Patent Publication Number: US-6334287-B1

Title: Wall hinge

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to the construction of wood framed buildings or buildings in which prefabricated walls are set upon a subfloor and rotated to a vertical position. This improved device is an inexpensive and safe aid to properly locating the wall and accurately raising it into position. 
     In the construction of wood framed buildings it is known that metal brackets can aid in securing one member to another and increasing the strength of the structure and speed of assembly. It is also well known that walls of such a structure can be more efficiently fabricated when lying flat and then raised into position. However, the construction industry has wrestled with the instability of the prefabricated wooden stud walls while they are raised into position. The horizontal stringer, sole plate, on the bottom of the stud wall tends to slip or slide when the top of the stud wall is raised so that blocks have to be nailed to the subfloor to hold it, see Reynolds U.S. Pat. No. 5,833,430, or at least one worker must hold the bottom horizontal stringer, sole plate, in position. Blocks, such as suggested in Reynolds, pose a safety hazard to workmen traversing the subfloor so they cannot be set in place in advance. This problem also exists in the hinge and shelf system disclosed in Roelofsz U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,944 and Stevens U.S. Pat. No. 3,328,859. 
     The modular construction industry utilized two leg flat single plate hinges and flexible hinge bands for reducing the dimensions of a modular building&#39;s roof, see Danford U.S. Pat. No. 4,179,857 and Kaveckis U.S. Pat. No. 4,976,075, but the units still had to be realigned when set into final position. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a device which is inexpensive to manufacture, easy to use in wood frame construction and able to be pre-positioned and the wooden stud wall fabricated in place at the job site and method to utilize it. This invention satisfies these objectives in that it is made from a single sheet of metal and can be stamped or cut out thereof by any standard means, boxed, shipped and stored so as to minimize space requirements. On the construction site, the invention can be prepositioned on the subfloor. When the wooden stud wall is ready to be fabricated, the horizontal stringer, sole plate, at the bottom of the wooden stud wall can be nailed to the two outer legs and the wooden stud wall constructed flat on the subfloor and then raised to the vertical and the invention is left in place. Of course, the wooden stud wall can be fabricated at another location and then brought to and nailed to the two outer legs before being raised to vertical. 
     The preferred embodiment of the device, Wall Hinge, is comprised of a flat metal plate having a bottom plate, three legs cut from one side, with the wider outer legs&#39; inside edges being tapered, i.e. wider at the end farthest from the bottom plate, while the sides of the center leg remain parallel and perpendicular to the bottom plate. The bottom plate has round holes therein to accommodate nails and the legs each have elongated holes to accommodate nails therein, and the outer legs have at least one round hole near the end away from the bottom plate to accommodate a nail therein, so that the Wall Hinge can be placed upon the subfloor of a wood framed home under construction in juxtaposition that the snapped chalk line to set the location of the stud wall on the sub floor transects the point of joinder of the legs to the bottom plate, and the bottom plate and center leg nailed to the subfloor while the outer legs are perpendicular thereto and nailed to the underside of the horizontal stringer, sole plate, at the bottom of the wooden stud wall. 
     The novel features of the invention and method for its use will be best understood from the following description in light of the accompanying drawings. While particular embodiments of the present invention are shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from this invention in its broader aspects and, therefore, the aim of the appended claims is to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the Wall Hinge; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a stack of wall hinges; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the Wall Hinge located on a subfloor along a chalk line; 
     FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of the Wall Hinge joined to the underside of the horizontal stringer, sole plate, at the bottom of the wooden stud wall before raising; 
     FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of the wall hinge and the wooden stud wall in its vertical position; 
     FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a stack of alternatively configured wall hinges. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     With specific reference to FIG.  1  and FIG. 2, the Wall Hinge ( 1 ) is shown in its position as manufactured, stacked ( 16 ), shipped, stored and installed prior to attachment to a wooden stud wall ( 12 ), being comprised of flat metal plate, such as 18 Gauge Galvanized Sheet Metal, having been stamped or cut out in a square or rectangular over all shape, five inches wide along the bottom plate ( 3 ) and four inches long with the legs three inches long for accommodating 2×4 and 2×6 construction lumber, and having a bottom plate ( 3 ), five inches by one inch for accommodating 2×4 and 2×6 construction lumber, and three legs, of equal length, extending from one side of the bottom plate ( 3 ) and formed by two tapered slots ( 6 ), wiser at the end opposite the bottom plate ( 3 ) so as to avoid impingement upon the center leg ( 7 ) should there be any twisting when the wooden stud wall ( 12 ) is raised, cut in the flat metal plate, the center leg ( 7 ) having sides adjacent to the tapered slots ( 6 ) being parallel and perpendicular to the bottom plate ( 3 ) and communicating undeterred with the bottom plate ( 3 ) while the point of joinder ( 5 ) of the outer legs ( 4 ) to the bottom plate ( 3 ) being weakened and the outer legs ( 4 ) being bent ninety degrees to the bottom plate ( 3 ) during manufacture and the bottom plate equipped with round holes ( 9 ) to accommodate nails ( 17 ) and all three legs being provided with elongated nail holes ( 8 ) to accommodate nails ( 17 ), while the outer legs ( 4 ) are provided with at least one round nail hole ( 9 ) near the end farthest from the bottom plate ( 3 ) to minimize twisting, said round nail holes ( 9 ) in the outer legs ( 4 ) located ¾ inch from the end thereof to accommodate 2×4 and 2×6 construction lumber. 
     With reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the Wall Hinge ( 1 ) is shown with the bottom plate ( 3 ) and center leg ( 7 ) fastened to the subfloor ( 10 ) oriented along a chalk snap line ( 11 ) so said chalk snap line ( 11 ) transects the Wall Hinge ( 1 ) at the point of joinder ( 5 ) of the outer legs ( 4 ) to the bottom plate ( 3 ) and the outer legs ( 4 ) having been bent up ninety degrees to vertical in relation to the bottom plate ( 3 ) at the time of manufacture and said outer legs ( 4 ) having been nailed ( 17 ) to the underside ( 13 ) of the horizontal stringer ( 14 ), which is referred to as a sole plate in the construction industry, at the bottom ( 19 ) of a wooden stud wall ( 12 ) comprised of a horizontal stringer ( 14 ) on the top ( 18 ) of the wooden stud wall and on the bottom ( 19 ) of the wooden stud wall and one or more vertical studs ( 15 ) communicating there between. 
     FIG. 5 shows the wooden stud wall ( 12 ) in its vertical position, resting on the center leg ( 7 ) and the two outer legs ( 4 ), still properly aligned to the chalk snap line ( 11 ) and securely nailed ( 17 ) through the center leg ( 7 ) and the bottom plate ( 3 ) to the subfloor ( 10 ). 
     With reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, the Wall Hinge provides an improved method of aligning and anchoring a wooden stud wall ( 12 ), having a horizontal stringer ( 14 ) at the top ( 18 ) and the bottom ( 19 ) and two or more vertical studs ( 15 ) communicating there between and said horizontal stringer ( 14 ), sole plate, at the bottom ( 19 ) having an underside ( 13 ), by scribing the intended location of the wooden stud wall ( 12 ) on a subfloor ( 10 ) by a chalk snap line ( 11 ); positioning one or more Wall Hinges ( 1 ) so that the point of joinder ( 5 ) of the outer legs ( 4 ) to the bottom plate ( 3 ) lay on the chalk snap line ( 11 ) and nailing ( 17 ) the bottom plate ( 3 ) and center leg ( 7 ) to the subfloor ( 10 ) thereat; attaching the wooden stud wall ( 12 ) to the subfloor ( 10 ) by nailing the outer legs ( 4 ) to the underside ( 13 ) of the horizontal stringer ( 14 ), sole plate, at the bottom ( 19 ) of a prefabricated wooden stud wall ( 12 ) or fabricating the wooden stud wall ( 12 ) horizontally on the subfloor ( 10 ), while said horizontal stringer ( 14 ), sole plate, is laying on the bottom plate ( 3 ); and raising the horizontal stringer ( 14 ) at the top ( 18 ) of the wooden stud wall ( 12 ), thus rotating the horizontal stringer ( 14 ), sole plate, at the bottom ( 19 ) of the wooden stud wall ( 12 ) around the wall hinge ( 1 ) and bending the outer legs ( 4 ) into a flat position in relation to the center leg ( 7 ), bottom plate ( 3 ) and subfloor ( 10 ). 
     FIG. 6 discloses an alternative method of construction of the wall hinge ( 1 ) wherein it is made in a flat configuration with the outer legs ( 4 ) having been weakened by striation or indentation at the point of joinder ( 5 ) to the bottom plate ( 3 ), so that the wall hinges ( 1 ) can be packaged, shipped and installed flat on the subfloor ( 10 ) and the outer legs ( 4 ) are not bent up, perpendicular to the bottom plate ( 3 ) and subfloor ( 10 ), until immediately prior to attachment to the underside ( 13 ) of the horizontal stringer ( 14 ), sole plate, at the bottom ( 19 ) of the wooden stud wall ( 12 ). 
     Accordingly, it is understood that within the scope of the claims appended hereto, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically disclosed herein.