The present invention relates to the art of support brackets and more particularly pertains to a new bracket for use in supporting temporary structures used in the construction industry.
The construction of homes and other structures has been a mainstay of the world's economy for many decades. The construction of houses and other structures will often require the erection of temporary structures in order to accomplish construction tasks or to maximize the safety of construction workers.
For example, safety railings are required by many construction codes where a construction worker will be working on a particular horizontal level and no barrier has yet been constructed to prevent the worker from falling to the level or ground below. Such safety railings are composed of sets of vertical posts mounted to gussets and mounting plates. The vertical posts are connected to one another by at least two horizontal railings, one along the ground (the “kick board” or “toe board”) and the other a few feet above the ground. Often a midrail will also be attached to the vertical posts between the two other horizontal railings. The safety railings and gussets are usually cut on site and thrown away when the railing is no longer required. As a result, a great deal of wood is used only temporarily on a construction site and then is sent away as waste. This waste of wood is expensive and damaging to the environment.
A number of U.S. patents disclose devices which attempt to make the erection of safety railings simpler and more modular. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,560,588 to Hilliard discloses a post base having a central column for receiving a vertical post and ridges which are adapted to receive the kick boards. This device only supports vertical posts and kick boards in a very specific orientation. In addition, the kick boards must be cut to very close tolerances to fit within the ridges if the post base is mounted to the floor before the railings are constructed. Finally, this device is also only useful for safety railings and not other temporary structures.
Accordingly, there is a need for a construction bracket which can be used in the assembly of safety rails and other temporary structures, which can be installed during all phases of the construction process (including after the installation of drywall or after the installation of hardwood flooring) which is flexible enough to allow for multiple lengths of wood and allows for reuse of the wood after the temporary structure is taken down.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a construction bracket supporting temporary construction structures composed of construction members. The bracket comprises a support plate and a substantially hollow column member extending upwardly from the support plate. The column member is provided with at least one aperture adapted to receive a tightening member for securing the construction members to the column member.
The support plate may also be provided with securement apertures. In addition the support plate may also be provided with a support plate aperture within the column member.
Optionally, the column member may be provided with a lateral aperture for receiving a construction member mounted generally parallel to the support plate.
The tightener may be at least one threaded bolt when the apertures are provided with internal threads for receiving the at least one threaded bolt.
The column member may also be provided with at least one vertically extending slot.
In another variant of the subject invention, the column member may have a generally rectilinear horizontal cross-section. In addition, the column member may have a front wall, a rear wall and two side walls joining the front wall to the rear wall. The front and rear walls may be provided with corresponding opposed lateral apertures for receiving a construction member through the column member. In addition, the lateral apertures may be disposed towards one of the side walls. Further, at least one of the side walls may be provided with at least one tightening aperture for receiving the tightening member.
In a further variant of the present invention, the centerpoint of the support platemay be laterally displaced from the centerpoint about which the column member is mounted.
The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the present invention, as to its structure, organization, use and method of operation, together with further objectives and advantages thereof, will be better understood from the following drawings in which a presently preferred embodiment of the invention will now be illustrated by way of example. It is expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration and description only and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention. Embodiments of this invention will now be described by way of example in association with the accompanying drawings in which:
The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the present invention, as to its structure, organization, use and method of operation, together with further objectives and advantages thereof, will be better understood from the following discussion.
As shown in
Support column 22 is a generally hollow rectilinear body having four wall members connected at right angles. The wall members include front face 40, rear face 42 and side faces 44. The wall members extend upwardly from base plate 20 and surround columnar aperture 32.
As shown in
As shown in
A variant of the configuration of side faces 44 is shown in
As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, there are a wide variety of applications for construction bracket 10 in the construction industry. One such use is in the erection of safety rails. As shown in
If construction bracket 10 is attached to the floor such that one of side faces 44 faces towards the rest of the floor, the wooden kick board could be attached to the vertical post by driving a nail or screw through slot 50 on one of side faces 44. The advantage to using this configuration is that it would allow the user to loosen the eye bolts and lift the fence structure out of bracket 10. This would be useful in situations where the fence structure obstructed an area where work is required. The fence structure would remain intact and would be available for reinsertion into construction brackets 10.
In a further safety fence application, as shown in
Optionally, as shown in
In another application, as shown in
There are situations, however, where the installation of construction bracket 10 directly onto a floor may be inappropriate. For example, when a hardwood floor has been installed onto a subfloor, nailing or screwing construction bracket 10 into the floor would damage and/or mar the wood surface. However, if a safety rail still needs to be installed, construction bracket 10 could still be installed as shown in
Construction bracket 10 may even be used to assemble temporary scaffolding, as shown in
It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that construction bracket 10 can be used in a myriad of ways. Essentially, it can support a vertical post in the support column (when construction bracket 10 is positioned such that support column 22 extends vertically from base plate 20) and accommodate the attachment of beams perpendicular to the vertical post at around the same level as base plate 20. The perpendicular beams could be attached in a variety of ways. One method is by passing a beam horizontally through lateral aperture 46. Another method involves securing a beam to a vertical post in support column 22 by driving an attachment in the nature of a nail or screw through the beam into the vertical post via lateral aperture 46, tightening aperture 48, slot 50, secondary aperture 52 or lower central aperture 54.
Construction bracket 10 is preferably constructed from metal or plastic. Optionally, construction bracket 10 may be constructed all or partially from corrugated metal to improve strength and stiffness as well as to reduce costs.
To those skilled in the art, it is clear that the faces could be reoriented. Side faces 44 could be interchanged with front and rear faces 40 and 42. In addition, one of side faces 44 could be exchanged with one of front and rear faces 40 and 42. Such changes would alter the applications to which construction bracket 10 could be applied.
A variety of tighteners can be incorporated in the present design to secure a vertical post within support column 22. A preferred tightener shown in
It is also possible to use screws or nails as tighteners. Screws or nails may be driven into wooden beams within support column 22 through tightening apertures 48 or secondary apertures 52, provided that the head of the screw or nail is larger than the aperture. Preferably, if screws or nails are to be used, they should be used in apertures in both of side faces 44. If a sufficient number of screws or nails used, the temporary structure should remain stable.
A further tightener which could be used in the present invention involves a pressure lever which is passed through a tightening aperture. The user could activate the outer end of the lever, causing the inner end to press against the wooden post. The lever could be lockable to maintain the force on the post within the support column. Another possible tightener involves more significant design changes to bracket 10. In this version, there is a slight gap between two adjacent faces of support column 22 and protrusions extend outward from each of the faces parallel to one another. A bolt is passed through apertures in the protrusions. When the bolt is tightened, the corners of the two adjacent faces are brought closer together, thus reducing the cross-sectional area of the support column. If the vertical post is sized such that it is almost the same cross-sectional area and shape of the column, the tightening of the bolt with act to squeeze the faces of the column about the post.
In terms of sizing, in one preferred configuration, columnar aperture 32 can accommodate a 4″×4″ piece of wood or two 2″×4″ pieces of wood, while lateral aperture can receive a 2″×4″ piece of wood. Clearly, configurations having other sizes may be used.
In yet another variation of the preferred embodiment, the inner surfaces of the faces of support column 22 are provided with protrusions which could press into the beams within column member 22 as a tightener is pressed against the beam. Such protrusions could be elongated, pointed or any other appropriate shape
Other modifications and alterations may be used in the design and manufacture of the apparatus of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the accompanying claims.
Throughout this specification and the claims which follow, the directions “up” and “down” are used. These directions shall be interpreted in accordance with the orientation shown in
Throughout this specification and the claims which follow, unless the context requires otherwise, the word “comprise”, and variations such as “comprises” or “comprising”, will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or step or group of integers or steps but not to the exclusion of any other integer or step or group of integers or steps.
Moreover, the word “substantially” when used with an adjective or adverb is intended to enhance the scope of the particular characteristic; e.g., substantially vertical is intended to mean perpendicular to a horizontal orientation, or nearly so, and/or exhibiting characteristics associated with a general vertical element or orientation.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
3809346 | Jackson | May 1974 | A |
3977147 | Fletcher | Aug 1976 | A |
4667935 | Moore | May 1987 | A |
5186430 | Ellithorpe | Feb 1993 | A |
5560588 | Hilliard | Oct 1996 | A |
5568909 | Timko | Oct 1996 | A |
5913508 | Eades | Jun 1999 | A |
5946867 | Snider | Sep 1999 | A |
6015139 | Weber | Jan 2000 | A |
6039150 | Palmer | Mar 2000 | A |
6279880 | Hawks, Jr. | Aug 2001 | B1 |
6327830 | Hecht | Dec 2001 | B1 |
6328285 | Wiseman | Dec 2001 | B1 |
6467230 | Perkins et al. | Oct 2002 | B1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20050098772 A1 | May 2005 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 10454573 | Jun 2003 | US |
Child | 10905843 | US |