US3827325A

US3827325A - Trim saw mounting bracket assembly

Info

Publication number: US3827325A
Application number: US00240368A
Authority: US
Inventors: R Ward; W Welch
Original assignee: GANG NAIL TRUSS CO Inc
Current assignee: GANG NAIL TRUSS CO Inc
Priority date: 1972-04-04
Filing date: 1972-04-04
Publication date: 1974-08-06
Anticipated expiration: 1991-08-06

Abstract

A bracket assembly for mounting a saw on a truss fabricating press has a bearing sleeve, and a shaft forming a journal arranged in the sleeve and connected to a longitudinally extending member adapted for moutning a saw. The pivotal mounting of the longitudinally extending member permits the performance of trimming operations on chords of bowstring trusses positioned on the press. The lower chord is first positioned and trimmed, followed by the upper chord. A stop is arranged on the shaft for rotation therewith to limit the swing of the longitudinally extending member toward the press. A counterweight may also be attached to the longitudinally extending member for balancing the weight of the saw. A fluid motor or the like may be arranged between and connected to the frame of the press and the longitudinally extending member for selectively swinging the saw toward and away from the chords.

Description

3,827,325 Aug. 6, 1974 TRIM SAW MOUNTING BRACKET ASSEMBLY Inventors: Robert L. Ward; Willie M. Welch, both of Shreveport, La.

Gang-Nail Truss Company of Shreveport, Inc., Shreveport, La. a part interest Filed: Apr. 4, 1972 Appl. No.: 240,368

Assignee:

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 11/1954 Eastwood 83/72 X 10/1963 Loughridge 83/490 X l/l970 Riedener 83/47l.2

Primary Examiner-Donald R. Schran Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Clarence A. OBrien; Harvey B. Jacobson [5 7 ABSTRACT A bracket assembly for mounting; a saw on a truss fabricating press has a bearing sleeve, and a shaft forming a journal arranged in the sleeve and connected to a longitudinally extending member adapted for moutning a saw. The pivotal mounting of the longitudinally extending member permits the performance of trimming operations on chords of bowstring trusses positioned on the press. The lower chord is first positioned and trimmed, followed by the upper chord. A stop is arranged on the shaft for rotation therewith to limit the swing of the longitudinally extending member toward the press. A counterweight may also be attached to the longitudinally extending member for balancing the weight of the saw. A fluid motor or the like may be arranged between and connected to the frame of the press and the longitudinally extending member for selectively swinging the saw toward and away from the chords.

3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures TRIM SAW MOUNTING BRACKET ASSEMBLY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION l. Field of the Invention This invention relates to an assembly for fabricating bowstring trusses, and in particular to a bracket assembly for mounting on a truss fabricating .press a saw for performing trimming operations on chords used to form the trusses.

2. Description of the Prior Art Machines are known for fabricating bowstring trusses by means of toothed connectors and toothed spacerconnectors formed by a pair of toothed plates connected by flanged ribs.

One embodiment of these known machines, as disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,329,328, has a series of press devices for embedding the teeth of the connectors and spacer connectors into chords of the truss after the chords have been positioned and clamped by locating and spacing elements associated with the press devices. A difficulty encountered in fabricating bowstring trusses with a press of this type is that since the ends of the lower and upper chords forming the truss are in abutting relationship, and the upper chord is deformed into an arcuate shape the stock forming the chords must be trimmed to approximate length before being placed in the press. This technique has been found to result in imprecise trimming of the chords, with a resulting reduction in the quality of the finished trusses.

It is generally known to pivotally mount saws on various types of material working machines for the'purpose of performing trimming operations. An example of such an application of trim saws may be found in US. Pat. No. 2,856,973. However, the specific application of a saw to a truss-forming press to perform trimming operations on the chords of the truss has not been previously known.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an assembly for fabricating bowstring trusses which adds to a truss fabricating press included in such assembly the capability of performing trimming operations on chord members arranged in the press so that precise trimming operations on the chords may be carried out.

This and other objects are achieved according to the present invention by providing a bracket assembly for mounting a saw to a truss fabricating press. This bracket assembly preferably has means for mounting a saw thereon, and means for pivotally mounting the mounting means to the press frame or other suitable structure for arranging the saw to perform trimming operations on trusses being manufactured by the press.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the pivotally mounting means has a bearing sleeve, and a shaft connected to the mounting means and forming a journal arranged in the bearing sleeve. A stop is preferably mounted on the shaft for rotation therewith and for limiting the swing of the mounting means in the direction toward the truss chords to be trimmed. The mounting means may be a longitudinally extending member connected at one end to the shaft and mountable at the other end to a saw.

An advantageous feature of the present invention provides a counterweight connected to the mounting means for counter-balancing the weight of a saw mounted on the mounting means. 7

A means such as a fluid motor may be connected to the mounting means and to the frame of the press or other suitable structure for selectively swinging the mounting means relative to truss chords to be trimmed.

In fabricating trusses with an assembly according to the present invention, the lower chord of the truss will first be placed in the press and trimmed by moving the saw therethrough, and the upper chord will then be put in position and trimmed by the saw. This sequential trimming of first a lower and then an upper chord previously positioned on the press permits precision trimming of the chords.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a fragmentary, rear perspective view showing a bracket assembly according to the present invention mounting a saw on a truss fabricating press.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, front perspective view showing the arrangement of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, exploded perspective view showing a detail of a bracket assembly according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary, side elevational view, partly in section, showing the detail of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, an assembly according to the present invention for fabricating bowstring trusses has a trussfabricating press 10 such as is disclosed in more detail in US. Pat. No. 3,329,328, issued July 4, 1967 to J. C. Jureit et al. Press 10 is preferably of the type provided with chord locating and spacing devices 12. The truss fabricating assembly according to the present invention also has a bracket assembly 14 for mounting a saw 16 to the frame of press 10, or to other suitable structure (not shown). Saw 16 is preferably a standard motorized saw having a circular saw blade 17, and is arranged for cooperating with press 10 for sequentially trimming first a lower and then an upper chord previously positioned on press 10.

As can best be seen by referring to FIGS. 3 and 4 of the drawings, bracket assembly 14 has a bearing sleeve 18, and a shaft 20 arranged in sleeve 18 and connected to a longitudinally extending member 22 for pivoting same. Shaft 20 forms a journal when arranged in bearing sleeve 18. Member 22 has a right-angled flange 23 to which saw 16 is connected in a known manner, as by screw fasteners cooperating with threaded holes (not shown) in saw 16. Member 22 is also provided with a bushing 24 connected thereto at one end thereof for rotation therewith. One end of shaft 20 is received in bushing 24 and rotatably connected thereto as by setscrews 26. The other end of shaft 20 is provided with a head portion 28 which cooperates with bushing 24 and setscrews 26 to retain shaft 20 in sleeve 18. Member 22 also is provided with a plate 30 whose function will be discussed below. Sleeve 18 may mount assembly 14 on press as by being welded to an angle bracket 32 which may in turn be welded to the frame of press 10.

A stop 34 may be mounted on head portion 28 of shaft for rotation therewith, and for limiting the swing of member 22 in the direction toward chords 36, 38 (FIG. 2) to be trimmed. Stop 34 is formed by an angle bracket 40 which is, for example, welded to head portion 28 and provided with a screw-threaded opening for receiving a screw 42. As can be readily understood, stop 34 may be adjusted merely by turning screw 42 in bracket 40.

Preferably, a counterweight 44 is connected to member 22 adjacent the connection of member 22 to shaft 20 as by means of a rod 46 provided with screw threads 48. Counterweight 44 threadedly engages threads 48 so as to provide an adjustment therefor. In this manner, the weight of saw 16 may be counter-balanced.

If desired, saw 16 may be depressed by manually gripping handle 49 thereof, or it may be mechanically driven by means of a fluid motor 50 having a cylinder 52 pivotally mounted to a flange 53 of plate 30 as by a pin 54, and a piston rod 56 pivotally mounted to the frame of press 10 as by a pin 58. Obviously, the position of fluid motor 50, which may receive a fluid under pressure as through a line 60, may be reversed. Selective actuation of fluid motor 50 will swing member 22, to which plate 30 is connected, and thus saw 16 relative to

chords

36, 38.

With a truss fabricating assembly according to the present invention, bowstring trusses, which are illustrated in, for example, the above-mentioned US. Pat. No. 3,329,328, may be fabricated by first positioning a lower chord 36 in press 10 and trimming same by depressing saw 16. Once lower chord 36 has been trimmed, an upper chord 38 may be arranged in press 10 and trimmed in a similar manner. Once these trimming operations have been completed, the pressing devices 62 (only one of which is shown in the drawings) of press 10 may be actuated in a known manner for pressing two connectors 64 (only one of which is shown in the drawings) into

chords

36, 38.

Since the arrangement of

chords

36, 38 in press 10 is such that one end (not shown) may be properly positioned and only the other end need be trimmed, only a single bracket assembly 14 and saw 16 need be mounted on press 10. This is the right end of press 10 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings. Further, it is to be understood that

chords

36, 38 may be constructed from any suitable known material, although wood is a preferred material.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

We claim:

I. An assembly for fabricating bowstring trusses, comprising, in combination:

a. press means for fabricating bowstring trusses, and including a frame, a pressing device mounted on the frame, and first chord locating and spacing means mounted on the frame and associated with the pressing device for locating a chord, and second chord locating and spacing means mounted on the frame for sequentially locating a further chord contacting a chord located by the first means only at spaced points on the chord, the pair of chords cooperating to form a truss; and

b. saw means including a saw swingingly mounted on the frame and arranged adjacent an end thereof for selectively swinging in a plane transverse to a plane in which the pair of chords are located and sequentially trimming adjacent ends of first one and then the other of the pair of chords as the same are located by the respective first and second locating and spacing means.

2. A structure as defined in claim 1, wherein the saw means further includes means for mounting the saw thereon, and means for pivotally mounting the mounting means and permitting the saw to cooperate with the press means, the pivotally mounting means including a bearing sleeve connected to the press means and a shaft connected to the mounting means and forming a journal arranged in the bearing sleeve, the pivotally mounting means further including stop means mounted on the shaft for rotation therewith and for limiting the swinging of said mounting means in the direction toward a member to be trimmed, and a longitudinally extending member connected at one end to the shaft for rotation therewith and at the other end to a right-angled flange mountable to the saw, and the structure further includ ing means connected to the longitudinally extending member for counterbalancing the weight of the saw.

3. A structure as defined in claim 2, further including a plate connected to the longitudinally extending member, and fluid motor means connected to said plate for selectively swinging the longitudinally extending member relative to chords to be trimmed.

Claims

1. An assembly for fabricating bowstring trusses, comprising, in combination: a. press means for fabricating bowstring trusses, and including a frame, a pressing device mounted on the frame, and first chord locating and spacing means mounted on the frame and associated with the pressing device for locating a chord, and second chord locating and spacing means mounted on the frame for sequentially locating a further chord contacting a chord located by the first means only at spaced points on the chord, the pair of chords cooperating to form a truss; and b. saw means including a saw swingingly mounted on the frame and arranged adjacent an end thereof for selectively swinging in a plane transverse to a plane in which the pair of chords are located and sequentially trimming adjacent ends of first one and then the other of the pair of chords as the same are located by the respective first and second locating and spacing means.

2. A structure as defined in claim 1, wherein the saw means further includes means for mounting the saw theReon, and means for pivotally mounting the mounting means and permitting the saw to cooperate with the press means, the pivotally mounting means including a bearing sleeve connected to the press means and a shaft connected to the mounting means and forming a journal arranged in the bearing sleeve, the pivotally mounting means further including stop means mounted on the shaft for rotation therewith and for limiting the swinging of said mounting means in the direction toward a member to be trimmed, and a longitudinally extending member connected at one end to the shaft for rotation therewith and at the other end to a right-angled flange mountable to the saw, and the structure further including means connected to the longitudinally extending member for counterbalancing the weight of the saw.