Picture frame and picture hanger

Claim 1

A picture frame for holding a picture assembly having a front, a back and lateral edges defining a plurality of corners, said picture frame comprising: bracket means mountable in pairs on each corner of the picture assembly for holding the picture assembly; means carried on said bracket means for contacting the back of the picture assembly; resilient body means angularly joined to said contacting means for engaging the back of the picture assembly at locations inwardly spaced from the lateral edges; substantially flat body means joined to said resilient body means for carrying said contacting means; turned end means angularly joined to said resilient body means for engaging the front of the picture assembly, said end means including web means angularly joined to said resilient body means for engaging a lateral edge of the picture assembly and flange means joined to said web means at an acute angle of approximately eighty degrees to extend toward said resilient body means, said flange means terminating at contact ends for engaging the front of the picture assembly, said resilient body means being angled relative to said contacting means to extend toward said end means in a direction away from said contact ends; cooperating engaging means on said bracket means for securing said bracket means in pairs in crossed relation at each corner of the picture assembly to position said web means to engage a lateral edge of the picture assembly and to position said resilient body means to extend along the back of the picture assembly perpendicular to the engaged edge, said cooperating engaging means including at least a first pair of spaced post means on said flat body means of one of the bracket means of each pair and a second pair of spaced post means on said flat body means of said one bracket means spaced from said first pair of post means, said first and second pairs of post means extending perpendicularly from said flat body means toward said contacting means on said one bracket means, and at least a first foot means on said flat body means of the other of said bracket means of each pair and a second foot means on said flat body means of said other bracket means spaced from said first foot means, said first and second foot means extending toward said contacting means on said other bracket means for being frictionally retained alternatively between said first and second pairs of spaced post means, said first pair of post means defining first channel means in said flat body means and said second pair of post means defining second channel means in said flat body means spaced from said first channel means for alternatively frictionally retaining said first and second foot means; a recess in said flat body means separating said first and second channel means; indicia means carried on said flat body means of said one bracket means for visually distinguishing said first and second channel means from said recess; and means for interconnecting all of said pairs of said bracket means to urge said pairs of bracket means toward a central location on the back of the picture assembly, whereby said resilient body means are forced in a forward direction against the back of the picture assembly at locations spaced from the lateral edges, said flange means are forced in a rearward direction against the front of the picture assembly to engage the front of the picture assembly with said contact ends at locations inwardly spaced from the lateral edges, and said web means are forced against the lateral edges in an inward direction toward the central location.