Corner frame

In combination, a picture frame molding formed from pieces of molding mitered at their free ends and a clamping assembly for interconnecting said pieces, said molding having a front, an inner side, an outer side and a back, said molding having a picture-retaining formation on its inner side, said molding having a generally rectangular channel with side walls adapted to house said clamping assembly, said clamping assembly comprising:

• a locking bracket of generally L-shape and being of generally rectangular hollow cross-section, and having an upper roof, a pair of opposed side walls and a split base, said split base having mutually opposed beveled edges, an internally threaded hole in said roof, and bolts extending through said holes and threadedly engaging therein, said bolts when tightened engaging said split base and thereby to tighten and forcingly to clamp selected portions at said opposed side walls of said clamping assembly against corresponding opposed side walls of said generally rectangular channel.

In a picture frame formed from frame sections, each of said frame sections having a generally rectangular channel, an improved means for securing an adjacent pair of said sections together at a corner junction comprising:

• (a) an L-shaped, hollow, generally rectangular locking bracket constituted by an upper roof, a pair of opposed side walls and a split base, said split base having mutually opposed beveled edges and having a pair of legs disposed at an angle substantially identical to the angle made by said frame sections at said corner junction, said legs being adapted to fit within the said channels of adjacent frame sections at said corner junction, said legs being of a width which is sufficient to retain said bracket within said channels;
• and
• (b) locking means for uging selected portions at the side walls towards the sides of said channels, said locking means being manually operable for engaging said split base and, thereby to cause movement of selected portions at said opposed side walls of said bracket leg towards the corresponding opposed side walls of said frame section engaged therewith.

The picture frame of 2, 6 or 10 wherein said locking bracket includes screw means engaging overlapped beveled edges of the inside face of said longitudinally split wall, thereby to urge selected portions at the side walls of said locking bracket into frictional engagement mainly with adjacent respective side wall of said channel.

A method of securing picture frame members together at a corner by means of a hollow rectangular cross-section locking corner constituted by an upper roof, having an internally threaded aperture therethrough, a pair of opposed sidewalls, and a split base, said split base having mutually opposed beveled edges, which locking corner is inserted within a rectangular cross-section channel in the frame members, which method comprises:

• threading a screw into said internally threaded aperture in said upper roof of the locking corner to engage means only on the mutually opposed split base, thereby to force selected portions at the side walls into frictional engagement mainly with adjacent respective side walls of said channel.