracket arm. In this embodiment, the clamp device includes a lever 75 conveniently formed of synthetic resin material such as ABS. The lever includes a handle 75a and a cam portion 76 loosely disposed between the upper side of the bracket arm 58 and the underside of the upper portion 73 of the slide body. The lever is mounted on the upper cross portion for pivotal movement relative thereto by generally upright axis and, as best shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, the cam portion has an integral pintle 77 that is rotatably received in an opening in the upper cross portion. Cam lobes 78 are formed on the underside of the cam portion 76 and are arranged to be received in the depressions 58d in the bracket arm, when the lever is in a release position as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The slide body can be adjusted along the bracket arm when the lever is in its release position. When the slide body is adjusted along the bracket arm to the desired position, the cam lever can be turned about the pintle 77 to move the cam lobes 78 crosswise of the ridge between the depressions 58d in the bracket arm, to a clamp position in which the cam portion of the lever is wedged between the upper side of the bracket arm and the upper side of the slide body to clamp the slide body against movement along the bracket arm. Thus, when the cam lever is in its clamp position, the slide body is cammed upwardly relative to the bracket arm to draw the lower cross portions 71 and 72 and the intermediate portion 81 of the clip 52 against the underside of the bracket arm.

Provision is also made for preventing accidental detachment of the slide body from the bracket arm after it has been mounted thereon. A resilient finger 86 is conveniently formed integrally with the cam portion of the lever and has a nose 86a arranged to extend into the slot 58e in the bracket arm when the lever is in the release position as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The nose 86a on the resilient finger is adapted to engage the rearwardly facing abutment face 58f at the forward end of the slot 58e to prevent accidental movement of the slide body off the forward end of the bracket arm and the sides of the nose 86a are beveled or rounded to cam out of the slot when the lever is turned out of its release position.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the headrail support device 12 can be mounted on the slide body without the use of separate fasteners or tools and that the clip device is retained in position on the slide body by the arm of the wall bracket. Further, the slide body with the clip device is supported thereon, is adjustable along the arm of the wall bracket without the use of tools and can be selectively locked in adjusted position.