Static structures (e.g. – buildings) – Assembled in situ-type anchor or tie – With feature engaging form
Reexamination Certificate
2002-04-15
2004-03-23
Friedman, Carl D. (Department: 3635)
Static structures (e.g., buildings)
Assembled in situ-type anchor or tie
With feature engaging form
C052S698000, C411S473000, C411S475000, C411S492000, C411S921000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06708461
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The invention generally relates to construction tools for clamping together and relative spacial adjustment of building materials for their installation in the construction or remodeling of building structures. More specifically, the invention relates to pinch clamps which are driven into two pieces of building material to draw the pieces together allowing their proper attachment together or to a substrate.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In the construction and remodeling of building structures, such as houses or offices, many times two pieces of building materials need to be installed abutting one another. In many of these situations, using a traditional clamp (e.g., a pipe clamp), which grips the far edges of each piece of building material and forces the near edges together, is impractical or impossible. For example, when two boards are connected end to end, the combined length may be either too large for available traditional clamps or may make the use of traditional clamps excessively cumbersome for the installer. In addition, when attaching a piece of building material to another already installed piece, there may not be two opposite edges available for the traditional clamp to grips such as when assembling a countertop substrate.
The pinch clamp does not have these limitations. A pinch clamp is a small hand tool that has two prongs connected with a crossbar. An example of the prior art pinch clamp can be seen in
FIGS. 1 and 2
(prior art). The prior art pinch clamp
10
has two prongs
12
connected by an elongated connecting bar
14
. The prongs
12
are attached to the connecting bar
14
at a base
16
and have chisel edged tips
18
opposite the base
16
. As can be seen in
FIG. 2
(prior art), the chisel edged tips
18
of the prongs
12
do not come to a point but have a chisel edge
20
. The prong
12
has inwardly tapered inner sides
22
and vertical outer sides
24
. In practice, the chisel edged tips
18
of the pinch clamp are driven, usually by a hammer, into pieces of building material to be clamped. The hammer strikes the top prong end
26
of the connecting bar
14
. If the hammer impacts the top middle portion
28
of the connecting bar
14
, the connecting bar
14
may be bent and the pinch clamp
10
will no longer function properly.
Each prong
12
makes a hole in the building material by first inserting a chisel edged tip
18
into the building material and compressing the material surrounding the hole as the inwardly tapered inner side
22
and vertical outer side
24
are driven deeper. The inwardly tapered inner sides
22
of the prongs
12
force the two pieces of building materials together. The midpoint of the prong
12
between the inwardly tapered inner side
22
and the vertical outer side
24
is progressively closer to the center of the pinch clamp
10
along the connecting bar
14
the further up the prong
12
one gets from the chiseled edged tip
20
. Since the building materials compress on both sides of each prong
12
and the midpoint of the prongs are closer to the middle of the pinch clamp
10
as the prongs are driven more deeply into the building materials, the two pieces of building material are thereby clamped together. The hole in the building material is usually filled or otherwise patched unless the building material is to be covered by another material.
While the prior art pinch clamp is widely used, it has several disadvantages. The connecting bar of the prior art pinch clamp may be bent if it is struck with the hammer in a place other than directly at a top end of the pinch clamp above one of the prongs. Further, the pinch clamp is narrow in width, making it easy to entirely miss the pinch clamp with the hammer or to drive the pinch clamp in at an angle other than the desired vertical. In addition, the prior art prongs must be driven rather deeply into the building material in order to cause a significant amount of relative movement or clamping force. Further, when the prior art clamp is driven deeply into the building material, it can be difficult to remove the pinch clamp without damaging the building material further or damaging the pinch clamp.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a pinch clamp which resists bending if struck other than directly above one of the prongs.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a pinch clamp that provides increased clamping force compared to the prior art clamp when driven to the same depth in the building material.
A further object of the invention is to provide a pinch clamp that resists damage from a hammer blow to a portion of the pinch clamp other than directly over a prong.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a larger surface for being impacted with a hammer to ensure the pinch clamp is driven vertically into the building material.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a pinch clamp that can be more readily removed from the building material without damage to the pinch clamp or the building material.
The present invention achieves the above-described objects and advantages, and other objects and advantages which will become apparent from the description which follows, by providing a pinch clamp having two elongated, pyramidal prongs connected by a stiffening beam or connecting bar. Each prong has a triangular base connected to the distal ends of the stiffening beam, a distal pointed tip, an inner flat tapered side, and two outer sides defining a wedge shape. The base of the first prong is connected at its base to the first end of the connecting bar, and the base of the second prong is connected at its base to the second end of the connecting bar. The inner, flat, tapered sides of each prong face each other.
In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the connecting bar has a top surface defining a transverse flange so that the connecting bar forms a stiffening “T”-shaped beam for resisting impact to the connecting bar, such as by a hammer. The preferred embodiment of the current invention also provides a knurled driving surface on each end of the connecting bar for impact by a hammer, allowing the inventive pinch clamp to be driven vertically into the building material. A further embodiment of the present invention comprises at least one removal flange at an end of the connecting bar allowing the removal of the inventive pinch clamp without damage to the pinch clamp or further damage to the building materials.
REFERENCES:
patent: 29472 (1860-08-01), Hughes et al.
patent: 294777 (1884-03-01), Forbes
patent: 426893 (1890-04-01), Wildemore
patent: 862189 (1907-08-01), Olsen
patent: 925638 (1909-06-01), Kerr
patent: 1348142 (1920-07-01), Jaeger
patent: 1639530 (1927-08-01), Payson
patent: 1790348 (1931-01-01), Jewell
patent: 2034080 (1936-03-01), Bitzenburger
patent: 3107390 (1963-10-01), Shelton
patent: 5865586 (1999-02-01), Neville
patent: D427896 (2000-07-01), Pezzella
Friedman Carl D.
Glessner Brian E.
Seed IP Law Group PLLC
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