Patent ID: 8479470

Claim:
A wall designed to resist lateral forces imposed on a building incorporating said wall, said wall comprising: a. an underlying structural component that is part of said building, and a bottom plate resting on and connected to said underlying structural component of said building; b. a plurality of vertically-disposed studs resting on and connected said bottom plate; c. a wooden top plate resting on and connected to said vertically-disposed studs; d. a shear-resisting assembly connected to said top plate and also connected to said underlying structural component and disposed between said top plate and said underlying structural component, said shear-resisting assembly including, 1. a planar shear-resisting element, said planar shear-resisting element having a proximal face and a distal face, a top edge, a bottom edge and first and second side edges, said shear-resisting assembly also including, 2. a wooden top strut connected to said top edge of said shear-resisting element, and disposed substantially parallel to said top plate of said wall, 3. a bottom strut connected to said bottom edge of said shear-resisting element, 4. a first chord connected to said first side edge of shear-resisting element, and 5. a second chord connected to said second side edge of said shear-resisting element; and wherein fasteners having a threaded shank portion are inserted through said top strut of said shear-resisting assembly and into said top plate to connect said shear resisting assembly to said top plate, said shear-resisting assembly being connected only to said wall at said top plate and said underlying structural component.