Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
WALL PANEL FASTENER
invention
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I. field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally
to paneled wall constructions in which wall panels
are secured to studs on a wall frame and, more
particularly, to clips which are impaled in the
edge of the wall panel and which are directly
secured to the studs of the frame.
II Desert lion of the Prior Art
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The mounting of wall panels to wall
frames can be accomplished in a number of ways.
Preferably, however, it is most desirable to
secure the wall panels to the frame without
marring the surface appearance of the wall panels
and in a manner which does not require the use of
a decorative cover over the joint of adjacent
panels to hide the fastening devices.
Accordingly, a number of panel mounting clips
which secure the panels to the studs of the wall
frame and which permit adjacent panels to be
interlocked with respect to one another have been
developed.
The first clip of this type is disclosed
in US. Patent No. 3,308~590 to Eater et at. The
fastener of Eater et at comprises a flat base
yo-yo
portion having a hole there through so that the
base portion can be mounted to a wall structure.
The shoulder extends normally from one end of the
base portion. A pair of flat legs extend
outwardly from the shoulder and the legs are
substantially coplanar with the base portion
Sharp pins extend outwardly from the top of the
shoulder in the same direction as the legs but
spaced apart from and parallel the legs. The pins
are embedded in the edge of the Allah panel so
that the shoulder abuts against the edge of the
panel. Thus, the legs extend behind the rear
surface of the wall panel while the base extends
outwardly from the edge of the panel and can be
secured to a stud in the wall structure. The
Eater et at clip has proven to be quite
satisfactory for its intended purpose
Another previously known fastener for
mounting wall boards is disclosed in US. Patent
Nos. yo-yo and 4,221,095 to Weiner. Weiner
discloses a fastener comprising a plate portion
and a tongue portion extending from the center of
the plate portion in a coplanar arrangement. A
web which extends substantially normal to the
plate, supports an impaling flange adjacent each
side of the tongue which extends outwardly from
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the top of the web in a spaced apart but parallel
relationship to the plate portion. An elongated
depression extends across the plate and tongue
portions, and an elongated slot is disposed in the
tongue portion or the depression. The Weiner clip
suffers the disadvantage that the fastener can
only be secured to a wall structure through the
tongue portion. Thus, the fastener of Weiner is
not suited for use in securing a wall hoard in the
corner of a wall structure. Furthermore, the side
walls of the depression serve to strengthen the
coplanar disposition of the tongue and plate
portions so that modification of their coplanar
relationship is extremely difficult.
The present invention overcomes the above
mentioned disadvantages by providing a wall panel
fastener which, when installed, is disposed behind
the rear surface of the wall panel to be hung and
which can be secured to a stud member adjacent to
or directly behind the wall panel to be mounted.
In addition, the fastener includes segmented
supporting ribs which strengthen the fastener
against inadvertent deformation but which permit
the tongue to be easily severed from the main body
portion to permit the fastener to be used for
~2~(~3~
mounting a wall panel in the corner of a wall structure. At
the same time, these strengthening ribs serve to support the
wall panels a slight distance away from the studs to which the
panels are secured so that the head of the fastener used install- -
in -the clip fits between the stud and the wall panel and the
adjacent panels lie flush.
Specifically, the fastener of the present invention
comprises a wallboard fastener comprising a single piece of
sheet material having: a base portion, said base having a first
aperture -there through; a tongue portion extending outwardly from
and coplanar with said base portion, said tongue portion having
a second aperture there through and said tongue having two sides
which intersect said base portion; a pair of first flanges, each
flange extending substantially perpendicularly outwardly from
said base portion, one first flange disposed on each side of
said tongue; a pair of impaling flanges, each impaling flange
extending from one first flange in a plane parallel to but
spaced from said base portion, said impaling flanges overlying
a portion of said base portion, at least one rib formed in said
base portion, said base rib protruding outwardly from said base
portion in the same direction as said first flanges, and at
least two ribs formed in said tongue portion, said tongue ribs
protruding outwardly from said tongue in the same direction as
said first flanges, one tongue rib being formed adjacent each
side of said tongue so that said tongue aperture is positioned
in between said tongue ribs, said tongue ribs terminating short
of an edge of said tongue portion most spaced from said base
portion. Preferably, a short rib is disposed in the interspace
between the ribs in the tongue section and the ribs in the base
section, and is parallel to, but offset from the ribs of the
I. i
blue
tongue and base portions.
Thus, the present invention provides a fastener which
permits a wall panel to be secured
pa
,
to a stud behind the rear surface of the panel as
well as to a stud adjacent to the wall panel being
mounted. Nevertheless, when it is desired to
mount a wall panel in the corner of a wall
structure, the tongue portion is removed from the
base portion by severing the tongue from the base
intermediate the ribs. Accordingly, the aperture
in the base portion receives the fastener
there through and thus secures the wall panel
engaged by the impaling flanges to a stud in the
corner of the wall structure.
I lo t l e . r i p f tax I
The present invention will be more
clearly understood by reference to the following
detailed description when read in conjunction with
the accompanying drawing in which like reference
characters refer to like parts throughout the
several views and in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a
fastener of the present invention;
FIG 2 is a perspective view of a
fastener installed on a wall panel which is
secured at the corner of a wall structure; and
IT. 3 is a perspective view of the
fasteners of the present invention as secured to
adjacent wall panels.
Detailed Description of a Preferred
Embodiment of the Present Invention
Referring first to FIG. 1, a fastener 10
according to the present invention is the reshown
comprising a sheet material 12 of such as metal.
The sheet 12 includes the base portion 14 and a
coplanar elongated tongue portion 16 extending
outwardly from the base portion 14. Each of the
portions 14 and 16 are provided with a
substantially centrally located aperture 18 and
20, respectively. Raised flanges 22 extend
outwardly substantially normal to the plane of the
base 14 at one edge of the base adjacent each side
of the tongue 16. Each flange 22 supports an
impaling flange 24. Each impaling flange 24
extends outwardly above the base section 14 in a
substantially parallel but spaced apart
relationship.
Still referring to EGO. 1, a pair of ribs
28 are aligned along opposing sides of the
aperture 18. The ribs extend upwardly out of the
plane of the base section 14 toward the impaling
flanges 24~ Preferably, the ribs are formed by
punching or depressing portions of the plate
section 14.
Similarly, the tongue section 16 includes
a pair of ribs 30 disposed on opposite sides of
the aperture 20. As shown in FIX. 1, the ribs 30
are aligned along the peripheral sides of the
tongue 16 and in the embodiment shown are aligned
with the ribs 28 in base section lg.
Nevertheless, the ribs 30 are spaced apart from
the ribs 2g so as to provide a substantially flat
portion there between for a reason to be discussed
in detail hereinafter.
As also shown in FIG. l, the fastener 10
preferably includes a further strengthening rib 32
extending across the junction between the base
section 14 and the tongue section 16. The
intermediate rib 32 is spaced apart from the ribs
28 and 30 and preferably is located substantially
within the interspace between the ribs 28 and 30.
As best shown in FIG. I the fastener 10
of the present invention typically provides an
interlocking connection between adjacent wall
panels 40 and I A first fastener 10 is secured
to the panel 40 by embedding flanges 24 into an
edge 41 of the panel 40 so that the base portion
14 extends behind the rear surface of the panel
40. Additional fasteners 10 are mounted to the
edge 41 in a similar fashion in a spaced apart
arrangement (not shown) which is a well known
arrangement. A fastener, such as a screw 50, is
then installed through the aperture 20 in one or
more of the installed fasteners 10 to secure the
wall panel 40 to a stud 45 of a wall structure.
A plurality of fasteners 10 are then
secured to the edge 43 of a panel 42 by impaling
the flanges 24 in the edge 43 of the panel. A
plurality of such fasteners are secured along the
edge 43 in a spaced arrangement which is offset
from the arrangement of fasteners positioned along
the edge 41 of panel 40. The tongue section 16 of
the fasteners secured to the edge 43 of panel 42
is then slid behind the panel 40 to secure the
panel against the wall structure in lateral
abutment with the first wall panel 40.
It can be seen that the ribs 28 and 30
press against the rear surface of the panels 40
and 42 so that panels are spaced slightly from the
stud 45~ Thus, these ribs effect a Canterbury
for the head of the fastener 50 and thus, permit
the front surfaces of the panels 40 and 42 to
remain flush. The central rib 32 serves to retain
the coplanar relationship of the tongue 16 with
respect to the base portion 14 while the panel 42
is being slid into position with respect to the
mounted panel 40. In addition, it will be
understood that when the fasteners 10 are
installed on a wall panel prior to shipment of the
panels to a construction site, the central rib 32
serves to prevent inadvertent deformation of the
tongue with respect to the base while tune panels
are being handled and transported.
Referring now to FIG. 2, it can be seen
that the fastener 10 of the present invention is
especially useful in connecting wall panels to a
corner stud in a wall construction. As best shown
in FIG. or the fastener 10 can be secured to a
stud through the aperture 18 in the base section
of the fastener. When the stud is in the corner
of the wall construction such as stud 60 shown in
FIG. 2, tongue section 16 is removed from the
fastener 10 so that the other corner stud 62 can
abut against the flanges 22 of the fasteners which
are entrained in the edge of the wall panel 64.
Removal of the tongue is facilitated by the
separation between strengthening ribs 28 and 30.
When the tongue section 16 is removed, the offset
strengthening rib 32 is no longer necessary.
Since it is offset from the ribs 28J the fastener
10 can easily be sliced or broken through the
interspace between the ribs 28 and 32
substantially as shown by the mark 6Z in FIG. 2.
Since the ribs 28 are not deformed or affected by
the cut in the interspace between the ribs 28 and
32, they still serve Jo provide the proper space
between the stud 60 and the panel I and provide a
clearance space for the head of the fastener 50.
It should else be understood that the
strengthening rib 32 can be Mae to terminate at a
point substantially aligned with the flanges 22 of
the bracket 10 so that the tongue portion 16 can
be bent normal the base portion 14 without
requiring actual cutting of the fastener 10. In
any event, it will be underwood that the fastener
10 of the present invention provides a handy means
for mounting wall panels to a wall frame in a
manner which does not deface the exposed surfaces
of the wall panels. At the same time, they
provide means for securely interlocking adjacent
wall panels secured to a wall structure. In
addition, the ribs provide strength to the
structure as well as a means for providing a
clearance space for the head of a fastener between
the stud and the wall panel. The spacing between
the ribs enables the tongue to be removed without
deforming the rib structures. Moreover, unlike
previously known wall board fasteners, the
fasteners can be secured to a stud through its
base portion which extends behind the panel to be
mounted A combination of these features provides
a clip which is especially advantageous for use in
securing wall panels to a stud in a corner of a
wall construction.
Having thus described the fastener of the
present invention, many modifications thereto will
become apparent to those skilled in the art to
which it pertains without departing from the scope
and spirit of the invention as defined in the
appended claims.
What is claimed is:
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