Patent ID: 7213346

Claim:
An apparatus for installing siding boards, comprising: a flattened central body member; a siding-engagement member at a first end of the body member; and a cam member rotatably engaged with the body member so as to rotate about a rotation axis substantially perpendicular to the flattened body member, the cam member comprising a grip segment and a cam segment, the cam segment being positioned between the body member and the grip segment, wherein: the body member and the siding-engagement member are arranged for engaging a top edge of a substantially horizontal installed first siding board with the body member against a front surface of the first board and with the rotation axis substantially perpendicular to the front surface of the first board; the cam segment has a cross-sectional profile comprising an eccentrically curved engagement portion and a disengagement portion; the cam segment is sufficiently thick so as to enable a siding board to be received between the body member and the grip segment with an edge thereof against the cam segment; the grip segment extends radially from the rotation axis by a distance exceeding a maximum radial distance between the rotation axis and the eccentrically curved engagement portion of the cam segment so as to retain a siding board received between the body member and the grip segment; the body member, the siding-engagement member, and the cam segment are arranged for enabling adjustment over a range of vertical overlap of the engaged top edge of the first board by a bottom edge of a second siding board received between the body member and the grip segment by rotation of the cam member among a plurality of rotational positions with the bottom edge of the second board engaged against the eccentrically curved engagement portion of the cam segment; and the body member, the siding-engagement member, and the cam segment are arranged for enabling disengagement of the cam segment from the second board by rotation of the cam member so that the disengagement portion of the cam segment faces upward toward the bottom edge of the second board.