Stretcher for the mounting and stretching of a canvas, particularly for fine art

Abstract

A stretcher frame for an artist's canvas is formed of four wooden side pieces with simple mitred ends, joined at the corners by four corner connector assemblies. Each corner connector assembly has a pair of perpendicularly interconnected arms of U-shaped cross section which slidably receive two of the wooden side pieces. A support bracket projects inwardly from each arm, and a connecting bracket projects inwardly from each side piece. A threaded rod is affixed to the connecting bracket and extends through the support bracket, and a spring on the rod biases the support bracket outwardly to apply tension to a canvas on the frame. To deter inward flexing of the side pieces, cross members extend between opposed pairs of side pieces. Each cross member includes a threaded rod, a spring on the threaded rod, a tube which is biased by the spring and receives the threaded rod, and a nut which is threaded on the rod to compress the spring.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.