Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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BRACKET KIT FOR A~ACHMENT OF AN EXTERIOR HOIJSIN(3
TO YINYL SI~ING
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a bracket kit for attachment of an extenor housing
to vinyl siding of a building.
Vinyl siding is becoming highly popular as a relatively cheap siding material
often to cover existing wooden siding which requires little or no maintenance and provide3
effectively a continuous sheet of the vinyl as a covering material over a surface of the
building. Generally the vinyl siding is provided in horizontal sheets or siding strips with
0 each strip having at an upper edge a channel facing downwardly for cooperation with an
interlocking upwardly projecting flange at the bottom edge of the next adjacent upper sheet
of the siding. The edge of the channel and the flange of the bottom edge are extruded with
cooperating notches to tend to hold the flange within the receiving channel.
One advantage of the vinyl siding is that it is substantially continuous and is
free frorn holes or other penetration which could allow the entry of moisture and otherwise
looks ~enerally unsightly.
Utility companies often have the problem ~hat they wish to mount on the
exterior of a building a utility box or other housing for mounting various equipment of the
utility. Where wooden siding is used on the building, the utility box can simply be
20 screwed into the exterior surface of ~he siding and can thus be attached without causing
damage to the building. Vinyl siding however cannot receive the screws or the fastener~
from the housing and these must therefore penetrate the vinyl siding. Many householde~s
haYing incurred the ~xpense of applying the vinyl siding are vely reluctant to have the
siding penetrated particularly bearing in mind that the utility box may need to be removed
some time thus leaving very unsightly and damaging holes.
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There is therefore an outstanding significant requirement for a bracket
arrangement by which housing of this type can be attached ~o vinyl siding without
penetrating or otherwise damaging the vinyl siding itself.
~UMMARY OF THE I~VENTION
It is one object of the present invention, therefore, to provide a bracket kit
for attachment of an extenor housing to vinyl siding.
According to the invention, therefore, there is provided a bracket l~it ~or
attachment of an exterior housing to vinyl siding of a building, the siding having a plurality
of horizontal sheets each interconnected to the next adjacent at a horizon~al overlapping
0 coupling, the bracket kit comprising a plate member, means on the plate member for
moun~ing said housing thereon, the plate member having a first honzontal edge at one end
thereof and a second edge at an opposed end thereof, first flange means at the first
horizontal edge for engagement with one of said overlapping couplings, the flange means
including a first flange portion generally at right angles to the plate member along said one
horizontal edge, a second flange portion parallel to the plate member and extending,
upwardly from the first flange portion for engaging behind the overlapping coupling and a
third flange portion inclined upwardly and outwardly from an upper edge of the second
flange portion for interlocking behind the overlapping coupling, and a support member
having second flange means thereon ~or engagement with a second of said overlapping
20 couplings, said plate member and said support member bsing arrang~i to coop~ate to
prevent twisting movement of the plate member in a direction to mo~/e the second ~ge
away from the siding.
With the foregoing in view, and other advantages as will become apparent to
those skilled in the art to which this inven~ion relates as this s~cifica~ion proceeds~ the
invention is herein described by reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part
hereof, which includes a description of the best mode known to the application and of the
preferred typical embodiment of the principles of the present invention, in which:
DESCRIPTION OF ~HE DRAWING~
Figure 1 is a side elevational view of an exterior housing for attachment to
the vinyl siding of a building and including a bracket arrangement for attachment o$ the
housing according to the invention.
Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view along the lines 2-2 of Figure 1 on an
enlarged scale.
0 Figure 3 is a front elevational view of the plate member of the bracket kit of'
Figure 1.
Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view on an enlarged scale of the engagement, of
the upper edge of the bracket with the inter connection between the vinyl siding sheets.
Figure S is a front elevational view of a second embodiment vf the bracket
kit according to ~he present invention.
Figure 6 is a side e}evational view of ~he bracket kit of Figure 5.
In the drawings lik~ characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in
the different figures.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In Figu~ 1 is illustrated a conventional siding of a building includin~ a wall
stNcture 10 and a vinyl siding arrangement 11 applied to the outside surface of ~ wall
10. The vinyl siding includes a plurality ~ siding strips or sheets which in convendo~
rnanner have an outside surfac~ which is inclined away from the wall tv a lower edge 12
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which lies at right angles to the wall and couples to an upper edge of a next adjacent one of
the siding elements.
Attached to the siding is a bracket kit for mounting of a utility bo~ 13 onto
the siding without the necessity of penetrating the siding for attachment of the bo~ to the
wall 10. The box 13 is shown schemadcally and its shape is unimportant to the present
invention as various utility boxes are used and can be attached using the bracl~e~ system.
The box 13 connects to a conduit 14 which extends downwardly from the box for car~ying
wiring or other supply elements.
The bracket system comprises a plate member 15 and a separate support
o member 16 shown in side elevation in Figure 1 and in more detail in Figures 2 ~nd 3.
The plate member 15 comprises a flat plate p~rtion 17 with an upper flange
18 turned at right angles to the plate portion 17 and extending across the full top edge of
the plate member 17. The plate member is rectangular in shape so that it includes the top
edge, two vertical side edges and a horizontal bottom edge. The flange 18 defines a first
flange portion which extends from the plate member toward the wall so as ~o hold the plate
portion 17 at its upper edge away ~rom the wall. The length of the flange portion 18 from
the plane of the plate portion 17 is substantially equal to the spacing of the flange t2 away
from the wall so that the lower edge of the plate portion can contact a lower edge of a
siding sheet while the remainder of ~he plate portion is held in a substantially ver~ical plane
20 by the flange portion 18.
At the edge of the flange portion 18 remote from the plate portion is defined
a second flange portion 19 which extends upwardly parallel to the plate portion 17. At the
top edge of the second flange portion 19 is provided a third flange portion 20 which i~
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inclined outwardly away from the wall 10 at an angle approximately 450. The plate
member 17 includes threaded holes 21 for attachment of the box 13 by screws 22.
The support member 16 comprises a U-shaped bracket 23 defined by a
curved upper portion 24 and a pair of legs 25 and 26A each in the form of a strap so as to
wrap around the conduit 14 which passes between the legs and under the curved por~on
24. The conduit is confined by a screw 26 which passes through a hole in the leg ~6A ~nd
cooperates with a threaded hole 27 in the leg 25. The screw thus acts to hold the conduit
away from the wall 10 so that the conduit is held in vertical orienta~ion underneath the box
13.
0 At the bottom of the legs 25 and 26A found a pair of plates 28 and 29 which
extend at right angles to the legs so as to extend upwardly in the plane of the wall 10.
Each of the plates defines a flange por~ion projecting upwardly from the lower end of the
legs together with a second flange portion 29 similar to the flange portion 20 so that the
flange portion of the plate and the inclined flange portion 29 can cooperate with the vinyl
siding in the same manner as the flange portions of the plate member.
The cooperation of the flange portions with the vinyl siding is shown best in
Figure 4. Thus two pieces of the vinyl siding are shown and particularly the cooperation
between the upper edge of a lower portion of the vinyl siding and a lower edge 31 of an
upper portion of the vinyl siding The upper portion includes a flange portion 32 which is
attached to the wall by screws 33. At a position just b low the flange por~on is provided
an inverted channel member 34 which receives an upwardly projecting il~nge 35 of the
lower edge. The free leg 36 of the inverted channel memb~ 34 has a latch tnember 37
extending along the edge for cooperation with a latch member 38 provided on th~ upper
edge of the flange 35. In normal cooperation of the vinyl siding sheet~, the flange portion
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35 of the lower edge is snapped into place in the channel member and is prevented from
escaping by the latch portions which interact.
Ihe plate 15 engages into the inverted channel portion as shown in Figure 4
in that the fir~t flange portion 18 extends to a position closely adjacent the upper edge of
the lower vinyl siding piece, the flange portion 19 extends upwardly into the channel and
the upperrnost flange portion 20 snaps behind the flange portion 35.
The flange thus cooperate with the channel to hold the plate against vertical
downw~d movement. The plate is prevented against twisting by lifting of the iower edge
by the cooperation between the plate~ the bnx, the conduit and support rnember 16. The
0 support member is also prevented from twisting by its cooperation with the conduit so that
in this way the flange portions cooperate with two spaced interconnecting couplings
between the vinyl siding sheets to prevent twisting of the parts and to prevent vertical or
horizontal movement of the parts.
In figures 5 and 6 is shown an alternativc aT~angement including a firsS plate
40 which has a flange coupling arrangement 41 at the lower edge thereo~ of the type
previously described and including flange portions 42, 43 and 44. Thc system further
includes a second plate 45 which includes a coupling arTangement 46 at the upper edge
thereof of the type previously describe~l and including flange portion~ 47, 48 and 49. The
lower plate 40 includes a pair of channels 50 and 51 on the side edges thereof so that ~e
20 plate 45 is a sliding fit within the channels. In this way the lower coupling 41 can engage
with the first interconnection bP-tween two vinyl sheets and the upper coupling 46 can
engage between the second interconnection between two vinyl sheets with the plate sliding
ac~ion accommcdating necessary adjustment to vary the spacin~ between the coupling
elements 41 and 46 in accordance with the deciding s~rips. The plates include suitable
openings for attachment to and support of a utility box (not shown).
Since various modifications can be made in my invention a~ hereinabove
described, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same made wi~hin ~he
spirit and scope of the claims without departing from such spirit and scope, it is intended
that all matter contained in the accompanying specification shall be interpreted as
illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.
