GB2153038A

GB2153038A - A cleat for connecting structural members

Info

Publication number: GB2153038A
Application number: GB08500676A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Edmond Joseph Desmond
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1984-01-13
Filing date: 1985-01-11
Publication date: 1985-08-14
Also published as: GB8500676D0; IE832826L

Abstract

One piece cleats have adjustment slots 10 for accommodating angular adjustment between adjacent structural members. An arrangement for a hip rafter 2 and a roof purlin 3 comprises two cleat parts 5,6. Adjustment means formed by a pair of spaced-apart opposed quadrant slots 10 are provided on both legs 15,16 of an angle bracket 5 and a stalk 18 of a tee-piece 6, each for receiving a friction grip bolt 11. Each pair of slots 10 are movable through up to 90 DEG relative their bolts 11 to accommodate angular adjustment in three planes. When the desired angular position between the purlin 3 and rafter 2 is achieved the bolts 11 are tightened. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A cleat for connecting structural members The invention relates to a cleat for connecting adjacent structural members and in particular to a cleat for connecting rafters and purlins in roof structures particularly in hipped and/or valley type roof structures.

The term "cleat" as used in this specification refers to a member of any suitable material used for connecting adjacent structural members. Such a cleat may be formed with or without bends, stalks and/or flanges.

In hipped roof structures the hip rafters extend from a column, wall, and/or wall plate to the ridge of the roof to form the desired angle of the hip. The purlins are then connected to the hip rafters. Conventionally, the connection between the hip rafters and each purl in is by way of a cleat bolted to both the purlin and rafter. Because the purlin and hip rafters lie in planes at angles to each other which are difficult to calculate the design of such a cleat is a very intricate and time consuming geometric process involving orthographic projections and requires considerable skill of a specialist draftsman. Because of the fixed hip angle the allowed tolerance is very low and generally special cleats must be designed for each roof structure.

Similar comments apply to the design of valley roof structures and indeed to other situations in which it is desired to connect adjacent structural members.

One object of the invention is to provide an improved cleat which will overcome these problems.

According to the invention there is provided a cleat for connecting adjacent structural members, the cleat having adjustment means for accommodating angular adjustment between the structural members in at least one plane.

In one embodiment of the invention the adjustment means comprises an adjustment slot. Preferably the adjustment slot is an arcuate slot. Typically the slot is a quadrant slot.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the adjustment means comprises two slots, preferably two opposed quadrant slots.

In another embodiment of the invention the adjustment means comprises two pairs of spaced-apart adjustment slots, each pair for receiving one structural member, the slots accommodating angular adjustment between adjacent structural members in two planes.

Preferably each pair of adjustment slots are opposed quadrant slots.

The cleat may for example comprise an angle bracket. In this case typically adjustment slots are provided in at least one leg of the angle bracket. Usually adjustment slots are provided in both legs of the angle bracket to accommodate angular adjustment between adjacent structural members in two planes.

The cleat may also comprise a tee-piece having a stalk and a flange projecting from the stalk. In this case typically adjustment slots are provided in at least one of the flange or stalk of the tee-piece. Usually adjustment slots are provided in both of the flange and stalk of the tee-piece to accommodate angular adjustment between adjacent structural members in two planes.

In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention the cleat is divided into at least two parts. Preferably adjustment means are provided between the parts of the cleat, to accommodate angular adjustment between the parts of the cleat. Usually adjustment means are provided on at least one cleat part for receiving a structural member. Typically adjustment means are provided on both cleat parts, each for receiving a structural member.

The cleat may comprise a two-part cleat, one cleat part comprising an angle bracket and the other cleat part comprising a teepiece. In this case typically adjustment slots are provided in one leg of the angle bracket for receiving one structural member and in one of the stalk or flange of the tee-piece for receiving the other structural member, the adjustment means accommodating angular adjustment between the structural members in at least two planes. Usually an adjustment means is provided between the tee-piece and angle bracket for angular adjustment between adjacent structural members in three planes.

Typically one cleat part is for receiving a purlin and another part is for receiving a rafter.

Usually one cleat part is for receiving a purlin and the other part is for receiving a rafter, particularly a hip rafter or a valley rafter.

The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description thereof given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of a two part cleat according to the invention, Figure 2 is a perspective view of one of the parts of the cleat of Fig. 1 from a different angle, Figure 3 is a plan view of an adjustment means forming portion of the cleat of Fig. 1, Figure 4 is a perspective view of the cleat of Fig. 1 assembled and in use, Figure 5 is a side view qf an alternative construction of cleat, in use, Figure 6 is a perspective view of a further cleat, in use, Figure 7 is a perspective view of another cleat, in use.

Referring to the drawings and initially to Figs. 1 to 4 thereof there is illustrated a cleat according to the invention indicated generally by the reference numeral 1 for connecting adjacent structural members in this case a hip rafter 2 and a roof purlin 3. The cleat 1 comprises adjustment means for accommodating angular adjustment between the rafter 2 and purlin 3 in at least one plane, in this case in three planes.

In this case, the cleat 1 is a two-part cleat and comprises an angle bracket 5 for connection to the rafter 2 and a tee-piece 6 for connecting to the purlin 3. Adjustment means is provided between the angle brackets 5 and hip rafter 2, the tee-piece 6 and purlin 3, and between the angle bracket 5 and tee-piece 6, to accommodate angular adjustment, in the direction of the arrows A, B and C respectively, between the rafter and purlin, in three planes as illustrated in Fig. 4.

Each adjustment means comprises two opposed arcuate quadrant slots 10 each for reception of a friction grip fixing bolt 11, typically of high tensile steel. On installation, as best illustrated in Fig. 3 each pair of slots 10 are movable relative the bolts 11 in the direction of the arrow D through up to 90 about a common central axis 1 2 to accommodate angular adjustment between adjacent structural members.

In detail, the angle bracket 5 is typically of rolled steel material and comprises a first leg 1 5 for receiving the hip rafter 2 and an interconnected upstanding second leg 1 6 for attachment to the tee-piece 6. Each of the legs 15, 1 6 of the angle bracket is provided with adjustment means formed by two opposed quadrant slots 1 0.

The tee-piece 6 is typically also of rolled steel material and comprises a flange 1 7 for connection to the second leg 1 6 of the angle bracket 5 and a depending stalk 1 8 for receiving the roof purlin 3. In this case the flange 1 7 is provided with a pair of spaced-apart through holes 1 9 for alignment with the adjusting slots 10 on the second leg 1 6 of the angle bracket 5. Each of the holes 1 9 receives a fixing bolt 11. A pair of opposed quadrant slots 1 0 are provided in the stalk 1 8 of the tee-piece 6.

In the case illustrated the purlin 3 is of sigma shape in cross-section however it will be appreciated that the cleat may be used with any purl in with suitable modifications as required. Similarly it will be appreciated that while in the particular case illustrated the rafter is of I-section it may be of any suitable section such as box or channel section.

In use, and referring particularly to Fig. 4 the hip rafter 2 and one roof purlin 3 are set up to the desired angle of the hip roof. Bolt holes may be pre-drilled into the purlin 3 and rafter 2 or if desired may be drilled in situ.

The angle bracket 5 is then loosely connected to the hip rafter 2 by fixing bolts 11 sufficient to allow relatively free movement between the angle bracket and rafter. The stalk 1 8 of the tee-piece 6 is then loosely attached to the purlin 3 and the flange 1 7 is loosely attached to the second leg 1 6 of the angle bracket 5.

The cleat parts are then moved about their central axis for angular adjustment of the purlin 3 and rafter 2 into their desired positions. When the angular adjustment is complete all fixing bolts 11 are then tightened to fix the purlin 3 to the hip rafter 2 in the desied angular orientation.

For clarity only one purlin has been illustrated in the drawings. It will be appreciated that a number of such purlins would be spaced along the hip rafter. It will also be appreciated that a purlin for supporting the cladding of the other roof slope of the hipped section of the roof structure would also be mounted on the hip rafter using a similar type of cleat which may be mounted to the hip rafter using the same bolts and bolt holes used for the cleat just described or through separate bolts and bolt holes.

It will also be appreciated that while the drawings in the description given above refers to a hip roof a similar construction of cleat may be used for a valley type roof.

Referring to Fig. 5 there is illustrated an alternative construction of cleat indicated generally by the reference numeral 25. In this case the cleat is in the form of a plate member for connecting an upright structural member 26 to an inclined structural member 27. The plate member 25 is fixed to the upright 26 in a conventional manner for example by using fixing bolts 28. One portion of the plate member includes an adjustment means similar to that already described above with reference to Fig. 3, like parts being assigned the same reference numerals. The slots 10 are pivotal through 90 relative to the bolts 11 in the direction of the arrows E for angular adjustment of the inclined structural member 27 relative the upright 26 in one plane which in this case is the vertical plane.

Referring to Fig. 6 there is illustrated an alternative construction of cleat 30 comprising an angle bracket similar to the angle bracket forming part of the cleat described above with reference to Figs. 1 to 4, like parts being assigned the same reference numerals. In this case the leg 1 5 of the bracket 5 is attached to a first upright structural member 31 and the other leg 1 6 is attached to a second structural member 32. The slots 10 are pivotal relative their bolts 11 for accommodating angular adjustment in the direction of the arrows F and G in two planes.

Referring to Fig. 7 there is illustrated another construction of cleat 40 comprising a tee-piece similar to the tee-piece forming part of the cleat described above with reference to Figs. 1 to 4, like parts being assigned the same reference numerals. In this case the flange 1 7 of the tee-piece 6 is attached to a first upright structural member 31 and the stalk 6 is attached to a second structural member 42. The slots 10 in the stalk 18 are pivotal relative their bolts 11 for accommodating angular adjustment of the second structural member 42 in the direction of the arrows H in one plane.If desired instead of through holes the flange 1 7 of the tee-piece may be formed with quadrant slots similar to the slots 10 in the stalk 16 to accommodate angular adjustment in two planes in a similar manner to the angle bracket described with reference to Fig. 6.

One advantage of the invention is that it provides a cleat which may be applied to any design of roof structure. In relation to structural members generally one advantage of the invention is that it allows a single cleat to be employed for accommodating a relatively large angular adjustment between structural members in either one, two or three planes.

It will be appreciated that the particular type of cleat to be employed depends on the application envisaged. Thus, the cleat may be of any suitable shape and configuration and may be in one piece or in two or indeed several pieces.

A single cleat may also be used for connecting more than two structural members. In such cases the cleat may be channel, box or any suitable shape having adjustment means in any number of faces.

In the particular case where the cleat is in two parts adjustment means may be provided between the parts as described above in the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 4 or the parts may be fixed together and the adjustment means provided between one or both of the parts of the cleat and the structural members to which they are attached. Similarly in some cases the connection to one or more of the structural members may be fixed as in the cleat described above with reference to Fig. 5.

It will be appreciated that while preferably the adjustment means comprises a pair of opposed quadrant slots any suitable adjustment means may be employed. For example it is envisaged that in some cases one slot only may be sufficient which may be either a quadrant slot or possibly for some applications a straight slot. In the case of an arcuate slot the slot may be less than or greater than 90 .

In some cases a number of iugs may project into the slot to define locating recesses for reception of a suitable fixing means. It is also envisaged that as an alternative to the slot the cleat may be provided with a plurality of through holes each for reception of a fixing bolt, one or any number of holes in the cleat being aligned with corresponding holes in the structural members for attachment of the cleat.

It will also be appreciated that while the invention has been described for use with roof structures constructed from structural steel components it may be applied to any roof construction for example a wooden roof or any structural members.

Claims

1. A cleat for connecting adjacent structural members, the cleat having adjustment means for accommodating angular adjustment between the structural members in at least one plane.

2. A cleat as claimed in Claim 1 in which the adjustment means comprises an adjustment slot.

3. A cleat as claimed in Claim 2 in which the slot is an arcuate slot.

4. A cleat as claimed in Claim 3 in which the slot is a quadrant slot.

5. A cleat as claimed in any of Claims 2 to 4 in which the adjustment means comprises two spaced-apart adjustment slots.

6. A cleat as claimed in Claim 5 in which the slots are opposed.

7. A cleat as claimed in Claim 5 or 6 in which each slot is an arcuate slot.

8. A cleat as claimed in Claim 7 in which each slot is a quadrant slot.

9. A cleat as claimed in Claim 1 in which the adjustment means comprises two pairs of spaced-apart adjustment slots, each pair for receiving one structural member, the slots accommodating angular adjustment between adjacent structural members in two planes.

10. A cleat as claimed in Claim 9 in which each pair of adjustment slots are opposed quadrant slots.

11. A cleat as claimed in any of Claims 5 to 10 in which the cleat comprises an angle bracket.

12. A cleat as claimed in Claim 11 in which adjustment slots are provided in at least one leg of the angle bracket.

1 3. A cleat as claimed in Claim 11 or 12 in which adjustment slots are provided in both legs of the angle bracket to accommodate angular adjustment between adjacent structural members in two planes.

14. A cleat as claimed in any of Claims 5 to 10 in which the cleat comprises a tee-piece having a stalk and a flange projecting from the stalk.

15. A cleat as claimed in Claim 14 in which adjustment slots are provided in at least one of the flange or stalk of the tee-piece.

1 6. A cleat as claimed in Claim 14 or 15 in which adjustment slots are provided in both of the flange and stalk of the tee-piece to accommodate angular adjustment between adjacent structural members in two planes.

17. A cleat as claimed in Claim 9 or 10 in which the cleat is divided into at least two parts.

1 8. A cleat as claimed in Claim 1 7 in which adjustment means are provided between the parts of the cleat, to accommodate angular adjustment between the parts of the cleat, to accommodate angular adjustment between the parts of the cleat.

19. A cleat as claimed in Claims 1 7 or 18 in which adjustment means are provided on at last one cleat part for receiving a structural member.

20. A cleat as claimed in Claim 1 9 in which adjustment means are provided on both cleat parts, each for receiving a structural member.

21. A cleat as claimed in any of Claims 1 7 to 20 in which the cleat is a two-part cleat, one cleat part comprising an angle bracket and the other cleat part comprising a tee-piece.

22. A cleat as claimed in Claim 21 in which adjustment slots are provided in one leg of the angle bracket for receiving one structural member and in one of the stalk or flange of the tee-piece for receiving the other structural member, the adjustment means accommodating angular adjustment between the structural members in at least two planes.

23. A cleat as claimed in Claim 22 in which an adjustment means is provided between the tee-piece and angle bracket for angular adjustment between adjacent structural members in three planes.

24. A cleat as claimed in any of Claims 1 7 to 23 in which one cleat part is for receiving a purlin and another part is for receiving a rafter.

25. A cleat as claimed in Claim 24 in which the rafter is a hip rafter.

26. A cleat as claimed in Claim 24 in which the rafter is a valley rafter.

27. A cleat substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.