Granted Patent B2

US 12,215,734 · App. 18/310,499 · Granted Feb 4, 2025

Inventor: Daniel C. Duggan (Chesterfield, MO)

Assignee: ERICO International Corporation

F16B7/0413F16B2/14F16B2/185F16L3/00F16L3/2431F16L3/11F16L3/24

Abstract

Claims (17)

1. A method of providing stiffness to a hanger rod that is received by a strut, the method comprising:

aligning the hanger rod within a channel of the strut, with the hanger rod extending along an elongate direction of the channel;

inserting a hanger-rod clip into the channel in an insertion direction that is transverse to the elongate direction, so that a rod-engaging wall of the hanger-rod clip engages the hanger rod within the channel; and

moving a handle of the hanger-rod clip to place the hanger-rod clip in a secured configuration with wings of the hanger-rod clip engaging inner surfaces of the strut on opposing sides of the channel to resiliently urge the hanger rod, via the rod-engaging wall, into an internal wall of the channel.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the inner surfaces of the strut face toward the internal wall of the channel.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein, with the hanger-rod clip in the secured configuration, the rod-engaging wall extends transverse to the elongate direction and is obliquely angled relative to the insertion direction.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein, with the hanger-rod clip in the secured configuration, the handle extends to the exterior of the channel.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein, with the hanger-rod clip in the secured configuration, the handle extends along the elongate direction exterior to the channel.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the hanger-rod clip is a unitary clip body that includes the handle, the rod-engaging wall, and the wings.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein moving the handle includes manually pivoting the handle relative to the strut.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the rod-engaging wall is a first rod-engaging wall, and the hanger-rod clip includes a second rod-engaging wall also configured to engage the hanger rod within the channel to resiliently urge the hanger rod into the internal wall of the channel.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the first rod-engaging wall and the second rod-engaging wall are angled obliquely relative to the insertion direction, so that the first rod-engaging wall is configured to urge the hanger rod in a first direction against the internal wall of the channel and the second rod-engaging wall is configured to urge the hanger rod in a second direction against the internal wall of the channel, the second direction being different from the first direction.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein an angled wall extending from the handle resiliently engages at least one of the inner surfaces of the strut to secure the hanger-rod clip in the secured configuration.

11. A method of providing stiffness to a hanger rod that is received by a strut, the method comprising:

inserting the hanger rod within a channel of the strut, with the hanger rod extending along an elongate direction of the channel;

inserting a hanger-rod clip into the channel in an insertion direction that is transverse to the elongate direction, so that a rod-engaging wall of the hanger-rod clip engages the hanger rod within the channel; and

actuating the hanger-rod clip so that the hanger-rod clip bears against inner surfaces of the strut to sandwich the hanger rod between the rod-engaging wall of the hanger-rod clip and an internal wall of the channel.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (7)

References Cited (64)