US3464348A - Apparatus for fabricating wooden structures - Google Patents

Description

p 1969 A. E. M GLINCHEY APPARATUS FOR FABRICATING WOODEN STRUCTURES Filed June 2, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. ARTHUR E. MQGLINCHEY BY #a WZQQ 2: @014 ATTORNEYS p 1969 A. E. M GLlNCHEY APPARATUS FOR FABRICATING WOODEN STRUCTURES Filed June 2, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. ARTHUR E. MQGL INCHEY ATTORNEYS p 969 A. E. M GLINCHEY APPARATUS FOR FABRICATING WOODEN STRUCTURES Filed June 2, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 n a H RC 0 3 6 L 2 7 E G 7 Vc. .l W E O 5 1.14 R 5 5 3 5 m m I A F a u 4 /S\ 9 w m 2 m 6 J p. 4 m d 1 l L I f K I 4 V K1 In on O e m 6 \\mu w U\- 0. IL w n d w n Q L -m ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,464,348 APPARATUS FOR FABRICATING WOODEN STRUCTURES Arthur E. McGlinchey, 1122 NE. 1st Ave., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 33304 Filed June 2, 1967, Ser. No. 657,439 (Filed under Rule 47(1)) and 35 U.S.C. 118) Int. Cl. B30b 3/02, 1/02, 15/06 U.S. Cl. 100210 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A reflect generator for use in a fabricating machine for setting the teeth of opposed connector plates into wooden structural members. A plurality of parallel, vertically slidable blocks with reaction faces are juxtaposed so that the composite of the reaction faces present an upwardly directed reaction pad on a supporting station in the fabricating machine. The joint of wooden members to be fastened by opposed connector plates, together with the opposed plates, are receivable upon the thus constituted reaction pad. A rocker arm for each blade is pivotally supported with a striker portion to engage an anvil portion on the corresponding blade. A key portion is also provided on each rocker arm. The key portion extends upwardly into the path of a gantry roller which is movable across and above the reaction pad so that as the roller contacts the key portion the rocker arm pivots to raise the blade toward the roller The opposing roller and blades thus simultaneously drive the opposed connector plates into the wooden members being joined.

Background of the invention Prefabrication of trusses, at least afportion of which is wooden so that the componentsfcan be joined by toothed connector plates, has enjoydd considerable success. Concurrent with the development of advanced designs for such trusses and their metallic connector plates considerable improvement has been made to the apparatus for fabricating wooden structures.

Apparatus for fabricating such wooden structures, and trusses in particular, originally employed individual driving heads for forcing the teeth on each connector plate into fastening position within the wooden members. Any number of ways have been advanced to actuate these driving heads, but inasmuch as the resistance offered by the wooden members when the penetration of all the teeth on the connector plate is accomplished simultaneously is quite high, such apparatus requires commensurately high embodiment pressures to be provided by the driving head. Machines capable of providing the requisite pressure are not economically feasible.

However, a fabricating machine which employs a gantry roller press greatly reduces the difliculty insofar as those connector plates being set by the roller are concerned and has, consequently, enjoyed considerable success in the industry. Examples of the gantry press type of apparatus are shown in U.S. Patents Nos. 3,212,694 and 3,255,943.

Gantry roller type fabricating machines employ a reaction pad for each joint of the truss which is to be fastened by a toothed connector plate. When using exterior plates (those in which the teeth extend outwardly from only one side thereof), a connector plate is placed on the reaction pad with the teeth extending upwardly. The joint of the wooden members to be fastened together is then assembled upon the upwardly directed teeth and an upper, opposing plate is positioned, teeth doWn, on top of the joint. With the structural members clamped in ice this position a gantry roller is rolled along and above the reaction pads into contact with the upper plate. In this arrangement the forces by which embedment of the teeth is accomplished are imparted by the contacting arc of the cylindrical outer surface of the roller. To set the teeth the roller is restrained against moving more than a fixed distance above the reaction pad.

Engagement of the contacting are on the roller of the gantry press allows the connector plate to dish beneath the roller so that the force applied thereby is not resisted by all the teeth on the plate but rather, primarily only by those which are positioned along that portion of the plate actually engaged by the roller. Thus the overall force required to embed the teeth on the top plate is of lesser magnitude when using a gantry roller than when using a driving head.

However, the teeth of the lower connector plate, which rests on the rigidly fixed reaction pad, have heretofore been required to be embedded simultaneously, even with a fabricating machine employing a gantry roller. Accordingly, unless only the connector plates on that side of the structure being fabricated along which the gantry roller is passed are applied, even the more eflicient gantry press has been required to supply considerable embedment pressure.

Ideally a pair of opposed rollers would require the minimum embedment pressure, but it is, of course, impossible to pass a pair of rollers simultaneously across both the upper and lower connector plates unless they are already at least partially secured or tacked to the Wooden structural members.

Summary of the invention It is therefore the primary object of the present invention to provide a reflect generator by which opposed, toothed connector plates can be simultaneously applied by rolling arcuate surfaces in a gantry roller press without requiring either plate to be initially tacked.

This and other objects which will become apparent from the following specification are accomplished by means hereinafter described and claimed.

In general a reflect generator constructed in accordance with the concept of the present invention utilizes a plurality of vertically movable, juxtaposed blades presenting a composite upper surface equivalent to the reaction pad on a supporting station of a gantry-roller press. A corresponding plurality of juxtaposed rocker arms are mounted for pivotal movement about a bearing support. Each rocker arm has a striker portion on one side of the bearing support and a key portion on the other side. The striker portion engages an anvil on the corresponding blade and the key portion extends within the range of the gantry roller so as to be contacted thereby simultaneously with the engagement of the roller with the upper plate.

As the roller passes over the keys they move downwardly in conformity with the contacting arc. Down ward movement of the keys occasions a corresponding upward movement of the strikers which lift the blades in direct proportion to the downward movement of the keys so that the teeth on the lower connector plate are embedded by a surface which accurately conforms to the contacting arc of the gantry roller engaging the keys.

One preferred embodiment is shown by way of example in the accompanying drawings and is described in detail without attempting to show all of the various forms and modifications in which the invention might be embodied; the invention being measured by the appended claims and not the details of the specification.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a portion of a gantry roller press type machine adapted for making wooden trusses and incorporating a reflect generator according to the concept of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged top plan of the reflect generator mounted on a slide plate carried on a supporting station;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of a reflect generator taken substantially on line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross section of the reflect generator taken substantially on line 44 of FIG. 3 depicting the op erative engagement of the gantry roller therewith;

FIG. 5 is a cross section taken substantially on line 5-5 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 6 is a cross section taken substantially on line 6-6 of FIG. 4 depicting the opposed gantry press and reflect generator setting the teeth of opposed connector plates into wooden structural members.

Description of a preferred embodiment Referring more particularly to the drawings, a reflect generator indicated generally by the numeral 10, is mounted on a supporting station 11 of a gantry type truss fabricating machine. A plurality of such supporting stations are aligned with the gantry press 12.

The gantry press 12 mounts a press roller 13 between two, rigidly interconnected dollies 14 and 15 and is powered, by motor 16, to be selectively movable along tracks 18 and 19. As the press 12 moves along tracks 18 and 19 the roller 13 passes above and across the supporting stations 11.

In order to accommodate assembly of wooden structures of various size and configuration, such as the truss 20 depicted in assembly position, it is preferable that the stations 11 be selectively positionable along the tracks 18 and 19. While the supporting stations 11 may be constructed to provide any number of desired features, in the form depicted it is constructed generally in the form of a bench suitably braced and trussed to maintain the upper spanning members 21 and 22, supported between the ends 23 and 24 of the supporting station 11, in substantially horizontal disposition even under load. Although a bench top may be affixed to the spanning members 21 and 22, additional adjustability is obtained by the use of one or more slide plates 25 selectively positionable along the spanning members 21 and 22. The unique retflect generator 10 is then mounted on the slide plate 25. A detailed disclosure of the gantry press 12, the supporting station 11, together with the mechanism by which adjustability of a slide plate 25 is accomplished and the construction of the clamping means for securing the slide plate to the spanning members of the supporting station may be found in the aforementioned US. Patents Nos. 3,212,694 and 3,255,943 and form no part of he present invention.

The reflect generator 10 has a pair of spaced apart stanchion plates 28 and 29 dependingly affixed to the slide plate 25, as by welding 30, or other suitable means. A bearing shaft 31 is supported between the stanchion plates 28 and 29 and is preferably vertically adjustable. Vertical adjustability of the bearing shaft 31 can be accomplished by receiving the shaft 31 in vertically elongated bore 32 in each stanchion plate 28 and 29 and fixing the vertical position of the shaft 31 therein by insorting one or more shims 33 of selective thickness between the shaft 31 and the bearing block 34 which extends between the lower extremities of the stanchion plates 28 and 29.

A plurality of juxtaposed, plate-like rocker arms 35 are pivotally mounted on the bearing shaft 31. Each rocker arm 35 has a coved recess 36 into which the shaft is received so that not only is the arm 35 rockable thereabout but it is also restrained against movement transversely of the shaft.

On one side of the shaft 31 each rocker arm 25 terminates in a striker portion 38, preferably of slightly bulbous configuration, to provide point contact with the anvil surface 39 of its corresponding blade 40. A plurality of juxtaposed, plate-like blades 40 are supported beneath an opening 41 through the slide plate 25 so that the composite of the reaction face 42 on each blade 40 constitutes a reaction pad, indicated generally at 43. A lower connector plate 44 can be supported on reaction pad 43 with the teeth 46 extending upwardly toward the wooden members 48 and 49 to be joined thereby. It should be observed that the plates 40' may form the reaction pad 43 below the level of supporting surface 50 on slide plate 25 so that even with the lower connector plate positioned to span the joint between members 48 and 49, the members 48 and 49 are supported directly on surface 50. With prior known reaction pads the wooden members were precariously balanced on the teeth of the lower connector plate.

Each blade 40 is primarily supported by the striker portion 38 on rocker arm 35 but is also balanced on a guide bracket 51 which is carried by and extends beneath the side plate 25. A resilient stop block 52 on the bracket 51 interacts with a notch 53 in the end of each blade to assist in preventing undesirable movement of each blade 48 longitudinally away from its respective rocker arm 35 and cushioningly to bias the blade upwardly against the lower connector plate 44-. Upper notches 54 and 55 in each blade 40 also cooperate with the edge of the opening 41 through slide plate 25 to assist in maintaining the longitudinal position of each blade 40. Lateral positioning of the blades 40 is maintained by their juxtaposition with each other and by engagement with a positioning bracket 56 at each end of the side-by-side blades. The right-angled bracket 56 also extends downwardly along the side of the striker portion 38 of the adjacent rocker arm 35 to align the end rocker arm 35 with the corresponding blade 40.

Alignment of the remaining blades and rocker arms is achieved by assembly successive blades of differing vertical dimension. Alternating positioning blades 40a of one vertical dimension with those 4% of a second vertical dimension, as best seen in FIG. 6, works quite well. The striker portions of the alternate rocker arms 35a and 35b are similarly varied, as best seen in FIG. 4. Thus, each rocker arm will operatively engage and lift only the appropriate blade.

On that side of the bearing shaft 31 opposite the striker portion 38 a key 58 dog-legs outwardly and upwardly, presenting a work surface 59 within the range of the press roller 13. As shown, the combined work surfaces 59 of the adjacently stacked rocker arms 35 may be protected by a flexible wear shield 60 extending thereacross and clamped to the slide plate 25 laterally of the rocker arm arrangement by pressure plates 61 and 62.

Right- angled thrust plates 63 and 64 may also be fastened to the upper side of the slide plate 25 laterally adjacent the key portions 58 of the rocker arms 35 at each end of adjacently arranged composite. The thrust plates 63 and 64 act as additional positioning means to maintain each rocker arm 35 vertically aligned with its respective blade 40, even as the roller exerts its combined lateral and downward pressure to the key portions 58 contacted thereby.

The rolling engagement of the contacting arc of roller 13 not only tends to dish the upper connector plate 65 as it drives the teeth 66 thereon into the wood but also causes the key portions 58 of the rocker arms contacted thereby to conform to the same arc. This downward movement of the key portions 58 pivots the rocker arm so that the striker portion 38 raised the corresponding blade 40 an amount proportionate to the ratio of the distances from the bearing shaft 31 to the key portion 58 with respect to the distance from the bearing shaft 31 to the striker 38. In the embodiment depicted these distances are substantially the same so that the upward movement of the blade 40 equals the downward movement of the key portion 58. With the blades 40 solifted a rolling contact are is generated by the blades which conform, or reflect, the cylindrical surface of the contating arc of roller 13. Thus, as shown in FIG. 6, both the upper and lower connector plates 65 and 44, respectively, are simultaneously applied by rolling arcuate surfaces.

Moreover, the striker 38 engages the striker portion 39 generally medially opposite the reaction face 42 in order to minimize undue tilting of the blade as the striker 38 moves it upwardly. For the same consideration it is also more advantageous to have the striker 3S engage the blade 40 beyond the medial portion instead of closer than the medial section since by the former configuration the near corner 68 of the blade 46 would engage the upper surface 69 on the striker portion of the arm 35 well before tilting of the blade becomes excessive.

It is also preferable that the work surface 59 on each key portion 58 be inclined outwardly with respect to the bearing shaft 31 and upwardly with respect to a horizontal reference 70 (FIG. 3). In this way as the key portion 58 pivots downwardly beneath the pressure of roller 13 the work surface 59 through wear shield 60, will become engaged with the roller over a greater, rather than a lesser, area.

It has also been found desirable to position a flexible bumper 71 between the rocker arm 35 and the bearing block 34 on the key portion 58 side of the bearing shaft 31 to urge the key portion of the rocker arm upwardly after passage of the roller 13 thereacross. This assures that the normal configuration of the reaction pad 43 will be planar. As shown, the bumper 71 may best be retained in a receiving notch 72 aligned in the laterally juxtaposed rocker arms 35.

In view of the above description it should be apparent that a reflex generator according to the concept of the present invention permits simultaneous application of both upper and lower connector plates by rolling arcuate surfaces and otherwise accomplishes the objects of the invention.

I claim:

1. In a fabricating machine for setting the teeth of opposed connector plates into wooden structural members having at least one supporting station and a gantry roller movable across and above said supporting station, a reflect generator, said reflect generator comprising, a plurality of blades carried on said supporting station, each with an upwardly directed reaction face, the composite faces of said blades presenting a reaction pad upon which a joint between structural members embraced by the opposed connector plates can repose, said blades being individually, vertically movable, a lift means for each said blade, said lift means operative in response to the passage of said roller to raise the corresponding blade toward the roller, said opposed blades and roller simultaneously applying the opposed connector plates to the structural members therebetween.

2. A reflect generator in a fabricating machine, as set forth in claim 1, in which the lift means is a rocker arm mounted for pivotal movement, said rocker arm having a key portion engaged by the passage of said roller to lift the corresponding blade.

3. A reflect generator in a fabricating machine, as set forth in claim 2, in which the rocker arm is pivotal about a bearing shaft, the key portion being positioned on one side of said bearing shaft and a striker portion on said rocker arm being positioned on the other side of said bearing shaft, said striker portion engaging an anvil on said blade to raise said blade in response to engagement of said key portion by said roller.

4. A reflect generator, as set worth in claim 3, in which the plurality of blades are assembled by having successive blades of differing vertical dimension and the striker portion of the corresponding rocker arms conformingly varied.

5. A reflect generator in a fabricating machine, as set forth in claim 3, in which an adjusting means is provided to raise and lower said bearing shaft so that the key portion of said rocker arms can be selectively positionable with respect to the roller.

6. A reflect generator in a fabricating machine, as set forth in claim 3, in which the bearing shaft is horizontally mounted on the supporting station beneath the reaction faces of said blades and the key portion doglegs outwardly and upwardly therefrom into the range movement of said roller.

7. A reflect generator in a fabricating machine, as set forth in claim 6, in which an adjusting means is provided to raise and lower said rocker arm so that the key portion thereof can be selectively positionable with re spect to the roller.

8. A reflect generator, as set forth in claim 7, in which the plurality of blades are assembled by having successive blades of differing vertical dimension and the stricker portion of the corresponding rocker arms conformingly varied.

9. A reflect generator in a fabricating machine, as set forth in claim 7, in which guide means restrict said blocks to generally vertical movement and the striker engages the anvil generally medially of the opposed reaction faces.

10. A reflect generator in a fabricating machine, as set forth in claim 9, in which the key portion has a work surface engageable by said rollers, said work surface being normally inclined outwardly of said bearing shaft and upwardly with respect to a horizontal reference so that the work surface will tend fully to engage said roller when the blade has been lifted to its uppermost position against a joint embraced by opposed connector plates.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,207,406 9/1965 Bowman 227-l52 3,212,694 10/1965 Sanford 227l52 3,402,869 9/1968 Otis 227-152 GRANVILLE Y. CUSTER, JR., Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

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