This invention relates to construction brackets, and more particularly to a bracket for supporting a horizontal board or beam, such as the type that may serve as a fire block between vertical studs in the wall of the structure, and a method for installing that bracket.
A fire block is well known in the construction industry as a board or beam set between two studs to inhibit the spread of fire by limiting the oxygen available to the fire and by reducing the “chimney effect” of the space between vertical studs. Traditionally, the installation of a fire block includes delivery of appropriately-sized boards or beams, conventionally 2×4 boards, to the construction area and then cutting the boards or beams to the appropriate length and sizing them to the exact distance between each pair of studs, and finally nailing the boards or beams in place. This is a time-consuming and often wasteful process in that adjacent studs may either be bowed or for other reasons not spaced identically from the adjacent stud. This means that each fire block board must be cut on-site to the correct length to achieve a close fit. If the board is inadvertently cut too short, it cannot be used because it would not provide the desired blockage to prevent spread of a fire. Without a tight fit the fire could spread through the wall in a chimney-like fashion. Moreover, having to nail each fire block onto the studs takes a significant amount of time and energy.
To overcome these disadvantages it is desirable to have a structure that not only provides for a quick and relatively unskilled installation of the fire blocks, but also compensates for minor variations in the spacing between adjacent studs, so that slightly undersized fire block boards can be used effectively.
To achieve the foregoing, as well as other advantages that will become apparent to those skilled in the art, this invention provides a bracket having a generally rectangular and substantially planar base panel, which base panel has opposed and generally parallel first and second edges and opposed and generally parallel third and fourth edges, along with a pair of generally opposed and substantially parallel panels extending generally normal to the base panel along the respective first and second edges, and a third panel extending generally normal to the base panel along the third edge, with a fourth panel extending generally normal to the base panel along that fourth edge and extending in a direction generally opposite the direction of the first, second and third panels, whereby the first, second and third panels form a channel along the base panel and having one closed end.
One preferred embodiment of the bracket of this apparatus will be described in detail below in connection with the drawings, in which:
A preferred embodiment of the bracket 2 of this invention is illustrated in the drawings
In
The fourth panel 26 is preferably provided with at least one supporting tooth, and preferably with a plurality of supporting teeth 28 formed integrally with the fourth panel and extending outwardly there from, as best seen in
In the bracket of this embodiment, the base panel 10 further includes a portion 30 of that base panel bent along fold line 32 to extend angularly outwardly from the planar portion 10 at an acute angle therewith. This angularly extending portion further includes at least one, and preferably a plurality of tooth portions 28 extending generally normal to that angularly outwardly extending portion 30 in a direction toward the planar portion of the base panel 10.
On the bracket 2 of this embodiment at least one, and preferably both, of said first and second substantially parallel panels 20 and 22 further comprise a tab portion or portions 34 and 36 extending past the fourth edge 18 of the base panel 10. Thus, as shown most clearly on
As shown in
Once the transverse member 44 has been fully inserted into the channel defined by the bracket, it may be fully secured therein by bending the tabs 34 and 36 over the outer end of that transverse member, as illustrated in
While the foregoing describes one particularly preferred embodiment of the bracket of this invention and its method of use, it is to be understood that this description is illustrative only of the principles of the invention and is not to be considered limitative thereof, as numerous variations and modifications of the structure, all within the scope of the invention, will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the scope of this invention is to be limited solely by the claims appended hereto.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
5186571 | Hentzschel | Feb 1993 | A |
5528875 | Ziegler et al. | Jun 1996 | A |
5678797 | Gogan | Oct 1997 | A |
5797694 | Breivik | Aug 1998 | A |
6189277 | Boscamp | Feb 2001 | B1 |
6290214 | DeSouza | Sep 2001 | B1 |
6739562 | Rice | May 2004 | B2 |
6781827 | Goodman et al. | Aug 2004 | B2 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20060080934 A1 | Apr 2006 | US |