The present invention is directed to apparatus and a method for hanging one or more supplemental sets of curtains in an installation in which a main set of curtains has already been hung. More specifically, the invention teaches a method and an apparatus construction which enables a supplemental curtain rod to be mounted on brackets which have been used to support a main curtain rod. Only one set of brackets, i.e., the brackets on which the main curtain rod is mounted, need be affixed to a wall or ceiling no matter how many sets of curtains are to be hung.
It is known in the art to hang curtains from a wall or ceiling by suspending the curtains on a main rod which is connected to a respective bracket at each of its ends, the brackets being attached to a mounting surface, i.e., on a wall or ceiling, by screws threaded into holes drilled in the mounting surface. Where the main rod is very long, one or more additional brackets may be mounted on the wall or ceiling intermediate the end brackets to prevent sagging of the main rod and curtains.
It is also known to hang two or more sets of curtains, each set on a separate rod, with each separate rod being mounted on a respective pair of brackets screwed into the mounting surface of the wall or ceiling. Prior art rods and brackets for hanging multiple sets of curtains require a separate set of brackets for each rod, which must be affixed to a mounting surface by making separate holes for each bracket. When multiple prior art rods are used, each must be of a different length, with the outermost being the longest, and the innermost being the shortest, in order for its brackets to have access to the mounting surface.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/918,448, Publication No. 2003/0024893, by Ellbogen discloses hook-like clips which can be snapped onto the cylindrical shaft of a wall bracket extending from a wall-mounted flange. Ellbogen's adapters have a tongue which is inserted into the end of a hollow supplemental curtain rod. Ellbogen also discloses the end-to-end placement of supplemental curtain rods for obtaining support in the middle of an installation of great width. However, Ellbogen teaches the use of a single clip having tongues extending from opposite ends for receiving the respective ends of two curtain rods. Such dual tongued clips are unsuitable for use on an end of a curtain rod which is not mounted adjacent an end of an axially aligned rod as the exposed unused tongue is unsightly, and may caused injury.