This application claims priority to U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 60/894,418 and 60/970,138 filed Mar. 12, 2007 and Sep. 5, 2007 respectively, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
The field of the invention is flush mounting system for particularly in-wall speakers.
Speakers, television screens, and other objects are traditionally mounted to a wall or on a ceiling in one of three ways. One method uses a bracket that surrounds a cutout in the wallboard. The bracket typically has a flange that overlays the front surface of the wallboard, and extends away from the cutout on the top, bottom, and sides. A decorative cover is then used to hide the flange. In a more modern version shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,003,129 to Hecht (February 2006), the flange is itself decorative, which obviates the need for a separate cover. Unfortunately, using a flange can be extremely difficult to install in an already finished wall, since the flange must either be attached directly to a stud or to the wallboard itself. Studs may or may not be located behind a desired installation area, and typical wallboards do not provide much structural support.
Another traditional method of mounting an object to a wall is to extend the object housing from the front side of the wallboard. An example of that approach is the surface mounted lighting assembly of U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,208 to Humphrey (March 1998) that is affixed directly to the surface of the wall. Surface mounted loudspeaker and bracket of U.S. Pat. No. 6,845,840 to Cowan et al. (January 2005) also mounts to a wall surface. However, such mounts must either be restricted to a light material, be attached to a durable wall (for example plywood), or must be directly attached to a beam, since typical drywall does not provide much support.
Another solution involves attaching the mount directly to a support stud instead of the more delicate wallboard. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,405,111 to Medlin (April 1995) teaches attaching a flush-mounted electrical box directly to a pair of studs within a wall using a strut. The drawback Medlin is that the strut is not easily adjusted for variable distances between the stud pairs. Additionally, fine-tuning the position of the electrical box relative to the strut is difficult since the electrical box must be attached to predetermined attachment detents.
Thus, there is still a need for universal flush-mount speaker systems and methods that facilitate installation.
The patents and all other referenced extrinsic materials discussed herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. Where a definition or use of a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.
The present invention relates to systems and methods for a universal mounting system for speakers and other mounted objects on a wall or a ceiling. More particularly, system and methods are provided in which a mounting bracket is coupled to a support that extends in plane so an inner portion of the mounting bracket can be adjusted along the support in various directions.
A first aspect of the present invention provides a flush-mounting system that comprises a mounting bracket with an opening; a first support extending substantially in a plane; and a mechanism coupling a side of the mounting bracket to the first support so that the opening of the mounting bracket is disposed substantially in the plane to receive an inner bracket. The coupling mechanism allows the mounting bracket to be movable along the first support. It is also provided that the inner bracket has a sliding mechanism to connect the mounting bracket.
In preferred embodiments, the flush mounting system also has a second support extending parallel to the first support and a mechanism coupling an opposite side of the bracket to the second support. The inventive subject matter couples a structure to the first support so that the inner portion of the bracket is disposed substantially in the structure. Preferably the structure is a stud of any structure in a building such as wood, cement, masonry, and stone. A wallboard is then provided to cover the mounting system for a flush-mounting look.
The mounting bracket preferably includes at least two mounting holes, but can include a series of mounting holes, which are coupled to the first support. The mounting holes can be coupled along a slot across a surface of the support.
Preferably, the first support has a thickness of no more than 0.3 cm (⅛th in) immediately surrounding the holes. Furthermore, the bracket opening is measured preferably at least 25 cm2 (10 in2), more preferably measured at least 250 cm2 (100 in2) to accommodate a speaker bracket or any other type of brackets for an electronic or audio device. Thus, the opening can accommodate a variety of shapes and sizes, such as oval, rectangle or square.
In preferred embodiments, the speaker bracket is disposed into the inner portion of the mounting bracket so that a speaker can be mounted on the speaker bracket easily. To accommodate different requirements in terms of depth, the speaker bracket preferably includes a recess that can be pulled or pushed along the inner portion of the mounting bracket. Furthermore, the mounting bracket preferably includes a beveled edge having an end that can be positioned flush with a wall material to provide a mud dam.
In preferred embodiments, the coupling mechanism includes a detent that provides discreet positions in movement of the bracket relative to the first support and that mechanism may include a ratchet. It is also preferred for the mounting system to have a perforated retrofit mounting plate having an attachment mechanism to the bracket.
The first support preferably includes at least two mounting holes or a plurality of snap lines with which the support can be manually shortened. A grille preferably is sized and dimensioned to fit along an inside rim of the opening. Furthermore, a cover maybe sized to fit along an inside rim of the opening and that cover can be a paint shield.
In a second aspect of the invention, a flush mounting system has a mounting bracket with an opening; a first support and a second support extending parallely in a plane; and a mechanism coupling a side of the bracket to the first support and a parallel side of the bracket to the second support so that an inner portion extending from the bracket is disposed substantially in the plane.
In a third aspect of the invention, a speaker flush mount comprises a mounting-bracket with an opening; a first support extending substantially in a structure; and a mechanism coupling the mounting-bracket to the first support so that a speaker-bracket is disposed into the mounting-bracket and substantially in the structure.
In a fourth aspect of the invention, a method of mounting a speaker in a wall is provided by providing a mounting mechanism comprises at least one extending arm attached to at least one structure; attaching an outer bracket with a rim along the extending arm; positioning an inner bracket within the outer bracket and attaching the inner bracket to a wall; mounting a speaker within the inner bracket.
