Sheetmetal construction truss and its method of continuous automated manufacture
OwnerDavid Joseph Kaweckiinventor
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Abstract
A linear construction truss comprising a hollow shell with a square cross section and a core composed of linked tetrahedra, and a method of manufacturing of said linear construction truss.
Claims6
A method of manufacturing a linear construction truss, comprising:
- bending a first sheet metal strip in such a way as to result in a plurality of equilateral triangular faces where the altitude of each triangular face approximately equals the width of the sheet metal strip, such that:
- the angle between a first triangular face and a second triangular face is approximately 109.5 degrees;
- the angle between the second triangular face and a third triangular face is approximately 289.5 degrees;
- the angle between the third triangular face and a fourth triangular face is approximately 109.5 degrees;
- the angles between neighboring faces continue to alternate between approximately 109.5 degrees and approximately 289.5 degrees throughout the length of the first sheet metal strip;
- bending a second sheet metal strip identically to the first sheet metal strip;
- rigidly connecting the first sheet metal strip and the second sheet metal strip in such a way as to result in a core of linked tetrahedra;
- forming a hollow shell with a square cross-section such that the length of the inner diagonal of the cross-section is approximately equal to the edge length of the tetrahedra;
- rigidly connecting the core to the hollow shell.
The method of claim 7, where the bending step comprises chamfering the area between the triangular faces in such a way that the chamfer surfaces can be rigidly connected to one of the sides of the hollow shell.
The method of claim 7, where the forming step comprises winding a strip of sheet metal around the core in a spiral pattern in order to form the hollow shell.
The method of claim 7, where the forming step comprises winding a plurality of strips of sheet metal around the core in a spiral pattern in order to form the hollow shell.
The method of claim 7, where the forming step comprises rigidly connecting four sheet metal sides on the outside of the tetrahedral core in order to form the sides of the hollow shell.
The method of claim 7, where prior to the bending step, one or both of the first sheet metal strip and the second sheet metal strip are cut in such a way that the perforations do not impinge on the edges of the tetrahedra.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.