Trophy Mount Hinge and Bracket Design for Damage-Free Skull Display
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current European mount display systems require damaging the skull by drilling holes for attachment, limiting flexibility in viewing angles and potentially damaging the skull, and are often expensive and two-dimensional in presentation.
Innovation Solution
A trophy mount system featuring a base with hinges for pivoting, adjustable brackets with a center prong and side arms that fit naturally into the skull's Foramen magnum and condyloid fossa, allowing secure attachment without drilling, and enabling adjustable angles and orientations for display.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If screws, glue, staples or other attachment devices are used to secure the skull to the board or plaque, then the skull is securely attached to the display surface, but the skull is damaged by drilling holes or causing other damage
Solution Approach 1:
A bracket is introduced as an intermediary component between the skull and the wall mounting system. The bracket attaches to the skull using natural anatomical features (Foramen magnum and condyloid fossa) without drilling, while the base of the bracket mounts to the wall, thereby mediating the attachment process and eliminating direct damage to the skull.
Solution Approach 2:
The attachment function is extracted from the skull itself and transferred to a separate bracket component. The bracket is designed to interface with natural skull features, extracting the need for invasive attachment methods from the skull and placing it in a dedicated mounting component.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the board or plaque is fixed perpendicular to the floor at a high position on the wall, then the mount is securely displayed, but the viewing angles and directions are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The mounting system incorporates hinges that enable dynamic adjustment of the bracket and base relative to each other. This allows the mount to be positioned at various angles and orientations while maintaining secure attachment, transforming a static fixed-position system into a dynamically adjustable one.
Solution Approach 2:
The system adds rotational and angular dimensions to the mounting capability. Instead of fixing the skull in a single perpendicular orientation, the hinged joints enable movement across multiple angular dimensions, allowing the mount to face different directions and angles while remaining securely attached to the wall.
3Ease of manufacture
If the skull is affixed to the board or plaque in a parallel plane to the surface, then the attachment is simple, but the horns or antlers stick out from the vertical surface creating a poor profile
Solution Approach 1:
The bracket is designed with hinged joints that allow it to be positioned at various angles relative to the wall and skull. This enables the horns or antlers to be oriented in optimal display positions, improving their profile and visual presentation while maintaining simple attachment through the bracket's flexible positioning capability.
Data Source
AI summary
A trophy mount for displaying the skull and horn or antler of game animals comprising; a base with one or more holes in the base for attaching the base to a vertical surface, a wing that attaches to the base by means of an upper and lower hinge socket on the base that are able to receive an upper and lower wing joint from the wing with the sockets and joints sized to allow the wing to pivot with respect to the base which is secured to the vertical surface, a bracket that has one or more adjustment holes and a pivot hole, means for securing the bracket to the wing such that the bracket can be positioned at various angles with respect to the base, a center prong on the bracket that is sized to fit within a Foramen magnum of a vertebrate game animal, and a right and left side arm that are spaced, sized and positioned below and slightly in front of the center prong such that the right and left side arms fit into the condyloid fossa of a game animal's skull.