Abstract:
A seismic brace having a brace arm for fastening to a support rod on one end and a structural portion of a building, on the other end, is attachable to the support rod without disconnecting it by a base bracket hinged to the brace arm and a locking bracket hinged to the brace arm or the base bracket to overlay the base bracket. Both the base bracket and locking bracket have a slot extending from an edge towards the middle with one slot offset form the other by ninety degrees (90°).

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     Today&#39;s commercial buildings use hangers suspended by rods from the underside of the floor above to run pipes, electrical cables, HVAC duets, communication lines, etc. A seismic brace is used in buildings to prevent adverse sway or movement in the event of an earthquake. Those braces keep the various independent elements of such suspended items within a building intact during an earthquake. Without seismic brackets, the independent elements, like pipe hangers, for example, will move independently. This independent movement can result in the pipes suspended in these hangers to break away from their installed positions causing damage or at least inoperable conditions. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Various different types of seismic braces are in current use, each having multiple parts or requiring various degrees of effort and time to install. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,065,218 shows a one piece seismic brace having a first channel iron that connects to a building element hinged to a second channel iron which attaches to the item supported. This brace takes considerable time to install because the fastener of the supported element must be completely undone to attach this brace. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,188,317 shows a brace for a hanger for pipes, electrical cables or the like. The hanger is suspended from a series of rods attached to the overhead floor. This brace uses a separate detached interlock element so that the brace may be attached to the rod without completely removing a hanger from its supporting rod. The interlock element must mate with the rod connecting end in a precise manner to function correctly. Incorrect use of the detached interlock piece, use of an incorrectly sized interlock piece, or simply not using it, will result in insufficient restraint or the brace coming loose during earthquake induced movement. 
     None of the prior art seismic braces achieve or fulfills the purpose of the present invention in providing a one piece seismic connector with an integral, built-in interlock construction that does not require disconnecting the hanger from its support rod to attach the connector end to the rod. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a one piece bracket used to construct a brace assembly which is applied to a hanging support system for utility and service lines to prevent or eliminate the oscillations that develop in such hanging systems when subjected to earthquakes or various types of natural or man-made vibrations. A brace arm is attached to a base bracket by a hinge. A locking bracket is hinged to the base bracket at either end of the base bracket. The base bracket and locking bracket are slotted in different directions to capture vertical support rods. The slots are open ended, and oppose each other at a right angle. When the two brackets overlap they capture the vertical support rod. The one piece brace of the present invention attaches to an already installed system without disassembly of the hanger. Due to the unitized construction of the bracket, issues regarding ease of assembly, inability to lose a detached piece and correct connection of the brace to the rod, are answered. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Further aspects of the invention will be apparent when the description and claims set forth below are considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like-reference numerals depict like part throughout the drawings; and 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a one piece seismic brace of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the one piece seismic brace; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of the one piece seismic brace of the present invention; 
     FIG. 4 is a partial sectional view of the one piece seismic brace of FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the one piece seismic brace of FIG. 3; and 
     FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the element in FIG.  2 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The following description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the invention and sets forth the best modes, contemplated by the inventor, for carrying out his invention. 
     The particular invention is intended for use with suspended utility systems, including, but not limited to, individual pipes and conduit, pipe racks and conduit racks, cable trays, bus ducts, HVAC ducts, mechanical equipment, fans and ceiling grids and is specifically intended to provide seismic restraint of these systems. 
     As shown in FIG. 1, a seismic brace  17  according to the present invention has a force transmitting member brace arm  30  attached by hinge  13  to base bracket  31  which is attached to locking bracket  32  by hinge  15 . The hinge  13  enables the brace arm  30  to sit at a range of angles with respect to the plane containing the base bracket  31 . Thus, the brace  17  is not restricted to one particular angle per connector. The hinge  15  secures the locking bracket  32  to the attachment member  base bracket  31 ensuring that all parts of the brace  17  are present during installation. The base bracket  31  supports two rectangular configured flexable member  flexible members, which are preferably hinge loops  13 ,  15  or the like. Once the hinge loops  13 ,  15  are extended through the  slots  14 ,  16 , they are bent in a circular manner continuing until their edges are located away from the slots and nearly abut the surface or are welded to the surface of the base bracket  31 . Rod receiving slots  33 ,  37  on both the base brackets   31  and the locking bracket  32  are cut or punched out with at least a width sufficient to receive a rod  55  therein. The brace arm  30  has generally rectangular configuration having a substantially continuous planar surface  34   with at least a pair of holes  19 ,  21  for attaching the brace  17  to a channel member  41 . (FIG.  2 ). The holes  19 ,  21  are equally spaced in the longitudinal direction between the corresponding distal edges  39 ,  43  of the brace arm and are centered in a lateral and transverse direction. 
     In FIG. 2, the brace  17  is shown completely installed, attached to a rod or bolt  55  which connects the brace  17  to the upper part of a hanger member  56 . The upper part  57  of the hanger member  56  at the outer end of the upper part  57  is securely fastened to a lower part  59  of the hanger member  56  at an outer end of the upper pad  57  by a nut  61  and a cross bolt  63 . The bracket  brace arm  30  of the brace  17  extends upward in order to attach the brace  17  to the channel  41 . The brace  17  is fastened to the interconnecting channel  41  by a pair of nut and bolt combinations  45 , whereby each of the bolts is passed through each of the holes  19 ,  21  of the arm bracket  brace arm  30  to be received by similar pair of holes in the channel  41  or as depicted in FIG. 6, by channel nuts  64  within the open throat  66  of the channel  41 . Each of the bolts is secured by nuts which are tightened to secure the one end of the brace  17  to the channel  41 . Each of the bolts is secured by nuts which are tightened to secure their one end of the brace  17  to the channel  41 . 
     On the other end of the brace  17 , the base bracket  31  with its connector slot  33  is slot underneath a loosened nut  65  adjacent to the support rod  55  until the distal end  34  of slot abuts the rod  55 . Once orientated  oriented the locking bracket  32  folds to overlap the base bracket  31 . In this position, the distal end  38  of slot  37  in locking bracket  32  abuts the support rod  55  thereby securing the rod  55 . The nut  65  is then tightened to further secure the support rod  55  in place. 
     As shown in FIG. 3, an alternative embodiment of a brace  71  according to the present invention has a single flexible member, preferably a hinge  73  or the like, that connects the bracket  brace arm  79  to the base bracket  77  and the locking bracket  75 . The hinge  73  enables the bracket  brace arm  79  to sit at a range of angels with respect to the plane containing the base bracket  77 . Thus, the brace  71  is not restricted to one particular angle per connector. The hinge  73  connects the locking bracket  75  to the base bracket  77  ensuring that the brace  71 is effectively one piece. The bracketbrace arm  79  has one rectangular configured hinge forming member  73 . Once the hinge forming member  73  is extended through the slot  81  of the base bracket  77  and the slot  80  of the locking bracket  77   75 and the bracketbrace arm  79 , respectively, are cut or punched each with at least a width sufficient to receive the hinge  73  therein. The bracket  brace arm  79 , has a rectangular configuration having a substantially continuous planar surface  87  with a pair of holes  67 ,  69  for attaching the brace  71  to a channel member  49  (FIG.  5 ). The pair of holes  67 ,  69  are equally spaced in the longitudinal direction between the corresponding distal edges  89 ,  91  of the force transmitting member and centered in a lateral and transverse direction. 
     As shown in FIG. 5, the brace  71  is attached to a rod or bolt  93  which connects the brace  71  to the upper member  95  of the hanger  94 . The upper member  95  is securely fastened to the lower member  97  at an outer end of the upper member  95  by a nut  101  and a cross bolt  99 . The bracket  brace arm  79  of the brace  71  extends upward in order-to  order to attach to a tubular member  49  of metal or plastic. The brace  71  is alternatively fastened to the interconnecting tubular member  49  using a U-bolt  47  connection. In order to use the U-bolt  47 , the brace  71  has a second pair of alternatively positioned holes  51 ,  53  (FIG.  3 ). On the other end of the brace  71 , the base bracket  77  with its connector slot  83 , is attached by sliding it underneath a loosened nut  103  adjacent to the rod  93  until the distal end  102  of slot  83  abuts the rod  93 . Once orientated  oriented the locking bracket  79  folds over the overlap the base bracket  77 . Subsequently, the distal end  104  of connector slot  85  abuts the rod  93  causing the locking bracket  75  to secure the rod  93 . The locking bracket  75 , positioned between the base bracket  77  and nut  103 , further secures the rod  93  when the nut  103  is sufficiently tightened. The distal end of the locking bracket  75  may be bent at a right angle to the locking bracket  75  to form a clasp  105  to insure against even the slightest rotational movement of the locking bracket  75  with respect to the base bracket  77 . 
     Having illustrated and described a preferred embodiment as well as variants of this invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that further changes and modifications may become apparent. Such changes and modifications are not to affect this instant concept and are to be considered within the scope of this invention.