Clip for securing planar members
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to fasteners for securing planar members to wooden strips. In particular, the types of planar members of primary concern are tongue and groove panelling, wall or flooring members such as pine boards. 
     In accordance with prior art techniques, when tongue and groove members are to be secured to elongated wooden support strips, the sheets are typically interlocked one at a time with nails then being toed into the rear edge of the grooved portion so as to secure the planar member to the support strip. The support strips can be either thin furring strips or larger support members. The alternative to such a technique is to drive the nails through the outer face of the planar members for securing them to the support strip. In the latter case, even when finishing nails are used, an undesirable appearance is created. With the prior technique, damage is often caused to the grooved portion as the nail is driven into place. Such damage is especially frequent when the amateur carpenter, which is the category into which most homeowners fall, attempts to use a toe nailing procedure for securing the tongue and groove planar members. 
     Various different types of fasteners are known within the prior art for securing planar members to a support structure. Several examples of such clips and fasteners are illustrated in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,713,264 to Morgan; 3,828,514 to Jureit; 3,922,764 to Downing; and 4,000,596 to Magill. None of these patents, however, disclose a fastener that overcomes the above mentioned problems. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the present invention is to provide a fastener that readily enables planar members to be secured to wooden support members while minimizing any potential damage to the planar members. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a fastener for securing tongue and groove planar members to wooden support members, which fastener is not visible after the planar members are so secured and also helps to eliminate the possibility of damage to the planar members at the time that they are secured to the support strips. 
     A further object of the present invention is to provide a fastener for securing tongue and groove planar members to support strips that can be readily and easily utilized by amateur carpenters, such as homeowners doing their own home improvement projects. 
     Still another object of the present invention is to provide a procedure for securing planar member to support member that can be easily carried out by amateur carpenters so that such carpenters can construct professional appearing walls and floors in that adjacent planar members are in even edge to edge contact and engagement so that gaps or cracks between such adjacent members are avoided. 
     A still further object of the present invention is to provide a fastener for securing planar members to wooden support members, which fasteners can be easily and inexpensively manufactured. 
     These objectives are achieved by the utilization of a clip made in accordance with the present invention. The clip is formed from a metal plate and has a first finger-like member that extends from the plate and serves to secure a peripheral edge of the planar member that is to be secured to the elongated wooden strip. A second extended portion of the plate is angularly bent and has a point at its free end so as to form a V-shaped nail. This second portion extends outwardly from the plate in the same direction as the finger that grips the planar member. After the finger member is positioned so as to engage the peripheral edge of the planar member, the second portion of the clip is driven back across the plane of the metal plate and into the wooden support strip. 
     The finger member of the clip is formed by striking out a portion of the plate and angularly bending that portion so as to form a generally L-shaped finger member. The portion of the plate adjacent to the area from which the finger was struck out serves as a backing member that is positioned behind the rear face of the planar member that is to be secured. Thus, the planar member is clamped between the finger member and the backing member when engaged by the clip. 
     While the finger member is referred to as generally L-shaped, in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the finger should be slightly slanted or angled in an upward direction toward the outermost end of the plate. This angle of inclination can be between 10° and 30° from the horizontal plane of the plate from which the finger is struck out. This slant or upward angulation of the finger allows for a given clip to accommodate planar members of slightly varying dimensions. These fingers are still able to fit over the edges of the planar members even if the edges are slightly thicker than their designated thickness. 
     The finger member, the backing member and the nail portion of the clip all extend in parallel directions along the longitudinal axis of the metal plate that forms the clip. In addition, the edge of the finger member that is attached to the plate lie back to back. Thus, after the clip is pressed against the edge of the planar member, when the nail is hammered into the wooden strip, a force is created along the longitudinal axis of the plate in a direction towards the finger member, thereby further forcing the finger member and the backing member into engagement with the planar member. 
     In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it is desirable that the end of the plate in which the finger and backing are to be formed be separated into three portions by providing two longitudinally extending slits. The two outer portions of this section of the plate can be angularly bent to form the L-shaped finger members and the center portion forms the backing member. Alternatively, the center portion can be angularly bent to form the L-shaped finger member with the outer two portions then serving as the backing members. 
     The clips of the present invention is an unitary structure formed from a single metal plate. The clip, therefore, can be fabricated from sheet metal using inexpensive punch and die techniques. Since the clip can be inexpensively manufactured, the cost to the user is relatively low. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a planar member being secured to an elongated wooden strip by a clip in accordance with the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a plurality of planar members being secured to an elongated wooden strip by clips such as that found in FIG. 1. 
     FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the clip illustrated in FIG. 1. 
     FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the clip illustrated in FIG. 1. 
     FIG. 5 is a top plan view of another embodiment of a clip in accordance with the present invention. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     As illustrated in FIG. 1, a clip 1 is used for securing a tongue and groove planar member 4 to a wooden strip 7. Clip 1 has two spaced fingers 2a and 2b that are separated by a backing member 14. Fingers 2a and 2b are struck out from the metal plate 9 that forms clip 1. Fingers 2a and 2b are first bent upwardly and then angularly bent outwardly so as to have approximately an L-shape. Fingers 2a and 2b should be sufficiently spaced above backing number 14 so as to be capable of engaging lower portion 8 of groove section 6 of planar member 4. In order to ensure that fingers 2a and 2b can properly engage portion 8, the fingers are slanted or angled in an upward direction toward the outermost ends. This slant or upward angulation of the fingers permits a given clip to accommodate planar members of slightly varying dimensions and still have the fingers fit over lower portions 8 of varying thickness. When the clip engages lower portion 8 of the planar member, the planar member is in effect clamped between fingers 2a and 2b and backing member 14. 
     A second portion struck out from the metal plate is a tooth or nail 3. Nail 3 is struck out from the plate 9 so as to provide a shank portion 10 and a tip portion 11. Shank 10 and tip 11 are angularly related in such a manner that the tip is poised for insertion through opening 13 that is left in plate 9 when nail 3 is struck out. Nail 3 is preferably provided with a shallow V-shaped cross section throughout its full length for reinforcement purposes. Nail 3 is struck such that it extends towards the opposite end of the plate than the fingers. 
     In utilizing clip 1, fingers 2a and 2b and backing member 14 are inserted over lower position 8 of the panel member and extends along the longitudinal axis of furring strip 7. After the clip is firmly pushed into place, tip 11 of nail 3 is hammered through opening 13 in metal plate 9 and into furring strip 7. As the nail is hammered into place, a force is created towards fingers 2a and 2b thereby further pushing the fingers and the backing member into engagement with lower portion 8 of planar member 4. This moves the planar member into snug contact with the previously erected planar member so as to avoid any crack between the edges of planar members. It will be understood that the interaction of the metal clips and wooden planar members is such that a force of the type created by the particular configuration of the nail 3 is sufficient to depress or deform the back edges of the planar members to the extent necessary to ensure a tight edge to edge engagement of such planar members. 
     After nail 3 has been hammered into place such as shown in FIG. 2, another planar member is placed over the furring strip with tongue 5 of the next planar member being inserted into groove 6 of the prior planar member. The procedure is then repeated with the new planar member being secured to the furring strip with the use of additional clips. 
     As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the two outer sections of one end of metal plate 9 are bent upwardly from the plate and then angularly bent so as to form L-shaped fingers 2a and 2b. In an alternative embodiment, shown in FIG. 5, it is possible for a center section 15 of the metal plate to be bent upwardly and then angularly bent in an L shape so as to form a finger for gripping the lower portion of the planar member. In this embodiment, the outer portions 16a and 16b of the metal plate form backing members which engage the rear face of planar member 4. 
     In the specific embodiment of the present invention illustrated in the drawings, the clip is used for securing tongue and groove pine boards to wooden support strips. Such boards are typically 1/2&#34; thick and 4&#34; wide. The clip for securing such boards normally would be formed of 20 or 22 gauge galvanized mild steel and have the following illustrative dimensions: the length of the metal plate, L4, is 15/8&#34;; the length from the rear edge of the fingers to the front edge of the clip, L3, is 11/4&#34;; the length from the edge of shank 10 attached to the metal plate to the front of the clip, L1, is 11/8&#34;; and the length of opening 13, L2, is 1&#34;. 
     Turning to the widths of the various portions of the clip, it can be seen from FIG. 3 that the width of each finger 2a and 2b is one-half the width of backing member 14. In the particular embodiment illustrated W3 is 5/32&#34; and W4 is 5/16&#34;. The entire width of the clip, W1, is 5/8&#34;. The width of nail 3 is 3/16&#34; or approximately 1/3 of the entire width. As shown, the shank of the nail is longer than the tip. Hence, although shank 10 and tip 11 form approximately a right angle and shank 10 is arranged at approximately a 45° angle to metal plate 9, length L5 is greater than length L6. In the illustrated clip, L5 is 13/32&#34; and L6 is 7/32&#34;. 
     The bent portion of nail 3 is substantially higher than the height of the fingers. In the embodiment of FIGS. 3 and 4, H1 is 3/8&#34;. The height of the finger, H2, while less than height H1, should be slightly larger than 3/16&#34;, which is the approximate thickness of portion 8, to allow for sufficient leeway for the finger to fit over portion 8 of the pine board. To further facilitate this engagement, the end of fingers 2a and 2b both form approximately a 15° angle with the plane of the metal plate. 
     Thus it will be seen that the arrangement of the present invention provides a clip for securing tongue and groove planar members to wooden support strips wherein the clip is hidden after the planar members are secured and helps to eliminate the possibility of damage to the planar members at the time that they are secured to the support strips. The fastener and fastening arrangement may be readily and easily utilized by amateur carpenters, such as homeowners doing their own home improvement projects. 
     The clip is so constructed as to insure that even such amateur carpenters may achieve professional appearing walls and floors wherein adjacent planar members are in even edge to edge contact and engagement thereby avoiding gaps or cracks between such adjacent members. The unique clips utilized for this purpose are unitary and formed from sheet metal that can be fabricated by the use of inexpensive punch and die techniques thereby making the fasteners available at low cost. However, while the fastener and arrangement of this invention is such as to make it particularly susceptible of use by amateur carpenters, the fastener and assembly method are such as to make the same also advantageous to use by skilled carpenters as well as in prefabrication systems. 
     The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiments are presented merely as illustrative and not restrictive, with the scope of the invention being indicated by the attached claims rather than the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.