CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority from United Kingdom patent application 10 12 448.5, filed July 26 ^th , 2010, the whole contents of which are included herein by way of reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a temporary support bracket to assist in the process of attaching boards to ceiling joists. The present invention also relates to a method of fabricating a temporary support bracket to assist in the process of attaching boards to ceiling joists. The present invention also relates to a method of providing temporary support for a board, while attaching said board to ceiling joists.

2. Description of the Related Art

A jig for lifting plasterboard is disclosed in US 4,646,996, which comprises three telescopic members that are supported by a frame and are individually adjustable to elevate a rack to a selected angular relationship. The jig represents a substantial piece of equipment and may be deployed in situations where manual fitting would not be possible. However, in many applications, it is possible for a board to be supported by one individual but the actual fixing to ceiling joists becomes difficult if assistance is not available.

In situations of this type, it is also known to deploy poles or supports, but problems may exist in relation to providing adjustment for different ceiling heights and, for a substantial investment in terms of equipment, the degree of support is somewhat limited. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a temporary support bracket to assist in a process of attaching boards to ceiling joists, comprising: a first limb for securing to a ceiling joist; an angled portion extending from said limb; and a second limb extending from said angled portion, wherein said second limb is configured to support a ceiling board after said first limb has been secured to a ceiling joist.

In an embodiment, the first limb includes a hole and is securable to a ceiling joist by means of a screw.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of fabricating a temporary support bracket to assist in a process of attaching boards to ceiling joists, comprising the steps of: cutting a blank from sheet metal; and bending said blank to define a first limb for securing to a ceiling joist, an angled portion extending from said first limb and a second limb extending from said angled portion, wherein said second limb is configured to support a ceiling board after said first limb has been secured to a ceiling joist. In an embodiment, the blank is fabricated from stainless steel.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of providing temporary support for a board, while attaching said board to a ceiling joist, comprising the steps of: securing a first limb of a support bracket to a first ceiling joist; locating a board upon an upper surface of a second limb, in which said second limb extends from said first limb via an angled portion; and securing an opposite end of said board to a second ceiling joist. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 illustrates a ceiling with joists;

Figure 2 illustrates the attachment of a ceiling board to the joist identified in Figure 1 ;

Figure 3 illustrates the relationship between adjacent boards; Figure 4 illustrates a temporary support bracket embodying an aspect of the present invention;

Figure 5 illustrates a method of fabricating the support bracket identified in Figure 4;

Figure 6 illustrates the attachment of the bracket of Figure 4 to a joist;

Figure 7 shows the securing of the bracket identified in Figure 6;

Figure 8 shows the secured bracket of Figure 7 supporting a board;

Figure 9 illustrates the permanent attachment of the opposite end of the board identified in Figure 8;

Figure 10 illustrates the further permanent attachment of the board shown in Figure 9;

Figure 11 shows the removal of the support bracket; and

Figure 12 shows a board attached to joists after the removal of the bracket. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

Figure 1

A ceiling 101 is shown in Figure 1 , to which boards are to be secured in order to provide a finished ceiling surface. The boards will be attached to joists, of which joist 102, joist 103, joist 104 and joist 105 are shown in Figure 1. In an preferred embodiment, joists 102 to 105 are fabricated in wood. Furthermore, in an embodiment, boards to be attached to these joists are plasterboards, although other types of boards could be deployed, such as plywood or plastic etc. The boards may be secured to the joists by means of screws or nails as is known in the art. Figure 2

As shown in Figure 2, a first board 201 and a second board 202 have been secured between a first left joist 103 and a second right joist 104. Joist 103 may be considered to have a primary surface 203. With respect to board 202, joist 103 has an internal surface 204 and an external surface 205. From the perspective of the joist 103, the external surface 205 may be considered as a left vertical surface and the internal surface 204 may be considered as a right vertical surface. Figure 3

The active surface 203 of joist 103 is illustrated in Figure 3. Furthermore, board 202 is shown in position, abutting against a board 301 located between joist 102 and joist 103. As is known in the art, it is preferable for the line of abutment between boards 202 and 301 to lie substantially centrally along the active surface 203 of joist 103. Thus, when locating a first board, it should be positioned substantially centrally, thereby providing a substantially equal space for the abutting board on the other side.

Furthermore, as is known in the art, when located, the boards are held in place by securing elements 302, such as plasterboard screws. It can therefore be seen that if a first board is aligned incorrectly, this will have knock- on effects in terms of its relationship with cooperating boards. Thus, in many applications, it is theoretically possible for the boards to be assembled by a single operative but in practice, this can be quite difficult and may lead to a misalignment. Furthermore, without appropriate mechanical assistance, health and safety constraints may demand that the boarding of ceilings as described with respect to Figures , 2 and 3 requires the deployment of at least two operatives.

Figure 4

A temporary support bracket 401 is illustrated in Figure 4, configured to assist in a process of attaching boards (201 , 202) to ceiling joists (103, 104). A First limb 402 is provided for securing to a ceiling joist. An angled portion 403 extends from the first limb 402. A second limb 404 extends from the angled portion 403. The second limb 404 is configured to support a ceiling board after said first limb has been secured to a ceiling joist. In preferred applications, the ceiling boards are plasterboards and the ceiling joists may be constructed from wood/timber.

In the embodiment of Figure 4, the first limb 402 includes a hole 405, so as to allow the support bracket 401 to be secured to a ceiling joist by means of a screw or similar attachment.

In the embodiment of Figure 4, the support bracket consisting of the first limb 402, the angled portion 403 and the second limb 404 are fabricated from a single metal piece and the required shape may be obtained by a bending process. In an embodiment, the bending process is performed upon a piece of stainless steel sheet.

In an alternative embodiment, the support bracket consisting of the first limb, the angled portion and the second limb are moulded from a plastics material. Figure 5

. A method for the fabrication of a temporary support bracket to assist in the process of attaching boards to ceiling joists is illustrated in Figure 5. Sheet material 501 is supplied to a cutting process 502. The cutting process 502 cuts blanks 503 from the sheet metal 501.

A bending process 504 bends the blanks 503 to produce the support brackets (as shown in Figure 4) which are in turn supplied to a packaging process 505. The bending process 504 bends each blank 503 to define a first limb for securing to a ceiling joist, an angled portion extending from said first limb and a second limb extending from said angled portion. The second limb is configured to support a ceiling board after said first limb has been secured to a ceiling joist.

In an embodiment, the metal sheet material 501 is stainless steel and stainless steel blanks 503 are cut from said sheet material 501.

In an embodiment, a hole is formed in the first limb to facilitate the attachment to a joist. Furthermore, in a preferred embodiment, the cutting process 502 is performed by laser cutting or water jet cutting. After distribution and removal from packaging, the temporary support bracket, as shown in Figure 4, is ready for providing temporary support for a board, while attaching said board to a ceiling joist. Figure 6

In order to perform the method of providing temporary support for a board, while attaching said board to a ceiling joist, the first limb 402 is located against a first vertical surface 204 of a first (left) ceiling joist 103. The angled portion 403 also abuts against the active surface 203 of the ceiling joist 03.

Figure 7

The angled portion 403 includes a substantially horizontal section 701 and a substantially vertical section 702. In this way, the angled portion 403 abuts closely against an edge 703 defined by vertical surface 204 and active surface 203. With the support bracket located in place, the first limb 402 of the support bracket is secured to the first ceiling joist 103. In this example, the support bracket is secured by the application of a screw 704 through hole 405 and into the joist 103. Alternatively, if access is limited, it is possible for the bracket to be secured by an alternative hole (shown as 406 in Figure 4), located in the substantially horizontal portion 701.

Figure 8

Having secured the first limb of the support bracket to a first ceiling joist, a board, such as board 201 , is located upon an upper surface 801 of the second limb 404.

Figure 9

With the board 201 located upon an upper surface of the second limb, the opposite end 901 of board 201 is secured to a second ceiling joist 104. Thus, following this step, the opposite end 901 of the board 201 has been secured to ceiling joist 103 in a substantially conventional manner. Figure 10

Having secured the opposite end 901 in a substantially conventional manner, an operative returns to the supported end of board 201. This is again secured in a substantially conventional manner, by means of plasterboard screws, such as screw 1001. Thus, having completed this process, the board is now secure . Figure 11

Having secured the board 201 , as illustrated in Figure 10, the temporary support bracket 401 is removed and having been removed, it is now ready to be deployed upon the next board, such as board 202. Figure 12

Having removed the temporary support bracket, as illustrated in Figure 11 , the board 201 is now held in place between joist 103 and 104. The support bracket 401 may be deployed for the next operation. Furthermore the deployment may be achieved safely using a single operative and the preferred alignment of the boards is retained; as illustrated in Figure 3.