Digitally automated truss system

Abstract

A manufacturing process and equipment fabricates open web trusses from CAD building plans. The fabricating machine cuts stock lengths of chord and webbing based on the truss specifications and applies assembly and building location indicia to the chords and webbing. A jig provides for assembly of the trusses vertically. The software analyzes the floor layout of a building, in particular open floor spans, that need to be supported by trusses, and then applies code based engineering criteria, such as dead loads, live loads, lateral loads, out of plane deflection, load transfer, and the like, to design the trusses for the optimized engineering performance to meet local and international building codes. The software lays out the trusses so that webbing aligns across floor areas to allow for the pass-through of various utilities.

Description

DIGITALLY AUTOMATED TRUSS SYSTEMSPECIFICATIONI. CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application is based on and claims priority of provisional patent application 63470269, fded June 1, 2023, and is fully incorporated herein by reference.II. FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The digitally automated truss system described in this patent application utilizes a unique manufacturing process to fabricate open web trusses from computer assisted design (CAD) building plans.III. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0003] The invention described herein is a system of using software and a manufacturing process to fabricate open web trusses from CAD building plans. The software analyzes the floor layout of a building, in particular open floor spans, that need to be supported by trusses, and then applies code based engineering criteria, such as dead loads, live loads, lateral loads, out of plane deflection, load transfer, and the like, to design the trusses for the optimized engineering performance to meet local and international building codes. The software lays out the trusses so that webbing aligns across floor areas to allow for the pass-through of various utilitiesIV. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0004] Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a building with portions removed of open web trusses supporting an open floor plan.

[0005] Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a truss comprised of a top chord, bottom chord and webbing.

[0006] Fig. 3A is an end view of a C-shaped chord and web profile.

[0007] Fig. 3B is an end view of a hat-shaped chord and web profile.

[0008] Fig. 3C is an end view of a stud-shaped chord and web profile.

[0009] Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the chords and webbing in a truss.

[0010] Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the computer controller.

[0011] Figs. 6-8 are perspective views of the fabrication machine that fabricates the chords and webbing.

[0012] Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a truss with laser marking applied.

[0013] Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a truss assembly jig.

[0014] Fig. 11 is a front view of the truss assembly jig with an assembled truss located therein.

[0015] Fig. 12 is an enlarged right end perspective view of the truss assembly jig with an assembled truss mounted located therein.

[0016] Figs. 13-16 are flow charts illustrating the steps of the process implementing the invention software and machinery to fabricate the chords and webbing forming the trusses.V. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0017] Open web trusses 10 are structural assemblies used in building construction to support floor and roof spans (unsupported areas of a building typically from wall to wall) as illustrated in Fig. 1.

[0018] Open web trusses 10 illustrated in Fig. 2 below consist of top chords 12, bottom chords 14, and webbing 16, of different profiles (see Figs. 3A-3C), fastened to the chords either vertically or at angles 18 as illustrated in Fig. 4. The profiles as seen in Figs. 3A-3C can be “C” channel, “Hat Channel” or “Stud Shaped Channel”. Angular webbing 16 connected to top and bottom chords create structural nodes that enable the truss to span open areas as illustrated in Fig. 1 which are wall to wall unsupported areas.

[0019] A great advantage of open web trusses as opposed to joists which are solid or closed web from top chord to bottom chord, is that open web trusses allow for the passage or routing of building mechanical, electrical and plumbing (“MEP”) utilities without the need for cutting the web 16 of the truss 10.

[0020] The angle 18 of the webbing 16 where it intersects and attaches with the chords 12,14 varies based on structural requirements, length, and depth of the open web truss.

[0021] The invention utilizes software and a manufacturing process to fabricate open web trusses from CAD building plans. The software analyzes the floor layout of a building, in particular open floor spans, that need to be supported by trusses, and then applies code based engineering criteria, such as dead loads, live loads, lateral loads, out of plane deflection, load transfer, and the like, to design the trusses for the optimized engineering performance to meet local and international building codes. The software lays out the trusses so that webbing aligns across floor areas to allow for the pass-through of MEP utilities.

[0022] Building structural plans are then converted to alphanumeric data from which a bill of materials is produced for ordering the light gauge chord, web, and fastening hardware used to build the trusses. Further, the digital design is converted to shop drawings for review by building departments and project engineers, and machineprocessing files which are interpreted by a specialized computing machine (see Figs. 5 - 8 below).

[0023] A processing machine 20 operates via a computer controller 22 (see Fig. 5) that interprets the digital building plans and converts them to data forms that can be interpreted by the processing machine 20 to process the truss profiles.

[0024] As seen in Figs. 6-8 the processing machine 20 has a feed end 24 which receives the stock or unfinished lengths of chords and webbing. These are generally received from the material supplier in eight foot lengths but can be of other lengths depending on the supplier. The stock chord or webbing is fed along a track 25 into a cutting head 26. The cutting head 26 has a cutting blade 30 that is driven by a motor in a generally known manner. The cutting head 26 is mounted on a rotatable base 28 that when rotated allows the cutting blade 30 to cut ends of the chord or webbing at the proper predetermined angle based on the location and characteristics of the truss comprised of the particular chords and webbing. These parameters are determined by the computer controller 22 which sends the control signals to the processing machine 20 which then controls the length of the chord or webbing and the angle of the miter cut at each end of the chord or webbing. Also a printer or laser etching device 34 located at the feed end 24 applies a marking to each chord or webbing prior to the chord or webbing being processed and cut. In an alternate embodiment the printer or laser etching device may be located at the exit end 32 to apply the marking to the webbing or chords after they are processed and cut.

[0024] Processing the stock material includes measuring, cutting, and applying laser marking 36 (see Fig. 9) to the individual truss parts comprising the top 12 and bottom chord 14 and webbing 16 to guide the assembly of the trusses without the need to manually take-off material quantities, reference drawings, measure, or set up a miter to cut the angles 18 where the web 16 meets the chords 12,14.

[0025] Once the parts are processed the software manages material batching so that the correct chords are matched with the correct webbing as required by the structural drawings.

[0026] Assembly of trusses occurs in a specialized assembly jig 38 (see Figs. 10- 12) . There is a stationary lower frame 39 and an upper moveable frame 41 above thestationary lower frame 39. There are bottom support pads 43 mounted on the stationary lower frame 39 and operatively connected to lower clamps 45. The upper moveable frame has top clamping pads 47 operated by upper clamps 49. The bottom chord 14 is clamped to the stationary lower frame 39 by the lower clamps 45. The top chord 12 rests on the top clamping pads 47 and is clamped to the upper moveable frame 41 by the upper clamps 49. (See Fig. 12).

[0027] The bottom support pads 43 and lower clamps 45 are slidably mounted on the lower frame 39 so that they can be slid along the lower frame 39 to be moved along the lower frame 39 and avoid striking the place of the intersection of the webbing 16 with the bottom cord 14. The top clamping pads 47 and upper clamps 49 are similarly slidably mounted on the upper frame 49 to avoid striking the place of the intersection of the webbing 16 with the top cord 12 The jig 38 can be set to any depth required and can be adjusted so that the top chord 12 of the truss is sloped to allow for roof drainage. This is accomplished by a slidable sleeve 51 mounted around the vertical legs of the upper frame49 as seen in Figs. 11 and 12. In this manner the jig 38 can be set up to assemble flat floor-to-floor trusses, flat roof trusses or sloped roof trusses. Using a slightly sloped roof truss on what appears to be a flat roof eliminates the need for costly built-up insulation to create drainage.

[0028] The digitally automated truss system facilitates the design and manufacture of trusses of any length or depth required by cutting the webbing at the precise angle required to connect the webbing 16 to the top 12 and bottom chord 14. The process eliminates manually measuring various dimensions such as length, depth, and angles, and setting up and manually changing a miter saw each time the angle of attachment changes. The processing machine 20 fabricates the length and angle of each of the webbing 16, top chords 12 and bottom chords 14 so that each of these component members can be assembled in the jig 38 into the finished truss. The jig 38 is unique as it allows the truss to be assembled in the upright or vertical position eliminating the need for flipping the truss to attach fasteners to attach the webbing 16 to the chords 12.

[0029] The software determines the gauge of material, angle of cuts, number, type, and pattern of screws required to fasten the chords to the webbing, and precisely labels the components for building the truss without the need for the operator to referencebuilding plans. Laser marking the various truss components guides the assembly of the truss eliminating the need to reference building plans or fabrication drawings, dramatically increasing efficiency and speed of assembly, and reducing the cost of the finished truss. Finally, the machine marks each truss’s positioning in the building decreasing floor structure erection time and manpower effectively creating a build by numbers system of construction.

[0030] Turning to Fig. 13, the overall process implementing the inventive machinery is illustrated. A computer aided architectural designs and plans module 48 receives a third- party architect CAD in step 50. In step 52, which is the building plan assessment module, the computer software receives the CAD architectural plans and reviews the plans and analyzes the floor and roof geometry. In step 54 the computer software module assigns International Building Code (IBC) and local code based loading criteria based on floor type. In step 56 floor type assignments are made based on loading requirements. Live load and dead loads are assigned in step 58 and an analytical model is generated in step 60.

[0031] In module step 62 the truss layout is created and the truss specifications are assigned. This is done by assigning place holders at the truss locations in step 64, assigning parameters and truss specifications such as length, element sizing, and number of webs to structurally optimize in a truss in step 66. The trusses are aligned so that the openings provide passthroughs for the mechanical, electric and plumbing in step 68.

[0032] In step 70 we assign a name to each truss based on the geometric installation. The names are used for logistics, batching of the trusses, and installation.At this point any design changes are made in step 72 utilizing a change management process at step 74. These changes are routed back to step 50, where the truss design is updated and the process goes through steps 52 to 70 until no more changes are made.

[0033] Once the names have been finalized for the trusses in step 70, the names are transferred to a database in step 76 where the truss specifications are loaded in the database. In material optimization and sorting module 78 several steps are performed. In step 82 the parameters and specifications for production of the trusses and for material handling are analyzed in step 80. Material quantities are optimized by size, length andgauge used for the fabrication of the trusses. The results of the optimization process in step 82 are aggregated in step 84 based on the building area.

[0034] Once the material organization and sorting is completed in step 78, the material procurement module 86 takes the results and proceeds to secure a material quote in step 88 by placing requests for quotations and receiving the quotes from material manufacturers in step 90, placing purchase orders worldwide for all materials for a project at step 92, and break down the purchase orders by project delivery schedule in step 94.

[0035] In step 96 on-site material scheduling, receiving and inventory management occurs. A material receiving module in step 98 and inventory management in step 100 provides for receiving and managing the materials received from the material manufacturers identified in step 90 who have shipped the ordered materials pursuant to steps 90 and 92.

[0036] A production and planning module 102 sets the production and installation plans in step 104 and selects the materials in step 106 to be picked from the inventory management step 100. The truss processing module 108 where the material is sized and cut goes through step 110 which is the machine operating services in which machine files are generated from the CAD digital drawings effectively converting the drawings to alphanumeric code that can be read by the machine to process the truss parts. In step 114 the truss chords and webbing are batched by truss type and location in the building.

[0037] In step 116 a field support module produces fabrication and shop drawings at step 118, step 120 tracks production and installation of the trusses and a report is generated in step 122. Once the fabrication and shop drawings are made in step 118, the trusses are assembled in step 124 utilizing the assembly jig 38 by referencing the laser marking 36. The fabricated trusses assembled in step 124 are then installed in the building in step 126.

Claims

VI. CLAIMS1. An open web truss fabricating machine for the fabrication of open web trusses in a building comprising: a receiving track having a front end and a back end, the receiving track adapted for receiving stock lengths of chord and webbing material, driver means for engaging the stock lengths of the chord or webbing material for pushing the stock lengths of the chord or webbing material along the receiving track from the front end to the back end, a controller for receiving truss specifications indicating the length of the chord and webbing and the location of the truss in the building, a processing machine comprising a marking machine and a cutting machine, the marking machine mounted adjacent to the receiving track for printing truss assembly indicia and building positioning indicia on the chord or webbing based on the truss specifications, the cutting machine mounted adjacent to the receiving track for cutting the stock length of the chord to the proper length or cutting the webbing to the proper length and angle based on the truss specifications.

2. The open web fabricating machine of claim 1 wherein the controller sends information to the processing machine to control the indicia printed on the chord and webbing.

3. The open web fabricating machine of claim 1 wherein the controller sends information to the cutting machine to control the length of the chord and length and angle of the webbing.

4. The open web fabricating machine of claim 1 wherein the marking machine is a laser for printing truss assembly indicia and building positioning indicia on the chord or webbing.

5. The open web fabricating machine of claim 1 and further comprising a rotatable base on which the cutting machine is mounted for varying the angle of the cutting machine with respect to the webbing for providing a varying cutting angle to the webbing based on the truss specifications.

6. A method for fabricating open web trusses comprising: selecting at least one open web truss to be fabricated; placing a stock length of chord on a receiving track; moving the stock length of chord along the receiving track; applying first truss assembly indicia to the stock length of chord; cutting the stock length of chord to a first chord length for the selected open web truss; placing a second stock length of chord along the receiving track; moving the second stock length of chord along the receiving track; applying second truss assembly indicia to the second stock length of chord; cutting the second stock length of chord to a second required length for the selected open web truss; placing a stock length of webbing on the receiving track; applying third truss assembly indicia to the stock length of webbing; cutting the stock length of webbing to a first webbing length and first miter cuts for the selected open web truss; placing a second stock length of webbing on the receiving track; applying fourth truss assembly indicia to the second stock length of webbing; and cutting the second stock length of webbing to a second webbing length and second miter cuts for the selected open web truss.

7. The method of claim 6 and further comprising receiving truss specifications from a controller for determining the first chord length and the second chord length and inputting the truss specifications to a cutter for cutting the stock length of chord.

8. The method of claim 7 and further comprising receiving the truss specifications from the controller for determining and printing the indicia to be imprinted on the first chord length and the second chord length.

9. The method of claim 6 and further comprising receiving truss specifications from a controller for determining the first webbing length and first miter cuts and second webbing length and second miter cuts and inputting the truss specifications to a cutter for cutting the stock lengths of webbing.

10. The method of claim 9 and further comprising receiving the truss specifications from the controller for determining and printing the indicia to be imprinted on the first webbing length and the second webbing length.

11. The method for fabricating open web trusses of claim 6 and further assembling the open web truss in a vertical orientation comprising: placing a first cut stock cut lengths of chord into an assembly jig, placing a second cut stock length of chord into the assembly jig vertically below the first cut stock length of chord, fastening the first cut stock length of chord to an upper frame of the jig, fastening the second cut stock length of chord to a lower frame of the jig, fastening the webbing to the first cut stock length of chord and to the second cut stock length of chord for assembling the selected open web truss utilizing the first truss assembly indicia, second truss assembly indicia, third truss indicia and fourth truss assembly indicia for positioning and assembly of the selected open web truss.

12. The method for fabricating open web trusses of claim 11 and further comprising providing an adjustable sleeve mounted on the upper frame for raising and lowering the upper frame with respect to the lower frame.

13. The method for fabricating open web trusses of claim 12 and further comprising: moving an end of the upper frame vertically with respect to the lower frame for changing the distance between an end of the upper frame with respect to the lower frame for creating a sloped open web truss.

14. A method for fabrication of open web trusses in a building comprising: a controller for receiving building data generated from architectural software, assigning live load and dead loads to the trusses including local code based loading criteria based on floor type, analyzing the building data and generating position information of the trusses in the building, assigning truss specifications including length, sizing, and number of webs to structurally optimize the open web trusses, laying out the open web trusses in the building so they are aligned to provide 10 opening passthroughs for utilities, loading the truss specifications in a database, processing stock material into chords and webbing at a processing machine by applying location indicia to the stock material and cutting the material at a cutting machine to the sizes indicated in the database while retaining the location indicia on the chords and webbing, and assembling the chords and webbing into the open web trusses utilizing the location indicia applied to the chords and webbing.

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