Static structures (e.g. – buildings) – With indicia
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-09
2001-04-24
Friedman, Carl D. (Department: 3635)
Static structures (e.g., buildings)
With indicia
C052S650200, C052S651110, C052S652100, C052S693000, C033S679000, C033S679100, C033S669000, C033S493000, C033S494000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06219976
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a multi-purpose, positioning and fastening strap with repetitive, spaced markings thereon and methods of its use in the construction of buildings. More particularly, this invention concerns a flexible, durable, substantially non-stretchable strap with coded, repetitive and spaced markings thereon. The strap, in one application thereof, will facilitate the use of a pneumatic hammer in the construction of buildings, in another application, will facilitate the alignment of shingles on a roof of a building, and, in other applications, will facilitate the alignment and fastening of repetitively spaced, structural members such as rafters, joists, and studs used in the construction of buildings. In all applications for the multi-purpose strap of this invention, the strap becomes an integral and permanent part of the building construction.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, layout or measuring tapes with repetitive, spaced markings thereon have been used in the construction of buildings but these tapes were generally not constructed from a material which would retain its integrity when subjected to the action of a pneumatic hammer and/or which would remain in tact when used to fasten or hold structural members in a spaced relationship in the construction of buildings. For example, the use of adhesive tapes in the construction of buildings is discussed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,845,858, 4,942,670 and 5,012, 590.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,669,235 discloses the use of a spacing and support member constructed from steel banding for spacing and attaching multiple cross-members of building structures; however, said spacing and support member does not have markings per se thereon but rather spaced protrusions for spacing of the cross-members and said spacing and support member does not appear to be flexible. U.S. Pat. No. 1,170,521 discloses the use of an alignment tape in the laying of roofing material, however, the material of the tape is disclosed at line 35, page 2, as being made out of cheap paper. U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,234 discloses the use of an elongated tape having inscribed thereon coded indicia for laying out courses for the installation of roofing tile of various sizes, however, the tape is of the reusable type with a releasable gripping means. U.S. Pat. No. 4,301,596 discloses a reusable measuring tape with numerical indicia thereon.
More recently, U.S. Pat. No. 5,161,345 discloses a flexible strap used for construction purposes wherein the strap has one set of marks thereon at predetermined, spaced points along the length thereof.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed towards a multi-purpose, positioning and fastening strap which is flexible, durable, and substantially non-stretchable. The strap has on one side thereof spaced periodic marks which may be color coded or comprised of different indicia. The marks are used in the alignment of shingles on the roof of a building or in the spacing and alignment of structural building members such as rafters, joists and studs. Another application for the strap, irrespective of the marks thereon, is its use in the fastening or holding down of tar or felt paper to a roof. In all applications of the multi-purpose strap of this invention, the strap becomes an integral or permanent part of the building structure. The spaced marks on the strap may, for example, be at 5″, 16″ and 24″ spaced intervals or at any other intervals conventionally used in the construction of building structures; the markings at 5″ may be of one color, at 16″ of another color, and at 24″ a third color. The strap itself is made from a flexible, durable, non-stretchable material, preferably, from a hard, durable plastic. The strap should have a high breaking load such that it will not break when subjected to nails driven therein by a pneumatic hammer or when subjected to the tensions brought about by being fastened to periodically spaced members such as rafters, joists or studs in a building structure. The strap may be ½″, ¾″, or 1″ in width, other widths may also be used. The strap may be from several hundred feet to several thousand feet in length (or of any other convenient length) and may be dispensed from a closed or unenclosed dispenser. A strap suitable for this invention is “polystrap” which is commercially available and often used to bind stock materials, for example, plywood sheaths.
One application of the multi-purpose strap of this invention is holding down or fastening strips of tar or felt paper to the roof of a building. Generally, strips of tar or felt paper are laid down on the roof of a building in an overlapping manner and then nailed down to the base of the roof. The base of the roof is usually made from plywood of a predetermined thickness. The nailing is normally done manually by a roofer or carpenter using a conventional hammer and shingle nails. The nails are applied along the overlapping portions of the strips of tar or felt paper and along the end or side portions thereof This process is very time consuming. It would be advantageous to use a pneumatic hammer to drive the nails into the strips of tar or felt paper in order to fasten or secure them to the base of the roof since this would be a faster and less time-consuming process. However, when a pneumatic hammer is used to drive the nails into the strips of tar or felt paper in order to secure or fasten them to the roof, the driving force of the pneumatic hammer is so powerful that the nail-heads are driven completely through the strips of tar or felt paper thereby thwarting the securement or fastening of the strips of tar or felt paper to the roofing base. However, when the multi-purpose strap of this invention is used along the length of the overlapping portions of the strips of tar or felt paper, a pneumatic hammer can safely be used to drive the nails into the strips of tar or felt paper since the nail-heads are prevented from piercing through them due to the strength of the intervening strap. Another important advantage in laying down and fastening the tar or felt paper to the base in the overlap area with a multi-purpose strap of this invention is to insure that there is no wind blow-off or up-lift of the tar or felt paper before the shingles are laid down. Basically, the strap is laid down and stretched over the overlapping portions of adjacent strips of tar or felt paper and then nailed onto the base of the roof utilizing a pneumatic hammer. For this particular application the marks on the strap are not used.
Another application of the positioning-fastening strap of this invention is aligning and fastening the roofing trusses of a building. Normally, a first roofing truss is plumbed and then secured to one end of a roofing support frame and a second roofing truss is also plumbed and then secured to an opposite end of a roofing support frame. Additional trusses are subsequently spaced periodically from the first roofing truss utilizing a measuring tape or stick and a plurality of wooden cross members secured to the rafters of successively positioned trusses. Subsequent to this process, sheaths of plywood of a predetermined thickness are placed over the cross members and secured thereto, thereby forming the base of a roofing structure. The preceding is a time consuming process. In order to facilitate the construction of a roofing structure for a building, the positioning-fastening strap of this invention is utilized. A plurality of roofing trusses are to be mounted and secured to a support frame on top of a building structure. Instead of using a measuring tape or stick for alignment of the trusses and instead of using wooden cross members, a plurality of the positioning-fastening straps of this invention are stretched across and secured to the aforementioned plumbed opposing trusses. Then, each successive truss is spaced from the previous truss by means of positioning-fastening straps on the support frame and s
DeMeo Palmer C.
Friedman Carl D.
Horton Yvonne M.
LandOfFree
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