Occasional Electronic Publication No. 1 - Society for Industrial ...

Suspension Trusses
Parallel chord trusses with additional diagonal tension members that either directly support the
bottom chord or the lower end of vertical compression members.
PATENT CHRONOLOGY
Trumbull 1841: Tie-rods from top of end posts to center of bottom chord.
Bollman 1852: Diagonals radiate from top of end posts to bottom of all verticals.
Champion 1854: Radiating rods. Cantilevered truss.
Fink 1854: Multiple pairs of diagonals support the bottom of verticals.
Smith, F. 1866: Bollman-type configuration with struts to common long diagonal. Least depth is at mid-span.
Smith, F. , 1869 May: Short-span, Fink-type configuration with least depth at mid-span.
Smith, F., 1869 Oct.: Overlapping Fink-like configurations.
Kellogg 1870: Pratt-type configuration with an additional diagonal in each panel.
Diedrichs 1872: Verticals are connected to at least one buttress by paired ties.
Schwatka 1873: Radiating clusters of verticals along lower chord's panel-points. Diagonal ties from cluster
bases.
Hammond, Morse & Adler 1876: Counter ties to mid-point of adjacent posts.
Houts 1879: Timber parallel chord truss with Bollman-like web.
Thacher 1881: Multiple diagonals from top of end posts and center post.
Thacher 1885: Methods to subdivide panels in his 1881 patent configuration.
Stearns 1890: Pratt configuration with alternate verticals omitted. Elongated panels.
Stone 1892: Double- panel length diagonal from end posts. No diagonals in center panel.
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