The invention is generally related to mounting hardware, and more particularly to an extendable bracket for mounting window shades, curtain rods, and the like.
There are countless different kinds of bracket hardware for mounting or hanging window coverings such as shades, blinds, curtain rods, and the like. Many of the hardware designs are fabricated having a number of components including a mounting base for securing the hardware to a surface, and a support bracket for supporting the window covering components. Many of these hardware components are typically fabricated from metal and utilize several fastener components to complete a hardware assembly. Often, hardware brackets for hanging window coverings are not adjustable in any way.
The mounting base and support bracket are also typically fabricated separately and provided as a loose assembly to the consumer. The consumer then must install the mounting base, mount or attach the support bracket, and secure the mounting base and support bracket together using one or more additional fasteners. The installation process can therefore be quite cumbersome. In addition, the metal parts can be relatively costly to manufacture, both relative to labor, material expense, and tooling costs. In some cases, numerous parts are provided separately to the consumer, who must then assemble the parts prior to installation.
Many bracket hardware designs are also adjustable in length to permit the installer to hang the window coverings at a desired distance from the mounting surface. Most of these bracket designs also utilize at least two separate components that telescope relative to one another and are thus slidable relative to one another to provide the length adjustability. Most of these designs have two or more metal parts that require multiple stamping operations to fabricate each part.
Several known hardware brackets are length adjustable and utilize only a single bracket component per side of a window covering support rod. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,762,162 discloses a unitary hardware bracket for mounting window shades. The bracket is length adjustable by snapping or breaking off portions of the mounting end of the bracket. The wall mounting end can be shortened by breaking off one section of mounting holes and tangs. Another set of holes and tangs is left behind for mounting the bracket. However, if a consumer breaks off too much of the bracket during installation, rendering the bracket too short for the particular application, the only remedy is to purchase another bracket set.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,752,991 discloses a window cornice mounting bracket assembly that also can be length adjusted at the wall mounting end by snapping off pieces of the bracket. Again, however, too much of the bracket can be accidentally or unintentionally broken off during installation.
Another problem with many current mounting hardware designs is that the brackets come only with a fixed length. A retailer and/or a manufacturer typically may offer a number of different bracket options. A series of similar brackets may be offered where each bracket in the series has a different, fixed length. In many cases, a retailer will offer, for example, four similar brackets having different lengths. The consumer must select the proper one, take it home, and install it. Many times, the selected bracket is either too short or too long for a particular job.
To illustrate, a consumer may be installing a curtain rod over a window that already has a blind installed. The curtain rod may need to extend further from the wall surface than the blind mounting brackets. The consumer therefore must either select the correct brackets the first time. If not, the consumer must return to the store, return the incorrect brackets, and re-purchase the correct brackets. This results in unnecessary extra effort for both the consumer and retailer. Alternatively, a consumer may choose to purchase a number of the different length brackets and use only the correct ones. The unused brackets likely will not be used, resulting in unnecessary expense and waste of resources.
Either or both the manufacturer and retailer must also manufacture, stock, sip, unload, and keep track of each of the bracket options. Manufacturers and retailers often stock, store, display, and track product quantities and qualities according to computerized data, such as SKU numbers. Having four different brackets requires storage and shelf space for four different products and also requires tracking four different SKU numbers. This simply adds cost and complexity for both the manufacturer and the retailer.