Abstract:
A lintel support brace having a top portion, an opposing bottom portion adjustably coupled to the top portion, and a support arm coupled to the bottom portion, wherein the top portion and the bottom portion are configured to be attached to an adjoining header.

Description:
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/206,884, filed May 24, 2000, titled “Lintel Support Brace and Method of Using Same.” 
    
    
     BACKGROUND ART 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to lintels used in the construction industry to support masonry units. In particular, the present invention relates to repair of deflected lintels and installation of lintels that resist deflection. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Lintels support masonry over a door or window. They are typically made from 4″×4″×{fraction ( 3 / 8 )}″ angle iron, and can be up to twenty feet or more in length. Normally, each lintel is supported only by stands of masonry on either end of the lintel. However, with the rapid increase in construction in the United States, it has become the practice of some contractors to install 4″×4″×{fraction ( 1 / 4 )}″ or similar smaller-size masonry lintels with lag screws to adjoining headers, also referred to as beams or girders, over doors and windows. This practice may include supporting the lintel with posts during installation and while the masonry dries. When used in this fashion, the lintel and the lag bolts are subjected to fatigue stress and strain from thermal expansion due to temperature changes and the load of the carried masonry. Over time, the lintel deflects, or sags, and rotates, resulting in damage to the supporting veneer and an unsafe positioning of the masonry load, which must be repaired. These repairs are time consuming, labor intensive, and costly. These repairs can take up to three days to complete. 
     Common methods for repairing damaged lintels include: (a) having the owner continuously repair the masonry by pointing; or (b) removing the masonry and the damaged lintel, replacing the damaged lintel with a stiffer lintel, and replacing the masonry. Removal of the masonry usually results in irreparable damage to some or all of the masonry, such that the removed masonry must be replaced with new masonry. In such cases, the owner usually finds that it is very difficult to match the old masonry. Further, the irreparable masonry must be discarded in land fills, which adds additional cost to the repair project. 
     Typically, a failed lintel, or a lintel of inadequate strength, sags or deflects downward at the mid-section. Also, the exterior edge of the lintel may also rotate in a direction downward and away from the header. The 1997 Uniform Building Code, and the proposed International Building Code 2000, indicate that the limit of deflection for masonry is limited to L/600 or ⅜″, whichever is more critical. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     There is a need for a lintel support brace for use in repairing damaged or sagging lintels, or that can be used as part of an original lintel installation. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a lintel support brace that can be used to repair damaged or sagging lintels and that can also be used as part of an original lintel installation. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of installing or repairing a lintel by providing a lintel support brace that transfers some or all of the load of the carried masonry to the header. 
     The above objects are achieved by providing a lintel support brace having a top portion, an opposing bottom portion adjustably coupled to the top portion, and a support arm coupled to the bottom portion, wherein the top portion and the bottom portion are configured to be attached to an adjoining header. 
     The present invention has significant advantages, including: (1) the removal and disposal of damaged masonry is not necessary, thereby preserving the aesthetic nature of the masonry and avoiding the time and expense associated with matching new masonry to the old masonry; (2) structural support for existing lintels is increased, thereby increasing the factor of safety against recurring damage; (3) the time and expense of repair projects is greatly reduced, for example, from 3 days to one half of one day; (4) the level of expertise required to perform the repair project is reduced, such that homeowners equipped with basic tools can perform the repair project; and (5) the present invention allows for normal thermal expansion of the masonry lintel, thereby preventing fatigue failure and residual stress due to boundary restraint conditions. In addition, by installing a plurality of lintel support braces according to the present invention, the span of the deflected beam is reduced and deflection is improved significantly. The placement of two lintel support braces reduces deflection significantly under the same loading conditions. Furthermore, the lintel support brace provides an additional factor of safety in deflection, provided the header has sufficient capacity to support the additional loading. 
     These objects and advantages, as well as others, will be evident from the following detailed description of the present invention. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the lintel support brace according to the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the lintel support brace according to the present invention shown with an additional support member. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to FIG. 1 in the drawings, the preferred embodiment of a lintel support brace  11  according to the present invention is illustrated. Lintel support brace  11  includes a top portion  13  and a bottom portion  15  that is adjustably coupled to top portion  13 . Top portion  13  and bottom portion  15  are adjustably coupled by at least one adjusting means  16 , preferably a bolt  17  and a nut  19 . Adjusting means  16  may also be a lever arrangement, dial, or any other conventional device for adjustably bringing top portion  13  and bottom portion  15  together in a generally vertical fashion. 
     Top portion  13  is preferably channel shaped and includes parallel tabs  21   a  and  21   b . Top portion  13  is preferably made from ⅜″ channel iron. Tabs  21   a  and  21   b  extend downwardly and are spaced to fit on either side of a conventional header  23 . Header  23  is typically made from two 2″×12″ pieces of lumber, but lintel brace  11  may be used with headers of different types of material and construction. Bottom portion  15  is also preferably channel shaped and includes two parallel tabs  25   a  and  25   b . Bottom portion  15  is preferably made from ⅜″ channel iron. Tabs  25   a  and  25   b  extend upwardly and are spaced to fit on either side of header  23 . Thus, tabs  21   a  and  21   b  of top portion  13  and tabs  25   a  and  25   b  of bottom portion  15  are aligned when lintel support brace  11  is assembled. Bottom portion  15  includes a support arm  27  that extends perpendicularly outward from tab  25   a  and header  23  to support a lintel  31 . 
     A guide block  18   a  is coupled to top portion  13 , and a similar guide block  18   b  is coupled to bottom portion  15 . Guide members  18   a  and  18   b  facilitate the alignment of top portion  13  and bottom portion  15 , and may facilitate in the adjustment of adjusting means  16 . In the preferred embodiment, top portion  13  and bottom portion  15  are aligned by passing bolts  17  through apertures  20   a  in guide member  18   a  and apertures  20   b  in guide member  18   b.    
     In a repair or preventative maintenance application, lintel  31  is an existing lintel. In a new installation application, lintel  31  is adapted to be supported by lintel support brace  11  and header  23 . In the preferred embodiment, support arm  27  carries a shim  29  disposed between support arm  27  and lintel  31 . Shim  29  is preferably secured to support arm  27 , but not to lintel  31  to ensure that lintel  31  is able to “float” as needed due to thermal expansion and contraction. Proper floating of the lintel is undermined by bolting the lintel to the header, as is being done in the industry today. 
     Use of the present invention on an existing lintel, either to repair a damaged or sagging lintel, or as preventative maintenance, will now be discussed. The first step in the installation process of the present invention is to remove all or part of any existing door frame and molding (not shown) to expose either all or small sections of the top and bottom of header  23 . Adjusting means  16  is then adjusted such that top portion  13  and bottom portion  15  may be separated from each other enough to allow clearance of tabs  21   a ,  21   b ,  25   a , and  25   b  over and under header  23 . In the preferred embodiment, this is done by loosening bolt  17  and nut  19 . Top portion  13  is fitted over header  23 , such that tabs  21   a  and  21   b  are on either side of header  23 . Bottom portion  15  is fitted onto the bottom of header  23 , such that tabs  25   a  and  25   b  are on either side of header  23 . Lintel support brace  11  is installed such that support arm  27  extends out from header and beneath existing lintel  31 . It may be necessary to dispose a second shim  33  between bottom portion  15  and header  23  to obtain the necessary vertical alignment of support arm  27  relative to existing lintel  31 . 
     Once top portion  13  and bottom portion  15  are aligned over and under header  23 , adjusting means  16  is adjusted such that header  23  is compressed between top portion  13  and bottom portion  15 . In the preferred embodiment, this is done by tightening bolts  17  and nuts  19 . In this manner, the load of lintel  31  will be transferred to header  23  in torque via lintel support brace  11 . A plurality of lintel support braces  11 , in an appropriate spaced relation, may be installed to support a single existing lintel  31 . 
     Lintel support brace  11  will securely clamp to headers  23  of varying configurations. For example, header  23  may be of beam-composite, beam-glue laminated, or truss construction. When bolt  17  and nut  19  are tightened, damaged, sagging, or rotated lintels are raised and rotated back into a proper position. It should be understood that the installer may shore and lift the existing lintel with separate conventional means (not shown) to reduce the required torque force on adjusting means  16 , and uniformly torque each lintel support brace  11 . By using the method described above, existing lintel  31  may be repaired or the vertical position of existing lintel  31  may be raised or maintained without removing or destroying any of the existing masonry. The above procedure does not require any particular expertise. The average homeowner can perform the project with only basic tools. 
     In a new construction application, the above procedure is performed prior to installation of the masonry and any door frame or molding. Lintel support brace  11  is installed in the same manner described above. In this manner, lintel support braces  11  can be used to provide supplemental support in cases where properly sized lintels are not commercially available, or where geometrical shapes and transitions need additional support to limit deflection. 
     Lintel support brace  11  may include an epoxy coating to prevent damage to header  23  or other components. In addition, it should be understood that if the masonry load carried by lintel support braces  31  and header  23  are excessive, it may be necessary to provide additional support members  41  (see FIG. 2) at the ends of header  23  to prevent undesirable rotation of header  23 . For example, triangular sheets of plywood attached to the interior side walls of a garage and strapped to header  23  will provide sufficient support to prevent header  23  from rotating outward under the masonry load. 
     A further benefit is that this methodology allows for the normal thermal expansion of the masonry lintel, thus preventing residual stress due to boundary restraint conditions. 
     Experimental tests have been performed on a sample lintel support brace  31 . These tests indicate that lintel support braces  31  can support the typical full load capacity of header  23  without deflection or bending. The tests indicated that two lintel support braces can carry up to about 9,000 pounds before the header failed in torsion. The dimensions of lintel support brace  31  may be increased depending upon the application in which lintel support brace  31  is used. It should be understood that increasing the dimensions of lintel support brace  31  will result in an increase in the loads in which lintel support brace  31  may carry before failure. Because there is a possibility of conflict with hardware associated with overhead garage doors and openers, it is preferred that an even number of evenly spaced lintel support braces are most effective in supporting the masonry loads. 
     Although the present invention is shown in a limited number of forms, it is not limited to just these forms, but is amenable to various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof.