AU2006200720A1

AU2006200720A1 - Appendant structure anchor

Info

Publication number: AU2006200720A1
Application number: AU2006200720A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Donald Arthur Dunkinson
Original assignee: DONALD DUNKINSON
Current assignee: Newman Annette; Pearson Diahn
Priority date: 1996-07-12
Filing date: 2006-02-21
Publication date: 2007-09-06
Anticipated expiration: 2026-02-21
Also published as: AU2006200720B2

Description

P/00/011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Invention Title: Appendant structure anchor The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: 004Z72464 2 Appendant structure anchor Field of the invention The present invention provides an improvement in and/or modification of the invention disclosed in Australian patent AU 707335.

The present invention relates generally to anchors for anchoring an appendant structure from a roof. In a preferred form the invention relates to anchors for anchoring a shade sail from a roof. Although it will be convenient to describe the invention in relation to this particular embodiment, it is to be understood that this is an exemplary and non-limiting application of the invention only.

0 Background of the invention Appending structures from a building to extend over an outdoor area is common practice. For example, shade sails or pergolas are often appended to a building to provide weather protection for a veranda or paved area. One common way of installing such appendant structures is by attaching and supporting the structure from a combination of anchor points mounted on the side the fascia board of the roof of the building, and anchor points located on stand alone columns or pillars.

The attachment of anchor points to the fascia board of a building roof can be problematic for a number of reasons. The fascia board itself is not necessarily load bearing, and in the event of high wind, for example, the fascia board may break or be pulled from the building. Where there is guttering attached to the fascia board attachment to the fascia board may be awkward or not possible.

Australian patent AU 707335 describes an invention which overcomes many of the problems of mounting an appendant structure on a fascia board by providing an appendant structure support member which can be installed in the roof itself. While the support member described in AU 707355 is suitable for certain appendant structures, such as pergolas, it does'not provide the necessary structural stability required for certain other appendant structures such as shade sails.

0047,72464 3 For example, anchoring a shade sail requires the anchors to be able to withstand greater lateral and up-lift forces than.are required for a pergola.

Summary of the invention In one aspect the present invention provides an anchor for anchoring an appendant structure from a roofing beam and a wall top plate, the anchor including: a first mounting bracket including a beam attachment portion and a top plate attachment portion for mounting to a first side of the roofing beam and the wall top plate respectively; an attachment portion for attachment to the appendant structure; and 0 a connecting means extending between the first mounting bracket and the attachment portion.

The beam attachment portion of the first mounting bracket may be disposed at rightangles to the top plate attachment portion of the first mounting bracket. The beam attachment portion and the top plate attachment portion of the first mounting bracket may form an L shape.

The anchor may also include a second mounting bracket including a beam attachment portion and a top plate attachment portion for mounting to the other side of the roofing beam and the wall top plate.

The beam attachment portion of the first mounting bracket and the beam attachment portion of the second mounting bracket may be provided with apertures aligned for interconnecting the two beam attachment portions.

The beam attachment portion of the second mounting bracket may be disposed at rightangles to the top plate attachment portion of the second mounting bracket. The beam attachment portion and the top plate attachment portion of the second mounting bracket may form an L shape.

004Z72464 4 The connecting means of the anchor may be adjustable in length between the first mounting bracket and the attachment portion. However, it is preferred that the connecting means be of fixed length for strength reasons.

In a preferred embodiment the connecting means may include a rod secured to the first mounting bracket The anchor may further include a sealing means adapted to extend around the connecting means to provide a seal between the connecting means and the roof cladding. The sealing means may include a flexible rubber tube/grommet.

In a second aspect, the present invention provides a method of attaching a shade sail to 0 an existing roof structure which includes roof cladding, the method including: creating a hole in the roof cladding; inserting an anchor through the hole, the anchor including a mounting bracket for connection to the existing roof structure and an attachment portion for attachment to the shade sail; connecting the mounting bracket to the existing roof structure; and attaching the shade sail to the attachment portion.

Brief description of the drawings The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings which show a preferred embodiment of the adaptor. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the feaUFres of the preferred embodiment shown in the drawings.

Fig. 1 provides a perspective view of an anchor in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention; and 004772464 Fig. 2 depicts a part cross-sectional view of the appendant structure anchor in Fig. 1, S installed in a typical roofing structure.i I The preferred embodiments of the anchor will be described in connection with supporting a shade sail, and will hereafter be referred to as a shade sail anchor.

Detailed description of the embodiments Figure 1 shows an anchor 10 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The anchor 10 includes a first mounting bracket 12, to which an elongate connecting means 16 is attached by welding), and a second mounting bracket 14.

Each of the mounting brackets 12 and 14 are L shaped, made up of a top plate 0 attachment portion 18 and an beam attachment portion 20, the beam attachment portion 20 at right angles to the top plate attachment portion 18. Each top plate attachment portion 18 is formed with two bolt holes and each beam attachment portion is formed with 4 bolt holes. Of codirse the number and positioning of the bolt holes in the mounting brackets 12 and 14 may be altered depending on the dimensions of the mounting brackets 12 and 14 and the dimensions of the structural members on which the brackets 12 and 14 will be mounted.

The connecting means 16 extends upwards from the mounting bracket 12, ending in an attachment portion 22. In the illustrated embodiment the attachment portion 22 is integrally formed with the connecting means 16, and is a ring shape in order to easily attach to a shade sail. It will be appreciated that the attachment portion need not be integrally formed with the rod.

Although in figure 1 the attachment portion 22 is a ring shape and in figure 4 the attachment portion 86 is an L-shaped bracket, alternative attachment portions may be provided depending on the nature ndd.requirements of the appendant structure being installed.

Figure 2 illustrates the anchor 10 as installed in a typical roofing structure 40. The roofing structure 40 includes a wall 42 with a top plate 44, and spaced roofing beams (rafters) 46 (only one of which is shown). The roofing beams 46 support spaced purlins 004772464 O 6 C 48, which in turn support roof cladding material 50 such as roof tiles or roof sheeting, e.g. corrugated iron. A fascia board 52 is secured to and extends transversely to the lower ends of the roofing beams 46, and guttering 54 is mounted to the fascia board 52.

Returning to figure 1, in order to secure the anchor 10, the top plate attachment portion c 5 18 of the mounting bracket 12 is bolted to the wall top plate 44 through the bolt holes in the top plate attachment portion 18 (bolts not shown) such that the beam attachment c portion 20 of the mounting bracket 12 abuts one side of the roofing beam 46. Similarly, 0 the top plate attachment portion 186.fl he second mounting bracket 14 is bolted to the c wall top plate 44 such that the beam attachment portion 20 of the second mounting 14 0 bracket abuts the side of the roofing beam 46 opposite the first mounting bracket 12, and such that the holes in the beam attachment portion 20 of the first mounting bracket 12 and the holes in the beam attachment portion 20 of the second mounting bracket 14 are aligned.

The first mounting bracket 12 is then secured to the roofing beam 46 and to the second mounting bracket 14 by bolts 24. Each bolt 24 passes through one of the holes in the beam attachment portion 20 of first mounting bracket 12, the roofing beam 46, and a corresponding hole in the beam attachment portion 20 of the second mounting bracket 14. The bolts 24 may then be secured by any conventional means such as a nut (not shown).

r:<A Although providing a less secure anchor, it is of course possible to install a shade sail anchor with one attachment bracket only, in which case the bracket is bolted to the wall top plate 44 and the roofing beam 46 without requiring a matching mounting bracket on the opposite side of the roofing beam 46 to connect to.

As seen in figure 2, a seal 56 may be provided between the connecting means 16 and the roof cladding 50. In the illustrated embodiment, the seal 56 comprises a flexible rubber tube which extends around the connecting means 16 and is secured to the roof cladding 004772464 7 In figure 2 a shade sail 58 is shown anchored to the attachment portion 22 of the anchor It will be appreciated that a number of shade sail anchors may be required to securely anchor a shade sail 58, and that the outer or distal end of the shade sail 58 will need to be supported by pillars or columns (not shown).

Figure 4 depicts an anchor 92 installed in a typical roofing structure 40. The anchor 92 is the same as that depicted and described in relation to figure 3 with the exception that the attachment portion 22 of the anchor 92 is a ring (as described in relation to figures 1 and 2) rather than the L-shaped attachment portion 86 (as described in relation to figure 3).

Claims

3. The anchor according to either claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the beam attachment portion and the top plate attachment portion of the first mounting bracket form an L shape.
4. The anchor according to any one of the preceding claims further including a second mounting bracket including a beam attachment portion and a top plate attachment portion for mounting to the other side of the roofing beam and the wall top plate.
5. The anchor according to claim 4, wherein the beam attachment portion of the first mounting bracket and the beam attachment portion of the second mounting bracket are provided with apertures aligned for interconnecting the two beam attachment portions.
6. The anchor according to either claim 4 or claim 5, wherein the beam attachment portion of the second mounting bracket is disposed at right-angles to the top plate attachment portion of the second mounting bracket.
0047.72464 O 9 c 7. The anchor according to any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein the beam attachment S portion and the top plate attachment portion of the second mounting bracket form an L shape. 8. The anchor according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the c 5 connecting means comprises a ring. c 9. The anchor according to any one of the preceding claims further including a sealing means adapted to extend around the connecting means to provide a seal C between the connecting means and the roof cladding. The anchor according to claim 9, wherein the sealing means includes a flexible 0 rubber tube. 14. A method of attaching a shade sail to an existing roof structure which includes roof cladding, the method including: creating a hole in the roof cladding; inserting an anchor through the hole, the anchor including a mounting bracket for connection to the existing roof structure and an attachment portion for attachment to the shade sail; connecting the mounting bracket to the existing roof structure; and attaching the shade sail to the attachment portion. An anchor substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 004772464 O N 16. A method of attaching a shade sail to an existing roof structure having the steps a substantially as hereinbefore described. 0Dated 21 February 2006 Freehills Patent Trade Mark Attorneys 0 5 Patent Trade Mark Attorneys for the Applicant: NDo Donald Arthur Dunkinson