Abstract:
Overhead installation clips for sheet goods, such as dry wall material. The clips support the sheets at one end, allowing one man to install this material without additional help. The clips need not be recovered after installation as they are designed to have their exposed portions broken off and discarded. The portion of the clips that remains are normally located in the seams between the sheets where they will be covered by the tape and spackle.

Description:
BACKGROUND  
       [0001]     1. Field  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to the installation of sheet goods used in construction and more particularly to clips used to support dry wall sheets while they are being installed on overhead beams.  
         [0003]     2. Prior Art  
         [0004]     The use of clips in the prior art is illustrated in the following patents:  
         [0005]     U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,459 illustrates an overhead sheet-installation support tool which incorporates a forward screw and rearward extending handle structure. However, it fails to have clips which can be easily inserted on existing sheet rock and broken away once the board has been installed.  
         [0006]     U.S. Pat. No. 5,002,446 illustrates an overhead sheet installation support tool which incorporates a screw and a base with a ledge to support the sheet material. However, it fails to have disposable clips that do not need to be screwed into the overhead beams.  
         [0007]     U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,405 illustrates a drywall device which is driven into an overhead beam and an orthogonally positioned supporting tongue to support the sheet rock. However, it fails to have a means for easy removal or disposal.  
         [0008]     U.S. Pat. No. 5,371,994 illustrates a drywall support device which is screwed into an overhead beam and has a rotating support ledge that can be moved to a first support position for the sheet rock and a second release position. However, it fails to have a means of easily removing the support from the ceiling and the manufacturing cost of the device is high.  
         [0009]     U.S. Pat. No. 5,640,826 illustrates a support “T” with a slide out shelf for supporting sheet rock. However, it fails to have a low cost disposable means of supporting sheet rock.  
         [0010]     U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,361 illustrates clips that are nailed through holes in the clips into overhead beams. The clips which support sheet rock can be removed and re-used by sliding them along to wide openings to free the nail heads. However, this device fails to have nicked or serrated edges which would allow the clips to be broken off and discarded.  
         [0011]     The prior art has many reusable clips which usually require time consuming installation and retrieval. In some instances, the retrieval is impractical because part of the clip is trapped under the sheet rock and nails through the clip are under the sheet rock and must be loosened before the clip can be removed. What is needed is a low cost, disposable clip that takes little time to install and can easily be disposed of in order to minimize installation time and maximize the efficiency of the installer. Such clips are provided by the present invention which is shown and described below.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES  
       [0012]      FIG. 1  is a cross sectional view of a wall adjacent an overhead beam that is used for the mounting of a first type of clip in accordance with the present invention and is referred to as an end clip. This clip is secured to the beam and positioned to support a first end of a first dry wall sheet that lies with that first end in contact with the wall.  
         [0013]      FIG. 2  is a top view of the end clip of  FIG. 1  showing a hole in a top leaf which is used in securing the clip to an overhead beam.  
         [0014]      FIG. 3  is a side view of the end clip of  FIG. 1  showing a spike on the upper leaf used to prevent the clip from rotating.  
         [0015]      FIG. 4  is a bottom view of the end clip of  FIG. 1  showing a lower leaf and notches in the lower leaf used to allow the bottom leaf to be broken off and discarded after the installation of the first dry wall sheet is completed.  
         [0016]      FIG. 5  is a side view of a beam with a second dry wall sheet secured to the beam and, a second clip, referred to as a middle clip, resting on the second dry wall sheet in a position to accept and support a third dry wall sheet.  
         [0017]      FIG. 6  is a top view of the middle clip of  FIG. 5  showing the break away notches in a lower leaf of the clip.  
     
    
     SUMMARY  
       [0018]     It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet rock installation clip which can be broken away and discarded after a single use.  
         [0019]     It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet rock installation clip that can be installed by merely inserting it between an already mounted panel of sheet rock and an over beam without the need for a fastener.  
         [0020]     It is an object of the present invention to provide sheet rock installation clips which do no significant damage to installed sheet rock during their mounting and removal.  
         [0021]     It is an object of the present invention to provide sheet rock installation clips that speed the installation process both during mounting and removal of the clips.  
         [0022]     The present invention provides overhead installation clips for sheet goods, such as dry wall material, usually referred to as wall board or sheet rock. The clips, which support the sheets at one end, allow a single installer to install this material without additional help. The clips need not be recovered after installation as they are designed to have their exposed portions broken away. The portion of the clips that remains are normally located in the seam of the dry wall sheets where they will be covered by tape and spackle.  
         [0023]     In the installation of sheet rock, there is difficulty in holding a panel of sheet rock at one end up against overhead beams while the installer secures the opposite end of the sheet rock to the beams. The present invention accomplishes the holding of the sheet rock at one end, eliminating the need for a jack, table, or a second installer. The present invention provides two types of clips. The first one, referred to as the end clip, is used for the first sheet of sheet rock which is started against a vertical wall. The second type of clip, referred to as the middle clip, is used when a new panel of sheet rock is being installed against an already installed panel of sheet rock.  
         [0024]     The first type of clip is secured to a beam while the second type slips under the existing sheet rock. Both have a portion of the clip which can be seen extending below the sheet rock after installation, but it is designed to be broken off by hand. This is accomplished by placing nicks at the edges of the clips where it is desired to break away the clip. The clips have spikes, serrated edges or teeth used to grip the beam or the sheet rock to which they are attached to prevent movement or rotating of the clip while the clip is being used to support a sheet of sheet rock.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0025]      FIG. 1  is a cross sectional view of a wall  5  adjacent to an overhead beam  3  that is used for the mounting of a first type of clip  1 , referred to as an end clip. This clip is secured to the beam where it is positioned to support one end  4  of a first dry wall sheet  6  that lies with the end  4  in contact with the wall  5 . The end clip  1  is secured with a fastener  2 , such as a screw or nail, to the overhead beam  3 . The clip and the end  4  of a panel of sheet rock  6  is pressed up against the wall  5 . The clip supports the sheet rock  6  while the installer secures the other end of the sheet rock. This allows the installer to install sheet rock without the assistance of a second installer who is usually required to support one end of the sheet rock against the ceiling while the first installer places fasteners through the sheet rock to secure it.  
         [0026]      FIG. 2  is a top view of the end clip  1  showing a hole  1 D, top leaf  1 A and a bottom leaf  1 B. The hole  1 D placed through the top leaf is used to allow a nail  2  as shown in  FIG. 1  to hold the clip to an overhead beam. The lower leaf  1 B has an end  1 E which may be tapered to aid in allowing the sheet rock to slide past it. The upper leaf  1 A has an end  1 I which is typically tapered for the same reason. The sheet rock  6  slides into the space between the upper leaf  1 A and the lower leaf  1 B of clip  1 . The end  1 I also has a spike  1 F on its upper surface to grip the beam and prevent clip  1  from rotating while the sheet rock is being slid into the clip.  
         [0027]      FIG. 3  is a side view of the clip  1  showing the main elements of the clip  1 , including the upper leaf  1 A, the lower leaf  1 B, the connecting link  1 C which joins the upper and lower leafs and the spike  1 F on the upper surface of the upper leaf. The lower leaf contains two notches  1 G and  1 H which are used to assist in breaking away the bottom leaf of the clip after the installation of the sheet rock. Notch  1 H can be seen in this view.  
         [0028]      FIG. 4  shows a bottom view of the clip  1 . In this view, the lower leaf  1 B is clearly evident as are both notches  1 G and  1 H which are located on the lower leaf at the point where it joins the connecting link  1 C. A hole  1 J is optionally placed in the lower leaf  1 B below the hole  1 D in the upper leaf to assist in installing a fastener such as a nail or a screw through the hole  1 D. The hole  1 J provides access to the fastener to drive it into the beam.  
         [0029]     In using the clip  1 , it is first installed by placing a fastener through the hole  1 D into an overhead beam as shown in  FIG. 1 . A spike  1 F on the upper surface of the upper leaf is forced into the overhead beam  3  to prevent the clip from rotating about the connector  2 . The first panel of sheet rock  6  is slid in between the upper and lower leafs. Once the sheet rock  6  has been slid into place in the clip between the upper and lower leafs, the end of the sheet rock away from the clip  1  is attached to the ceiling beams by the installer with as many additional fasteners necessary to securely hold the sheet rock  6  to these beams. The lower leaf of the clip  1  is then bent down by hand and snapped off, leaving only the connection link  1 C extending downward in the seam of the sheet rock. When the sheet rock is spackled and covered with tape, the connecting link  1 C will be covered and will not be visible.  
         [0030]     When the above procedure is followed using the present invention, there is no need to retrieve the clip, which was necessary in prior art systems, and often resulted in damaging the sheet rock as well as causing the expenditure of unreasonable amounts of the installer&#39;s time. The clips of the present invention are usually made of a steel that is less than a sixteenth inch thick, making it possible for them to be broken away and disposed of without concern for the cost of the clips. This is a significant improvement over prior art clips which are costly to purchase and time consuming to use because they must be installed and then retrieved. The time and expense of these extra steps in the prior art far exceeds that required for the low cost “throw away” clips of the present invention.  
         [0031]      FIG. 5  is a side view of a beam  10  with the second dry wall sheet  8  secured to the beam and a middle clip  7  resting on the second dry wall sheet in a position to accept and support a third dry wall sheet  11 . The second dry wall sheet is secured to the beam  10  by plurality of fastener. Middle clips  7  consist of three components, an upper leaf  7 A, a connecting link  7 C and a lower leaf  7 B. The upper leaf  7 A includes teeth along its edge  7 D to grip the sheet rock and remains in place while the third dry wall sheet  11  is pushed into to the clip  7  and rests on the lower leaf  7 B. The lower leaf  7 B has an end  7 E which may be tapered to aid in allowing the sheet rock  11  to slide past it.  
         [0032]      FIG. 6  is a top view of the middle clip  7  shown in  FIG. 5  illustrating the break away notches  7 F and  7 G located on the lower leaf adjacent to the connecting link  7 C. After the third sheet rock  11  has been pushed on to the lower leaf and secured in place to the ceiling beams, the lower leaf  7 B is peeled off from the sheet rock and bent to break at the junction where the notches  7 F and  7 G are located adjacent to the connecting link  7 C. The remaining portion of the clip  7