US2116737A

US2116737A - System for laying boards

Info

Publication number: US2116737A
Application number: US735450A
Authority: US
Inventors: Leon F Urbain
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1934-07-16
Filing date: 1934-07-16
Publication date: 1938-05-10
Anticipated expiration: 1955-05-10

Description

L. F. URBAIN SYSTEM FOR LAYING BOARDS May 10, 1938.

Filed July 16, 1934 w g U W M W w M 7 m V\ Z w M E m 1 7 k 5 W g Patented May 10, 1938 UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE 14 Claims.

This invention has to 'do with joining boards or other articles one to another in systematic order.

The system requires a base upon or in which 5 channel members are disposed. Within such channels are clips. The clips, when in use, are held against movement longitudinally of the channel by a frictional interlock therewith. A part of each clip projects from the channel.

10 The projecting part of the clip is disposedbetween the contiguous edges of boards or the like that are resting upon the channels. Each clip may have parts interlocking with one or both of the boards or other articles between which it is 15 disposed. Boards or other articles to be held by the clips are generally arranged across the channels.

The objects of the invention include, among others, the following:

20 New and improved apparatus for supporting and holding floor boards or the like.

A unique combination of clip and channel for securing boards or other members in assembly.

A clip for use with a channel and which will 25 secure conventional tongue and grooved flooring boards and other conventional types of boards in contiguous relation.

An improved board holding clip.

An improved interlock between a holding clip,

30 a channel and boards resting upon the channel.

A unique structure for a clip for use between boards or other members and which may not be upset in the channel.

These objects, and such other objects as may hereinafter appear, are obtained by the unique construction, improved combination, and novel arrangement of the several elements which constitute the invention, several forms of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawing, hereby 40 made a part of this specification, and in which:

Figure 1 is an end elevation of a clip suited for use with floor boards, and a channel therefor, the floor boards being removed;

Figure 2 is a transverse section on the line 45 2-2 of Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 3 is a transverse section of contiguous sections of two tongue and groove floor boards and illustrating the manner in which a clip may be secured to the first of such boards;

Figure 4 is a similar view illustrating two boards in contiguity;

Figure 5 is a plan view of a clip member, the 55 channel shown therewith being sectioned to illustrate exaggeratedly the interlock between it and the clip;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a clip for use with clapboards or the like; and Figure '7 is a transverse section of parts of two boards held together by the cliplllustrated in Figure 6.

Like reference characters are used to designate similar parts in the drawing and in the following description. 10

The form of the invention for use with floor boards will be described first. A supporting base is required. This may comprise any wood, concrete or other sub-floor upon which clip channels may be laid and secured. The base may be rafters or joists. It may be sheet metal or other material in which clip channels are preformed or otherwise provided. A concrete base with clip channels embedded therein also may be employed.

The devices, herein described for use with floor boards entail the employment of a channel member or a member having a channel therein, a clip frictionally secured in the channel, and boards at each side of the clip and resting on the channel, one of the boards, at least, being held in position by the clip.

The channel I0 illustrated comprises sheet material that may be rolled or otherwise treated to provide a bottom ll, generally flat from edge to edge, upright sides l2, and inturned flanges I3 at the tops of the sides l2.

Channels ID are accurately formed. They are of uniform width, and the height beneath the flanges I3 is to a definite gauge.

At spaced intervals in the channel are apertures H to receive screws or bolts or any other suitable fastening means which extend through the material of the bottom H of the channel. The channels l0 may be made in any desirable length. They may be made economically by a 40 number of conventional shop methods.

The clips l5 comprise generally fiat blanks of metal cut and folded to provide a lower section 16,

a web IT, a hook section l8, and feet I 9.

The lower section i6 generally is the widest part of the clip. From edge to edge, the lower section is slightly wider than from the interior face of one side l2 to the interior face ofthe other side l2 of the channel. The width of the bottom section iii of the clip 15 is such that the clip may not be arranged transversely of the channel 10 without being'forcibly twisted. That twisting stress normally is greater than any which the fingers may exert upon the clip. Usually the bottom margin of the clip from edge to edge, is straight or is in a straight line. This facilitates a snug fit in the channel. The upper corners of the lower section ii of the clip are preferably rounded, as shown, to facilitate the insertion of the clip into a channel and to prevent undue distortion of the clip in the channel when twisted to a position straight thereacross. I On the under side of the bottom section ii of the clip l5 are feet i9. Two feet l9 are shown, one pointing forwardly and the other rearwardly. The foremost and rearmost outer margins of the feet I9 are preferably rounded, as shown, to prevent undue force being required to insert the clip into the channel. The rounded edges allow free turning of the clip to a limited extent in the channel preliminary to running the clip forwardly against a board. The feet l9 prevent the clip from tilting in the channel after insertion thereinto. A clip with feet l9 as shown, cannot fail over during the preliminary setting thereof or when being driven home against a board.

More than two feet 19 may be used. One foot completely or partly across the channel is effective. Two feet appear to have advantages over one or a greater number of feet. If oppositely disposed, the feet prevent tilting in either direction. The height of section iii of the clip is such that it fits snugly under the flanges i3 so that when the section It is set in a channel with its ends under flanges l3, the clip cannot rise sufliciently in the channel to turn over.

Above the lower section l6 of the clip is a web I1. As shown, the web is not as wide as the space between the opposed inturned edges of flanges i3 of the channel member II]. If a clip is to be used in a magazine device for feeding and laying, the web IT may be bounded at its side margins by tabs generally rectangular'in shape and like those illustrated in the earlier pending application of said Leon F. Urbain, Serial No. 609,689, entitled Flooring, and filed May 6, 1932.

The web I! of the clip I5 is positioned between the lower vertical edges of contiguous boards. At the top of the web, there is a holding part I8 or hook which comprises the material of the web after a central V-shaped section is removed, the holding part being bent into a U, the open side of the U being seated upon the tongue of a board.

By splitting the part I8, as described, two prongs 20 are formed. The ends 2| of the two prongs may be sharpened during the process of manufacture. The ends 2| of the U-shaped section 18 do not extend forwardly to vertical alinement with the web II. The whole of the U- shaped section l8, instead of being normal to the web, is at an angle of eighty-six to eightyeight degrees thereto.

Sometimes the material intermediate to the prongs 20 which normally is cut away and removed from the clip, is converted in part into a rearwardly extending prong 23 which has a sharpened end 24. The end 24 is inserted into the material of a board forced against the clip 15. Normally the prong 23 as it extends rearwardly of the clip is bent slightly upwardly, as shown.

The clips 30 shown in Figures 6 and 7 are like those in the preceding figures, save that they are intended for use with sidings or lap boards. Instead of having a hook member at one side and a prong-at the other, the clips 30 have two prongs 3i and 32 at one side and one prong 33 at the other side. The prongs 3| and 32 are used in a board 36 which is in a higher elevation than a board 35 into which the prong 33 is inserted. The two prongs 3| and 32 are upon the upperside of the clip, and the prong 33 is at the lowerside of the clip 30.

For the type of clip used for floor boards, the channels ill are laid upon a sub-floor if the channels are not an integral part of the subfloor or embedded in the sub-floor as a part of the construction thereof. The form of clip shown in Figure 1 may be anchored in a cement subfloor by first sinking or securing in the sub-floor cylinders 25 of soft metal and thereafter running screws 26 through apertures I4 in the channels into said soft metal cylinders. Anchors comprising threaded members may be sunk in the concrete and the channels attached thereto by the use of bolts.

On a wooden sub-floor, the anchoring means for the channels may comprise screws run through the apertures It in channels I0 into the wood sub-floor or joists therebeneath. For a side wall, such as is shown in Figure 6, the channels are anchored in the studs or studding.

In Figures 1 and 7, the clips have cutout sec; tions 21 to make it possible to slide the clips over protruding anchoring bolts or screws. The cutouts 21! are generally found unnecessary for the few bolts or screws required to anchor the channel furnish no real interference in the free distribution of the clips along the channels in suitable positions.

The channels ill having been suitably anchored, a first board 28 is laid and secured in position across the channels, either by nailing or by any other means. The groove side of the board is disposed at the edge of the area to be floored. As shown in Figure 3, the tongue side of a board 28 is exposed to be matched with the next succeeding board 29, just as in conventional floor boards that are nailed.

In respect to the sidings as shown in Figure 6, the first board laid is a bottom board 35 and its narrow edge is pointed upwardly just as in conventional carpentry.

Board 28 or board 35 will extend across two or more channels II). In channels l0, clips l5 or 30 will be inserted as is proper. During insertion, the clips will be held in an angular position and run as far home along the channel it) as is possible with the fingers. One edge of the channel I 0 will engage the edge of the board. The angle of the clip IS in the channel i0 when measured relatively to the adjacent edge of the board which it contacts, will be approximately fifteen to twenty degrees. When desired, the clip may be driven to a position of parallelism with the board which it abuts by a hand tool which rides on the channel ill and which is guided by the edges of the flanges I3. Such a tool has a suitably shaped head to force the clip In to a position normal of the channel with the web ll parallel to the edge of the board against which it is driven. Such hand tool is driven by a hammer or floor layers hatchet. A machine may be used for the same purpose as the hand tool, and such machine tool has a head like that on the hand tool and forces the clip into position in the channel in the same manner. For rapid laying, however, neither a hand tool nor a magazine tool is necessary.

The next succeeding board may be used to drive a clip or clips home. This would be floor board 29 or siding 36. Such succeeding board is brought into contact with the clip or clips by riding the board flatly along the channels in a direction parallel thereto, the edge of the

board

23 or 33 being parallel to the edge of

board

23 or 33. With a few blows of the hand axe, the carpenter or floor layer may drive the

outer board

23 or 33 against the clips, making the clips lie parallel with the board 23 or to be held thereby.

If there is no rearwardly extending

prong

23 or 33 upon the clip, then the

board

23 or 36 used as a driver may be the next board to be laid,-or it may become a driving tool and be used continually until it is mutilated or otherwise damaged beyond use for efficiently laying the floor.

With the clap boards and with the clip for floor boards which has prong 23 at its rear, the driving

board

36 or 23, must be positioned more carefully for it becomes firmly seated in position when it is used to drive the first laid board, 35 or 28, into position. The prongs in the rear of the clip become firmly embedded.

Whether the clip I5 for floor boards is driven into position by a hand tool or by a machine tool, or by a board, it is forced into normalism with the channel. The end margins of the section I 6 of the clip or the whole section I6 is deformed, as shown in an exaggerated manner in Figure 5. As the clip at section It is wider than the channel ID, the metal of section I6 is bowed with the ends'of the bow dragging in the channel I and providing opposed teeth biting into the material of the sides l2 of the channel to prevent retraction of the clip after the driving force has been removed. There is no opportunity for the clip l5 or 80 to move or be moved backwardly after it has once been driven home. The boards, 28 and 29 or 35 and 36, do not in any way influence the deformation of section I 6 of a clip for they do not contact this part of the clip. The clip will be driven home in an upright position, the feet I9 preventing any material tilting of the clip during the early part of its movement and the boards themselves preventing tilting during the latter stages of advancement.

The under face of the groove of a floor board engages the underside of the U-shaped section of the clip as the board drives a clip home. This engagement tilts the U-shaped section II of the clip and causes the prong 20 of the clip to bite into the upper side of the tongue of the board 28. As the clip is moved more closely toward the board 28 to which it is being attached, the rear prong 23, if there is one, penetrates the material of the board 29. This penetration tilts the U-shaped section to a larger degree and causes the pointed ends 2i of the prongs 20 to bite into the top of the tongue of the board 28 more deeply. Without the rear prong 23, there is nevertheless, a deep bite into the tongue of the board 28. This bite is augmented by the upper face of the groove riding on the top of the U-shaped section l8 of the clip to press such section downwardly and into the material of the tongue.

As floor boards are milled at the present time, the section above the tongue and above the groove of the

boards

28 and 29, project outwardly beyond the vertical faces of the boards below the tongue and the groove. Usually there is one .thirty-second of an inch difference between the top and bottom vertical faces of boards on both the tongue and the groove side. Paired boards then have a clearance below the tongue and groove of a sixteenth of an inch. The web ll of clip 15 readily fits thereinto.

The clip generally is made of material of twenty gauge, sometimes less. I'heclip at its U-shaped section II is embedded in the tongue and in the face of the groove of the

boards

23 and 23, such embedment is had without splitting the boards or causing appreciable topsurface deformation. This is true in the hardwoods such as maple and oak. With pine and fir and the other soft woods, the clips bury themselves more readily. The back section of the groove of a floor board invariably is deeper than it need be so that a part of the U-shaped section II of the clip is seated in board 23 without engagement upon the rear surface of the groove.

The height of section [3 'of the clip I! is such that the clip may not be lifted vertically in the channel, hence a board to which clips I3 is attached is held firmly upon the channel III and does not and cannot spring therefrom.

With the clips that are used for clap boards, 35 and 38,. the action of the clip is much the same as that of floor board clips. The clips" are forced into the lower board 35, the prong 32 being bent downwardly to draw the board toward the channel. The two prongs 3| and 32 of the. clip 30 in" a similar manner draw the upperboard 35 inwardly so that the overlapping sections of the boards, 35 and 36 are in close engagement.

In the several arrangements illustrated, there is a firm interlock between the channel and clips, and the union between the boards and the intermediate clips to hold the boards on channels I0 is firmer than can possibly be attained by any construction in which nails are employed.

What is claimed as new and is desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. For use with conventional floor boards of the tongue and groove type, a clip seatable between such boards and extending around the tongue thereof; a channel to receive said clip and secure it against retroactive movement and meansassociated with said clip means for maintaining the clip substantially perpendicular to the surface of the tive position.

2. In combination, a channel, a clip having a deformable top and a deformable bottom, the bottom of the clip being movable in one direction in the channel and being locked against retroactive movement, the clip being insertable between conventional tongue and groove floor boards without disturbing the close match of the upper contiguous edges thereof.

3. In combination, a channel, a clip in said channel, the clip having a base deformable in said channel to prevent retroactive movement of said clip, and boards on said channels and of a conventional type and fitting snugly about the clip to be held upon said channel thereby.

4. In combination, floor boards, a channel, and a clip, the clip being locked in said channel against retroactive movement and extending between contiguous floor boards on said channel, a part of said clip being shaped for extension about the tongue of one floor board and having a barb penetrating the material of a board paired with said first referred to floor board.

5. In combination, a channel, a clip in said channel and deformable for locking therein, and floor boards on said channels, the clip extending between said boards and being deformed about the tongue of one board and having a barb penetrating the material of the board paired floor boards when in operatherewith.

6. A clip for holding tongue and groove boards comprising a strip of metal 01a thickness admitting of its insertion between closely matched boards without spacing the top edges of said boards apart, the lower part of said clip having anchoring means and the upper part of said clip having a deformable hook for extending about the tongue portion of one board, and a barb for penetrating the material of the complemental board.

7. In combination, a channel, and clips for insertion between boards on said channel, the clip having a section wider than the-interior of said channel and deformable therein to hold said clip normal to said channel, said deformable section of the clip having an extension preventing the clip from tilting in said channel.

8. For use in a channel having flanges and for holding boards upon such channel, a clip comprising a body extending vertically from the channel, said clip having a section wider than said channel with projections at the bottom thereof, said section being of a height to snugly fit under the flanges of said channel, the projections on said section preventing the clip from upsetting in said channel, the upper part of the clip having board holding parts, and said clip being deformable to a position normal of said channel to anchor said clip against movement along said channel.

9. An anchoring clip for use between the edges of boards and comprising a base having a board holding section projecting perpendicularly there-.

from. the upper part thereof engaging the contiguous edges of adjacent boards, there being a barb extending from said upper part for penetrating one of said boards.

10. A board holding clip in combination wit a channel member and comprising a base disposed in said channel member and normally wider than the channel of said member, and means preventing the upsetting of said clip in said channel member.

11. A channel member, and a board holding clip disposable between contiguous boards and comprising a body wider than and locked in said channel and having a barb i'or penetrating one of said boards.

12. A board holding clip comprising a horizontal base, and a vertical section having an upper body-comprising a curved tongue projecting substantially horizontally from said vertical section.

13. The combination of a clip and a channel member for holding boards or the like, and comprising a flanged channel of predetermined width, and a clip with a hook like top of slightly greater width at its channel engaging part whereby a part 01' the material of said clip is deformed when arranged transversely of said channel.

14. A board holding clip comprising a base section, and a body having a section adapted to engage a board, the base section of said clip having sections extending oppositely and lat erally therefrom to provide feet therefor.

' LEON F. URBAIN.