US3867802A

US3867802A - Floor support assembly for building structures

Info

Publication number: US3867802A
Application number: US339796A
Authority: US
Inventors: Wesley T Murphy
Original assignee: VERCON PRODUCTS Inc
Current assignee: VERCON PRODUCTS Inc
Priority date: 1971-07-06
Filing date: 1973-03-09
Publication date: 1975-02-25
Anticipated expiration: 1992-02-25
Also published as: DE2410070A1

Abstract

A floor support assembly comprising a beam having a ledge, a floor joist and a locking clip for connecting the joist to the beam. The joist includes an elongated bottom wall portion terminating at an end and a pair of said walls projecting along the length of the bottom wall and at an angle thereto so as to form a member having a generally V-shaped cross section. Each side wall includes a ledge extending therealong. The ledges are coplanar and are adapted to be received within respective grooves in a floor panel to support the panel thereon. The joist is supported at its end by the ledge of the beam and is connected to the beam by the clip. The clip includes an elongated body portion and a short leg and a long leg projecting laterally from opposed ends of the body portion and in opposite directions. The long leg terminates in a projecting ear. The short leg of the clip extends through an opening in the bottom wall of the joist adjacent the end and an aligned opening in the ledge disposed thereunder. The long leg of the clip extends through an opening in the side wall of the flange with the projecting ear thereon extending into an opening in the beam. The beam includes a flange portion for connection to a similar beam to form a hollow beam section which not only serves as a support or associated floor joists, but also serves as a heating and/or cooling duct.

Description

Murphy [451 Feb. 25, 1975 FLOOR SUPPORT ASSEMBLY FOR BUILDING STRUCTURES [75] inventor: Wesley T. Murphy, Auburn, NY. [73] Assignee: Vercon Products, Inc., Charlotte,

22 Filed: Mar. 9, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 339,796

Related U.S. Application Data [63] Continuation-in-part of Ser. No 160,018, July 6, I971, abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 85,533, Oct. 30, 1970, abandoned.

[52] U.S. Cl 52/483, 52/220, 52/664, 52/712, 52/731, 52/732 [51] Int. Cl. E04!) 5/52, E04c 2/42 [58] Field of Search 52/483, 488, 489, 665, 52/664, 614, 629, 758 A, 760

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,089,371 3/1914 Baumgartl 52/488 X 2,008,557 7/1935 Lambert 52/483 2,220,349 11/1940 Plumb 52/483 X 2,706,314 4/1955 Siering... 52/489 X 2,840,200 6/1958 Wong 52/758 A X 2,981,383 4/1961 Dunn 52/488 X 2,996,765 8/1961 Nclsson 52/489 X 3,089,569 5/1963 Shultz 52/489 3,170,217 2/1965 Williams 52/488 X 3,286,427 11/1966 Colter 52/758 A x 3,456,971 7/1969 Sutter 52/760 3,471,981 10/1969 3,627,364 12/1971 3,693,303

Primary Examiner-Frank L. Abbott Assistant ExaminerLeslie A. Braun Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Caesar, Rivise, Bernstein & Cohen [57] ABSTRACT A floor support assembly comprising a beam having a ledge, a floor joist and a locking clip for connecting the joist to the beam. The joist includes an elongated bottom wall portion terminating at an end and a pair of said walls projecting along the length of the bottom wall and at an angle thereto so as to form a member having a generally V-shaped cross section. Each side wall includes a ledge extending therealong. The ledges are coplanar and are adapted to be received within respective grooves in a floor panel to support the panel thereon. The joist is supported at its end by the ledge of the beam and is connected to the beam by the clip. The clip includes an elongated body portion and a short leg and a long leg projecting laterally from opposed ends of the body portion and in opposite directions. The long leg terminates in a projecting ear. The short leg of the clip extends through an opening in the bottom wall of the joist adjacent the end and an aligned opening in the ledge disposed thereunder. The long leg of the clip extends through an opening in the side wall of the flange with the projecting ear thereon extending into an opening in the beam. The beam includes a flange portion for connection to a similar beam to form a hollow beam section which not only serves as a support or associated floor joists, but also serves as a heating and/or cooling duct.

10 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEI] FEB25|975 SHEET 10F 5 PATENTDFEB251975 3', 867. 802

SHEET 2 OF 5 x l K PATENTEB FEBESIBYS SHEET 5 OF 5 FLOOR SUPPORT ASSEMBLY FOR BUILDING STRUCTURES This application is a continuation-in-part of pending application Ser. No. 160,018 filed on July 6, 1971 and entitled Modular Building now abandoned, which is in turn a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 85,533, filed on Oct. 30, 1970 and entitled Building Structures now abandoned.

The present invention relates generally to buildings and more particularly to building systems including the use of standardized floor support assemblies.

A large number of prefabricated and modular housing systems have been formulated over the years, but for various reasons, there has been little acceptance or success with such systems.

The prefabricated systems which have been presentecl for commercial use are generally comprised of a large number of components that are usually not standardized, and therefore must be constructed by a skilled craftsman with careful attention to plans.

Furthermore, such systems have been generally unattractive in appearance, such that any saving in cost has not been proved to be an incentive to the adoption of such systems, particularly in low and middle cost housmg.

As the shortage of housing grows, the need has deepened for an effective modular building that can easily be constructed by unskilled workman at low costs.

In the above mentioned application Ser. No. 160,018, there is disclosed and claimed a novel metal studding which is standardized and can be readily fabricated from roll steel stock when needed, thereby eliminating the need for a large inventory of parts, which heretofore has been required of prior art housing systems. The novel studding is so configured as to enable a large number of parts, such as wall panels, to be readily connected without special tools by relatively unskilled labor and without the use of nails or threaded fastening means. Furthermore, the joints between the panels connected by the novel studding are not exposed and do not require spackling, tape or other retaining means. The studding includes openings to permit the assembly of electrical wiring, piping, heating and ventilating ducts.

The novel studding disclosed in the aforementioned application basically comprises a pair of half stud members held together by rotating clamps. The half stud members are preferably of identical construction, each including a first longer walland a second shorter wall, the first and second walls running generally parallel to each other and connected by a bridging section, each wall terminating in a free edge tab portion.

The two half stud members are disposed against each other in such a way that the longer first wall of each half stud member is immediately adjacent the other, such that the respective tabs of the first and second parallel walls extend away from each other. A vjnyl separator is interposed between the adjacent first parallel walls and possesses an exterior seal at one end and an interior sea] at the other end.

The walls are erected by providing an interior panel having longitudinal grooves formed in the interior surface adjacent each vertical edge. half stud member is attached to the panel at each vertical edge with the tabs of the second parallel walls of the first half stud member being received in the longitudinal grooves of the panel. The exterior panel with its associated half studs is then so positioned with respect to a previously erected exterior wall panel (which already has a stud associated therewith) that the half studs of the previously erected wall panel and the nearest half stud of the panel about to be erected may be secured together with rotating clamps after a vinyl separator has been interposed between the first parallel walls of the two half stud members.

A novel spring clip is provided to enable the half stud members to be simply and securely fastened to a horizontal wall plate. The clip also has other fastening functions, one of which being to secure the half stud members to a supporting brace.

The clip essentially comprises a body portion from which a tab portion extends at one end thereof, with a spring finger extending from the other end of the body portion. The clip is adapted to snap into a pair of slots that may exist in adjacent walls that are to be secured together. To that end, the tab portion is simply slipped into one of the slot pairs and the spring finger is passed through the other slot pair and allowed to move in a locking position.

Heretofore, various floor support assemblies for modular systems have been proposed, but such assemblies have suffered from various deficiencies such as for example, they require a large inventory of specially fabricated parts, they are complex, they require skilled workman or special tools for assembly and are relatively expensive.

It is a general object of this invention to provide a novel floor support assembly which overcomes the above described disadvantages of prior art floor support assemblies.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a novel floor support assembly formed of standardized 7 parts which can be fabricated when needed, can be put together readily by relatively unskilled workman without special tools.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide in a floor support assembly, a novel floor joist.

It is another object of this invention to provide a novel clip for readily connecting a floor joist in a floor support assembly.

It is still another object of this invention to provide in a floor support assembly, a novel beam which can be fabricated when needed and which is adapted for supporting a floor joist thereon.

It is still another object of this invention to provide in a floor support assembly, a beam, which when connected to a similar beam, forms a hollow beam section which not only serves to support associated floor'joists in the assembly but also serves as a heating and/or cooling duct.

The foregoing as well as other objects of the invention are achieved by providing a floor support assembly comprising a beam including a first ledge, an elongated floor joist including a bottom wall and a pair of side walls, a portion of the bottom wall being disposed upon and supported by the first ledge and locking clip means for connecting the floor joist to the beam. The floor joist is a generally V-shaped member including a pair of ledges adapted for supporting a floor panel thereon. The floor panel includes grooves into which the joists flanges are disposed. The clip means includes a portion extending through a hole in the side wall of the joist and into a hole in the beam. The bottom wall of the joist includes a hole which is aligned with a hole in the ledge of the beam and through which another portion of the clip extends.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a floor support assembly in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an end portion of a floor joist and associated connecting clip like that shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 44 of FIG. 3;

' FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a portion of a floor support assembly utilizing a beam section which not only supports the floor joist thereon but also acts as a heating and/or cooling-duct;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a portion of a pair of interconnected floor support assemblies, said assemblies and interconnecting beams serving as a heating and/or cooling duct system; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a portion of a hollow floor support beam section showing its connection in a heating and cooling system of a housing structure.

Referring now in greater detail to the various figures of the the drawing wherein like reference characters refer to like parts, a floor support assembly in accordance with one aspect of this invention is shown generally at in FIG. 1.

Assembly 20 basically comprises a beam 22, an elongated floor joist 24 and a locking anchor or clip 26. The assembly is arranged to support a floor of a housing structure. To that end, the joist is supported by a ledge portion of the beam and is connected thereto by clip 26. The floor joist includes ledges upon which a floor panel is disposed.

In accordance with the preferred embodiment of this invention, both the beam 22 and the joist 24 are formed of roll steel stock, such as 20 gauge roll steel stock, and can be readily fabricated when needed. This feature is of considerable importance in the housing construction industry where heretofore the maintenance of large inventories was required in order to permit the construction buildings from standard-type parts. Needless to say, such large parts inventories result in increased overall building costs due to the increased storage and handling costs attendant with such inventories. Furthermore, by eliminating large inventories, the problem of having surplus parts left over once the building is completed, is minimized, if not eliminated.

As can be seen in FIG. 1, beam 22 is an enlonga'ted member and includes a wall portion 28 from which a lower ledge 30 projects normally. The lower ledge serves as the means for supporting joist 24 in assembly 20. A short wall 32 extends fromthe lower ledge and is generally parallel to wall 28. The short wall serves as a strengthening portion of the beam. A back ledge 34 extends away at an angle from the short wall 32. The back ledge terminates in a lower flange 36 having a plurality of slots 38 therein.

Beam 22 also includes an upper ledge 40 which is parallel to the lower ledge 30 and extends in the opposite direction thereto. The upper ledge aids the joist in supporting a floor panel and terminates in an upper flange 42 also having a plurality of slots 38 therein. The upper flange 42 is coplanar with lower flange 36.

As will be considered in detail later, the flanges and their associated slots serve as a means for connecting the beam to other structural members, such as similar beams.

The floor joist 24 is an elongated member including a base or a bottom wall portion 44 extending the length of the joist and a pair of side walls 46 extending therealong and projecting at an angle to the bottom wall to form a generally V-shaped cross section. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the joist of this invention, each of the side walls project at an angle of between and 105. In the embodiment shown in the drawing, the angle is approximately Each side wall of the floor joist terminates in a ledge 48 which extends along the side wall and is parallel to the bottom wall. The ledges are coplanar and are adapted for directly supporting thereon a planar floor panel 50, as will be described later.

As can be seen in FIG. 1, one end of floor joist 24 is supported on ledge 30 of beam 22, via a portion of the bottom wall 44 at the end of the joist, with the end of the joist abutting wall 28 of the beam. The other end of the floor joist is similarly supported on another ledge beam 22 (not shown). The height of the floor joist 24 is slightly greater than the length of the wall 28 of beam 22. Accordingly, when joist 24 is supported on the beam, via its ledge 30, the joists ledges 48 are disposed slightly above the upper ledge 40 of the beam.

The manner in which the floor joist 24 supports floor panel 50 can best be appreciated with reference to FIG. 4. As can be seen therein, floor panel 50 includes a pair of grooves 52 in the underside of the panel. The grooves extend the length of the panel and each is adapted to receive therein a respective joint ledge 48, with the joist ledge in direct contact with the bottom of the groove. In so doing, the ledges serve to directly support the floor panel thereon. Furthermore, the coaction of the ledges and the grooves hold the floor panel in place. Once held in place, the floor panel may be secured to the joist via conventional attachment means (not shown). I

The portions of the floor panel between the grooves adjacent the ends of the panel, one of which being denoted by reference numeral 54 in FIG. 4, are disposed on beam ledge 40 when the joists ledges 48 are disposed in the associated panel grooves 52. Hence, beam ledge 40 aids the joist in supporting the floor panel.

The general V-shape of the joist gives the joist substantial strength for supporting the floor panel, while enabling the joist to be relatively light in weight. These features make the joist ideal for use in constructing buildings with relatively unskilled labor and without special tools or heavy equipment.

A pair of locking clips 26 serve to rapidly and securely connect the joist 24 to the beam 22 and for locking the joist in place. The clips are held in place within holes in the joist. To that end and as can be seen in FIGS. 2 and 4, joist 24 includes a pair of holes or openings 56 in its bottom wall immediately adjacent the end of the joist. Each of the holes is disposed adjacent a respective side wall. A similar pair of holes (not shown) is provided in the bottom wall immediately adjacent the other end of the joist. Furthermore, each side wall 46 of the joist includes an elongated opening or slot 58 which is disposed near the top of the side wall at the end of the joist.

Portions of one locking clip 26 are disposed within one of the slots 58 and an associated opening 44 ofjoist 24 and portions of the other locking clip are disposed within the other of the slots 58 and openings 44.

As can be seen in FIG. 2, each locking clip 26 comprises an elongated body portion 60 having one end from which a long leg 62 projects normally and another end from which a short leg 64 projects in the opposite direction as the long leg. The long leg includes a main portion 66 and an offset portion 68. The offset portion terminates in a locking ear 70 projecting parallel to the body portion 60 of the clip. The short leg 64 includes a main portion 72 and an offset portion 74.

The manner in which the clips 26 are connected to the joist 24 is shown in FIG. 2, with one clip being shown disconnected from the joist.

As can be seen, the body portion 60 of clip 26 is disposed within the V-shaped joist adjacent its end. The main portion of long leg 62 extends through slot 58 so that the offset portion 68 and its associated locking ear 70 project away from the joist in a generally longitudinal direction. The main leg portion 72 of the short leg of the clip is disposed on a portion of the bottom wall contiguous with the hole 56. The offset portion 74 of the short leg passes through the hole 56 and extends in a direction generally parallel to the plane of the bottom wall 44.

The clips 26 are each formed of a resilient steel to enable slight flexure thereof. Such flexure is necessary in order to effectuate the connection of the clip to the beam as will be described later.

Beam 22 includes a plurality of relatively large holes or openings 76 in its lower ledge 30, only one of which can be seen in FIG. 1, which receive the offset portions 74 of the short legs 64 of the clips in order to aid in the connection of the joist to the beam. To that end, as can be seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the end of the joist 24 is positioned on ledge 30 of beam 22 in a manner such that the holes 56 of the joist overlie one opening 76 in the beam. When the clips are disposed in the joists holes as described above, the offset portion 74 of the clips not only extend through the joists holes 56 but also through the beam opening76. The distance which the offset portion 74 of the short leg is offset from the main portion 72 is made such that the main portion 72 abuts the inside surface of the bottom wall 44 of the joist and the offset portion 74 abuts the inside surface of the base, thereby holding the clip is place.

As can be seen in FIG. 1, the upper ledge 40 of the beam includes a plurality of holes 78 generally aligned adjacent each ledge opening 76. The holes 78 are adapted to receive the locking ears of the clips 26 therein, to complete the connection and the locking of the joist to the beam once the short leg portions of the clips are held in place as described above.

The locking of the long leg ears within the associated holes 78 in the beam 24 is accomplished by flexing the long legs 62 of the clip slightly upward over the ledge 40 so as to position each of the ears over a respective hole 78 therein. Upon releasing the long leg portions, they return to their unflexed condition and the ears move into the holes 78, thereby locking the clips 26 in place.

As should thus be appreciated, the floor joist 24 can be easily and rapidly connected to the beam 22 and 6 locked in place utilizing the novel clips of this invention and without the need for other fastening means. Furthermore, while each end of the joist 24 is shown as being connected by a pair of locking clips 26, it is to be understood that an integral clip, configured like a wishbone, can be utilized in lieu of the two separate clips shown.

In FIG. 5 there is shown the manner in which two beams 22 are connected together to form a hollow beam section 80 which is operative for not only supporting the floor joists 24 thereon, but also for acting as a duct carrying heating and cooling air throughout the building structure.

As can be seen therein, two beams 22 are connected together at their upper and

lower flanges

44 and 36, respectively by generally U-shaped elongated beam spacers 82. The beam spacers are connected and locked in place by spring clips 84.

The details of the spring clips are disclosed in the aforementioned patent application entitled Modular Building and such disclosure is directly incorporated herein. Accordingly, the details of clip 84 will not be reiterated herein, suffice to state that each of the spring clips includes a body portion from which a tab portion extends at one end and a spring finger extends at the other end. The clip is adapted to snap into a pair of slots in a pair of members to be connected together. To that end, the tab portion is slipped into one of the slot pairs and the spring finger is passed through the other slot pair and allowed to move in a locking position.

The beam spacers include a pair of side walls 86, each of which terminates in a flanged edge forming a channel 88. The channels 88 are adapted for receiving and holding a flange of a beam 22. As can be seen, the beam spacers include a plurality of slots 90 in the side walls 86.

When the beams flanges are disposed within the associated channels 88 in the interposed beam spacers 82, with the slots 38 therein aligned with the slots 90 in the beam spacers, clips 84 are inserted into the aligned slots to lock the beams together.

In accordance with one aspect of this invention, the beam spacers may extend the entire length of the beam section 80 or may be interrupted to allow vertical strucural members to pass therebetween for supporting the horizontal beam sections 80.

In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention, the vertical structural members are tubular supporting beams which also serve as heating and cooling ducts.

In FIG. 6 there is shown the manner in which one of the beam sections 80 and associated floor joists is supported above another beam section 80 and associated floor joists. As can be seen therein, one beam section and associated floor joists 24 is supported above a similar beam section and associated floor joists by a vertically extending tubular post 92. Post 92 is operative to not only support the beam sections 80 but also to carry either hot or cold air to the beam sections and to intermediate points for distribution throughout the building structure.

As can be seen, the vertical tubular post 92 comprises two double-channelled, half sections 94 having a pair of end flanges 96 extending therealong. Each of the end flanges 96 include a plurality of slots 98 to enable the flanges to be connected together by spring clips 84 to form the post. The connected doublechannel half sections form a post having a pair of ducts 100 extending therealong.

The post 92 also includes a plurality of small slots (not shown) which are horizontally disposed adjacent one another and aligned with slots 38 in the

flanges

36 and 42 of beam 80. These slots serve as the means for supporting beam 80 on vertical post 92. To that end, spring clips 84 are inserted in the aligned slots thereby connecting and locking beam 80 with respect to post 92.

Portions of the adjacent upper and lower flanges of the beam section 80 between the vertical beams are connected by beam spacers 82 in the manner as previously discussed. The beam spacers include a slot (not shown) in the bottom wall of the U-shaped member to accommodate the flanges 96 of the vertical post 92 and to enable the spacers 82 to abut the vertical post 92.

As can be seenjnFlG. 6, each duct of the vertical post includes a plurality of large distributor openings 102 for enabling air passing through the duct 100 to exit therefrom. A pair of distributor openings 102 is provided within the vertical post portion within the hollow beam secton 80. Accordingly, air is enabled to flow horizontally through the beam sections 80 and then vertically through the vertical post 92 for distribution throughout the building structure.

In FIG. 7 there is shown the manner in which heating and cooling air is introduced into the tubular post section for distribution throughout the building structure.

As can be seen, a beam section 80 is formed of a pair of beams 22 connected together, via their

flanges

36 and 42 by beam spacers 82 and by spring clips 84, in the same manner as previously described.

The heat and/or cooling unit for the building structure is not shown but is connected to a plenum chamber 104. The plenum chamber includes an opening 106 through which hot or cold air exits the chamber. A flared duct 108 is connected to the opening 106 in the plenum chamber. The duct includes a rectangular walled mouth 110. The mouth includes a pair of walls 112 separated by the same distance as spacing between the associated flanges 36 of beam 20 so that the mouths wall fit between the flanges of the beam. The walls 112 include a plurality of slots 114, which are aligned with slots 38 in the beam s flanges to enable the walls to be connected to the beam section 80. Accordingly, hot or cold air from the plenum chamber is enabled to flow through the duct 108 and mouth 110 into the interior beam 80 and from thence throughout the building structure.

As should be appreciated from the foregoing description, the floor support assemblies in accordance with this invention are relatively simple and inexpensive, can be fabricated when needed, can be readily assembled and locked in place utilizing simple clips, without skilled labor and without special tools and serve as not only structural supports but also as the heating and/or cooling system of the housing structure. All of the above features make the floor support assembly and component beams, joists and clips ideal building components for producing low cost, yet attractive buildings of various overall designs.

Without further elaboration, the foregoing will so 7 fully illustrate our invention that others may, by applying current or future knowledge, readily adapt the same for use under various conditions of service.

What is claimed as the invention is:

1. In a floor structure including a floor panel floor support assembly comprising a beam having an opening therein and including a first ledge, an elongated floor joist adapted for supporting said floor panel directly thereon and including a bottom wall and a pair of side walls, a portion of said bottom wall being disposed upon and supported by said first ledge and detachable, resilient locking clip means located between said floor joist and said beam and including an end portion snap fit into said opening for connecting said floor joist to said beam and for locking said floor joist in place with respect to said beam.

2. The assembly of claim 1 wherein each of said side walls of the joist include a ledge, said ledges being coplanar and being adapted for supporting said panel thereon.

3. The assembly of claim 2 wherein said panel includes a pair of grooves in which said joist ledges are disposed.

4. The assembly of claim 2 wherein said side walls extend at an angle to said bottom wall so as to form a generally V-shaped member.

5. The assembly of claim 1 wherein at least one of said side walls includes an opening therein through which a portion of said clip means extends.

6. The assembly of claim 5 wherein said beam includes an opening through which another portion of said clip means extends.

7. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the clip means comprises a pair of clips, each of said side walls includes an opening through which a portion of a respective clip extends, said ledge includes an opening, said bottom wall of the joist includes a pair of openings, each of which being disposed over the opening in the ledge, each of the clips including a portion extending through respective openings in the bottom wall of the joist and the aligned opening in the ledge of the beam.

8. The assembly of claim 7 wherein each of said clips includes an elongated body portion, a short leg projecting at an angle therefrom and a long leg projecting at an opposed angle therefrom, said long leg terminating in a projecting ear, each of said short legs extending through respective openings in the bottom wall of the joist and the aligned opening in the ledge of the beam with the projecting ears of the respective long legs disposed within respective openings in the beam.

9. A floor support assembly comprising a beam having an opening therein and including a first ledge having an opening therein, an elongated floor joist adapted for supporting a floor panel directly thereon and including a bottom wall having an opening therein and a pair of side walls, at least one of said side walls including an opening therein, a portion of said bottom wall being disposed upon and supported by said ledge with the opening in the bottom wall being aligned with the opening in said ledge, and locking clip means for connecting said floor joist to said beam, said clip means including a portion extending through said aligned openings, a portion extending through the opening in said side wall of the joist and a portion extending into the opening in said beam.

10. The assembly of claim 9 wherein said clip includes an elongated body portion, a short leg projecting at an angle therefrom and a long leg projecting at an opposed angle therefrom, said long leg terminating in a projecting ear, said short leg extending through said aligned openings, said long leg extending through said opening in the joist side wall with the projecting ear disposed within the opening in the beam.