Patents by Inventor William T. Turnbull

William T. Turnbull has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 4734003
    Abstract: A wood joint connector plate is formed of a thin, rigid metal sheet having numerous narrow, elongated, struck-out openings. The struck-out sheet material is bent perpendicularly at each end of each opening to form a pair of opposing reverse-oriented mirror-image teeth. Each tooth is bent about a lengthwise bend line that is offset relative to the central longitudinal axis of its opening to divide the tooth into a narrow portion and a wide portion along its length. The free end of each tooth is formed as an asymmetrical V-shaped tip, whose apex coincides with the bend line, to provide a short leg terminating the tooth narrow portion and a long leg terminating the tooth wide portion. Each tooth is twisted around its bend line so that its tip short leg extends approximately parallel to the axis of the opening and towards its opposing tooth. The tip long leg extends away from its opposing tooth and its opening at an acute angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the opening.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 22, 1986
    Date of Patent: March 29, 1988
    Inventors: Glenn C. Smith, James R. Needham, William T. Turnbull
  • Patent number: 4639176
    Abstract: A truss plate for connecting together wood members forming trusses, joists, beams and the like construction parts, formed of stiff sheet metal having struck-out teeth extending perpendicularly to the body of the plate. The teeth are struck-out in pairs, leaving an elongated slot between each pair of teeth. The slots, and their teeth, are aligned in numerous longitudinal rows. The rows form groups whose slots are also transversely aligned, but with the slots of one group being longitudinally offset relative to the slots of its adjacent group. The teeth are V-shaped in cross-section and are axially twisted. Their free ends form asymmetrical V-shaped tips. A pair of such plates are arranged in face-to-face contact with the teeth of the uppermost plate extending through the slots in the lowermost plate for closely positioning together adjacent teeth to form a double thickness plate with pairs of double teeth.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 21, 1986
    Date of Patent: January 27, 1987
    Inventors: Glenn C. Smith, James R. Needham, William T. Turnbull