There are many known arrangements for securing decorative and/or protective panels to an interior or exterior building wall or column.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,631,589 to Friedman et al. discloses the use of a first set of mounting brackets secured to a wall and a second set of mounting brackets secured to the back of a panel. When the panel is raised in front of the wall brackets for mounting, neither the first or second set of brackets can readily be seen, making alignment of the brackets and mounting of the panel more difficult. Further, two sets of brackets must be used to hang the panel, increasing the amount of time and hardware required to mount the panels. U.S. Pat. No. 2,653,686 to A. Routt provides a similar design of dual brackets, a first bracket mounted to the wall and a second bracket mounted to the back of the panel.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,282,004 to M. J. Brounn discloses an upper and lower bracket that attach to the top and bottom of a panel, respectively. The lower bracket is first mounted on the wall and is partially hidden when a panel is being mounted on the lower bracket.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,251,991 in favor of A. E. Fellner includes a fastener secured to a wall and a clip secured to the panel. The clip is designed to be mounted on the fastener to secure the panel to the wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,759,007 to Thiele discloses a joint assembly used to secure adjoining panels together. Each panel includes opposed male and female ends that engage corresponding ends of an adjoining panel to secure the panels in side by side relation.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,438,168 discloses the use of a clip, a first end of which engages a U-shaped lip running along a side of a panel. A second end of the clip engages flanges secured to a wall in order to secure the panel to the wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,388,518 to H. D. Scott discloses a panel clip, a first end of which engages a flange extending outwardly from a side of a panel.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,379,269 to W. A. Barrows discloses a fastener having a base and a series of tongues or fingers (three shown) extending substantially perpendicular from one end of the clip base to engage a panel flange. The base of the clip is then secured to a wall to secure the panel in place. Of the three tongues, the intermediate tongue is spaced from the adjacent tongues by a distance approximating the thickness of a panel flange. The clip is mounted on the panel with the panel flange positioned intermediate the spaced tongues. The panel will remain connected to the clip by the frictional grasp of the tongues. A sharp pointed projection may be carried on the tongues to engage the panel to enhance the frictional grip of the tongues. The clips are mounted to the panel flange by pressing the clip onto the panel flange with the panel flange intermediate the spaced tongues. The outer free ends of the tongues are bent to provide a throat to facilitate entry of the panel flange into the space between the spaced tongues. Although the engagement between the panel and clip may be substantial, the panels can be separated from the clips (and wall) by application of a disengaging force.
Panels secured to the exterior of buildings, particularly tall buildings, pose a threat to persons and property below if they were to come loose from the building. There is a need for a panel arrangement where panels can be easily and quickly mounted to a building wall and will remain secured in place once mounted, resistant to outside influences, such as wind or ice. There is also a need to provide a multitude of points at which a mounting clip can be secured to a panel.
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