Patent Application
20070044419
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to alignment and setting tools, and more specifically to a truss setting bracket adapted for setting and aligning trusses in the construction industry.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the construction of residential homes and other buildings that use wooden trusses as components of the roofing, it is conventional practice to have such trusses constructed at a separate location and then trucked to the building site. Then, after the building foundation, including walls and perimeter beam, has been built, a crane is usually employed to lift the trusses, one at a time, from their ground storage location up onto the perimeter beam. Typical trade practice then involves having the crane remain in a support position while a carpenter nails the truss to a horizontal spacer timber in order to stabilize it so the crane can move away to pick up another truss for repetition of the positioning and stabilizing operation.
In such construction operations, cranes are conventionally charged by the hour, so that the greater the number of trusses that can be installed per hour, the lower the labor and equipment costs will be to the contractor. What is needed is a truss setting bracket that will allow a single user to correctly space and set a large number of trusses from a position on the ground. The truss setting bracket should be able to temporarily hold the trusses in place until the user can nail or tack them into permanent position. Therefore, the present invention relates to devices that can effectively reduce the time required for a crane and its operator to set trusses onto a building foundation.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus, a truss setting bracket solving the aforementioned problems is desired.
The truss setting bracket of the present invention has an elongated body member, a first cradle, and a second cradle. The truss setting bracket is designed to be attached to a truss at ground level before it is raised by a crane to be set in place on top of a building structure. The truss setting bracket allows the user to effectively space and set the each successive truss in place without having to leave the ground until it is time to nail or tack the set trusses permanently in place.
The elongated body member has a first end and a second end and an axis of elongation. The first cradle is attached to the first end of the elongated body member and has a first finger and a second finger defining a horizontal cradle face therebetween. The first and second fingers of the first cradle are positioned substantially normal to the axis of elongation. The second cradle is attached to the second end of the elongated body member and also has a first finger and a second finger defining a horizontal cradle face therebetween. The first and second fingers of the second cradle are also positioned substantially normal to the axis of elongation;
The second cradle is designed to be secured to a truss at ground level that is to be set in place on top of a structure. The first cradle is designed with an elongated second finger such that, as the truss is lifted into place by a crane, the elongated second finger is used as a guide for spacing the current truss from the most recently set truss. Each cradle allows successive trusses to temporarily held in place by the truss setting bracket until all the trusses have been set and they can be permanently nailed or tacked into place.
These and other features of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.
Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.
The present invention is a truss setting bracket, designated generally as 10 in the drawings.
Referring to
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In the preferred embodiment, second finger 24 of first cradle 20 has a sloped surface adjacent to first horizontal cradle face 26 that allows first cradle 20 to easily bump into and slide over an existing truss as the current truss is being set.
In use, truss setting bracket 10 is connected, at ground level, to a truss to be set. The truss setting bracket 10 is secured to the truss with the use of the second cradle 30 by simply hammering the second cradle 30 over the truss to create a tight, friction fit with the truss resting flush along second horizontal cradle face 36. As the truss is lifted into place by the crane, the operator can use truss setting bracket 10 as a guide for the placement of the current truss. Second finger 24 of first cradle 20 can be bumped and slid down onto an existing truss, with first horizontal cradle face 26 resting flush with the existing truss, allowing the current truss to be aligned correctly and set into place. Truss setting bracket 10 can then be left in place until all trusses have been set, upon which time the user may permanently nail or tack the trusses into place and remove all of the truss setting brackets. The truss setting brackets may then be used over and over on other projects.
It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.
