fastener-angling device

Abstract: A positive fastener-angling device (1) for positioning an elongated fastener (2) with respect to the face (3) of a sheet metal connector (4,4') and a wood member (5,5') only at a preselected angle which is substantially less than 90° by forming a slit-cut (10) in the sheet metal connector (4,4') by means of a die which progressively at the same station, forms a fastener guideway (11) in the shape of a half cone. The fastener opening (20) and the guideway (11) are dimensioned so that the fastener (2) can only penetrate the sheet metal connector (4,4') at a preselected angle set at the factory.

Description: The need for a fastener-angling device for metal connectors used for connecting wood members exists in three separate areas; viz., (1) prevention of wood splitting due to wood shrinkage, (2) prevention of splitting of laminated wood members such as plywood glued laminated timbers (glulam and prefabricated wood joists (microlams)), and (3) insertion of fasteners through a held member and a holding member which are joined by a special connector so that a plurality of fasteners will be in double shear. The first two problem areas are fully discussed in Gilb US-A-4,291,996 Sep. 29, 1981, and the third problem area is discussed in Gilb and Commins US-A-4,480,941 granted Nov. 6, 1984. Gilb US-A-4,291,996, supra, taught the use of a slot-like opening in the face of the metal connector and then bending out a tab-like member formed from the displaced material. The Gilb tab-like device has been commercially very successful with thousands of hangers carrying the angle nailing device. The Gilb tab-like device has several problems as set forth as follows: (1) the punching of a slot has a similar effect of punching a large opening in the metal which tends to weaken the metal; (2) the tab protruding from the metal tends to snag on other building materials prior to installation; (3) the protruding tab has invited installers who are not familiar with the purpose of the tab to forcibly bend the tab with a hammer or pair of pliers, thereby destroying the purpose of the tab; and (4) while the cost of forming the tab is minimal, yet it does require two stations; viz, a cutting station and a bending station thereby adding to the cost of manufacture. The present invention thus provides a connector for connecting a wood holding member with a wood held member having a generally planar portion, the connector comprising: (i) an elongated fastener; and (ii) a fastener angling device, the fastener angling device comprising a sheet metal connector which includes: a. a side member having a generally planar side face portion for close registration with said generally planar portion of said wood held member; b. a generally straight line slit-cut in said generally planar side portion of said side member; and c. a guideway die-formed in said side member in the general shape of one half of a cone having a curved wall, an apex and a base and said guideway forming a preselected angle with said face portion of said side member which is substantially less than 90°; wherein: (i) said generally straight line slit-cut and said guideway form a fastener opening for the receipt of said elongated fastener; (ii) said elongated fastener has a shank and a portion of the shank has constant cross-section dimensioned for insertion through said generally straight line slit-cut and the guideway and into said wood held member; (iii) said guideway in said side member of said sheet metal connector is formed with a wall having a length sufficient to hold said shank of said fastener in combination with the edge of said generally straight line slit-cut at said preselected angle during the driving of said fastener into said wood held member; (iv) said fastener opening in said side member of said sheet metal connector has the general shape of a triangle having an arcuate apex, two generally equilateral arcuate sides and a generally straight base, which is also said edge of said generally straight line slit-cut; characterised in that said fastener angling device includes only one generally straight line slit-cut. The gist of the present invention is the use of a single die at a single work station which forms a slit in the metal and then forms a half cone-like shape for receiving and holding a fastener at a selected angle while it is being driven through the opening. An object of the present invention is to form the smallest cut possible in the sheet metal to minimize the loss of strength of the connector. Another object is to minimize the protrusion from the side of the material to minimize the possibility of the deformed opening snagging other materials. Still another object is to render the device nearly immune to tampering by workmen who do not understand the reason for the device. Another object is to reduce the cost of manufacturing the angle fastening device. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the fastener-angling device of an embodiment of the present invention installed in a connector in which the connection places a plurality of the fasteners in double shear as that term is defined in US-A-4,480,941. The held and holding members are in phantom line so that the placement of the fasteners may be better understood. FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the connection illustrated in FIG. 1 taken in the direction of the line 2-2 of FIG. 1. The held and holding wood members are shown in phantom line so that the relationship of the fasteners to the sheet metal connector and the wood members may be more clearly understood. FIG. 3 is a front elevation view of the connector illustrated in FIG. 1 and showing the angle fastener device. FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of the connector illustrated in FIG. 3 taken in the general direction of line 4-4. FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the connector illustrated in FIG. 3 taken generally along line 5-5. FIG. 6 is an enlarged scale view of a portion of the connector shown in FIG. 1 taken generally in the vicinity of line 6-6 specifically illustrating the fastener guideway. A portion of a fastener such as a nail is drawn prior to entry into the opening of the angle fastener device. A pair of parallel phantom lines are shown to indicate the path of the fastener prior to entry into the opening. FIG. 7 is an enlarged scale partial cross sectional view of a guideway portion of the connector illustrated in FIG. 4 taken generally along line 7-7. FIG. 8 is an enlarged scale partial cross sectional view of a guideway portion of the connector illustrated in FIG. 4 taken generally along line 8-8. A portion of a nail fastener is illustrated with the solid line portion indicating a position of the fastener just prior to seating, and a phantom line fastener illustrating the position of the fastener after being fully driven or seated. FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of a guideway portion of the connector illustrated in FIG. 3 taken in the vicinity of line 9-9. FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the angle fastener device illustrated in FIGS 1-9 in a connection where angle fastening is important to prevent splitting of the laminated portions of the bottom chord of the beam shown in phantom line. FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a portion of the connector illustrated in FIG. 10 on an enlarged scale taken within the general area bounded by the curved line 11-11. In Figures 1 to 9 there is shown a fastener-angling device 1 of the present invention for positioning an elongated fastener 2 with respect to the face 3 of a sheet metal connector 4 and wood member 5 only at a preselected angle 6 which is substantially less than 90° wherein: the sheet metal connector 4 is formed with a side member 7 having a generally planar side face portion 8 for close registration with a generally planar portion 9 of the wood member 5; the fastener-angling device 1 includes a slit-cut 10 (see Figures 6 and 8) in the side member 7 and a guideway 11 formed from the deformed material of the side member 7 in the general shape of one half of a cone 17 having a curved wall 19, an apex 12 and a base 13 and forming an angle 18 with the face 3 of the side member 7; the slit-cut 10 and guideway 11 form a fastener opening 20 for the receipt of the fastener 2; the elongated fastener 2 having a shank 14, a portion of which has a constant cross section; the guideway 11 is formed with a wall 15 having a length sufficient to hold the shank 14 of the fastener 2 in combination with the edge 16 of the slit-cut 10 (see Figure 8) at the preselected angle 6 during the driving of the fastener 2 into the wood member 5. The fastener-angling device 1, as best shown in Figures 9 and 6, is preferably constructed with the fastener opening 20 having the general shape of a triangle having an arcuate apex 21, two generally equilateral arcuate sides 22 and 23 and a generally straight base which is also edge 16 of slit-cut 10; and the fastener opening 20 is dimensioned to receive the fastener 2 and is dimensioned generally equal to or slightly less than the diameter of the fastener shank portion 14. In using the fastener-angling device, when the fastener 2 is inserted through the fastener opening 20 (see Figure 6), the shank 14 of the fastener 2 is engaged by the guideway 11, (see Figure 8) at least at two longitudinally spaced points 24 and 25 and at least one point 26 on the edge 16 of the slit-cut 10 at a location radially spaced from the two longitudinally spaced points 24 and 25 on the guideway wall 15 of guideway 11 and at a location longitudinally between the two longitudinally spaces points 24 and 25 on the guideway wall 15 of guideway 11. This geometry insures that the fastener 2 is firmly held and guided at three points during the entire fastener driving procedure. Greater fastener guidance occurs in the fastener-angling device 1 upon insertion of a fastener 2 having a diameter greater than the fastener opening 20, since the driving of the fastener 2 forms a depression 27 (see Figure 9) in the slit-cut edge 16. This change may be seen in FIG. 9 and by the rounding of slit-cut edge 16 in FIG. 8. Preferably, the fastener-angling device 1 is used with a fastener 2 which is formed with a head 28 having a dimension greater than said fastener opening 20 to prevent the fastener 2 from being driven completely through the guideway 11, as shown in Figures 6 and 8. It is to be understood that in the fastener-angling device 1, the fastener 2 is generally understood to be a nail. In another form of the device the fastener-angling device 1 may be used in combination with a fastener 2 which is a threaded screw. With the advent of the automatic hand held screw gun, the use of threaded screws used with sheet metal connectors is increasing. The fastener-angling device 1 of the present invention is particularly useful in the type of connector 4 illustrated in FIGS 1-9 wherein the metal connector 4 illustrated is a hanger having a side member 7, angularly attached to the header-side member 30; the wood member 5 is an elongated held member having an end 31; a wood holding member 32 is angularly disposed to the held member 5 and abuts the end 31 of the elongated held member 5; the fastener 2 is adapted for being driven through a portion 33 of the held member 5 and into the holding member 32 so as to place the fastener 2 in double shear; and a header fastener 34 connects the header side member 30 to the wood holding member 32. Double shear type connectors are fully illustrated and described in Gilb US-A-4,480,941. Another important use for the fastener-angling device 1 of the present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 10 and 11 wherein: the metal connector 4' is a hanger having a side member 7' angularly attached to a header-side member 30'; the wood member 5' is an elongated held member; a wood holding member 32' is angularly disposed to the held member 5'; and the guideway 11 is formed in the generally planar side faces 8' and 43' of side members 7' and 36' so as to guide the fasteners 2 into the generally planar portion 9' of bottom chord 35 of elongated held member 5' at a preselected angle 6' to prevent splitting bottom chord 35 of the elongated held member 5'. Specifically, the held member 5' illustrated in FIG. 10 is a microlam beam in which the bottom chord 35 is a laminated member. As more fully explained in Gilb US-A-4,291,996, driving a fastener orthogonally would insert the nail parallel to the laminations and tend to split the bottom chord 35 whereas driving the fastener at an angle 6' as illustrated in FIG. 11 will not split the bottom chord 35. As illustrated in the example hanger connector 4 shown in FIGS. 1-5, four separate fastener-angling devices 1 are used to attach held member 5 to holding member 32. It is to be understood that various numbers of fastener-angling devices 1 may be used in different hangers depending upon the design loads carried by the different hangers. The hanger shown in FIGS. 1-5 is only an example. Completing the description of the hanger 4 illustrated in FIG. 1 which is partially described above, a second side member 36 is connected to the first side member 7 by a seat member 37. A second header side member 38 is connected to second side member 36 and is provided with a plurality of fastener openings 39 which consist of the standard punched round opening. Header fasteners such as header fastener 34 are driven through each fastener opening and into header 32. The guideways 11 in each of the fastener-angling devices 1 are preset at a selected angle at the factory so that fasteners 2 will be driven through a portion 33 of the held member 5 and into the header 32 at about a 45° angle so that they will not intersect the other fasteners and contribute the splitting of the held member 5. The installer need only start the fastener at about a 45° angle and the guideways 11 accurately place the fasteners 2 at the correct angle which is set at the factory. Thus an unskilled installer can accurately and properly install the hanger 4 without splitting the end portion 33 of held member 5. It has been found that a single die member is capable of cutting the slit-cut 10 in side member 7 and forming the guideway 11 in the form of one half a cone 17. It is to be understood that half cone 17 is not a perfect cone, but the word cone is used since it is the nearest geometric figure which describes the shape of the deformation in the side member 7. The slit-cut 10 and the half cone 17 are both done quickly at a single station thus contributing to the cost reduction in forming the fastener-angling device as compared to the slot and tab member illustrated in Gilb US-A-4,291,996. Referring to FIGS. 10 and 11, the hanger 4', in addition to the previous description, consists of a second side member 36' connected to the first side member 7' by a seat member 37'. A second header side member 38' is connected to second side member 36. Top flanges 40 and 41 are connected to header side members 30' and 38'. The hanger illustrated in FIGS. 10 and 11 is installed as follows: Fasteners indicated by arrows 34 are driven through fastener openings 39 in top flanges 40 and 41 and into openings 39 in header side members 38' and 30' into wood holding member 32'. Next, wood member 5' is installed with bottom chord 35 resting on seat 37'. Finally, fasteners 2 are inserted into fastener opening 20 as illustrated in FIG. 11. Fastener 2 need only be placed in fastener opening 20 at approximately 45° angle, and the guideway 11 immediately assumes control of fastener 2 and guides it at a selected angle 6' which has been set at the factory. It is to be noted that the fastener-angling device 1 illustrated in FIGS. 10 and 11, is identical to the fastener-angling device 1 illustrated in FIGS 1-9, differing only in the orientation of the guideways 11 which are oriented 90° to one another. Thus in FIGS 10 and 11, the fastener 2 is driven downwardly at an angle which in the example is 45°. In FIGS 1-9, in contrast, fasteners 2 are driven approximately horizontally and at an approximately 45° to the face 3 of side members 7 and 36. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 6, it may be seen that fastener-angling device 1 is preferably formed in face 43 of second side member 36 as well as first side member 7. Like numbers have been used in describing fastener-angling device 1 in second side member 36 and are not repeated.

Claims: A connector for connecting a wood holding member (32; 32') with a wood held member (5, 5') having a generally planar portion (9), the connector comprising: (i) an elongated fastener (2); and (ii) a fastener angling device (1), the fastener angling device comprising a sheet metal connector (4; 4') which includes: a. a side member (7; 7') having a generally planar side face portion (8, 43; 8', 43') for close registration with said generally planar portion (9) of said wood held member (5; 5') ; b. a generally straight line slit-cut (10) in said generally planar side portion of said side member (7; 7'); and c. a guideway (11) die-formed in said side member (7; 7') in the general shape of one half of a cone (17) having a curved wall (19), and apex (12) and a base (13) and said guideway (11) forming a preselected angle (6; 6') with said face portion of said side member (7; 7') which is substantially less that 90°; wherein: (i) said generally straight line slit-cut (10) and said guideway (11) form a fastener opening (20) for the receipt of said elongated fastener (2); (ii) said elongated fastener (2) has a shank (14) and a portion of the shank has a constant cross-section dimensioned for insertion through said generally straight line slit-cut (10) and the guideway (11) and into said wood held member (5; 5'); (iii) said guideway (11) in said side member (7; 7') of said sheet metal connector (4; 4') is formed with a wall (15) having a length sufficient to hold said shank (14) of said fastener (2) in combination with the edge (16) of said generally straight line slit-cut (10) at said preselected angle (6; 6') during the driving of said fastener (2) into said wood held member (5; 5'); (iv) said fastener opening (20) in said side member (7; 7') of said sheet metal connector (4; 4') has the general shape of a triangle having an arcuate apex (12), two generally equilateral arcuate sides (22, 23) and a generally straight base (16), which is also said edge (16) of said generally straight line slit-cut (10); characterised in that said fastener angling device (1) includes only one generally straight line slit-cut (10). A connector as described in claim 1 wherein: i. upon insertion of a fastener (2) having a diameter greater than said fastener opening (20), the driving of said fastener (2) forms a depression (27) in said edge (16) of said generally straight line slit-cut (10) . A connector as described in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein: i. said fastener (2) is formed with a head (28) having a dimension greater than said fastener opening (20). A connector as described in any one of the preceding claims wherein: i. said fastener (2) is a nail. A connector as described in any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein: i. said fastener (2) is a threaded screw. A connector as described in any one of the preceding claims wherein: i. said sheet metal connector (4) is a hanger having a side member (7), angularly attached to a header-side member (30); ii. said wood held member (5) has an end (31); iii. said wood holding member (32) is angularly disposed to said held member (5) and abuts said end (31) of said wood held member (5) ; iv. said fastener (2) is adapted for being driven through said fastener opening (20) in said side member (7) through a portion (33) of said wood held member (5) and into said wood holding member (32) so as to place said fastener (2) in double shear; and v. a header fastener (34) connects said header side member (30) to said wood holding member (32). A connector as described in any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein: i. said sheet metal connector (4') is a hanger having a side member (7') angularly attached to a header-side member (30'); ii. said wood held member (5') is formed with a bottom chord having a generally planar portion; iii. said wood holding member (32') is angularly disposed to said wood held member (5'); and iv. said guideway (11) is formed in said side member (7') so as to guide said fastener (2) into said bottom chord (35) of said wood member (5') at a preselected angle (6') to prevent splitting of said bottom chord (35) of said wood held member (5'). A connector as described in any one of the preceding claims, wherein: i. said preselected angle (6; 6') of said guideway (11) in said planar side face portion (8, 43; 8', 43') of said side member (7; 7') is in a plane generally between 30° and 60° with the plane of said planar side face portion (8, 43; 8', 43') of said side member (7; 7').

Inventors: COMMINS ALFRED D, LEEK WILLIAM F, COMMINS, ALFRED D., LEEK, WILLIAM F.
Applicants: SIMPSON STRONG TIE CO, SIMPSON STRONG-TIE COMPANY, INC.
Application year: 1996
Main classification: E04B1
IPC codes: E04B1