Mounting plate with rollers

A mounting bracket

• especially for supporting an SCBA composite air cylinder of the type in which glass fiber filaments are wrapped about a metal shell, comprising:
• (a) a backplate adapted for wall mounting;
• and
• (b) a plurality of clamp members projecting forwardly from the backplate in spaced relation, each of said clamp members being approximately C-shaped and including
• (1) a generally flat base affixed to the backplate;
• (2) a pair of resiliently, yieldably spreadable clamp arms projecting forwardly from the base and adapted to clampably engage a cylinder inserted therebetween, and
• (3) rollers on the respective arms projecting into the space therebetween in position to rollably engage the cylinder during its passage through said space, said clamp arms further including guide lips disposed adjacent the rollers, said guide lips diverging forwardly from the backplate in position to guide a cylinder into the space between the clamp arms for engagement by the respective rollers, the clamp arms of each clamp member including intermediate portions curved about a common center on a radius substantially duplicating that of the cylinder supported by the bracket, the intermediate portions and the guide lips defining reentrant angular portions projecting inwardly toward each other at opposite sides of said space, said rollers of the respective clamp members being mounted in the reentrant angular portions, said rollers being tangent to a circle described about the common center of the clamp arms on said radius.