A channel joiner has a connecting tongue closely receivable in a channel having abutment surfaces on the terminal end portions of the channel sidewalls facing towards the channel bottom wall. A screw has a threaded shank threaded through a threaded hole in the tongue bottom wall and the end of the screw shank bears against the channel bottom wall for biasing the tongue and channel bottom walls away from one another to tightly urge the tongue sidewall edges into firm engagement with the channel abutment surfaces and prevent relative longitudinal movement between the tongue anad channel. The screw has a head located within the tongue between the tongue sidewalls at a location spaced slightly above the tongue bottom wall and substantially below the tongue sidewall edges. A washer having a non-abrasive surface surrounds the screw shank between the screw head and tongue bottom wall for preventing abrasion of wires extending through the tongue and channel by the threads on the screw shank.
A connector for a channel, the latter having a web and side flanges with inwardly turned, hook-shaped lips defining a slot therebetween. The connector comprises an elongate connecting member generally U-shaped in cross-section having a pair of side walls. The member is axially inserted inside the channel with the open side of the member toward the channel slot and the side walls of the member adjacent and parallel to the side flanges of the channel. A cam is mounted in a side wall of the member for movement from a retracted to a locking position in which the cam engages a lip of the channel when the member is inside the channel to force the member toward the web of the channel for engagement therewith thereby rigidly securing the channel to the member.
A clamping device for holding framing members of a metal picture frame in fixed rectangular relation, is described as being formed of lightweight steel and having an L-shape formed of two legs, each of which is U-shaped. Means coacting between the device and framing members are provided to secure the device in place where it holds a pair of adjacent framing members in mitered relation. The clamping device is also utilized to clamp a picture frame holder to one of the framing members.
A joint for structural steel is provided which connects a pair of parallel beams in end-to-end relationship with a second pair of parallel beams. The beams are of any cross-sectional form having an L-shaped component, for example an inverted "S." The beams are retained in a U-shaped channel having two upstanding side walls and a bottom wall connecting the side walls. The bottom wall is provided with one or more centrally located holes. The joint is formed by nesting two pairs of parallel beams in end-to-end relationship within the U-shaped channel. The width of the channel is such that the seating bases of the L-shaped beams do not obstruct the holes in the bottom wall of the U-shaped channel. A clamping plate having holes aligning with the holes of the bottom wall of the channel is fitted into the channel over the seating bases of the beams. Means, such as a nut and bolt, are used to bind the clamping plate onto the U-shaped channel. The clamping plate thereby pushes the beams outwardly against the side walls of the U-shaped channel and downwardly against the bottom wall of the channel.
A mechanism for secure engagement of slideable elements in dovetail or similar tracks. The mechanism comprises a pair of plate-like clamping elements adapted to be received within a slide track. The plates are disposed in non-engaging face-to-face relation having a spacer element positioned therebetween adjacent lower edges of the plates. The lower edges project outwardly in relation to the spacer at an angle to engage interior sidewalls of a slide track. A lever element is adapted to converge the upper portions of the plates in a direction towards the spacer and thereby force the lower edges securely against the slide track. The spacer element can be rotatably mounted and can have a non-circular cross section to facilitate installation and removal of the mechanism.
A connector for a channel having a web and side flanges with inwardly turned, hook-shaped lips defining a slot therebetween. The connector comprises a channel-shaped connecting member having a pair of side walls with longitudinally extending edges and a connecting wall having a circular opening therein. The connector further comprises a relatively flat thin round screw member threaded in the opening and having opposing end faces of substantially the same diameter, the screw member being threaded substantially from one end face to the other. The member is axially inserted inside the channel with the open side of the member toward the channel slot to a position in which the side walls of the member are adjacent and parallel to the side flanges of the channel with the longitudinally extending edges of the side walls spaced from but adjacent to the lips of the channel, and in which the connecting wall is adjacent and generally parallel to the web of the channel with the screw member in position for engagement of one end face thereof with the web of the channel on rotation of the screw member thereby to force the web of the connector away from the web of the channel and the edges of the side walls of the connector locking engagement with the lips of the channel rigidly to secure the member to the channel. The thickness of the screw member is such that when the connector is in locking engagement with the channel, the other end face of the screw member does not project substantially beyond the surface of the connecting wall opposite the web of the channel.
