Patent ID: 8601909

Claim:
A tool for installing deck boards in a decking structure that uses pronged fasteners between the adjacent edges of the deck boards to connect the deck boards one to the other, the tool comprising: a first jaw having a bottom surface for resting upon a first deck board in spaced and side-by-side relationship with a second deck board, and with a pronged fastener disposed between the adjacent edges of the spaced, side-by-side deck boards, the first jaw also having a depending lip for engaging the edge of the first deck board remote from the adjacent edges of the deck boards; a second jaw having a bottom surface for engaging the upper surface of the second deck board, and having a depending lip for engaging the edge of the second deck board remote from the adjacent edges of the spaced, side-by-side deck boards, the bottom jaw surfaces of the jaws residing in a common plane; and a frame supporting the jaws and defining a movement path of the first and second jaws relative to one another in the common plane, the frame including an actuating mechanism for moving the first and second jaws toward one another on the movement path and bringing the spaced, side-by-side deck boards together with the pronged fastener between and penetrating the adjacent edges of the first and second deck boards; wherein the actuating mechanism further comprises a first lever pivotally mounted to the first jaw, and a second lever pivotally mounted to the second jaw, and wherein said levers are pivotally connected to one another such that one of the levers defines a handle moveable manually to bias the jaws toward one another.