Picture hanging system for stretched artist canvas hung without a frame

Abstract

A picture hanging system for stretched artist canvas intended to be hung on a wall without a frame, comprising a frame support means attached to the inside of the wood frame upon which said artist canvas has been stretched, and a specially designed hanger intended to support said picture when it is hung on a wall. Said hanger is attached to a wall by means of a nail passing through holes in said hanger, said nail driven into said wall at an angle. Said hanger has a sloped “ramp” upon which said frame support (and with it the frame to which said frame support is attached) rests when said picture is hung on a wall. When said hanger is attached to a wall, said ramp slopes toward said wall. Said frame support (and with it the frame to which said frame support is attached) will slide by force of gravity toward said wall and said picture will come to rest flush and flat against said wall. The picture hanging system of the present invention functions in such a way that, when a picture for which said picture hanging system has been used to hang said picture on a wall, there is no space at all between said picture and said wall. Said picture hanging system may be manufactured in metal or in plastic, and it may also be adapted for use with objects other than pictures, where it is desired that said objects, when hung on a wall, rest flush and flat against said wall, with no obstruction whatsoever from the hanging hardware.

1 . A picture hanging system comprising:
 a support means intended to be attached to the inside of the top horizontal member of a wood frame upon which artist canvas has been stretched, said stretched canvas intended to be hung without a frame, and   a hanger intended to be attached to a wall, upon which may be hung a wood frame such as the wood frames used for stretched artist canvas intended to be hung without a frame, said wood frame having attached to it said support means, said support means intended to rest on the top of said hanger when the picture is hung on a wall, and   wherein said top of said hanger, which might be called a ramp, is a sloped surface or inclined plane which slopes toward the wall when said hanger is attached to a wall, said sloped surface being at least 15° from horizontal, said sloped surface intended to have said support means, which have been attached to a frame upon which artist canvas has been stretched, to rest on said sloped surface on said top of said hanger, said slope intended to cause said wood frame with said canvas stretched on said frame, to slide down by force of gravity on said sloped surface in the direction of said wall upon which said stretched canvas is intended to be hung, and, finally, intended to cause said frame with said stretched canvas to come to rest flush and flat against said wall on which said picture is hung, and   wherein said sloping surface on said top of said hanger has a shoulder at the end of the sloped region farthest from the wall when said hanger is attached to a wall, said shoulder intended to prevent said frame support, and hence said picture to which said frame support is attached, from slipping off said hanger after said picture is hung, and   wherein said hanger in its preferred embodiment is attached to a wall by means of a nail or pin of appropriate diameter and appropriate length, intended to be driven at an angle into a wall, said nail or pin directed in an angular direction relative to said wall by means of the positioning of holes in said hanger, said angular direction of said nails or pins such as to increase the weight supporting potential of said hanger, while preventing said pin or said nail from pulling out of said wall under said weight of said picture when hung, thus securing said hanger to said wall, and   whereby said support means attached to a stretched canvas picture on a wood frame engages with said hanger in such a way as not only to support said stretched canvas picture when hung on a wall, but to insure that the entirety of said stretched canvas picture, top, bottom and sides, will come to rest flush and flat against said wall, with no space between said picture and said wall, and with no obstruction whatsoever from the hanging hardware.   
   
   
       2 . The picture hanging system of  claim 1  in which said support means and said picture hanger in their preferred embodiment are made of bendable sheet steel of predetermined gauge and predetermined dimension, and in which said support and said hanger made of steel are then bright zinc coated or brass coated. 
   
   
       3 . The picture hanging system of  claim 1  wherein both the shape and the dimensions of said support means and of said picture hanger are predetermined and are variable, while consistent in shape and function with the essential principle of support method and the resultant ideal aesthetic appearance of said stretched canvas picture after it is hung on a wall, as described in  claim 1 . 
   
   
       4 . The picture hanging system of  claim 1  wherein said support means and said hanger are made of plastic of predetermined composition, in predetermined thickness, in predetermined shape and dimension. 
   
   
       5 . The picture hanging system of  claim 1  wherein the support means which have been attached to a wood frame upon which artist canvas has been stretched, are in the form of a pin, such pin being of appropriate length and appropriate diameter, said pin intended to be inserted horizontally part way into the inside of the vertical member of said wood frame, thus leaving a portion of said pin to stick out horizontally, said portion of said pin intended to rest upon said hanger when said pre-stretched canvas is hung upon a wall, said pin selected from a list that includes a small diameter wood screw, a small diameter pan head screw, a small diameter long shank screw eye, or another form of pin intended to be used in the manner of pin forms which have been mentioned. 
   
   
       6 . The picture hanging system of  claim 1  wherein said frame support is attached to said wood frame by means selected from a list that includes strong adhesive, screws, sharp prongs made as part of said frame support and intended to be driven into the inside of said wood frame, or attached by other means not specifically identified in this document. 
   
   
       7 . The picture hanging system of  claim 1  wherein said frame support and said hanger are made in such shape and in such size and of such materials as to be able to support virtually any size of pre-stretched canvas or other similar object which it is desired, when hung, to be flush and flat against a wall, with no obstruction whatsoever from the hanging hardware. 
   
   
       8 . The picture hanging system of  claim 1  wherein said frame support and said hanger are made of such materials and in such sizes, shapes and dimensions as will make said picture hanging system suitable for hanging objects other than pictures or stretched artist canvases on a wall, whereby such other objects, when hung on a wall, will rest flush and flat against said wall, with no obstruction from the hanging hardware. 
   
   
       9 . The picture hanging system of  claim 1  wherein said sloping surface on said top of said hanger is other than 15° from horizontal, while still sloping at an angle that will cause said support means attached to said wood picture frame to slide by force of gravity toward a wall upon which said picture frame is being hung, said picture frame then coming to rest flat and flush against said wall, with no space between said picture and said wall, and with no obstruction from the hanging hardware.