Patent Publication Number: US-2021194410-A1

Title: Assembly apparatus for truss structure

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present invention relates to a truss structure, in particular, to an assembly apparatus for a truss structure used in the installation of a photovoltaic module. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Photovoltaic modules are typically installed on roofs of buildings or at open land without any shields in order to allow sunlight to be projected onto the photovoltaic modules at the greatest extend, thereby generating electrical power with economic value while achieving the objectives of environmental friendliness and green energy for environmental protection. 
     Generally, prior to the installation of photovoltaic modules, it is necessary to use a multiple number of steel beams to assembly into a truss structure, followed by laying all of the photovoltaic modules flatly together. In addition, with the use of sufficient securement method, the entire structure is able to achieve sufficient strength without damages under various different weather conditions. 
     Nevertheless, the aforementioned relevant components for the assembly of truss structure are of great quantity and complicated parts, causing the assembly method to be difficult, time and labor consuming, and the overall cost is also relatively expensive. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, the primary objective of the present invention is to provide a convenient and facilitated assembly apparatus for a trust structure, such that it is able to achieve faster installation of the truss structure for photovoltaic modules with relatively fewer component parts and lower overall cost. 
     To achieve the foregoing objective, the present invention provides an assembly apparatus for a truss structure, comprising a supporting column, a holding member and a fastening member. The supporting column includes an attachment portion. The holding member includes a supporting portion and a positioning portion arranged adjacent to the supporting portion. The supporting portion includes a guiding slot opened in a vertical direction, and the guiding slot is configured to receive the trust structure therein. The fastening member is arranged on the positioning portion of the holding member and the attachment portion of the supporting column. The holding member is movably secured onto the supporting column. With the aforementioned assembly, the present invention is able to provide a convenient and assembly-facilitated truss structure for the installation of photovoltaic modules while reducing the overall cost. 
     Preferably, wherein the supporting column includes a fixation portion; the attachment portion extends from the fixation portion in a vertical direction; the attachment portion includes an elongated through hole, and the fastening member is arranged at the through hole and the positioning portion. 
     Preferably, wherein the supporting column includes at least two retaining portions; the guiding slot is formed between the at least two retaining portions. 
     Preferably, wherein an engagement set is arranged between the attachment portion of the supporting column and the positioning portion of the holding member; the engagement set is positioned at the attachment portion of the supporting column and the positioning portion of the holding member. 
     Preferably, wherein the supporting portion of the holding member extends horizontally at two opposite sides of the positioning portion; the supporting portion includes at least two retaining portions to form the guiding slot, thereby allowing two sides of the supporting portion to be installed and secured with the truss structure thereon. 
     Preferably, wherein the holding member comprises two locking members; the two locking members are arranged corresponding to each other in order to jointly form the supporting portion and the positioning portion. 
     Regarding the detailed structure or technical features of the present invention, details are provided in the following accompanied drawings and description. However, a person with ordinary skill in the art in the technical field of the present invention shall understand that such detailed description and the specific embodiments disclosed in the present invention are provided to illustrate the present invention only such that they shall not be treated as limitation of the scope of the claim of the present invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective exploded view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a side view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective exploded view of another preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective assembly view of another preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective assembly view of still another preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective exploded view of still another preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 7  is a side view of still another preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The following provides preferred embodiments along with the accompanied drawings to describe the technical content and features of the present invention in detail. A person skilled in the art in this field is able to understand that the description and terms used to describe the embodiments refer to the superordinate descriptions not limited to the application field. For example, the terms of materials or shapes used include but not limited to the specified materials or shapes only. The terms of location positioning include but not limited to being arranged at, adjacent to, connected to or abutted to. The terms of quantity of each element such as “one” includes the quantity of one and more than one of plurality of elements. The directional terms of “up”, “down”, “inner”, “outer”, “top” and “bottom” etc. are descriptive terms as examples for normal direction of use, which shall not be treated as limitations to the scope of the claim. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 2 , according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, an assembly apparatus  10  for a truss structure is provided, comprising a supporting column  12 , a holding member  20  and a fastening member  30 . In this preferred embodiment, the supporting column  12 , the holding member  20  and the fastening member  30  are made of metal plates and formed into shape via stamping process as an example for illustration. The supporting column  12  includes a fixation portion  14  and an attachment portion  16 . The attachment portion  16  extends from the bottom end of the fixation portion  14  in a vertical direction toward a lateral side thereof. The attachment portion  16  includes an elongated through hole  18  extended along a vertical direction. 
     The holding member  20  includes a supporting portion  22  and a positioning portion  24  arranged adjacent to the supporting portion  22 . In this preferred embodiment, the supporting portion  22  is a horizontal plate as an example for illustration. The positioning portion  24  extends downward from a side edge of the supporting portion  22  in a vertical direction. Each corner of the supporting portion  22  includes a retaining portion  26  protruded upward therefrom respectively in order to allow the supporting portion  22  to form at least one guiding slot  28  opened in a vertical direction. The guiding slot  28  extends horizontally between the retaining portions  26  and are provided to allow the truss structure  11  to be placed onto the supporting portion  22  downward from the top directly. For example, a steel beam or other frames for photovoltaic modules can be placed onto the supporting portion  22  from the top, followed which screws  32  can be used to secure the truss structure  11  onto the supporting portion  22 . The positioning portion  24  also includes an elongated through hole  18  extended in a vertical direction. 
     In this preferred embodiment, the fastening member  30  uses a screw bolt as an example for illustration. The fastening member  30  penetrates through the through hole  18  of the positioning portion  24  of the holding member  20  and the through hole  18  of the attachment portion  16  of the supporting column  12 , such that the holding member  20  and the supporting column  12  can utilize the fastening member  30  or fixation onto each other, and the gap between each of the through holes  18  and the fastening member  30  can be further used to adjust the up/down position between the holding member  20  and the supporting column  12 , thereby changing the height of the truss structure  11 . It shall be noted that an engagement set  25  is arranged between the attachment portion  16  of the supporting column  12  and the positioning portion  24  of the holding member  20 . In this preferred embodiment, the engagement set  25  comprises a through hole  27  arranged at the bottom side of the attachment portion  16  and an extension portion  29  arranged on the positioning portion  24  as an example for illustration. When the attachment portion  16  of the supporting column  12  and the positioning portion  24  of the holding member  20  are assembled onto each other, it is able to use the extension portion  29  to be inserted into the through hole  27  in order to guide the supporting column  12  and the holding member  20  be positioned at the correct positions such that additional operating time is not required to directly secure the fastening member  30 . 
     With the aforementioned assembly apparatus, during the installation of photovoltaic modules, users are only required to directly install the fixation portion  14  of the supporting column  12  onto the ground or roof of the building in order to allow the holding member  20  to be at arranged at a vertical position, thereby allowing the truss structure  11  to be easily placed downward from the top and positioned at the internal of the guiding slot  28  of the supporting portion  22 . Consequently, the truss structure  11  and the holding member  20  are attached together to complete the entire assembly step. The present invention only uses two fixation and attachment procedures to complete the assembly of the truss structure  11 . In addition, the extension direction of the guiding slot  28  of the holding member  20  can be flexibly adjusted according to the installation method of the retaining portions  26 , such that it is able to flexibly cooperate with the actual needs of the installation of the truss structure  11  in the field, thereby achieving convenient and fast assembly as well as achieving the objective of reducing overall cost of the present invention. 
     To cope with various different types of truss structure, as shown in  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4 , according to another preferred embodiment of an assembly apparatus  40  for a truss structure, its technical feature relies in that an engagement set  50  arranged between the attachment portion  44  of the supporting column  42  and the positioning portion  48  of the holding member  46  comprises an extension portion  52  arranged on the top side of the attachment portion  44  and a through hole  54  formed on the positioning portion  48  as an example for illustration. The assembly of the attachment portion  44  of the supporting column  42  and the positioning portion  48  of the holding member  46  with each other can also utilize the extension portion  52  to penetrate into the through hole  54  in order to guide the supporting column  42  and the holding member  46  to be positioned at the correct positions, such that there is no need for additional operating time to directly secure the fastening member  56 . Furthermore, the supporting portion  58  of the holding member  46  is a flat plate horizontally extending at two opposite sides on top end of the positioning portion  48 . The two ends of the supporting portion  58  respectively include a retaining portion  60  arranged thereon, and with a fixation member  62  cooperatively arranged approximately at a top central position of the supporting portion  58 , it is able to allow the truss structure to be installed and secured on two sides of the supporting portion  58 . 
     Furthermore, as shown  FIG. 5  to  FIG. 7 , according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, an assembly apparatus  70  for a truss structure is provided, and its technical feature relies in that the holding member  72  comprises two locking members  74 . Each locking member  74  includes a supporting portion  76  arranged corresponding to each other in order to jointly form a guiding slot  78  thereon. The positioning portions  80  of the locking member  74  are also attached onto each other correspondingly. One of the positioning portions  80  is used to attach onto the attachment portion  86  of the supporting column  84  together with the fastening member  82 , thereby achieving the technical advantages and objectives of the present invention similarly.