This invention relates to a method of and apparatus for fixing a fitting at a surface of a wall or other member, this primarily being plasterboard or cellular block material. As used hereinafter, the term \'wall\' includes all equivalent members.

An object of the invention is to provided such a method and apparatus for use in such a method in an effective and convenient form.

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a method of fixing a fitting at or adjacent a wall comprising providing a member having one end intended to be engaged with a drill for rotatively driving the member, in use, the member having a head at its opposite end, drilling a hole in a surface of said wall by means of the head of said member, providing a fixing plug, driving said plug into said hole by means of the head of said member, disposing the fitting at or adjacent said wall and passing a fixing means through the fitting and into engagement with said plug, thereby to secure said fitting at or adjacent the wall.

Preferably said fixing means, in the form of a screw, is driven through said fitting and into engagement with said plug by means of the head of said member, as said member is rotatively driven by said drill.

According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided apparatus for use in fixing a fitting at or adjacent a wall, the apparatus comprising a member having one end adapted for engagement with a drill for rotatively driving the member, in use, the member having a head at its

opposite end, said head being configurated to drill a hole in a surface of said wall, for reception of a fixing plug, and to drive said plug into said hole, in use.

Preferably said head is sized and shaped so that it can drive a fixing means, preferably a screw, through the fitting and into engagement with said plug, in use.

According to a still further aspect of the invention there is provided a kit of parts for carrying out said method, the kit of parts comprising said member and a multiplicity of said fixing plugs.

Preferably a number of said fixing means, preferably screws, equal to the number of fixing plugs are supplied in the kit of parts.

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side view of a fixing plug for use in the method of the invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the fixing plug;

Figure 3 is a front end view of the fixing plug;

Figure 4 and 5 are a rear end view and cross-sectional view on the line 5-5 of Figure 4 respectively of the fixing plug;

Figure 6 and 7 are views of the same form as in Figures 4 and 5 but with

rear view and the section, on the line 7-7 , taken with the fixing plug rotated 45° from the respective positions in Figures 4 and 5;

Figure 8 is a side view of a head of a member of apparatus of the invention;

Figure 9 is a top view of said head;

Figure 10 is an underneath view of said head;

Figure 1 1 is a section of said head on the line 11-1 1 of Figure 10;

Figure 12 is an enlarged scale, exploded perspective view of the head and a shank of said member; and

Figures 13 to 16 diagrammatical ly show respective steps of the method of the invention for fixing a fitting to a wall.

The present invention is largely concerned with fixing a fitting to a surface of a wall, particularly a wall of plasterboard or cellular block material, such material, as is well known, requiring the use of a fixing plug with which a screw can engage.

Figures 1 to 7 show a fixing plug 10 used in the method of one aspect of the present invention, a number of these fixing plugs being sold, as will be described, in a kit of parts according to a further aspect of the present invention.

The fixing plug 10 is of plastics material, preferably nylon and comprises

a circular end flange 1 1 forming a head of the plug, from which extends a shank 12 which is generally cylindrical except at its forward end 13 remote from the head, where it is frusto-conical. The shank is hollow having a circular opening 14 therethrough, the opening extending through the flange 11. Formed in the exterior surface of the shank and extending longitudinally parallel to the axis of the opening 14 are four slots 15 spaced equi-angularly around the shank. Each slot extends inwards to break into the opening 14 through the shank, so that in the interior of the shank 12 and flange 1 1 are formed four equi-angularly spaced, longitudinally extending ribs 16. Around the exterior of the shank is a helical thread 17.

Figures 8 to 12 show the detail of a member 18 in the form of a drill, or drive, bit of one aspect of the invention, the member being for use in a further aspect of the invention relating to the fixing method. The member 18 also forms part of the kit of parts of a further aspect of the invention.

The member 18 is made up of a steel circular shank 19 and a carbide tip or head 20 braised, welded or otherwise secured to the top of said shank. Alternatively the member can be in one piece.

As can be seen from Figures 8 to 10, the one-piece head 20 is effectively formed of two planar blades 21 , 22 respectively which mutually intercept centrally at 90°. The two blades have generally flat top surfaces 23, 24 respectively at the sides of which respective pairs of sloping surfaces 25, 26 extend, respective pairs of straight parallel side surfaces 27, 28 extending from the ends of the surfaces 25, 26. The blade 21 extends beyond the inner end of the blade 22. This extended part of the blade

21 is formed with grooves in its opposite faces between the side surfaces 27, thus creating a central inner part 29 of reduced thickness. As can be seen from Figure 12, the width of this part 29 corresponds to the diameter of the shank 19 which is provided with a diametral slot 30 in its one end, the width of which substantially corresponds to the reduced thickness of the part 29, the depth of the slot substantially corresponding to the amount by which the blade 21 extends beyond the inner end of the blade 22, so that the part 29 can be received snugly in the slot 30 so that the head 20 can be secured to the shank 19 by suitable means described above. Alternatively the head can be symmetrical and secured centrally to a flat end of the shank.

Thus the member 18 has its one end formed as a cylindrical shank and its other end formed as a drill or drive bit which, as can be seen from Figures 9 and 12 presents a generally cruciform leading part. As described above the surfaces 23 and 24 are generally flat, but these can in fact be slightly curved, as for example shown in Figures 8 and 1 1.

Figures 8 to 12 show the member 18 on a larger scale than the fixing plug 10 in Figures 1 to 7, but the shape and size of the member 18 is such that it can be inserted into the plug from the end thereof at which the flange 11 is formed, the forward part of the member 18 formed by the blades 21 and 22 engaging with the inner part of the forward end of the plug where the ribs 16 terminate. In this regard the shape and size of the smaller cruciform part, shown in Figure 9, and formed by the surfaces 23, 24 substantially corresponds to the opening 14, whilst the larger cruciform part formed by the surfaces 25, 26 together with the surfaces 27, 28 correspond in shape and size to the slots 15, so that the end of the head can be accurately received into the plug through the

opening 14 and slots 15 from the end of the plug at which the flange is formed, the ribs 16 locating between adjacent blades 21 , 22.

If the member 18 is formed in one piece, the respective outer peripheral surfaces 27 of the blades lie on a circle concentric with and having the same diameter as the circle describing the periphery of the shank, the sides of the blades blending smoothly into the shank suface.

The member 18 is adapted, by means of the size and shape of the head 20, to perform three operations in the method of securing a fitting to a wall surface by means of the fixing plug 10. The steps of such a method are shown in Figures 13 to 16.

Firstly the cylindrical end of the shank 19 remote from the head 20 is engaged in the normal way, as with a drill bit, with the chuck of a power drill or equivalent member which provides rotary motion to the member 18. Figures 13, 15 and 16 show a wall 31 , with an outer surface 32, the wall being, for example, of plasterboard or cellular block material. As shown in Figure 13, the member 18, rotatably driven as described, is used to drill a hole 33 into the wall 31, this typically being of at least 38 mm deep. The head and shank design of the member 18 allows the clearance of debris, particularly as the diameter of the shank is relatively small.

Once the required hole 33 has been drilled, the member 18 is withdrawn therefrom and a fixing plug 10 is loaded onto the member 18, the head 20 being pushed fully into the plug so that, as described, the end of the head 20 snugly engages the inner end of the plug 10. The plug on the end of the member 18 is then presented up to the hole 33

so that its forward end 13 is at the opening of the hole in the surface 32, and the drill is then operated to drive the member 18 which, as the drill is advanced, causes the plug to be driven into the hole 33. This continues until the flange 11 is flush with the surface of the wall 32, the plug then being disposed as shown in Figure 16. The member 18 is then pulled out from the plug, which remains tightly engaged in the wall 31 , by virtue of its thread 17, as the member 18 is withdrawn.

Finally a fitting 34, such as timber or the like, is presented up to the surface 32 at the location of the plug 10 and fixing means in the form of a cross-head fixing screw 35 (such as Philips, Posidriv or Supradriv) is passed through the fitting 34 and into engagement with the interior of the plug 10, until, as shown in Figure 16, the head of the screw 35 is flush with the outer surface of the fitting 34.

Normally the fitting would be preformed with a required countersunk bore for reception of the screw 35, although with fittings 34 of certain materials, it may be possible to drive the screw through the fitting and into engagement in the plug without the provision of a pre-formed bore in the fitting, the screw forming its own bore.

As will be appreciated, the shape and size of the end of the head, particularly the smaller cruciform part formed by the surfaces 23, 24 matches the cruciform slot in the head of the screw so that the head 20 accurately engages with the head so that drive to the member 18 is effectively transmitted to the screw 35 so as to drive the screw through the fitting 34, whether provided with countersunk bore or not, and into engagement with the plug 10. The part of the screw entering the plug 10 tightly engages therewithin to provide a secure fixing of the fitting 34

to the wall 32 as shown in Figure 16. Of course where a countersunk bore is already provided in the fitting 34, it will be possible for the screw to be manually engaged in the bore until the end of the screw is just flush with the rear surface of the fitting 34, the fitting then being positioned at the plug 10 and the remaining driving of the screw being effected by the member 18. Alternatively the screw could be fully screwed in solely manually. The fitting need not, in its final state, be engaged against the wall surface, if this is not required.

With the size of hole referred to above, and with a typical sized plug, a No. 10 wood screw is suitable for fixing a fitting 34 in the form of timber, the screw needing to penetrate at least 25 mm into the plug for a secure fitting. It will however be appreciated that these dimensions are by way of example only.

It will be appreciated that the present invention is particularly advantageous in that a single drill or drive bit 18 can be used for all three parts of the fixing operation, the member 18 thus remaining engaged with the drill for as many fixing plugs as need to be secured. Additionally no other tools, such as a hammer or a screw driver, are required to insert the plugs and to tighten fixing screws. With many known fixing plugs it is necessary to hammer them into their respective drilled holes and this can lead to damage to the end of the plugs. As the head 20 engages accurately with the forward inner end of the plug, there is the additional advantage that driving force is applied directly to the front of the plug adjacent the leading part of the thread which cuts into the wall and as maximum torque is applied to the plug it is driven smoothly into the hole 33 and engages by means of its thread 17. The advantage of using the powered member 18 to drive the fixing screw

into the plug is of course that no manual labour is required, thus overcoming any difficulties should a slightly oversized screw be used with a particular fixing plug, which could make manual driving in difficult.

It is envisaged that the member 18 would be sold with a multiplicity of fixing plugs, for example 50, as a kit of parts. Fixing screws for the plugs could also be provided in said kit. The member 18 could of course be sold alone.