Extruded Aluminum Roof Truss Manufacturing System and Methods

Abstract

A method for manufacturing, transporting, and installing an extruded aluminum roof truss by manufacturing an extrusion that comprises a top chord extrusion, a bottom chord extrusion, a web brace extrusion, manufacturing standardized components such as a connector, a hinge, a bracket, and a fastener used to configure the extrusion into a truss configuration, pre-assembling the extrusion with an optionally pre-determined set of the standardized components required to either fully or partially assemble the truss prior to transport and installation at the building site, transporting the truss in either a fully or partially assembled compact configuration to the installation site, rotating the truss open by pivoting the web bracing into alignment with a matching connector hole on an extrusion at the installation site, and installing any required connectors or remaining standardized components to complete the truss.

I claim: 
     
         1 . An extruded roof truss, comprising:
 an extruded chord, comprising:
 a top chord; and 
 a bottom chord removably coupled to the top chord; 
   a web bracing removably coupled to the chord;   a bracket removably coupled to the chord; and   a connector removably coupled to the chord and the bracket,   wherein the chord, the web bracing, the bracket, and the connector are configured as a truss and at least one of the chord and the web bracing are comprised of a substantially aluminum material.   
     
     
         2 . The extruded roof truss of  claim 1 , wherein the truss has a truss configuration of at least one of the following: a fink truss, a howe truss, an attic truss, and a scissors truss. 
     
     
         3 . The extruded roof truss of  claim 1 , wherein the bracket further comprises at least one of a gusset, a flat bracket, a pivot bracket, and a double bracket. 
     
     
         4 . The extruded roof truss of  claim 1 , wherein the connector is pivotably coupled to the top chord and the bottom chord and further comprises a connecting pin and a lock ring. 
     
     
         5 . The extruded roof truss of  claim 1 , wherein the connector is pivotably coupled to the chord and the web bracing and further comprises a connecting pin and a lock ring. 
     
     
         6 . The extruded roof truss of  claim 1 , further comprising a fastener comprising at least one of the following: a screw, a bolt, a rivet, and a nut. 
     
     
         7 . The extruded roof truss of  claim 1 , further comprising a hinge assembly comprising:
 a hinge left configured with a first pin boss, a first mounting hole, and a first hinge knuckle; and   a hinge right configured with a second pin boss, a second mounting hole, and a second hinge knuckle.   
     
     
         8 . The extruded roof truss of  claim 1 , wherein the first top cord comprises a first top chord extrusion and a second top chord extrusion and the truss further comprises a peak hinge assembly, the peak hinge assembly comprising:
 a hinge left coupled to the first top chord extrusion by a first fastener; and   a hinge right coupled to the second top chord extrusion by a second fastener,   wherein the hinge left is removably coupled to the hinge right by a connecting pin and a lock ring.   
     
     
         9 . The extruded roof truss of  claim 1 , wherein the truss further comprises:
 a gusset further comprising a first end and a second end;   a top chord extrusion coupled to the first end of the gusset by a connecting pin and a lock ring; and   a bottom chord extrusion coupled to the second end of the gusset by a fastener.   
     
     
         10 . The extruded roof truss of  claim 1 , wherein the truss further comprises an a-brace, comprising:
 a web brace extrusion further comprising a first end and a second end;   a first pivot bracket coupled to the first end of the web brace extrusion by a first fastener; and   a second pivot bracket coupled to the second end of the web brace extrusion by a second fastener.   
     
     
         11 . The extruded roof truss of  claim 1 , wherein the truss further comprises a king post brace, comprising:
 a web brace extrusion further comprising a first end and a second end;   a first double bracket coupled to the first end of the web brace extrusion by a first fastener; and   a second double bracket coupled to the second end of the web brace extrusion by a second fastener.   
     
     
         12 . The extruded roof truss of  claim 1 , wherein the truss further comprises a t-brace, comprising:
 a substantially vertical web brace extrusion having a first end and a second end;   a double bracket coupled to the first end of the substantially vertical web brace extrusion by a first fastener;   a first flat plate bracket further comprising a first side and a second side, wherein the first side of the first flat plate is coupled to the second end of the substantially vertical web brace extrusion by a second fastener;   a substantially horizontal web brace extrusion further comprising a first side and a second side; and   a second flat plate bracket;   wherein the first side of the substantially horizontal web brace is coupled to the second side of the second side of the first flat plate and the second side of the substantially horizontal web brace extrusion is coupled to the second flat plate by a connecting bolt and a threaded nut.   
     
     
         13 . The extruded roof truss of  claim 1 , wherein the truss further comprises a cross brace, comprising:
 a king post brace, comprising:
 a substantially vertical web brace extrusion, further configured with a first end, a second end, a first side, and a second side; 
 a first double bracket coupled to the first end of the substantially vertical web brace extrusion by a first fastener; and 
 a second double bracket coupled to the second end of the substantially vertical web brace extrusion by a second fastener; 
   a first flat plate bracket coupled to a first substantially horizontal web brace extrusion by a third fastener; and   a second flat plate bracket coupled a second substantially horizontal web brace extrusion by a fourth fastener;   wherein the first flat plate is coupled to the first side of the substantially vertical web brace extrusion and the second flat plate is coupled to the second side of the substantially vertical web brace extrusion by a connecting bolt and a threaded nut.   
     
     
         14 . The extruded roof truss of  claim 1 , wherein the truss further comprises a peak assembly, comprising:
 a king post brace, comprising:
 a double bracket further comprising a first end and a second end; and 
 a web brace extrusion coupled to the double bracket; 
   a first top chord extrusion coupled to the first end of the double bracket by a first connecting pin and a first lock ring; and   a second top chord extrusion coupled to the second end of the double bracket by a second connecting pin and a second lock ring.   
     
     
         15 . The extruded roof truss of  claim 1 , wherein the web bracing further comprises a web bracing configuration wherein the web bracing configuration comprises at least one of the following: a gusset, a pair of gussets, a gusset assembly, a peak hinge assembly, an a-brace, a king post brace, a t-brace, a cross brace, a peak assembly, and an a-brace assembly. 
     
     
         16 . An extruded roof truss, comprising:
 an extruded chord, comprising:
 a top chord, comprising:
 a top chord extrusion configured as a substantially aluminum material; and 
 
 a bottom chord removably coupled to the top chord, comprising:
 a bottom chord extrusion configured as a substantially aluminum material; 
 
   a web bracing removably coupled to the extruded chord, comprising:
 a web brace extrusion configured as a substantially aluminum material; and 
 an a-brace removably coupled to the top chord extrusion and bottom chord extrusion, comprising:
 a web brace extrusion further comprising a first end and a second end; 
 a first pivot bracket coupled to the first end of the web brace extrusion by a first fastener; and 
 a second pivot bracket coupled to the second end of the web brace extrusion by a second fastener; 
 
   a bracket removably coupled to the extruded chord, comprising:
 a gusset removably coupled to the top chord extrusion and the bottom chord extrusion; and 
 a peak hinge assembly removably coupled to the top chord extrusion, comprising:
 a hinge left; and 
 a hinge right; 
 
 wherein the hinge left is pivotably coupled to a hinge right by a first connector further comprising a connecting pin and a lock ring; 
 wherein the gusset is pivotably coupled to the top chord extrusion by a second connector further comprising a connecting pin and a lock ring and where the gusset is removably coupled to the bottom chord extrusion by a fastener further configured as a rivet, and 
   wherein the chord, the web bracing, the bracket, and the connector are configured as a fink truss.   
     
     
         17 . A method for manufacturing an extruded roof truss, comprising:
 extruding a top chord, a bottom chord, and a web bracing, the top chord, bottom chord, and web bracing comprised substantially of aluminum;   pre-assembling the top chord, bottom chord, and web bracing with one or more brackets and fasteners;   transporting the truss in either a fully or partially assembled compact configuration to an installation site;   rotating the truss open by pivoting the web bracing into alignment with a matching connector hole on the at least one of the top chord, bottom chord, and web bracing at the installation site; and   installing one or more fasteners to complete the truss assembly.   
     
     
         18 . The method for manufacturing an extruded roof truss of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 connecting a peak hinge assembly to a truss by fastening a hinge left to a first top chord with four self-threading screws secured the mounting holes on the hinge left and the screw slots on the first top chord;   fastening a hinge right to a second top chord with four self-threading screws secured the mounting holes on the hinge right and the screw slots on the second top chord; and   removably connecting the hinge left and the hinge right with a connecting pin and lock ring.   
     
     
         19 . The method for manufacturing an extruded roof truss of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 coupling a gusset to a truss by orienting a first gusset and a second gusset as pairs opposite each other;
 mechanically fastening each gusset with a blind rivet to the inside of each vertical face of the bottom chord; 
 orienting a pivot hole the gusset with a top chord connector hole on a top chord; and 
 securing each gusset pivot hole and the top chord connector hole with a connecting pin and a lock ring. 
   
     
     
         20 . The method for manufacturing an extruded roof truss of  claim 17 , further comprising:
 coupling an a-brace to a truss by securing a first pivot bracket to a first end of a first web brace extrusion with four self-threading screws fastened between a web brace screw slot and the pivot bracket mounting holes; and
 securing a second pivot bracket to a second end of the first web brace extrusion with four self-threading screws fastened between a web brace screw slot and the pivot bracket mounting holes.