Backing for a photo or picture frame

• US 4,577,822 A
• Filed: 05/02/1983
• Issued: 03/25/1986
• Est. Priority Date: 05/11/1982
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Masters Wilkerson Manufacturing Company Limited Unit
• Original Assignee: Masters Wilkerson Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Wilkerson, David T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Britts, Ramon S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chotkowski, Karen
• Application Number:
  US06/490,896
• Time in Patent Office: 1,058 Days
• Field of Search: 248/544, 248/460, 248/463, 248/465, 248/558, 248/455, 248/496, 40/154, 40/155
• US Class Current: 248/463
• CPC Class Codes: A47G 1/143 Pivotable legs

Abstract

A strut back for a photo or picture frame comprises a back having at least one slot shaped to define the boundary of a region of flexion and a strut having an integrally formed projecting lip or flange which can be engaged in said slot by flexing of said region such that said lip or flange embraces one edge of the slot and is urged against said edge when said frame is stood in a display position supported by the strut. Both the strut and the back may be moulded from a plastics material and the back may have an overall thickness to accommodate said portion of said lip or flange projecting through said slot.

Claims

1. A back for a photo or picture frame in combination with a strut by means of which the frame can be supported in a display position, and wherein:

said back has at least one slot generally coplanar with the back and defining a substantial part of a boundary of a region which can flex relative to the remainder of said back,

said strut has one end abutting said back, the abutting portion of said one end being inclined or bevelled, and an integrally formed lip or flange extending obliquely from said strut adjacent said one end and on the same thereof as said abutting portion,

said lip or flange being engaged in said slot with that one edge of said slot being embraced between said one end and said lip or flange, said engagement being affected by the inward flexing of said region, and a projection on said lip or flange engaging a second edge of said slot which second edge is an edge of said flexing region,

said strut being disengageable from said back by swinging the strut across said back to cause said flexing region to flex and disengage said projection from said second edge and thereby release said lip or flange from said slot.

2. The combination as claimed in claim 1, in which the projection on said lip or flange is a projecting edge which engages on said second edge of said slot, said second edge being chamfered.

3. The combination as claimed in claim 1, in which the back is formed with a series of strengthening ribs or webs which are dimensioned such that the depth of the ribs or webs serves to accommodate that part of the lip or flange projecting through the slot.

4. The combination as claimed in claim 1, in which the slot defines three sides of a rectangular flexing region and in which said flexing region is of reduced thickness adjacent the second edge to assist engagement and disengagement of the projection on said lip or flange with said second edge of the slot.

5. A back for a photo or picture frame in combination with a strut by means of which the frame can be supported in a display position, and wherein:

said back is a moulded synthetic plastics member having at least one three-sided slot generally coplanar with the back and defining a substantial part of a boundary of a region which can flex relative to the remainder of said back,

said strut is a moulded synthetic plastics member having one end abutting said back, the abutting portion of said one end being inclined or bevelled at an angle which determines the angle of the strut to the back when the frame is stood in a display position and an integrally formed lip or flange extending obliquely from said strut adjacent said one end and on the same side thereof as said abutting portion,

said lip or flange being engaged in said slot with one edge of said slot being embraced between said one end and said lip or flange said engagement being affected by the inward flexing of said region, and a projecting edge on said lip or flange engaging on a second edge of said slot which second edge is a bevelled edge of said flexing region,

said strut being disengageable from said back by swinging the strut across said back to cause said flexing region to flex and disengage said projecting edge from said second edge and thereby release said lip or flange from said slot.

6. The combination as claimed in claim 5 in which said three-sided slot defines three sides of a rectangular flexing region and the ends of said slot terminate in circular apertures.