Floating shelf bracket with threaded rods
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a trade-off between weight-supporting strength and visibility in wall-mounted shelf brackets, as stronger brackets are often bulkier and more visible, making it difficult to find solutions that support heavy loads while maintaining low visibility.
Innovation Solution
A bracket design featuring a solid plate with threaded rods that provide a strong weight-bearing connection while minimizing visibility, using a threaded connection that allows for disassembly and assembly, and strategically positioned apertures for fasteners to secure the bracket to the wall, allowing the shelf to appear as if it 'floats' without visible support.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a bracket is designed to support higher weight, then weight-supporting capacity is improved, but visibility increases making it more conspicuous
Solution Approach 1:
The bracket is divided into multiple components: a mounting plate, multiple rods, and multiple apertures. The rods are segmented and positioned at different locations to distribute the weight-bearing function across multiple thin elements rather than one bulky bracket, thereby maintaining strength while reducing visibility of each individual component
Solution Approach 2:
The rods extend in the depth dimension (perpendicular to the wall) rather than protruding outward in the visual dimension. By positioning the rods to extend from the mounting plate toward the shelf and having them be received by apertures in the shelf, the structural strength is achieved through dimensional arrangement rather than increased bracket size, keeping the bracket minimally visible from the front
2Ease of manufacture
If a bracket is made less visible to achieve a floating shelf effect, then visibility is reduced, but weight-supporting strength decreases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple rods are combined with a single mounting plate to create a distributed support system. The cumulative effect of multiple thin rods provides sufficient weight-bearing capacity while each rod remains thin and minimally visible, achieving both low visibility and high strength through the combined action of multiple elements
Solution Approach 2:
The bracket system combines different materials and structures: a rigid mounting plate for wall attachment, multiple rod elements for load distribution, and aperture structures in the shelf for reception. This composite approach allows each component to be optimized for its specific function while collectively achieving both strength and low visibility
Data Source
AI summary
A bracket for a floating shelf comprises a solid plate with a planar back side to abut to a wall. A plurality of circular apertures extends through the solid plate and have internal screw threads. A plurality of rods is secured to the solid plate and extending therefrom, with each rod having a proximal end received within a different one of the plurality of circular apertures. The plurality of rods has external screw threads on the proximal end mating with a respective Internal screw thread of respective circular apertures. The proximal ends of the plurality of rods are flush with the planar back side of the solid plate and the wall.