Adjustable Wall Hanger With Four-Way Repositioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional hangers lack adjustability after being affixed to a supporting surface, making it difficult to achieve desired orientations, especially when the hanger attaches to a hidden wire or support member, requiring users to remove and reattach fasteners for adjustments.
Innovation Solution
A hanger system with a horizontal bar, vertical bar, and sliding carriage that allows four-way adjustability after initial attachment, enabling users to adjust the orientation of supported objects without reattaching fasteners, using snap-over lips, engagement elements, and a guide with a pawl mechanism for secure positioning and easy repositioning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the hanger attaches to the supporting surface with a fastener in a relatively immovable manner, then the attachment is secure and stable, but the re-positioning of the hanger becomes difficult requiring removal and re-attachment of fasteners
Solution Approach 1:
The hanger system transitions from a static fastened state to a dynamic adjustable state through the carriage mechanism. The carriage can be slid along the horizontal bar to reposition the supported object, and the vertical bar can be repositioned along the horizontal bar, allowing the system to adapt to different positioning needs while maintaining secure attachment through engagement elements like lips and engagement features that lock the components in place during use.
2Reliability
If the hanger attaches to a wire or hidden support member, then the support is provided, but the user has difficulty predicting the influence or variability associated with the wire and hidden support member
Solution Approach 1:
The horizontal bar and vertical bar serve as intermediary visible components between the user and the hidden wire or support member. These bars provide a tangible, visible framework that the user can manipulate and position, while the wire or hidden support member remains concealed. The engagement elements and carriage mechanism allow the user to control the position of the supported object through these visible intermediaries, eliminating the need to directly handle or visualize the hidden wire.
3Ease of manufacture
If the hanger provides fixed positioning after attachment, then the attachment is simple, but the adjustment of orientation requires removing and re-attaching fasteners
Solution Approach 1:
The hanger system is divided into separable components: a horizontal bar, a vertical bar, and a carriage. This segmentation allows each component to be independently positioned and adjusted. The carriage can be detached from the vertical bar, the vertical bar can be repositioned on the horizontal bar, and the supported object can be removed from the carriage, enabling flexible adjustment of orientation without requiring removal of the main fastener from the supporting surface.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates dynamic adjustment capabilities through the sliding carriage mechanism and the repositionable vertical bar. The carriage can be moved along the vertical bar to adjust the height and orientation of the supported object, while the vertical bar itself can be repositioned along the horizontal bar. This dynamic structure allows the hanger to adapt to different orientation requirements while maintaining a simple initial attachment process.
Data Source
AI summary
A hanger, support and other component or system capable of supporting one or more objects is contemplated. The hanger may be configured to provide four-way adjustability sufficient to facilitate adjustably supporting objects after being affixed to a supporting surface and/or to facilitate adjustably supporting objects having a wire or other support member hidden from view or otherwise difficult to orientate relative to a support surface. The hanger may be configured to enable four-way re-positioning in an up, down, left or right direction, optionally while the one or more objects are supported thereon, without requiring removal or manipulation of fasteners anchoring it to a support.