Folded Sheet Metal Truss for Lightweight Canopy Structures
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional structural trusses are heavy and costly to transport due to their construction from large steel beams, requiring off-site fabrication and crane installation, which limits on-site construction and increases costs.
Innovation Solution
Trusses are fabricated from unitary folded sheet metal blanks, forming main panels with proximal and distal flanges and horizontal panels that are joined to create strong truss members, which can be assembled on-site into linear trusses or cantilevered modules for building structures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If traditional trusses are constructed from large steel beams, then structural strength is improved, but weight and transportation cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter from solid steel beams to thin-walled sheet metal tubes, and changes the cross-sectional geometry parameter to optimized triangular configurations. This allows achieving required structural strength with significantly reduced weight by using high strength-to-weight ratio thin-walled structures instead of traditional heavy steel beams.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite construction by joining multiple thin-walled sheet metal tubes together to form truss members, creating a composite structure that achieves the structural strength of solid steel beams while maintaining the weight advantages of thin-walled components. The composite arrangement of tubes provides both strength and weight efficiency.
2Manufacturing precision
If traditional trusses are fabricated off-site and transported, then manufacturing precision is improved, but transportation cost and time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the truss structure into modular components that can be fabricated separately and then assembled on-site. This segmentation allows precision fabrication of individual modules in controlled environments while enabling rapid on-site assembly, eliminating the need to transport entire truss assemblies and reducing transportation time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from transporting complete three-dimensional truss assemblies to transporting flat-pack or partially assembled modular components. This dimensional change in the transport state reduces transportation volume and time, while the modular design ensures manufacturing precision is maintained through standardized fabrication processes.
3Stability of the object's composition
If traditional trusses require crane installation, then structural stability is improved, but installation cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the truss into modular units with integrated connection features, allowing assembly through simple joining operations rather than requiring complex crane-based installation. The modular design with pre-configured connection points enables stable assembly using basic equipment while maintaining structural stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces standardized connection elements and joining mechanisms as intermediaries between truss members. These intermediaries simplify the assembly process by providing pre-engineered connection interfaces, eliminating the need for complex field welding or bolting operations and reducing installation complexity while ensuring structural stability.
Data Source
AI summary
A truss includes a plurality of truss members, each truss member formed from a unitary folded blank of sheet metal to create a main panel, and proximal and distal flanges and a horizontal panel each extending perpendicularly from the main panel, the proximal flange of a first truss member is connected to the distal flange of a second truss member to form a truss. In one embodiment employing trusses formed of folded sheet metal, a plurality of interconnected truss modules, each truss module including a plurality of truss members, forms a plurality of oppositely extending horizontal flanges that collectively present the top and bottom surfaces of a cantilevered canopy.