The Development of the Truss Plate, Part VIII: Patent Skirmishes Joe Kannapell, PE As builders began demanding Gang-Nailed trusses, imitators answered their call with little concern for violating Cal Jureit’s patent. Even though his claims were technical triumphs, vetted by D.C. patent experts, they were quickly contested by two now-familiar figures, Bill Black and... Read More March 2023 Issue #15284 Page 10
Does Your Plant Have a Culture of Quality? Glenn Traylor Quality, productivity, and speed are intertwined and impact each other. My previous article, Where is Your Focus on Manufacturing?, emphasizes that improving quality starts with implementation of the ANSI/TPI 1 standard—and, with that process, you will improve proficiency and speed. The... Read More March 2023 Issue #15284 Page 35
Truss Plates and Nail Inventions from Finland Tuomo Poutanen In his series on The Development of the Truss Plate, Joe Kannapell is recounting many interesting details on the evolution of truss plates in the U.S. For another perspective, this article will focus on eight relevant nail plate truss inventions from Finland —two made by Matti Turulin, two... Read More March 2023 Issue #15284 Page 86
The Development of the Truss Plate, Part VII: Contentious Competition Joe Kannapell, PE The plated truss industry went bonkers around 1961. Truss fabricators were besieging suppliers for product and were willing to try nearly any plate or machine. Plate suppliers had to conform to the new testing and QC required by TPI-60, but machinery vendors had no guidelines beyond satisfying... Read More February 2023 Issue #15283 Page 10
The Development of the Truss Plate, Part VI: An Industry Established Joe Kannapell, PE On July 5, 1960, in a marathon session, a dozen entrepreneurs set standards for a brand new industry, and, in the process, met a government deadline. These early truss plate adopters came well-prepared and didn’t hesitate to make far-reaching decisions. Fortunately, they left a detailed... Read More January 2023 Issue #15282 Page 10
Are You Making Correct Substitutions and Placements When Upsizing Connectors? Glenn Traylor Sometimes it is necessary to deviate from the truss design drawing and use a different connector. This may happen when a specific size connector is not available or when the original connector has been removed. Per ANSI/TPI 1 Section 3.6.3, a metal connector can be substituted if the new... Read More January 2023 Issue #15282 Page 35
The Last Word: The Current State of Robotics Joe Kannapell, PE I’ve been covering the industry’s evolution toward robotics, but I’d like to stop for a minute and recall the days of corrugated fasteners. These clever clips proved themselves whenever trusses were flipped or ejected. Now, perhaps ironically, they still have a role to play... Read More January 2023 Issue #15282 Page 128
The Development of the Truss Plate, Part V: Frenetic First Get-Together Joe Kannapell, PE Twelve competitors faced one another for the first time—but only because they had to. Each of their fledgling plate businesses was threatened by a July 31 deadline from the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), and they had less than three weeks to put together a design criterion for... Read More December 2022 Issue #14281 Page 10
Why Do I Need the Software Polygons? Glenn Traylor When completing an in-house inspection, a critical plate inspection is required for each truss inspected. This requirement is from ANSI/TPI 1–2014. Specifically, per section 3.7.1: No less than one critical joint per Truss selected for inspection, on average across all operational... Read More December 2022 Issue #14281 Page 35
Understanding Plate Tooth Count and Placement Russell Tangren, PE Imagine a third-party truss inspector is in the yard checking truss plates as part of quality control. The plate placement diagram indicates the web needs twenty-five teeth; however, the inspector counts twenty. Even though the shop positioned the plates as designed, is the plate placement... Read More December 2022 Issue #14281 Page 80