By extension, almost any object that performs this function of attaching one part to another (usually larger) component is also called a bracket, even though it may not be obviously L-shaped. To enable the outstretched arm to support a greater weight, a bracket will often have a third arm running diagonally between the horizontal and vertical arms, or indeed the bracket may be a solid triangle. Ever Hardware provides custom-made fasteners and customizable packaging. This shelf bracket is effectively the same as the architectural bracket: a vertical arm mounted on the wall, and a horizontal arm projecting outwards for another element to be attached on top of it or below it.

Brackets vary wildly in shape, but a prototypical bracket would be the L-shaped metal piece that attaches a shelf (the smaller component) to a wall (the larger component): its vertical arm is fixed to one (usually large) element, and its horizontal arm protrudes outwards and holds another (usually small) element.

What makes a bracket a bracket is a fact that it is intermediate between the two and fixes the one to the other. It is an intermediate component for fixing one part to another, usually larger, part. Flat corner braces are the metal plates used on kinds of furniture.

Black flat corner braces