Ledger Connector and Connection

This invention relates to connectors for joining structural members and the connection made therewith. In particular, the present invention has particular use as a simple, inexpensive system for creating a connection between one or more joists and a structural wall by means of a set of connectors and a ledger that allows for the wall to be better protected from fire damage. According to the present invention, additional panel members can be attached to the structural wall below the ledger to protect the structural wall. Additional, fire-rated panel members can also cover the joists and any exposed portions of the ledger to better protect the structural wall, the ledger and the one or more joists from fire damage.

The connection of the present invention is made up of a connector for hanging a supported structural member such as a fire-rated ledger member to a supporting member such as a structural wall. Joist hangers are attached to the ledger member and the joist hangers support the joists.

Joist hangers are used in building construction to secure and hang the ends of joists or other members to walls, headers and/or other support members. Typically, the joist hanger includes a u-shaped portion that receives the joist. The bottom surface of the joist rests on the seat of the hanger, and the side walls of the hanger are dimensioned to closely receive the side faces of the joist, providing it with lateral support. The hanger is typically made from sheet metal, and the sheet metal is cold-formed into its three-dimensional shape.

Where appropriate, the joist may be connected to the hanger by means of nails or other fasteners driven through the side walls of the hanger into the side faces of the joist. These fasteners position the joist with respect to the hanger, preventing movement of the joist along the long axis of the joist. These fasteners also resist uplift forces on the joist, preventing the joist from lifting out of the seat of the hanger. These fasteners may simply be driven horizontally into the joist, in which case they are preferably short fasteners that will not pass all the way through the joist. Alternatively, longer fasteners may be used that are driven at a non-orthogonal angle into the joist, and longer fasteners can also be driven at an acute angle such that they are driven into the header as well. This last practice has been commonly called double-shear nailing.

Often, in order to connect the joist hanger to the header, back flanges are attached to the side walls. Generally, these flanges extend laterally from the side walls. These flanges can extend inwardly or outwardly from the side walls, depending on design considerations. These back flanges can be attached to top flanges that extend horizontally from the back flanges and over the top surface of a structural member to which the hanger will be attached.

Openings may be provided in the back flanges to receive fasteners. These fasteners are generally nails in light-frame wood construction. Screws and bolts are also used in wood construction, depending on the size of the members to be joined and other considerations. In light-gauge steel construction, sheet metal screws, bolts, welds and rivets are commonly used.

In perhaps the simplest of hangers, the back flanges extend outwardly from the side flanges, providing an easily-accessed fastening face. Fasteners are then driven though the back flanges into the front face of the support wall or supporting structural member. In other instances, design considerations dictate which particular attachment method is used for attaching the joist and the hanger to the support wall, or in this case a ledger attached to the supporting wall.

As discussed above, top flanges may be attached to the back flanges to aid in attaching the hanger to the support wall. Hangers with top flanges are generally referred to as top-flange hangers. Hangers without top flanges are generally referred to as face-mount hangers. If the top flanges wrap over the top of the header and down the back of the header, the hanger can be called a wrap-around hanger. Again, various design considerations dictate what features are present in a hanger, and various building considerations dictate which hanger, or type of hanger, is used in a particular situation. Generally, if a top flange hanger is used and the header is made of wood, pre-formed holes are provided in the top flanges to receive suitable fasteners for connecting the top flange to the header. Such fastener openings may not be present in light-gauge steel construction because the hanger is typically fastened to the support wall with self-drilling sheet metal screws or by welding.

As mentioned above, it is often desirable to fasten the joist to the hanger to resist uplift forces acting on the joist. Such forces are often caused by lateral loading on the building due to high winds or seismic activity. Also, one end of a joist must be downwardly restrained if that joist is cantilevered (e.g., to support an overhanging deck). As mentioned above, openings may be provided in the side walls of the hanger so that the joist can be held down with fasteners driven through the openings and into the joist.

Drywall or gypsum panels are typical forms of sheathing used in fire barriers. The gypsum panels resist fire damage and are often used to protect structural members from fire damage.

The present invention allows drywall or gypsum paneling to be easily applied to the front face of the supporting structural member and together with the fire-rated leger member provides some shielding of the structural wall from fire and heat.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,024,833, granted in 2006 and invented by John Rice, teaches a simple hanger for connecting a ledger to a wall made with insulated foam forms.

The present invention is a connector, a connection made with that connector and other connectors, and a method of making that connection that allows for the easy attachment of a joist to a structural wall that allows for the wall to be better protected from fire.

The present invention provides a connector that allows for the easy installation of a ledger to a structural wall, which in turn allows for hangers to be attached to the ledger that can carry joists, with the manner of the various attachments allowing for the structural wall to be better protected from damage from fire with the supported member overlying portions of the supporting member protecting the supporting member at the level of the one or more joists from fire damage and below the supported member and on the side face of the supporting member to which the supported member is attached paneling is attached to the supporting member that protects the supporting member from fire damage.

The present invention provides a connector that can support a held member with respect to a holding member. The connector has a u-shaped portion for supporting the supported member and an extending top flange for attachment to the supporting member. The u-shaped portion has front and back members connected to each other at their bottom edges by a seat member with the front and back members extending upwardly from the seat member, and the top flange is connected to the back member and extends in an opposite direction from the seat member. Preferably, fasteners, such as nails, are used to attach the connector to the supported and supporting members.

In the preferred form of the invention, the fasteners are driven through the top flange of the connection into the top surface of the supporting member or structural wall. Preferably, a plurality of fasteners are driven through the top flange and enter the supporting member. The fasteners are preferably nails, when the supporting member is made of studs supporting a double-top plate member. Stud walls are typically 3½″ wide, or they can be wider depending on the requirements for the wall.

The front and back members have portions that are generally planar. The seat member is generally planar. The back member preferably extends above the seat member much higher than the front member. When the connector is installed on a supporting member, the front and back members generally extend vertically, and the seat member extends horizontally.

The front member is preferably a generally rectangular member that is as wide as the seat member. The back member is preferably a generally rectangular member that is as wide as the seat member. The back member is preferably taller than the front member.

The front member can be formed with a jutting lip flange that extends outwardly and further away from the back member than the generally planar lower portion of the front member. The jutting lip flange is preferably a planar member that preferably extends outwardly at a 45-degree angle to the generally planar lower portion of the front member. The jutting lip flange is attached to the lower portion of the front member at an upper edge bend line of the lower portion of the front member.

Preferably, openings are provided in the front member, and openings are also provided in the top flange for receiving fasteners.

Preferably embossments are formed across the bend between the top flange and the back member. Preferably embossments are formed across the bend between back member and the seat member. Preferably embossments are formed across the bend between the seat member and the front member. These embossments strengthen the connector.

The front and back members, the seat member and the top flange are preferably formed from metal and are integrally joined to each other and are formed by bending sheet steel to make the three-dimensional shape of the connector.

Referring toof the drawings, the connector or hangerof the present invention is designed to attach a supported memberto a supporting member. The connectorhas a front memberand a back member. The front member is formed with a lower portionand an upper portion. A seat memberconnects the front memberand the back memberto create the U-shaped connector.

As shown inthe seat memberis an integral part of the front and back membersandof the connector. The seat memberis preferably connected to the front and back membersandat the bottom of the front and back membersand. Preferably, the seat memberis a generally planar member. The seat memberis preferably connected to the front and back membersandalong parallel front and back seat bend linesand. The seat memberis integrally connected to the front and back membersandalong the front and back seat bend linesand. The front and back membersandextend upwardly from the front and back seat bend linesand, respectively. The front and back membersandhave portions that are generally planar. The seat memberis generally planar. The back memberpreferably extends above the seat membermuch higher than the front member. When the connectoris installed on a supporting member, the front and back membersandgenerally extend vertically, and the seat memberextends horizontally.

The front memberis preferably a generally rectangular member that is as wide as the seat member.

Preferably, fastenersare used to attach the connectorto the supported and supporting membersand. As shown in, the fastenersare driven through the front memberand into the supported member.

The fastenersare preferably formed with a shankhaving an end portionand a middle portion. The fastenersshown are nails, but screws and other similar fasteners may be used.

The connectoris preferably formed with fastener openingsto aid the user in positioning and driving the fastenersthat make the attachments.

Preferably, additional fastenersattach the top flange memberof the connectorto the supporting member. The top flange memberof the connectoris preferably formed with openingsfor these fastenerswhich are preferably nails. The top flange memberpreferably extends orthogonally from the top of the back member.

As shown in, the supported memberis formed with front and back sidesandthat are generally parallel to each other and are spaced apart a first selected distance. The supported memberis also formed with an end facethat meets with the front and back sidesandof the supported memberat front and back side edgesandof the end face. As shown in, the supported membercan be formed with a top faceand a bottom facethat meet with the left and right sidesandand the end face. The top and bottom facesandare generally parallel with each other. The supporting memberhas a side faceand a top facethat meets the side faceat a top edgeof the side face. The side faceis generally vertically disposed and the top faceof the supporting memberis generally horizontally disposed.

As shown, the connectoris formed with front and back membersand. The front and back membersandare substantially planar members that are generally parallel to each other. The front and back membersandare spaced apart from each other a sufficient distance to closely accept the supported memberbetween them. The front memberinterfaces with front sideof the supported member and back memberinterfaces with the back sideof the supported member. The front and back membersandare each connected to the seat member, and the front and back membersandare only connected to each other through the seat member. The seat memberis sufficiently strong to hold the front and back membersandin their spaced relationship.

The connectoris preferably cut and formed from thin sheet steel using automated machinery. The connector can be made from 14 gauge sheet steel.

The front membercan be formed with an upper portionand a lower portion. The upper portionof the front member can be formed as a jutting lip flange, and the lower portionis formed as a generally planar member. The upper member has an upper edge.

Preferably, fastener openingsare provided in the front member, and additional fastener openingsare also provided in the top member.

As shown in, the supported member or ledgeris preferably formed from engineered wood lumber, such as laminated veneer lumber, and is rated to withstand damage by fire for a certain amount of time. The supported memberis formed exclusively from wood products and does not contain any metal components.

Additional ledger fastenerswhich are preferably Simpson Strong-Drive SDS screws could be driven through the supported memberinto the supporting memberat spaced intervals along the length of the supported member. These ledger fastenersdo not pass through the connector.

As shown in, to make the connection between a joistand the structural member, first one or more connectorsare attached to the structural wallwith the additional fastenersthat are driven through the top flange memberand into upper surface of the structural member. Once the connectorsare in place, the ledgeris lowered into position. The ledgeris then attached to the connectorswith fasteners. The ledgercan also be attached to the structural memberwith additional ledger fasteners. Joist hangersare then attached to the ledger with joist fastenerssuch as nails or screws, and the joistsare attached to or set into the joist hangers. The joist hangersare preferably only attached to the supported member, or at least do not have portions that overlap the top faceof the supporting member. The joist hangerscan be top flange hangers with back flangesand the fastenersattaching the joiststo the ledgercan be driven through the top flangesand back flangesof the of the joist hangers. After which gypsum panel sheathingis attached to the structural wallbelow the fire-rated ledgerto protect the wall from fire damage. Preferably little to no space is provided between the top of the gypsum panelsand the bottom surfaceof the fire-rated ledger. Any space between the tops of the gypsum panelsand the bottom faceof the supported membercan be filled with a fire-resistant material. Gypsum or drywall paneling can also be applied over the bottoms of the joistto protect them from fire damage. Additional fire-resistant barriers and protectant can be applied to the structural wall if needed.

As shown in, embossmentsare formed across the bendbetween the top flangeand the back member. The embossmentspreferably extend from the terminal or back edgeof the top flange member through the bendbetween the top flangeand the back memberand extend down the back member approximately 1 inch. Preferably embossmentsare formed across the bendbetween the back memberand the seat member. Preferably the same embossmentscontinue across the bendbetween the seat memberand the front member. These embossmentsandstrengthen the connector.

As shown in, the supporting memberis a wall having vertically disposed studssupporting a horizontal top plate. The studscan rest on a bottom plate. The horizontal top plagecan be made up of two members joined together. The studs, top plateand bottom platecan be made from wood. The supporting member has a side facewith the back side faceof the supported memberbeing in close proximity to the side faceof the supporting membersuch that the back side faceof the supported memberabuts or is disposed in close association with the side faceof the supporting member.

As shown inthe supported memberand the joist hangerextend downwardly from the top of the supporting membera similar amount with the joist hangerextending farther than the supported member. As also shown inthe supported memberextends below the top plateof the supporting membera substantial amount with the top plate extending downwardly less than half the extent of the supported member. As shown in, the connectorsare substantially wider than the studsof the supporting member, such that substantial portions of the connectorare not interfacing with or in contact with the side faceof the supporting member.