Scissors truss connector plates

A method of manufacturing a pair of nail plates for use in a scissors truss having a plurality of elongated structural wooden members establishing a pair of top chords and a pair of bottom chords, upper ends of said top chords and upper ends of said bottom chords being connected together to define a top apex joint and a bottom apex joint, respectively, lower ends of the top chords being connected to lower ends of the bottom chords to define a pair of heel joints, an elongated wooden member extending between the top and bottom apex joints with upper and lower ends of said wooden member respectively forming a part of said apex joints, said top and bottom nail plates respectively providing structural securement of the upper ends of said members and the lower ends of said members to define said top and bottom apex joints, comprising the steps of:

• (a) providing a ribbon of sheet metal of generally constant width with a plurality of teeth struck therefrom in rows staggered from each other throughout the generally flat surface of said sheet metal ribbon, each said struck out tooth leaving a slot in the sheet metal;
• (b) cutting said ribbon into predetermined lengths to form rectangular plates;
• and
• (c) cutting at least some of said rectangular plates such that said at least some of said rectangular plates each form a pair of said top and bottom plates, the cut rectangular plates each forming a pair of top and bottom plates being cut such that the top plate has upper inclined edges approximating the pitch of the top chords and the bottom plate has lower inclined edges approximating the pitch of the bottom chords.

In a scissors truss including a plurality of elongate structural wooden members establishing a pair of top chords and a pair of bottom chords, with upper ends of said top chords and upper ends of said bottom chords being connected together to define a top apex joint and a bottom apex joint, respectively, and with lower ends of the top chords being connected to the lower ends of the bottom chords to define a pair of heel joints, and an elongate wooden member extending between the top and bottom apex joints with upper and lower ends of said wooden member respectively forming a part of said apex joints, the improvement comprising a top nail plate and a bottom nail plate respectively forming the top and bottom joints each in the form of a sheet metal generally planar plate having a plurality of teeth struck therefrom for embedment into said side faces of said chords and said wooden member, the top nail plate having upper inclined edges approximating the pitch of the top chords without projecting upwardly above the upper edge surfaces of the top chords, the bottom nail plate having lower inclined edges approximating the pitch of the bottom chords without projecting downwardly below a lower edge surfaces of the bottom chords, said top and bottom nail plates being dimensioned in relation to each other such that interfitting of the upper inclined edges of the top nail plate with the lower inclined edges of the bottom nail plate results in an overall plate structure of rectangular configuration in plan view.

A pair of nailing plates for a scissors truss of the type comprising a plurality of elongate structural wooden members establishing a pair of top chords and a pair of bottom chords, the upper ends of the top chords being connected together to form a top apex joint and the upper ends of the bottom chords being connected together to form a bottom apex joint, the included angle between the bottom chords being greater than the included angle between the top chords, the nailing plates comprising:

• a first plate having a pentagonal shape with it uppermost edges forming a peak adapted to substantially overlie the top chords without protruding above their upper edges to thereby connect the top chord members, and
• a second plate having a pentagonal shape with its lowermost edges forming a trough adapted to substantially overlie the bottom chords without protruding below their lower edges to thereby connect the bottom chord members,
• the first and second nailing plates being formed from a single rectangular sheet metal nailing plate of the type having a plurality of teeth struck therefrom for embedment into the chords, the rectangular nailing plate being divided by a chevron-shaped die cut intermediate the top and bottom edges, the included angle of the chevron-shaped cut being greater than the included angle between the top chord members but less than the included angle between the bottom chord members.

A scissors truss of the type comprising a plurality of elongate structural wooden members establishing a pair of top chords and a pair of bottom chords, the upper ends of the top chords being connected together to form a top apex joint and the upper ends of the bottom chords being connected together to form a bottom apex joint, the included angle between the bottom chords being greater than the included angle between the top chords, the scissors truss further comprising a pair of nailing plates comprising:

• a first plate having a pentagonal shape with it uppermost edges forming a peak adapted to substantially overlie the top apex joint without protruding above the upper edges of the top chord members to thereby connect the top chord members, and
• a second plate having a pentagonal shape with its lowermost edges forming a trough adapted to substantially overlie the bottom apex joint without protruding below the lower edges of the bottom chord members to thereby connect the bottom chord members,
• the first and second plates being formed from a single rectangular sheet metal nailing plate of the type having a plurality of teeth struck therefrom for embedment into the chords, the rectangular nailing plate being divided by a chevron-shaped die cut intermediate the top and bottom edges, the included angle of the chevron-shaped cut being greater than the included angle between the top chord members but less than the included angle between the bottom chord members.

A method of making a pair of nailing plates for a scissors truss of the type comprising a plurality of elongate structural wooden members establishing a pair of top chords and a pair of bottom chords, the upper ends of the top chords being connected together to form a top apex joint and the upper ends of the bottom chords being connected together to form a bottom apex joint, the included angle between the bottom chords being greater than the included angle between the top chords, the nailing plates comprising:

• a first plate having a pentagonal shape with it uppermost edges forming a peak adapted to substantially overlie the top apex joint without protruding above the upper edges of the top chord members to thereby connect the top chord members, and
• a second plate having a pentagonal shape with its lowermost edges forming a trough adapted to substantially overlie the bottom apex joint without protruding below the lower edges of the bottom chord members to thereby connect the bottom chord members,
• the method comprising:
• making a chevron-shaped die cut across a single rectangular sheet metal nailing plate of the type having a plurality of teeth struck therefrom for embedment into the chords, intermediate the top and bottom edges, the included angle of the chevron-shaped cut being greater than the included angle between the top chord members but less than the included angle between the bottom chord members.