Patent Description:
Drywall structures are known as means to fabricate a wall during building construction. Installation of drywall structures produces wall- or ceiling surfaces more quickly than traditional lath and plaster. As used herein, the term drywall structure includes sheets, panels or boards in the form of plasterboard, wallboard, sheet rock, buster board, custard board, as well as, boarding or panels formed from gyprock or gypsum.

Drywall structures are typically installed by fixing the drywall structure to a surface, e.g. a metal surface of a support frame, using appropriate fasteners, such as, for example, screws or fixings. Here, each fastener is driven from the outer surface of the drywall structure through and into the metal surface of the support frame (or any other support surface). To ensure efficiency, as well as, integrity of the finished wall, a drywall structure normally extends over the entire height of a room (i.e. between the floor and the ceiling), and a series of drywall panels are lined up to cover the entire wall or ceiling surface.

Earlier patent application <CIT> describes a magnetic dowel designed for hanging iron objects on "Wedi" panels, and an online video available at https://www. com/watch?v=NNJ6RHRRFMs shows how to install drywall to an "InSoFast" panel.

Typically, during installation of the drywall structures, a panel is held in a fixing position to the support surface by at least one first installer, while a second installer drives the fasteners into the panels and support surface. In particular, when the drywall structure forms a wall, panels have to be positioned and held vertically and slightly spaced above the floor of the room by one or more installers, wherein, when the drywall structure forms a ceiling, panels have to be positioned and held horizontally overhead by one or more installers.

Also, drywall panels can be relatively large and cumbersome, so handling the drywall structures can be difficult to coordinate. For example, when a drywall panel is held in a fixing position by a first installer, at least one second installer is required to drive a requisite number of fasteners through the panel and into the support surface (e.g. metal strut or metal frame). Further, holding a large panel in steady a precise position can be tiring and unsafe, because the installer holding the panel may fatigue and the panel may fall over.

Consequently, with currently know methods and tools, it is difficult to ensure accurate positioning, because each drywall panel (of many) is typically held manually by an installer to then be manoeuvred into the correct fixing position. Further, the installation process requires continuous coordinating between the at least two installers, thus, making the installation laborious and time consuming.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus, as well as, a method for enabling installation of drywall structures in a convenient and safe manner. In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide both, an apparatus and a method that can be utilised by single installer to install drywall structures safely and more efficiently.

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus, as well as, a method that provides for an improved accuracy when positioning and fixing drywall panels on a surface.

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a self-drilling support mount for a drywall structure according to claim <NUM>, comprising:.

Preferably, said at least one magnetic attachment member may be provided at an outer surface of said flanged head portion.

This provides the advantage that drywall panels can be easily equipped with an interim support mount allowing a single installer to simply drive the support mounts into the drywall panel at suitable locations, to then simply attach (via the magnets) the drywall panel to a metal frame structure and slidably move the panel into the correct fixing position on the metal frame structure without the need of any help from at least one second installer. Thus, the drywall panel can be installed quicker and more accurately, with a reduced risk of the drywall panel accidentally falling down during installation.

Suitably, said magnetic attachment member may be embeddingly coupled to said flanged head portion, so as to be flush with said outer surface of said flanged head portion.

This provides the advantage of a relatively inconspicuous interim support mount when secured to the drywall structure, so that the panel can be fixed to the metal frame the same way as it would be possible without a support mount secured to the drywall panel, i.e. without causing any gapping between the drywall panel and the support structure.

Suitably, said magnetic attachment member may be replaceably mounted to said flanged head portion.

In this way, the fastener may be conveniently and cost effectively repaired should the magnetic attachment member become damaged or lost.

Advantageously, said outer surface of said flanged head portion may include an axial recess forming an inset drive screw socket configured for screwing the self-drilling support mount onto said drywall structure. Suitably, said magnetic attachment member may be arranged coaxial with said axial recess.

This provides the advantage that standard magnetic attachment members can be utilised with (i.e. attached to) the support mount without interfering with the provided screw socket. For example, different style screw sockets may be used when manufacturing the support mount, but the same magnetic attachment member can be used.

Alternatively, said magnetic attachment member may be a separate washer configured to be operably coupled with said substantially cylindrical body of said support mount. This provides the advantage of using a simple washer construction that can be coupled with the support mount so as to provide a magnetic field strong enough the attach the support mount and drywall structure to the metal surface. In use, the magnetic attachment member is "wedged in" between the flanged head portion and the drywall surface, wherein, the flanged head portion and magnetic washer are preferably embedded (i.e. "sunk") into the drywall so as to provide the outer surface of the flanged head portion flush with the outer surface of the drywall , when installed.

Advantageously, said anchor portion may be configured to be rotatably driven into the drywall structure so as to stoppingly engage said flanged head portion with the drywall structure.

This provides the advantage that the fastener can only be rotatably driven into the drywall structure to a predetermined depth, thus, preventing possible damage to the drywall by fasteners going in too deep or through the drywall. A suitably dimensioned support mount may therefore be selected according to the thickness of the drywall structure with which it will be used, so that the anchor portion can be driven fully into the drywall structure without protruding through to the opposing surface.

According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of fixing a drywall structure to a metal structure according to claim <NUM>, including the steps of:.

Embodiments of the invention are now described, by way of example only, hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:.

In the drawings, like reference numerals refer to like parts.

Certain terminology is used in the following description for convenience only and is not limiting. The words 'upper', and 'downward' designate directions in the drawings to which reference is made and are with respect to the described component. The words 'inner', 'inwardly' and 'outer', 'outwardly' refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, a designated centreline or a geometric centre of an element being described (e.g. central axis), the particular meaning being readily apparent from the context of the description.

Further, as used herein, the terms 'fixed', 'attached', 'coupled', 'engaged' are intended to include direct connections between two members without any other members interposed therebetween, as well as, indirect connections between members in which one or more other members are interposed therebetween.

Further, unless otherwise specified, the use of ordinal adjectives, such as, 'first', 'second', etc. merely indicate that different instances of like objects are being referred to and are not intended to imply that the objects so described must be in a given sequence, either temporally, spatially, in ranking or in any other manner.

Also, the terms 'panel', 'sheet' and 'structure' are used interchangeably for the drywall structure.

Referring now to <FIG>, a support mount <NUM> for a drywall structure has a substantially cylindrical body including a flanged head portion <NUM> at a proximal end (proximal relative to the user when installing the fastener), and an anchor portion <NUM> extending away from the flanged head portion <NUM> towards a distal end. The anchor portion <NUM> extends in the direction along a longitudinal axis <NUM> and is provided with an external thread <NUM>. The flanged head portion <NUM> includes a magnetic attachment member <NUM> provided at the head portion <NUM> so as to be flush with an outer surface and operably face away from the distal end. The magnetic attachment member <NUM> is adapted to slidably movably attach to any suitable metal structure when fastened to the drywall structure, i.e. the magnetic force is sufficient to hold (in combination with the other magnetic attachment members <NUM> from other mounts <NUM>) the drywall panel securely attached to the metal support frame while allowing the installer to shift (or slide) the drywall panel on the metal surface.

The anchor portion <NUM> includes a cylindrical outer surface onto which is provided the external thread <NUM>. The external thread <NUM> extends from the flanged head portion <NUM> to the distal end of the anchor portion <NUM>. The outer thread <NUM> is configured to allow a user to rotatably drive the support mount <NUM> into a drywall structure.

The flanged head portion <NUM> includes an upper surface extending radially from the longitudinal axis <NUM>. An axial recess <NUM> is provided into the head portion <NUM>, extending in a direction towards the distal tip of the anchor portion <NUM>. In this particular example, the axial recess <NUM> is coaxially in line with the tubular body of the anchor portion <NUM>. At the base of the axial recess <NUM> there is formed a drive screw socket configured to receive a suitable screwdriver tool (not shown). This enables the user / installer to rotate the support mount <NUM> in order to drive the threaded anchor portion <NUM> into the drywall panel.

The magnetic attachment member <NUM> of the example shown in <FIG> is annular with an axial opening therethrough. The magnetic attachment member <NUM> is embedded into the flanged head portion <NUM> so that the magnetic attachment member's upper face sits flush with the upper surface of the flanged head portion <NUM>. The axial opening of the magnetic attachment member <NUM> is coaxial with the axial recess <NUM> and sized so that the inner wall of the axial opening forms an upper portion of the axial recess <NUM>.

The external thread <NUM> is provided as a wide blade coarse thread, so that the support mount <NUM> is self-drilling. In other words, the external thread <NUM> is configured so that, in use, the external thread <NUM> is able to excavate an orifice within a drywall structure <NUM> (see <FIG>) into which the anchor portion <NUM> is driven by a user. More particularly, the external thread <NUM> is configured in such a way that, with the distal end of the anchor portion <NUM> engaged with the surface of a drywall structure <NUM>, when a user rotates and applies downward pressure to the support mount <NUM>, then the external thread <NUM> punctures through the surface (e.g. <NUM>). Continued rotation and downward pressure by the user causes the outer thread <NUM> to simultaneously excavate an orifice in the drywall structure <NUM> and fasteningly drive the support mount <NUM> therein. The anchor portion <NUM> is then driven into the surface (e.g. <NUM>) until the flanged head portion <NUM> stoppingly engages with the outer surface (e.g. <NUM>) of the drywall structure <NUM>.

Referring now to <FIG>, there is shown a portion of the drywall structure <NUM> including a first and second support mount <NUM>, each one rotatably driven through a first surface <NUM> into the panel structure <NUM> in the manner described previously. Each support mount <NUM> is fixed with its longitudinal axis <NUM> substantially orthogonal to the first surface <NUM>. Furthermore, each support mount <NUM> is fixed so that the upper surface of the flanged head portion <NUM> is flush with the first surface <NUM> of the drywall structure <NUM>. Each magnetic attachment member <NUM> is thus positioned substantially flush and in parallel with the first surface <NUM>.

Preferably, the support mount <NUM> has an axial length that is less than the thickness of the drywall structure <NUM>. In this way, when the support mount <NUM> is fixed to the drywall structure <NUM>, the anchor portion <NUM> resides wholly within the body of the drywall structure <NUM> (see <FIG>, described below)and the distal tip does not protrude through the drywall structure <NUM>.

<FIG> show cross-sectional side views of the drywall structure <NUM> with two embedded support mounts <NUM> before and after attachment to a metal structure <NUM> (e.g. a metal frame). The metal structure <NUM> may be a part of a larger frame which forms a support for multiple drywall structures in order to fabricate the internal wall or ceiling of a building.

During use, the drywall structure <NUM> is simply positioned so that the first surface <NUM> and embedded support mounts <NUM> are facing the metal structure <NUM>. In this position, the drywall structure <NUM> is ready for magnetic attachment to the metal structure <NUM>. The drywall structure <NUM> may be positioned by an installer with only approximate alignment relative to a fixing position. The magnetic attachment members <NUM> of respective support mounts <NUM> are then brought into engagement with the metal structure <NUM> by the installer moving the drywall structure <NUM> in the general direction indicated by the arrow F. Each magnetic attachment member <NUM> engages the metal structure <NUM> so as to attach the drywall structure <NUM> to the metal structure <NUM>, as shown in <FIG>.

The attracting force to the metal structure <NUM> provided by of the magnetic attachment members <NUM> is sufficient to at least temporarily fix the drywall structure <NUM> to the metal structure <NUM>. That is, the drywall structure <NUM> is attached and held on the metal structure <NUM> by the support mounts <NUM> without additional support, for example, from an installer.

At this point, the installer will be able to slidably move the drywall structure <NUM> relative to the metal structure <NUM> without detachment from the metal structure <NUM>. The support mounts <NUM> remain engaged with the metal structure <NUM> as the drywall structure <NUM> is moved over the surface of the metal structure <NUM> into a desired fixing position.

<FIG> shows an example illustration of an installer <NUM> fixing a drywall structure <NUM>' to a metal structure <NUM>'. The drywall structure <NUM>' is shown aligned in the desired fixing position. The drywall structure <NUM>' is secured to the metal structure <NUM>' using suitable screw fasteners <NUM> inserted through said drywall structure <NUM>' and into the metal structure <NUM>'. The screw fasteners <NUM> may be any suitable fastener configured to screw through the drywall structure <NUM>' and into the metal frame structure <NUM>'. By securing the drywall structure <NUM>' to the metal structure <NUM>' the drywall structure is rendered immobile relative to the metal structure <NUM>'.

<FIG> shows a flow chart of an example method <NUM> suitable for fixing the drywall structure <NUM> to the metal structure <NUM>. The method <NUM> starts by providing <NUM> at least one (but preferably one or more for each corner of the drywall panel <NUM>) self-drilling interim support mount <NUM>, such as the support mount <NUM> described with reference to <FIG>. The anchor portion <NUM> of the support mount <NUM> is then rotatably driven <NUM> into the drywall structure <NUM> until the flanged head portion <NUM> of the support mount <NUM> stoppingly engages with the drywall structure <NUM>.

The magnetic attachment member of the support mount <NUM> is then engaged <NUM> with the metal frame structure <NUM> so as to attach the drywall structure <NUM> to the metal frame structure <NUM>. The drywall structure <NUM> is then moved (slid) into a desired fixing position (if required) <NUM>. A fastener (e.g. a suitable screw fastener) is then inserted <NUM> through the drywall structure <NUM> (in positions not coinciding with the embedded support mounts <NUM>) and into the metal structure <NUM>, thereby, securing the drywall structure <NUM> to the metal frame structure <NUM>.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the above embodiments have been described by way of example only and not in any limitative sense, and that various alterations and modifications are possible without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Various modifications to the examples described above are possible, for example variations may exist in the number, shape, size, arrangement or assembly of the support mount.

In certain embodiments, the magnetic attachment member is arranged to directly contact the metal structure when brought into engagement. Alternatively, a cover may be provided on the magnetic attachment member in order to provide protection. The cover may be, for example, a thermoplastic coating.

In certain embodiments, the flanged head portion, including the magnetic attachment member or any cover thereon, may include a reduced friction element. For example, a surface or portion of a surface that engages with the metal structure may be modified through suitable etching, patterning, embossing, debossing or a spark finish. Alternatively, the cover itself may be formed from, or contain a proportion of, low friction material such as PTFE or similar.

In certain embodiments, the flanged head portion <NUM> of the support mount <NUM> engages and couples a magnetic attachment member <NUM> to the drywall structure <NUM>. For example, the support mount <NUM> may couple a magnetic strip or washer to the drywall structure <NUM> as it is driven into the drywall structure <NUM>. The magnetic attachment member <NUM> thus movably slidably attaches the drywall structure <NUM> to the metal structure <NUM> in the same manner as a magnetic attachment member of a flanged head portion.

Furthermore, the magnetic attachment member may simply be provided as a washer configured to operably couple with the thread and head portion of the support mount. Thus, the magnetic washer may simply be slid over the thread portion into contact with a lower surface of the flanged head portion and then embedded into the drywall structure. Preferably, the material used for the flanged head portion is suitable to promote the magnetic field of the washer so as to attach the support mount to a metal surface during use.

In certain embodiments, a method of fixing the drywall structure to a metal structure may include a user engaging a plurality of support mounts <NUM> to a drywall structure <NUM> and attaching a proportion of the plurality of support mounts <NUM> to the metal surface to slidably movably attach the drywall structure relative to the metal structure <NUM>. In this way, a corresponding proportion of support mounts <NUM> may be disengaged from the metal structure <NUM> as it is moved to its desired fixing position. The disengaged support mounts <NUM> may then be attached to the metal structure before more permanent fasteners are inserted.

Claim 1:
A self-drilling support mount (<NUM>) for a drywall structure (<NUM>), comprising:
a substantially cylindrical body having a flanged head portion (<NUM>) at a proximal end and an externally threaded anchor portion (<NUM>) extending away from said flanged head portion along a longitudinal centre axis (<NUM>) of said cylindrical body towards a distal end,
wherein said flanged head portion (<NUM>) comprises at least one magnetic attachment member (<NUM>) adapted to slidably movably attach said support mount (<NUM>) to a metal structure when said flanged head portion is in contact with the drywall structure,
characterised in that said at least one magnetic attachment member (<NUM>) has a substantially annular shape with an axial opening therethrough.