Bucket hanger

A bucket hanger and method of making the hanger from a sheet metal blank. The hanger is characterized by an elongated strap back member for attachment to a vertical member in a wood truss. The hanger has a single member, non-welded seat and overlapped back members of non-continguous lengths. Fasteners used to attach the hanger to the supporting truss serve the further function of interlocking the back members of the hanger and transferring load from a carried wood member through the shorter back member by means of metal to metal shear to the enlongated strap back member.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Simpson Strong-Tie Company, Inc., the assignee of this application is also 
the owner of copending application Ser. No. 06/714,616 filed Mar. 20, 1985 
now U.S. Pat. No. 4,665,672 entitled ONEPIECE, NON-WELDED HOLDOWN. 
This invention relates to sheet metal hangers which are used to connect 
wood joist members to wood roof trusses. 
Structural engineers prefer that joist hangers for wood trusses be 
connected to the vertical members of the truss, rather than the bottom 
chord which is in tension. To meet this criteria, commercial companies 
have designed various hangers which have a long strap punched with a 
plurality of nail openings for attaching the hanger to the narrow truss 
vertical member. A seat and side members are connected to the strap and 
the hanger looks like a "bucket", hence the name "bucket hanger". 
Several commercial companies have fabricated the "bucket hangers" from a 
plurality of sheet metal members and spot welded the parts together. This 
construction is expensive. 
Most of the prior art hangers are fabricated so that the parts are 
connected in the seat area. This construction inherently results in a weak 
connector since the highest stress area is in the seat and most hanger 
failures occur in the welded area due to faulty welds or materials. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
This application teaches the construction of a sheet metal hanger for 
connecting joist members to a wood supporting truss having a continuous 
single seat and the free ends overlapped and interlocked by attachment 
members which affix the hanger to the wood supporting truss. 
In the preferred form, the hanger is galvanized steel; requires no welding 
in its fabrication or painting for protection. 
In all of the standard sizes of the present invention, different seat width 
hangers can be constructed from the same blank. 
The present application is unique in transferring load from one part of the 
hanger to another through the attachment fasteners thereby eliminating the 
need for welding, rivets or other means for attaching the free ends of the 
hanger. 
In the preferred form of the invention, there is no back member adjacent 
the seat member thereby effecting a weight saving.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION 
The sheet metal hanger 1 illustrated in FIG. 1 is constructed from a single 
blank member 2 illustrated in FIG. 8. The hanger 1 is formed by bending 
along subtantially straight bend lines and is designed for attachment to a 
vertical portion 3 of a supporting wood member of a supporting wood truss 
4 and for supporting a carried wood member 5. 
The hanger consists briefly of a continuous non-overlapped single seat 
member 6 adapted for supporting the carried wood member; a first side 
member 7 integrally connected to a first portion 8 of the seat member and 
forming a generally right angle therewith; a plurality of attachment 
members 9 and 10 adapted for connection to the supporting wood member 3; a 
first back member 11 having a length substantially greater than the length 
of the seat integrally conected to the first side member and forming a 
generally right angle therewith and formed with spaced openings 12 and 13 
adapted for receipt therethrough of the plurality of attachment members 9 
and 10; a second side member 14 integrally connected to a second portion 
15 of the seat member disposed on opposited sides of the seat opening and 
forming a generally right angle to the seat member, and the second side 
member 14 is generally parallel to the first side member 7; a second back 
member 16 integrally connected to the second side member 14 and forming a 
generally right angle therewith, and the second back member 16 is 
substantially parallel and closely adjacent to the first back member 11, 
and is formed with at least one opening 17 adapted for receiving the first 
attachment member 9, and at least a portion 18 of the second back member 
16 overlaps a portion 19 of the first back member wherein the opening 17 
in the overlapping portion of the second back member 16 is in alignment 
with at least one of the openings 12 in the first back member 11; and at 
least one of the plurality of attachment members 9 holds the first and 
second back members together and transfers the design load in shear 
substantially evenly to the first and second overlapped back members. 
As shown in FIG. 1, the first back member 11 is substantially longer than 
the second back member 16. This is possible because fasteners 9 make a 
metal to metal interlock between the first and second back members and 
thereby transfer the load of the carried member to the attachment members 
10 through the first back member 11. This unique transfer of load from one 
member of the hanger to the other through the attachment fasteners is 
unique and eliminates the need for welding, rivets or other method of 
joining the free ends of the hanger. 
As shown in FIG. 1, first and second side members 7 and 14 extend a 
substantial distance above the seat member providing substantial side 
support to the carried member 5. Openings 20 in the first and second side 
members 7 and 14 are provided to receive fasteners 21 for attachment of 
the hanger to the carried member 5. 
A feature of the present hanger is the weight saving effected over prior 
art hangers. Since it is structurally desirable to attach the hanger to 
the vertical members of the wood truss and to avoid any attachment to the 
bottom chord 55 of the truss which is in tension, the hanger of the 
present invention omits a substantial portion of the back member adjacent 
the seat. Since no attachment members are desirable in the bottom chord of 
the supporting member, no purpose is served by a back member in this area. 
Accordingly, first back member 11 is attached to first side meaber 7 along 
bend line 22 and second back member 16 is attached to second side member 
14 along bend line 23 leaving a large opening as shown in FIG. 1 bounded 
by opening edges 24,25, 26, 27 and 28. 
In most instances, it is desirable to attach the ends of first and second 
back members 11 and 16 at the factory. As shown in FIG. 1, a rivet 29 may 
be inserted through openings 30 and 31 in first and second back members 11 
and 16. A spot weld may be also used to join the first and second back 
members together. Since fasteners 9 ultimately hold the first and second 
back members together, it is immaterial in many applications whether the 
weld is permanent. 
An important feature of the present invention is the fact that several 
hangers having different seat widths may be fabricated from the identical 
blank member. This is an important feature since it permits the partial 
fabrication of a number of standard blanks which then can be held in 
inventory until an order is received, at which time, hangers of the 
required size are completed. 
A modified form of hanger is shown in FIG. 2A. The hanger shown in FIG. 2a 
has a seat 6' having a first width indicated by the lines 8', 15' in FIG. 
9. The hanger shown in FIG. 2 has a seat 6 having a third width indicated 
by the lines 8, 15 in FIG. 9. Even though the seat widths are 
substantially different, both hangers are constructed from the identical 
blank shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. Like parts of the modified hanger 
illustrated in FIG. 2A are indicated by numbers followed by the (') prime 
symbol. 
In order to construct the modified hanger shown in FIG. 2A, please also 
refer to FIGS. 8 and 9. The seat member 6' is formed from blank member 2 
by bending downwardly along bend lines 8' and 15'. Next, first and second 
back members 11' and 16' are formed by bending downwardly along bend lines 
22' and 23'. The back members are overlapped and joined by nails driven 
through openings 12'. 
In like manner, the hanger shown in FIG. 2 is fabricated from the same 
blank member 2 shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. Seat member 6 having a third width 
indicated by the lines 8, 15 shown in FIG. 9 is formed by bending 
downwardly along bend lines 8 and 15. Next, first and second back members 
11 and 16 are formed by bending downwardly along bend lines 22 and 23. The 
back members are overlapped and joined by rivet 29. 
A third hanger, not shown in fabricated form and having a second seat width 
indicated by the lines 8', 15' in FIG. 9 may be constructed in the same 
manner as previously described by bending along bend lines 8", 15", 22" 
and 23". 
In order to provide for overlap of the back members it should be noted in 
FIG. 9 that the series of bend lines 22 are not in alignment with bend 
lines 23. Instead, there is a small offset as designated by the double 
arrows 32, 33 and 34. 
A method of fabricating one of a plurality of different seat width hangers 
from a single sheet metal blank includes the following steps: 
(a) cutting a sheet metal blank 1 in the form of an unequal sided generally 
U-shaped form as illustrated in FIG. 8 including: 
(1) a base member indicated by the bracket line 35 having parallel lower 
and upper side edges 36 and 37 forming a plurality of seat members 6 and 
first portions of first and second side members generally indicated by 
arrows 38 and 39, 
(2) a first angled member generally indicated by arrow 40 joining the base 
member 35 at a first end generally indicated by arrow 41 at a first angle 
indicated by double arrow 42 and forming a second portion 43 of the first 
side member 7, and a first portion 44 of a first back member 11, 
(3) a second angled member generally indicated by arrow 45 joining the base 
member 35 at a second end generally indicated by arrow 46 at a second 
angle indicated by double arrow 47 substantially equal to the first angle 
42 and forming a second portion 48 of the second side member 14, and a 
first portion 49 of a second back member 16, 
(4) a first extension member 50 connected to the first angled member 40 and 
disposed parallel to the base member 35 and forming a second portion 51 of 
the first back member 11, and 
(5) a second extension member 52 connected to the second angled member 45 
and disposed parallel to the base member 35 and forming a second portion 
53 of the second back member 16; 
b. dividing the base member 35 into a plurality of seat members having 
progressively increasing widths bounded by pairs of disposed parallel seat 
bend lines at right angles to the length of said base member 35; 
c. marking the first angled member 40 with a first series of disposed bend 
lines 22, 22', and 22" at generally right angles to the parallel seat bend 
lines; 
d. marking the second angled member 45 with a second series of disposed 
bend lines 23, 23' and 23" parallel but offset from the first series of 
bend lines 22, 22' and 22"; 
e. bending the base member 35 along a selected pair of the disposed seat 
bend lines at right angles to the base member 35 forming parallel first 
and second side members 7 and 14; 
f. bending the first extension member 50 along a selected line of the first 
series of disposed bend lines 22, 22' or 22" at a generally right angle to 
the first angled member 40; and 
g. bending the second extension member 52 along a selected line of the 
second series of disposed bend lines 23 ,23', and 23" at a generally right 
angle to the second angled member 45 thereby overlapping said first and 
second back members 11 and 16.