Wall anchor

Abstract

Provided are wall anchors including an external plate and an inside plate partially overlapping the external plate, each of the external plate and an inside plate having a wall-facing side, the plates being rigidly connected to one another adjacent a first end of their respective wall-facing sides by a cylindrical connecting member; at least a portion of the cylindrical connecting member is configured with a round perimeter. Further provided are modifications of such wall anchors.

Claims

1. A wall anchor comprising an external plate and an inside plate partially overlapping the external plate, each of the external plate and an inside plate having a wall-facing side, the plates being rigidly connected to one another adjacent a first end of their respective wall-facing sides by a cylindrical connecting member, at least a portion of the cylindrical connecting member is configured with a round perimeter, each of the external plate and the inside plate is configured adjacent a second end thereof with at least one coaxially extending fastener-receiving bore, the wall anchor being configured for inserting the external plate member into an opening formed in the wall and then positioned such that a wall portion extends between the inside faces of the external and inside plates, wherein at least the inside plate bears flush against an inside face of the wall portion, and wherein at least a round portion of the cylindrical connecting member bearing against at least a portion of the opening.

2. The wall anchor of claim 1, wherein one or both of the external plate and the inside plate are elastically deformable.

3. The wall anchor of claim 1, wherein the external plate extends parallel to the inside plate.

4. The wall anchor of claim 1, wherein the external plate is configured with at least one integrally formed auxiliary fastening plate.

5. The wall anchor of claim 4, wherein the at least one auxiliary fastening plate extends parallel to the external plate, with the auxiliary fastening plate extending from a second end of the external plate and facing the first end.

6. The wall anchor of claim 4, wherein the external plate is U-shaped.

7. The wall anchor of claim 1, wherein the inside plate comprises a concealing portion extending beyond boundaries of the cylindrical member.

8. The wall anchor of claim 1, configured for mounting with the second end facing at any angular orientation pivotally retained about the cylindrical member.

9. The wall anchor of claim 1, wherein the cylindrical member is configured with a thickness corresponding to a thickness of a wall onto which the wall anchor is to be mounted.

10. The wall anchor of claim 1, wherein distance of the inside plate and the external plate, at the first end thereof, is defined by the thickness of the cylindrical member, said thickness being measured along an axis extending normal to the wall-facing side of the inside plate.

11. The wall anchor of claim 1, wherein the circumcircle of the connecting member is configured with a diameter corresponding to the opening formed in the wall through which the external plate is introduced when installing the wall anchor on the wall.

12. The wall anchor of claim 1, wherein the distance between the wall-facing sides of the inside plate and of the external plate is equal to a nominal thickness of a wall configured to bear the wall anchor.

13. The wall anchor of claim 1, wherein the wall anchor is a clip-nut configured for mounting at an edge of a thin wall portion, wherein the cylindrical connecting member extends outside of said wall portion.

14. The wall anchor of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the cylindrical connection member is configured for bearing against a circular portion of an opening formed in the wall.

15. The wall anchor of claim 1, wherein the external plate extends from a rear of the connecting member and is bent towards the inside plate so as to reduce the gap between the plates at least a second end portion thereof.

16. The wall anchor of claim 1, wherein the inside plate is flat and smooth for placing flush over a wall surface and an axis of the cylindrical connecting member extends normal from the wall facing side of the inside plate.

17. The wall anchor of claim 1, wherein the external plate of the wall anchor is concave.

18. A wall anchor configured for securing a fastener to a wall, the wall anchor comprising an inside plate and an outside plate at least partially overlapping one another and being attached to one another at a first end of the wall anchor by a cylindrical connecting member, the cylindrical connecting member retaining the inside plate and the outside plate at a spaced apart relation with a wall-receiving gap extending there between, wherein at a mounted position a wall portion is received in said wall-receiving gap and extending flush between an inside face of the inside plate and an inside face of the outside plate, and at least a portion of the connecting member bears against walls of an opening formed in the wall, and each of the outside plate and the inside plate is configured adjacent a second end thereof with at least one coaxially extending fastener-receiving bore, the wall anchor being configured for inserting the outside plate into an opening formed in the wall and then positioned such that a wall portion is received within the wall-receiving gap, wherein at least the inside plate bears flush against an inside face of the wall portion, and wherein at least a round portion of the cylindrical connecting member bearing against at least a portion of the opening.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) In order to better understand the subject matter that is disclosed herein and to exemplify how it may be carried out in practice, embodiments will now be described, by way of non-limiting examples only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1A is a front perspective view of a wall anchor according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

(3) FIG. 1B is a rear perspective view of the wall anchor of FIG. 1A;

(4) FIG. 1C is a side rear perspective view of the wall anchor of FIG. 1A;

(5) FIG. 1D is a side view of the wall anchor of FIG. 1A;

(6) FIG. 1E is a back view of the wall anchor of FIG. 1A.

(7) FIGS. 2A and 2B are perspective front and rear views, respectively, of the wall anchor of FIGS. 1A-1E, fitted with a fastener.

(8) FIGS. 3A to 3F are schematic representations illustrating consecutive steps of applying a wall anchor according to the disclosure on a wall portion.

(9) FIG. 4A is a perspective view of a wall anchor according to the disclosure mounted on a wall portion;

(10) FIG. 4B is a longitudinal section along line C-C in FIG. 4A.

(11) FIGS. 5A to 5C are side views of wall anchors according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

(12) FIGS. 6A and 6B are planar front (inside) views of wall anchors according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

(13) FIGS. 7A to 7E are perspective rear view, side view, perspective front view, rear view and front view, respectively, of a wall anchor according to another embodiment of the present disclosure;

(14) FIG. 7F is planar section along line VII-VII in FIG. 7D.

(15) FIGS. 8A to 8E are schematic representations illustrating consecutive steps of applying wall anchor according to the embodiment of FIGS. 7A-7F, on a wall portion.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

(16) Attention is first directed to FIGS. 1A to 1E of the drawings illustration a wall anchor according to an example of the present disclosure, generally designated 20. The wall anchor is made of rigid though somewhat pliable/flexible material, e.g. metal sheet, composite material, reinforced sheet material, etc.

(17) Wall anchor 20 illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4 is configured with an inside plate 24 and an external plate 26, with an auxiliary fastening plate 30 integrally extending from said external plate 26, imparting it a U-shape. In the illustrated example it is seen that the inside plate 24, the external plate 26 and the auxiliary fastening plate 30 are disposed substantially parallel to one another and that the plates are substantially of equal sheet thickness.

(18) It is noted throughout the Figures that the external plate 26 is longer than the inside plate 24, i.e. an opposite end (second end portion) of the external plate 26 extends beyond the respective end of the inside plate. This arrangement strengthens the external plate 26 improving its load/shear resistance. However it is of note that the external plate and the inside plate may have substantially equal lengths.

(19) As can further be seen, the inside plate 24 is attached to the external plate 26 at a first end portion 34 via a cylindrical connecting member 36 having an axis X extending substantially normal to the respective planes of the inside plate 24 and external plate 26, said connecting member 36 being a round cylinder having an external diameter d (best seen in FIG. 1E) and a thickness t (best seen in FIG. 1D), said thickness retaining the plates at a spaced-apart relation and defining a wall-receiving gap G between an inside face 40 of the inside plate 24 and an inside face 42 of the external plate 26. In the illustrated example, the surface of both the inside face 40 and inside face 42 are flat and smooth and are configured for receiving therebetween respective inside face 72 and outside face 74 of a wall 70, as will be discussed hereinafter with reference to FIGS. 3A-3F.

(20) It is further noted that the cylindrical connecting member 36 has a round perimeter wall surface 50 and further that the three parallely disposed plate members, namely the inside plate 24, the external plate 26 and the auxiliary fastening plate 30 are each configured with an a-priori fastener receiving bore 54.sub.i, 54.sub.e and 54.sub.a, respectively, coaxially extending along axis Y, disposed substantially parallel to axis X. The fastener receiving bores 54.sub.i, 54.sub.e and 54.sub.a can be threaded or smooth, and can be of a diameter smaller than the nominal diameter of a threaded fastener configured for screw engagement therewith, e.g. screw/bolt S (FIGS. 2A and 2B). It is appreciated that while in the present example there bores 54.sub.i, 54.sub.e and 54.sub.a are co-axial, in accordance with other examples (not illustrated) bores 54.sub.i, 54.sub.e and 54.sub.a may be located elsewhere or may not be co-axial.

(21) Also seen, the external plate 26 is attached to the cylindrical connecting member 36 at the first end portion 34 of the wall anchor 20 and is then configured with a bent portion 58 configured for narrowing the gap G such that it corresponds approximately to the thickness of the cylindrical connecting member 36, i.e. wherein Gt.

(22) As can best be seen in FIG. 1E, the width D of the inside plate 24 at least at the location of the connecting member 36 is greater than the diameter d of the connecting member 36 (D>d), whereby when viewed from the inside plate 24 said connecting member is not seen, and further wherein a receiving opening formed in the wall portion 70 (to be discussed hereinafter), is concealed.

(23) In addition, it is seen that the external plate 26 and the auxiliary fastening plate 30 both have a width W which is equal or smaller than the diameter d of the connecting member 36, namely Wd.

(24) In the illustrated example of FIGS. 1 and 2 it is seen that the cylindrical connecting member 36 is formed integrally with the inside plate 24 by pressing it outwards, and the external plate 26 is attached to the connecting member 36 e.g. by welding, with the auxiliary fastening plate 30 extending integral and in continuation with the external plate 26. However, other forms of manufacturing can be utilized, e.g. molding, 3D printing, other forms of assembly, etc., all of which do not depart from the scope of the disclosure.

(25) With further reference now being made to sequential FIGS. 3A to 3F, a step-by-step illustration is provided for demonstrating mounting of a wall anchor according to the present disclosure generally designated 20 on a wall portion generally designated 70.

(26) At first, when considering where to fit the wall anchor, one has to confirm that there are no obstacles behind the wall surface, e.g. hidden mullion, support ribs and the like. Once location is determined an opening is drilled in the wall 70, using a hand tool, i.e. drill 80 (FIG. 3A). The diameter of the opening 82 formed at the wall (FIG. 3B) is a nominal diameter similar to the diameter d of the cylindrical connecting member 36 of the wall anchor 70, and the thickness of the wall portion at the drilling site is approximately similar to the wall-receiving gap G (between an inside face 40 of the inside plate 24 and an inside face 42 of the external plate 26).

(27) Then, the wall anchor 20 is manipulated into the opening 82 by slightly elastically bending the wall anchor 20 to introduce the second end (the bent end) of external plate 26 and the auxiliary fastening plate 30 into the opening 82 (in direction of arrows 91 FIGS. 3C and 3D), and then slightly pushing the inside plate 24 at the location of the connecting member 36 against the wall surface 72 (as indicated by arrow 93 FIG. 3E), so that the connecting member 36 fits within the round opening 82 such that at least portions of perimeter wall surface 50 of the connecting member 36 bear against respective walls of the opening 82. According to the illustrated configuration, where the cylindrical connecting member 36 conforms with the nominal diameter of opening 82, the fitting at the assembled position is almost press-fit with sung bearing of perimeter wall surface 50 over wall surface of the opening/bore 82.

(28) It is seen that the wider portion 34 at the first end of inside plate 24 has a width W well concealing the boundaries of the bore 82.

(29) Once positioned in place, the wall anchor 20 is ready for applying a fastener S thereto, e.g. for mounting a shelf support 95 (FIG. 3F). In this example, the threads of the fastener penetrate through four layers of material, namely receiving bore 54; of the inside plate 24, the wall portion 70, receiving bore 54.sub.e of the external plate 26 and receiving bore 54.sub.a of the auxiliary fastening plate 30, thus configured for bearing shear forces. In addition to loads transferred by the fastener, loads are also transferred by the round perimeter wall surface 50 and born by the shoulders of the opening 82 formed in the wall portion 70, thus assisting in load distribution and bearing capacity of the wall anchor 20.

(30) In FIGS. 4A and 4B the wall anchor is illustrated at larger scale after mounting on the wall portion, and as can be seen in the section of FIG. 4B the wall-receiving gap G is occupied by a wall portion 70, with inside face 40 of the inside plate 24 extending flush over the inside face 72 of the wall portion 70, and outside face 42 of the external plate 26 extending flush over the corresponding outside face 74 of the wall portion 70.

(31) It is appreciated that the mounting of the wall anchor on the wall portion and applying the fastener thereto (for any purpose) require access only to the inside of the wall portion.

(32) With further reference made now to FIGS. 5 and 6, there illustrated several additional examples of a wall anchor according to the present disclosure.

(33) FIG. 5A shows a wall anchor 100 that comprises an inside plate 102 and an external plate 104 connected to one another via a cylindrical connecting member 106 similar to the example of FIGS. 1 and 2, however in which external plate 104 is devoid of an auxiliary fastening plate.

(34) In FIG. 5B, the wall anchor 110 comprises an inside plate 112 and an external plate 114 connected to one another via a cylindrical connecting member 116 similar to the example of FIGS. 1 and 2, however with the external plate 104 (devoid of an auxiliary fastening plate) extending at an angle with respect to the inside plate 112, whereby a fastener applied through the two plates causes the external plate 104 to elastically deform towards the external face of the respective wall portion (not shown), such that it is pre-stressed and will grip the fastener stronger, also with somewhat increased threaded surface area.

(35) The wall anchor 120 of FIG. 5C comprises an inside plate 122 connected to an outside plate 124 through a cylindrical connecting member 126, with the external plate 124 being further configured with an S-shape and comprising two auxiliary fastening plates 128 and 129, thus providing increase sheer force to the wall anchor 120.

(36) It is noted that in the three examples of FIGS. 5A to 5C, each of the inside plate, and the respective external plate and auxiliary plate is configured with an a-priori fastener receiving bores, as discussed in connection with the earlier example.

(37) In FIG. 6A there is illustrated a front view of wall anchor 130 showing the inside plate 132 superimposed with the cylindrical connecting member 134 illustrated by dashed lines, the latter being semicircular so that only a bottom portion facing the second end 138 of the wall anchor is round. FIG. 6B illustrates a similar arrangement to that disclosed in FIG. 6A, where wall anchor 140 has an inside plate 142 and with the cylindrical connecting member 144 configured with a round portion only at a top portion, namely facing the first end 150 of the wall anchor. Wall anchors 130 and 140 of FIGS. 6A and 6B, respectively, are thus configured for bearing loads in opposite directions as illustrated by arrows 139 and 149 respectively.

(38) Further attention is now made to FIGS. 7A and 8E, directed to yet an example of a wall anchor of the disclosure, generally designated 160. The wall anchor 160 is configured with a flat inside plate 164 and a concaved, external plate 166, however being single layered, namely devoid of an auxiliary fastening plate.

(39) The wall anchor 160 can be made of metal or plastic material, with the external plate 166 designed to deform upon fastening a bolt and tightening same as will be discussed with reverence to FIGS. 8A-8E.

(40) It is seen that the external plate 166 is slightly longer than the inside plate 164 (length difference identified in FIG. 7F as l), with a free tip 168 of the external plate 166 being outwardly bent, i.e. facing away from the inside plate 164.

(41) Similar to the previous examples, the inside plate 164 is attached to the external plate 166 at a first end portion 138 via a cylindrical connecting member 140, having an external diameter d (FIG. 7F) and thickness t, said thickness retaining the plates at a spaced-apart relation and defining a wall-receiving gap G between an inside face 165 of the inside plate 164 and an inside face 167 of the external plate 166, said gap configured to accommodate a wall portion. In the illustrated example, the surface of the inside face 165 is flat and smooth and is configured for bearing over a wall portion as discussed in connection with previous examples. It is seen that the opening of the gap G, i.e. the open, second, end of the wall anchor 160 has a span P which is slightly larger than the thickness Q near the first end, facilitating easy insertion of the wall anchor into position over a wall portion. However, it is appreciated that Q can be equal to or greater than t. The portion of thickness Q can extend longer (i.e. a longer portion of external plate 166 extending parallel to the inside plate 164).

(42) As mentioned, the cylindrical connecting member 140 has a round perimeter wall surface 172 and further that the inside plate member 164 and the external plate 166 are configured with a priori fastener-receiving bores 174.sub.i and 174.sub.e, respectively. Said bores extend coaxially along axis Y, disposed substantially parallel to axis X of the connecting member 140. As noted, the fastener receiving bores 174.sub.i and 174.sub.e can be threaded or smooth, and can be of a diameter smaller than the nominal diameter of a threaded fastener configured for screw-engagement therewith. In the particular example, the diameter of the inside fastening bore 174.sub.i is slightly larger than the diameter of the outside fastening bore 174.sub.e, and in this case the diameter of the outside fastening bore 174.sub.e is the nominal bore.

(43) The wall anchor 160 can be mounted at any orientation, i.e. with the first end 138 extending upwards (as in the display of FIGS. 7A-7F) or at an inverted orientation, namely with the first end 138 extending down (as in the display of FIGS. 8A-8E), wherein the rounded perimeter portion 177 (FIG. 7F) bears over a respective round portion of the opening in the wall. It is however noted that at any mounting configuration the rounded portion of the cylindrical connecting member 140 comes to rest over a respective round portion of an opening 184 formed in the wall W (FIGS. 8A-8E) so as to be in surface contact and increase load bearing (i.e. at least an arc portion of the cylindrical connecting member 140 rests over a respective arc portion of the opening 184 in the wall W), wherein the rounded perimeter portion 179 (FIG. 7F) bears over a respective round portion of the opening in the wall.

(44) With further reference now being made also to sequential FIGS. 8A to 8E, a step-by-step mounting sequence of wall anchor generally designated 160 on a wall portion generally designated W is illustrated.

(45) Once location is determined an opening 184 is drilled in the wall W, the diameter being a nominal diameter conforming with the diameter d of the cylindrical connecting member 140 of the wall anchor 160, and the thickness of the wall portion at the drilling site is approximately similar to the thickness t.

(46) Then, the wall anchor 160 is manipulated into the opening 184, if necessary by slightly elastically bending the wall anchor 160 to facilitate introducing the second end (the bent end) of external plate 166 into the opening 184 (in direction of arrows 190.sub.i, 190.sub.ii and 190.sub.iiiFIGS. 8A to 8C), and then slightly pushing the inside plate 164, at the location of the connecting member 140, against the wall surface W (as indicated by arrow 192 FIG. 8D), and then the wall anchor 160 is pushed downwards in direction of arrow 194 (FIG. 8E) so that the connecting member 140 fits within the round opening 184 such that at least portions of perimeter wall surface 179 (seen in FIG. 7F) of the connecting member 140 bear against at least a perimeter portion 185 of the round opening 184.

(47) Once positioned in place, the wall anchor 160 is ready for applying a fastener thereto (not shown), wherein the threads of the fastener penetrate through three layers of material, namely receiving bore 174.sub.i of the inside plate 164, the wall portion W, and the receiving bore 174.sub.e of the external plate 166, thus configured for bearing shear force.