Field of the invention

The present invention relates to a brick line clamp.

Background of the invention

When constructing a wall from individual bricks, or blocks, it is important to be able to maintain the upper surfaces of the bricks in each row in the same plane as one another, usually a horizontal plane. Typically, this is achieved by inserting two line pins between bricks that have been laid at opposite ends of the wall and stretching a line between them.

As an alternative to the use of line pins, it is also known to use a clamp as a means of positioning a line. Known clamps are spring biased, to enable them to be attached and removed quickly, but this does not enable sufficient tension to be applied to a line to maintain it horizontal, especially over longer runs. Examples of such clamps are to be found in US10458132, US8672307, DE29612988U, GB2508931 and CN209891742.

Summary of the invention

With a view to mitigating the foregoing disadvantage, the present invention provides in accordance with a first aspect a clamp for securing a brick line, the clamp comprising two jaws that are biased by a spring towards one another to enable a brick to be gripped between the two jaws, wherein each of the jaws is provided with an anchoring point to which a line may be securely fastened, to enable the two jaws to be additionally urged towards one another by tension in a line tying them to one another.

If, on account of the length of the brick line extending between two clamps, the force of the spring is insufficient to maintain a grip on the clamped brick, the force in the present invention may be supplemented by using a line, for example the brick line itself, to tie the two jaws more securely to one another. In US 10458132, US 8672307, tying a line around the accessible parts of the two jaws when the clamp is use, would serve to release the clamp rather than increase the grip on the brick.

GB 2508931, CN 209891742 grip the brick in a manner similar to the present invention but both lack any anchoring point on the rear jaw to permit attachment of a line. In DE 2961298U, the jaws are not spring biased towards one another and force is applied by squeezing the handle. The spring in this reference is only part of releasable locking mechanism that only permits movement of one of the jaws in the direction to engage the brick. Once again, once the clamp is applied to a brick, there is now way that a line can be secured to the jaws to enable the gripping force to be increased.

In the invention, the spring is not therefore relied upon solely to prevent the clamp from sliding or twisting under the action of the line tension, as an additional force may be applied to prevent separation of the jaws by the use of the secure line anchoring points that are provided on the two jaws.

In an embodiment of the invention, each of the anchoring points comprises a cleat around which a length of the brick line may be wound.

The term “cleat” is herein used in the nautical context, to refer to a T-shaped anchoring point, about which a line can be securely wound.

In an embodiment of the invention, each of the jaws is provided with two cleats arranged on opposite sides of the jaw.

Hitherto, brick line clamps have been made of a plastics material, rendering them relatively fragile. In an embodiment of the invention, the two jaws are made of metal, preferably stainless steel. Such construction enables at least one of the jaws to include projecting teeth to grip a brick surface with greater pressure, thereby resisting any tendency of the clamp to slide relative to the surface of the brick.

In some embodiments of the invention, a front jaw, for engaging an outward facing side face of the brick, is provided with a formation for locating the line in alignment with the upper edge of the latter side face of the brick and a rear jaw is provided with a formation for locating the line in alignment with the upper edge of an end face of the brick.

Hitherto, the rear jaw of the clamp was constructed as a single flat member designed to engage a rear side of the brick. Such design limits the maximum width of a brick onto which the clamp could be secured. More recently, hollow blocks, for example Porothene® blocks produced by Wienerberger AG or Poroton® blocks produced by the Poroton group, have been used for improved thermal insulation that have a width greater than 100 mm and these are too large to be gripped by clamps designed for use with regular house bricks.

In an embodiment of the invention, at least one of the jaws comprises two or more spaced projecting prongs dimensioned and spaced to engage in cavities in a hollow block.

As the prongs in such an embodiment of the invention are sized to locate in cavities formed in the hollow bricks, the maximum separation of the jaws need not exceed the full width of the blocks.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of attaching a brick line, which comprises: i. providing a clamp having two jaws that are urged towards one another by means of a spring, ii. providing an anchoring point for a line on each of the jaws, iii. clamping a brick between the two jaws under the action of the spring, and iv. tying the two jaws to one another by wrapping a line around the anchoring points of the two jaws to increase the gripping force applied by the jaws to the brick.

Brief description of the drawings

The invention now be described further, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a brick line clamp of the invention as viewed from the front and above,

Figure 2 shows view of the clamp of Figure 1 as viewed from the rear and above, and Figure 3 shows the clamp of Figures 1 and 2 as seen from below. Detailed description of the drawings

The clamp 10 in the drawings comprises a front jaw 12 and a rear jaw 14 that are urged towards one another by a spring 16. The term "front" is used to indicate the jaw nearer to the user while the clamp is being secured to a brick. The front jaw is also the jaw that will engage the outward facing side of a brick. Each of the jaws 12 and 14 is made of sheet metal, preferably stainless steel and the spring 16 is also preferably made of stainless steel. The front jaw 12 has a main body portion 18 in which three slots are cut. The upper two slots 19 are for engaging the spring 16 that biases the jaws 12, 14 towards one another. The lower slot 20 enables a tongue 22 of the rear jaw 14 to slide therethrough, allowing the distance between the jaws 12, 14 to be varied while keeping them parallel to one another. As such, the lower slot 20 is only slightly longer than the width of the tongue 22. The tongue 22 rests on an upper face of a projecting portion 32 of the main body 18. Notched guides 40 engage with the tongue 22 to assist the lower slot 20 in keeping the jaws 12, 14 parallel to one another. The lower surface of the projecting portion 32 provides a flat surface that allows the clamp 10 to lie flat on the top of the brick, with the front jaw 12 parallel to the side face of the brick.

Two legs 24 extend from the main body portion 18. The legs 24 have in-turned edges featuring pointed teeth 26 along the majority of their length to aid the grip of the clamp 10 on the brick. Tabs 28 extend from the in-turned edges above the teeth 26 with their lower edge lying at the same height as the lower surface of the projecting portion 32. This allows the tabs 28 to rest on the top surface of the brick and resist rotation of the clamp 10 about an axis normal to the front surface of the main body portion 18. The tabs 28 also serve to define line location points 29 for allowing correct alignment of a brick line, i.e., points in the same plane as both the top and side of the brick.

An excess line store 34 protrudes from the top of the main body portion 18 so that any remaining line may be wrapped around the neck portion 36 to avoid creating a tripping hazard or the potential for the line to be tugged and alter the position of the clamp 10. The wider section 38 prevents the line from being pulled from the neck portion 36 and instead requires it to be unwrapped.

Two cleats 42 extend from the main body portion 18 of the front jaw 12. Each of the cleats 42 on the front jaw 12 lies opposite a cleat situated on the rear jaw 14. In use, once the clamp 10 has been positioned correctly, a line or other piece of string can be wrapped and tied around the cleats 42 facing one another, thereby locking the clamp 10 in position.

The rear jaw 14 has a main body portion 50 which features a hole 44 with a T-shaped finger 46 for mounting the spring 16. This allows the spring to be removed easily for cleaning the clamp after use. The tongue 22 protruding from the rear jaw 14 defines the length to which the spring can stretch and therefore the maximum width that may be clamped. The tongue 22 has an up-turned tip 48 which acts as a stop for the front jaw 12. The tip also provides a convenient place for the user to place their thumb when operating the clamp 10, while their fingers may grip the rear face of the front jaw 12.

The top edge of the main body portion 50 has two grooves 52 for storing line pins (not shown), the shaft of the line pins laying across the top of the front jaw 12 between the excess line store 34 and the cleats 42.

Two arms 54 project from the rear jaw 14 in the direction of the front jaw 12. The bottom surface of the arms 54 lie at the same height as the bottom surface of the tabs 28 and the projecting portion 32 of the front jaw, allowing the arms 54 to further support the clamp 10 in use when laying on the top surface of a brick.

The rear jaw 14 has two prongs 56 extending in the same plane as the main body portion 50. These are intended to grip the rear face of a brick that has a width less than the maximum separation of the two jaws. The spacing between the prongs 56 is such that they can engage in cavities in a hollow block, meaning that the clamp need not exceed the full width of hollow blocks. This allows the clamps to be used on both bricks and hollow blocks without being unwieldy.

The rear jaw 14 additionally includes laterally projecting formations 58 each of which includes a notch for locating the line in alignment with the upper edge of an end face of the brick, thus allowing the clamp 10 as a whole to run a line in two dimensions.

The optimum strength of the spring 16 depends on the widths of the bricks to be accommodated. To fit to narrower bricks, a stronger spring 16 is preferred to permit a high gripping force to be applied despite the small extension of the spring. One the other hand, to fit wider bricks, a weaker spring is preferred to reduce the effort required in mounting the clamp. As the spring 16 is readily replaceable, it is possible to provide the clamp with two interchangeable springs. To avoid the spring that is not in current use from being misplaced, the clamp may be provided with locations for attachment of the spare spring.

It will be appreciated that various modifications may be made to the embodiment that is described above, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, without departing from the scope of the invention as set out in the appended claims.