CA1082898A - Apparatus for fabricating wood structures - Google Patents

Abstract

Abstract of the Disclosure Apparatus for fabricating wood structures, such as wood trusses, having elongate means for supporting wood members in position for being secured together by nailing plates driven into two or more of the wood members at the intersections or joints of the truss from above and below by means of a press.
The supporting means comprises an elongate track and a plurality of supports releasably securable to the track and being arranged in close back-to-back relation and being movable relative to one another along said track. The track has a pair of spaced track members with a gap therebetween and with each of the track mem-bers having a back face. Each of the supports has a base member having a generally vertical downwardly extending leg adapted to be received in the gap and to engage the back face of its respec-tive track member. A pair of support arms is secured to the base member and cantilevered therefrom for supporting the base members.
These cantilever arms are spaced in side-by-side relation and support the wood members on the plane of the top surfaces of the arms for being secured together by nailing plates driven thereinto from above and below at a location between the arms by the press. A locator plate for supporting the lower nailing plate is carried by the arms for vertical movement between a lowered position in which it is spaced below the top surface of the arms for supporting a nailing plate with its teeth pointing upwardly below the wood members to be secured together, and a raised position in which the top face of the plate is generally flush with the plane of the wood members. Quick release clamp means engageable with its respective track member is provided for releasably securing said support thereto in any desired loca-tion along the track.

Description

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APPARATUS FOR ~BRICATING WOOD STRUCTURES
sackgroun~ o' the Invention This invention relates to apparatus for fab-ricating wood structures, and is more particularly con-cerned with apparatus for fabricating relatively shallow-depth ~e.g., 12 to 36 inchesj flat trusses used as floor joists. -In conventional construction practice, solid wood members, such as 2 x 10 lumber, have been co~monly used for floor joists. In recent years, however, flat I
10 - floor trusses have been substituted for solid wood floor joists due to the increased cost of solid wood floor joist lumber and the scarcity of long-span lu~ber of the required dimensions. Flat floor trusses are typical-ly made of less expensive 2 x 4 lumber. The wood members comprising the chords of the truss may be of shor.er length than the length of the txuss because two or more

2 x 4 members may be readily spliced together in end-to-.
end relation~ Relatively short lengths of 2 x 4 lumber (even scrap lumber from other structures) may be used for the web members of the truss. Thus, flat floor trusses of virtually any desired length (or soan) and - ~- depth may be fabricated from readily available and in-expensive 2 x 4 lumber. Floor trusses are generally lighter in weight than solid wood joist members of comparable strength and may be designed to have a longer span than the span length of co~nonly available solid wood floor joists. Flat floor trusses can be aesigned to have a predetermined amount of upward bow or camber so that the truss will be nearly flat when ' 1 '' ~ ' ,' ' :1~8~

loaded, thus preventing sagging of the floor in the building. Also, flat floor trusses offer considerable labor savings during construction of the building be-cause the electrical wiring, plumbing, heating and air conditioning ducts may be readily routed through open-ings in the flat floor trusses. Flat floor trusses also provide unobstructed upper and lower faces to which subflooring or ceiling sheathing may readily be nailed.
Flat floor truss fabricating apparatus re-quires special types of equipment to accommodate the relatively shallow depth of floor trusses and yet must be sufficiently adjustable to support various configura-tions of wood members at the joints of the truss to be fabricated. Typical prior art flat floor truss fabri-cating apparatus are shown in U.S. patents 3,388,657,

3,742,569, 3,978,783, and 3,866,350, and in copending U.S. patent application S.N. 622,448, filed October 14, 1975, now Patent No. 4,024,809.
Because flat floor trusses are only now being introduced into the home construction field, many truss manufacturers are now set up to manufacture only peaked roof trusses which heretofore have been the mainstay of their business. Many truss fabricators, especially smaller, low-volume fabricators, are reluctant to begin making flat floor trusses because of the relatively high capital investment required to purchase special flat floor truss fabricating apparatus or because they may not have sufficient floor space in their existing plants to accommodate an additional truss fabricating machine.

Summary of the Invention Among the several objects of this invention rnay be noted the provision of apparatus for fabricating shallow-depth, flat floor trusses which is of rugged ~nd economical construction.
Briefly, apparatus of this invention is useful for fabricating wood structures, such as wood trusses, and has elongate means for supporting wood members in position for being secured together by nailing plates driven into two or more of the wood members at the inter-sections or joints of the truss from above and below by means of a press having an upper platen and a lower platen movable relatively toward and away from one another for driving nailing plates into the wood members from above and below. The supporting means comprises an elongate track and a plurality of supports releasahly securable to the track and being arranged in close back-to-back relation and being movable relative to one another along said track. The track includes a pair of spaced track members with a gap therebetween, each of the track members having a back face. Each of the supports comprising a base member having a generally vertical downwardly extend-ing leg adapted to be received in the gap and to engage the back face of its respective track member. A pair of support arms is secured to the base member and cantilevered therefrom for supporting the wood members. The cantilever arms are spaced in side-by-side relation and support said wood members on the plane of the top surfaces of the arms 082~398 for being secured together by nailing plates driven thereinto from above and below at a location between the arms by the press. A locator plate is carried by the arms for vertical movement between a lowered posi-tion in which it is spaced below the top surface of the arms for supporting a nailing plate with its teeth pointing upwardly below the wood members to be secured together and a raised position in which the top face of the plate is generally flush with the plane and in which the nailing plate supported thereon is pressed into the wood members. The lower face of the locator plate is engageable by the lower platen of the press upon closure thereof ror effecting movement of the locator plate from its lowered to its raised position and for driving the nailing plate into the wood members from below. Quick release clamp means engageable with its respective track member is provided for releasably securing said support , thereto in any desired location along the track.
- Brief Description of the Drawings Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of truss fabricating apparatus of this invention illustrating a series of support frames secured together in end-to-end relation on a magnetizable floor and a hydraulic ; press mounted on an overhead monorail;
Fig. 2 is an enlarged partial plan view of a series of wood members held in position on the sup-port frames for being secured together by nailing - plates to form a flat floor truss;

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Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevational view of two adjacent support frames secured together in end-to~end abutting relation;
Fig. 4 is a vertical cross section taken along line 4--A of Fig. 3 showing a wood member support plat-form;
Fig. 5 is a plan view of the lumber support platform of Fig. 4;
Fig. 6 is a front elevational view of the lumber support platform showing the position of the upper and lower platens of the hydraulic press (shown in phantom) relative to the wood members and the lumber support platforms when the press is in its operating position at a lumber support platform for pressing the nailing plates into the wood members from above and below; and Fig. 7 (sheet 3) is a view similar to Fig. 4 illustrating an air cylinder unit for vertically eject-ing a completed truss from the lumber support platforms and illustrating lumber stops in a released position thereby permitting the truss to be ejected without undue friction between the truss and the lumber stops.
Fig. 8 is a side elevational view of another embodiment of the lumber stop shown in Figs. 4 and 7; and Fig. 9 is an end elevational view of Fig. 8.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

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i082898 Description of A Preferred Embodiment Referring now to the drawings, apparatus of this invention, indicated in its entirety at 1, is shown in Fig. 1 for fabricating wood trusses T
of the type having lower chord members LC, upper ; chord mem~ers UC and web members W extending from . the lower chor~ members to the upper chord members.
More particularly, apparatus of this invention is - expecially useful for fabricating flat, shallow depth trusses made of 2 x 4 commercially available lumber for use as floor joists. The truss shown .
in Fig. 2 has a duct opening DO formed at the mid-point of the truss to permit ventilating ducls to be routed between the upper and lower chords~ Duct openings DO are defined by a pair of spaced-apark vertical inne~ web members ~Y, one on each side of .
the midpoint of the truss, and by the upper and -. lower chords. It will be understood, however, that .. apparatus of this invention may also be utilized to fabricate trusses of other configurations without - the abo~e-said duct openings, and with suitable .
modification to fabricate other types of wood struc-tures-, such as wall sections having upper and lower-plate members with wall studs extending perpendic-ularly therebetween and secured thereto by nailing plates with the upper and lower plates corresponding generally to the upper and lower choxds UC and LC
and with the studs corresponding generally to the webs W-o~ truss T. Apparatus 1 comprises a press, . . .
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as indicated at 3, having an upper platen 5 and a lower platen 7 which are relatively movable to-~ard and away from one another for driving nailing plates N into two or more of the wood members from above an~1 below (see Fig. 6) thereby to rigidly secure the wood members t~gether at the joints of the truss.
Press 3 is shown to be an overhead sus-pended press, similar to that used in roof truss fabricatinq machine commercially available from Hydro-~ir Engineering, Inc. of St. Louis, ~lissouri, under their registered trademark ~ONOPRESS and as - shown in Canadian patents 672,407 and 732,065. ~ere- j tofore, MONO~RESS roof truss fabricating machines have four.d widespread commer~ial acceptance among many roof truss fabricators. The floor truss fab-ricating apparatus of this invention is primarily intended to be used in conjunction with many of tne components of the MO~OPRESS roof truss machine in-cluding the overhead suspended press and the base on which the lumber support stands are located and secured. As shown herein, this base is a magnetiz-able base B of flat steel plates joined in edge-to- !
edge abutting relation to form a continuous surface.
- It will be understood, however, that the base may be a floor mounted track, such as is shown in the above-mentioned Canadian patent 732,065, on which the lumber support-stands are c-~rried.
Generally, press 3 includes a ri~id C-shaped frame 9 fixedly carrying upper platen 5 and '' '. ' ,' . "' "
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, movably carrying lower platen 7 for movement towara and away rrom the upper platen by means of a hydrau-lic cylinder ~nit 11 carried by frame 5. The press ~urther includes an overh~ad monorail 13, a carriage lS movable along the monorail, a hydraulic motor 17 for selectively driving the carria~e along the mono-rail in one direction or the other, and a hanger boom 19 suspended from the carriage. A hydraulic pump and motor unit 21 is also carried by the boo~ for pump-ing hydraulic ~luid under pressure to motor 17 and tohydraulic cylinder unit 11. Operation of hydraulic motor 17 for driving the carriage along ~he monorail and operation o~ press 3 are controlled by pushbuttons on the press. Reference may be made to the above-mentioned Cànadian patent 672,407 for a more complete .
description of the structure of the press and its operation.
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In accordance with this invention, a plu-rality of wood member support frames, each of which is generally indicated at 23, is provided on base B
for supporting the wood members of truss T in position for being secured together by nailing plates ~. The elongate support frames are shown to be secured to-gether in end-to-end abutting relation so as to form a support at least as long as truss T-to be fabri-cated thereon. Each of the frames is adapted to carry one or more lumber support platforms, as is ~enerally indicated at 25 ~lore specifically, each frame 23 has an elongate main beam 27 on top of 30 ~hich is mounted a center rac'~ 29. L~gs 31 e~tend dot~Jn from beam 27 for supporting the frame on base ~. Each of the lumber support platforms -- 108289~

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25 is releasably securable to track 29 so that it may be reaaily moved to a desircd position there-along or may be readily removea therefrom as re-quired. Platforms 25 are provided fox supporting both u~pe~ znd lower chord members UC and LC, re-spectively, and the web members W of truss T with ~he support platforms for the upper and lower chord members being arranged in back-to-back re-lation on track 29 ~see Fig. 2~. As mentioned above, the platforms may be readily pos~tioned along the track and are preferably positioned so that each of the platforms is generally centered on a joint of the truss (i.e., at the intersection of one or more of the wood members with each of these platforms constituting a station at which press 3 may be moved into an operating position for driving or pressing nailing plates into the wood members from above and below thereby to secure the wood memb~ers to one another~
In accordance with this invention, frames 23 are intended for rapi~ set up thereby to facili--tate rapid changeover from apparatus for making roof trusses to apparatus for makiny flat floor trusses - and to facilitate ma~ing ~loor trusses of various confi~urations, cambers, lengths, and depths. As shown in Fig. 3, legs 31 each have electromagnets 33 - on theix bottom enas which when energized adhere to magnetic base B to firmly hold the fxames in posi-tion on the base. Electromagnets 33 are electri-cally connected to a power source and may be simul-taneously energized and deenergized simply by throw-ing a-co~mon switch (not shown). By proviaing :.'~ , ' , : ' ' . ' 8;~898 , : ' ' .
frames 23 with electxo~gnets 33, the frames may be rea~ily positioned on the magnetizable base B
~nd almost inst~ntaneously secured in place at any ,desired loc~tion on ~:he base. It will be understood, -however, that means o~her than electromagnets 33 may be pro~ided for securing the ~rames in position on the base. For example, the frames may be adapted to be sec~red to a floor mounted trac~ system or may be pexmanently bolted to the floor if the quic~ -10 - change-feature o the magnetic bases is not deemed , important in a paxticular installation.
' To further facilitate quic~ changeover o~ the apparatus of Lhis inYention and ~o insure proper alignment of tracks 29 o abutting frames 23, each fxame has a groove 35 at one end thereo~ ~see Fig. 4) and a tongue 37 at the other end thereof (see ~ig. 3) with the groove of each frame being , adapted to snugly receive the tongue of an adjacent frame thereby to insure proper alignment of the ad-jacent frames. The end of frame 23 having qroove 35 therein (i.e., the right side of the frame is shown in Fig. 3) has a notch 39 0rm2a therein below track 29 so that the frame may be lowered relative to the tongue of a previously pos~tioned fraIne and so that the tongue may be placed beneath the groove whercby upon lowering the xame, the groove will readily receive the tongue. Alternatively, the tongue may be lowercd into the groove from above or ~he two ralnes may be slid horizontally to~ard one , .

^ 108Z898 another on base B so that the tongue enters the groove in endwise direction, ' With frames 23 in end-to-end abutting re-lation, their adj~cent legs 31 are in close side-by-side relation. These adjacent legs carry clamps 41 which when engaged pull legs 31 and the enas of beams 27 and tracXs 29 into snug side-to-side and end-to-end abutting relation. Tracks 29 of'adja-cen~ frames 23 thus ~orm a continuous center track. ' Trac~ 29 is shown (see Fig. 4) to comprise two elongate track members 43a, 43b arranged in ,;
back-to-back relation on opposite sides of the longi-tudinal center line of the frame 23 with a g~p G
therebetween. Each track member has a backface 45 and a groove 47 in its outer face. As best shown in Figs. 4 and 5, each support platform 25 comprises ' an angle-shaped base member 49 extending ~idthwise of the platform at its inner end,. Base member 49 has a vertical leg portion 51 adapted to be received - 20 in gap G and,to bear against the backface of its ;~ respective track member'43a, 43b. A pair of lumber i. . . .
-,- support arms 53a, 53b is rigidly secured (i.e., ' welded) to base me~ber 49 and is cantilevered there ' from so that with the support pla,form installed on - 25 trac~ 29, the cantilever arms extend horizontallyoutwardly from the base member and are generally perpenaicular thereto ana to the track. The upper faces of the cantilever arms establish a generally hoxizontal plane on which the ~ood membexs are ~ 30 supported in position for being secured together.
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An abutmcnt plate 55 is secured (as by weiding) to base member 49 at the inner ends of arms 53a, 53b, this plate being spaced from the J, - - oute~ or front face of its respective track meTi~e~
43a, 43b a distance somewhat gre~ter than the thic~-ness of the track membe~. This abutment plate thus holds the platform on the track with the canti-lever arms generally horizontal but yet permits the platform to be freely slid along the track or to he manuall~ lifted therefrom.
Platform 25 further comprises a clamp, as generally indicated at 57, at each side thereof f~r securely clamping the platform to trac~ 29 at any desired location therealong and to readily re-lease the platform from the track. Clamp 57 is shown to be a quicX relcase clamp, such as a ~20del 6Q4 toggle clamp co~mercially available from the De-STA
Company, having a reciprocal plun~er 59 movable in generally axial direction toward and a~ay from their respective track members. More s~ecifically, plunger 59 is axially movable between a clamping positian in which the plunger fits into groove 47 and in which its track - member 43a, 43b is-securely clamped between the plunger and leg portion 51. The plunger is op~ositely mov-able from its clam?ed position to a clear or re-tracted position in which the plunger is free of the track member and in which the platform may be freely moved along the track or tifted thereLrom Clamp 57 is sho~n to have a handle 61 interconnected to plunger 59 by an overceilter linkage arrange;nent -for moving the plunger b~tween its clamoin~ ana '':, - ' ~ ,:
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~08Z898 retracted positions and for locking the plunger in its clamping position.
As best shown in Fig. 6, arms 53a, 53b of each platform 25 are sp~ced from one another ~ dis-tance somewhat greater than the width of lower platen 7 o press 3 whereby the press may be posi-tioned in an operating position at each of the plat-forms with its lower platen generally centered be-; ~ tween the arms below the wood members and with its upper platen 5 above the wood members for simultan-eously driving or pressing nailing plates N into the wood members supported by the platform from above and below. Arms 53a, 53b each carry a re-spective guide 63a, 63b cooperable with a lower platen of the press for guiding the press as it is moved toward and away from the platform in a dir-ection generally perpendicular to the chords of the -truss (i.é., generally heighthwise of the truss~ for ~ovement into and out of its operating position at each of the platforms. Guides 63a, 63b center the lower platen of the press between the cantilever arms and th-ls prevent damage to the platform upon closing of the press.
A locator plate 65 is loosely carried by each platfor~ 25 for movement between a lo;~ered posi-` tion in which it is spaced below the level of theupper surfaces of ar~s 53a, 53b and the wood mem~ers suppor~ed thereon for holaing a nailing pla~e with the teeth of the nailing plate pointing up~ardly for being d~iven inta the wood members from belo.~ and a . ' ' - ' ' ' ' -, . :

- raised position in which the top surface of the ; locator plate is generally coplanar or flush with the upper surfaces of the arms and in which the nailing plate supported thereby is fully dri~en or pressed into the wood me~bers. Locator plate 65 is engaged by the lower platen of the press upon closing of the press and is moved upwardly from its lowered to its raised position by the lower platen of the press.
Another nailing plate N is laid on top of the wood members (see Fig. 6) with its teeth pointing down.
The upper platen of the press is spaced thereabove so that upon closing of the press when the press is in its operating position, both nailing plates axe simultaneously driven into the wo~d members from above and below. It will be understood that with the press 3 suspended from countex_balanced boom 19 and with locator plate 65 being movable upwaxdly, sub-stantially no foxce is transmitted from the press to the platform 25 upon pressing the nailing plates into the wood members. Thus, the platforms need not resist the-extremely high forces required to press the nailing plates into the wood members.
- Further in accordance with this invention, ; a stop, as is generally indicated at 67, is adjust- -ably carried by each arm 53a, 53b of each platform 25 an~ is engageable with the outer vertical faces of the upp~r and lowex chord members UC and LC to hold these chord members in a predetermined position relative to one another and to prevent outward move-ment of these chord members rel~tive to trac~ 29 ` 14 .

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- ~08Z898 beyond a desirea position corresponding ~o the de-sired depth of ~he truss to be fabricated. The apparatus of this invention further comprises a plurality of air cylinder units, each of which is generally indicated at 69, positionable under the truss T being fabricated so as to engage the com-pleted truss ana to lift it vertically upwardly from the support platforms 25 for ejecting it from the apparatus clear of stops 67 so that it can be readily removed from the apparatus. Lift cylinder units 69 are shown to have a magnetic base 71 there-on so that the units may be selectively positioned at any ~esire location on base B under the tr~ss being fabricated clear of the support platforms 25 for engagement with one or more wood members in the ; ~russ for lifting it upon actuation of the lift cyl-inder units.
ach stop 67 is shown to include a stop base 73 releasably securable to a respe¢tivc canti-lever arm 53a, 53b at any one of a number of pre- -selected positions therealong by means of a pin 75 ' ~see Fig. 6~ inserted through a selected hole of a .. . . .
- series of holes 77 spaced along a leng~h o~ the can-tilever arms, these holes corresponding to the pre-determined aepths of the truss to be fabricated.
The stop base includes a stop block 79 secured to - its upper face. As shown in Fig. 7, this stop block has a generally vertical face 81 facing toward the outer face of its respective trllss choxa me~ber UC
or LC and a second or inclined face 83 anglin~
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10828g~ , upwardly and outw~rdly away fxom the outer face of the truss chord member. ~n elongate vertical slot 85 extends through the stop block with the parallel sides of the slot being ~enerally parallel to the outer face of the truss chord member adjacent thereto with the.slot extending up above the leYel of the intersection between faces 81 and 83. ~n adapter : member 87 is telescopically received on the stop .
- block and is movably secured.relative thereto by a pin 89 extending thxough slot-85. The adapter mem- -; . ber has a-body which te}escopically fits on stop . . block 79 and which carries pin 89. Camber member 91 is releasably secured to the body of adapter ~7 by a pin 93, the adapter and camber ~ember consti-tuting ~ lumber engaging member. The inner face of the camber membex is engageable with the outer face of a respective truss chord member, as shown in Fig.
: 4. Both the body of member 87 and camber member 93 are mo~able relative to stop bloc~ 79 from a stop 20 . position (as shown in ~ig. 4) in which the inner - face of the adapter member body bears against the - .
vertical ace 81 of ~he stop block and in which the camber member bears against its respective chord member thereby to positively prevent outwara move-. 25 ~ent of its chord mem~er xelati~e to the stop and a release position ~as shown in Fig~ 7) in which . the stop permits lifting units 69 to lift a com-pleted tr~ss T above the level of the stops without undue friction of the stops be~ring against the outer faces of the truss chord as the truss is lifte~.
~So~e particularly, as lift units 69 are actuated and tXDss T begins to move ~pwardly, friction .:

1(~8'~898 between the o~ter faces of the truss chord members and the camber members lifts the camber members and the adaptex members along with pins 89 relat;ve to stop bases 79. Upon pin 89 bein~ ted above a point approximately equal to the intersection of faces 81 and 83 of the stop blocX, the adapter and camber me~bers.are released from thei~ upright stop.
position and are free to pivot about pin 89 away from the outer face o~ the truss chord member upon -. 10 further upward movement of the truss by the lift cylinder units. This, of course, releases the truss from the stop and allows it to be easily removed erefrom. Because of the adap~er me~ers are fr~e ~ to move upwardly relative to their stop bases to an intermediate position tat which point pin 89 is , approximately at the level of the intersection be-tween faces 81 and 83) and because they swing away , . . . .
from the truss as it m~ves to its release position, - the completed truss can be Yertically ejected with-out undue friction between the camber member 93 and the truss. In fact, there is little or no sliding movement, and hence little or no friction be~ween the truss and the camber members during ejection of the truss Stops 67 thus positively hold the chord.
25 ~embers in position and resist ou~ward movement - thereof and yet enable the truss to be readily ejected without the necessity o~ ~eleasing ~he stops to ~er-~it ejection and xesetting o~ the sto2s. prior to fab-ricating the next truss This, in turn, speeds up truss abrication.
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. As heretofore mentioned, camber mem~ers 93 are re-leasably securea to the adapter body 87 By pro-viding a series of various camber members having vary-ing camber dimensions ~i.e., having different dimension f~om the lumber engaging face thereof to . face 81 o~ stop block 79) and by installing prede-. . termined camber members on the stop bases along the-length o~ the truss, trusses may be readily fabri-cated having predetermined amounts of camber or bow - io . formea therein. The production of prebowed trusses .is especialiy advantageous because they resul~ in buildings having flatter floors as the cam~er tenas to ofset deflection of the truss.
. .As shown in Figs. 8 and 9, a modification of stop 67 is shown, this modified stop being ~enerally indicated at 67'. Stop 67' is shown to comprise a l ~ - stop base 73~.telescopically received on a cantilever . -.
arm 53a, 53b of platform 25. A stop block 79' is . secured.to the stop base and a lu~ber engagin~ member 101. The lumber engaging member includes a pivot member.103, which is generally analogous to adapter ~ member 87 of stop 67, the pivot member being pivo~ally ,. . .
secured to stop block 79' by a pin 105. A ca~b2r member 107 is releasably carried by the pivot member ~or engagement with the chord of the truss being fabricated - The camb2r member. i5 shown to have a . U-shaped brac~et 109 which fits on the pivot member.
: As heretoore explain-d in regard to stop 67! these camber mel~ers can readily be exchange~ ~or camber 30 . members of other sizes whereb~ truss of a predetermincd , ' - ~ 18 , 10~3Z8g8 size can readily be fabricated. Stop 67' normally resists outward move-nent of the chord member in en-gagement therewith.~on lifting of the completed truss, the lumber engaging member is fr~e to rotate about pin S lOS from its stop position to its release position in which it is clear of the chord member As indicated at ~09 a lock member is provided which engages the ; lumber engaging member and prevents the latter from pivotally moving from its stop to its retrac~ed or release position. Lock member 109 is shown to be pivotall secured to stop block 79' and is xeadily manually moved from its locking position (as shown in Fig. 8~ to a re-tracted position (not shown) in which the lumber engaging member is free to pivot to its release position. It will be noted that with stops 67', there is no relative ; sliding friction between parts of the stop upon lifting of the truss. Thus stops 67' may be preerred in certain instances where the comp;eted truss is manually lifted from the apparatus.
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Apparatus 1 further includes a center lumber clamp, as generally inaicated at 9S in Fig. 2, en~aaeable - with the vertical inner web memSers ~ to push these mem-` bers outwardly toward the ends of the truss. As members !' ~ engage the diagonal web members W, these diagonal web members are forced into snug ensagement with the inner ; faces of the upper and lower chord members UC and LC an~
push the chord members out~ar~ly into fir~ engagement with the camber mcmbers 93 of stops ~7. End clamps, ëach of which is generally indicated at 97, are provided at each cnd o~ the truss to rcsist out~ard forces on the end web members. These center and end clamps are ~enerally similar to the clamps disclosed in U.S. patent .' . ,, 19, ,, : ,', . , 31866, 350 which may be referred to for a more detailed description of these clamps.
It will be understooa that specia~ lumber platforms 25' (see Fig. 2), may be provided, as xequired, to accommodate various truss confiqurations in which two or ~or~ joints of ~he truss are so close together that two platforms 25 cannot be positioned ~ufficiently close together so as to supp~rt nailing plates N for these joints in their required positions, 1~ such as at the center of a trus~ having a duct open-ing DO therein. These modified lumber support plat-forms 25' have a common base member 49' three canti-lever arm~ 43' extending therefrom and two locator : plates 65'... Platform 25' carries the center lumber ~lamps 95, and.othex than as desc~ibed above, is essentially o~ identical structure and function as.
platform 25. -:. In use, a conventional roof truss fabri-.. cating machine, such as the above-~entioned MONOPRESS
roof truss fabricating machine, may be readily con-. verted f~r production of flat floor trusses by re-moving the roof truss wood members supports from :
base B and by placing frames 23 of the present in--~ . vention thereon in end-to-end abutting relation .
This may be accomplished by posi.ioning a-first frame on the base and energizing its electromagnets 33 to .
: secure it in position on the base, and by then moving another frame into endwise rela.ion therewith so that tongue 37 of one of the frames is xeceived in groove .30 35 of the other of the frames. This tongue and groo~e arrangement facilitates the alignment of the frames and their tracks 29 relative to one another. Clamp 41 is then operated to draw the legs 31, center be2~.s-~ . 27 and tracks 29 of adjacent frames in desired end-to-end abutting relation. Other frames are li~ewise . 20 -: joined together in a simil~r manner until an elon-gate support is provided at least as long as the truss to be fabricated. Lumber support platforms 25 are movea along tr-ack 29 so that one lumber support platform is pro~ided for each ioint of the truss to be f~bricatea ~zs shown in Fig. 2~, preferably with the arms of the lumber suppor platforms centered relative to the joints to be formed. Clamps 57 are . . then operatea to rigidly secure the lumber support platforms at their desired position along track 29.
If certain lumber suppoxt platforms are already on the track and these platforms are not required to ; fabxicate a truss of a desired configuration, they may readily be lifted from the tracX merely by mov-ing th~ clamps 57 to their unclampea positions and ' . by manually.li~ting the platforms from the track.
.. Li~ewise, if additional platforms are required, they may be readily inserted on the track at any position ; . . therealong ana clampea in their desired position.
20 Camber members 91 are installed on their adapter bases 87 so that the choras of the truss to ~e fab- -~ . . frica~ed are supported in a predetermined camber or . bowea position. The WOOa members for truss T are positioned on the upper faces of can~ilever arms 2S 53a, 53b of the platforms and center and end clamps 95 and 97, respectively, are actuated so as to firmly clamp the wood members in position and a~ainst stops 67. Nailing plates N are placed on locator plates 65 below the wood me~.~ers to be secured to~ether and placed . 30 on top of the wood members. Press 3 is th~n moved .

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into its operating position at a first platform 25', ' and actuated thereby to simultaneously drive nailing plal:es N into the wood members supported by that pl~form from above and below. The press is then ope~ and,moved to the ne~t successive platform and again operated thereby to drive the nailing plates into the wood members. This process is re-- peated at eacX of the lumber support platforms until all of the nailing plates have been driven into the wood members and the fabrication of the truss is com-pleted. Actuation of air lift cylinder units 67 is then effected to cause the completed truss to be ejected vertically from the appara.us. As the com-pleted truss is lifted by air cylinder units 69 each' ' LS adapter member 87 and camber member 91 moves ver~
cally relative to its stop block 79 until its pin 89 moves above the level of the intersections of faces 81 and 83 of the stop member The stop is then free to rock away from the outer face of its chord members \ thus releasing the truss and permitting it to be ejected vertically substantially without friction between the stops and the truss. The completed truss is then lifted from the apparatus ana the stops auto-matically return by gravity to their stop position and the apparatus of this invention is then ready to begin , ~abricating the next truss, , , ;

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In view of the above, it will be seen that the several ohjects of the invention are achievea and other advanl:ageous results attained.
~s various changes could be made in the S above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter con-. tained in the above description or shown in the ac- .
companying drawings shall be interpreted as illustra- .
tive and not in a limiting-sense.
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Claims (2)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. In apparatus for fabricating wood structures, such as wood trusses, having elongate means for supporting wood members in position for being secured together by nailing plates driven into two or more of the wood members at the intersections or joints of the truss from above and below, a press having an upper platen and a lower platen movable relatively toward and away from one another for driving nailing plates into the wood members from above and below, said supporting means comprising an elongate track and a plurality of supports releasably securable to the track and being arranged in close back-to-back relation and being movable relative to one another along said track, wherein the improvement comprises; said track comprising a pair of spaced track members with a gap therebetween, each of said track members having a back face, each of said sup-ports comprising a base member having a generally vertical downwardly extending leg adapted to be received in said gap and to engage the back face of its respective track member a pair of support arms secured to said base member and cantilevered therefrom for supporting said wood members, said cantilever arms being spaced in side-by-side relation and supporting said wood members on the plane of the top surfaces of said arms for being secured together by nailing plates driven thereinto from above and below at a location between said arms by said press, a locator plate carried by said arms for vertical movement between a lowered position in which it is spaced below the top surface of the arms for supporting a nailing plate with its teeth pointing upwardly below the wood members to be secured together and a raised position in which the top face of the plate is generally flush with said plane and in which said nailing plate supported thereon is pressed into the wood members, the lower face of said locator plate being engageable by the lower platen of the press upon closure thereof for effect-ing movement of the locator plate from its lowered to its raised position and for driving the nailing plate into the wood members from below and quick release clamp means engageable with its respective track member for releasably securing said support thereto in any desired location along said track.

2. In apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein each of said track members has a longitudinal groove in its outer face, and wherein each of said clamp means comprises a clamp having a plunger movable in a generally axially direction toward and away from said track member between a clamping position in which said plunger fits into said groove and in which said track member is securely clamped between said plunger and said leg engaging the back face of the track member and an unclamped position in which said plunger is clear of the track member and in which said support may be lifted clear of said track or slid therealong.