The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 15, 1980
Filed:
May. 01, 1978
Jean A Bance, North Chicago, IL (US);
Roper Corporation, Kankakee, IL (US);
Abstract
A tube and ball truss system for making a structural lattice which includes a plurality of hollow metal balls spaced in a three-dimensional array, each ball having a set of radial through-openings as well as an access opening on one side, adjacent ones of the balls being interconnected by metal tubes having an outer cylindrical wall and a central axially extending core joined by integral webs, the ends of the core having axially tapped holes engageable by clamping bolts extending through the through-openings in the balls. The ball surface is locally flattened to form land surfaces surrounding the through-openings for flat seating of the end surfaces of the tubes; indeed, the land surfaces are recessed to provide shallow socketed engagement and precise alignment with the ends of the tubes.