Static structures (e.g. – buildings) – Assembled in situ-type anchor or tie – Sheet or wire tie
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-03
2001-01-30
Safavi, Michael (Department: 3635)
Static structures (e.g., buildings)
Assembled in situ-type anchor or tie
Sheet or wire tie
C052S217000, C052S745160, C049S505000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06178717
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an improvement in the method used to hang pre-hung doors in the rough door openings of the walls of homes or buildings under construction or during remodeling projects. More specifically, to the design of a metallic clip that can connect to both the door opening and a pre-hung door frame which will allow a person of average skills to easily install a pre-hung door or door jamb that is plumb and level.
In the past, in order to achieve an accurate installation of a pre-hung door unit or door jamb, so that it is plumb and level, workman and carpenters have had to use a painstaking trial and error method of nailing wood shims or expensive metal adjustable devices between the door units jamb and the walls rough opening in order to plumb and level the pre-hung door and secure it to the rough opening. When installing a pre-hung door the installer has two options. Option one is to leave the pre-hung door by older methods hanging or attached to the jamb and install the unit as a whole. Option two is to remove it from it's hinges and install just the jamb and then replace the door.
The advantage of leaving a pre-hung door attached to it's jamb during installation is that it allows the carpenter to use the door as a squaring device to determine that the proper clearance between the door and door jamb has been applied. Also by leaving the door attached the installer can ascertain whether the door is closing against the door stop correctly and thus, the installation is proper. The disadvantage of leaving the door attached is that the door creates a significant obstacle to the installer while placing and fastening shims to plumb and level the door jamb. Installation of a pre-hung door with the door in the jamb may require more than one workman in order to deal with the cumbersome obstacle.
The second type of installation of a pre-hung door is when the installer removes the door and installs just the door jamb. The advantage of this is that the jamb itself becomes less cumbersome as the weight is greatly reduced and the door is removed as an obstacle to installation. However, this method creates significant problems in that the odds are greater that the jamb will not be installed correctly and thus the door will not fit properly when re-installed onto the jamb. This method can be extremely time consuming and may also require a highly skilled craftsman in order to perform the tasks. All of this, including the skill level of the craftsman, the time involved and the need to readjust and constantly use trial and error when hanging a door significantly contributes to higher installation costs, labor costs, and thus an end cost to a home or building owner.
In the prior art, various methods of hanging door frames are known. One such method is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,320,705 issued Jun. 15, 1965 to Downing, Jr. for a door frame fastener. This patent discloses the use of metal clips that may be attached to the rough opening of a door in order to allow a metal door frame to then be attached to the clips. Although this method uses clips to hang a door frame, it in no way addresses the problem of plumbing and leveling a wooden or pre-hung door. This method addresses only the problem of connecting a U-shaped metal door frame to a rough opening.
Another type of adjustable door frame that is known is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,986,044 issued to Funari on Jan. 22, 1991. This patent discloses an adjustable door jamb assembly that can be aligned and installed in a door opening. This patent discloses the use of snap in guide clips to support the jamb assembly and adjust it. However, once again, this assembly appears to work only with metal type door frames and the clips must be pre-installed on the door and the door specially made to use this type of clip.
From this discussion it can be seen that it would be desirable to provide a method to hang pre-hung door frames of all types including wooden and composite type frames and to make such method easily usable so as to decrease the level of time and skill required when installing pre-hung door frames.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is the primary objective of the present invention to provide a method of hanging pre-hung doors or door jambs by the use of a metallic clip that can be used externally to hold and secure the door in the proper position within an existing door opening.
It is an additional objective of the present invention to provide such a method that will allow a door to be easily adjusted while in the door opening to a perfectly plumb and level orientation prior to its being permanently attached to the door opening.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide such a method that is usable by a person of average skills to hang a door that is perfectly plumb and level within the door opening.
It is a still further objective of the present invention to provide such a method that decreases the time necessary to hang a door and will therefore lower the costs of completing this task.
These objectives are accomplished by the use of a door hanging system that utilizes a plurality of metallic elongated U-shaped clips that span the area between the edge of the door opening and the door jamb. These metallic clips also serve to support the weight of the pre-hung door or door jamb during the adjustment phase of the installation and to permanently anchor it once the proper orientation of the door has been achieved. Additionally, the clips are designed in a fashion that they can be concealed behind the door finishing trim commonly used in construction today.
The metallic clips form a squared off elongated U-shape having a relatively long back and two relatively short legs extending from either end of the clip back. One of these legs form the clip foot which is used to anchor the clip in a precut kerf located in the door jamb and the other is a spike which is driven into the wall once the door jamb is set in the correct position. The clips are constructed with a relatively long back portion which contains an elongated screw attachment hole extending from near the spike end to approximately its center. When the door is properly located in this manner, a plurality of attachment screws are driven into the wall through the screw attachment holes which permanently anchor the pre-hung door or door jamb in the door opening.
For a better understanding of the present invention reference should be made to the drawings and the description in which there are illustrated and described preferred embodiments of the present invention.
REFERENCES:
patent: 990209 (1911-04-01), MacKenzie
patent: 1093674 (1914-04-01), Winans
patent: 1308276 (1919-07-01), Connell
patent: 1926673 (1933-09-01), Gregg
patent: 3320705 (1967-05-01), Downing, Jr.
patent: 3741068 (1973-06-01), Andruskiewicz
patent: 3966157 (1976-06-01), Corral et al.
patent: 4224772 (1980-09-01), Bene et al.
patent: 4471590 (1984-09-01), Roberts et al.
patent: 4840002 (1989-06-01), Lovgren
patent: 4986044 (1991-01-01), Funari
patent: 5050832 (1991-09-01), Lee et al.
patent: 5365697 (1994-11-01), Vanderpan
Harr Curtis
Safavi Michael
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