Hanger with decorative flange

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to devices for hanging or supporting lightweight objects, such as plant vines, keys and pictures, from ceilings, walls, and other supporting surfaces.

2. Description of the Related Art

Hangers with hooks are commonly known for suspending objects, such as cups and pictures. Such hooks generally are formed with a threaded screw portion that is driven into the support surface to fix the hanger in place. If the support surface is brittle, like dry wall or plasterboard, the hangers leave a lot of surface damage when removed or repositioned. Such devices are often intended to support heavy objects, and the threaded shank of the hook prevents the weight of the object from pulling the shank out of the wall.

While such heavy-duty hangers are effective for this purpose, lightweight objects, such as the vines of houseplants, key rings, and the like, do not require as much support. Moreover, heavy-duty hanger hooks do not have a decorous appearance, thereby detracting from the aesthetic effect of typical houseplants that have extended vines.

Thus, a hanger with decorative flange solving the aforementioned problems is desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The hanger with decorative flange is a metal pushpin having a smooth shank ending in a sharp point at one end defining a pin and an integrally formed hook at the opposite end. An ornamentally shaped plastic or metal flange is medially disposed on the shank. The flange serves as a stop to prevent the shank from penetrating too far into a ceiling, wall, or other supporting surface. The flange may be disk-shaped, or may have other ornamental shapes, e.g., a heart, a butterfly, a star, etc., and may have decorative designs or indicia formed thereon. The hanger is installed by pushing the pin in a supporting surface so that lightweight objects may be supported by or suspended from the hook, and when the hanger is removed, the only damage from insertion into the supporting surface is a small pinhole.

These and other features of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an environmental, perspective view of a hanger with decorative flange according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the hanger with decorative flange according to the present invention

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the hanger with decorative flange according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a hanger with decorative flange according to the present invention having a star-shaped flange.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a hanger with decorative flange according to the present invention having a heart-shaped flange.

Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention is a hanger with decorative flange. FIG. 1 shows an exemplary hanger 50 being used to support the vine of a plant upon a wall surface. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, it will be seen that the hanger 50 is a metal pushpin having a hook 51 at one end and a shank 52 extending from the hook 51, the shank 52 having a sharp point 55 at the end of the shank 52 opposite the hook 51, thereby defining a pin. The hanger 50 has a decorative flange 53 medially disposed on the shank 52, the shank being smooth between the sharp point 55 and the flange 53. The flange 53 serves as a stop to prevent the pin from penetrating to far into the ceiling, wall, or other supporting surface. The flange 53 is fixed to the shank 52 by any suitable means, such as crimping, solder or welding when a metal cover disk is used, or by glue or other type of adhesive bonding when a plastic flange 53 is used. The flange 53 preferably extends from the shank 52 radially for a full 360° around the shank 52.

After the flange 53 stops the penetration of the pin portion 52 into the supporting surface, the hook portion 51 is ready to support lightweight objects, such as plant vines, signs, pictures, keys, etc. upon the supporting surface. When the hanging device 50 is repositioned or removed from the supporting surface the damage to the supporting surface is only a small pinhole.

Flange 53 is shown in FIGS. 1-3 as having a round disk-shape, but could also be any decorative shape, such as a heart, a four-leaf clover, a star, a butterfly, etc., depending on one's aesthetic taste and use of the hanger 50. For example, the hanger 50 shown in FIG. 4 has a heart-shaped flange 63, and the hanger 50 shown in FIG. 5 has a star-shaped flange 73. The flanges 53, 63, and 73 may be further embellished with ornamental designs or indicia formed thereon, if desired.

It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.