Overhead gantry for use in building panel construction

Abstract

The disclosed technology enables manufacturers to efficiently design and manufacture structural wall panels, floor panels and roof panels from cold-formed steel for use in residential and commercial construction. The panels are individual components that can be installed at a building site to form a structure that includes walls, floor and a roof. Structures may be manufactured in a manufacturing facility and delivered to a construction site for installation.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60 / 791,982 filed Apr. 14, 2006, the disclosure of which is being incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. This application is related to U.S. patent application Docket No. GTP-001, U.S. application Ser. No. 11 / 707,650, entitled “Material Transport System for Building Panel Assembly,” U.S. patent application Docket No. GTP-002, U.S. application Ser. No. 11 / 707,638, entitled “Framing Table for Building Panel Assembly,” U.S. patent application Docket No. GTP-003, U.S. application Ser. No. 11 / 707,563, entitled “Bi-Directional Roller Table,” U.S. patent application Docket No. GTP-004, U.S. application Ser. No. 11 / 707,649, entitled “Automatic Pinning Process for Building Panel Assembly,” U.S. patent application Docket No. GTP-006, U.S. application Ser. No. 11 / 707,645, entitled “Tools and Methods for Designing a Structure Using Prefabri...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

This approach results in stronger, more efficient buildings that can withstand extreme conditions, reduce construction time and costs, improve quality, and provide better energy performance and indoor air quality, while using recycled materials and minimizing on-site labor.

Problems solved by technology

Conventional building construction has many problems, not the least of which is the time and expense required to construct a structure, such as a multi-story home or office building.

Much construction work is custom work that is performed on-site, and so is subject to a variety of inefficiencies.

The construction and organization of these panels may, however, be complicated in itself.

As a result, many of the expected advantages of the use of prefabricated panels in building construction have not been fully realized, especially with respect to the systematic management and control of construction of a building from initial design stage to final assembly.

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