EP0101284A2

EP0101284A2 - Assembly for preventing ingress

Info

Publication number: EP0101284A2
Application number: EP83304572A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Nicholas Pitt Hardacre
Original assignee: Leigh Flexible Structures Ltd
Current assignee: Leigh Flexible Structures Ltd
Priority date: 1982-08-09
Filing date: 1983-08-08
Publication date: 1984-02-22
Also published as: EP0101284A3

Abstract

An assembly is disclosed for use in preventing for example water and snow from entering a gap betweeen building structures. The assembly is designed to accommodate both lateral and vertical relative movement of the structures and comprises a pair of elongate fixing members 2a, 2b, one on each side of the gap, each having an elongate channel section opening facing away from the gap. A rubber coated nylon flexible membrane 7 extends across the gap and is secured to the fixing members via deformable beading along its edges.

Description

This invention relates to an assembly for preventing the ingress of material between adjacent structures.
There are numerous and varied situations where the present invention may be applied, but a pair of independent concrete building structures, such as motorway bridges, separated by a small gap may be taken as an example. In this case water ingress between the structures originating from rain, snow, or surface water will probably contain dissolved salt which tends to seep into the concrete and erode it. A normal mastic expansion joint between the structures is likely to fail, being unable to accommodate relative vertical movements between the spaced-apart structures.
The present invention seeks to provide an improved method and assembly for preventing such ingress which is capable of accommodating movement between the structures.
According to the present invention there is provided an assembly for preventing the ingress of material between adjacent structures including:

a pair of fixing members, one on each of the adjacent structures, at least one having a channel-section portion facing generally away from the divide between the structures;
and a flexible membrane extending across the divide between the structures and being fixed to each structure via a respective one of the fixing members,
the flexible membrane having secured along at least one edge region thereof a resiliently deformable rib member, dimensioned such as to require deformation transverse to its length to be entered into said channel section, and such that upon entry it requires deformation for its removal thereby securing said edge of the membrane to said fixing member.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In the drawings:-

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a pair of concrete structures sealed by an assembly in accordance with the invention; and
Figure 2 is a transverse cross-section of a fixing member forming part of the assembly.

Referring to the Figures, a pair of concrete structures 1a and 1b are separated horizontally by a gap of 3 cms. These structures may for example be bridge supports where water ingress between the structures has an erosive effect. An elongate fixing member 2a, 2b is bonded to each structure. This fixing member is a specially-made glass-reinforced plastics pultrusion, a cross section of which is shown enlarged in Figure 2. The pultruded member 2a, 2b comprises a flat base portion 3 with an upstanding stem portion 4 spaced by approximately one-third of the width of the base portion from the edge nearer the gap. The stem portion 4 has concave sides, and on the side facing away from the gap, the concave stem continues in the form of lateral, arcuate projecting portion 5. The base and the projecting portion 5 together form a generally C-shaped channel-section facing away from the gap. Along the lower surface of the projecting extremity of the projecting portion 5 is a lip 6, which extends to narrow the entrance to the interior of the channel-section.
The two fixing members 2a, 2b are bonded to the concrete structures by a suitable adhesive applied to their cleaned surfaces.
A flexible membrane 7 is made from woven nylon, coated on both sides with white hypalon rubber. The longitudinal edges of the membrane 7 are each turned over around a respective length of neoprene tubing 8 and bonded to the underside of the membrane to form respective beaded edges.
The neoprene tubing 8 is of a diameter less than that of the C-shaped channel section, but greater than the entrance to the channel-section between the base portion 3 and the lip 6.
A beaded edge of the membrane 7 is fitted in a channel-section by radially compressing the tubing 8 to allow it to pass through the entrance to the channel section where it then returns to its normal shape. This radial compression may be accomplished using a special tool, which may need to be made for the particular application.
When the beaded edges are located the membrane 7 extends over the gap between the structures and has sufficient slack across its width to accommodate the expected movement between the structures without stretching the membrane.
The assembly can easily be repaired when necessary; the membrane can be re-coated with hypalon rubber if the previous coating deteriates, and should the membrane fail, it can be replaced without disturbing the elongate fixing members.

Claims

1. An assembly for preventing the ingress of material between adjacent structures including:

a pair of fixing members, one on each of the adjacent structures, at least one having a channel-section portion facing generally away from the divide between the structures;

and a flexible membrane extending across the divide between the structures and being fixed to each structure via a respective one of the fixing members,

the flexible membrane having secured along at least one edge region thereof a resiliently deformable rib member, dimensioned such as to require deformation transverse to its length to be entered into said channel-section, and such that upon entry it requires deformation for its removal thereby securing said edge of the membrane to said fixing member.

2. An assembly as claimed in Claim 1 wherein each fixing member is elongate and comprises a flat base portion having upstanding therefrom a stem portion and an overhanging portion projecting from the upper end of the stem portion, the fixing member being, in use, disposed longitudinally adjacent an elongate gap between two structures and such that said overhanging portion projects away from the gap, the base, stem and overhanging portions of the fixing member together defining said channel-section portion.

3. An assembly as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said deformable rib member comprises a tube of resilient material around which an edge region of the flexible membrane is turned and bonded to itself, to enclose the tube of resilient material.

4. An assembly as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the flexible membrane is fabricated from woven nylon coated with a rubber composition.

5. An assembly as claimed in Claim 3 wherein said tube of resilient material is fabricated from neoprene.