Resilient deck board fastener
OwnerG. Steven Harrisinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A fastener for securing deck boards to a support structure without the need for driving screws or nails through the deck boards. The fastener includes two horizontal flanges that fit into slots cut into the sides of adjacent deck boards, a center hole for securing the fastener to the support structure and deformable, resilient elements that bridge the gap between adjacent deck boards during fastening yet compress inward when the boards swell and expand.
Claims15
A deck board fastening device for securing deck boards to a support structure, said device comprising:
- a planar top plate portion including a first planar flange and a second planar flange joined together along respective longitudinal edges, each of said planar flanges extending outward in a substantially horizontal plane, the juncture of said planar flanges defining the longitudinal center of said planar top plate portion;
- at least one bottom tab extending downwardly from a bottom surface of said top plate;
- and
- first and second resilient compression elements extending outwardly from opposite ends of said top plate, each of said compression elements having opposed sides compressible together.
A deck board fastening device for securing deck boards to a support structure, said device comprising:
- a planar top plate including a first planar flange and a second planar flange joined together along respective longitudinal edges, each of said planar flanges extending outward in a substantially horizontal plane, the juncture of said planar flanges defining the longitudinal center of said planar top plate, said planar top plate having a first end and a longitudinally opposed second end;
- a hole extending through said planar top plate at the center of said planar top plate;
- a first tab extending downwardly from a bottom surface of said planar top plate in proximity to said first end;
- a second tab extending downwardly from a bottom surface of said planar top plate in proximity to said second end;
- a first resilient compression element projecting from said first tab;
- and,
- a second resilient compression element projecting from said second tab:
- said first and second resilient compression elements having opposed sides compressible together.
A combination deck board fastening device and plurality of deck boards, comprising:
- a plurality of deck boards, each of said deck boards having slots provided therein;
- at least one fastening device interposed between said plurality of deck boards, said fastening device comprising:
- a planar top plate having a first planar flange at least partially disposed in said slot of one of said deck boards, and a planar second flange at least partially disposed in said slot of another of said deck boards, said first and second planar flanges joined together along respective longitudinal edges, the juncture of said planar flanges defining a longitudinal center of said planar top plate;
- at least one bottom tab extending downwardly from a bottom surface of said planar top plate;
- and
- first and second resilient compression elements extending outwardly from opposite ends of said planar top plate, said resilient compression elements having opposed sides compressible together for maintaining a spacing between adjacent deck boards while providing for compression and expansion of said deck boards.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.