Fabrication and design of structural members

Abstract

A method of designing structural members for a building frame using a computer includes the steps of inputting a predetermined plan of the layout and orientation of the structural members. This information is then stored. The computer then analyses the stored plan information to provide specifications of length and jointing details for each structural member to enable the structural members made according to specification to fit together to form the frame. The specifications of each structural member are outputted from the computer. In another method of fabricating structural members the members are formed on a forming machine which also creates the connecting features enabling the structural members to be assembled as a building frame. A forming machine to fabricate structural members includes a memory to store structural member specifications of length and jointing features enabling the structural members to be assembled as a building frame. The forming machine is adapted to form each structural member according to the length specification and create the jointing features. In a method for designing the structural members of building frames a building plan of a predetermined layout of the frames including details of frame openings is input into a computer. The layout is analyzed to determine parameter lines and frame opening lines for each frame. The computer program then designs the layout of the orientation of structural members for each frame and the plan of the layout and orientation of the structural members for each frame is then output from the computer.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.