US281968A

US281968A - Floor-clamp

Info

Publication number: US281968A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1883-07-24
Anticipated expiration: 1900-07-24

Description

(No Motiel'.)

E. CAYWOOD.

FLOOR CLAMP. No. 281,968 Patented July 24, 1883.

WITNESSES:

.5. /P k/ I 'ATTORNEYS.

N. PEIERS. PMlu-Lilhagrapher. Wahington D. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

ERNEST OAYXVOOD, OF VINING, KANSAS.

FLOOR-CLAM P.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 281,968, dated July 24, 1883.

Application filed April 26, 1888. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERNEST CAYWOOD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Vining, in the county of Clay and State of Kansas, have invented a new and Improved Floor- Glamp, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of clamps used for crowding boards together edgewise in order to form tight joints between them in the process of laying floors; and it has for its object to produce a floorclamp which may be quickly attached to the joists on which the floor is being laid, and worked by one hand of the workman to press the boards together, and to so hold them of its own accord, leaving both hands of the workman free. To this end it consists in the construction and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figure 1 is a transverse vertical section of a piece of flooring, showing my clamp in side elevation. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same, and Fig. 3 is an inverted plan view of the clamp-holder.

A represents the floorboards, and B the joists upon which the floor is to be laid.

O is the clamp-holder, having rigidly fixed jaws a b, to engage the vertical sides of the joist B at diagonal points by a vertically-twisting strain.- The distance between the jaws a b is such as to engage a two-inch joist (marked 2 in the drawings) when the holder 0 crosses the joist nearly at right angles, and to engage a three-inch joist (marked 3) when the holder is in a diagonal position.

a is a stud upon the end of holder 0, upon which the lever D is loosely fulcrumed.

E is the presser, pivoted at its rear end to lever D, and gained across its forward end, to rest the lip c of the gain 011 top of the floorboard, or of an intermediate board used to distribute the pressure, while its shoulder g presses the edge thereof. In use the shoulder of the presser is placed against the edge of the board to be laid, or against the intermediateboard, and while the handle is held in the position shown in dotted lines by the workmans left hand the holder 0 will rest on the joist B, with the jaws a b loosely touching the sides thereof. Now, a downward pressure of the lever will first engage the jaws firmly with the joist, and will then force the presser E against the board, and when the joint h of the presser and lever approaches the line of the forward end of the presser and the leverfulcrum c the force applied to the lever is almost infinitely multiplied in its application to the edge of the board. By the use of this clamp the crookedest and most refractory boards may be pressed to form tight joints in the floor. The offset G in the lever at its joint with the presser permits that joint to pass below the line of centers when the lever touches the floor, thus holding the clamp to its duty while the workman leaves the lever to nail down the board. To permit the handle to be grasped when resting on the floor I have provided an offset, F, to rest on the floor, when the handlef is sufficiently raised to admit the hand of the workman between it and the floor. The presser is slotted in the under side of its forward end to rest on the joist, as a guide to assist in hand ling the clamp with one hand.

This clamp may be used for laying Wainscoting and ships siding, as well as flooring. It is adapted for use wherever boards are to be laid on joists or similar beams.

What I claim as my invention, and wish to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. lnafloor clamp having a presser adapted to crowd against the edge of the floor, the combination, with a lever pivoted to said presser, of a clamp-holder consisting of a block provided with diagonal jaws on oneface, and a stud on one end engaging the lever as a ful crum therefor, as shown and described.

2. The combination, with afloor-clamp holder having diagonal jaws adapted to engage the vertical sides of the joist, and a stud projecting from one of its ends, of a lever fulcrumed on said stud, adapted to swing down upon the floor, and a presser pivoted to the lever at one side of the line of the joist to which the jaws are adapted .to hold, as shown and described.

3. The combination, with a floor clampholder having jaws and a stud in such relation to each other that the jaws are adapted to engage the sides of a joist of the floor when the center of the stud is below the top of the floor, of a lever fulcrumed 011 said stud, having one upward offset near the fulcrum and.

2 eelnocs another upward offset near the handle and a beneath the handle when the lower curve of presser pivoted to the lever at the lower curve the second offset rests on the floor for the purof the first offset, as shown and described pose stated. whereby the resser-pivot may be brought below the line of the lever-fulcrum and the \Vitnesses: point of contact of the resser and floor-edge, J W. SHAFFER, and space will be left for the operators hand HENRY COOPER.

ERNEST OAYWVOOD.