Adjustable deck tension tie

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9809974-B1
Application number	US-201615214869-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Jul 20, 2016
Priority date	Jul 20, 2016
Publication date	Nov 7, 2017
Grant date	Nov 7, 2017

Abstract

An adjustable deck tie bracket includes a front plate having an opening. Legs are on opposite sides of the front plate. A deformation zone connects a brace member to the front plate. The deformation zone has less resistance to bending than the brace member to facilitate rotation of the front brace by deformation at the deformation zone. To connect a deck to a house, a connector can be inserted through the front plate and secured to an anchor in the house. The orientation of the brace member is adjusted so it so extends to the bottom of a deck joist, thereby allowing flexibility in the vertical spacing between the connector and the deck joist. The legs are secured to opposite sides of the deck joist and the brace member is secured to the deck joist at a location that is spaced farther from the house than the legs.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An adjustable bracket for a tension tie for connecting a deck to a house, the bracket comprising:
a front plate having an opening therein for receiving a connector;
legs on opposite sides of the front plate; and
a brace member; and
a deformation zone connecting the brace member to the front plate at a location intermediate the legs, the brace member having a first resistance to bending and the deformation zone having a second resistance to bending that is lower than the first resistance to bending to facilitate rotation of the brace member relative to the front plate by deformation at the deformation zone,
wherein the legs are attached to the front plate at locations on an opposite side of the deformation zone as the brace member.

2. The adjustable bracket as set forth in claim 1 wherein the brace member comprises at least one stiffening element that resists bending.

3. The adjustable bracket as set forth in claim 2 wherein the deformation zone is devoid of stiffening elements.

4. The adjustable bracket as set forth in claim 3 wherein the front plate has at least one stiffening element on an opposite side of the deformation zone as said stiffening element of the brace member.

5. The adjustable bracket as set forth in claim 1 wherein the deformation zone has at least one relief opening to make the material in the deformation zone less resistant to bending.

6. The adjustable bracket as set forth in claim 1 wherein the brace member comprises an elongate brace plate and arms extending from opposite sides of the plate at an end of the plate opposite the deformation zone.

7. The adjustable bracket as set forth in claim 6 wherein the arms are generally orthogonal to the brace plate and arranged in opposition to one another.

8. The adjustable bracket as set forth in claim 7 wherein the arms extend beyond the end of the brace plate.

9. The adjustable bracket as set forth in claim 8 wherein the arms taper from a wider width at their distal ends to a narrower width at their proximal ends.

10. The adjustable bracket as set forth in claim 9 wherein the legs of the bracket taper from a narrower width at their distal end to a wider width proximally of the distal end, the tapers on the ends of the legs having a shape that is complementary to at least a portion of the tapers on the ends of the arms of the brace member.

11. The adjustable bracket as set forth in claim 1 wherein the brace member comprises a breakout washer formed by a section of the brace member having a frangible perimeter, the section of the brace member within the frangible perimeter having a washer opening for receiving the connector, the washer opening being spaced from the frangible perimeter by material within the frangible perimeter so that a washer can be formed by breaking the frangible perimeter and removing the material within the frangible perimeter from the brace member.

12. The adjustable bracket as set forth in claim 11 wherein the front plate has stiffening ribs on opposite sides of the opening for the connector, the frangible perimeter having a rectangular shape, wherein a distance between the stiffening ribs is about equal to a length of one side of the rectangular shape of the frangible perimeter.

13. The adjustable bracket as set forth in claim 11 wherein the washer opening is a first washer opening, the breakout washer further having a second washer opening, the first washer opening being larger than the second washer opening to facilitate use of the washer with connectors having various different dimensions.

14. The adjustable bracket as set forth in claim 1 wherein the legs are attached to opposite sides of the front plate.

15. The adjustable bracket as set forth in claim 1 wherein the brace member is moveable independently of the legs by deformation at the deformation zone.

16. The adjustable bracket as set forth in claim 1 wherein the legs and brace member are free of direct attachment to one another.

17. A tension tie installation for connecting a deck to a house, the tension tie installation comprising the adjustable bracket as set forth in claim 1 in combination with the connector, wherein the connector extends generally horizontally through the opening in the front plate and into an anchor in the house to secure the adjustable bracket to the house and the legs and brace member are secured to the deck to connect the deck to the house.

18. A tension tie installation as set forth in claim 17 wherein the connector is adjacent a bottom of a deck joist and the brace member has been oriented generally orthogonally to the front plate by deformation of the deformation zone so the brace member extends generally horizontally from the front plate of the bracket away from the house along and adjacent to the bottom of the desk joist.

19. A tension tie installation as set forth in claim 17 wherein the connector is spaced a distance from the a bottom of a deck joist and the brace member is oriented at a non-orthogonal angle by deformation of the deformation zone so that the brace member extends angularly upward from the front plate of the bracket to the bottom of the deck joist.

Assignees

• Columbia Insurance Co

Inventors

• Brekke Steve

Classifications

• E04B1/003

  Balconies; Decks · CPC title

• E04B2001/2684

  with metal connectors · CPC title

• E04B1/2612 Primary

  Joist hangers · CPC title

• E04B1/40 Primary

  Fixed Constructions · mapped topic

• E04B2001/405

  Fixed Constructions · mapped topic