Technical Field

[0001 ] The present invention relates to a truss batten that is typically used for suspending loads on a stage, or any space where people congregate such as a theatre. The truss batten has an upper batten and a lower batten and cross bracing therebetween, and is integrally formed from metal.

Background of Invention

[0002] Battens are used on stages in theatres, exhibition centres, shopping centres and malls etc., for suspending loads, such as scenery, lights, curtains, and speakers. These battens are generally made from steel pipe and are prone to bending if heavy loads are applied, particularly when these loads are suspended from a single suspension point. To enable the suspension of heavier loads and extended distances between suspension points, truss battens are generally used on stages and any venue where suspension points are limited.

[0003] Existing examples of truss battens are formed from two or more steel pipes, or other linear members such as beams, with cross bracing welded in a trussed configuration between the pipes or beams. The welding of the cross bracing for these existing truss battens is, however, tedious, time consuming, and not particularly configurable.

Summary of Invention

[0004] Accordingly, one aspect of the present invention includes a method of forming a truss batten from metal, the truss batten having an upper batten and a lower batten and cross bracing therebetween, the method including: integrally forming a profile in the metal, the profile including circular portions at opposed ends of the profile and a web portion therebetween; and cutting windows in the web portion so that the circular portions form the upper and the lower battens, respectively, and the web portion forms the cross bracing between the upper batten and the lower batten of the truss batten. [0005] Another aspect of the present invention includes a truss batten formed from metal, the truss batten having an upper batten and a lower batten and cross bracing therebetween, wherein the truss batten has an integrally formed profile including circular portions at opposed ends of the profile that form the upper and the lower battens, respectively, and a web portion therebetween, and the web portion includes a plurality of windows cut in the web portion so that the web portion forms the cross bracing between the upper batten and the lower batten of the truss batten.

[0006] Preferably, the profile of the truss batten is integrally formed in the metal by extruding the metal through a die corresponding in shape to the profile. And preferably the metal is Aluminium or an Aluminium alloy. The integrally formed truss batten is light weight, and has sufficiently high strength to enable the suspension of desired loads directly, when used on a stage, or any public place, and to enable extended distances between suspension points. The suspension points are, for example, overhead rigging points to suspend the truss batten from a roof of a stage or public space. It will be appreciated by those persons skilled in the art that other suspension means could be employed to fix the truss batten to the stage and other metals could be used to provide a high strength, light weight truss batten, such as steel.

[0007] In an example, more than one truss batten is installed on a stage, or a public space, to enable the suspension of desired loads throughout the stage or space. Preferably, the profile of the truss batten is relatively thin to enable these truss battens to be installed on rigging points to the stage within close proximity to each other.

[0008] In an embodiment, the circular portions are hollow. The hollow circular portions forming the upper and the lower battens reduce the weight of the truss batten whilst retaining its strength.

[0009] In an embodiment, the method further includes cutting windows in the web portion at regular intervals. These windows may be rectangular or triangular windows that are cut in the web portion at regular intervals. It will be appreciated, however, that the windows can be any shape including purely decorative shapes. The windows provide for loads to be suspended therefrom when used on a stage, and further reduce the weight of the truss batten.

[0010] In an embodiment, the method includes joining adjacent ones of the truss batten with a joining plate. In the embodiment, adjacent ones of the truss batten are joined with the joining plate which includes a spigot configured to be inserted into adjacent ones of the hollow circular portions. The joining plate further includes a flat plate configured to join adjacent ones of the web portions. This joining plate enables, for instance, the use of pipe trolleys to be rolled along the length of more than one truss batten for a stage.

[001 1 ] It will be further appreciated that the truss batten can have infinite length but has a designated length for shipping purposes. For example, the length of the truss batten is 7.5m. Also, the desired width of the truss batten depends on the size of the stage, but is generally 150mm to 300mm. The truss batten used on the stage can also have a plain Aluminium finish or can be powder coated to any colour.

[0012] Another aspect of the present invention includes an apparatus for forming a truss batten from metal, the truss batten having an upper batten and a lower batten and cross bracing therebetween, the apparatus including: a forming means for integrally forming a profile in the metal, the profile including circular portions at opposed ends of the profile and a web portion therebetween; and a cutting means for cutting windows in the web portion at regular intervals so that the circular portions form the upper and the lower battens, respectively, and the web portion forms the cross bracing between the upper batten and the lower batten of the truss batten.

[0013] In an embodiment, the forming means is an extruder including a ram and a die corresponding in shape to the profile, wherein the ram is configured to force the metal through the die to integrally form the profile.

[0014] In an embodiment, the cutting means is a Computer Numerical Control router. In another embodiment, the cutting means is a laser cutter.

[0015] In another aspect, there is provided a truss batten formed from metal, the truss batten having an upper batten and a lower batten and cross bracing therebetween, wherein the truss batten has an integrally formed profile including circular portions at opposed ends of the profile that form the upper and the lower battens, respectively, and a web portion therebetween that forms the cross bracing.

Brief Description of Drawings

[0016] In order that the present invention can be more clearly understood, examples of embodiments will now be described with reference to the following drawings:

[0017] Figure 1 is a cross-section of a truss batten showing its profile according an embodiment of the present invention;

[0018] Figure 2 is a side view of a truss batten according an embodiment of the present invention;

[0019] Figure 3 is a side view of a truss batten according another embodiment of the present invention;

[0020] Figure 4 is a side view of adjacent joined truss battens according an embodiment of the present invention;

[0021 ] Figure 5 is a cross-section of a truss batten showing its profile and a suspension clamp, according an embodiment of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 6 is a side view of adjacent joined truss battens according an embodiment of the present invention;

[0023] Figure 7 is a side view of adjacent joined truss battens according another embodiment of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 8 is a schematic of an apparatus able to be used to form the truss batten profile of Figure 1 ; and

[0025] Figure 9 is a flow chart of a method of forming a trust batten according to an embodiment of the invention. Detailed description

[0026] Illustrated in Figure 1 is a profile 1 1 of a truss batten 10 that is formed from metal. In the embodiment shown in the Figures, the truss batten 10 is formed via an extrusion process and the metal is Aluminium. As mentioned, the truss batten 10 is to be used on a stage for a set or a theatre, and must therefore have sufficient strength to suspend loads therefrom. Preferably, the truss batten 10 is lightweight, and the apparatus for extruding such a lightweight and strong, Aluminium truss batten 10 will be discussed in more detail below.

[0027] Figures 2 and 3 show side views of embodiments of the truss batten 10, whereby in both embodiments the truss batten 10 has an upper batten 12 and a lower batten 14 and cross bracing 16 therebetween. With reference also to Figure 1 , the profile 1 1 is integrally formed by the above mentioned Aluminium extrusion process and has a first circular portion 13 forming the upper batten 12 at one end of the profile 1 1 and a second circular portion 15 forming the lower batten 14 at the opposed end of the profile 1 1 . In between the first 13 and second 15 circular portions is a web portion 17 that forms the cross bracing 16 when windows 18 are cut in the web portion 17 at regular intervals. The first circular portion 13 and the second circular portion 15 in the embodiment are hollow to save weight and material, and can be extruded in any diameter and wall thickness that is required for use on a stage.

[0028] The windows 18 are rectangular in the embodiment of Figure 2 and triangular in the embodiment of Figure 3. As mentioned above, the windows 18 can be any shape and this shape may instead be purely decorative. Figure 7 shows decorative windows 18 being depicted as a bird. Indeed, in other embodiments that are not shown, the windows 18 are not repeating at regular intervals and do not extend across the entire length of the truss batten 10. As mentioned, in a typical stage application, the span of the truss batten 10 is 7.5m, and two or more of the truss battens 10 can be joined to create larger spans using a joining plate 20 shown in Figures 4 to 7. Also, as mentioned, the width of the truss batten 10 is typically 150mm to 300mm, depending on the application. [0029] In yet another embodiment, Figure 6 shows a truss batten 23 that does not have cut out windows 18. In this embodiment, the truss batten 23 is also formed from metal and has an upper batten 25 and a lower batten 27 and cross bracing 29 therebetween. The profile of this truss batten 23 is integrally formed as above with hollow, circular portions that form the upper batten 25 and the lower batten 27, respectively, and a web portion therebetween. In this embodiment, the entire web portion forms the cross bracing 29.

[0030] Figure 6 shows the joining plate 20 for joining adjacent truss battens 10 in more detail. Flere, adjacent truss battens 10A 10B are joined with the joining plate 20, which includes a first spigot 22 and a second spigot 24, each configured to be inserted into adjacent ones of the hollow first circular portion 13 and adjacent ones of the second circular portion 15 of the truss battens 10A 10B, respectively. That is, the first spigot 22 is located into the hollow adjacent upper battens 12A 12B and the second spigot is located into the hollow adjacent lower battens 14A 14B of the adjacent truss battens 10A 10B. The joining plate 20 further includes a flat plate 24 configured to join adjacent cross bracing 16A 16B of the adjacent truss battens 10A 10B. The flat plate 24 uses four bolts 26 to join the adjacent cross bracing 16A 16B, although it is envisaged that rivets could be used instead of bolts. In this way, the now extended lower batten 14A 14B has an unimpeded surface for the rolling of a pipe trolley thereon for use on a stage. These spigots 22 24 are retained in position in the respective upper 12A 12B battens and lower 14A 14B battens with rivets 26 that do not project sufficiently from the outer surface of the battens 10A 10B to impede the rolling of the pipe trolley.

[0031 ] Figure 5 shows a cross section a truss batten 10 and a cross section of the joining plate 20. In addition, Figure 5 shows a suspension clamp 21 configured to clamp around the upper batten 12 of the truss batten 10 and then to be attached to an overhead rigging point (not shown) in the roof structure of a stage. It will be appreciated that the overhead rigging points are provided in the roof structure of the stage at regular intervals to suspend the truss batten 10 and to enable the truss batten 10 to have loads suspends therefrom. [0032] Figure 8 shows a schematic of an apparatus 30 for forming the truss batten 10 and the truss batten 23 from metal. The apparatus 10 includes a forming means, in the form of an extruder 32, for integrally forming the extruded profile 1 1 from a work piece 34 of metal. The extruder 32 achieves this by forcing the work piece 34 of metal with a ram 36 through a die 38 corresponding in shape to the profile 1 1 . In this embodiment, the extruded profile 1 1 is created using the direct extrusion process and it is made from high strength Aluminium alloy (e.g. 6005A) which is heat treated to T6 temper for maximum hardness.

[0033] The apparatus 10 further includes a cutting means 40 for forming the truss batten 10 in the form of a computer numerical control (CNC) router for cutting the windows 18 in regular intervals in the truss batten 10. It will be appreciated by those persons skilled in the art that the CNC router 40 can also be used to cut decorative windows 18 as shown in Figure 8.

[0034] Referring now to Figure 9, there is a shown a flow chart of a method 50 of forming the truss batten 10 from metal. The method 50 includes the steps of integrally forming 52 a profile in the metal including circular portions at opposed ends of the profile and a web portion therebetween; and cutting 54 windows in the web portion so that the circular portions form upper and lower battens of the truss batten, respectively, and the web portion forms the cross bracing between the upper batten and the lower batten of the truss batten.

[0035] In addition, it will be appreciated by those persons skilled in the art that further aspects of the method will be apparent from the above description of the apparatus 40. Further, the persons skilled in the art will also appreciated that at least part of the method could be embodied in program code that is implemented by a processor of the apparatus 40. The program code could be supplied in a number of ways, for example of a tangible computer readable medium such as a disc or memory.

[0036] It will be appreciated that there may be other variations and modifications to the configurations described herein which are also within the scope of the present invention. [0037] It will also be appreciated that the above description of the prior art has been provided merely as background to explain the context of the invention. It is not to be taken as an admission that any of the material referred to was published or known, or was a part of the common general knowledge.