Scaffold and roof bracket

Application filed May 11, 1921. Serial No. 468,790.

To all whom it may concern:

Befit known that 1, Jay B. F. Showalter, a citizen of the-United States, residing at Pekin, in the county of Tazewell and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Scaffold and Roof Brackets, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to scaffold' and roof brackets, and particularly to adjustable roof and scaffold brackets.

The general objects of my invention are to provide a bracket having a wide range of usefulness, which may be easily applied and securely attached to a building and which, when adjusted, has its parts so locked that it is impossible for the parts to be accidentally shifted or jarred loose.

A further and more specific object is to provide a scaffold bracket of the character above stated having means whereby the boards which may be placed upon tlie sition against shifting movement.

And a further object is to provide an improved form of lock between the board supporting beams of the bracket and a brace therefor which permits a ready adjustment of the board supporting beams into any desired angular relation to the¹ supporting members of the bracket and which is that accidental shifting of this point of engagement cannot occur.

Another object i constructed that the weight of the scaffold 5)

Figure 4 is a fragmentary elevation of an arm 19 and sectional view of the board lock;

Figure 5 is a section on the line 5—5 of Figure 1; .

Figure 6 is a- fragmentary end elevation eo of one of the arms 19;

Figure 7 is a cross section of an arm 19 with the board lock thereon;

Figure 8 is an elevation of the upper end of one of the supporting members 10 show- 65 ing an arm 19 in section;

Figure 9 is a section on the line 9—9 of

Figure 1;

Figure 10 is a perspective view of the bracket.. 70 '

Referring to these drawings, it will be seen that my improved bracket comprises the upwardly divergent supporting members 10. There are two of these members, both of them alike in form. Each member 75 may be made of any suitable material arid is preferably angular in cross section so as . . X-—--- -jr-— -- to provide the web 11 and the outwardly ^lo<i^{ked m} P°-1 projecting flange 12; Each of these^: members 10 is angularly bent at the^: point 13 so that in the use of the device the part 14 lying- above the bend 13 is disposed in a vertical position (see Figure 8), while the parts - below: these bends 13 extend downwardly and in divergent relation to each other. The web 12 of each member 10 is j u -, -.-,7 7---7- ~ formed at its upper end with the upwardly adapted to be so engaged .with the brace and inwardly extending slots 15 adapted that ace.wlp.nf.nl «hfofmn· „·ί — to engage nails whereby the bracket may ., -., , be supported. The lower end of the web 11 is to provide^ a bracket so is formed with a notch 16 or slot (Fioure . , ... --- -— YYSig-t 0. the -scaffold 5),. The flange 12 at its lower end is wfoeh fhlh ^uP°^{n the bol}ts by angularly bent, as at 16% so as to be disposed which the bracket elements are engaged. - m approximately a vertical plane when the

Another object is to prevent any tilting ‘ bracket is in use. This portion 16^a is ^tbe bracket when m use if more formed with a vertically, elongated opening weight should fall , on one or the other of 17 for the nassane of a bolt, while, f.hp nnnor the supporting arms or beams, this tilting of the bracket being a very common fault in 45 brackets now on the market.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:—

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my bracket intone applied position;

struction illustrated in Figure 1:

T7V . r» · · -t -j applied as a roof bracket;

Another object is to prevent any tiltin;

bracket is in use. This portion 16^a is for the passage of a bolt, while the upper end of the flange 11 is formed with an elongated opening 18 for the passage of a bolt.

Engaged with the ripper ends of the inembers 10 are the supporting beams or arms 19 which are also angular in cross section, and at their inner ends have an elongated opening or slot 20 in the downwardly pro- 105

ST? *7°™ ’ . jeeting flange 21 of the arm, while at their figure 2^is a top plan view of the con- outer ends each flange 21 is formed with an

TP* o' -a ! IP—7’- ',' , elongated bolt opening 22. The arms 19 are igure 3 is a side elevation of a bracket connected to the upper ends of the members by means of headed pins or bolts 23 110

100

1,456,940 which are shown as provided with heads on their inner, ends and with cotter pins 24 at . their outer ends. These pins or bolts 23 pivotally connect the arms 21 to the sup5 porting members 10.

A pin or bolt 25 passes through the elongated apertures 17 at the lower ends of the _:members 10 and through the medial flange 27 of a brace 28 which is :T-shaped in cross 10 section. The brace is connected to the outer ends of the arms 19 by means of a locking device, designated generally 29, and consisting of a body 30 whose upper face is hollowed out and formed with a V-shaped slot 15 31, the middle portion of this V-shaped slot being tapered or growing less in width toward its inner end. This body 30 at its end adjacent- to the arms 19 is bifurcated to provide two arms 32 which extend divergently 20 with relation to each other, the inner faces of the arms being beveled outward ancl upward and the ends of these arms being formed with transverse bolt holes 33. A bolt 34 passes through these apertures 33 25 and through the elongated aperture 22 in the ends of the arms 19, this bolt having a head at one end and a nut 35 at its opposite end. The elongated apertures 22 permit the arms 19 to swing from a parallel position to 30 a divergent position upon the bolt and with relation to each other.

The body 30 is provided at its outer end outward of the slot 31 with a downwardly extending lug 36, through which passes a set 35 screw 37, which, when turned home, engages the outer face of the T-shaped brace 28.

Sliclingly mounted upon each arm 19 is a board lock, designated 38, which is formed with an angular slot 39 through which the 40 angular arm 19 loosely passes. The slot 39 is sufficiently larger than the arm 19 to permit a slight rocking movement of the lock 38 upon the arm. By reference to Figure 4, it will be seen that this member 38 is up45 wardly extended, as at 40, and that this upward extension is bulged outward, as at 41, on both faces and that this bulge is above the upper face of the arm 19. The object of this device is to lock any boards which may 50 be disposed upon the arms 19 from any shifting movement. If the boards strike either face of the lock they will shift the lock to an inclined position, as indicated in Figure 4, and in this position it will bind 55 upon the arm so that the greater the shifting thrust applied'to the boards B, the tighter the locking member 38 will hold. When, however, the strain is taken away from the locking member, it may be readily 60 shifted along the arm 19 to any desired locking position.

In Figure 2 I have illustrated this bracket as applied to three studdings A, A' or supports in any building, house or barn. It 65 will be noted that in this case the bracket is so applied that the upper portions of the supporting- members TO engage two of the studdings A, while the lower ends of the downwardly convergent portions of the supporting member 10 engage with the middle ⁷⁰studding A' of the three. Nails a- are driven into the studdingyand engage in the slots 15, while nails cd are driven into the middle studding to engage the notches 16 at the lower ends of these supporting members. In ⁷⁵this case the arms 19 are shown as beingdisposed in a horizontal position and as supporting the scaffold boards, though this is only one of the uses of the bracket. The board locking members 38 are shown as dis- ⁸⁰posed to engage against the outer edges of the boards B so as to hold these boards close against the house. The brace 28 is shown as extending upivard and outward and as being locked both by the engagement of the V- ⁸⁵shaped slot 31 with the flange 27 and by the · engagement of the set screw-37 with the outer face of the brace. Under these circumstances the brace is held rigidly in its angular relation and the supporting arms 19 ⁰⁰are held rigidly in their horizontal position/.

It is to be particularly noted that the horizontal flange of each locking arm ,19 is . supported at one end upon the corner 12^a of the flange 12 and not upon the bolt or pin 23, ⁰⁵ancl that at its opposite end each arm 19 is supported upon the rounded face 32^a of the head forming the end of the arm 32 and not upon the bolt 33 so· that no strain comes upon either the pin 23 or upon the bolt 34, ¹⁰⁰and that the weight on the bracket is transmitted to the brace 28 and thus is transmitted by a downward and inward thrust to the middle stud of the three studs illustrated in Figure 1 or to the wall of the building in ¹⁰⁵case this is attached to the outside face .of the wall. It will further be noted that by bending or angling the lower end of the flange 12, as at 16, (Figure 5) the supporting members 10 may be shifted into different ¹¹⁰angular relations to each other, and that this is also permitted by the elongated slots 22 which permit the arms 19 to move into various angular relations to each other. This angular shifting of the arms 19 with ¹¹⁵relation to each other necessitates, of course, that the pins or bolts 23 shall pass through the elongated slots 20-in order to permit these pins to shift into various angular relations to the flange 21. ^{; 120}

Attention is particularly called to· the locking means between the ends of the arms 19 and the brace 27. When this locking means 29 is disposed at right angles to the outer flange or web of the members 27, then this ¹²⁵locking device may be shifted readily along the brace, but when it is disposed at an angle to the brace, the locking device automatically binds upon the flange 27 of the brace 28 through the angular slot 31, and the greater ¹³⁰ the pressure or weight upon the arms 19, the greater this binding action will be. In order, however, to prevent any upward movement on the arms 19 from turning this member 29 5 into a position at right angles to the brace 28, I-have provided the'set screw.'37 which, when it is turned home, locks this bracing member in place and causes it to bind with more force upon the T-bar forming the brace ¹⁰ 28 so that no possible jar can displace this locking member 29 and thereby displace or loosen the arms 19.

The board locks 38 may be engaged, against the last board of a series of boards ¹⁵ disposed upon the upper faces of the arms 19, and when so engaged will hold these boards firmly in position against accidental movement, as any pressure tending to shift the boards will tend to cause these locks' to ²⁰ bind more tightly upon the arms 19. ...Any. number of these locks may be used upon the arms 19. so as to hold two or three sets .of boards upon the arms .19 and preyent these boards from shifting relatively to each other, ²⁵· and. these locking members 38'may obviously be used at the outer , ends of the arms 1.9 or at the inner ends thereof. While these locking devices are readily moved up to and against the boards supported on the arms, yet the ³⁰ boards will engage the protuberant face 41 of the.upwardly projecting portion 40 before the board will strike the locking device.adjacent to the slot, and thus the locking device 38 will be instantly locked or jammed ³⁵ on the supporting, arm and is .practically, immovable from its locked position so long as the board bears against it. The locking member 29 when adjusted is immovable even Avith the severest jar, stroke or .blow, from ⁴⁰ either above or below... It will take any desired position along the brace bar and may be then locked in engagement with· the brace, and in its locked position the utmost safety is provided against any slipping or. dropping ⁴⁵ motion and also against being moved out of. place or loosened by . being struck from ..beneath in handing up lumber or materials · from below.

My improved bracket may not. only be used as a . scaffold bracket in the. manner_;shown in Figure 1, but may be also converted into a roof scaffold bracket. In this case the member 29 is shifted along the brace _₅ toward the hinged end of the latter into any position necessary to bring the supporting arms' 19 to a horiontal position with the supporting members 10 disposed against the roof G, and then the locking device is locked in position and firmly supports the members so adjusted. This bracket, it will be obvious, maybe adjusted so as to conform to any pitch of roof from ah: easy slope to the· very highest pitch, and thus the bracket may be used, by shinglers or by chimney masons. If a roof is shingled, in.which case it is not desirable to drive nails through the shingles, the bracket may be supported on the roof by wires extending over the comb of the roof and engaged with.the.slots 15. These wires ' might be connected to the chimney or to any 70 suitable part of the roof, or there may be scaffold brackets on opposite sides of the comb of the roof to which the Wires are connected so that one scaffold bracket will balance theother. 75

One of the advantages of my bracket is the fact that it may be attached, as illustrated.in Figure 1, to three studings, thus securing three points of support for the bracket insteadof two, as is usual, thus giving a solid ' so place (the middle studding) upon which to, support the lower end of the bracket, as by nails passing through the notches 16. This does away with the necessity of having . a protruding portion or spike at the bottom S5 of the bracket which cuts or gouges into the boards of the building or the roof in order to keep the bracket from moving laterally if too much weight be put on one side or the other. It will be. seen, that my 9T bracket provides arepair bracket which will not mar the outside of the building or roof, as is the case with other makes of scaffold brackets, known to me. . - i

It. will be seen that the .upper ends of the 95 supporting members 10 are. provided with a plurality of slots 15 so that a plurality of' relatively small nails may be used to support each member 10, thus doing away with the necessity of using relatively large nails, 100 such as spikes. Small nails may be . readily driven into the'building and painted over, leaving no scars or ugly marks on the building, whereas if spikes were used they would have to be withdrawn, thus marring . the '105 exterior of the building. Other scaffold brackets known to me have only two notches or nail-engaging apertures and no support at the bottom of the bracket. Hence they require very large and unsightly, nails to sup- 11<> port them, too large to drive entirely in,,and which leave ugly places when removed. Furthermore, such brackets requiring relatively large nails cannot be used in repair .work on buildings. It will be noted that the ^U5< slots.15 of each supporting member 10 ex- : tend upward and. inward and hence when wishing to detach the bracket from the build-ing, it. is only necessary to lift, it from the bottom which action , will at. the same time ¹²⁰bring the upper ends of the bracket toward each other and the entire bracket will lift off of. its supporting nails. , Tt is. obvious that the supporting members of the bracket and the supporting arms may be adjustable to- ¹²⁵ward or from each other to suit any desired situation or to engage studding which is spaced apart different distances. _:

While I do not wish to be limited to any particular material for the bracket, it is ob- ¹³⁰

1,456,940 vious that it may be made of wood or of various shapes of metal bars, but preferably the bracket is made of a combination of metallic angle irons and T-irons. Prefer⁵ ably the locking devices 38 and the locking member 29 are made of malleable iron or steel. It will be seen that the bracket has three points of support, that it has a wide range of adjustability, and that it may be ¹⁰ used, either on the walls of buildings or on the roofs thereof and in a large number of other situations.

While I have illustrated a construction which has been found particularly advan¹⁰ tageous in practice, I do not wish to be limited thereto, as it is obvious that many changes might be made in the details of this construction and arrangement of parts without departirm from the spirit of the invention. :..