AU2013254953B2

AU2013254953B2 - Improvements in and relating to wall and roofing structures

Info

Publication number: AU2013254953B2
Application number: AU2013254953A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Jonathan Leslie Evans; Derek Iain Hoey; David Graham Wright
Original assignee: Ash and Lacy Holdings Ltd
Current assignee: Ash and Lacy Holdings Ltd
Priority date: 2012-11-08
Filing date: 2013-11-08
Publication date: 2017-10-19
Anticipated expiration: 2033-11-08
Also published as: GB201220125D0; ZA201308483B; GB2509301B; AU2013254953A1; GB2509301A

Abstract

Abstract A bracket for supporting a roof or wall bar above an existing roof or wall structure, the bracket including a foot portion, the foot portion including at least 5 one through-bore for receiving therethrough a bracket-fixing fastener, the bracket also including an elastomeric insulating pad below the foot for preventing the foot from directly engaging with an underlying structure to which the bracket is secured or securable via the at least one fastener, the insulating pad being releasably secured or securable to the foot by means of one or more 10 integral grommets, each grommet being extendable through a respective through-bore in the foot of the bracket and to which a respective fastener may be pre-loaded for securing, in use, the bracket to an underlying structure. -4

Description

Improvements in and relating to wall and roofing structures

This invention relates to wall and roofing structures of the type described in GB2426011B, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Such structures typically comprise a grid of metal bars supported on an array of metal brackets above a secondary structure, such as a roof purlin or an existing roof or wall over which is then affixed metal cladding and between which is filled with insulating material to ensure that the structure beneath complies with the ever-increasing requirements for better heat insulation and hence increased energy savings.

As will be apparent from the foregoing, the use of metal brackets whilst strong and inexpensive to make, nevertheless act as a cold bridge to the roof purlin or between the existing roof or wall structure and the outer membrane, this problem being at least partially addressed by the teaching of the ‘011 patent in providing for an insulating plastics cover in the form of a collapsible semi-rigid plastics sleeve for the foot of each support bracket, through which extend respective pairs of threaded fasteners to secure the brackets to the underlying structure. Such an arrangement addresses the problem of cold bridging but the collapsible sleeve represents an additional component that has to be assembled to the foot of each bracket and aligned with through-bores for receiving the threaded fasteners before the fasteners are driven into the underlying structure. However, a disadvantage with this arrangement is that the sleeve is wasteful in terms of amount of material for both receiving and guiding each threaded fastener and for acting as an insulator between the metal at the foot of the metal bracket and the underlying structure, where only a relatively small proportion of the entire sleeve thereafter acts as an insulator. A further disadvantage is that the use of a relatively dense but flexible plastics material for the sleeve means that there is effectively no air gap between the bracket and the underlying structure such that there still remains the possibility of considerable cold, if slow, bridging between the underlying structure and the outer membrane via the bracket even with the sleeve fitted therebetween.

Reference to any prior art in the specification is not an acknowledgment or suggestion that this prior art forms part of the common general knowledge in any jurisdiction or that this prior art could reasonably be expected to be understood, regarded as relevant, and/or combined with other pieces of prior art by a skilled person in the art.

According to the invention there is provided a bracket for supporting a roof or wall bar above an existing roof or wall structure, the bracket including a foot portion, the foot portion including at least one through-bore for receiving therethrough a bracket-fixing fastener, the bracket also including an elastomeric insulating pad below the foot for preventing the foot from directly engaging with an underlying structure to which the bracket is secured or securable via the at least one fastener, the insulating pad being releasably secured or securable to the foot by means of one or more integral grommets, each grommet being extendable through a respective through-bore in the foot of the bracket and to which a respective fastener may be pre-loaded for securing, in use, the bracket to an underlying structure.

With this arrangement, a relatively soft material, such as neoprene, or some other suitably elastomeric material, may be used to therefore reduce thermal conductivity between the foot of the bracket and the underlying structure whilst at the same time being strong enough to support itself under the foot of the bracket by means of the integrally formed grommet or grommets extending through the or each bore in the foot.

The bracket can also be easily pre-loaded with one or more fasteners, partially inserted into the or each grommet, thereby reducing the time required to install the bracket and thereby saving installation costs for the overall Structure, which may require the use of many hundreds or thousands of such brackets for supporting the grid of bars.

Another advantage of such an arrangement according to the invention is that the use of a soft elastomeric material beneath the foot aids in ensuring that when the bracket is placed onto the underlying structure prior to being fixed in place, the frictional properties of the pad act to prevent or inhibit the bracket from accidentally sliding out of position before it is fixed in place, and hence represents an improvement over the use of the relatively hard extruded plastics material described of the ‘011 patent.

Conveniently, the upper part of the pad may have a sectional profile corresponding to the underside of the foot of the bracket, whereas the lower side of the pad is generally flat so as to maximise the area of contact with the underlying structure and hence increase resistance to the bracket slipping out of alignment before being finally fixed in place.

The invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of a bracket according to a first embodiment of the invention fixed to an underlying structure,

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the lower end of a bracket according to a second embodiment of the invention, and

Figure 3 is a front section elevation of the bracket of Figure 2.

Referring firstly to Figure 1 there is shown a part-sectional view of a generally “L”-shaped bracket 1 having a head portion 2 captured within a generally “L”-shaped upper roofing or wall bar 3 onto which is fixed a waterproof metal roof or wall membrane 4. The lower end of the bracket 1 includes a foot portion 5 fixed to an original support structure 6, such as an existing roof, by means of a threaded fastener 7, the arrangement thereby providing a gap between the secondary roof membrane 4 and the original roof structure 6 which may be filled with insulating material (not shown).

Below the foot portion 5 of the bracket 1 is a resilient insulating pad 8 for directly engaging the underlying structure 6, which pad further includes an upstanding grommet 9 extending through a bore in the foot 5 of the bracket 1 such that even though the fastener 7 is driven into the underlying structure 6 there is no direct contact with the metal bracket 1 and hence no possibility of thermal cold-bridging between the bracket 1 and the underlying structure 6. This arrangement has the further advantage that the fastener 7 can be preloaded within the grommet 9, with the fastener 7 being partially driven therethrough up to the limit of the resilient insulating pad 8. With such an arrangement, the frictional properties of the pad 8 act to grip any pre-loaded fasteners and also inhibit or prevent the bracket 1 from being accidentally moved from its intended position before the or each fastener 7 is driven in.

In Figures 2 and 3 there is shown the lower end of a preferred embodiment of bracket 1a in which it will be seen that the resilient insulating pad 8a includes a pair of frusto-conical grommets 9a which are therefore “captured” by the top of the foot portion 5a after being pushed through the through-bores extending through the foot 5a of the bracket 1a, thereby ensuring that prior to fixing of the bracket 1a to the underlying structure 6 the resilient insulating pad 8a is mechanically retained on the foot portion 5a, thereby dispensing with the need, otherwise, to be attached by e.g the use of an adhesive or double-sided adhesive strip.

As a further enhancement, the cross-sectional profile of the resilient insulating pad 5a follows the profile of the foot portion 5a of the bracket 1 a such that, where the insulating pad 8a is made of resilient open-cell material, such as neoprene, each cell is able to act as an individual air pocket for the purposes of aiding thermal insulation between the bracket 1a and the underlying structure 6.

Claims

THE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS:

1. A bracket for supporting a roof or wall bar above an existing roof or wall structure, the bracket including a foot portion, the foot portion including at least one through-bore for receiving therethrough a bracket-fixing fastener, the bracket also including an elastomeric insulating pad below the foot for preventing the foot from directly engaging with an underlying structure to which the bracket is secured or securable via the at least one fastener, the insulating pad being releasably secured or securable to the foot by means of one or more integral grommets, each grommet being extendable through a respective through-bore in the foot of the bracket and to which a respective fastener may be pre-loaded for securing, in use, the bracket to an underlying structure.
2. A bracket according to claim 1 pre-loaded with one or more fasteners, partially inserted into the or each grommet.
3. A bracket according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the upper part of the pad has a sectional profile corresponding to the underside of the foot of the bracket, whereas the lower side of the pad is generally flat so as to maximise the area of contact with the underlying structure and hence increase resistance to the bracket slipping out of alignment before being finally fixed in place.