EP0125369A2 - Artificial thatch for constructing a roof covering - Google Patents

Abstract

Known artificial thatches for constructing a roof covering are made in the form of tubes with a constant diameter over their entire length and with a smooth outer wall. As a result of this design, difficulties arise when covering the roof, since the artificial thatches do not possess any conicity like natural reed. Moreover, the known thatches have a small wettable surface, so that a thicker layer of thatch is required to absorb temporarily the rainwater falling on the roof covering. In order to achieve easier processing and a larger effective wetting surface, the artificial thatch has a spiral-shaped cross section with overlapping longitudinal edges and is provided on its outside with left-hand ribbing. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a plastic straw for producing a roof covering having the appearance of a thatched roof.

Known plastic straws of this type (DE-GM 1 904 707) are designed as tubes with a constant diameter over their entire length and with a smooth outer wall. This shape presents certain difficulties in that roofing is usually carried out by means of conical stalk bundles, the conicity of which is due to the conical tapering of the stalks present in natural thatch. In addition, the known straws made of waterproof plastic have a relatively small wettable area. A correspondingly large wettable area would, however, be necessary in order to temporarily bind as much of the rainwater falling on the roof covering as possible. Thus, when using the known plastic straws, it is necessary to provide a thicker straw layer than would be the case when using natural thatch.

The invention is therefore based on the object to form a plastic straw of the type in question so that it is easier to process and has a larger effective wetting area.

This object is achieved according to the invention in that the straw has a spiral cross-section with overlapping longitudinal edges and is provided with longitudinal corrugation on the outside.

The spiral cross-section of the straw ensures that it can be pressed together at one end for problem-free production of conical straw bundles. In addition, the effective wetting area is increased by the spiral shape with the overlapping longitudinal edges, so that temporarily a lot of rainwater is bound and thus a tight roof covering can be guaranteed even with relatively thin stalk layers. The same also applies to the longitudinal corrugation provided on the outside of the straws, which likewise increases their wettable area.

• Fig. 1 das eine Ende des Kunststoffhalms in schaubildlicher Darstellung und
• Fig. 2 einen Teil des Kunststoffhalms in der Ansicht.

In the drawing, a plastic straw according to the invention is shown. It shows

• Fig. 1 shows one end of the plastic straw in a diagram and
• Fig. 2 shows a part of the plastic straw in the view.

The straw 1 shown consists of a suitable plastic and has a spiral cross-section with overlapping longitudinal edges 2, 3. As a result, the stalk 1 can be easily compressed, which is particularly advantageous for the production of conical stalk bundles. In addition, the cross-sectional shape shown has a larger wetting area than that in itself closed cross section of normal plastic straws. The longitudinal corrugation 4 present on the outside of the straw 1 also serves to enlarge the wettable straw surface.

Claims (1)

Plastic straw for producing a roof covering that has the appearance of a thatched roof, characterized in that the straw (1) has a spiral cross-section with overlapping longitudinal edges (2, 3) and is provided on the outside with a longitudinal corrugation (4).

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