Wood joint and connector plates

Claim 1

A connector comprising a sheet metal plate having a thickness substantially no greater than 18 U.S. Standard Gauge, said plate having a plurality of slender, elongated, nail-like teeth struck therefrom and bent about axes substantially parallel to the plane containing said plate to leave a plurality of longitudinally spaced elongated slots lying generally in laterally spaced, substantially parallel rows; each of said teeth being struck to define a substantially V-shaped cross section; said teeth having base portions adjacent said plate, intermediate portions and opposite pointed end portions; each of said base portions including a lateral shoulder projecting from only one side edge of the associated tooth to form an integral lateral extension thereof, the other side edge of said tooth extending in a straight line along said base and intermediate tooth portion to said pointed end portion; each of said shoulders being struck integrally with its associated tooth to leave a laterally enlarged slot formation in one side edge of the associated slot and adjacent the end of said slot from which the associated tooth projects; the edge portion of each of said slots opposite the associated tooth being pointed with the side edge of each said slot on the same side thereof as its associated enlarged slot formation extending in a straight line from said enlarged slot formation to said pointed end edge portion, the opposite side edge of said slot extending in a straight line from the associated tooth to the pointed end edge portion of said slot; the bent portions of said teeth having greater lateral extent than the width of the intermediate portions of the teeth, said bent tooth portions in one row of teeth lying in substantial lateral alignment with the metal plate portions extending between and bridging the longitudinally adjacent slots in at least a next adjacent row of teeth; each of the laterally enlarged slot formations of said one row of teeth lying in substantial lateral alignment with a corresponding plate portion in said next adjacent row of teeth extending between the juncture of the pointed end edge portion and the linearly extending side edge of an associated laterally adjacent slot and the tooth associated with the next longitudinally adjacent slot, at least a portion of each laterally enlarged slot formation lying in lateral alignment with a portion of the slot in the next adjacent row extending betwen the pointed end thereof and the juncture between the linearly extending side edge portion of such slot and its pointed end edge portion whereby the net reduction of sheet metal in said plate at aany one transversely extending cross section through the plate due to the formation of said slots is no greater than the sum of the cross-sectional areas of the slot portions from which said intermediate tooth portions are struck, said teeth being struck to comprise at least four parallel rows, the teeth forming the outermost pair of rows being longer in length than the length of the teeth forming the innermost pair of rows, the laterally enlarged slot formations of said one row of teeth lying on the side of slot formations nearest the slot formations of the next adjacent row of teeth, the laterally enlarged slot formations of said next adjacent row of teeth lying on the side thereof nearest the slot formations of said one row of teeth.