Patent ID: 6318251
Filing Date: 2001-11-20
Classification: B27F,Y10S

Abstract:
A truss fabrication machine comprising:a table, having a tabletop defined with a given X-axis and a transverse Y-axis;jig means on the tabletop for establishing the arrangement of manually-placed sets of loose pre-cut truss members and the connector plates at the joints therebetween for at least a single truss;a pressing unit, including an extensible and retractable pressing head, and operable to extend said head toward and onto said tabletop and to retract it;a gantry above said tabletop for carrying the pressing unit along said gantry as generally parallel to the Y-axis;track and carriage means for carrying said gantry to travel along said track and carriage means as generally parallel to the X-axis;gantry moving means for moving said gantry along said track and carriage means;pressing-unit moving means for moving said pressing unit along said gantry;actuating means for actuating said pressing unit whereby said pressing head extends to seat the connector plates into the truss members;X-axis sensing means for sensing X-axis displacement of one of the gantry or the pressing unit;Y-axis sensing means for sensing Y-axis displacement of the pressing unit; and,processing circuitry linked to at least one instruction-set storage device stored with at least one given instruction set, and having at least a RUN mode including a PAUSE mode;wherein said processing circuitry is given control over said gantry moving means, pressing-unit moving means and actuating means concurrently while in the RUN mode responding to the X-axis and Y-axis sensing means for running in accordance with the given instruction set by .cndot. coordinating movement of said gantry and pressing unit and thereby positioning the pressing unit from one given X and Y coordinate to another, succeeding X and Y coordinate, and then .cndot. actuating or not the actuating means, or pausing in the PAUSE mode sufficiently to allow a worker to remove one or more completed trusses and place back in the jig means sets of loose pre-cut truss members and the connector plates therefor for repetitive fabrication of succeeding trusses.